The Basque region spread over the western edge of the Pyrenees Mountains that divide France from Spain overlooking the Bay of Biscay. There are seven Basque provinces, four in Spain and three in France. The Basque people have lived there since that old proverbial time immemorial; they are believed to have occupied a geographical territory longer than any other European ethnic group.
Their origins are mysterious and continue to confound anthropologists. They are apparently unrelated to any other ethnic group. The Basque language is apparently unrelated to any known language. Some suggest it is the original indigenous, Paleolithic European language. The Basque were comparatively late converts to Christianity, and ancestral traditions including ritual dances and offerings to the dead survived conversion.
There were no Basque with-hunts per se, instead French witch-hunters and the Spanish Inquisition took turns entering Basque territory to hunt down and execute witches, and the Basque territory was the scene of extensive witch-hunting in the 16th and 17th century; French witch-hunters targeted Basque witches in the 17th.
The ethnic aspect of these witch-trials cannot be forgotten. Basque women were interrogated by French and Spanish men, most of whom could not speak their language and who thus relied on local translators and paid witch-finders.
Traditional Basque society was very different from that the witch-hunters left behind in Spain and France: Basque women were exceptionally independent for their time. Although men wintered at home, a high percentage of Basque men were fishermen who spent the entire summer fishing in Newfoundland. Adult women were, thus, left "unsupervised".
Spanish and France witch-hunters simultaneously disapproved and were titillated by these women. Witch-hunter Pierre de Lancre, in particular, reveals more about his own sexual fantasies in his memoirs than he does any witchcraft practices.
Spain conducted an intensive witch-hunt in Basque territory beginning in 1507. In 1507, over 30 women were burned as witches in Calahorra. In 1527, a craze began when two little girls, aged 9 and 11, claimed to belong to a coven. They told officials that if they were granted immunity, they would identify other witches for the witch-hunters. They claimed they could recognize witches by gazing into their left eyes: in witches, the sign of a frog's foot appeared above the pupil.
Officials took the girls, guarded by 50 horsemen, to various towns so that they could identify witches. Upon arriving in a village, the guards arrested all the women. Each child was placed in a separate house and women were sent in one by one to have their eyes inspected. If the girls pronounced a woman a witch, she was arrested. Over 150 were imprisoned and charged with witchcraft based on the testimony of these two children.
Rumors of thousands of Basque witches engaged in Satanic activity spread through France and Pierre de Lancre, and especially aggressive witch-hunter, was sent in his capacity as the French King's councilor to lead a ferocious witch-hunt through French Basque territory. De Lancre confirmed these rumors: according to him, La Hendaye Beach in French Basque territory had sabbats attended by no less than 12,000 witches.
De Lancre indicted so many witches that the jails literally couldn't hold them all. He reported executing 600 Basque witches, burned alive at the stake, during four months in 1906.
De Lancre despised and hated Basque people, and especially independent Basque women who were used to acting as heads of their households. De Lancre was particularly aggravated that women acted as sacristans in church.
He suggested that the Basque witches were part of an international conspiracy with other European witches in order to eradicate Roman Catholicism and Christianity. De Lancre went too far when he began executing priests accused of being or supporting witches: for instance Basque priest Pierre Bocal, accused of wearing a goat mask and presiding over both Christian and Pagan rites and subsequently burned alive. The French public lost its taste for the witch-hunts at that point, and d Lancre fell from public favor.
Official records of the French Basque witch trials were destroyed in a fire in 1710. The best surviving source is de Lancre's own rambling memoirs. To this day, de Lancre's text provides major source material for most discussions of Basque witchcraft. De Lancre did not understand the Basque language; all interrogations were done via interpreters. The witches' confessions, offered in Basque, were recorded by de Lancre in French.
*Credit to Judika Illes
Friday, June 10, 2016
Witch-Craze: Bacchanalia
Hysterical witch-hunting is older than Christianity; Roman persecution of the Bacchanalia is somethings called the first "witch hunt".
The Bacchanalia was the Latin name for the Dionysian mystery traditions of the Maenads, or as they were known in Italy, the Bacchanals. Initially held in Etruria, these traditions traveled to Southern Italy and thence to Rome. Rituals were initially restricted to women and conducted secretly three days a year in the Grove of Stimula near the Aventine Hill. Men were eventually admitted to the rites, which increased to five days a month. However the majority of the initiates were female. Initially the Bacchanalia was identified with slaves and immigrant women from Greece, the Balkans, and elsewhere but it eventually attracted respectable Roman matrons who assumed leadership roles.
The Bacchanalia became increasingly controversial; it developed a malevolent, mysterious reputation among conventional society and was accused of fomenting political conspiracies. The Bacchanals were accused of poisoning, ritual murder, sexual deviance, and treason. The Roman senate issued a decree, the Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus in BCE, forbidding the Bacchanalia throughout Italy except where the Senate itself reserved the right to permit the rites.
According to the Roman historian Livy, the Bacchanals were charged with holding secret nocturnal meetings, allegedly featuring dancing, music, feasting, orgies, homosexuality, and ritual murder. But for the absence of Satan, it sounds remarkably like a European witch-hunters' sabbat of over a millennium later.
The charges that detonate these witch-hunts allegedly began with family dispute: a young Roman patrician, Aebutius was asked to leave home by his mother. She later claimed it was because her husband, Aebutius' step father, was strapped for money; Aebutius claimed he was thrown out because he refused to be initiated into the Bacchanalia as his mother desired.
Aebutius said his concubine Hispala, a freed woman, had previously attended the Bacchanalia and warned him that it was depraved. Aebutius went to his late father's sister who advised him to make a formal complaint to the Consul, which he did. Essentially he denounced his mother as a Bacchanal.
Hispala was called in and questioned for details regarding what the Bacchanals were really doing at their secret nighttime revels. She allegedly initially refused to testify but was advised that she herself would be prosecuted unless she provided authorities with information. Hispala first claimed that she only attended the Bacchanalia as a child and so had limited information; after further questioning however she gave more details, describing torch-lit oracular rites by the Tiber River and naming the current leader of the Bacchanalia as Paculla Annia, a High Priestess from Campania.
The Consul held a public assembly where he accused the Bacchanals, now called the Conjurari, of a criminal conspiracy intended to undermine Roman society. The Senate ordered an immediate extraordinary investigation permitting torture and denying defendants' rights of appeal. A zero-tolerance policy was instituted in the form of a massive witch-hunt for members of the secret society, followed by mass executions.
*An edict outlawed initiates of the Mysteries from convening.
*The Senate offered a reward to anyone denouncing participants in the Bacchanalia.
*Officials were ordered to seek out ritual leaders.
*Roman men were ordered to reject participating members of their family.
The Senate simultaneously enacted legislation against diviners and foreign magicians.
Panic swept first Rome, then all of Italy. There were rumored to be over seven thousand Conjurari. Recent initiates were merely imprisoned but thousands were condemned to death. The state allowed men to punish their female relatives in the privacy of their home but if no one was available to execute them privately, it was done publicly. Heads of households thus personally executed wives, daughters, sisters, and slaves or ran the risk of disgracing the family via public executions.
What happened to Paculla, the priestess, is unknown, but her sons were arrested as leaders, tortured to denounce others, and executed. Those they denounced were also tortured until they denounced still others.
Known initiates, both female and male, committed suicide rather than face arrest. Some however escaped, including some who had been denounced but whom the authorities were then unable to locate. These Bacchanals are believed to have escaped into forests and mountains. Many believe these escaped Bacchanals are the prototype for Europe's future witches.
Even after the Bacchanalia-panic receded in Rome, the hunt for surviving Bacchanals continued throughout Apulia and other parts of the Italian countryside through 185-184 BCE. What happened to Aebutius' mother is unknown but the Senate rewarded Aebutius and Hispala out of the public treasury and promoted Hispala to a higher social rank so that the couple could be legally wed.
*Credit to Judika Illes
The Bacchanalia was the Latin name for the Dionysian mystery traditions of the Maenads, or as they were known in Italy, the Bacchanals. Initially held in Etruria, these traditions traveled to Southern Italy and thence to Rome. Rituals were initially restricted to women and conducted secretly three days a year in the Grove of Stimula near the Aventine Hill. Men were eventually admitted to the rites, which increased to five days a month. However the majority of the initiates were female. Initially the Bacchanalia was identified with slaves and immigrant women from Greece, the Balkans, and elsewhere but it eventually attracted respectable Roman matrons who assumed leadership roles.
The Bacchanalia became increasingly controversial; it developed a malevolent, mysterious reputation among conventional society and was accused of fomenting political conspiracies. The Bacchanals were accused of poisoning, ritual murder, sexual deviance, and treason. The Roman senate issued a decree, the Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus in BCE, forbidding the Bacchanalia throughout Italy except where the Senate itself reserved the right to permit the rites.
According to the Roman historian Livy, the Bacchanals were charged with holding secret nocturnal meetings, allegedly featuring dancing, music, feasting, orgies, homosexuality, and ritual murder. But for the absence of Satan, it sounds remarkably like a European witch-hunters' sabbat of over a millennium later.
The charges that detonate these witch-hunts allegedly began with family dispute: a young Roman patrician, Aebutius was asked to leave home by his mother. She later claimed it was because her husband, Aebutius' step father, was strapped for money; Aebutius claimed he was thrown out because he refused to be initiated into the Bacchanalia as his mother desired.
Aebutius said his concubine Hispala, a freed woman, had previously attended the Bacchanalia and warned him that it was depraved. Aebutius went to his late father's sister who advised him to make a formal complaint to the Consul, which he did. Essentially he denounced his mother as a Bacchanal.
Hispala was called in and questioned for details regarding what the Bacchanals were really doing at their secret nighttime revels. She allegedly initially refused to testify but was advised that she herself would be prosecuted unless she provided authorities with information. Hispala first claimed that she only attended the Bacchanalia as a child and so had limited information; after further questioning however she gave more details, describing torch-lit oracular rites by the Tiber River and naming the current leader of the Bacchanalia as Paculla Annia, a High Priestess from Campania.
The Consul held a public assembly where he accused the Bacchanals, now called the Conjurari, of a criminal conspiracy intended to undermine Roman society. The Senate ordered an immediate extraordinary investigation permitting torture and denying defendants' rights of appeal. A zero-tolerance policy was instituted in the form of a massive witch-hunt for members of the secret society, followed by mass executions.
*An edict outlawed initiates of the Mysteries from convening.
*The Senate offered a reward to anyone denouncing participants in the Bacchanalia.
*Officials were ordered to seek out ritual leaders.
*Roman men were ordered to reject participating members of their family.
The Senate simultaneously enacted legislation against diviners and foreign magicians.
Panic swept first Rome, then all of Italy. There were rumored to be over seven thousand Conjurari. Recent initiates were merely imprisoned but thousands were condemned to death. The state allowed men to punish their female relatives in the privacy of their home but if no one was available to execute them privately, it was done publicly. Heads of households thus personally executed wives, daughters, sisters, and slaves or ran the risk of disgracing the family via public executions.
What happened to Paculla, the priestess, is unknown, but her sons were arrested as leaders, tortured to denounce others, and executed. Those they denounced were also tortured until they denounced still others.
Known initiates, both female and male, committed suicide rather than face arrest. Some however escaped, including some who had been denounced but whom the authorities were then unable to locate. These Bacchanals are believed to have escaped into forests and mountains. Many believe these escaped Bacchanals are the prototype for Europe's future witches.
Even after the Bacchanalia-panic receded in Rome, the hunt for surviving Bacchanals continued throughout Apulia and other parts of the Italian countryside through 185-184 BCE. What happened to Aebutius' mother is unknown but the Senate rewarded Aebutius and Hispala out of the public treasury and promoted Hispala to a higher social rank so that the couple could be legally wed.
*Credit to Judika Illes
Witch-Craze: Africa
Prior to colonial rule, in general, individuals were accused of being magickal malefactors and dealt with on an individual basis. European-style witch-hunts began during colonial rule and still continue. Whether this change of attitude derives from enforced colonialism and/or exposure to Christianity is subject to debate.
