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Started by: Ebonyriver Sent: 23/02/2001 11:07 20 Replies
Thought this site needed some cheering up, what with the Darnabal and now the Penguines...
Well, i was reading some of the old posts...and one person asked if Witchcraft was illegal,, and that reminded me...The Witchcraft laws were repealled 50 years ago this June (god, my spellings crap.) So in answer to that question - yes, witchcraft is legal, and has been for the last 50 years.
Sorry to all those who already knew this - but isn't that a great reason to party? Better start planning now.....
Eb xx

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From: Dionne Sent: 23/02/2001 11:20 1 of 20
Absolutely!...excellent reason!

I think although lots of people still think we're devil worshippers....witchcraft/paganism/shamanism is much more widely accepted now than it used to be, & people are actually beginning to understand that we don't sacrifice our pets, fly around on broomsticks or turn people into toads!!
It's probably partly due to the excellent books that are available now.

Does anyone know the exact date that witchcraft became legal?...

I say...PARTY!!!

love & light...

Dionne

From: Akasha Sent: 23/02/2001 11:30 2 of 20
i believe it was some time in jan or early feb, will check my calendar

From: Katrina Sent: 23/02/2001 22:08 3 of 20
It was me who asked if it was illegal (panicking when you know who was arrested in a barn - had visions of all of us being traced through the community site and rounded up). Amazing it's only 50 years ago - were people thrown into jail before that? Like you said - a good reason for a celebration!
Katrina

From: munkipoo Sent: 24/02/2001 02:57 4 of 20
erm no they didnt put us in jail.....they preferred it if we hung around for a bit or got kinda charred and crispy.......

mmmmmmmmmmmmm.....roasted dead person......sorry

From: GothsChilde Sent: 24/02/2001 11:41 5 of 20
lmao at munki. What Penguines??? What did I miss.........???????!!!!!! Hehhe

From: Katrina Sent: 24/02/2001 18:06 6 of 20
I know witches were hanged or burned, Munki, but at some point that stopped. That law must have been repealed. What I meant was, what happened if a witch was arrested in say 1947? It seems amazing that only that recently it was illegal to be a witch. Mind you, it seems amazing that only recently you could get sent to jail for being gay.
Katrina

From: Ranatash Sent: 24/02/2001 20:19 7 of 20
Hi all

Found this after hours of searching the web. The Witchcraft Act was finaly repealed on the 22 june 1951. Below is a copy of the two Acts there may be more but not found them yet.

The source of this information is: http://www.corvardus.f9.co.uk/religion/wicca/witch1736.htm

I'm really enjoying my journey of documenting how i came to the craft and all of my old pratices.

Brightest Blessings to all

Ranatash

Witchcraft Act of 1604 - 1 Jas. I, c. 12

An Acte against conjuration Witchcrafte and dealinge with evill and wicked Spirits.

BE it enacted by the King our Sovraigne Lorde the Lordes Spirituall and Temporall and the Comons in this p'sent Parliment assembled, and by the authoritie of the same, That the Statute made in the fifte yeere of the Raigne of our late Sov'aigne Ladie of the most famous and happy memorie Queene Elizabeth, intituled An Acte againste Conjurations Inchantments and witchcraftes, be from the Feaste of St. Michaell the Archangell nexte cominge, for and concerninge all Offences to be comitted after the same Feaste, utterlie repealed.

AND for the better restrayning of saide Offenses, and more severe punishinge the same, be it further enacted by the authoritie aforesaide, That if any pson or persons after the saide Feaste of Saint Michaell the Archangell next comeing, shall use practise or exercsise any Invocation or Conjuration of any evill and spirit, or shall consult covenant with entertaine employ feede or rewarde any evill and wicked Spirit to or for any intent or pupose ; or take any dead man woman or child out of his her or theire grave or any other place where the dead body resteth, or the skin, bone or any other parte of any dead person, to be imployed or used in any manner of Witchecrafte, Sorcerie, Charme or Inchantment ; or shall use practise or exercise any Witchcrafte Sorcerie, Charme or Incantment wherebie any pson shall be killed destroyed wasted consumed pined or lamed in his or her bodie, or any parte therof ; then that everie such Offendor or Offendors theire Ayders Abettors and Counsellors, being of the saide Offences dulie and lawfullie convicted and attainted, shall suffer pains of deathe as a Felon or Felons, and shall loose the priviledge and benefit of Cleargie and Sanctuarie.

