"for a Witch, which is not a Witch"

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 9, 2023

While some people are screaming about witch hunts today because people have been accused by Grand Juries with evidence against them, they fail to understand that witch trials are being repeated, but not against those charged with crimes. Our laws require evidence because of the Salem Witch Trials. Another thing going on is some people claim their "religious" views should rule over all others. Again, all we have to do is look at the trials to see history has repeated itself but, yet again, they do not understand what really happened.

When Puritans tortured Quakers
Seacoastonline
J. Dennis Robinson
Feb. 20, 2020

Puritans saw themselves as the definers and protectors of “God’s law.” Quakers believed each individual had the right and ability to access the spirit of God.

We need to remember that while tens of thousands of Puritans had migrated to America for religious freedom they were not interested in religious freedom for anyone but themselves.

Quakers arriving in “The Lord’s Kingdom” (New England) in the mid-1600s could have an ear cut off just for showing up. A second ear would be cut off if they returned. A third offense meant having a hole drilled through the tongue with a hot iron. In Massachusetts, Quakers were persecuted, fined, tortured, driven out, and even hanged. learn more here

We have laws to protect the rights of all people to believe and worship, or not, as they see fit and not what others demand from them. No one is supposed to have the right to claim their faith is what all others must abide by. What we see today is not about religion. It is about control.

Apparently, some learned nothing because they want to repeat all of it. Religious freedom means only their faith matters. Accusations no longer need proof or evidence and truth. No matter what they have been shown, can be called a lie and they expect everyone else to believe them, instead of the truth. It is almost as if they have been possessed like Thomas Maule.

THOMAS MAULE, THE QUAKER WHO CRITICIZED THE SALEM WITCH TRIALS – AND GOT AWAY WITH IT

New England Historical Society

He did get fined, whipped and imprisoned

Thomas Maule, an outspoken Quaker, went to prison five times for criticizing Puritans in Salem, Mass. The Puritans also whipped him three times and fined him three times.

He believed in witches, but he also believed God would punish the Salem witch trial prosecutors for miscarrying justice.

He went to court on charges of slander and blasphemy. Historians view his trial as an important development in the freedom of religion guaranteed by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Maule and his wife Naomi believed in witches. When the Salem witch trials began they testified against Bridget Bishop, the first victim to be hanged. But Maule grew disillusioned with the prosecutors’ murderous frenzy. Twenty people were executed within four months, and 100 more awaited trial when Gov. William Phips returned to his senses and halted the trials

In 1695, several years after the release of the last accused witch, Thomas Maule published a pamphlet. He called it Truth Held Forth and Maintained. In cool and cutting sarcasm, he wrote that God would condemn the witch trial judges. He famously stated, “[F]or it were better that one hundred Witches should live than that one person be put to death for a Witch, which is not a Witch.” learn more here

How did they get away with it? At the time they were suffering from sickness, death, and being attacked by Naumkeag who already lived there. They focused on that while ignoring that it was their land long before the Puritans arrived. Ignoring how the Naumkeags taught them how to survive, they blamed them for the outcome.

"Still, the Naumkeag were not an aggressive people. They did not seek war with Conant’s crew over the misunderstanding, which, tragically and in retrospect, may have sealed their ultimate fate of being forcibly removed from their ancestral lands by colonists. 20th-century historian Sidney Perley describes the tribe as “affable and courteous and well-disposed, ready to devote the best of what they had to the general good.” This temperament was tested, but still remained, in the face of the loss of their homes and the devastation they faced from European diseases that decimated their numbers in the early 1600s. Despite the deaths of their own people, the Naumkeag treated the English with kindness, sharing with them the secrets of a good harvest in the local climate. Perley writes that the Naumkeag instructed the English in “the planting of corn, teaching them to select the finest seed, to observe the best season, to plant in the hills at a distance from each other and cultivate it through the season.” And all of this, again, while dealing with the illnesses foisted upon them unwittingly by the colonists they reached out to aid." (The Witch House)

At first, the Puritans thought all their suffering was about evil people attacking them. They didn't see that evil was attacking them and taking over their own minds. Deaths were blamed on sorcery and witchcraft sent by Satan. Crops failing were blamed on the same cause. After they tortured and killed the innocent people they accused, they turned around and blamed God by saying it was all about God punishing them for what they did. Head smack moment!

Researchers have pointed out that part of what came out of the witch trials was PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.) The villagers would have still been worried it could happen again and they could become the accused instead of the accuser. Those held in jail and tortured while waiting for their trial would have been dealing with it the torture invading their lives. The families of the accused would have been dealing with all of it. All that along with the illnesses, deaths, crop failures, and worried about more attacks even though they either caused or allowed all of it by their own actions. They needed someone to blame instead of facing the fact while they may not have caused it to happen, they caused it to continue.