Although hysterical witch-hunts and trials are now considered an aberration elsewhere, a relic of history, they are on the rise in sub-Saharan Africa. Witches are accused of transforming into bats and night birds, transforming people into sombis or committing murder via lightning or poison. Witchcraft is also blamed for Aids.
*In 1992, over 300 people in Kenya were lynched as witches.
*From April 1994 to February 1995, 97 women and 46 men accused of witchcraft in South Africa were killed by mob violence.
*Between January and June 1998, South Africa's Northern Province reported 386 crimes against suspected witches including assault, property damage, and murder.
*Thousands of children throughout sub-Saharan Africa have been the targets of witchcraft hysteria. Children have been tortured, abandoned, and killed. Many have suffered brutal exorcisms of the demons they are assumed to house.
The Ministry of Safety of South Africa's Northern Transvaal Province established a Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft, Violence and Ritual Killings. A report published in May 1996 stated that thousands accused of witchcraft had been driven from their homes, losing all their property.
*Credit to Judika Illes
Although hysterical witch-hunts and trials are now considered an aberration elsewhere, a relic of history, they are on the rise in sub-Saharan Africa. Witches are accused of transforming into bats and night birds, transforming people into sombis or committing murder via lightning or poison. Witchcraft is also blamed for Aids.
*In 1992, over 300 people in Kenya were lynched as witches.
*From April 1994 to February 1995, 97 women and 46 men accused of witchcraft in South Africa were killed by mob violence.
*Between January and June 1998, South Africa's Northern Province reported 386 crimes against suspected witches including assault, property damage, and murder.
*Thousands of children throughout sub-Saharan Africa have been the targets of witchcraft hysteria. Children have been tortured, abandoned, and killed. Many have suffered brutal exorcisms of the demons they are assumed to house.
The Ministry of Safety of South Africa's Northern Transvaal Province established a Commission of Inquiry into Witchcraft, Violence and Ritual Killings. A report published in May 1996 stated that thousands accused of witchcraft had been driven from their homes, losing all their property.
*Credit to Judika Illes
Witch-craze!
If an individual has the capacity to bless others with good fortune, for instance, then that individual also possess the capacity to withhold that blessing...or worse.
This is true not only of witches, however, but of any specialist. Although it's a rare occurrence, every once in a while one does hear of a physician who has forsaken the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm but instead emerges as a secret, malevolent Angel of Death. However, those rare occurrences have not caused prejudice against physicians among the general public, nor have they caused "physician hysteria": the panic-stricken fear that every physician is secretly committed to causing only harm.
Likewise, in many traditional societies, it's recognized that although the occasional witch or shaman may become corrupt, the majority are responsible, ethical professionals. Most traditional societies have ago-old legal mechanisms in place for magickal practitioners perceived as malefactors, but this does not reflect negatively on the greater community of magickal practitioners, or does this constitute a "witch panic".
A witch panic is characterized by an absolutely hysterical, irrational, fear of witchcraft and witches. A witch doesn't have to cause harm for others to fear and persecute her. In fact, they may not have to be a witch at all.: the key word in "witch hysteria" or "witch panic" is not the first but the second. Witch panics are characterized by a crazed terror that there is a secret conspiracy of witches, a fifth column that seeks to undermine society and cause harm to individuals. No need to wait for the witches to prove they mean no harm; in a witch-craze, authorities search out any possible link to witchcraft and attempt to terminate it mercilessly.
Although witch panics existed earlier and still exist today, in some parts of Earth, the term "Witch-Craze" historically refers to a specific era of European history, also called the "Burning Times".
Although the European Witch-Craze lasted hundreds of years, covering most of the continent as well as colonies in the Western Hemisphere and claimed as victims, at a minimum, thousand of people, until recently it was a relatively obscure historical subject; it is still generally treated as a footnote or aberration of history.
Many studies of the Witch-Craze have, however, been published in the last two decades; in general, their focus is on perpetrators rather than on victims. All sorts of rationales are offered as to why "normal" people went so witch-crazy. Various books posit all kinds of different solutions for that dilemma, from physical causes to cultural, and all points in between.
However, to paraphrase author and physician M. Scott Peck, nothing of significance has but one root cause. There is a tendency to study the vast, sprawling topic of the European witch hunts as an isolated subject, rather than in historical context. It is not really possible to fully understand them without also considering other concurrent historical events:
*The persecution of landless minorities in Europe: Jews, Romany, and Salamis.
*Continued efforts to eradicate all vestiges of Pagan tradition.
*Unresolved issues stemming from, often forced, conversion to Christianity.
*The emotional and psychological impact of the Black Death and other deadly plagues.
*The imposition of feudalism in some parts of Europe and the development of a professional class in others.
*The denigration and demonization of an entire gender.
How many people died in the Witch-Craze? Figures offered range from as low as the tens of thousands to as many as nine million.
Those victims who died during the interrogation process may or may not be counted alongside those who perished during documented executions. Not all executions were documented. Sometimes records of convictions of witchcraft exist with no further information regarding eventual punishment.
Witch panics possessed regional characteristics:
*In Russia, there was no "witch hunt" per se; however those attending at court were frequently accused of using witchcraft for political purposes or to harm the royal family.
*In Transylvania, wives and female relatives of political competitors were targeted.
*In Hungary, practitioners of shamanism were targeted.
*In German lands, wealthy people were particularly vulnerable to charges of witchcraft as if convicted land and assets were confiscated by witch hunters.
*In France, a series of highly publicized cases involved demonic possession of nuns within convents, usually with a priest charged as perpetrator.
*Credit to Judika Illes
This is true not only of witches, however, but of any specialist. Although it's a rare occurrence, every once in a while one does hear of a physician who has forsaken the Hippocratic Oath to do no harm but instead emerges as a secret, malevolent Angel of Death. However, those rare occurrences have not caused prejudice against physicians among the general public, nor have they caused "physician hysteria": the panic-stricken fear that every physician is secretly committed to causing only harm.
Likewise, in many traditional societies, it's recognized that although the occasional witch or shaman may become corrupt, the majority are responsible, ethical professionals. Most traditional societies have ago-old legal mechanisms in place for magickal practitioners perceived as malefactors, but this does not reflect negatively on the greater community of magickal practitioners, or does this constitute a "witch panic".
A witch panic is characterized by an absolutely hysterical, irrational, fear of witchcraft and witches. A witch doesn't have to cause harm for others to fear and persecute her. In fact, they may not have to be a witch at all.: the key word in "witch hysteria" or "witch panic" is not the first but the second. Witch panics are characterized by a crazed terror that there is a secret conspiracy of witches, a fifth column that seeks to undermine society and cause harm to individuals. No need to wait for the witches to prove they mean no harm; in a witch-craze, authorities search out any possible link to witchcraft and attempt to terminate it mercilessly.
Although witch panics existed earlier and still exist today, in some parts of Earth, the term "Witch-Craze" historically refers to a specific era of European history, also called the "Burning Times".
Although the European Witch-Craze lasted hundreds of years, covering most of the continent as well as colonies in the Western Hemisphere and claimed as victims, at a minimum, thousand of people, until recently it was a relatively obscure historical subject; it is still generally treated as a footnote or aberration of history.
Many studies of the Witch-Craze have, however, been published in the last two decades; in general, their focus is on perpetrators rather than on victims. All sorts of rationales are offered as to why "normal" people went so witch-crazy. Various books posit all kinds of different solutions for that dilemma, from physical causes to cultural, and all points in between.
However, to paraphrase author and physician M. Scott Peck, nothing of significance has but one root cause. There is a tendency to study the vast, sprawling topic of the European witch hunts as an isolated subject, rather than in historical context. It is not really possible to fully understand them without also considering other concurrent historical events:
*The persecution of landless minorities in Europe: Jews, Romany, and Salamis.
*Continued efforts to eradicate all vestiges of Pagan tradition.
*Unresolved issues stemming from, often forced, conversion to Christianity.
*The emotional and psychological impact of the Black Death and other deadly plagues.
*The imposition of feudalism in some parts of Europe and the development of a professional class in others.
*The denigration and demonization of an entire gender.
How many people died in the Witch-Craze? Figures offered range from as low as the tens of thousands to as many as nine million.
Those victims who died during the interrogation process may or may not be counted alongside those who perished during documented executions. Not all executions were documented. Sometimes records of convictions of witchcraft exist with no further information regarding eventual punishment.
Witch panics possessed regional characteristics:
*In Russia, there was no "witch hunt" per se; however those attending at court were frequently accused of using witchcraft for political purposes or to harm the royal family.
*In Transylvania, wives and female relatives of political competitors were targeted.
*In Hungary, practitioners of shamanism were targeted.
*In German lands, wealthy people were particularly vulnerable to charges of witchcraft as if convicted land and assets were confiscated by witch hunters.
*In France, a series of highly publicized cases involved demonic possession of nuns within convents, usually with a priest charged as perpetrator.
*Credit to Judika Illes
Beltane
Beltane is the conventional modern spelling. Bealtaine is the traditional Irish spelling.
Beltane officially beings at moon-rise on the evening before the first day of May. It is the Celtic festival corresponding to May Eve, which is metaphysically understood as the moment when Earth's generative, reproductive, and sexual energies are at their peak. Beltane, is among the many May festivals celebrating Earth's sexual and reproductive powers; however Beltane has added resonance in Celtic lands as it also inaugurates the second half of the year. One may visualize this calendar as akin to a yin-yang symbol, with Beltane proclaiming the start of the bright yang portion.
Much of what we know of Celtic festivals derives from Ireland, although the Celts once dominated a good part of Europe. There are indications that similar festivals were held elsewhere in Celtic Europe, not lease by the prevalence of May Day celebrations throughout the entire continent.
Known as Calan Mai in Wales, Beltane is the Celtic fire festival marking the beginning of summer. The name may derive from "bel" (light) or "bil" (luck) and the general consensus is that Beltane means "bright fire". The name may also honor the Celtic deity named Bel or Belenus. Another possibility is that Bel is either derived from or identical to the pan-Semitic fertility deity Baal.
Fire may be understood as a little bit of the sun on Earth. In the spirit of the metaphysical adage "as above, so below", the magickal power of the sun was rekindled and enhanced by the Beltane bonfires. These bonfires were known as "bel-fires" or bale fires. They joyfully celebrate and proclaim the return of fertility to Earth. Beltane bonfires were ritual fires and were traditionally kindled by friction or by sparks from a flint.
The bonfires convey the magickal, healing, energizing force of fire. In order to benefit from this positive magick radiant energy, people dance around the fire, jump over it, crawl through it once it gets low and also drive their livestock through. Although any animal can benefit from the magick of the bale fires, cattle, the sacred cow so intrinsic to Irish myth, are especially associated with Beltane. If there are twin fires or multiple fires, people will dance between them and lead animals between. The ultimate goal of these rituals is disease prevention and the termination of bad luck, as well as the renewal of fertility and creativity.
Although a sacred day, Beltane was a happy, raucous holiday, not a serious, solemn one. It is impossible to celebrate Earth's sexuality without simultaneously reveling in human sexuality too. Beltane was one of those anarchic festivals where everyday constraints were thrown to the winds. The Christian Church would eventually condemn the carnal licentiousness of Beltane rites, accusing the populace of indiscriminate copulation. Although defamatory, these accusations weren't without a vestige of truth, however disapproval stems from perspective and perhaps a wee bit of jealousy. After all, some people were having fun when others weren't. Children whose birthdays fell near the Celtic festival imbolc, which occurs precisely nine months later, were affectionately known as "Beltane babies", and were considered to be special children with strong psychic powers and favored by the fairies.
Beltane was understood as a witches' festival, when witches came out to play, as well as a day that was sacred to devotees of the Fairy Faith. Perhaps their very visibility on this date made those with magickal or Pagan inclinations vulnerable to those with other orientations. Notions of sacrifice, and especially of sacrificial witches permeate many historic Beltane traditions, and May became a time when witches and their animal allies were persecuted.
*Cats and rabbits discovered in the fields in Ireland during Beltane were traditionally understood as witches in disguise and frequently killed on the spot, often by being tossed into the bonfires.
*Litters of kittens born during the entire month of May were feared as potential witches' familiars and summarily drowned.
