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In the early days when Wicca was first becoming popular there was a school of thought that it would be a good thing to tie this new religion to older practices and the myth that the Witches burned in the Middle Ages were the surviving members of a cult of a Great Goddess and were just like modern Wiccans.

The vast majority of Wiccans no longer buy into the concept of the Witch hunts having anything to do with Wicca or even really with Witchcraft. Research has shown over the years that this history was false and that most of those who died during the Witch hunts weren't even Pagan at all. Nor were they all women. In fact in Germany the number of men and women who were killed was about equal; while in Iceland it was almost all men. Further, the old number of "9 million" suggested by Wiccans is grossly over-estimated. There weren't even that many people in all of Europe at that time.

Here are some articles that help clear up the truth of those years:

"The Great European Witch Hunt" - http://www.tangledmoon.org/witchhunt.htm

"The Burning Times" - https://www.valdobson.co.uk/the-burning-times/

"The Burning Times Myth" - http://erinsjournal.com/the-burning-times-myth