Nice poem Steve..
What you have to remember that in the days before equality woman were always viewed from the standpoint of being a dog. In short you did as you were told when you were told, the man was the master so to speak. As st paul put woman are to keep silent within the congregation and learn from their husbands, or some such fiddle faddle anyway.
May accused witches as I’ve alread mentioned were actually nothing more than healers and midwives, in a male dominated sociaty for a woman to be able to do something better than a man was a big no no. Witchcraft accusations were also a way of getting rid of people quickly too.
It was men who made out the witch was some evil devil loving creature, and that all witches are ugly old crones.. Well I’m not exactly a prize pig but I’m not covered in warts and riding about on a broomstick either (well not after the Samhain incident with the tree last year anyway. Flying face first into a tree hurts like buggery.)
The truth behind witchcraft is very different, for a start off witches do not worship the Devil, that is satanists and we have nothing to do with that side of this, as satanists worship the Anti christ. We do not except that Jesus was the son of God so therefore we don’t except there is an anti christ either.
We except Jesus was a man, born from the union of a man and woman. We also except that he was killed by the romans, but nothing else. There is no God or Heaven just as there is no Devil or Hell. That is a Christain ethos NOT a Pagan/Wiccan ethos.

We venerate and revere, Mother Nature, she is part of us and we are part of her, we work with her and she works with us. In short we are one and the same. Woman play a large part in our lives for are we not the bringer of life, does not life spring from our wombs. but at the same time in order for that to happen men produce the seed to allow life to flourish. We are all equal, a balance that is needed to keep life going.
There 5 basic elements needed for life to flourish, Earth, Air, Fire and Water the last element is Life, but without the other 4 elements life will cease to exist.
Margot Adler says it much better than I ever could.
“We are not evil. We don’t harm or seduce people
. We are not dangerous. We are ordinary people like you.
We have families, jobs, hopes, and dreams. We are not a cult.
This religion is not a joke. We are not what you think we are from looking at T.V.
We are real. We laugh, we cry. We are serious. We have a sense of humor.
You don’t have to be afraid of us. We don’t want to convert you.
And please don’t try to convert us.
Just give us the same right we give you–to live in peace.
We are much more similar to you than you think.”
“We should educate people that ‘Witch’ is not evil but ancient and positive.
The first time I called myself a ‘Witch’ was the most magical moment of my life.”

Margot Adler – Wiccan Priestess

“When one defines oneself as Pagan, it means she or he follows an earth or nature religion,
one that sees the divine manifest in all creation.
The cycles of nature are our holy days, the earth is our temple,
its plants and creatures our partners and teachers.
We worship a deity that is both male and female, a mother Goddess and father God,
who together created all that is, was, or will be.
We respect life, cherish the free will of sentient beings, and accept the sacredness of all creation.”

Edain McCoy – Wiccan Author

“If you take [a copy of] the Christian Bible and put it out in the wind and the rain,
soon the paper on which the words are printed will disintegrate and the words will be gone.
Our bible IS the wind and the rain.”

Quote from Herbalist Carol McGrath as told to her by a Native American woman.

These are the lyrics of a song called Burning Times by Incubus Sucubus

Forget not the days of old
And recall the stories told
Of the burnings and the screams
Do they ever haunt your dreams?

There was a time when freedom died
It was an age of genocide
The Inquisition at the door
The Church of Rome in a holy war

They broke children on the wheel
In the madness of their zeal
In the shadow of their wake
The innocent burning at the stake

Children resist a return to the burning times
People be wise to the power of their lies
Be not fooled as those who were fooled before
Children, oh children, be free, be wild

They came to bring the good news
To burn witches, pagans, Jews
Said they were the Shepherds sheep
Whipped old women through the streets

Then the turning of the tide
From the truth they could not hide
Now the darkest age has passed
The Goddess has returned at last!

This is from another book the name of the author escapes me for the moment.

Embracing the goddess energy within yourselves
Will bring all of you to a new understanding and valuing of life
A vision that inspires you to live and love on Planet Earth
Like a priceless jewel buried in dark layers of soil and stone

Earth radiates her brilliant beauty into the caverns of space and time
Perhaps you are aware of those who watch over your home
And experience it as a place to visit and play with reality
You are becoming aware of yourself as a game master

Imagine Earth restored to her real beauty
Steady trees seem to brush the deep blue sky
The clouds billow to form majestic peaks
The songs of birds fill the air

Creating a symphony upon symphony
The goddess is calling for an honoring
Of what she allows to be created
Through the form of strength and blood
Those who own the planet are learning about love

I am proud to call myself a witch, but like the the woman of old world time I too am a healer. I do not harm anyone or anything.
It is a powerful thing, but more from the point of view that I can say it loud and proud, without fear of being lynched.
Ok Boleyn time to get down off your soap box.