*A tradition known as "burning the witches" persisted in the Scottish Highlands into the 18th century. young men took bits of the burning Beltane bonfires onto pitchforks. They then ran through the fields shouting "Fire! Fire! Burn the witches!" The fire is scattered through the fields to enhance their fecundity-which in fact, it does.
The joyful aspects of Beltane have been incorporated into contemporary Wicca. Aspects of the festival devoted to the sun, human sexuality, and the regeneration of life and magickal power are emphasized.
*Credit to Judika Illes
Beltane officially beings at moon-rise on the evening before the first day of May. It is the Celtic festival corresponding to May Eve, which is metaphysically understood as the moment when Earth's generative, reproductive, and sexual energies are at their peak. Beltane, is among the many May festivals celebrating Earth's sexual and reproductive powers; however Beltane has added resonance in Celtic lands as it also inaugurates the second half of the year. One may visualize this calendar as akin to a yin-yang symbol, with Beltane proclaiming the start of the bright yang portion.
Much of what we know of Celtic festivals derives from Ireland, although the Celts once dominated a good part of Europe. There are indications that similar festivals were held elsewhere in Celtic Europe, not lease by the prevalence of May Day celebrations throughout the entire continent.
Known as Calan Mai in Wales, Beltane is the Celtic fire festival marking the beginning of summer. The name may derive from "bel" (light) or "bil" (luck) and the general consensus is that Beltane means "bright fire". The name may also honor the Celtic deity named Bel or Belenus. Another possibility is that Bel is either derived from or identical to the pan-Semitic fertility deity Baal.
Fire may be understood as a little bit of the sun on Earth. In the spirit of the metaphysical adage "as above, so below", the magickal power of the sun was rekindled and enhanced by the Beltane bonfires. These bonfires were known as "bel-fires" or bale fires. They joyfully celebrate and proclaim the return of fertility to Earth. Beltane bonfires were ritual fires and were traditionally kindled by friction or by sparks from a flint.
The bonfires convey the magickal, healing, energizing force of fire. In order to benefit from this positive magick radiant energy, people dance around the fire, jump over it, crawl through it once it gets low and also drive their livestock through. Although any animal can benefit from the magick of the bale fires, cattle, the sacred cow so intrinsic to Irish myth, are especially associated with Beltane. If there are twin fires or multiple fires, people will dance between them and lead animals between. The ultimate goal of these rituals is disease prevention and the termination of bad luck, as well as the renewal of fertility and creativity.
Although a sacred day, Beltane was a happy, raucous holiday, not a serious, solemn one. It is impossible to celebrate Earth's sexuality without simultaneously reveling in human sexuality too. Beltane was one of those anarchic festivals where everyday constraints were thrown to the winds. The Christian Church would eventually condemn the carnal licentiousness of Beltane rites, accusing the populace of indiscriminate copulation. Although defamatory, these accusations weren't without a vestige of truth, however disapproval stems from perspective and perhaps a wee bit of jealousy. After all, some people were having fun when others weren't. Children whose birthdays fell near the Celtic festival imbolc, which occurs precisely nine months later, were affectionately known as "Beltane babies", and were considered to be special children with strong psychic powers and favored by the fairies.
Beltane was understood as a witches' festival, when witches came out to play, as well as a day that was sacred to devotees of the Fairy Faith. Perhaps their very visibility on this date made those with magickal or Pagan inclinations vulnerable to those with other orientations. Notions of sacrifice, and especially of sacrificial witches permeate many historic Beltane traditions, and May became a time when witches and their animal allies were persecuted.
*Cats and rabbits discovered in the fields in Ireland during Beltane were traditionally understood as witches in disguise and frequently killed on the spot, often by being tossed into the bonfires.
*Litters of kittens born during the entire month of May were feared as potential witches' familiars and summarily drowned.
*A tradition known as "burning the witches" persisted in the Scottish Highlands into the 18th century. young men took bits of the burning Beltane bonfires onto pitchforks. They then ran through the fields shouting "Fire! Fire! Burn the witches!" The fire is scattered through the fields to enhance their fecundity-which in fact, it does.
The joyful aspects of Beltane have been incorporated into contemporary Wicca. Aspects of the festival devoted to the sun, human sexuality, and the regeneration of life and magickal power are emphasized.
*Credit to Judika Illes
Anthestheria
Anthestheria, the "festival of flowers", heralds the arrival of Dionysus, Lord of New Life and Wine, literally. It hails the birth of the deity plus the annual ritual opening of new casks of wine. The festival was devoted to birth, death, purification, and fertility.
Only one of several annual festivals honoring Dionysus in Greece, the Anthestheria was held for three days in the month of Anthesterion (February/March). According to some analyses of the festival, it corresponds with Dionysus' birth. If there is such a thing as a "triple goddess" then Dionysus is the corresponding "triple god"; during this festival he is honored as infant, husband, and dying god.
Opening the new casks of wine isn't as simple and forthright as it sounds. The wine casks were half-buried in Earth during the fermentation period, so their removal is like a birth, specifically like a C-Section and even more specifically like Dionysus' own birth. Dionysus' mother died before he was born; the unborn child was surgically removed from her womb and then sewed up within his father Zeus' thigh, where he was allowed to mature in peace until the time was ripe. Ritually unearthing the casks and opening them is a metaphoric re-enactment of Dionysus' birth. His devotees share in the deity's essence by consuming him; drinking the wine accomplishes this purpose.
Initially the festival was apparently celebrated by women and children, but there are many gaps in the historical narrative. Many aspects of devotion to Dionysus fall under the category of "mystery traditions" and hence secrecy was always a component. In addition, the more female-oriented aspects of his devotion ultimately became disreputable and illegal. Information regarding them was suppressed.
The first two days of the festival were devoted to honoring the deity and the new wine. The festival's days were punctuated by secret celebrations for mature women, rituals of initiation for children, and general revelry and celebration for all. Everyone was invited to the party, including men, ancestral spirits, dead souls, and various spiritual entities.
There are two levels to this festival, however. It was a public festival, with some aspects celebrated by all, but it was simultaneously also a mystery celebration. Dionysus' most devoted servants, the maenads and others, celebrated secret rites in his honor, apparently including the Great Rite, the scared marriage between deity and devotee.
The festival's three nights were reserved for women's mysteries. The maenads celebrated privately in the mountains and forests. Little information survives, however mature women were understood to play the role of brides of Dionysus at this time. Among the festival's goals was the stimulation of personal and agricultural fertility.
Rituals and celebrations evolve over time. Attitudes towards ghosts changed. What seems to have originally been a day devoted to honoring dead ancestors eventually became a time of fear. Household doorposts were smeared with pitch in an effort to keep phones Many shrines and temples were kept tightly sealed on this day, allegedly to prevent ghosts from entering and lingering longer than their allotted time on Earth.
The festival concludes when women carry pots of cooked grains and vegetables to the marshes to bid farewell to the dead with the ritual incantation "Begone Ghosts! The Anthestheria is over!".
If rituals are conducted correctly, the end result is the removal and purification of malevolent ghosts, low-level spirits, and spiritual debris. Modern versions and adaptations of the Anthestheria are celebrated by some Neo-pagans.
*Credit to Judika Illes
Only one of several annual festivals honoring Dionysus in Greece, the Anthestheria was held for three days in the month of Anthesterion (February/March). According to some analyses of the festival, it corresponds with Dionysus' birth. If there is such a thing as a "triple goddess" then Dionysus is the corresponding "triple god"; during this festival he is honored as infant, husband, and dying god.
Opening the new casks of wine isn't as simple and forthright as it sounds. The wine casks were half-buried in Earth during the fermentation period, so their removal is like a birth, specifically like a C-Section and even more specifically like Dionysus' own birth. Dionysus' mother died before he was born; the unborn child was surgically removed from her womb and then sewed up within his father Zeus' thigh, where he was allowed to mature in peace until the time was ripe. Ritually unearthing the casks and opening them is a metaphoric re-enactment of Dionysus' birth. His devotees share in the deity's essence by consuming him; drinking the wine accomplishes this purpose.
Initially the festival was apparently celebrated by women and children, but there are many gaps in the historical narrative. Many aspects of devotion to Dionysus fall under the category of "mystery traditions" and hence secrecy was always a component. In addition, the more female-oriented aspects of his devotion ultimately became disreputable and illegal. Information regarding them was suppressed.
The first two days of the festival were devoted to honoring the deity and the new wine. The festival's days were punctuated by secret celebrations for mature women, rituals of initiation for children, and general revelry and celebration for all. Everyone was invited to the party, including men, ancestral spirits, dead souls, and various spiritual entities.
There are two levels to this festival, however. It was a public festival, with some aspects celebrated by all, but it was simultaneously also a mystery celebration. Dionysus' most devoted servants, the maenads and others, celebrated secret rites in his honor, apparently including the Great Rite, the scared marriage between deity and devotee.
The festival's three nights were reserved for women's mysteries. The maenads celebrated privately in the mountains and forests. Little information survives, however mature women were understood to play the role of brides of Dionysus at this time. Among the festival's goals was the stimulation of personal and agricultural fertility.
Rituals and celebrations evolve over time. Attitudes towards ghosts changed. What seems to have originally been a day devoted to honoring dead ancestors eventually became a time of fear. Household doorposts were smeared with pitch in an effort to keep phones Many shrines and temples were kept tightly sealed on this day, allegedly to prevent ghosts from entering and lingering longer than their allotted time on Earth.
The festival concludes when women carry pots of cooked grains and vegetables to the marshes to bid farewell to the dead with the ritual incantation "Begone Ghosts! The Anthestheria is over!".
If rituals are conducted correctly, the end result is the removal and purification of malevolent ghosts, low-level spirits, and spiritual debris. Modern versions and adaptations of the Anthestheria are celebrated by some Neo-pagans.
*Credit to Judika Illes
Witchcraft: The Wheel of the Year
The seasonal shifts and holidays are extremely important. The Wheel of the Year is celebrated though ritual holidays falling on the equinoxes, solstices, and points in-between called fire festivals. The modern Wheel is a collection of rites taken from European lineages, primarily Celtic and Teutonic. The modern Wheel tells the story of the Goddess and God, through many faces and myths, as they grow and change through the season of the year. The changing season help Wiccans get into immediate contact with deity, harmonizing them with the world. (In later postings I will address each holiday in its own post.)
The winter solstice, also called Yule, is when the Sun's light starts to grow. Cultures across the Northern Hemisphere saw it as the birth of the Young God. Many of the familiar Christmas celebrations were taken from Yule, including mistletoe, Yule logs, and decorating evergreen trees with lights, a symbol of the everlasting Goddess and the return of the God of Light. Although still deep in winter, the light and life are returning to the world.
Imbolc comes on February 2nd, a fire festival often dedicated to the goddess Brid, or Bridget. Brid is the triple goddess of light, and a patron of the home, healers, poets, and smiths. Some compare her to the Greek goddess Hestia, the goddess of the home and hearth. Candles are lit and homes are blessed. Advent wreaths are a remnant of Brid's crown of candles. Imbolc is sometimes known as Candle-mas.
Ostra, the spring equinox, is the celebration of the Goddess rising and the Earth's resurrection. She returns from her winter slumber and brings with her the first signs of spring. The festival is names after the Teutonic goddess Ostre, the egg or see goddess. Blessing and planting seeds and painting eggs are part of these traditions. Although names after Ostre, the Greek myth of Persephone rising from the realm of the dead to usher in the growing season with her mother, Demeter, also resonates on the equinox.
Beltane is the first festival of May 1st. Traditionally, herds were driven between two large bale fires of sacred wood to purify them of any lingering winter illness. Modern purification rites, both with fire and water, are performed on Beltane. It is dedicated to the young, fiery god Bel. The God has grown from the winter solstice into a young man, and claims his role as the Goddess' lover. Sexuality and passion are enjoyed on Beltane, and May Pole dances are traditional, representing the union of the God into the Earth Goddess.
The summer solstice, or Feast of Litha,is the divine marriage of Goddess and God. They are at the peak of their power, as the land is in full bloom and the harvest is expected. The day is the longest of the year, giving us an extended period of twilight, when the doors to the faery realm are open wide and we may celebrate with the spirits of the other-world. Some traditions see this holiday as the battle of the divided light and dark aspects of the God. The dark king is victorious, claiming the throne with the Goddess.
