Maybe try the HTML version at - www.perceptions.couk.com/witchcraft.html for the links and perhaps better readability Demonizing the helpless - for Profit & Power A Dark Age "The Europeans did three things which set them far apart from most other peoples at most other times and places. Between 1500 and 1700 they set sail in tall ships and colonized [enslaved] the far corners of the globe. They made stunning strides forward in the sciences. And they executed tens of thousands of people, mainly women, as witches." "Philosophy" vol. 73, no. 284 (April 1998) p. 199. Karen Green and John Bigelow, `Does Science Persecute Women? - The Case of the 16th-17th Century Witch-Hunts' ---------------------------------------------- "Perceptions" note It's not credible for the real rulers of Europe, big landowners, `aristocracy' and `royalty', to have believed in "witchcraft" Just as it's obvious that the local "police-of-the-day" - bailiffs, magistrates, and judges - had no fear of retribution for their torture and murder of many, many elderly women: so they clearly also didn't believe in "witchcraft". So what were the true reasons for this shameful episode: two centuries of torture and slaughter of mostly uneducated and helpless women? Europe - and especially Britain - was undergoing a takeover by wealthy land-grabbers whose operations concentrated on plunder of the ancient system of "commoners' grazing rights" and poor families' inheritance of small subdivided plots around the edges of hamlets and villages. The larger tracts of "common land" had already been pilfered away from the people by the infamous `Enclosure Acts'. Remember, in those days "parliament" was elected only by the rich - and so only served the rich. (How things have changed - ha!) [ Much as `privatizers' of public utilities enrich themselves today, at the same time claiming "public service" motives ] But the population growth of several centuries meant that many or most poor families still retained legal ownership or `tenure' of small plots of land which were now under growing housing pressures. At the same time, an uneducated & therefore credulous population was held in thrall by the priests and churches - long allied with the rich and powerful. See http://www.perceptions.couk.com/pauline.html http://www.perceptions.couk.com/talltales.html http://www.perceptions.couk.com/pervs.html Then as now, with the right to grab all `common land' and ancient rights as a prize, the "authorities" used their propaganda powers to create fears in the population which "authority" then cited as justification for torture and murder of thousands of elderly people, mainly old women. Why old women? Simple demographics:- peasant women who did not die in childbirth could be expected to live five, ten or twenty years longer than the average male worker. So those small-holdings would eventually pass through a stage of legal ownership by poor (uneducated and vulnerable) old women, before passing-on inheritance to their families. So elderly women were made the "terrorists" of their day - a claim made by the magistrates, priests and judges on behalf of the large land-owners: the real, but covert, leaders of conspiracy. All those `small-holdings' were gradually stolen thru "legal" confiscation by the rich and powerful - the old and new aristocracy of usurers. See http://www.perceptions.couk.com/genes2.html#aca http://www.perceptions.couk.com/causes.html#2 In five or ten short generations of corrupt "trials", with accusations accepted from paid informers, from copy-cat children, even from families of bailiffs, magistrates & judges, with "confessions" gotten by physical torture of frail old women, [and sexual abuse and torture of the few younger women], eventually there were no land rights remaining to poor people. After about 1730, "witchcraft trials" in Europe ceased. Creation of a fake "enemy" and use of church and state proganda, all combined to steal from the poor, to increase the subjugation of the people, and to take away the existing rights of the population. Strangely today's academics and media (both controlled / owned by the rich and powerful) completely fail to spot the obvious linkages revealed by "Perceptions" analysis. Things don't change too much, do they? "At the back of every great social evil will be found a great political wrong" - (Google) from A.R. Wallace ----------- Reasons for corruption of "frontier states" at http://www.perceptions.couk.com/cycle.txt ----------- "Perceptions" note 2 We see that a corrupt establishment of landowners, `aristocracy', `royalty' plus corrupt legal machinery of `bailiffs', `magistrates', `judges' plus a corrupt `Church' were all necessary for "witchcraft trials". Proof? - "Witchcraft trials" never extended to "frontier areas" Why? 1) land was effectively "free" 2) frontier folk were also temporarily free of the "establishment" But the same technique was used by the establishment to demonize the original (real?) owners of frontier land: the native peoples - who also mainly held their lands "in common". See http://www.perceptions.couk.com/cycle.txt The corrupt European establishment branded native peoples as "pagans" or "devil-worshippers" etc. to justify stealing their land by colonization. We forecast that establishment will be making long-term plans to use a similar `demonizing' ploy if/when other planets come within their reach. In fact, that might be happening right now. See http://www.perceptions.couk.com/exosci.html ------------------------------------------------------- "Perceptions" note Do folk know when they're in a `dark age'? - No. All they see is their rulers stealing and murdering a bit more than usual, and justifying that by a "War on - Saracens / Witchcraft / Terrorism etc. And a lot of rubbish gets written `as-true' because the writers would get fired / oppressed / killed if they wrote the truth. That's what people actually see inside a `dark age'. Analysis of some "dark ages" including "witchcraft trials" and other "Inquisitions" with their causes, can be found at www.perceptions.couk.com/subindex.html#dark and www.perceptions.couk.com/bburn.txt "Perhaps in time the so-called Dark Ages will be thought of as including our own." - Georg C. Lichtenberg ------------------------------------------------------- Maybe try the HTML version at - www.perceptions.couk.com/witchcraft.html for the links and perhaps better readability ------------------------------------------------------- FURTHER REFERENCES GO - "search perceptions" - in SEARCH-ENGINE file-ID www.perceptions.couk.com/dkage2.txt