PHOTOS: Summer Solstice Marked With Fire, Magic & More
June 19, 2008—Flames illuminate thousands of revelers in a cave in Zugarramurdi, Spain, during a 1998 Aquelarre, or Witch Coven.
Held on or near the summer solstice, the festival commemorates the alleged witches who used the cave in centuries past—many of whom died by fire during the Basque witch trials of the 1600s.
For millennia the summer solstice has been embraced as a time of rebirth and hope, and as a herald of abundant food and warm temperatures to come.
Falling this year on Friday, June 20, in the Northern Hemisphere, the longest day of the year is still regarded by many as a day of mystical and religious significance—and the cause for many a celebration.
Innocent isn't it?
Well, not really, read these paragraphs again:
Flames illuminate thousands of revelers in a cave in Zugarramurdi, Spain, during a 1998 Aquelarre, or Witch Coven.
Held on or near the summer solstice, the festival commemorates the alleged witches who used the cave in centuries past—many of whom died by fire during the Basque witch trials of the 1600s.
This is the problem when a geography and travel magazine gets into politics. First they state that Zugarramurdi is in Spain, no mention of the cave being in the Basque Country. But then it refers to the Witch Trials conducted by the Spanish Holy Inquisition as "Basque witch trials". We all know the negative view that people now a days have about the witch trials, so National Geographic gets into the smear campaign against the Basque people by starting the caption without a mention to the Basque country but then "dropping" the word Basque to refer to the witch trials that were conducted by the Spaniards to punish the Basques by murdering as many Basque women as they could.
Shame on National Geographic.
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