Lammas, the fire festival of August 1st. In the Irish traditions it is known as Lughnassadh, after Lugh of the Long Arm, a god of light and grain. His talents are many and unequaled. Games and sports are played on this feast. Though originally names Lugh's Funeral Feast, after his mother's death, it is now associated with Lugh's own death, as the scarified king of the grain. Corn-dolly effigies are burned and the first grains of the harvest are cut and given as an offering to the gods in thanks. The sacrifice of the old God ushers in the bounty of the first harvest.
The second harvest is the fruit or wine harvest on the fall equinox. Named after the Celtic god Mabon, who gets lost in the Underworld, this is a time to journey to the dark. Wine is one of the ways to open the magickal passages between realms. Myths of other harvest gods, particular those associated with wine, such as Dionysus, are celebrated.
Samhain is the traditional meat harvest and the Celtic New Year. Falling on October 31st, it has been turned into modern Halloween, but was a very important pagan festival. Samhain is the day of the dead. This was the day when the first of the herd was slaughtered, opening the veils between the worlds. Since the day is one of death, ancestors who have passed on are associated with it, coming back through the veil to give blessings and advice. Soul meals are prepared for the dead, goodbyes are said to lost loved ones, and candles are lit to mark their way back. Eventually this thinning of the veil became a fearful event, and costumes were worn to scare away the walkers between the worlds, though originally it was a normal part of the culture, with no fear or dread.
These eight festivals are called Sabbats, thought the individual traditions celebrated them differently. The term harkens back to the Burning Times, to the Hebrews Sabbath, when witches and Jews alike were prosecuted as heretics. Modern witches have adopted the word. An Esbat refers to another type of ritual, usually a Moon ritual. Esbats are typically private circles, for covens, small groups who work magick together. Community and family are usually welcome to the Sabbaths, which are more celebratory in nature. With Esbats, the goal is working magick in an intimate setting. Esbats usually coincide with the Full or Dark Moon. Witches celebrate the 13 Moons of the lunar year. The term circle is sometimes used synonymously with Esbat, or with a group of practitioners, but a circle specifically refers to the ritual of the circle, a ceremony of celebration and magick called a witch's circle, moon circle, or magician's circle. Circles are cast in both Esbats and Sabbats or any other magickal event, depending on the tradition.
Life rituals, or rites of passage, are marked along with the holidays. Like tribal people, pagans mark turning points in life with ceremony or ritual. Traditions are individual, but usually birth, coming of age, hand-fasting (marriage), elder-hood, and death are celebrated.
*Credit to Christopher Penczak
The winter solstice, also called Yule, is when the Sun's light starts to grow. Cultures across the Northern Hemisphere saw it as the birth of the Young God. Many of the familiar Christmas celebrations were taken from Yule, including mistletoe, Yule logs, and decorating evergreen trees with lights, a symbol of the everlasting Goddess and the return of the God of Light. Although still deep in winter, the light and life are returning to the world.
Imbolc comes on February 2nd, a fire festival often dedicated to the goddess Brid, or Bridget. Brid is the triple goddess of light, and a patron of the home, healers, poets, and smiths. Some compare her to the Greek goddess Hestia, the goddess of the home and hearth. Candles are lit and homes are blessed. Advent wreaths are a remnant of Brid's crown of candles. Imbolc is sometimes known as Candle-mas.
Ostra, the spring equinox, is the celebration of the Goddess rising and the Earth's resurrection. She returns from her winter slumber and brings with her the first signs of spring. The festival is names after the Teutonic goddess Ostre, the egg or see goddess. Blessing and planting seeds and painting eggs are part of these traditions. Although names after Ostre, the Greek myth of Persephone rising from the realm of the dead to usher in the growing season with her mother, Demeter, also resonates on the equinox.
Beltane is the first festival of May 1st. Traditionally, herds were driven between two large bale fires of sacred wood to purify them of any lingering winter illness. Modern purification rites, both with fire and water, are performed on Beltane. It is dedicated to the young, fiery god Bel. The God has grown from the winter solstice into a young man, and claims his role as the Goddess' lover. Sexuality and passion are enjoyed on Beltane, and May Pole dances are traditional, representing the union of the God into the Earth Goddess.
The summer solstice, or Feast of Litha,is the divine marriage of Goddess and God. They are at the peak of their power, as the land is in full bloom and the harvest is expected. The day is the longest of the year, giving us an extended period of twilight, when the doors to the faery realm are open wide and we may celebrate with the spirits of the other-world. Some traditions see this holiday as the battle of the divided light and dark aspects of the God. The dark king is victorious, claiming the throne with the Goddess.
Lammas, the fire festival of August 1st. In the Irish traditions it is known as Lughnassadh, after Lugh of the Long Arm, a god of light and grain. His talents are many and unequaled. Games and sports are played on this feast. Though originally names Lugh's Funeral Feast, after his mother's death, it is now associated with Lugh's own death, as the scarified king of the grain. Corn-dolly effigies are burned and the first grains of the harvest are cut and given as an offering to the gods in thanks. The sacrifice of the old God ushers in the bounty of the first harvest.
The second harvest is the fruit or wine harvest on the fall equinox. Named after the Celtic god Mabon, who gets lost in the Underworld, this is a time to journey to the dark. Wine is one of the ways to open the magickal passages between realms. Myths of other harvest gods, particular those associated with wine, such as Dionysus, are celebrated.
Samhain is the traditional meat harvest and the Celtic New Year. Falling on October 31st, it has been turned into modern Halloween, but was a very important pagan festival. Samhain is the day of the dead. This was the day when the first of the herd was slaughtered, opening the veils between the worlds. Since the day is one of death, ancestors who have passed on are associated with it, coming back through the veil to give blessings and advice. Soul meals are prepared for the dead, goodbyes are said to lost loved ones, and candles are lit to mark their way back. Eventually this thinning of the veil became a fearful event, and costumes were worn to scare away the walkers between the worlds, though originally it was a normal part of the culture, with no fear or dread.
These eight festivals are called Sabbats, thought the individual traditions celebrated them differently. The term harkens back to the Burning Times, to the Hebrews Sabbath, when witches and Jews alike were prosecuted as heretics. Modern witches have adopted the word. An Esbat refers to another type of ritual, usually a Moon ritual. Esbats are typically private circles, for covens, small groups who work magick together. Community and family are usually welcome to the Sabbaths, which are more celebratory in nature. With Esbats, the goal is working magick in an intimate setting. Esbats usually coincide with the Full or Dark Moon. Witches celebrate the 13 Moons of the lunar year. The term circle is sometimes used synonymously with Esbat, or with a group of practitioners, but a circle specifically refers to the ritual of the circle, a ceremony of celebration and magick called a witch's circle, moon circle, or magician's circle. Circles are cast in both Esbats and Sabbats or any other magickal event, depending on the tradition.
Life rituals, or rites of passage, are marked along with the holidays. Like tribal people, pagans mark turning points in life with ceremony or ritual. Traditions are individual, but usually birth, coming of age, hand-fasting (marriage), elder-hood, and death are celebrated.
*Credit to Christopher Penczak
Stereotypes of Witches
All witches do not wear black! I don't always wear black, actually, I wear a lot of pinks and red. Which in due time I will address colors and what their meaning is and what effect it has on spells, daily life, others, etc. But, black is appropriate for ritual because it is a dark goddess color, and it attracts energy. Rituals are celebrated at night for the same reasons, though many take place during the day as well, depending on the tradition. Witches can feel empowered to wear black outside of the ritual space, but wearing black is not a requirement. Black and late evening rituals were also practical during the Burning Times. If you were afraid of getting caught, black cloaks would hide you at night in the forest from prospective witch hunters. Black is also the color of clergy, used by priests and rabbis. Perhaps they adopted that practice from witches...
Witches DO NOT perform animal sacrifices, thought it may have been a part of our distant history, as it was in Judaism and many other religions. Many Wiccans are animal right activists and environmentalists, subscribing to a theory of "harm ye none". Witches DO NOT abuse children in or our of ritual as part of their faith, nor do we perform curses or hexes.
Witches and other pagans do believe in and practice magick. Magick is the art of making change, manifesting your dreams, and banishing the things that no longer serve you and hold you back. Though the effects can be quite startling and powerful, magick usually manifests in the form of unusual coincidences and connections. The first time you have success with magick, and even the second or third time, you might dismiss it. After repeated successes, however, you know you are no longer working with the fabled "Law of Averages", and that some other forces, namely magic, is at work. Magick is usually spelled with a k by modern practitioners, to distinguish it from illusion and sleight of hand tricks.
Spells, specific acts of magick, can be created through ritual or meditation. To a witch, spells are like prayers. They are simple acts of sending out an intention to the divine, asking it to manifest. The difference between spells and prayers is that witches study the nature of the universe to understand better how to create change. Many people who pray think it is a give and take process, where one has to give up something "sinful" to receive the boon of the prayer. Though there is always an exchange of energies, witches know that the universe is ever abundant.
We do not label ourselves white or black witches, as was done in the Burning Times. Though the distinction of white and black magick can still be found in the initial lessons of high ritual magick, most modern witches do not subscribe to it. Magick is ruled by intention.
*Credit to Christopher Penczak
Witches DO NOT perform animal sacrifices, thought it may have been a part of our distant history, as it was in Judaism and many other religions. Many Wiccans are animal right activists and environmentalists, subscribing to a theory of "harm ye none". Witches DO NOT abuse children in or our of ritual as part of their faith, nor do we perform curses or hexes.
Witches and other pagans do believe in and practice magick. Magick is the art of making change, manifesting your dreams, and banishing the things that no longer serve you and hold you back. Though the effects can be quite startling and powerful, magick usually manifests in the form of unusual coincidences and connections. The first time you have success with magick, and even the second or third time, you might dismiss it. After repeated successes, however, you know you are no longer working with the fabled "Law of Averages", and that some other forces, namely magic, is at work. Magick is usually spelled with a k by modern practitioners, to distinguish it from illusion and sleight of hand tricks.
Spells, specific acts of magick, can be created through ritual or meditation. To a witch, spells are like prayers. They are simple acts of sending out an intention to the divine, asking it to manifest. The difference between spells and prayers is that witches study the nature of the universe to understand better how to create change. Many people who pray think it is a give and take process, where one has to give up something "sinful" to receive the boon of the prayer. Though there is always an exchange of energies, witches know that the universe is ever abundant.
We do not label ourselves white or black witches, as was done in the Burning Times. Though the distinction of white and black magick can still be found in the initial lessons of high ritual magick, most modern witches do not subscribe to it. Magick is ruled by intention.
*Credit to Christopher Penczak
The Common Witch
Pagan originally meant "of the land" or "country dweller", referring to rural people and their beliefs. As Christianity grew and took control of Europe, pagan became identified with any of the non-Judeo-Christian religions, and to some it was equated with heretic, an enemy of the Church's truth. Some equate the word heathen with heretic or savage, but it means "one who lives on heaths". Church officials wanted to replace pagan beliefs and practices with Christian ones, so much so that pagan holidays were adopted into the Christian calendar to get converts. As the word witch is reclaimed, so is the word pagan. Now it refers to a larger group of beliefs with many different traditions and practices. Pagan is to Wiccan as Christian is to Catholic, meaning Pagan and Christian are larger groups with smaller traditions within them. All Wiccans and witches are pagan, but not all pagans are witches. Many identify themselves as pagan, but may not identify with a specific tradition, such as witchcraft. And within the heading of witchcraft are several other smaller divisions.
Divinity is inherent in all things, material and spiritual. The divine force is apparent in all life and form. Spiritual does not mean divorced from the physical, earthly realm. The Earth is actually one of the most divine forms in all creation. All life, all nature is the divine manifest, and most pagans honor the Earth as a living being, the source of life. In our mythology, the Earth is viewed as Mother, or even Grandmother, the source of all life on Earth. The Earth Goddess can be seen as a symbol of life and interconnection, or a sentient consciousness available for communication in her own right. Science is slowly catching up to the idea of the Earth being alive, and no a lifeless rock. British biologist James Lovelock first proposed the "Gaia Hypothesis" in the 1970's, named after the Greek goddess Gaia, stating that all life, including humanity, is part of a complex biosphere organism. Others have extrapolated that hypothesis into a theory that the Earth is a living being, and all things on Earth are akin to cells within her. To witches, there is no doubt that the Earth is alive.
