Witches didn’t do that 500 years ago!

Witches didn’t do that 500 years ago!

This is a claim of a particularly awful meme making its rounds online.

It’s not as though meme’s are every a good way of getting spiritual information, but some of them are truly terrible.

Today I witnessed such a terrible meme that proclaimed: Witches didn’t do that 500 years ago! They didn’t need stores!

A little history, if I may…

So, for context, 500 years ago was 1522. If you were a Witch in 1522, or at least, were accused of being one, things would have ended badly for you.

Between 1522 and 1525 the Mirandola witch trials took place, and resulted in ten people (seven men, three women) being burnt at the stake.
1522 is also when Martin Luther, of Protestant fame, delivers a speech condemning Witches.

A few years later in 1525, the Witchcraft trials of Navarre would commence. Worldwide persecution and death of Witches would continue for generations.

So when people share these memes with the intention of disrespecting Witches who purchase spiritual tools and those who sell them, they are clearly oblivious to history and worse, disrespecting those who died out of a need to condemn certain practices.

Condemning certain people for a different take on their spiritual beliefs? Traditionally on the repertoire of the Witch-hunters, not the Witches themselves.

Also, just as a note, historically people would not have readily identified as a witch.
The word has been reclaimed and with it, a legacy of those who had suffered because of it.

So historically, the people from 500 years ago would marvel at the freedoms of many witches in the world today, who are free to purchase items of spiritual worth to them.

In some places in the world, even today, people accused of Witchcraft are harmed or killed. I suspect they would wish to live in a place where such ridiculous arguments are at the fore of peoples’ minds.

Then there is the matter of human evolution.
We do not live 500 years ago, we live in this moment. Did you know that most workers today enjoy less benefits and freedoms than peasants did?

Witches have always been of service.
500 years ago they would have been herbalists, healers, midwives, and spiritual leaders. They didn’t acknowledge the word witch.
Today we have artisans, crafters, creators.

Imagine for one moment celebrating that.
The ability to not only support fellow witches, but to be free to purchase spiritual goods. What a revelation!