Witchcraft is a religion. Is it not a devilish sect or a twistedcult, but rather, a pure and uncorrupted religion based on thespirituality of the self rather than the material possessions andbuildings of this world. This has slowly become much clearer sincethe Shakespearean witchcraft beliefs of the late 1500s and theearly 1600s.
However, today I will focus on these archaic beliefs ofwitchcraft: the ragged, filthy hags every person has unfortunatelycome to know as the typical witch. Many women were burned at thestake in medieval times, accused of being witches, when they weresimply women who didn't fit in like the rest, or weren't asgood-looking. These often innocent victims were frequently torturedto make them confess to their wicked ways. Then they were killed,usually by being burned alive, as I mentioned before, at thestake.
Christianity was the cause of this mentality, which eventuallycaused these killings, along with a generous amount of ignorance.Unfortunately, both of these elements still exist today, but thenew mentality of the human race has, thankfully, opened our eyes towitchcraft to let us see that it is merely another belief.
Like I said, witchcraft is not an evil cult. It was, in fact,used for good. The words witch and wizard come from the Anglo-Saxonword wicca meaning wise. The reason for this is becausetraditionally, witches were doctors and medical advisors, linkedwith learning, medicine, Astrology and clairvoyancy. This is why,when Christianity came along, witches were condemned, as the wisdomof witchcraft was a great threat to the profit-sucking,brainwashing ways of Christianity.
This is what gave witches a bad name. The priests told thetownsfolk that the witches and wizards they were going to foradvice were advocates of the devil! As a result, the public wasinfuriated. They felt tricked. In fact, these people would havewanted to kill them! And that's what happened. In this way, themark of witches was forever tarnished. This was what happened inthe first instance.
The people then decided that they could use this as an excuse.If there was a woman (or man) in their village that didn't quitefit in, or showed incredible strengths by challenging the ideas ofthe time, they were pronounced a witch or wizard, and instantlyburned at the stake with no trial. It was quite a sad experience,and the "innocent before proven guilty" rule just didn't exist.People were suspected, and therefore, guilty.
A prime example of this is the story of Joan of Arc. You mayrecall that she was a young, powerful woman of the 15th century,who demonstrated incredible leadership skills in a time where womenhad no power. She was inspired by her own religious illumination. Ahigher being inspired her to organize French resistance to theEnglish, saving thousands of lives. She had Charles VII crownedking. The community of the time had never seen such a display ofheroinism, and therefore, judged her to be a witch, out of thecommunity's own fear and lack of awareness. The powerful leaders ofthe time were dismayed by her strength and feared the loss of theirgoverning authority. She was tried for heresy, and ironically,after the society she saved labelled her a witch, she was betrayedby the king that she had crowned and was murdered. On May 16, 1920,Pope Benedict XV of the Catholic Church canonized her, whereby shebecame known as Saint Joan of Arc.
An estimated fifty thousand to two hundred and fifty thousandpeople were murdered in criminal ways. Among the forms of torture:people's limbs were torn off, skin ripped from their bodies,covered in boiling pitch (the equivalent of napalm), nails rippedoff, appendages ripped off and crushed, including genitals, or inthe case of girls, jagged irons and other sharp objects shoved uptheir genitals, or raped to death by teams of Inquisitors and/orhorses.
It's horribly paradoxical. The truly good witch doctors, guides,astrologers, numerologists, advisors, and experts in alternativeremedy; the ones truly involved in making a difference in society,helping people, trying to vanquish closed-mindedness and ignorance,were the ones who were proclaimed evil. And the torturers,paedophiles and priests, interested only in instilling fear inpeople out of their own fear and hunger of power and worldlypossessions, were considered to be good, in their desire toeliminate all wisdom and respect of the self. Society was reallybecoming twisted, though on the surface, it was not readily seen...except for by the witches.
Was God really about love? Was his love really unconditional?No. His love was conditional. If his commandments were notfollowed, you would be sent to hell. You call that good? You callthat loving and true? The witches and wizards were the good ones.The ones that didn't fit in, did they do anything to eliminatethose they didn't like in society? No. They were the pure of heart,interested in the good of humankind, interested in channellinggreat forces that the townsfolk and priests had not even knew of orconsidered.
It was all about one thing: fear. Fear drove the priests to damnthe wise witches, because the priests knew that the witches wouldadvise people to seek truth and wisdom within themselves, ratherthan look to a higher being, thus deterring villagers from becomingChristian. Fear of the unknown drove the villagers to exclaim whensomebody was different. The sad thing is that traditionally, thewitches were accepted. But Christianity took that all way, anddestroyed the loving force of light which everybody had come toaccept, and proclaimed it evil! Herein lays the paradox: eventoday, most natural remedies proven to work by the wiser naturalhealers (once known as "witches") are not endorsed by the fearful,wider community.
But it is certain that this is far off the topic: witchcraft. Itmust be said that witches have generally had bad publicity. If youask the next person you meet if witches are evil, you can be surethat they will say yes, even though the fact remains that they arenot. I call to you to open your mind, and become more accepting ofothers. They are not witches: they are just different. The gist ofmy speech today is simple. Witches and wizards were good, andwhoever murdered them was horribly evil. And it's a great triumphthat people who are discovering this today are sprouting likeflowers from a field of tanbark. I thank you all for listening tomy speech. Good morning/afternoon, class.