The divinity, or life force, present in all things expresses itself in several different ways in witchcraft. Most common in this faith is the expression of the divine not only thought the Earth, but also through the Goddess, the Great Mother, and the God, the all Father. Through the actions of this polarity, Goddess and God, life is created.
As the Goddess is manifested through the Earth, she is also inherent in the Moon, the changing cycles matching the twenty-eight day menstruation period. The concept of a Triple Goddess-Maiden, Mother, and Crone-seen in the waxing, full, and waning Moon, is rooted deeply in the pagan consciousness. Her three identities could also be the Moon, Earth, and Underworld Goddess. The Triple Goddess is seen as the giver of life, sustainer and destroyer, all in one. The mythologies of old contain the Triple Goddess image. Different cultures alternately see the Goddess in the Sun, ocean, rivers, sky, and spiraling galaxies.
The God is manifested through various faces, including the Sky Father, encompassing Mother Earth; Solar King; Horned God, the lord of animals; and the Green Man, the lord of the harvest. The God is most aptly seen as dualistic. On the waxing, or warming half of the year, he is life bringer, the god of light, Sun, and growing things. On the waning and withering half of the year, he is the god of darkness, death, animals, and the hunt.
Each image or archetype in our collective consciousness reveals one aspect of the divine, God and Goddess alike. Neo-pagans and witches have adopted the gods and goddesses of various pantheons as expressions of the Goddess and God. Usually these expressions function as rulers over a particular aspect of nature or human life, such as a deity of storms, the sea, the Moon, hunting, or magic. Usually they have more than one attribute. Even as expressions of the divine, the gods and goddesses are very real, connecting to our innermost selves.
Although witches are polytheists, meaning they acknowledge and honor more than one deity, they recognize the one spirit running though everything. Perhaps the word monist, one who recognizes the divine in everything is a more appropriate term, but most pagans identify themselves as polytheistic. The gods and goddesses are expressions of that one spirit,leading to a more personal relationship with the divine.
The one spirit, the Great Spirit, is known by many terms. The Goddess and God move in the love of the Great Spirit. They are different aspects of the divine. Infrequently, some Wiccan traditions call this one spirit Dryghten, a word said to be Anglo-Saxon and best translated to "lord", but without the gender quality, referring to the creative force that is both male and female, the source of all things. Some see this Great Spirit as the Goddess exclusively, who gave birth to the God through her self-fertilization. Ancient myths, such as the Greek creation story, start with the Goddess who give birth to her son/husband to continue creation.
Critics say that witches worship nature, and to a certain extent that is true, but in reality we worship the creative force found in nature. In essence, we honor life, everywhere, we see the divine in everything and everyone.
Witches have nothing to do with the Christian Devil. To believe in the Devil, one must already believe in the Christian myths, and most witches feel their spiritual roots predate Christianity. We are not naive. We do believe that harmful forces exist and precautions must be taken, but we do not subscribe to an ultimate author of evil or the concept of sin. An ultimate evil and an ultimate good is a polarity never found in nature. In Christian myths, God is all powerful, but the Devil still exists. For this to be a true polarity, they must be equal to each other, but in Christian mythology, they are not. In Wicca, we focus on the polarity of the Goddess and the God, and the love of their union that births life into beings. Love is the focus, not conflict. The concept of light versus dark, good verse evil, was actually adopted from Zoroastrian religions.
*Credit to Christopher Penczak
The Roots of Witchcraft: Stone Age
In the Paleolithic era, the early Stone Age, human societies were hunters and gathers, nomadic people continuously following the source of food. Most modern people think of the Paleolithic times as the age of barbaric cavemen, but these tribes were probably more sophisticated than we give them credit for. In those societies, the men usually hunted for food, while the women stayed with the tribe, caring for the family. Women were logically considered the lifeblood of the tribe, and cherished, since women gave birth to the children. Men were more "expendable" in terms of survival, since one man could impregnate many women. Scholars speculate that the role of man in pregnancy was not even understood in Stone Age times. In this harsh life, children were vital to continuing the tribe. This gave rise to the belief that many of these societies were matriarchal, meaning they were led by women. These societies were more right-brained, focusing on pictures, feelings, and instinct.
Religiously, cave painting and other artifacts indicate a level of spiritual belief. We believe that these early people saw the divine in nature, animated by nature spirits or gods. The Earth was the mother of life, providing the vegetation needed to survive, while her consort was an animal lord, providing the animals needed by the people. Stone Age people were polytheists, believing in more than one god. Other spirits possibly animated the sky, storms, mountains, rivers, and fire.
Certain members of the tribes noticed that they had abilities that set them apart from their kin, and some developed these abilities further. Women and men who were either too old or too injured to hunt lived lives that allowed them the opportunity to expand these abilities. Notice that our surviving archetypes of these people are the wise old women and men., and often such sages are called wounded healers, their injuries helping them understand the nature of healing. These individuals developed their natural rapport with the spirits, developing psychic talents, knowledge of herbs and other healing skills, and becoming the wise ones of the tribe. They became the religious leaders, petitioning the elements and leading hunters to the herds. They conducted ceremonies and celebrations. They were the magic makers. Such people did not necessarily use the word witch or witchcraft, but in essence, this was their practice. They were akin to the Native American Shamans, but we do not have a proper name for the shamans' ancient European, African, or Middle Eastern brethren. Anytime someone honored both Mother and Father aspects of the divine, revered nature, and shaped the forces of the world for healing and change, they were practicing witchcraft.
As women were so critical to the development of witchcraft, the Goddess played a pivotal role in its development, then and now. Humanity's earliest works of art and religion are based on Goddess figures, images that we now believe represent the Great Mother. In the earliest creation myths, the Mother was often the prime source of creation, self-fertilizing and single-handedly manifesting reality from the void. Similar images are found all over the world, depicting She of a Thousand Names, the mother of witchcraft.
Ishtar/Inanna/Astarte of Babylon Nathor, Nile River Goddess
2000 BCE 4000 BCE
Venus of Lespugue Venus of Willednorf
25,000 BCE 30,000 BCE
*Credit to Christopher Penczak
Religiously, cave painting and other artifacts indicate a level of spiritual belief. We believe that these early people saw the divine in nature, animated by nature spirits or gods. The Earth was the mother of life, providing the vegetation needed to survive, while her consort was an animal lord, providing the animals needed by the people. Stone Age people were polytheists, believing in more than one god. Other spirits possibly animated the sky, storms, mountains, rivers, and fire.
Certain members of the tribes noticed that they had abilities that set them apart from their kin, and some developed these abilities further. Women and men who were either too old or too injured to hunt lived lives that allowed them the opportunity to expand these abilities. Notice that our surviving archetypes of these people are the wise old women and men., and often such sages are called wounded healers, their injuries helping them understand the nature of healing. These individuals developed their natural rapport with the spirits, developing psychic talents, knowledge of herbs and other healing skills, and becoming the wise ones of the tribe. They became the religious leaders, petitioning the elements and leading hunters to the herds. They conducted ceremonies and celebrations. They were the magic makers. Such people did not necessarily use the word witch or witchcraft, but in essence, this was their practice. They were akin to the Native American Shamans, but we do not have a proper name for the shamans' ancient European, African, or Middle Eastern brethren. Anytime someone honored both Mother and Father aspects of the divine, revered nature, and shaped the forces of the world for healing and change, they were practicing witchcraft.
As women were so critical to the development of witchcraft, the Goddess played a pivotal role in its development, then and now. Humanity's earliest works of art and religion are based on Goddess figures, images that we now believe represent the Great Mother. In the earliest creation myths, the Mother was often the prime source of creation, self-fertilizing and single-handedly manifesting reality from the void. Similar images are found all over the world, depicting She of a Thousand Names, the mother of witchcraft.
Ishtar/Inanna/Astarte of Babylon Nathor, Nile River Goddess
2000 BCE 4000 BCE
Venus of Lespugue Venus of Willednorf
25,000 BCE 30,000 BCE
*Credit to Christopher Penczak
The Weaver
The words witch and witchcraft evoke a sense of humanity's mystical past and a hope for the future. Whenever someone, individual or culture, sought to understand spirit through the cycles of life, honored the divine as being both masculine and feminine, recognize the Earth and sky, quieted themselves enough to hear the soft inner whisper, and took an active partnership with nature, they were practicing witchcraft. It is only through an unfortunate period of history that the words witch and witchcraft became maligned.
The most important aspect of this tradition is the individual's sovereignty. Each practitioner is his or her own priest or priestess. Teachers, elders, and healers are respected and can help you on the path, but ultimately witchcraft is about your own personal, individual relationship with the divine. through such training you have the ability to perform your own spiritual rituals and seek guidance. We have the last word on what is correct and good for us, as well as the responsibility of living with those decisions.
The eclectic witch borrows from many cultures. These cultures do not necessarily have to be Celtic or even European to be a part of the modern craft, even though some traditionalists feel that witchcraft is exclusively Celtic. We come from a tradition filled with the mysteries of the past, but now witchcraft generally encourages one to find the path that works for the individual. All our other "hats"-healer, therapist, herbalist, shaman, mother, brother, priest, priestess, environmentalist, counselor, researcher, writer, psychic, and teacher-all fit nicely under the "hat" of witch, for witches are all these things, too. The path of the witch is truly the path of knowledge and, more importantly, wisdom. It changes and adapts as new information is discovered. Witchcraft is a living religion.
*Credit to Christopher Penczak
The most important aspect of this tradition is the individual's sovereignty. Each practitioner is his or her own priest or priestess. Teachers, elders, and healers are respected and can help you on the path, but ultimately witchcraft is about your own personal, individual relationship with the divine. through such training you have the ability to perform your own spiritual rituals and seek guidance. We have the last word on what is correct and good for us, as well as the responsibility of living with those decisions.
The eclectic witch borrows from many cultures. These cultures do not necessarily have to be Celtic or even European to be a part of the modern craft, even though some traditionalists feel that witchcraft is exclusively Celtic. We come from a tradition filled with the mysteries of the past, but now witchcraft generally encourages one to find the path that works for the individual. All our other "hats"-healer, therapist, herbalist, shaman, mother, brother, priest, priestess, environmentalist, counselor, researcher, writer, psychic, and teacher-all fit nicely under the "hat" of witch, for witches are all these things, too. The path of the witch is truly the path of knowledge and, more importantly, wisdom. It changes and adapts as new information is discovered. Witchcraft is a living religion.
*Credit to Christopher Penczak
The Walker
Witch can also be defined as "a walker between the worlds". Due to a revival of interest in Native American practices, many people associate the shaman with the medicine man of a tribal people. Shamans are spiritual leaders, but that is not the entire picture. The term originated in Siberia, but has been applied to native practices throughout the Americas and more loosely to practices across the world. The shaman believes in nonphysical, spiritual realms and learns to send his or her spirit to such realms. In these worlds, one can retrieve information and healing energy, and commune with spirits. The shaman ministers to his or her people through the ability, to effect healing of the mind, body, and spirit.
Witches, too, believe in nonphysical realms. They believe in the physical and a multitude of spiritual dimensions. Witches hone their abilities to pierce the veil and travel to these dimensions, where they speak with goddesses, gods, and spirits. Like the shamans, they are expected to remain grounded in the material world with responsibilities to their people, yet keep one foot ever ready to enter the spiritual world. They are bridges between worlds, seeking to bring their people into greater partnership with the divine. The native people in Siberia and the Americas remained more tribal and retained a certain amount of reverence for these shamans, even in the modern era. As the European people became less tribal, they stamped out their very own shamanic traditions, the practices of the witch. That fear of spiritual power, of the unknown, of mysteries in a culture with a growing patriarchy, turned the image of the witch from a priestess and healer into a monster of the night.
