Product Details

• Actors: Women & Spirituality
• Directors: Donna Read
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Wellspring Media
• VHS Release Date: December 21, 1999
• Run Time: 56 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 158350026X
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #211,566 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

"In Europe, from the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries, the church and state cooperated in the torture and execution of thousands of women accused of being witches.'

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Alternative to Mainstream Propaganda, July 20, 2000

By 

L. J. Owen (Eagle River, AK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Women & Spirituality: Burning Times [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I highly recommend this video to anyone who is willing to consider that everything they've been told isn't necessarily true. As a graduate student who conducted extensive, and original, research and has written several academically accepted works explaining the causes, contributors, correlatives and contemporary manifestations of American "witchcraft," wicce and paganism, I found this video (and the 3 in the series) more historically accurate overall than the vast majority of currently published materials addressing this subject. Many of the points brought up in this video counter the mythology we call "common wisdom," and, sadly, some uneducated critics may find themselves unwilling to consider many of the facts addressed in this video, and in the others in this series. In the interest of truth-telling, I strongly suggest that these (and all!) presented facts be researched before acceptance - or dismissal.

22 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When viewed from a different angle..., July 21, 2004

By 

Valjean (Salem, Ma United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Women & Spirituality: Burning Times [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I am no expert in the history of Wicca, so I can not speak to the points that another reviewer has contended are historical inaccuracies. Nor do I know anything about the "Goddess", whomever she may be. However, when viewed from the perspective of a behavioral scientist "The Burning Times" makes an extremely instructive statement about the nature of power relationships during the dark and medeval ages. Furthermore, the documentary indicates that it is possible that the repricussions of the historical persecution of women by the church are very relevant to the status of women in today's society.

The "Burning Times" is a well-crafted historical account of the Witchcraft Hysteria that swept Europe during the later Dark and Middle Ages. The thesis of the film is that the rampant burning of people suspected of witchcraft was brought to bear by the Catholic church in an effort to exert its power over the people of Europe.

Of particular interest is the commentator's statement that most of the people accused of witchcraft were women; who presented a clear and present danger to the church by acting as midwives and medical practicioners. As such, the church saw them as a threat because of their influences on ideas about procreation and conception; a domain that the church still believes that it should have power over. Women, according to the film, had been the primary recipients of knowledge about reproductive matters through oral tradition. It is implied that the church didn't like this.

Another relevant point that the film makes with regard to power is largely economic. The narrator contends that either church or state would benefit from the burning of "witches" by laying claim to thier estates after they were excecuted. Thus, due to it's profitability, witch-hunting became somewhat of a "science".

In sum, I'm not sure if the makers of "Burning Times" realized the powerful Sociological statements that they were making. However, the film is very thought-provoking, and forces the viewer interested in such matters (power and subjugation) to question how much impact the "witch-hysteria" had on the role of women in today's society. Remember, women were not even allowed to vote in America 100 years ago.

By the way, an excellent celtic sound-track adds to the enjoyability of the film.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars video speaks our about acts of violence commited to our foremothers; which has become part of the modern feminine wound, October 4, 2005

By 

Melissa J. Patterson "nature doctor" (Sebastopol, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Women & Spirituality: Burning Times [VHS] (VHS Tape)

As a professor of healing and consciousness this video is a very important part of a section that I teach called Anthropology of the Wise Woman tradition. It speaks to the place in the feminine collective unconscious that is incredibly wounded from what has happened to our foremothers through this horrific genocide. It speaks of the devasting consequences of what happened to women over a multitude of generations, and ultimately how women of modern times are still carrying this wounding in their psyches. I have had many female students have amazing breakthroughs in working with this deep place of wounding after watching this video and our dialogue around it.

It is true that there might be some factual inaccuracies found throughout the video. However, the notes that were taken during these times were not always accurate and sometimes not taken at all. I feel that the benefit of looking at this material in the beautiful and sometimes shocking way that is presented in this video, far outweighs any inaccuracies. For it frees the European feminine spirit that was horrifically suppressed by the suppression of our wisdom and truth. The important information that is presented here is rarely spoken of in traditional historical settings.