THE BURNING TIMES::Description of the phenomenon

We are not going to win many friends in the Neopagan communities with the following essay. However, we believe it to be accurate. It is a story that needs to be told. The facts are that almost all of the information that is generally accepted as truth by the Neopagan community about the "burning times" is wrong: The total number of victims was probably between 50,000 and 100,000 -- not 9 million as many believe. Although alleged witches were burned alive or hung over a five century interval -- from the 14th to the 18th century -- the vast majority were tried from 1550 to 1650. Some of the victims worshiped Pagan deities, and thus could be considered to be indirectly linked to today's Neopagans. However most apparently did not. Some of the victims were midwives and native healers; however most were not. Most of the victims were tried executed by local, community courts, not by the Church. A substantial minority of victims -- about 25% -- were male. Many countries in Europe largely escaped the burning times: Ireland executed only four "Witches;" Russia only ten. The craze affected mostly Switzerland, Germany and France. Eastern Orthodox countries had few Witch trials. "In parts of the Orthodox East, at least, witch hunts such as those experienced in other parts of Europe were unknown...."The Orthodox Church is strongly critical of sorcerers (among whom it includes palmists, fortune tellers and astrologers), but has not generally seen the remedy in accusations, trials and secular penalties, but rather in confession and repentance, and exorcism if necessary...." 1 Most of the deaths seem to have taken place in Western Europe in the times and areas where Protestant - Roman Catholic conflict -- and thus social turmoil -- was at its maximum.

Terminology: The terms "Witch" and "Witchcraft" have over a dozen conflicting meanings. The words are mainly used in this essay to refer to a unique belief system: that evil individuals, mostly women, sold their soul to the Christian Devil, worshiped Satan and devoted their lives to harming others. This belief was prevalent in Western Europe during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance. Many tens of thousands of individuals were called "Witches," were convicted of worshiping Satan and were executed during what are now called the burning times. Residual beliefs from that era still exist today among some groups. Contemporary Witches, contemporary Satanists and Renaissance Witches: With few exceptions, historians and sociologists agree that the following three groups are unrelated to each other: A contemporary Witch probably follows Wicca or some other Neopagan tradition. They are prohibited from harming others by their behavioral code: the Wiccan Rede. Most contemporary Satanists follow the teachings of: The Church of Satan, in which case he/she is probably an Agnostic, who regards Satan as a principle, not a living entity. The Temple of Set, in which case he/she probably recognizes the ancient Egyptian deity Set as a living entity. Other similar, smaller -- and often short lived -- Satanic groups. Witches during the burning times were conceived by the Roman Catholic Church as Satan worshipers who dedicated their lives to killing and harming others through magick. There is no evidence that any such "Witches" actually existed, beyond a few delusional, mentally ill, people. These groups are almost completely unrelated to each other. They recognize different deities, or none at all. Their behavioral rules vary considerably and are often directly opposite to each other. They share only the term "Witch." They are probably more different from each other than Buddhists are from Christians. More details. Links between contemporary Witches and burning time victims: There is little consensus on this point: Margaret Murray wrote The Witch Cult in Western Europe and The God of the Witches. She promoted the concept that the victims of the witch hunts were Pagans who worshiped a Horned God. This view is partly supported by the Witches' Hammer and other reference books from the "burning times" The latter said that some of the victims worshipped Diana, Oriente, Erodiade, or other Pagan deities. However, this appears to refer only to a minority of victims. Most people now believe that Murray's work is unreliable. She relied extensively on "evidence" from the late Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, which were gained through torture by the Church and courts. In 1973, Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English wrote their book Witches, Midwives, and Nurses." They promoted the belief that most victims of the burning times were were midwives and female healers. Although they were able to describe many cases involving healers, the latter only represented a small minority of the accused. Most victims of the burning times seem to have been a diverse group, who did not share a common factor. Many were: Midwives, Native healers, Single women who lived alone, and/or who owned property, People against whom neighbors had a grudge, Practitioners of ancient Pagan rituals, Innocent individuals who were accused by other victims, often under torture, People who were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. However, trial records often represent the distorted beliefs of the judges rather than reality. The widespread use of torture, particularly in Roman Catholic countries, made testimony totally unreliable. Many contemporary Fundamentalist Christians describe: Wiccans and other contemporary Neopagans, Satanists, People who practice occult pastimes such as astrology, palm reading, Tarot cards, Runes, etc., "Witches" from the Renaissance era, and others as Witches or Satanists. They consider these two terms to be essentially synonyms. In many ways, these Fundamentalists continue many of the beliefs of the Roman Catholic church from the 15th century. Some go further and regard other world religions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, and Taoism as forms of Satanism. To them, two out of every three humans in the world are, by definition, Satanists, because they are not Christians. A few go further and regard many Roman Catholics, Anglicans and non-Conservative Protestants to be Satanists as well. There is an extreme potential for misunderstanding when diverse groups use different definitions for term such as "Witch" and "Satanist."