*Credit to Christopher Penczak
The Healer
A great definition of witch is "healer". In the ancient cultures, people went to the priestesses and priests for healing. At the time, healing encompassed much more than our modern medical profession. Modern medicine is wonderful in many ways, but in these ancient times, healing was a process involving the mind, emotions, and spirit as well as the body. In short, healing was an energetic process. We are now coming full circle with the rise in popularity of holistic and alternative treatments. A healer was one to counsel, advise, and minister to the spiritual balance of the individual or tribe, as well as do ritual, divination, and hands-on healing. You will probably find many witches now involved in the healing arts, traditional or otherwise, because helping others is such an important part of the practice of witchcraft.
*Credit to Christopher Penzczak
*Credit to Christopher Penzczak
What is a Witch?
If you turn back a few hundred years, you can see the word witch all across the records of one of Europe's greatest holocausts, the witch trials. Men and women were persecuted and killed for being different. Some call it the Burning Times, because many were put to death by fire, burnt at the stake. Typically, history books gloss over this particular bit of history, but it is every bit a part of us, as relevant to our modern cultures as wars of conquest.
At the top of the list of victims were those accused of practicing witchcraft. The ruling powers of the time had their own ideas about witchcraft, spreading stories of black masses, sacrifice, and contracts in blood signing souls over to the Devil. These stories are the roots of the children's fairy tales. The vast majority of the condemned were not practicing "true" witchcraft. Some held the teachings of the wise women and cunning men of the tribes, a knowledge of healing herbs, remedies, mid-wiving, and simple charms. We call such skills old wives' tales, but they have endured because there is truth to them. We don't know how many of the accused and condemned were actually practicing what is now call the Old Religion, the way of the witch.
If you turn back even further, to cultures whose histories were not often written down, you find a different kind of witch. This witch was not shrouded in the darkness of fear and fairy tales, but in the darkness and light of the Goddess. This witch was revered as a healer, teacher, leader, and wise one. The image of the witch inspired the same reverence that a priest or minister does now in modern culture, for the ancestors of modern witchcraft were the priestesses and priests, the seers and advisors living a spiritual life by turning into the forces of nature, the tides of the seasons, and the cycles of the Moon. They held a kinship with the plants and animals and, in essence, all life. Their teaching and histories were kept in the oral tradition, holding the myths and magic of the culture.
Modern witches focus on this particular root in the witchcraft tree. Those claiming the name and title of witch are truly reclaiming and building on the image of the witch from these ancient days. If you really want to know what the words witch and witchcraft mean as we move into the next century, look at the growing movement of modern witches.
If you ask a witch what he or she means by the word, you will get as many definitions as there are witches. And yes, witches can be both women and men. Male witches are not called warlocks. The word warlock can be traced from Scottish, Old English, Germanic, and Indo-European roots and is now generally regarded to mean "deceiver" or "oath breaker" to those involved in the craft. Such a title was probably associated with witchcraft by those who wanted to defame the practice.
The root of the word wic, or wicca, means "wise", for witches were the keepers of the wisdom, evolving into the images of wise women and wizardly men. Another definition was "to bend shape", meaning those who practiced witchcraft could bend and shape the natural forces to do their bidding, to make magic. The word witch is actually considered to be Anglo-Saxon in origin, and some feel that only those who are practicing European traditions, or more specifically Celtic, Saxon, or Germanic traditions, have the right to claim the title witch. The etymology of the word can possibly be traced back to Sanskrit and the earliest Indo-European languages, although this could be a popular folk etymology used by many modern witches. The Middle English word wicche is traced back to the Old English wiccan, meaning "to practice witchcraft". Male and female witches were distinguished through the words wicca and wicce, respectively. In Middle High German, wicken means "to bewitch or divine the future". In Old German, the word is traced to wih, meaning "holy". From the Old German to Old Norman, we have the ve, meaning "temple". Notice an interesting shift from the W sound to the V sound, but notice the similar shape of the letters. The letter W actually looks more like double V in our alphabet. In French, the letter is called doublevay. The further back you go, the further away you get from the stereotypical witch and to a word of sacredness and spirituality.
In modern English, witch is used to refer to both men and women. Wicca refers to the modern revival of witchcraft. After the witch trials and persecutions, what remained of the teaching went underground. Other teachings were lost forever, but the practices were revived and the surviving traditions came to light in the twentieth century. In several modern traditions, witchcraft refers to the practice and art of the the craft., such as spells, while the religion is known as Wicca. Thought you can make a strong distinction between the definitions of witch and Wiccan, or Witchcraft and Wicca, most practitioners accept both words and identities. If you are not sure what to call someone, ask them.
* Credit to Christopher Penczak
At the top of the list of victims were those accused of practicing witchcraft. The ruling powers of the time had their own ideas about witchcraft, spreading stories of black masses, sacrifice, and contracts in blood signing souls over to the Devil. These stories are the roots of the children's fairy tales. The vast majority of the condemned were not practicing "true" witchcraft. Some held the teachings of the wise women and cunning men of the tribes, a knowledge of healing herbs, remedies, mid-wiving, and simple charms. We call such skills old wives' tales, but they have endured because there is truth to them. We don't know how many of the accused and condemned were actually practicing what is now call the Old Religion, the way of the witch.
If you turn back even further, to cultures whose histories were not often written down, you find a different kind of witch. This witch was not shrouded in the darkness of fear and fairy tales, but in the darkness and light of the Goddess. This witch was revered as a healer, teacher, leader, and wise one. The image of the witch inspired the same reverence that a priest or minister does now in modern culture, for the ancestors of modern witchcraft were the priestesses and priests, the seers and advisors living a spiritual life by turning into the forces of nature, the tides of the seasons, and the cycles of the Moon. They held a kinship with the plants and animals and, in essence, all life. Their teaching and histories were kept in the oral tradition, holding the myths and magic of the culture.
Modern witches focus on this particular root in the witchcraft tree. Those claiming the name and title of witch are truly reclaiming and building on the image of the witch from these ancient days. If you really want to know what the words witch and witchcraft mean as we move into the next century, look at the growing movement of modern witches.
If you ask a witch what he or she means by the word, you will get as many definitions as there are witches. And yes, witches can be both women and men. Male witches are not called warlocks. The word warlock can be traced from Scottish, Old English, Germanic, and Indo-European roots and is now generally regarded to mean "deceiver" or "oath breaker" to those involved in the craft. Such a title was probably associated with witchcraft by those who wanted to defame the practice.
The root of the word wic, or wicca, means "wise", for witches were the keepers of the wisdom, evolving into the images of wise women and wizardly men. Another definition was "to bend shape", meaning those who practiced witchcraft could bend and shape the natural forces to do their bidding, to make magic. The word witch is actually considered to be Anglo-Saxon in origin, and some feel that only those who are practicing European traditions, or more specifically Celtic, Saxon, or Germanic traditions, have the right to claim the title witch. The etymology of the word can possibly be traced back to Sanskrit and the earliest Indo-European languages, although this could be a popular folk etymology used by many modern witches. The Middle English word wicche is traced back to the Old English wiccan, meaning "to practice witchcraft". Male and female witches were distinguished through the words wicca and wicce, respectively. In Middle High German, wicken means "to bewitch or divine the future". In Old German, the word is traced to wih, meaning "holy". From the Old German to Old Norman, we have the ve, meaning "temple". Notice an interesting shift from the W sound to the V sound, but notice the similar shape of the letters. The letter W actually looks more like double V in our alphabet. In French, the letter is called doublevay. The further back you go, the further away you get from the stereotypical witch and to a word of sacredness and spirituality.
In modern English, witch is used to refer to both men and women. Wicca refers to the modern revival of witchcraft. After the witch trials and persecutions, what remained of the teaching went underground. Other teachings were lost forever, but the practices were revived and the surviving traditions came to light in the twentieth century. In several modern traditions, witchcraft refers to the practice and art of the the craft., such as spells, while the religion is known as Wicca. Thought you can make a strong distinction between the definitions of witch and Wiccan, or Witchcraft and Wicca, most practitioners accept both words and identities. If you are not sure what to call someone, ask them.
* Credit to Christopher Penczak
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Witchcraft: Botanicals: Warning & Safety Tips
"Witchcraft" plants fall into several categories. The following are not mutually exclusive. Many witchcraft plants fall into several categories at once.
*Witchcraft plants offer power over life and death. Some exert powerful influences over the human reproductive system. These include fertility enhancers, menstrual regulators, herbal contraceptives, and abortifacients. Aphrodisiacs, those plants that promote sexual interest and ability, may be included in this category too.
*Just as some plants are identified with birth and life, others have associations with death, whether for spiritual reason or because the particular plant is deadly poisonous, or both.
*Some plants possess the power to intoxicate; they stimulate the euphoria sometimes crucial to shamanism, witchcraft, and some spiritual rituals. They stimulate, joy, exultation, and feelings of well-being, at least temporarily.
*The modern term "entheogen" describes substances that are gateways to visionary experiences. Used with knowledge, skill, and experience, these substances may unlock portals so that the shaman and witch can journey and fly.
Witchcraft plants include wild, uncultivated plants that resist domestication, prickly, stinging plants that assert powerful boundaries, and poisonous and psychoactive plants. Many witchcraft plants are associated with the moon and with female reproduction and sexuality.
WARNING
With the exception of linguists, most people's current knowledge of Anglo-Saxon extends no further than a few select 4 letter words. However, it's vital to be familiar with at least one other 4 letter word, a least before you play with any plants: BANE. Pay attention when you see or hear that word: it is a warning of danger. Bane derives from the Old German bano meaning death. Bane implies that a plant is poisonous enough to cause death.
Folk names tend to describe something about a plants' use; plants with "bane" in their name frequently recall the identity of those plants' primary victim, hence henbane or wolfsbane. However, beware: any plant with "bane" anywhere in its name is poisonous to some degree.
Poisonous plants may be even more lethal today for 2 reasons. Firstly, lack of knowledge. We don't really know how or even if our ancestors administered them. Practitioners were killed and chains of transmission destroyed. Their methods may have been very different from our own. Although they lacked our technical capacity, their knowledge of fine botanical nuances was almost certainly greater. Secondly, concentration and isolation. Modern understanding of plants and nature is very different from what it once was. Today we know that every botanical contains various phyto-hormones and chemical constituents including alkaloids that provide its various physical effects. In other words, once upon a time we knew that belladonna was toxic; not we know why it's toxic, which chemical constituents are responsible for its poisonous effect. These chemical constituents can now be isolated and concentrated. The effect of the chemical constituents can now be isolated and concentrated. The effect of the chemical constituent on its own is almost certainly more potent and concentrated than when left as part of a complex system of interlocking components. There are herbalists who will only work with whole plants believing that any form of concentration of plant powers, including essential oils, is dangerous.
Modern scientific inclination is to isolate individual chemical constituents, refine and concentrate them, so that medicine can be standardized. Standardized synthetics may also be created that are even more potent than the whole plant. The disadvantage is that by isolating a single chemical constituent, we may remove buffering that provided a measure of safety. These standardized, concentrated forms do not occur in nature and may, in fact, not be safer. The classic example is ephedrine, the now banned dietary supplement derived from ephedra, a plant used medicinally since at least Neolithic times.
SAFETY TIPS
*Never use any botanicals without expert professional supervision. This extends to more than just standard internal administration. Even handling certain plants can be dangerous.
*Do not wild-craft, for two reasons:
-This is the botanical equivalent of poaching animals; many botanicals are severely endangered in the wild.
-Plants can be deceptive. It's very easy to assume that one is picking one plant when on is, in fact, picking another. This particularly true with mushrooms, who bear reputations as tricksters, sometimes deadly ones.
Botanicals have local and folk names; these are the names they've been called in a specific language or region. Many of these folk names are very revealing; they tell you something about the plant's nature and uses. However, many folk names are shared, Half a dozen plants are known as motherwort; the only thing they may have in common is that they're beneficial in some aspect of maternity, whether conception, birth, or nursing. If you ask for motherwort, you may receive any one of these half dozen plants, at least one of which is also a powerful cardia stimulant. However, each and every plant has only one Latin designation. That Latin designation is used internationally to describe only one single plant. Latin designations are the lingua franca, the common language of the worldwide botanical community. For safety's sake, because otherwise you may have no idea what plant you're working with and many plants have profound and sometimes dangerous physical effects, always use the plants' Latin classification.
