my great great(x3) grandmother was convicted and burned as a witch

It seems witches of the day earned an almost world wide hatred for themselves. Often some mouthy accuser seeking their destruction made it known to authorities that their deeds were questionable and worthy of looking into.

I often wonder what witches could possibly have done to deserve to be burned alive or even hanged for that matter.
Some of them could have been knowledgeable about poisons as well as natural remedies.

Here is an interesting article that lists quite a few witches who were executed. Some were hanged, some beheaded and some were burned.

If you click their name you can see a summary of their lives. Some names have no info but most do.

That history is listed down the page a bit.
Executed Witches

a reply to: penroc3

Indeed we really do not know what was going on then as it could have been related to a person having psychic abilities and seeing visions or women stepping up demanding rights or personal vendettas carried out by those with power. All those in power had to do was twist the Bible's teachings in whatever way they wanted as the common people in those days could not read - let alone read Latin (Bibles were not allowed to be translated into English), therefore could only listen to the word of their religious leaders to interpret the Bible's words.

“Fungal” plant medicine i see...wink wink.
Burn him totally a witch.
a reply to: penroc3

a reply to: mysterioustranger

originally posted by: carsforkids
a reply to: rickymouse

they were Herbalists

So if I have this right OPs third generation, forth fifth whatever
grandmother was burned for being an herbalist?

No sex with Satan?

No eating babies?

But orbs and UFOs?

Man this site can twist the hell out of any story.

Most of those burned as witches were helping women with things. Like supplying them with squaw root or other natural chemistries to force an abortion. If a woman wanted something to attract a guy, they knew the properties of things that could do that. Sort of like the old guys taking some natural things today to combat erectile disfunction. Also they could supply women with things to take away a guys sex drive, the woman could put it in their food. They also knew the medical properties of many plants, but sometimes they screwed up and people would get sick.

So, they burned or hung the witches and also alchemists of the time too. We have been set back a lot medically over the ages because people destroyed the people who knew real cures for things. Nowadays the Pharma companies just mock the naturalists and sic the law on people who provide natural cures, or discredit the people by stating there is no accepted evidence to support their claims. How can you have accepted evidence if they will not allow evidence to be considered? Now naturalopathic doctors are the new witches. Pharma companies are the alchemists. There is still a war going on between the two groups, the FDA does not get involved in that unless someone makes a false claim. A claim can be deceiving but not legally false, Pharma companies are great at deceiving people about side effect risks and actual effectiveness. They can choose the placebo they want and can compare their meds to another med that is not quite as good as theirs for the exact same disease, yet the other may actually be better overall. They are very good at twisting evidence. Not all pharma companies are like that but some of the major players are.

My 10th great-grandmother, Susannah North Martin, was hung for witchcraft in Salem, MA in 1692. Based on what I've read, there was almost no evidence against her. She was first accused of witchcraft in 1669, but her husband was alive at that time and they had the means to fight the charges, which were dismissed. Mrs. Martin made enemies by formally charging her accusers with slander; she won in court, but the decision was reversed on appeal. When she was charged with witchcraft for a second time in 1692, she was an aged impoverished widow who denied the charges but had no way to fight them. Not that it did her much good, but Susannah Martin was exonerated by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 2001.

a reply to: CarolynC

So, no actual witchy blood in your family.

Me too. My ancestor was tried, and not hung. I guess she was on the backside of the curve. Lucky for me.

Sorry but people need to understand the total absence of any link betseden witches and the witch trials both European and colonial...

www.vox.com...

Hell even the last person to be tried for witchcraft in 1957 I think it was had nothing to do with thereligioncreated by several different theosophists, hermetic order members, women's activists, pseudo anthropologists, etc...

a reply to: DictionaryOfExcuses

Well Witch Doctor is not the correct term either.
It is the white mans term for shaman of the native tribes.
They were the healers and holy men.

a reply to: penroc3

i imagine many of us here may have been called witches or warlocks than for our views today

In my italian family I was called strega.

a reply to: rickymouse

There was no loss of herbal knowledge.
Most housewives knew what to use for what ailments.
And they didnt get all the witches either lol.

Even now most medicines are plant or animal based.

a reply to: Sillyolme

Maybe so, but it wasn't completely derogatory, and it is the term used on my family tree.