AND FURTHER, to the intent that all manner of practise use or exercise of declaring by Witchcrafte, Inchantment Charme or Sorcerie should be from henceforth utterlie avoyded abolished and taken away, Be it enacted by the authorite of this p'sent Parliament, that if any pson or psons shall from and after the saide Feaste of Saint Michaell the Archangell next cominge, take upon him or them by Witchcrafte Inchantment Charme or Sorcerie to tell or declare in what place any treasure of Golde or silver should or had in the earth or other secret places, or where Goodes or Thinges loste or stollen should be founde or become ; or to the intent to Pvoke any person to unlawfull love, or wherebie and Cattell or Goods of any pson shall be destroyed wasted or impaired, or to hurte or destroy any Pson in his bodie, although the same be not effected and done : that then all and everie such pson or psons so offendinge, and beinge therof lawfullie convicted , shall for the said Offence suffer Imprisonment by the space of one whole yeere, without baile or maineprise, and once in everie quarter of the saide yeere, shall in some Markett Towne, upon the Markett Day, or at such tyme as any Faire shalbe kept there, stande openlie upon the Pillorie by the space of sixe houres, and there shall openlie confesse his or her error and offence ; And if any pson or psons beinge once convicted of the same offences as is aforesaide, doe eftsones ppetrate and comit the like offence, that then everie such Offender, beinge of the saide offences the second tyme lawfullie and duelie convicted and attainted as is aforesaide, shall suffer paines of deathe as a Felon or Felons, and shall loose the benefitt and priviledge of Clergie and Sanctuarie : Saving to the wife of such person as shall offend in any thinge contrarie to this Acte ; her title of dower ; and also to the heire and successor of everie such person his or theire titles of Inheritance Succession and other Rights, as though no such Attaindor or the Ancestor or Predecessor had been made ; Provided alwaies that if the offender in any cases aforesaide shall happen to be a Peere of this Realme, then his Triall therein is to be had by his Peeres, as it is used in cases of Felonie or Treason and not otherwise.

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NOTES
According to the Journal of the House of Lords this Bill was read for the first time on 2th March 1604 and committed on 29th March. However, having been considered and found to be imperfect, a new Bill was brought in on 2nd April. On 7th May amendments were read and the Bill appointed to be engrossed. On 11th May it was read in the House of Commons for the first
time. A month later it was passed and was returned to the Lords.

Transcript of Witchcraft Act of 1736

"An Act to repeal the Statute made in the First Year of the Reign of King James the First, intituled, An Act against Conjuration, Witchcraft, and dealing with evil and wicked Spirits, except so much thereof as repeals an Act of the Fifth Year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, Against Conjurations, Inchantments, and Witchcrafts, and to repeal an Act passed in the Parliament
of Scotland in the Ninth Parliament of Queen Mary, intituled, Anentis Witchcrafts, and for punishing such Persons as pretend to exercise or use any kind of Witchcraft, Sorcery, Inchantment, or Conjuration.

Be it enacted by the King's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the Authority of the same, That the Statute made in the First Year of the Reign of King James the First, intituled, An Act against Conjuration, Witchcaft, and dealing with evil and wicked Spirits, shall, from the Twenty-fourth Day of June next, be repealed and utterly void, and of none effect (except so much thereof as repeals the Statute made in the Fifth Year of the Reign of Queen Elizabeth) intituled, An Act against Conjurations, Inchantments, and Witchcrafts.

And be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That from and after the said Twenty-fourth Day of June, the Act passed in the Parliament of Scotland, in the Ninth Parliament of Queen Mary, intituled, Anentis Witchcrafts, shall be, and is hereby repealed. And be it further enacted, That from and after the said Twenty-fourth Day of June, no Prosecution, Suit, or Proceeding, shall be commenced or carried on against any Person or Persons for Witchcraft, Sorcery, Inchantment, or Conjuration, or for charging another with any such Offence, in any Court whatsoever in Great Britain.

And for the more effectual preventing and punishing of any Pretences to such Arts or Powers as are before mentioned, whereby ignorant Persons are frequently deluded and defrauded; be it further enacted by the Authority aforesaid, That if any Person shall, from and after the said Twenty-fourth Day of June, pretend to exercise or use any kind of Witchcraft, Sorcery, Inchantment, or Conjuration, or undertake to tell Fortunes, or pretend, from his or her Skill or Knowledge in any occult or crafty Science, to discover where or in what manner any Goods or Chattels, supposed to have been stolen or lost, may be found, every Person, so offending, being thereof lawfully convicted on Indictment or Information in that part of Great Britain called England, or on Indictment or Libel in that part of Great Britain called Scotland, shall, for every such Offence, suffer Imprisonment by the Space of one whole Year without Bail or Mainprize, and once in every Quarter of the said Year, in some Market Town of the proper County, upon the Market Day, there stand openly on the Pillory by the Space of One Hour, and also shall (if the Court by which such Judgement shall be given shall think fit) be obliged to give Sureties for his or her good Behaviour, in such Sum, and for such Time, as the said Court shall judge proper according to the Circumstances of the Offence, and in such case shall be further imprisoned until such Sureties be given.

From: Katrina Sent: 24/02/2001 20:44 8 of 20
What an interesting document! And the 22nd June falls on a Friday this year - definitely a good night for a party!
Katrina

From: Mel Sent: 24/02/2001 21:58 9 of 20
it sound a great excuse to celebrate summer solstice at the same time.
that calls for a hell of a big piss up.

mel

From: The Flame Haired Lovely Sent: 25/02/2001 12:49 10 of 20
Fab idea! Why don't we arrange for a massive community moot for then at one of the henges and camp there, and hold a 'service' for want of a better word. Over to you Dionne!