IMPORTANT: The plants listed in any part of this blog are included for historical purposed only! Experimenting with plants, particularly with those known to be dangerous or life threatening, is not encouraged. Those who would like to learn more or get involved with botanicals, I recommend seeing advice from a local botanist.
*Credit to Judika Illes
*Witchcraft plants offer power over life and death. Some exert powerful influences over the human reproductive system. These include fertility enhancers, menstrual regulators, herbal contraceptives, and abortifacients. Aphrodisiacs, those plants that promote sexual interest and ability, may be included in this category too.
*Just as some plants are identified with birth and life, others have associations with death, whether for spiritual reason or because the particular plant is deadly poisonous, or both.
*Some plants possess the power to intoxicate; they stimulate the euphoria sometimes crucial to shamanism, witchcraft, and some spiritual rituals. They stimulate, joy, exultation, and feelings of well-being, at least temporarily.
*The modern term "entheogen" describes substances that are gateways to visionary experiences. Used with knowledge, skill, and experience, these substances may unlock portals so that the shaman and witch can journey and fly.
Witchcraft plants include wild, uncultivated plants that resist domestication, prickly, stinging plants that assert powerful boundaries, and poisonous and psychoactive plants. Many witchcraft plants are associated with the moon and with female reproduction and sexuality.
WARNING
With the exception of linguists, most people's current knowledge of Anglo-Saxon extends no further than a few select 4 letter words. However, it's vital to be familiar with at least one other 4 letter word, a least before you play with any plants: BANE. Pay attention when you see or hear that word: it is a warning of danger. Bane derives from the Old German bano meaning death. Bane implies that a plant is poisonous enough to cause death.
Folk names tend to describe something about a plants' use; plants with "bane" in their name frequently recall the identity of those plants' primary victim, hence henbane or wolfsbane. However, beware: any plant with "bane" anywhere in its name is poisonous to some degree.
Poisonous plants may be even more lethal today for 2 reasons. Firstly, lack of knowledge. We don't really know how or even if our ancestors administered them. Practitioners were killed and chains of transmission destroyed. Their methods may have been very different from our own. Although they lacked our technical capacity, their knowledge of fine botanical nuances was almost certainly greater. Secondly, concentration and isolation. Modern understanding of plants and nature is very different from what it once was. Today we know that every botanical contains various phyto-hormones and chemical constituents including alkaloids that provide its various physical effects. In other words, once upon a time we knew that belladonna was toxic; not we know why it's toxic, which chemical constituents are responsible for its poisonous effect. These chemical constituents can now be isolated and concentrated. The effect of the chemical constituents can now be isolated and concentrated. The effect of the chemical constituent on its own is almost certainly more potent and concentrated than when left as part of a complex system of interlocking components. There are herbalists who will only work with whole plants believing that any form of concentration of plant powers, including essential oils, is dangerous.
Modern scientific inclination is to isolate individual chemical constituents, refine and concentrate them, so that medicine can be standardized. Standardized synthetics may also be created that are even more potent than the whole plant. The disadvantage is that by isolating a single chemical constituent, we may remove buffering that provided a measure of safety. These standardized, concentrated forms do not occur in nature and may, in fact, not be safer. The classic example is ephedrine, the now banned dietary supplement derived from ephedra, a plant used medicinally since at least Neolithic times.
SAFETY TIPS
*Never use any botanicals without expert professional supervision. This extends to more than just standard internal administration. Even handling certain plants can be dangerous.
*Do not wild-craft, for two reasons:
-This is the botanical equivalent of poaching animals; many botanicals are severely endangered in the wild.
-Plants can be deceptive. It's very easy to assume that one is picking one plant when on is, in fact, picking another. This particularly true with mushrooms, who bear reputations as tricksters, sometimes deadly ones.
Botanicals have local and folk names; these are the names they've been called in a specific language or region. Many of these folk names are very revealing; they tell you something about the plant's nature and uses. However, many folk names are shared, Half a dozen plants are known as motherwort; the only thing they may have in common is that they're beneficial in some aspect of maternity, whether conception, birth, or nursing. If you ask for motherwort, you may receive any one of these half dozen plants, at least one of which is also a powerful cardia stimulant. However, each and every plant has only one Latin designation. That Latin designation is used internationally to describe only one single plant. Latin designations are the lingua franca, the common language of the worldwide botanical community. For safety's sake, because otherwise you may have no idea what plant you're working with and many plants have profound and sometimes dangerous physical effects, always use the plants' Latin classification.
IMPORTANT: The plants listed in any part of this blog are included for historical purposed only! Experimenting with plants, particularly with those known to be dangerous or life threatening, is not encouraged. Those who would like to learn more or get involved with botanicals, I recommend seeing advice from a local botanist.
*Credit to Judika Illes
Witchcraft: Animals: Bats
Familiar features of Halloween paraphernalia and old-style horror movies, virtually everywhere that bats are found they are identified with witchcraft, perceived as witches' familiars' mounts, and alter egos.
Bats are ancient creatures, having inhabited Earth for about 50 million years. There are nearly one thousand kinds of bats, who comprise nearly one quarter of all mammal species. They are unique as they are the only mammal who can truly fly.
Bats inspired are because their form was ambiguous: they resemble some kind of cross between an animal and a bird. In ancient Asian belief, bats were understood to be the most perfect bird because they nurse their young.
Most bats are nocturnal; they famously sleep through the day, hanging upside down in huge colonies, emerging at dusk from the caves they inhabit, sometimes in huge swarms. Animals that live in caves, grottoes or underground are metaphysically perceived as being especially close to Earth, and thus privy to her deepest secrets.
Medieval Europeans associated bats with dragons-magical winged creatures that live in caves and grottoes. At first glance this may seem very flattering for a little bat, however this association proved unfortunate, as by the Middle Ages, the only role European dragons were left to play was as a target for questing knights. And small bats are much easier to kill than fire-breathing dragons.
Dragons were also associated with Satan; this association rubbed off on bats and they became closely associated with devils, demons and the anti-Christ. Medieval artwork frequently depicts Satan with bat's wings; angels, on the other hand, were consistently painted with wings of white birds. That bat you see flying around might really be a demon.
Unfortunately for bats and women, in medieval Europe the sight of a flying bat was often interpreted as really being a transformed witch up to no good. Witches were believed to transform into bats, to ride bats like horses, and also to smear their broomsticks with bat's blood so as to achieve lift-off. In 1322, Lady Jacaume of Bayonne, France was publicly burned at the stake as a witch. The evidence? Swarms of bats had been observed flying about her house and garden.
Today the concept of a person and bat exchanging shapes automatically brings Dracula to mind, and indeed the most common bat in modern Halloween imagery is the vampire. However, the bats that thrilled and chilled medieval Europeans were not vampires but "ordinary" bats; the original major fear regarding bats is that they would become entangled in a woman's hair, not that they'd suck her blood.
Vampire bats are indigenous only to the Western Hemisphere. They are not and were never found in Central Europe, where the concept of an undead creature who survives by sapping the vitality of the living has existed since time immemorial. In certain areas of Central Europe and the Balkans, "vampire" and "werewolf" are synonymous; vampire is also used to indicate a "witch", so vampire bay may also be understood to mean "witch bat".
Vampire bats received that name from the mythic vampire, not vice versa. After blood-consuming bats were "discovered" by Europeans, the name was bestowed upon them. Bram Stoker was intrigued by the concept of blood-consuming bats and so incorporated them into his novel Dracula whose success forever changed perceptions of bat and mythical vampires, who were traditionally not always typecast as blood-suckers; many traditional vampires preferred consuming sexual fluids or more abstract life forces, such as the aura.
The concept of a mythic blood-consuming "vampiric" spirit was, however, well-known in Central and South America prior to European contact. Bats figure prominently in Central American myth. This is the area where blood-consuming bats do exist and so bats also have associations with death and blood sacrifice.
Not all associations with bats are negative, not even vampire bats. The Kogi people of northern Columbia associate the vampire with human fertility. Their euphemistic expression for a girl who begins to menstruate is that she has been "bitten by the bat". According to the Kogi, the bat was the very first animal to be created, emerging directly from the Creator's body.
Some tribes in New Guinea also perceive bats as fertility symbols, perhaps because of the prominent penis of some species located there.
In China, bats are regarded as especially auspicious, their very name a pun for luck. Bat images abound in art and ornamentation.
The Chinese five bat design represents the five blessings:
*Longevity
*Prosperity
*Health
*Righteousness
*A Natural Death
Bats are ancient creatures, having inhabited Earth for about 50 million years. There are nearly one thousand kinds of bats, who comprise nearly one quarter of all mammal species. They are unique as they are the only mammal who can truly fly.
Bats inspired are because their form was ambiguous: they resemble some kind of cross between an animal and a bird. In ancient Asian belief, bats were understood to be the most perfect bird because they nurse their young.
Most bats are nocturnal; they famously sleep through the day, hanging upside down in huge colonies, emerging at dusk from the caves they inhabit, sometimes in huge swarms. Animals that live in caves, grottoes or underground are metaphysically perceived as being especially close to Earth, and thus privy to her deepest secrets.
Medieval Europeans associated bats with dragons-magical winged creatures that live in caves and grottoes. At first glance this may seem very flattering for a little bat, however this association proved unfortunate, as by the Middle Ages, the only role European dragons were left to play was as a target for questing knights. And small bats are much easier to kill than fire-breathing dragons.
Dragons were also associated with Satan; this association rubbed off on bats and they became closely associated with devils, demons and the anti-Christ. Medieval artwork frequently depicts Satan with bat's wings; angels, on the other hand, were consistently painted with wings of white birds. That bat you see flying around might really be a demon.
Unfortunately for bats and women, in medieval Europe the sight of a flying bat was often interpreted as really being a transformed witch up to no good. Witches were believed to transform into bats, to ride bats like horses, and also to smear their broomsticks with bat's blood so as to achieve lift-off. In 1322, Lady Jacaume of Bayonne, France was publicly burned at the stake as a witch. The evidence? Swarms of bats had been observed flying about her house and garden.
Today the concept of a person and bat exchanging shapes automatically brings Dracula to mind, and indeed the most common bat in modern Halloween imagery is the vampire. However, the bats that thrilled and chilled medieval Europeans were not vampires but "ordinary" bats; the original major fear regarding bats is that they would become entangled in a woman's hair, not that they'd suck her blood.
Vampire bats are indigenous only to the Western Hemisphere. They are not and were never found in Central Europe, where the concept of an undead creature who survives by sapping the vitality of the living has existed since time immemorial. In certain areas of Central Europe and the Balkans, "vampire" and "werewolf" are synonymous; vampire is also used to indicate a "witch", so vampire bay may also be understood to mean "witch bat".
Vampire bats received that name from the mythic vampire, not vice versa. After blood-consuming bats were "discovered" by Europeans, the name was bestowed upon them. Bram Stoker was intrigued by the concept of blood-consuming bats and so incorporated them into his novel Dracula whose success forever changed perceptions of bat and mythical vampires, who were traditionally not always typecast as blood-suckers; many traditional vampires preferred consuming sexual fluids or more abstract life forces, such as the aura.
The concept of a mythic blood-consuming "vampiric" spirit was, however, well-known in Central and South America prior to European contact. Bats figure prominently in Central American myth. This is the area where blood-consuming bats do exist and so bats also have associations with death and blood sacrifice.
Not all associations with bats are negative, not even vampire bats. The Kogi people of northern Columbia associate the vampire with human fertility. Their euphemistic expression for a girl who begins to menstruate is that she has been "bitten by the bat". According to the Kogi, the bat was the very first animal to be created, emerging directly from the Creator's body.
Some tribes in New Guinea also perceive bats as fertility symbols, perhaps because of the prominent penis of some species located there.
In China, bats are regarded as especially auspicious, their very name a pun for luck. Bat images abound in art and ornamentation.
