The witch hunts were never about magic—they were about control

Part two: The witch hunts

Welcome to the second email in this series, Threads of Remembrance, where we are tracing the deliberate erasure of the Sacred Feminine from history and show how that erasure still shapes modern U.S. politics, power structures and the culture. 

When we remember our history, we remember our power, and cultivate the capacity to be with discomfort.

When we can see connections, we are armed with knowledge and confidence to stand up to oppression.

When we take in the metaphors of the sacred feminine, we remember who we are and our unique role in these times.

Before we dive in, a note on imperfection. 

This series will not be perfect. It’s important to remember that the very conditioning we are exposing—the demand for perfection, the fear of being wrong, the hesitation to step into leadership—is what keeps so many of us from speaking up in the first place. So, here we are, let’s dive into today’s journey — The Witch Hunts, and the malicious political backstory…

There was a time when women whispered healing prayers over fevered bodies, when they spoke to the land and listened for its answers, when they guided souls into the world and back out again.

And then came the flames.

Between the 15th and 18th centuries, hundreds of thousands of women—likely far more—were executed for witchcraft across Europe and colonial America.

They weren’t casting spells to cause harm. They weren’t summoning demons. Most were:

Healers—women who practiced plant medicine, midwifery, and the old ways of tending the body.

Spiritual leaders—women who carried sacred feminine wisdom beyond the grasp of the Church.

Independent women—widows, unmarried women, women landowners, and those who refused to bow.

The witch hunts were never about magic. They were about power. They were about control.

To know without permission.

To heal without sanction.

To exist beyond the control of men.

That was the crime. And the punishment was death.

The Witch Hunts Were State-Sanctioned Gender Terrorism

The witch trials were not random hysteria. They were deliberate, systematic campaigns to silence women, sever intergenerational knowledge, and enforce submission.

The Witch hunts were fueled and carried out by the Catholic Church and its army, The Inquisition, monarchs, most notably King James VI of Scotland and Emperor Leopold of the Holy Roman Empire, and local governments, hungry for land, money and control. 

In England, under the Witchcraft Act of 1563, women were legally executed for causing misfortune or illness—charges often used to steal land from widows and the unmarried, which forced women into the role of wife and mother. This put all land in the hands of men and forced women into the sole role of procreating a workforce. 

In Germany, over 25,000 people (mostly women) were burned alive or tortured to death to destroy female-led healing, spiritual authority, and communal leadership.

In Scotland, the Witchcraft Act of 1563 criminalized midwifery, herbalism, and divination—breaking the lineage of women who had long been the keepers of birth and medicine.

In Salem, Massachusetts, Puritan law declared women “more susceptible to the Devil.” The first accused—Tituba, Sarah Good, and Sarah Osborne—were targeted because they were outsiders, poor, or simply ungovernable.

Later in the series we explore how these same patriarchal leaders are connected to colonization and enslavement of indigenous people, and the erasure of the sacred feminine all over the world.

The message was clear: women with knowledge, influence, or autonomy were a threat. And threats had to be extinguished.

This is not ancient history.

The Witch Wound: Why the Fear Still Lives in Us

The witch hunts did not end with fire and rope. Their trauma has been carried forward, passed down through generations, woven into the fabric of how women relate to power, to visibility, to each other.

This is the Witch Wound—an ancestral fear that whispers:

Do not be seen. Visibility is danger. It is safer to stay small, to be liked, to soften your edges.

Do not be independent. Your worth is based on being a wife and a mother.

Do not trust other women. They will betray you to save themselves. Competition is safer than sisterhood.

Do not claim your power. Women who stand too boldly are punished. Those who defy the order of things will be cast out.

But here is the truth: it is no longer unsafe. It is just uncomfortable.

The stake, the gallows, the noose—these punishments no longer loom over us. And yet, the fear remains, coiled in our bones, whispering, warning.

And so we must ask ourselves: Are we willing to trade power for comfort? Or are we ready to reclaim what was stolen?

