Myth of the Burning Times

nice post, in school i studied the Salem trials [because we had to read The Crucible, good book/play] but the European trials, i have working knowledge but not all the ins and outs. sad part of history, but it was so long ago myth has merged with facts and most people don't look into these things to see what's real and what's not.

i really liked your paragraph about the 'Us vs. Them mentality' i couldn't agree more. one of the things that bothers me is when a pagan [normally newly converted but i've met those who have studied for years] hate Christians for the most arbitrary reasons. out of everyone i've met who hates or fears Christians, only one has a reason behind it. [but he's still judging everyone because of 2 people] you cannot judge a whole group by the actions of a few, it goes for every group really. if people could think back a ways with the Fox News thing, i was upset [like many people] but there were a lot of comments claiming the anchors were cursed or hexed or whatever. did not help our chase [in my opinion] people who see those comments, or if the broadcasters choose to show them, it would result in A. people insulting us worse, or B. people fearing us and demanding something done.

i guess the point to what i'm saying is don't approach things from an ethnocentric view point and research before you draw a conclusion.

Just a smattering of history,in regards to the Inqusition. It was started in 1198 by the pope. Who wasnt after pagans at all but a Hertical Christan sect in france. They were belived to be one of the last reamining gnostic christian gtoups. They did not follow the "the Pope" as gods "voice" on earth there for they were branded Heritics.
The mandate then spread to include Jewish people. Spreading to Spain and Portugal. Where Jews were ethier forced to convert or be subject to hanging or burning. In 1288 there was a mass burning of Jewish people in france.
In 1498 The King and Queen of Spain, mandated the "Ortodoxy of Catholicsm". They began rounding up people who where not following the tenents of the faith. I'm sure a few pagans,got cot in the crossfire. However the historical records speaks mostly again of jews and "non pious catholics." Or anyone who had converted who was seen to have close tyes to the Jewish community.
So the focus of the inqusition was not on pagans at all. It was really about converting or eliminating those who stood in the way of the dominance of Rome and the vatican. As always motivated by power and money. The people who where captured toutured and possible killed automaticly lost there land,and any other matieral holding they had. Thoses lands often times reverted title to the vatican.
Hope this was informitive for you. Blessed be

At first I felt really awkward about being a catholic witch, then it got worst because I switched to Wiccan, but I'm 14 so I still have to live with a bunch of Catholics. Undercover which right here! Four more years until I can stop looking over my shoulder. This is a really good post by the way.

As usual, a great, accurate, and intelligent post by Lark. In Britain no witches were burnt. And no more than about a dozen were found "guilty" of witchcraft, and were hanged!

good post, lark;)

Wonderful information.

So how many witches actually died according to historical records Lark?It is a face that some woman and men were burned at the stake.

The estimate is that some 50,000 men and women were accused of witchcraft and subsequently executed; however, it is unlikely that many of them were actually witches and none were Wiccan. The fact is that most people accused of witchcraft were totally innocent of the crime and were accused because of the greed and fear of their neighbors.

Well ofcourse none were Wiccan
This was years before Gardner came out
I would think most of the so called witches were woman in severe poverty or mentally ill etc
The world didn't understand mental illness yet,
50000 is still nothing to sneez at when we're are talking about innocent people accused of nonsense based on even more nonsense and misguided information.

Whether they were women or not that were accused and tried depended largely upon the country in question. In Iceland most of the victims were men, while in Germany the numbers were pretty much equally divided between women and men. And the women most apt to be accused were those who had money and/or property, thus giving their neighbors a reason to condemn them since, if they were convicted, their property went to the one who accused them.