12) What were the Burning Times?
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This article is from the Paganism FAQ, by susanhk@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Susan Harwood Kaczmarczik) with numerous contributions by others.
12) What were the Burning Times?
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 sprang from it. During that time, many
women and some men were persecuted for practices objectionable to the
Church, especially witchcraft. The _Malleus Maleficarum_ was a guide
on how to torture accused witches into confessing to whatever they
were accused 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 -- most of the people who were arrested, tortured and
killed were not Witches (or witches) of any sort, but simply people
who had gotten on the wrong side of someone who had the local
magistrate's ear, or who somehow didn't fit in (particularly beautiful
or ugly women, widows who had wealth or owned land, the handicapped
and retarded, and even overly intelligent people are all examples of
those who became primary targets of this persecution).
Although discrimination still exists against Witches and pagans,
we now enjoy comparative freedom of religious practice after those
dark times. But this time is considered a very important event by
most Witches and pagans (comparable to the atrocities and devastation
perpetrated during the Holocaust ), one that should never be
forgotten, and many do active public education work to assure as best
they can that it will never happen again.
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