The History of Wicca

Modern witchcraft continued to prosper during the subsequent decades. Many followers of the ecological and feminist movements found in wicca a religion with congenial themes. Wiccans emphasized the sacred meaning of nature and its cycles and the coequal role of gods and goddesses and of priests and priestesses. Some wiccan groups, called Dianic (after the goddess Diana), include only women and worship the goddess exclusively. Closely related "neopagan" religions have also appeared in revivals of ancient Egyptian, Celtic, Greek, and Nordic religions.

Wicca perceives itself as a modern religion based on the broad themes of ancient pre-Christian paganism, although it is not drawn directly from paganism-for example, wicca eschews some features of the old paganism, such as animal sacrifice. Increasingly, wicca draws from many pagan traditions, with the result that the distinctions between witchcraft, occultism, neopaganism, and various strands thereof have become blurred. Modern witchcraft is entirely different from Satanism or the diabolical witchcraft imagined by the persecutors of past centuries. Major wiccan themes include love of nature, equality of male and female, appreciation of the ceremonial, a sense of wonder and belief in magic, and appreciation of the symbolism and psychological realities behind the gods and goddesses of antiquity.

Contributed by:

Robert S. Ellwood*

The Horror Of The Inquisition

The Burning Times is the name used by many modern Witches and pagans for the era of the Inquisition, and of the other witch hunts (including Salem) which were born from it. At that time, many women and some men were persecuted for practices unacceptable to the Church, notably witchcraft. The Malleus Maleficarum was a guide on how to torture people accused witches into admitting to whatever they were charged of. At the height of the persecutions, entire towns were left with only one or two women in them, and to this day no one knows for sure how many people were brutally murdered during this craze. As is often the case, this horror sprang from fear and misinformation ~ nearly all of the people who were arrested, tortured and killed were not Witches (or witches) of any sort, but simply people who didn't fit in (exceptionally beautiful or ugly women, widows who had wealth, the crippled and retarded, and even overly intelligent people are examples of those who became primary targets of this persecution). in spite of the fact that discrimination still exists against Witches and pagans today, we now delight in relative freedom of religious practice after those dark times. But The Burning Times is considered a very important event by most Witches and pagans, one that should never be forgotten. It has been seriously protracted by some that there were no real "witchhunts" as such in history, and that such things could never have happened. This is unmistakable misinformation.

Witch Hunts

In the year of 1320, the church, at the request of Pope John XXII, declared witchcraft and the Old Religion of the Pagans as a heretical movement and a hostile threat to the church. The church soon made people believe that women were inclined toward evil witchcraft and the devil. Calvin and Knox believed that to deny witchcraft was to deny the authority of the bible

"The giving up of witchcraft is in effect the giving up of the bible" John Wesley, 18th century

The most influential piece of propaganda was commissioned by Pope Innocent VIII in 1448. He had assigned the Dominican monks Henrich Kraemer and Jacob Spienger to publish a manual for the witch hunters. Malleus Malificarun ("The Witches Hammer") appeared two years later. This manual was used for the next 250 years. Between 1400 and 1700 at least 100,000 people were killed because of witchcraft.

People soon came to believe that witches were out to wreak havoc on towns and injure their neighbors. Christians believed that the witches twisted the Catholic mass at their meetings.

Another belief was that the devil would make appearances at their Sabbats to dance and have sex with the witches. Before the Sabbats, witches were said to be fond of Christian infants as an appetizer.

Soon, everything was blamed on witchcraft. Since the devil created all of the ills, his agents - witches - were to blame. Witches were thought to have as much, if not more, power than Christ.

They were said to have the powers to raise the dead, turn water into wine, control the weather, fly, and know the past and future.

Common victims of witchcraft accusations were women resembling a crones. Any woman who attracted attention was suspected of witchcraft; either due to beauty or because of a noticeable oddness or unique feature.

Midwives were also targets of being accused of dabbling in witchcraft. A Scottish woman was accused of being a witch because she was seen stroking a cat at the same time a nearby batch of beer went sour.

Soon, the village healers, who were more helpful then the expensive doctors, began to take on the image of the witch.

The people were so blind to accuse them because the healers were the ones who helped so many and kept the morale of the village through much love, care and wisdom.

Now they were "witches". Simple mistranslation and misunderstanding is responsible for the scorn of witchcraft. "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live." was believed to justify the persecution of witches. Witch is Hebrew meaning a prisoner, not the followers of the devil.

Many women were tortured, often sexually raped and executed. Once accused of witchcraft, it was virtually impossible to escape conviction. The people of Toulouse were convinced that inquisitor Foulques de St. Gourge accused women for no other reason than to sexually abuse them.

Once a witch was executed, the estate was collected by the church. The more witches and the wealthier the witch meant more money for the church.

Torturers, executioners and other functionaries benefitted as well. Costs of torturing, imprisoning, and executing the accused came from the victim's own purse. Selling charms and amulets against the influence of witchcraft also brought in more money. Anyone who did not buy such things would surely fall under suspicion.

Witchcraft in England was made an illegal offense in 1541. In 1604, a law declaring capital punishment for Pagans was adopted. Forty years later American colonies made death the penalty for the "crimes of witchcraft". By the late 17th century the remaining followers of the Old Religion had turned into a secret underground.