Horrific historical commentary. |
Author’s note: The burning times took place between the years 1100-1700. If you had a strange birthmark, mole, disfigurement or were of a liberal political leaning or liked to dance, owned a pet cat, mouse, snake or goat, or a broom, spoke out against injustice, did not obey your husband, enjoyed walking after nightfall, you were tried, persecuted, tortured and either hung or burned at a stake as a Witch. Men, women, children, the elderly, the crippled and even pets, all ended up as victims during the Witch Craze (aka The Burning Times and Witch Hunts/Craze). More middle-aged women than any other were tortured and killed though. (89% were middle-aged women), and of those middle-aged women; most were widowed with property and wealth that the Church wished to possess and stole from them after having them tortured to death. This is my epic rhyming verse of their story. Burning Times The hatred towards our Pagan ancestry of the Keltoi Nation Wiccans and Witches started with the spread of Christians Who worshipped side by side during the renaissance era The Pagan's following was greater by far in the Halls of Tara. Rituals and Rites began to be disrupted and disturbed Our sacred temples and places of worship were unearthed And all the beauty of the Goddess and God was made sacrilege, With extreme hatred and greed on each and every Sabbat. The Pagan God was depiction of the Christian Devil to scare Any who planned to follow the ancient path were to beware They cloaked our sacred days in Christian myth and lies The clan split and divided amidst the people’s cries. The Goddess became a virgin and virtually powerless No longer the sensual Serpent and The High Priestess. Our gift to give life in pleasure was taken away As they claimed that only the father had a say. Many women were tortured by mendacious men of their God pulled off their fingernails, seared with iron branding hot their female areas to receive a confession of evil coupling with the entity the Christians created through deceiving. They were tied to a wagon wheel and thrown into a pond If they floated they were a witch and burned beyond Recognition, if they sank their soul was spared but they Drowned all the same with their last breath to slip away. The most influential piece of propaganda, in 1484 that fueled their campaign Commissioned by Pope Innocent VIII instructed Dominican monks to paint With words and publish a manual for witch hunters to destroy the Pagan soul. For 250 years the church used this false holy relic placed in hands to follow. In 1541, Witchcraft was made illegal in the homeland England and with decree In 1604 punishment was death for even a slight suspicion for anyone to agree. By this time the true followers who remained loyal to the ways of old, Were in hiding and Witchcraft had gone underground or so the story is told. One million people had been put to death in Europe and the Colonies To spite the beliefs of Pagan ways all in the name of Christianity. When the persecutions finally ended in the 18th century The stereotype of Witches and Pagans were seen as devilry. Today, we still fight for our right to exercise the US Constitution’s first amendment, Freedom of religion, though it is more a way of life than the Christian’s will contend, As we want no control but of oneself nor have we a wish for this to be For we understand we are spirits of light and energy and are free.
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