Kastav Witch
The beautiful witch, or štriga as they were called in my region, in front of an old church ruin. The model is my friend Tamara.
In April 1716. in the old Croatian City of Kastav, 7 men and 7 women were trialed for witchcraft (resulting in curses, causing infertility in women and livestock, draught and other misfortunes) and worshiping Satan. Their verdict was the following:
“And so we pronounce you apostates, devil worshipers, murderers of children, heretics, man eaters, sodomites, whores, sorcerers, blasphemers, perjurors and the most awful seed who submitted to the devil. And thus we convict each of you to be bludgeoned to death with a saber, and then burnt until they turn into ashes.”
They were executed and burned on the so called “judgment tower” Žudika. This execution happened while most western European countries have ended their horrible witch hunting practices.
Let’s not forget the atrocious mass crimes against humanity, so they never happen again.
(This illustration has been used on the poster for sci-fi and fantasy convention Rikon.)
