Photo By Matt Briney on Unsplash.
What it's All About:
Believe it or not, there are still Witch Hunts going on in the world today. I am not talking about the figurative ones. I am talking about real-life witch hunts around the world where people are still getting arrested or even killed for practicing witchcraft. I'll mention where these are still happening today. Maybe I will speak about the history of it as well.
Songs Featured:
Links Mentioned:
Spirit Guide of the Week:
Osgun
Photo by Yenjajayiii on Wikipedia. September 21, 2016.
Dream Symbol: (There are three)
Photo by National Cancer Institute on Unsplash.
Cancer.
Photo by Grace Ho on Unsplash.
Carnival
Photo by Erfan Banael on Unsplash.
Carpet
Transcript:
(06:46)
Welcome to another episode of the Music From the Goddess' Vault Podcast. I am your host, Midnight Starr. At the top of the show was Burning Times by Charlie Murphy. Today's show is all about Modern Day Witch Hunts. But first, if you can, please share this podcast via Twitter, Facebook, goddess vault one dot Wix site dot com forward slash home, or wherever you can talk to everyone you know. And don't forget to check out the blog. Now for the topic: Modern Day Witch Hunts. I am not talking about this figuratively, especially during the pandemic where there is tons of misinformation out there. We all know about the history of the burning times. And you all think that it's all in the past. But it is continuing to this day in countries like Georgia, Sub-Saharan African, India, Papua New Guinea, to name just a few.
I'll first be talking about the history of the burning times before going into the modern-day attacks. Let's continue with the show. Let's listen to Witch Hunt (Still Seeking Sarah) by Inkubus Sukkubus.
(13:50)
I am going to give you a refresher on how the witch hunts started. It began in the mid to late 1400s with the rise of Protestantism and the German publication of the Malleus Maleficarum, which means “Hammer of witches.” This document was a guide on identifying, hunting, and interrogating anyone accused of being a witch. The majority of the victims of the burning times were women because, at the time, women were more susceptible to being influenced by the devil. However, men were also accused of witchcraft. People were accused of witches because of crop failures, a skirmish with a neighbor, poisoned someone, among other things.
As you guessed, most of the accused were innocent people, and there were many ways that they were tortured into confessing. One is by throwing them in the water to see if they can swim or float. If they float, they are witches. Innocent people were stripped of their clothes so that the accusers could find a witch’s mark, which could be something like a birthmark. There are many other torture techniques to get someone to confess that they are witches.
They were not only burned at stake but were also hanged and drowned. Of course, everyone knows about the Salem Witch Trials, which I will not talk about here. But the last European ended in the 18th century in Switzerland. Next, I am going to talk about the modern-day witch hunts happening today. Here’s No More Burning Times by Shining Wheel Pagan Chorus.
(17:48)
It’s time for another spirit guide of the week. I am going to West Africa to talk about the Yuroba God Ogun. He is the god of iron. He is all things metal because he is also the patron of metalworkers. Ogun is also the patron of anyone who works with metal, whether surgeons, chefs, jewelers, or anyone else. He taught people the art of ironwork. He also taught magic, spiritual rituals, hunting, and warfare. Ogun is a healer who also causes someone’s death. And causes and protects against disasters. And in these modern times, Ogun has become the spirit of technology, which includes the computer. What you can offer Ogun on your altar are the following: First, he loves spicy foods. So give him something with lots of pepper or hot sauce on it. You can also offer Ogun read beans, mangos, roasted yams, salt, red rice, and/or meat. For drinks, he prefers palm wine, rum, whisky, or other alcoholic beverages. You can offer Ogun red candles. And you can offer him anything that metal in it, like toy cars, planes, or other vehicles, chains, and tools. That is it for now. Stay tuned for another spirit guide of the week.
(24:56)
That was Iron from Within Temptation. Part of the reason I am doing this podcast is that on Samhain in Georgia, three Chechen women were arrested for witchcraft. I did post the article on Twitter and Facebook. I am also going to leave a link to that article on the blog and show notes. And by the way, I did do a fact check, and this is all true. Someone caught these women with tarot cards and magical stones when they were doing a ritual. According to law officials, they violated both Russian and Islamic law. So they were tried and now going into therapy according to those two laws. And the article says that there was another incident of someone arrested for witchcraft in 2019 also in Chechnya. In Gambia in 2008, 1,000 people were kidnapped and charged with witchcraft by the government as requested by their president. Soldiers took these people to a place where they were forced to drink some poison and confess at gunpoint. After that, the witch hunt continued in Gambia, where those accused were abducted, beaten, and forced to confess. And they were still forced to drink that poison. Plus, some people died from the poison. However, this all stopped in 2015. But the president left Gambia in 2019 when he lost an election. Kenya has a long history of witch hunts where constant lynchings were happening. There are more reports of modern-day witch hunts happening in the developed world. Unfortunately, I can’t mention them all here.
As to what we can do about it, this is hard. We know that these hunts are nothing but stripping someone of their fundamental human rights. What do you all think?
Here’s S.J. Tucker with Song of the Witches.
(31:15)
Here's another dream symbol to interpret. There are three in this week's dream symbol. They are cancer, carnival, and carpet. If you dreamt that you had cancer represents grief, unforgiveness, and hopelessness. To be treated for cancer in your dreams means that there will be happy changes in your waking life. If you dreamt that someone you know has cancer, you need to change your thought process before it gets to you. Carnivals in dreams mean deceit and betrayal. To dream that you are on one of the carnival rides, in your dreams, it's telling you that something in your life is making you go round and round. If you dream that you ran away to join the carnival represents your involvement with the entertainment industry. Carpets in dreams are a way for you to protect yourself from reality. To see yourself install a carpet, it's telling you that you want to be comfortable in your life. And if you had a dream that you were on a magic carpet means that you want to get away from something happening in your life. If you want a dream symbol to interpret and maybe have a dream symbol featured; the contact information will be mentioned at the end of this show. So keep dreaming.
(34:05)
This is another story from Folktext. It's a tale from Ireland called The Witches' Excursion by Patrick Kenny.
(41:51)
That is it for this show. Again I am your host, Midnight Starr. I am still looking for someone to suggest a song, show topic, spirit guide, or dream symbol. Or, if you want to, you can like, share, or comment. And you can do that through the Music From the Goddess’ Vault Facebook page, through Goddess Vault One dot wixsite dot com forward slash home. And on Instagram and Twitter at Goddess Vault. I am going to leave you with Spiral Rhythm singing I Am Pagan. Blessed be and be safe.
Komentarze