Witchraft is the Old Religion. It is the Craft of the Wise; a prospering nature-oriented religion that explores the hidden powers in woman and man. Sexual equality, ecology, the belief in reincarnation, love attunment and magick are all part of the Old Religion, and depsite a frighening and gruesom history of persecution, bloodshed and misunderstanding, it has survived for over 20 thousand years.
Witchraft in England was made an illegal offense in the year 1541, and in 1604, a law decreeing capital punishment for witches was adopted. 40 years later, the 13 colonies in America also made death the penalty for the "crime" of witchcraft. By the 17th century, the loyal floowers of the Old Religion were in hiding and witchcraft had turned into a secret underground religion after an estimated one million persons had been put to death in Europe and more than 30 condemned at Salem, Massachusetts, in the name of Christianity!
Although the infamous Salem Witchcraft Trials of 1692 are the most memorable and well-documented ones in the history of America, the first hanging of a witch in New England actually took place in Connecticut in 1647, 45 years before the Salem Witch Hysteria.
For 260 years following the last witch execution, the followers of the Old Religion kept their practices hidden behind the shadows of secrecy, and not until after the laws against witchcraft in England were finally repealed in 1951 did witches offically come out of the closet.
Witches today seek to live in harmony with nature and practice their ancient rites to attune themselves with the natural rhythms of life forces marked by the lunar cycle and the seasons. Witches do not accept the concept of innate since or absolute evil, and they do not worship the devil as defined bt the Christian tradition.
Unfortunately, many people who are not familiar with the actual practices and philosophy of witchrcaft are led to believe that witches are Devil-worshippers. The fact of the matter is that witches do not worship, relive their powers from, sign pacts with, or sell their souls to Satan, as many people wrongly assume. Actually, witches do not even believe in the existance of the Devil. They never have. Satan is an invention of the Christian Church and never existed prior to the New Testement. THE DEVIL IS A PART OF THE CHRISTIAN TRADITION, NOT THE RELIGION OF THE WITCHES!
(this information gathered from a flyer. no author is mentioned.)
