..... will keep you spellbound.
1 If you were accused of being a witch a few centuries ago you could expect to be persecuted, tortured, and burned at the stake. Heresy and black magic were simply not tolerated. But many of those who met a fiery end were totally innocent and died purely because of their religious beliefs.
2 According to science and history, there's no such thing as a witch. Those hapless souls accused of witchcraft and who ended up being burned at the stake had no ties whatsoever to Paganism, dark practices, or heresy. In fact, the only thing these witches, warlocks, and heretics were guilty of was that they weren't Protestant or Catholic.
3 Witch hysteria took off in the mid-1400s and continued until the beginning of the 18th century. Many innocent people were burned at the stake just for looking different or behaving oddly. The checklist for a suspected witch included innocuous things like having a wart, a hairy lip, a squint, or a birthmark. [and a big giant hooter that pokes in where it has no reason to].
4 Those unfortunate enough to possess the so-called characteristics of a witch were instantly condemned to a fiery and painful end, usually in full public view. It is estimated that 40,000 to 50,000 people were killed like this during this period in history.
5 However, some historians suggest this figure could be as high as 200,000 as many of the accused were torched away from the public arena.
There are 25 more reasons in the link for those that may be interested and can be bothered to turn the page... I can't.
