Witches have long been feared and hated in Christian circles. Even today, pagans and Wiccans remain a target of Christian persecution -- especially in America. It seems that they long ago took on an identity which reached far beyond their own existence and became a symbol for Christians -- but a symbol of what? Maybe an examination of the events will give us some clues.
The creation of the concept of devil-worship, followed by its persecution, allowed the church to more easily subordinate people to authoritarian control and openly denigrate women. Most of what was passed off as witchcraft were simply fictional creations of the church, but some of it was genuine or almost-genuine practices of pagans and wiccans.
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