Anytime you want to learn about a new subject, be it religion, science or history you start by looking into the past. The past is where everything started; mistakes were made and hopefully learned from. Wicca is no different. For the US witchcraft came into light in the last 1600’s in Salem, Massachusetts. We know this by the horrible injustice that occurred there. People were accused and murdered based on nothing more than gossip. I would love to tell you that as a country we learned from that mistake but I couldn’t. People are being arrested, tried and sometimes convicted for crimes they never committed, reputations are ruined, families and friendships are torn apart simply because of gossip.
The Salem Witch Trails are known through out the US. Children brush over it in history class; some even visit the museum that is now dedicated to the memory of those killed during the trials. However, the witch-hunts started long before Salem was ever founded.
The earliest record I found was in 1324 when Irish coven leader Dame Alice Kyteler was tried by the Bishop of Ossory for worshipping a non-Christian God. She was saved from death by her title; however her followers were all burned for heresy.
In 1484 the Papal Bull of Innocent the VIII unleashed the inquisition against the Old Religion. It was his was of combating the devil and saving mankind from his clutches. In 1486 Dominicans Kramer and Springer two of the inquisitors wrote the Malleus Maleficarum (The Hammer of the Witches).
It is estimated that 9 million men, women and children were tortured and killed as witches. This is a debatable number between many different groups today. People were convicted, tried and executed for not believing or practicing the way someone else thought they should. It still happens everyday all over the world; people are harassed for not being what society thinks they should.
The witch-hunts raged all over Europe. When the Bishop of Tier left Germany in 1585 there were only two villagers left. All but one woman remained; all others were executed as witches. In 1586 the Archbishop of Treves accused the local witches of causing bad weather and burned 120 men and women to death for interfering with the elements.
It was in 1692 that the witch-hunts found their way to the Colonies. Based on the stories and ramblings of children 19 men and women were accused of witchcraft. It did not matter how pious you were in the church or what an upstanding citizen you were, if you were accused you stood little chance of survival. Your best bet was to confess your sins and say the devil made you do it. Most of those who confessed were allowed to live so that they could point out other witches in the community.
Many people in the Colonies and the government disagreed with what was going on but were powerless or afraid to do anything about it. The law back then was very plain; anything could and probably would be used against you in court. If you made a comment to your spouse that was different or odd that was used against you, if you had trouble falling asleep at night you were probably a witch, because everyone knows witches come out at night.
When you hear the saying today “innocent until proven guilty” you may want to take that to heart, because in 1692 there was not proving your innocents. Even if the court found you innocent the judge would send them back to “reconsider their decision” and they would come back with the guilty plea he wanted.
If you want to learn more about the witch trials you can visit the official site created by the museum at: http://www.salemwitchmuseum.com
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