I no longer wonder why so many people I helped over the years became offended when I asked them about being religious or not. The vast majority said they were not but they were spiritual. Most of them said they believed in God and Jesus but would never again set foot in a church. I also know a lot of "religious" people that put spirituality above the dictates of their chosen affiliation, and praying wherever they were directly to God.

The sad thing for me was when they blamed God for causing what they survived to happen. Those thoughts were caused by what they heard from "religious" people with absolutely as much understanding of the faith they claim to have as the Puritans.

How long all this goes on now is up to us and what we are willing to ignore.

Kathie Costos author of the Ministers Of The Mystery series. The Scribe Of Salem The Visionary Of Salem and the 13th Minister Of Salem.

ENOUGH OF THE BS THAT DOES NOT WORK! Raise awareness THEY CAN HEAL PTSD!

2 motorcycle convoys are headed for Ottawa. One worries it will be mistaken for the other

CBC News
Avanthika Anand
Posted: Aug 05, 2023

The Rolling Barrage motorcycle rally, pictured in St. John's, N.L. where it kicked off this year's event on Aug 1. (Submitted by Scott Casey)

As two motorcycle convoys descend on Ottawa, the organizer behind one rally worries it may be mistaken for the other.

On and off for the last seven years, the Rolling Barrage cross-country motorcycle ride has come to the National Capital Region to raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among military veterans.

This year, the ride's organizer Scott Casey said he's worried another motorcycle convoy might distract from his campaign.

The Rolling Barrage is expected to pull into Ottawa on Wednesday. When it does, Casey is concerned his riders may be mistaken for the Rolling Thunder motorcycle convoy, a group whose origin can be traced back to the self-described "Freedom Convoy" that occupied downtown Ottawa in the winter of 2022.

Rolling Thunder arrived in Ottawa Saturday, just days before Casey and his group.

"I honestly don't know what their mission is," Casey said. "Whatever they have planned... that serves absolutely no purpose to us whatsoever."

Upon returning from that tour, one of Casey's close colleagues died by suicide. That tragedy became the catalyst for starting The Rolling Barrage PTSD Foundation in 2016.

One year later, Casey launched the namesake ride, "for combat veterans and first responders, [to] specifically create peer support right across the country for those people and their families."

"PTSD and operational stress injury is essentially a moral injury. It can be treated, and it's a matter of finding the right piece of the puzzle that works for you," Casey said. "It's just a different injury. So it was important for me to be able to raise awareness [around] that." read more here

What the hell is going on, or more to the point, why is it still going on? How many groups need to begin because of yet one more suicide that didn't need to happen? How many more need to "raise awareness" about #PTSD before they themselves become aware of what works instead of what they want to do based on abysmal limited knowledge of what works?

Yes, they understand the suffering especially if they suffer from PTSD. Yes, they know that it helps to stop isolating and be around people again. What they haven't become aware of is the simple fact that veterans and all those hit by PTSD because of their jobs need to learn the most important lessons of all.

The first one is millions of survivors join the PTSD club no one wants to belong to every year from surviving as a civilian and most of the time, all it takes is one time to do it. How many times do they face trauma on their jobs? Once they learn how prevalent PTSD is, they begin to understand that no amount of training can turn them into machines able to withstand what PTSD does. No matter how much training they are given, how brave, dedicated and tough they are, they are just human after all. 

The second one is that they may not be cured but they can heal and more often than not, they can become a better person than they ever imagined when they do heal. Why? Because they turn around and help others heal too and that spreads a lot faster than bad news. 

How about all these groups decide it is time to spread something veterans can find hope in instead of reminding them about how others took their own lives because they didn't find hope to help them stay alive one more day?

ENOUGH OF THE BS THAT DOES NOT WORK! Raise awareness THEY CAN HEAL PTSD!

Veteran died after setting himself on fire because his country failed him

This just goes to show that the US is not the only country failing at addressing #PTSD

IDF veteran dies two days after self-immolation due to rejection of PTSD recognition

Times Of Israel
By EMANUEL FABIAN
August 3, 2023

Defense Ministry offers condolences, says 33-year-old Bar Kalaf had mental illness unrelated to military service

Bar Kalaf, who set himself on fire in Netanya, August 1, 2023, and died of his wounds two days later (Courtesy)

A veteran of the Israel Defense Forces who set himself on fire after his application to be recognized as suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) was denied died on Thursday, two days after the self-immolation at his home in the coastal city of Netanya.

Bar Kalaf, 33, was taken to Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan on Tuesday with severe burns on his entire body. He was declared dead on Thursday. There was no immediate comment from the hospital.