How the Witch Hunts Created the World We Live In

The same forces that burned women at the stake still shape the world today. The persecution of women who step outside traditional roles didn’t end—it just evolved.

Women in power are still vilified. Every woman who has sought leadership—from Hillary Clinton to Kamala Harris—has faced relentless attacks. The same accusations thrown at so-called “witches” now manifest as claims of being “untrustworthy,” “corrupt,” or “too ambitious.” The mob that once called for women to burn, now calls for them to be silenced, discredited, erased.

Reproductive rights are under siege. The belief that women cannot be trusted with their own bodies has direct roots in witch trial ideology. In the 17th century, midwives were accused of sorcery for controlling birth outcomes—today, that same distrust fuels abortion bans, forced birth policies, and maternal health crises. The same religious justifications once used to execute women for “unnatural” behavior now underlie policies that criminalize reproductive autonomy.

Patriarchal control is codified into law. Just as the Witchcraft Acts once made it illegal for women to heal, the laws being passed today—restricting reproductive healthcare, banning sex education, and criminalizing trans identity—are designed to sever people from autonomy over their bodies. The aim is the same: to enforce submission, to punish those who resist, to consolidate power.

Women who challenge male authority are still met with persecution—whether in the form of trials in 1692 or Supreme Court rulings in 2024.

Reclaiming Our Power: Reflection & Action

Some say: We are the descendants of the women they could not burn.

Some say:  We are the women they did burn, back from the dead.

Either way, we remember.

Healing the Witch Wound requires us to recognize where it still lives within us—and to break the cycle, once and for all.

1. Restore the Sacred Feminine in Leadership

When you see a woman in power being dismissed or attacked, how do you react? Do you defend her? Do you hesitate? Do you unknowingly participate?

What stories have you internalized about women in leadership? Have you ever judged a woman for being “too ambitious” or “too emotional”?

How can you begin to amplify and support women’s voices in your community?

2. Take Direct Action for Women’s Rights

Do you know the current laws in your state restricting reproductive healthcare, gender-affirming care, or contraception?

What organizations, abortion funds, or community-led groups need your support right now? Can you contribute—financially, with time, or by spreading awareness?

What is one political action you can commit to in the next month—whether it’s writing to a legislator, supporting a woman candidate, or attending a rally?

3. Heal the Witch Wound in Yourself

Where do you hesitate to use your voice for fear of being “too much”?

Have you ever shrunk yourself to avoid making others uncomfortable?

How has fear of judgment or persecution stopped you from stepping fully into your power?

If you released the fear of rejection, what would you do differently?

We must remind ourselves, again and again:

It is no longer unsafe. It is just uncomfortable.

Women were burned for their knowledge, for their intuition, for their defiance.

What was once punishable by death is now our greatest weapon.

It is time to reclaim it.

4. Hold the vision.

What is the world you want to see? When you close your eyes and imagine a society that supports women and all gender expressions, what does it look like? What does it feel like? What is true about workplace culture? Politics? Dynamics inside families? Is there any piece of this vision that you feel called to start creating in your life and community today? 

What Comes Next

The witch hunts were not just about fear—they were about control. And that control did not end with the burning of women’s bodies. It continued through the erasure of their voices, their leadership, their wisdom.

In our next Thread, we’ll explore how one of the most powerful women in history—Mary Magdalene—was rewritten, diminished, and cast out of her own story. We’ll unravel how the Church erased the Feminine Christ, how that erasure became the foundation of patriarchal Christianity, and why reclaiming her now is essential to restoring balance in a world still shaped by male-only rule.

Because the suppression of women’s power did not begin with the witch hunts—and it did not end there either.

With love and fire,

Sarah & Kelly

How to Join Us in Ceremony

Our upcoming full-day Ceremony, REMEMBER, at Old South Church in Boston is happening April 28. A gathering of 800 women, reclaiming what was lost. Join us.

ICYMI:

Introduction: An invitation to Remember

Part one: When God became a man — the first erasure