Also someone mentioned about being gay was illeagal till recently. Technically it still is. The law actually states that only in the privacy of you own home is legal to practise homosexuality. So every time I go to a bar and chat someone up, I am technically breaking the law and can imprisoned for upto 10 years, if I kiss them, another 10 etc... Also if in the privacy of my own home, some breaks in and see's me having sex with my partner, the intruder can have ME arrested for indecent behavior. Equality for gays is no where near being here. The only grace that we have is that these laws are very rarely acted upon, but the threat is still there.

Sorry I'll get off my soap box now, but great idea for a party!

Scott

From: Akasha Sent: 25/02/2001 12:54 11 of 20
ooh! no wonder me and jen get funny looks when we get affectionate in public. i assume this applies to lesbians too? i know we dont have a legal age of consent, but then how do you define "sexual intercourse" between women.

From: The Flame Haired Lovely Sent: 25/02/2001 13:11 12 of 20
No the laws don't apply to lesbians. Because when the laws were passed Queen Victoria refused to believe that lesbianism existed. So it is only Gay men who can be prosecuted under these laws. Another example of British fair mindedness ;-)

From: Akasha Sent: 25/02/2001 13:19 13 of 20
oh dear, that means that people are looking at us funny cos they are ignorant and small minded, bugger. i think they find us wierd cos we are not your average shaved heads and dungaree types, in fact individually we probably look very straight.
as for the legal thing i sympathise, that stinks if your a bloke, but im not so power to the rugmunchers!

From: Akasha Sent: 25/02/2001 13:25 14 of 20
whops that sounds a bit harsh, you know im playing

From: Ookster Sent: 25/02/2001 18:05 15 of 20

I'd be really interested to know on what date and also under what act the modern legalised witchcraft law was passed-eg, is it called 'Freedom of Religion Act or anything like that?

Also,and bearing in mund what a severely bad memory I have, isn't this all something to do with a scottish woman who was purported to be a witch and put on trial just after the war?

Does this ring any bells with anyone?

Ookster =^..^=

From: Ranatash Sent: 25/02/2001 19:14 16 of 20
Hi
yes it does your proberly thinking of Helen Duncan. You can read about her story here: http://members.tripod.com/~helenduncan/index.html
Brightest Blessings,
Ranatash

From: The Flame Haired Lovely Sent: 25/02/2001 20:31 17 of 20
lol Course I know ur joking. Just coz i don't like fishing, don't mean others can't have a go. To be fair, fortunately British law doesn't reflect British opinion. I have often pulled in 'straight clubs' and at Slinky's was even getting off with a guy I pulled in the middle of the dance floor...well trying to cos people kept coming up to us and 'patting us on the back'. I'm finding that people are getting more and more liberal. How about u?

From: Dionne Sent: 25/02/2001 21:51 18 of 20
CAMPING!

Ooops...sorry...didn't mean to shout...but I got lost in the messages & started to panic!

Who said camping? *starts to tremble* ....henges...tents....summer...ok, so it's starting to sound better! lol

We should do something to celebrate!....any ideas?...answers on a postcard....

From: Akasha Sent: 25/02/2001 23:04 19 of 20
i find we get a lot of funny looks, even if we are just out shopping holding hands, though i think thats cos we defy the stereotype, i think they are just trying to figure us out. some people say that we look alike so basically we could be friends, sisters or lovers!
AMusingly enough, the strangest reaction we ever got was in a womens club! we were the only ones there who didnt look like men, and they looked at us like we were aliens, so we are now fairly non scene! oh.when we first got together we were in ibiza town, we spent most of the night snogging on the side of the road, now i know what it feels like to be in a zoo! not that we gave a monkeys at the time!
as for gay guys in straight clubs; most of my gay lad mates wont go near a straight club, ive been dragged out of a club cos one of em said it was "too heterosexual"!

im not gay, im heterosexually challlenged!
kash

From: The Flame Haired Lovely Sent: 25/02/2001 23:16 20 of 20
Actually I've had a lesbian friend had a go at in a gay pub, by other lesbians, for 'pretending to be a lesbian' (coz she dressed femme) and she had mostly gay male friends. As far as they were concerened she was a fag hag pretending to be a lesbian. All becoz she didn't fit into the sereotype.

I've got to say there are some clubs I won't goto coz it too straight. But there are a lot of 'straight' clubs in B/mouth that are gay friendly...because the other people there allow us to be so. And as long as we don't hunt down the straight guys trying to convert them they'll laugh, joke etc... alomg with us. It's kinda hope it's how the world will be one day. No gay pubs, no straight pubs... just people pubs. Where everyone can just be themselves.

Idealism hey

Scott