witchcraft persecution book.

[Danustouch]

from the cincinatti enquirer, a review on this book:

Saturday, October 20, 2001
Warren County Witches' persecution examined


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When you consider all the senseless acts of violence that have been happening lately, you wonder if mankind has reached a low point.
The troubling answer: not really.

In his new book, Robert W. Thurston, a history professor at Miami University in Oxford, tells about a binge of violence that occurred for centuries — witch hunts.

They started in Ireland in 1324 and ended with the last legal execution of a “witch” in Switzerland in 1782.

“In England and Massachusetts (in 1692), witches were hanged,” he said. “On the continent of Europe, they were burned. They weren't always burned to death. Sometimes they were strangled and their bodies burned.”

Dr. Thurston covers this dark period in Witch, Wicce, Mother Goose: The Rise and Fall of the Witch Hunts in Europe and North America.

It puts into perspective the pursuit of violence in the name of religion.

Dr. Thurston said witch hunts weren't a direct assault on women by men. The hunts were more of a reaction to fear.

He estimates that 60,000 to 100,000 women (and men) were killed for being witches, although some believe there were millions of victims.

He covers witch hunts, trials, assorted torturings and deaths, and places them in context with the Bible and fairy tales.

He also discusses the fate of Jews and other “marginalized people” living in Europe. “The "we' and "they' mentality appears in the earliest written records of civilization,” he said.

[Shadowulfe]

Thanks for the info Danus!

[Sora]

Ugh. I did a rather extensive school report on Salem Village during the 1692 inquisition. The results where not only a B+ (go me!) but an awareness of how truelt awful the trials where. I have very strong thoughts about this matter. Not only where the accused heretics hanged and burned, but so may otehrs died in prison and one in one case, one that always seems to stick in my mind, a man was crushed by a priest when he didn't plead guilty. And, gods, though all the people involved in these trials have said "Never Again", there seems no end to the murderous prosecution of witches.

:scream: Makes me so upset...

Well, thanks for sharing!

[Amora]

I'm headed out to Salem next week as I go every year and each time I still hear things that burn me up. Everytime I tour one of the judges homes and hear some of the things they did, it's like hearing it afresh each time. Unfortunately we haven't hit a new low as people with this latest violent act, we just regressed. (and I'd like to add, just Some of us regressed..Most of us are still human...)

[bansidhe]

:wah: i dont know a lot about the trials, but the little i do know was pretty horrifying. *shudder* i hope and pray that nothing like that ever happens again!
take care and brightest blessings,
bans. :bubbles:

[Socharis]

Cheers :thumbsup:

[Keron]

Quoting from "The Burning Times" by Charlie Murphy--
"In the war against the... nature people
Nine million European women died.
And the tale is told of those who, by the hundreds"
Then I'm kinda confuzzled on the next few sentences...
"Bonded together/singing the praises of the Mother Goddess/chose their death in the sea". The gist of it.

[Socharis]

Originally posted by Keron
Quoting from "The Burning Times" by Charlie Murphy--
"In the war against the... nature people
Nine million European women died.
And the tale is told of those who, by the hundreds"
Then I'm kinda confuzzled on the next few sentences...
"Bonded together/singing the praises of the Mother Goddess/chose their death in the sea". The gist of it.

Sounds good, is it worth a read?

[Kaylara]

Many sources in the past have claimed that 9 million + people were killed during the "Burning Times". It is know agreed that it was in the hundreds of thousands, not the millions.

Kaylara

[Wyrdsister]

A book that has been well-recommended to me is Witchcraze by Anne Barstow, if anyone is interested in doing some reading. It focuses primarily on the European witch hunts rather than the Salem ones.

Thanks for the review, Danus!