The Defense Ministry has said Kalaf’s application to be recognized as suffering from PTSD as a result of his military service had been denied.
read the rest of the article here because he is not the only one.

Stunning subtle symbolism of Britannia

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
August 1, 2023

While doing research for the 4th part of my Ministers Of The Mystery series, I stumbled on the video series of Britannia. I finished watching it yesterday and had a head smack moment. How could I have missed the stunning subtle symbolism of it?

The 4th book takes the 13th minister and Ekklesia witched to Kilwinning Scotland where they discover the true beginning of the ministers' mission. It includes the Celts, Druids, and some of the unknown people with supernatural spiritual gifts following the crucifixion of Christ.

Considering the Romans worshiped many Gods as the Celts and Druids, the Romans have a full account written in history. A great deal is written about the Celts and Druids, but none of it came directly from them. It was all passed down from generation to generation. There is another group that did not have their history recorded. The 120 followers of Christ.

The books, The Scribe Of Salem, The Visionary Of Salem, and 13th Minister of Salem focused on what is not known. The Salem Witchcraft Trials left a nagging question for me. Why didn't it dawn on any of the people standing in judgment of those they accused of witchcraft to wonder about the power of witches to escape? After all, if they had the power they were accused of having, they would have seen it all coming and got away.

Britannia begins in 43AD as the Roman Army, determined and terrified in equal measure, returns to crush the Celtic heart of Britannia, a mysterious land ruled by warrior women and powerful druids who can channel the mysterious forces of the Underworld. Arch-Celtic rivals Kerra and Antedia must face the Roman invasion led by Aulus Plautius as it cuts a swathe through the Celtic Resistance.

This series is full of horrific events, battles of good over evil with many appearing to be good but turned out to be evil, demons, and everything else all rolled into things that were not known by many. There was a prophecy, and confusion surrounding it. There were many people saying they believed they were part of a prophecy that would change the world, ironically getting that wrong. It has a lot of moments of humor too.

There was a scene where two Roman deserters were getting high and wondering about the people they met in different parts of the world and the god they worshiped. One of the deserters asked, "What if there are no gods," after listing how they prayed to a god of boots to keep them on their feet.

The symbolism comes in the form of people offering themselves as sacrifices along with those that were sacrificed unwillingly. One of the Roman soldiers was having flashbacks of the crucifixion of Christ and the spear that pierced His side. There was talk about being born again. All of this was so subtle that at the end of the series in the last scene, my mouth opened wide and I smack myself in the head.

I never wondered about the existence of God but wondered what happened to the people when they stopped worshiping their god. What was it like for them to no longer believe what generations believed to be true, that became no longer true? 

I am watching the series again to see what else I missed and highly recommend when you watch it to see what else you discover about the hidden history few know and even fewer are able to create something as awesome as this series. We won't know what happened because there was supposed to be a 4th season but it was canceled.

Wondering if it came from God, or Satan?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 29, 2023

If you have #PTSD or PTSI or PTS, whatever acronym you're comfortable with, you may have heard someone you know tell you that God only gives us what we can handle. If you have, for right now, go back to a time when people not only heard stupid things people said to explain suffering and terrible things happening, and then accused people of witchcraft.

While we do not know what all the people of Salem (or around the world) thought about the events behind the trials, we know what people say today. Most of it is based on their individual beliefs. These are not the ones they express openly but their private beliefs.

Human nature would have them looking at those suffering at the hands of the accused witches and wondering if they could be the next. Others would be looking at the accused witches and wonder if some vindictive person would point their finger at them or not. The 20 people put to death may have thought their execution put an end to their suffering but those languishing in jail would have wondered if there was any hope left for them before it was their turn to have a rope put around their neck, or being crushed to death. Some did not survive to see the day of their trial and died in jail. Some were tortured to the point where they would have confessed to being Satan himself if it would stop the torture. Not a far stretch to see how they could have wondered where God was and why He allowed it to happen to innocent people.

They were religious people, attending church and hearing the pastors preach their sermons.

One such pastor was John Hale that would later come to his senses, but it took his wife being accused before it happened.

Reverend Hale testified in 1692 about his parishioner Sarah Bishop, who lived with her husband Edward on the border of Beverly and Salem Village. Hale had interceded in a disagreement between Sarah and her neighbor, Christian Trask a few years before. Trask, a mentally ill woman, complained about the noise and activities in the Bishops’ unlicensed tavern, which apparently went long into the night. Hale tried to keep the peace between the two. A few years later, Trask was found dead, her throat cut, small scissors lying nearby. Was this suicide or murder? Hale observed the body and felt some kind of witchcraft was afoot. Nevertheless, Sarah Bishop was not accused of witchcraft at this time, although both she and her husband were accused of witchcraft on April 21, 1692. (In a transcription, Hale referred to Sarah as “Goody Bishop, wife of Edward Bishop” which led to many years of confusion. There was another Goody Bishop, married to another Edward Bishop living in Salem Town – and that was Bridget, first to be executed for witchcraft in 1692. The descriptions of the two women became combined in the history books until the error was discovered in recent years.)

