It's quite a phrase. Uniting, evocative, powerful.

And certainly not without its merits. After all, even in the "safe" northeast, I've experienced occasional pockets of discrimination against Paganism. Fear and ignorance - even hatred and downright lies - will continue to follow Paganism, probably for quite some time.

But what about the Burning Times themselves? I'm certainly not going to deny they happened, nor that many people died needless, horrible deaths. Nor can I call the motivating factors - fear, greed, and religious intolerance - anything but atrocious.

But we, as a community, have been fudging a bit. 9 million (probably the highest estimate) is grossly overstated. A more accurate estimation is closer to half a million. Not that this is any better, because it is still horrible, but we at least owe it to the victims to be somewhat accurate. Don't believe me? How about someone who has done a lot more study into the subject? Check out what Taleisin of Earthsea has to say on the subject. This essay, locationed on Joe Bethencourt's site, sums things up pretty nicely. And Mr. Bethancourt can be considered an expert on the subject. After all, he's got what is probably the most concise - and certain most popular - list of victims of the Burning Times.

Likewise, as Taleisin says, most were not Witches, or even Pagans. Certainly not Wiccans, as that is a modern religion. Yet we persist in claiming them as our own.

True, many were accused of being Witches, so, in that sense, we can identify with them. And the Burning Times is a horrifying example of the fruits of religious intolerance.

But it's also a dead horse. In our attempts to gain legitimacy, to stave off persecution, we've brought out the Burning Times once too many. Instead of saving it for rare occasions, to preserve its magic, we have debased the meaning, desensitized people to its message. And in such, we've lost its power - and risk losing out audience, if we continue to bring it up, like a broken record.

Yes, we owe it to the victims not to forget. We owe it to them to remember their suffering, and to never let it happen again. but we also owe it to them not to trivialize what happened. By moving beyond the Burning Times, we can embrace the future as well as our heritage.

Return to the Sanctuary's Essays Page.

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page