Wyrdsister

[Keron]

:grin: Socharis, it's not only worth a read, it's worth a sing! It's a beautiful song... now just let me try and find the web address again... I'll get back to ya as soon as I find it. :)

[Keron]

Burning Times
Charlie Murphy
In the cool of the evening they used to gather
'Neath the stars in the meadow, circling that old oak tree
At the times appointed by the seasons
Of the year and the phases of the moon
In the centre stood a woman
Equal with the others, respected for her worth
One of the many we call the witches
The healers, the teachers of the wisdom of the earth
And the people grew in the knowledge she gave them
Herbs to heal their bodies, smells to make their spirits whole
Can't you hear them chanting healing incantations
Calling for the wise ones, celebrating in dance and song

Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inarna
Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inarna

There were those who came to power through domination
They were bonded in their worship of a dead man on a cross
They sought control of the common people
By demanding allegiance to the Church of Rome
And the Pope declared an inquisition
It was a war against the women whose power they feared
In their war against the nature people
Nine million European women died
And the tale is told of those who by the hundreds
Holding hands together chose their deaths in the sea
While chanting the praises of the mother goddess
A refusal of betrayal, women were dying to be free

Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inarna
Isis, Astarte, Diana, Hecate, Demeter, Kali, Inarna

Now the earth is a witch and the men still burn her
Stripping her down with their mining and the poison of their wars
Still to us the earth is a healer, a teacher and a mother
A weaver of a web of light that keeps us all alive
She gives us the vision to see through the chaos
She gives us the courage it is our will to survive

[Demeter]

Originally posted by Sora
Ugh. I did a rather extensive school report on Salem Village during the 1692 inquisition. The results where not only a B+ (go me!) but an awareness of how truelt awful the trials where. I have very strong thoughts about this matter. Not only where the accused heretics hanged and burned, but so may otehrs died in prison and one in one case, one that always seems to stick in my mind, a man was crushed by a priest when he didn't plead guilty. And, gods, though all the people involved in these trials have said "Never Again", there seems no end to the murderous prosecution of witches.

:scream: Makes me so upset...

Well, thanks for sharing!

It behooves us to get our facts straight as much as possible ... Nobody got burned at Salem. The convicted witches were all hanged. The guy that got pressed to death (and not by a priest -- Salem was a staunch Protestant community and they wouldn't have anything to do with priests) died rather than confess, because if he had confessed, all his property would have been confiscated. Since he died without confessing, his family could inherit.

[Old Witch]

I'm gonna put "Burning Times" in my BOS.



:elf:

[Danustouch]

Demeter,

Yes..but witches were burned in other places.

Wyrd, I read Witchcraze. Good resource. Another, is "Devil in the Shape of a Woman" (don't remember the author).

[Demeter]

Originally posted by Danustouch
Demeter,

Yes..but witches were burned in other places.

Wyrd, I read Witchcraze. Good resource. Another, is "Devil in the Shape of a Woman" (don't remember the author).

True. However, I understood the original post to be referring specifically to the witch trials at Salem.

I quite often hear people, even Wiccans/witches who should know better, saying that witches were burned at Salem, and then when someone points out otherwise, it reduces their credibility. Like Z Budapest saying that Alexander the Great was responsible for the burning of the Library at Alexandria. I respect the woman's work, but when a blatant fallacy is repeated as fact in not one but several of her books, it makes me wonder about the rest of the things she says. Since we are all looked to to provide accurate information about our faith, we should at least have the verifiable stuff straight.

[Danustouch]

you musta just misinterpreted it...sokay though...here's a quote from the original article...

“In England and Massachusetts (in 1692), witches were hanged,” he said. “On the continent of Europe, they were burned. They weren't always burned to death. Sometimes they were strangled and their bodies burned.”

[Demeter]

Originally posted by Danustouch
you musta just misinterpreted it...sokay though...here's a quote from the original article...

“In England and Massachusetts (in 1692), witches were hanged,” he said. “On the continent of Europe, they were burned. They weren't always burned to death. Sometimes they were strangled and their bodies burned.”

Sorry, I was referring to Sora's post where she said: "I did a rather extensive school report on Salem Village during the 1692 inquisition. The results where not only a B+ (go me!) but an awareness of how truelt awful the trials where. I have very strong thoughts about this matter. Not only where the accused heretics hanged and burned, but so may otehrs died in prison and one in one case, one that always seems to stick in my mind, a man was crushed by a priest when he didn't plead guilty." So I was just saying that people weren't burned AT SALEM. I know darn well they were burned in other times and places. And I used the phrase "original post" to mean Sora's when I should have realized that would refer back to the first post on the thread. My bad.

Hope we're all clear now.

[Danustouch]

Okay..thanks for clearing that up:) I was confuzzled.