Chapter 5

The panel discussion on the Salem witch-hunts finally got going, almost ten minutes after its scheduled start time. The panel consisted of three women: a feminist author, a university historian, and a Wiccan priestess. Despite their different backgrounds, they were all of one mind on the subject of anti-witch hysteria. It was their unanimous consensus that witch-hunts had nothing to do with religious belief and everything to do with hatred of women. Throughout history, if you dig into the facts deeply enough, it becomes obvious that all the anti-witch campaigns were organized by psychopathic, sexually inhibited males who were terrified by the idea of powerful women.

As the academic put it: “To many men, the word ‘witch’ is simply a synonym of ‘slut’, while ‘slut’ itself is a synonym of ‘dangerously empowered woman.”

“That makes me a slut,” Abigail whispered into Tara’s ear. Tara shivered as she felt the delicious warmth of Abigail’s breath tickling her ear.