LL-L "History" 2007.04.26 (04) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  -  26 April 2007 - Volume 04

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: History

Gabriele, you wrote under "History":

> Most of us still find the witchhunts kind of amusing? I should hope not!

I am not only talking about people having been falsely accused of being
witches, but I am also talking about those that were persecuted because they
were witches (using tis as a catch-all label for Wicca and other
religions).  This part is still fair game when it comes to entertainment and
ridicule.

"Ding-dong, the witch is dead!"

We are talking about adherents of pre-Christian "pagan" religions the Church
was bent on getting rid of by all means, just as it wanted to get rid of
Judaism and Islam as well as of the Indic religion of the Roma ("Gypsies").
Not being Christian was a crime that not only deserved death but also the
utmost degree of torture, such as being burnt alive (symbolized by Gretel
shoving the wicked witch into the oven), and the most efficient way was mass
burning (usually of people locked into a building). Since not being
Christian was a crime, non-Christians pretended to be Christians and
practised their true religions in secret, which was dangerous business. This
continued until our time. I remember from my childhood
whispered-word-of-mouth referral to certain neighbors that practised clearly
Wicca-derived healing arts or divining.

Witch figures are still used in entertainment, especially in children's
entertainment, because children like to be scared, and witches rank among
the top scary figures.  In most cases, games end with witches and wizards
being destroyed.  I see all of this as an extension or survival of the
denigration of non-Christian European religions and a relic of the culture
of justifying their destruction.  This tends to be presented in an amusing
way.

Reinhard/Ron

•

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