purified. Some tortures included strapping the accused's feet in a pair of metal boots and then filling the boots with boiling hot oil. The accused were often whipped for their purification, sometimes they were left out in the open for hours after having been whipped while the torturers went out to lunch. They had to hang there and wait until they returned and often they received additional torture after their wait just to be certain they had been purified. Tortures were so extreme that many people took their practices underground to avoid the Inquisition. Tyagi stated on his website on witchcraft that up to 90% of the people executed probably were not witches. They were innocents who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, or have some abnormal traits or habits, or even just being the wrong person could be a sufficient reason. It was not until after the Salem witch trials that people really started to see how foolish the entire witch-hunt was. By then, the entire witchcraft population had been either killed or scared off by the hunters.But, even after the trials, people still practiced the rituals and beliefs. It became a family religion, passed down from generation to generation. It also stayed alive in small isolated areas where it was practiced in folk customs and in their celebrations and festivals. It just proves the incredible integrity of those involved. Those who still secretly practiced witchcraft kept their secret for many years. It was not until after World War I that witchcraft started to make a comeback. Even then it was still kept underground for fear of it losing its spiritual inspiration if it was practiced publicly and for an audience. By the 1960's witches began to feel free enough to practice the Craft openly, and by the 1970's there were many public groups. Quite a few of these groups were feminists who had adopted witchcraft as a feminist movement. Witchcraft started to return at this ti...
