Modern Day Witch Hunts Have Begun.....
It is well known that being a witch or pagan places you into a category where you have the opportunity to be discriminated against. As recent as 2020, in the case of Tammy McCoy (discussed in my January blog here, we have learned of people being fired over their spiritual beliefs, which are protected under federal law. However, a news article out of California has made it clear that witch persecutions and the 'Satanic Panic' of the 1980s have returned.
As reported by the Fresno Bee here, a political candidate has publicly called out five women (who are not even candidates in this race) as threats, going so far as to call two of them 'of the Witches and Warlocks.' These are women who are active in serving the community - one runs a meal and outreach program called Soup 4 Friends, and the other runs Bass Lake Education Foundation. Neither one identifies as a witch or as pagan. These women have received hate mail and physical threats since being called out by name.
Neither side of the political process is handling this well. In a news conference held outside the Hugh Burns State Building in downtown fresco, one of these women accused of witchcraft even addressed the public standing next to a poster which depicted a woman being burned at the stake in a witch hunt, along with the words 'we will not be bullied into silence.' This imagery, while well meaning, further ties these women to witches, and perpetuates the notion that women - and witches - should be burned at the stake or otherwise harmed.
It's sad to say that this is not an isolated incident. However, the fact that this imagery and name calling has been brought into the political arena is alarming. Earlier this year, Pastor Greg Locke of Tennessee went viral in a video addressing his congregation, where he stated that he knew the identities of six 'witches, ' that three were sitting in the audience watching him, and that he was going to expose them:
"We got first and last names of six witches that are in our church. And you know what's strange? Three of you are in this room right now.
"You better look in my eyeballs, we're not afraid of you stinking witch, you devil worshipping Satanist witch.
"We cast you out. In the name of Jesus Christ. We break your spells, we break your curse. We got your first name, we got your last name. We even got an address for one of you.
"You got a choice. You can leave with your spells all by yourself, or I'll show up next Sunday with a stage full of brooms and I'll give you one and I'll fly your tail up out of this place in the name of Jesus, but we ain't playing your spell casting, witch crafting sage burning games."
Concerning rhetoric, right? Yes it came from a southern Baptist preacher - in one sense par for the course - but still inexcusable. This sort of rhetoric does not occur in a vacuum. For example, according to an article from Harvard University's Belfer Center, former President Donald Trump used the phrase 'witch hunts' on average once every three days - JUST on his Twitter account. This is another instance of a politician using inflammatory, dangerous rhetoric. However, no one using this sort of rhetoric has considered the implications of its use.
All of this rhetoric comes at a time where, all over the world, countries are forced to acknowledge the horrors of the historic witch trials, and posthumously pardon those executed of witchcraft.
The historic witch trials were largely an instance of 'mob rule' directed by elites - the same situation we find ourselves in today. Not only in the United States, there have been an increase in 'witch hunts.' According to the Wild Hunt, social and political unrest and the presence of pandemics increase the occurrence of witch persecutions. These superstitious beliefs have led to an increase in child abuse cases, as evidenced in a news article from The Guardian in 2019. The phenomenon of persecuting witches is increasing throughout the world, as evidenced in a New York Times article.
Why is there an increase in witch persecutions? Historians who study the historic witch trials have put forth several theories to help explain the superstitious hysteria behind the phenomenon of witch persecutions. In his book Witch Hunts in the Western World: Persecution and Punishment from the Inquisition to the Salem Witch Trials, Brian A. Pavlac discusses several of these theories. The most prevalent theory states that witch hunts are women hunts, and thus an expression of misogyny. Indeed, in both the historic and modern day witch fearmongering, most of the targets are women. We even see this misogyny in the leaked draft from the United States Supreme Court. In the draft, Samuel Alito quotes Sir Matthew Hale in defense of his position. Don't remember Matthew Hale? He was a 17th century English jurist whose writings were used justification of the witch trials as well as historic proof of the criminality of abortion.
Most of these instances target people who are not actually practicing witches, another theme in common with the historic witch trials. But what of those who actually do? Will we be targeted with the same sort of vitriol? How can we protect ourselves? Are those of us who are unashamedly 'out of the broom closet' needing to retreat back in? What can we do in the political arena to prevent this from reoccurring?
This is a scary time to be a Witch.