The Burning Times: Roots of Injustice

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The Burning Times: Roots of Injustice

*see interview with Amber Arnold below!

Recently I have been thinking about the witch trial burning days. What has been sitting with me is how irrational fear and misinformation drove a nearly thousand year cycle of murder, and how that fear continues today in various forms of injustice.

The majority of what we consider to be “the burning times” consists of a time period of one hundred years between 1550 and 1650, in both Europe and the Americas. But accusations of witchcraft and the subsequent murders happened across well over a thousand year cycle. A Roman law from 451 BC held a provision against “spells and incantations” that were said to damage crops resulted in the death of 170 women (ref), resulting in the death of many women over 1,000 years ago.

We often think of witch burnings as a crime committed by religious authorities. Though various churches were directly responsible for these murders, many of the trials were held in secular institutions. The standard protocol was for an accused witch to be brought before investigative tribunals and interrogated. Many who confessed did so after a long period of torture. Those who refused to confess were killed, or put on trial to prove their innocence. One trial example was tying an accused witch to a chair and placing her in the river. If one drowned, one was innocent. If one floated, one was guilty. Though there were male witches and some accused males, the witch craze’s main victims were female. Indeed, one strongly suspects that the development of witch-hunting into a mass hysteria only became possible when the focus was directed primarily against women. Mass hysteria works better when there is a clear enemy.

What is a witch?

I want to encourage you to redefine what it means to be a witch, to move away from associations of witches with “evil and the devil”, and instead to remember our older European indigenous roots and how animism, herbal lore, and relationship with the natural world is at the core of these practices.

Archetypal Imagery of the Witch

  • forest dweller

  • haunters of moonlit crossroads

  • keepers of the old ways

  • healers

  • medicine women

  • spell casters

The source of the witch’s power wasn’t culture and hierarchy, but community and grassroots beliefs. Women were likely to have been the ones to carry the old traditions of their families, to know which foods and herbs to gather and which herbs would bring healing. They were likely carriers of old stories, stories that existed long before the bible that held onto a reverence for the land. This was a power which threatened the establishment – and the patriarchy. Women were perceived as a threat to those in power, especially if they attempted to claim any power at all. Women were considered to be carriers of original sin, and holders of inexhaustible negativity.

But it is important to remember that witches were dreaded not just by the hierarchy and the patriarchy, but by ordinary people too. It was the belief by ordinary people that enabled such depth of persecution.

Question The Narrative

We all hold a responsibility to question any narrative or accusation that causes harm and injustice to others. Just like in the witch trials, it was only when the ordinary people- the non-power holders, stopped perpetuating the stories of the evil witch that the era of witch burning could finally end.

Resmaa Menakem states in his book My Grandmother’s Hands that the roots of the racial harm and injustices towards BIPOC in the world today have their origins in these burning times. That the persecution and exceptional harm caused to white European bodies has been carried down by all our ancestors. We are continuing that narrative of hate, of fear, and of “other” and it is up to us to change the future story. It is up to each one of us to acknowledge this harm and to understand how we can reframe our relationship to the old narrative as we create new practices, as we weave new stories…

I encourage you to reclaim the witch within…

Witches were once widely feared and reviled, but they’ve become our role-models for new ways being in the world? Today, the witch has come to embody all of our longings for the old ways of our ancestors: a reverence for the natural world and our other-than-human kin; a wild, green spirituality linking feminism and environmentalism.

Journaling Questions

  • What does it mean to claim the Witch archetype, and to reimagine the old ways for today?

  • What are women’s mysteries? What are the gifts of the feminine in our native European traditions?

  • How has the legacy of the witch trials damaged us? How do we acknowledge, transform and heal this deepest of archetypal woundings?

  • What is magic and enchantment? How can we reframe or redefine these words to mean powerful connections and change?

Practices:

What is your relationship to the five elements?

Here are a few ways to connect with each of the following elements every day:

  • Earth- movement such as yoga or walking, grounding, meditation, taking care of plants, honoring food and cooking meals; honor the earth and respect the land by not polluting. Earth is the compass direction of North.

  • Water- bathing, keeping a bowl of water on your altar, keeping your pet’s water bowl clean and fresh, honoring the waters, saying a little thanks to the water when you take a sip; keep toxins out of the water and preserve our natural water ways. Water is the compass direction of West.

  • Fire- light a small tea light each day. Notice the fire flame, say thanks. If you start a fire in your wood-stove, thank the Roman Goddess Vesta of hearth and home. What other goddesses represent hearth and home? Fire is the compass direction of South.

  • Air- pranayama practice, long deep breath, smelling flowers, lighting incense (scent connects us to air as we breath in) using a diffuser; saying thanks for each breath and helping to preserve good quality air. Air is the compass direction of East.

  • Ether- space, sound. Chanting, calling a friend on the phone, meditating on our higher purpose. Ether is a feeling of being connected to all the elements around us.

I hope these words have sparked some new thought for you. Please reach out to me with questions or reflections!

 
 

Interview with Amber Arnold!

Amber and I talk about some of these concepts, and more, in this interview below.

You can learn more about Amber at: Susu Healing Collective

Read her interview with the Vermont Arts Council