Often on the road of discovery for new Pagans you will come across the term “The Burning Times”, you may see grandiose statements that 9 million women were tried by the church, convicted of witchcraft and burned at the stake. These facts were popularized by Margaret Murray in 1921 in her book “Witch Cult in Western Europe”. These “facts” unfortunately are untrue.

It is thought by modern historians that the actual figure was closer to 40,000 to 100,000 and while the majority of those who died were women; men were tried too. Most who were tried were Christian.

The Witch Trials spanned a period from the 14th to the 18th centuries with the height being from 1550 to 1650. They were mostly concentrated in eastern France, Germany and Switzerland. Witch persecutions often occurred in areas where Catholics and Protestants were fighting. Those tried were mainly done by secular courts; although a minority, who were often cases involving the use of healing magic or midwifery, were tried by the church. Most confessions were extracted by torture.

In the Salem Witch Trials (Salem Mass. 1692), 19 people were tried and put to death by hanging for witchcraft. One man accused during this time, Giles Cory was subjected to Piene Forte et Dure (pressing); he died after 2 days.

It is now thought that a mold infestation of the wheat, both in Europe and Salem Mass., caused hallucinations , paralysis and other bewitched symptoms of the accusers. It is also known that if found guilty of witchcraft, the accused lost their property and goods to the "witch-hunter".