The Dark Times

The Witch Extermination

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 many Gods and Goddesses of the old religion was banned. The Roman Catholic Tribunal in the early 13th century officially declared the old religion of the Pagans a “hostile threat” to Christianity. The persecution against all Pagans spread like wildfire throughout Europe. The victims of this Christian religion who refused to convert were brutally tortured, often sexually molested and raped, and then executed by sadistic, bloodthirsty church authorities who taught with an iron fist that their God was a God of love and compassion. The old religion was made an illegal offense in the year 1541 and reinforced in 1604. A law decreeing capital punishment for witches and pagans was adopted and 40 years later, the 13 colonies in the new Americas also made it a death penalty for the “crime” of witchcraft. By the late 17th century, the followers who remained loyal to the old ways were in hiding and witchcraft had turned into a secret underground religion after an estimated 9 million men, women, and children had been put to death throughout Europe and more than 30 were condemned in Salem, MA…all in the name of Christianity! The most popular method of witch extermination in the new Americas was mainly the gallows, while some were burnt at the stake, however in Europe, it was burning, pressing to death, drowning, decapitation, and/or quartering both during and after death. For 260 years following the last witch execution, the followers of the old ways kept their Pagan practices hidden behind the shadows of secrecy, and not until the laws against witchcraft in England were finally repealed in 1951, did witches and pagans officially came out of the broom closet.

A wee bit from one of many term papers. . . By: Andi Feyrtr Copy Written October 1997

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