In November of 1692, very late in the hysteria, Wenham’s Mary Herrick spoke to Wenham Reverend Joseph Gerrish and Reverend Hale, accusing Hale’s wife Sarah of spectral torment. Although Sarah Hale was never officially accused of witchcraft, historians believe this event certainly helped to change Reverend Hale’s support of the trials. (Salem Witch Museum)

And yet another pastor was not only accused of witchcraft but almost ten years after he left Salem, he was brought back from Maine and hung.

In July of 1692, Reverend Hale spoke to confessed witch Ann Foster in Salem jail, where she told him about a witches’ picnic and about her fear of Reverend George Burroughs and Martha Carrier, the king and queen of hell, whose specters had threatened to kill her. (Salem Witch Museum)

There was an apology from those leaders after the trials ended. They called it a Day of Atonement

Five years after the Salem witchcraft trials, the Massachusetts legislature passed a resolution that a day of general fasting be held on January 15, 1697. The resolution was adopted so God's people could offer up prayers for God to help them in their errors and keep them from repeating such sins which could only bring God's judgment on the land.

That means first they blamed Satan for the suffering. Then they blamed God for judging them and making them suffer for what they did. So which was it?

Was it all sent by Satan or God? That is a question human nature always asks after surviving something horrible. As someone being misled or the family of the accused, or the survivors, everyone searches for a reason as to why it happened. We are no different from them. When we survive we search for some sort of reason for it happening. Did evil target us? Did God allow it to happen? Did He save us? Or worse, was it God targeting us as judgment?

The answer we receive from most religious leaders is pure speculation. All too often they jump to a conclusion that makes sense to them. Sadly, all too often, they say something like, "God only gives us what we can handle," because they don't have a clue as to why it happened.

If you don't believe in God and assume there are good, as well as bad people in the world, you can tell people that you don't wonder why it happened and everyone will accept that as an answer. If you are in a position of being a religious leader, then saying you simply don't know, won't ease their minds.

The truth is, while everything happens for a reason, it is no cosmic power behind it. It is what people decided to do for whatever they believe. If it was a natural disaster, it happened because you lived where you ended up living and nothing more. If it was something someone did to you, then it was what they decided to do. Remember that each of us is capable of doing good things for someone, or doing terrible things to someone. Those causing your trauma decided to do it to you and most of the time, while you became their target, most of the time, it had nothing do to with you. It wasn't personal. You were just there and if you weren't, then it would have been someone else. 

That's how I had to see what happened to me far too many times. Even when my 1st husband tried to kill me and then stalked me for almost two years, I knew it didn't matter how good I was to him. I ended up understanding that it would have happened to anyone he had a relationship with because he had no clue what love was. Eventually, it allowed me to be able to love someone else afterward and we've been together for over 40 years.

I came to an understanding that God didn't do it to me but helped me heal. He did what He could because He did not mess with my free will or anyone else's. The same way it was during the witch trials. People had the free will to stand up and fight for the truth or stand silently allowing it to happen while the people doing the evil acts against innocent people blamed God. Since they heard about God's judgment and wrath from the pulpit, it would have been easy for them to accept. It allowed them to swallow any decency left within them while greeting the people responsible instead of wishing they were the ones on trial for what they did in the name of God.

The lesson did not come from sitting on a bench in a building called Holy. It didn't come from a person standing in front of everyone representing God. It came from my spirit reaching out to God and He being the one I trust, turn to, and seek guidance from wherever I was. After all that is how we should pray. "God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” Don't let anyone tell you that being a "religious person" is the only way to be right with God when scripture proves them wrong. 

Yet all too often, religious people disregard spiritual people seeking a personal connection with God. If the people of Salem didn't worship God and follow the rules of the church, they became a target. All the requirements Jesus spoke about were forgotten because they were willing to lie, mistreat the poor, and stand in judgment of others with nothing more than the lies from the lips of the accusers.

Good people eventually did stop the trials but had to live with the guilt they allowed it to go on as long as they did. Their victims turned into survivors. We can only guess what they did for the rest of their lives.

If you want to heal, stop listening to what other people say. Stop allowing them to stand in judgment over something they do not understand. Reach out to God for help to heal and watch for people able to help you do it. Most of them were helped by someone else. Then you can turn around and help someone in return for their kindness to you.