Witchcraft: Past and Present
©
Source: Wicca Craft by Gerina Dunwich ~ By Gerina Dunwich
1990
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Gerina
Dunwich's Official web site
Witchcraft
and the Devil
The
spiritual roots of Wicca can be traced back to paleolithic
times when Nature deities were worshipped by all people
around the world; however, as a result of the influence
of Christianity, anti-Witchcraft church propaganda,
and the modification of folk tradition, teh Pagan priests
and priestesses of early times were transformed into
the evil sorcerers and sorceresses of the Middle Ages.
And as history clearly proves, it is not unusual for
the gods and goddesses of one religion to be turned
into the devils and demons of the next. This is most
definetely the case with the Old Religion and Christianity.
Unfortunately,
as a result of deliberate misconceptions popularized
by the Christian realm, the news media, horror movies,
talk shows, and so forth, many misinformed people who
are not familiar with the actual practices and philosophy
of Wicca believe that all Witches are evil. [Some do
not even believe that Witches exist in this day and
age]. And many people who have either been a victim
of ignorance and/or religious brainwashing believe that
Witches and modern day Pagans are involved in one way
or another with Satanism and perform blood sacrifices
to the old gods or to the Chrisitan Devil. This is absurd
and not true at all! Wiccans definitely do not advocate
human or animal sacrifice, nor the killing of any living
being as an offering to any deity, and as far as the
connection between Witches and Satanism is concerned,
the fact is that real Witches do not worship, receive
their powers form, sign pacts with, or sell their souls
to the Devil. Actually, Witches do not even acknowledge
the existence of the Devil as defined by the Christian
religion!
The
Devil is an anti-Pagan propaganda device invented by
the Christian church. He [ or, more appropriately, "it"]
had never existed in written literature prior to the
New Testment. The Craft is a pre-Christian religion
which has been around much longer than the church or
its concept of Satan, who was never worshipped as a
deity in the Old Religion. The Devil is strictly a part
of the Christian belief system, not the Nature-loving
earth religion of Wicca.
The
Burning Times
After
the Christian Church was formed and came into power,
the ways of the Pagans were believed to be a threat
to the newly established religious system, and the worship
of the gods of the Old Religion was banned. Ancient
Pagan festivals were supplanted by the church's new
religious holidays, and the old gods of nature and fertility
were turned into hideous and evil demons and devils.
[The patriarchal church even changed many of the female
Pagan goddesses into evil, male demons, not only to
vitiate the deities of the Old Religion, but also to
erase the fact that the female aspect was ever the object
of worship.]
In
the year 1233, Pope Gregory IX instituted the Roman
Catholic tribunal known as the Inquisition in an attempt
to suppress heresy. In 1320, the church [at the request
of Pope John XXII] officially declared Witchcraft and
the Old Religion of the Pagans as a heretical movement
and the 'hostile threat' to Christianity. Witches had
now become heretics and the persecution against all
Pagans spread like wildfire thoughout Europe. [It is
interesting to note that before a person can be considered
a heretic, he or she must first be a Christian, and
Pagans have never been Christians. They have always
been Pagans.]
Witches
[along with countless numbers of "innocent"
men, women, and children who were not witches] were
persecuted, brutally tortured, often sexually molested
or raped, and then executed by sadistic, bloodthirsty
church authorites who taught that their God was a god
of love and compassion.
Witchcraft
in England was made an illegal offense in the year 1541,
and in 1604 a law decreeing capital punishment for Witches
and Pagans was adopted. Forty years later, the thirteen
colonies in American also made death the penalty for
the "crime" of Witchcraft. By the late seventeenth
century, the followers who remained loyal to the Old
Religion were in hiding and Witchcraft had turned into
a secret underground religion after an estimated one
million persons had been put to death in Europe and
more than thirty condemed at Salem, Massachusetts, in
the name of Christianity.
Although
the infamous Salem Witchcraft trials of 1692 are the
most memorable and well-documented ones in the history
of the United States of Americ, the first hanging of
a Witch in New England actually took place in Connecticut
in 1647, forty-five years prior to the Witchcraft hysteria
which plagued Salem Village. Other pre-Salem executions
occured in Providence, Rhode Island, in 1662.
The
most popular method of Witch extermination in New England
was the gallows. In Europe, it was burning. Other methods
included pressing to death, drowning, decapitation,
and quartering.
For
260 years following the last Witch execution, the followers
of the Old Religion kept their Pagan practices hidden
behind the shadows of secrecy, and not until the laws
against Witchcraft in England finally repealed in 1951
did Witches and Pagans officially come out of the broom
closet.
Witches'
Liberation
The
sterotyped Witch -- an ugly, evil, broom-riding hag
who eats children and turns people into toads by black
magick - is an extremely negative image for which many
children's fairy tales and Hollywood horror movies are
responsible. Many Witches are tired of and angered by
these degrading stereotypes and are fighting the defamation
of Witches and the Craft by making themselves public,
speaking at seminars, writing books, [such as the one
you are now reading], and protesting motion pictures,
television shows, books and other things that portray
Witches in a negative way and reinforce the stereotyped
images. Many Wiccans are legally battling for their
constitutional rights and are taking numerous cases
of religious discrimination and slander to courts.
The
Witches' Liberation movement [which consists of women
and men of many ethnic hertiages and from all walks
of life] has made a great deal of progress in the last
ten years. Many colleges and correspondence schools
now offer courses in Wicca and occult philosophy. Wiccan
support groups, networks, antidiscrimation leagues,
and newsletters have sprung up all across the country.
Wiccan churches and covens are being recognized in many
states as legitimate religious groups entitled to tax-exempt
status. The Armed Forces now recognize Wicca as a valid
religion, and many Chrisitians [including priests] have
publicly defended Wicca as a ''positive Earth Religion''.
Witchcraft
[which was officially named '' the Old Religion'' after
the advent of Christianity] has come a long way since
its early days; however, the long, hard strugge for
religious freedom and social acceptance is far from
over. Many Wiccans continue to be discriminated against
at their places of employment and in their communities
because of their non-Christian religious beliefs. Some
children of Wiccan parents are forced to keep there
religion secret or else run the risk of harassment or
even expulsion from school. There are isolated cases
of physical violence against Wiccans, and in many parts
of the world [including certain parts of the United
States, surprisingly] it is still against the law for
an individual to practice magick, divination, or fortune-telling.
For instance, in New York a few other states any kind
of fortune-telling for profit is illegal, and since
1915 the state of Connecticut has had a ridiculous anti-occult
law which makes illegal any type of occult activity,
whether or not it involves money. In a few states it
is actually illegal for one to even admit to having
psychic powers [which all human beings have, whether
they are developed or not].
In
many prison systems throughout the United States there
has even been an ongoing problem for inmates who practice
the old ways. The United States Constitution supposedly
protects and individual's right to his or her own religious
beliefs and practices, yet there are many staff members
in various correctional facilities who censor mail with
anythint pertaining to Wicca, from Wiccan correspondence
schools. There have even been instances where Pagan
prison inmates were refused the right to receive to
wear Wiccan religious jewelry.
The
New Age of Wicca
The
time has come for all Wiccans of the world to unite!
Be proud! Be happy! Be strong! Be content that you have
the courage to follow a path unlike any other in the
world. Be comforted in the knowledge that you are not
alone. And most important of all, do not be afraid to
stand up and fight for your Constitutional rights and
religious beliefs. You are a human being who has a legal
right to worship the Goddess and God as you choose.
Blessed
be the children
of
the new age coming
for
all that is created
by
the hands of the Goddess
shall
be theirs
for
all eternity.
-from
Circle of Shadows
