Clearing The Past by Angie Skelhorn

Witches are real people.  In the 14th century persecution of supposed witches began. During the 16th and 17th century the witch hunt reached its peak.

On September 20, 2007, the Swiss parliament decided to acknowledge that the execution of Anna Goeli, the last witch executed in Europe, was a miscarriage of justice.

Anna Goeldi arrived in the tiny Swiss canton of Glarus in 1765 looking for employment as a maid. She found work with Jakob Tschudi, the magistrate and rising political figure of the time. Anna's physical attributes were not lost on Jakob. She worked and carried on an affair with her employer for seventeen years.

One morning one of the Tschudi children found a needle in her milk. Two days later needles appeared in the bread. Suspicion fell on Anna. When she was fired from her position, the Tschudi's accused Anna of witchcraft in an alleged case of non-lethal poisoning.

Jakob had a motive for his accusation. He didn't want revealed that he had an ongoing affair with Anna. He wanted her gone. Adultery was a crime then. He knew accusing her of being an evil witch was a legal way to rid of her.

Anna Goeldi insisted she was innocent. Religious and political leaders of Glarus had her hung by her thumbs and tied stones to her feet.

When she finally confessed she told her accusers what they wanted to hear. She claimed that the devil had appeared to her in the form of a black dog. The needles had been given to her by Satan.

Once freed from torture she withdrew her confession.

They tortured her so brutally that she confessed all over again. Two weeks later Anna was led out to the public square where her head was cut off with a sword.

Two hundred and twenty-five years later the decision to clear Anna Goeldi finally came after a long debate with the Protestant and Roman Catholic churches.

Anna was probably uneducated by books. She spent her days doing housework and outdoors tending to farm chores, she grew produce, feasted on preserves, quilted and crafted. Like most women of her time she was a scholar of what she took from the land to cook and preserve; mending wardrobe; and healing and ministering to sick animals. Talismans, amulets, and charms were worn to attract health, wealth and love.

Those who had ongoing disagreements with neighbors were subjected to wildly inaccurate accusations because practicing the craft was an effective way to rid one of a foe.

In the midst of all the controversy the witches kept their belief to worship and personify the sun, moon, fire, wind and water. Witches had a strong commitment to attract the positive and keep the negative at bay. The secret knowledge was passed down from one generation to the next masked by family traditions so their faith would survive. The practice of witchcraft has lasted through history against the odds. Witches survived the brink of extinction.

I knew very little about my heritage while growing up. To be honest, I thought witches and witchcraft were something found in fables. In early 1996 an elderly woman I briefly knew opened my mind to white witchcraft. She explained that everything is composed of energy that can be tapped into to support positive or negative change to occur.

Being in touch with the past empowered me to a better future. I read literature on the way of the craft-magic, rituals, lessons of nature, mythology and customs. My personal exploration revealed the secret of my heritage.

My great grandmother, Margaret Mary Harris, my father's ancestor, was born in Dublin. She arrived in Canada from England by boat in 1912. Unfortunately very little is known of my mother's ancestors' arrival except that the earliest member of her family documented was a female, born in either the town or county of Berwick, Scotland, in 1799. Traditional and hereditary witches are found in the British Isles and Europe. I am a witch who openly practices Earth magic. I am honored to be grouped with those women who sacrificed all in the name of the Goddess and God and all that is good.

Today there are more women practicing witchcraft than ever before; a recognized spiritual faith; a way of life openly lived without bias on the part of the law. This is compliments of those who came before me.

Author Bio: Angie Skelhorn is the fifth child born into a farming family located south of Peterborough, Ontario, Canada. She became fascinated with witchcraft; the lifestyle, beliefs, customs and traditions. Her love of nature, imagination, and her desire to share knowledge of witchcraft became evident in her written material. She is hard at work on her novel, "On The Edge."