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Effect of the New Religion on the Old It must be noted that
during the Inquisition, few, if any, real, verifiable, witches were
ever discovered or tried. Often the very accusation was enough to
see one branded a witch, tried by the Inquisitors' Court, and burned
alive at the stake. Estimates of the death toll during the Inquisition
worldwide range from 600,000 to as high as 9,000,000 (over its 250
year long course)Anyone who did not fit within the contemporary
view of pious Christians were suspect, and easily branded "Witch".
Usually to devastating effect. (Wicasta
Lovelace) The persecutions turned out to be a powerful tool for the unscrupulous. By making a charge of Witchcraft - or even suggesting someone might be a Witch - it was possible to get rid of an enemy; acquire land that was otherwise unavailable or generate personal power. Persecution became very much a political tool. Many women and a few men lost their lives by hangings or being burned at the stake. Wiccans usually refer to this period in history as "The Burning Times." Unfortunately, history would repeat itself in The New World sin 1692, when children in fear of being punished cried "Witch!" and led to the death of more innocent people during the Salem Witch Trials. During the Salem Witch Trials, at least twenty-five people died: nineteen were executed by hanging, one was tortured to death, and at least five died in jail due to harsh conditions. Over 160 people were accused of witchcraft, most were jailed, and many deprived of property and legal rights. Accused persons lived in the town of Salem and Salem Village (now Danvers, Mass.) and in two dozen other towns in eastern Massachusetts Bay Colony. Nearly fifty people confessed to witchcraft, most to save themselves from immediate trial. After Salem trials, no one was convicted of witchcraft in New England. During the Salem trials, more people were accused and executed than in all the previous witchcraft trials in New England. (Salem Witch Trials Documentary Archive and Transcription Project) With the persecution continuing so harshly for so long, the many followers of the Old Religion obviously could not continue their practices, at least not openly. Outwardly, it looked as though the New Religion had effectively slaughtered all its rivals. Witchcraft, it seemed, no longer existed. In fact, from the early eighteenth century on, it became illegal even to believe in the existence of Witches. (Raymond Buckland) But a religion that had been followed for thousands of years, generation after generations, was not to be simply stamped out, even by the severity of the Inquisition. Many true Witches went into hiding. (Raymond Buckland) But the negative connotations of the term Witchcraft had become entrenched. And to some extent, still exists today. The
old religion
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