Women...
who gathered in groups of more than two for support and companionship...
Women...
Who were too strong and outspoken
Or too quiet, weak, and submissive
Women...
Who knew too much
Or too little
Women...
Who had no children
Or too many
Women...
Who knew how to use plants as medicine
Women...
Who were too pretty
Or not pretty enough
Women...
Who were too religious
Or not religious enough
Women...
Who were too rich
Or too poor
The homeless, the divorced
Who were forced to rely on community support
Women...
Who might influence society
Women...
Who cook too well
Or not good enough
Women...
Who were midwives
And helped deliver children
Which were stillborn
Women...
Who dressed too nice
Or dressed in rags from poverty
Women...
Who were sarcastic
Who were hard of hearing
Who let the church door slam
Who lifted something heavy
Who had a bird land on them
Who laughed at the idea of witchcraft
Who had an unfavorable personality
Who argued with someone
Whose children were tricked into saying so
Whose husband’s crops or business failed
Women...
And the list goes on and on.
If there was any question
About a woman being a witch,
They way to determine
Guilt or innocence
Was to throw her in a lake...
A trial by water.
If she survived
Then the waters of baptism rejected her
Because she was of Satan
So she would be burned.
If she drowned
she was declared innocent of being a witch.
Murdered by fearful, ignorant,
power-hungry, misogynistic men.
___________________________
"I admit to never putting together the connection of the typical image of 'witch', and the horrors women, wise, creative, midwives, healers, all good women, went through at the hands of fearful, torturous men. May we continue to be haunted by the injustice and ignorance of the men's actions.
Each year they parade her about, the 'traditional Halloween witch... misshapen green face, stringy scraps of hair, a toothless mouth beneath her disfigured nose. Gnarled knobby fingers twisted into a claw protracting form. A bent and twisted torso that lurches about on wobbly legs.
Most think this abject image to be the creation of a prejudiced mind or merely a Halloween caricature. I disagree. I believe this to be how witches were really seen.
Consider that most 'witches' were women who were abducted in the night and presented by the light of day as a confessed witch.
Few, if any, saw a frightened normal looking woman being dragged into a secret room filled with instruments of torture, to be questioned and tortured until she confessed to anything that was suggested to her, and to give names or say whatever would stop the questions, beatings, and torture. (The patriarchal church that fears women tortured them in order to elicit ‘confessions.’)
Crowds saw the aberration denounced to the world as a self-proclaimed witch. As the witch was paraded through the town, in route to be burned, hanged drowned, stoned or disposed of in various horrible ways, all created to free and save her soul from her depraved body.
The jeering crowds viewed the result of hours of beatings and torture. The face, bruised and broken by countless blows, bore the hue of sickly green. The once warm and loving smile was gone, replaced by a grimace of broken teeth and torn gums that leer beneath a battered and disfigured nose.
The disheveled hair conceals bleeding gaps of torn scalp from when cruel hands have torn away the lovely tresses. Broken, twisted hands clutched the wagon for support. Fractured fingers locked like cropping/grabbing claws to steady her broken, wobbly body.
All semblance of humanity gone. This was truly a demon, a bride of Satan, a witch.
I revere this Halloween Witch and hold her sacred. I honor her courage and listen to her warnings of the dark side of humanity. Each year I shed tears of respect." ~Author Unknown.
Hi, I'm Edie.
Age...ageless.
About me...I’m just a whimsical witch with a love for the mystical and the moonlit. When I’m not concocting potions or casting spells under the silvery moon, I enjoy long broomstick rides through the whispering woods. I have a cat named Mystique, who is my little companion.
I’m looking for someone who isn’t afraid to dive into the unknown, explore the arcane, must love cats, and have a good sense of humor.
Favorite spell: Love Potion #9.
Interested in...long term relationship, or potion exchange.
Let’s create some magic together and find the potion to each others hearts.
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Several of the folks in our morning exercise class at the gym
dressed up for Halloween today...
