2007-05-14 14:09:02 · 8 answers · asked by capekicks 3 in Society & Culture ➔ Mythology & Folklore
There isn't even a remote connection. Wicca is much younger than the Salem Witch Trials. Wiccans like to claim that the Salem Witch Trials was a "witch holocaust," but in truth, there were no witches at Salem. The reasons for imprisonment at Salem ranged from living alone, to looking at someone funny, to being a midwife. Another myth about Salem is that the victims were burned, but in truth, most of the victims were hung, and one man was crushed to death. I've heard many theories as to why the Salem hysteria happened. Some say that it was tainted rye that created hallucinations. I think it was just small-town mentality gone horribly wrong.
2007-05-17 07:07:52 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
No. Wicca was created by Gerald Gardner less than 100 years ago, and is loosely based on ceremonial (Golden Dawn,) spellcraft, and british folk magic/k. There is a now-debunked myth it is an "old religion," but the truth is it was created by Gardener and Doreen Valiente about 75ish years ago. The Salem witch trials happened several hundreds of years prior to its creation.
2007-05-14 21:20:49 · answer #2 · answered by theoriginalninjacat 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It is possible to practice wicca but not be a witch or be wiccan and a witch or just a hereditary witch, people were burned as witches because they had insight and shaman abilities which normal people feared which is why there was such an uproar and christians wishing to eradicate all these people because they believed them to be evil.
2007-05-16 02:56:46 · answer #3 · answered by kymm r 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The word came long before the current meaning.
One of the left overs from all the research done on the Witchcraft trials was a conclusion that young women could and did have so much fear of a religion and its punishment that they believed that in accusing others they would save themselves from an earthly and spiritual Hell of damnation.
Thank the Gods and Goddesses that though the fear and accusations have never truly stopped, the churches no longer have the power to control the life or execution of anyone outside their flocks.
2007-05-14 21:58:21 · answer #4 · answered by Terry 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't believe so. The Wiccan religion doesn't embrace that old hysteria and the hysteria could have resulted from tainted rye left too long in a barn, thus inducing acid-like visions. All of these women subsisted on rye, cooked and ate the bread. They were likely affected and paranoid Chirtians of the era panicked from lack of medical understanding. Wicca is friendly and I don't think they founded their beleifs upon a slew of innococents hung long ago.
2007-05-14 21:14:45 · answer #5 · answered by LaDonnaMarie 3 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Wiccans use the old witch trials as their own Holocaust in a sense ("never again the burning times,") but since Wicca didn't exist until the 1950s, there's no historical connection.
2007-05-14 21:15:37 · answer #6 · answered by kyralan 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Not in the least. Wicca can be traced back to the beginning of the 20th century at the earliest, so none of the people executed at Salem (or executed in Europe during the Inquisition) were members of our religion.
Here's a good article on the subject of these past persecutions and Wicca:
http://wicca.timerift.net/burning.shtml
2007-05-14 22:32:38 · answer #7 · answered by prairiecrow 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The witch trials were a result of religious zealots who condemned any and everything that didn't agree with their pathetic puritainical beliefs.
People were burned for everything from owning a cat to practicing herbal medicine.
The Christian religion hates life. Everything beautiful & strong is considered EVIL.
The Christian is a shadow of a human being. A broken spirit.
2007-05-14 21:24:28 · answer #8 · answered by psycho_majic_666 2 · 4⤊ 2⤋