The Chinese five bat design represents the five blessings:
*Longevity
*Prosperity
*Health
*Righteousness
*A Natural Death
Bats figure prominently in African folklore . In East Africa, bats are witches' mounts. In the Ivory Coast, bats represent souls of the departed, while in Madagascar, bats aren't just any old souls but those of criminals, sorcerers, and the unburied dead. Bats have powerful associations with death and ghosts. A hoodoo charm to stop ghostly harassment displays African magical roots: Should you feel that ghost's unwanted presence, toss one single black cat hair, obtained without harming the cat, over your left shoulder saying, "Skit, scat! Become a bat!" Rather than inspiring avoidance, associations of bats with witches and magic inspired the use of whole bat corpses and various anatomical parts to be featured prominently in magic spells.
*References to bat's wings in magic spells may refer to holly leaves, which may always be substituted.
*Bat nuts (dried ling nuts), which if held from one angle resemble bats, may be substituted for bats in any spell.
*Similar to bat's wings as code for holly leaves, "bat's blood" may have been a euphemism for another magical ingredient, perhaps a resin. At some point, people did you real bat's blood as ink. However, since the 1920's commercially marketed Bat's Blood Ink is scented red ink.
Perhaps because bats were understood to be transformed witches they have also been used to protect from malevolent witchcraft. A particularly unpleasant English custom involved nailing a live bat above the doorway to ward off witches, perhaps akin to the American rancher's practice of posting dead coyotes or wolves to warn others away.
Negative associations have taken a deadly toll: many species of bats are extremely endangered due to loss of their habitat and because people have perceived them as vermin fit for extermination. This terribly upsets the balance of nature: bats are genuine fertility figures, responsible for the pollination of many plant species, particularly in the desert. Without the bat, these botanical species cannot multiply. Bats are also responsible for insect-control, one bat can gobble up as many as 600 mosquitoes in one hour.
Modern witchcraft practices suggest that maintaining a bat house on your property will bring joy and good luck.
*Credit to Judika Illes
Witchcraft: Animals: Baboons
Baboons are the animals most especially identified with witchcraft throughout Africa, alongside bats, hyenas, and owls. Historically and currently, baboons are understood to serve as witches' familiars or mounts, or even to be witches themselves.
Although an accident of alphabetical order, for a variety of reasons, it is fitting that an encyclopedia of witchcraft's selection of featured animals should begin with the baboon:
*According to Egyptian myth, a baboon deity is responsible for the invention of magic.
*Few other animals, perhaps only cats or wolves, can demonstrate so powerfully how a creature once beheld as sacred, powerful, valuable, and god-like can come diabolized and perceived as worthless, embarrassing pests.
*Persecution of baboons because of their perceived identification with witchcraft didn't end thousands or even hundreds of years ago, but continues today.
Baboons are descended from Old World monkeys. There are two sub-species, gelada and savanna, with the savanna baboons further divided into five sub-species: Chacma; Guinea; Olive; Yellow; Hamadryas.
Gelada baboons are found only in Ethiopia's Simien Mountains. However, on the whole, baboons are the most successful of all Africa's monkeys and are widely distributed throughout the continent. They are also found on the Arabian Peninsula.
Their very proliferation has caused them to be exterminated as vermin, with some communities offering a bounty on their heads. Biologist who specialize in baboons frequently spend considerable time convincing local farmers not to shoot baboons on sight.
Farmers very often dislike baboons, perceiving them as competition. Baboons are smart, aggressive, organized, and clannish-and they want to feed their families. They're wary, suspicious, and may take flight easily; however don't mistake that for being intimidated. As wild territory becomes scarce, rather than retreating baboons, unlike some other animals, will enter human territory looking for food, "stealing" fruit and produce as well as the occasional baby goat. Associations with witchcraft do not increase their popularity.
Male baboons possess something of a reputation as belligerent brawlers, although recent studies indicate that this reputation may not be entirely deserved, or at least not as across-the-board as once perceived. They certainly look fierce, possessing huge, sharp canine teeth, which they display as a sign of aggression and dominance.
When it comes to discussing or observing baboons there's little avoiding the topic of sex, as their genitalia tend to be particularly prominent. It apparently takes very little stimulus for the male baboon to display and maintain an impressive erection-particularly noticeable with the hamadryas, whose luxuriant mane doesn't cover his private parts or his vivid red behind. Baboons greet each other via genital presentation. Hans Kummer, author of In Quest of the Sacred Baboon, suggests that the animal's lunar associations derive from the females' round genital swellings, which fluctuate in monthly rhythms similar to those of the moon and by extension, women's menstrual period.
Baboons feature Prominently in Egyptian mythology. Whenever Egyptian myth discusses baboons, the reference is always to hamadryas, which look different from other baboons, more canine, whereas the others appear more monkey-like. Hamadryas baboons are impressive, regal creatures possessing a square, very symmetrical head, often literally a "blockhead". Males have a flowing leonine mane. They resemble some kind of composite creature: part dog, part lion, part human and part monkey, which must have increased their appeal to the Egyptians.
Hamadryas baboons no longer exist in Egypt due to hunting and loss of habitat. It is believed that they were never indigenous to Egypt but were imported from the mysterious land of Punt, now understood to be somewhere in the Horn of Africa. However, the Egyptian must have been aware of hamadryas baboons from an extremely early historical stage, as two of Egypt's most ancient deities share their shape: Thoth and Babi.
Lord Thoth was understood to be the supreme god Ra's right-hand man. Ra is the sun; Thoth is affiliated with the moon. Thoth rides through the skies as protective escort for Ra's solar barq. Baboons share Thoth's solar and lunar associations. Similar to roosters and crows, baboons greet the sun with noisy chatter.
Living hamadryas baboons were perceived to be either potentially a manifestation of Lord Thoth or a member of his retinue, hence deserving of respect. Many baboons spent their lives housed in temple complexes. Allegedly, Egyptian priests tested male baboons by placing writing implements before them. If the baboon ignored them he was revealed to be nothing more than a baboon; if however he picked one up and began scribbling, perfectly feasible for this highly intelligent, manually dexterous creature, he was then consecrated to Thoth or Ra.
Thoth's nature is calm, rational, and sharply intellectual. He is what is known as a "cool" deity: he doesn't anger easily, thinks before reacting, argues rather than attacks, and can be depended upon to defuse volatile situations. For instance, during a mythological episode when Ra's daughter, Sekhmet descended to Earth in an uncontrollable murderous rampage that none of the other gods could stop, it was Thoth who was ultimately successful in disarming her and leading her back home.
Whether Thoth is capable of cooling down his fellow baboon spirit Babi is unknown. Babi or Baba is a similarly primordial god, from whose name the word "Baboon" derives. Lord of the Night Sky, Babi is called the Bull of the Baboons, meaning he's the pre-eminent alpha male. Essentially he is the god of testosterone.
Babi is fierce, aggressive, and belligerent; no peacemaker, he steals offerings from other spirits. He's bloodthirsty, devouring human entrails as snacks. A terrible, fearsome deity, Babi was also a role model to which one might aspire. He was very specifically a role model for the pharaoh, who prayed to possess Babi's power, ferocity, instant reactions and, his virility.
Babi controls the darkness. His phallus serves as the bold on the gates of heaven. The boat that ferries souls to the next life uses Babi's phallus as its mast. Although Babi was recognized as a destructive force, allied with the equally volatile spirit Seth, his powers were also perceived as potentially beneficial. Various magic spells exist to protect oneself from Babi; others seek his aid. Babi wards off snakes, controls darkness and turbulent waters. An alliance with him offers safety and protection-provided you can stay safe from him.
Different Egyptian deities were affiliated with various parts of the human anatomy for purposes of healing; Babi, no surprise, heals affliction of the penis. He is also Master of Sex in the after-life. Men were buried with magic spells identifying their sexuality with Babi's, so that they'd retain their virility after-death.
Perceptions change. In medieval Europe, the hamadryas baboon became a symbol of lust as deadly sin. Baboons in general came to represent evil spirits. Perhaps most insulting, baboons, whose form once graced the Lord of Wisdom, because identified with his opposite: today if you're called a big baboon, it's an insult, no ambiguity about it.
Associations of baboons with witchcraft are not only ancient or medieval but also current. South Africa has been plagued with witch-burnings in recent years. Various incidents featuring baboons are indicative not only of cruelty but of the negative passions still inspired by witchcraft. As an example, in March 1996 a baboon was spotted in a village in Mpumalanga Province. A woman announced loudly that this baboon was a witch. A crowd then chased the baboon into a tree, from whence a man grabbed it swinging it around violently until the baboon became dizzy and disoriented. The baboon was flung to the ground and beaten with iron bars. Gasoline was poured over it and a rubber tire was placed around the baboon, which was set aflame. The woman who first identified the baboon as a witch claimed that it was a particularly huge baboon. When the flames burned out, the corpse was discovered to be small; this perceived transformation, combined with the lengthy time the baboon took to die, was recognized by some as sufficient proof of witchcraft.
*Credit to Judika Illes
Although an accident of alphabetical order, for a variety of reasons, it is fitting that an encyclopedia of witchcraft's selection of featured animals should begin with the baboon:
*According to Egyptian myth, a baboon deity is responsible for the invention of magic.
*Few other animals, perhaps only cats or wolves, can demonstrate so powerfully how a creature once beheld as sacred, powerful, valuable, and god-like can come diabolized and perceived as worthless, embarrassing pests.
*Persecution of baboons because of their perceived identification with witchcraft didn't end thousands or even hundreds of years ago, but continues today.
Baboons are descended from Old World monkeys. There are two sub-species, gelada and savanna, with the savanna baboons further divided into five sub-species: Chacma; Guinea; Olive; Yellow; Hamadryas.
Gelada baboons are found only in Ethiopia's Simien Mountains. However, on the whole, baboons are the most successful of all Africa's monkeys and are widely distributed throughout the continent. They are also found on the Arabian Peninsula.
Their very proliferation has caused them to be exterminated as vermin, with some communities offering a bounty on their heads. Biologist who specialize in baboons frequently spend considerable time convincing local farmers not to shoot baboons on sight.
Farmers very often dislike baboons, perceiving them as competition. Baboons are smart, aggressive, organized, and clannish-and they want to feed their families. They're wary, suspicious, and may take flight easily; however don't mistake that for being intimidated. As wild territory becomes scarce, rather than retreating baboons, unlike some other animals, will enter human territory looking for food, "stealing" fruit and produce as well as the occasional baby goat. Associations with witchcraft do not increase their popularity.
Male baboons possess something of a reputation as belligerent brawlers, although recent studies indicate that this reputation may not be entirely deserved, or at least not as across-the-board as once perceived. They certainly look fierce, possessing huge, sharp canine teeth, which they display as a sign of aggression and dominance.
When it comes to discussing or observing baboons there's little avoiding the topic of sex, as their genitalia tend to be particularly prominent. It apparently takes very little stimulus for the male baboon to display and maintain an impressive erection-particularly noticeable with the hamadryas, whose luxuriant mane doesn't cover his private parts or his vivid red behind. Baboons greet each other via genital presentation. Hans Kummer, author of In Quest of the Sacred Baboon, suggests that the animal's lunar associations derive from the females' round genital swellings, which fluctuate in monthly rhythms similar to those of the moon and by extension, women's menstrual period.
Baboons feature Prominently in Egyptian mythology. Whenever Egyptian myth discusses baboons, the reference is always to hamadryas, which look different from other baboons, more canine, whereas the others appear more monkey-like. Hamadryas baboons are impressive, regal creatures possessing a square, very symmetrical head, often literally a "blockhead". Males have a flowing leonine mane. They resemble some kind of composite creature: part dog, part lion, part human and part monkey, which must have increased their appeal to the Egyptians.
Hamadryas baboons no longer exist in Egypt due to hunting and loss of habitat. It is believed that they were never indigenous to Egypt but were imported from the mysterious land of Punt, now understood to be somewhere in the Horn of Africa. However, the Egyptian must have been aware of hamadryas baboons from an extremely early historical stage, as two of Egypt's most ancient deities share their shape: Thoth and Babi.
Lord Thoth was understood to be the supreme god Ra's right-hand man. Ra is the sun; Thoth is affiliated with the moon. Thoth rides through the skies as protective escort for Ra's solar barq. Baboons share Thoth's solar and lunar associations. Similar to roosters and crows, baboons greet the sun with noisy chatter.
Living hamadryas baboons were perceived to be either potentially a manifestation of Lord Thoth or a member of his retinue, hence deserving of respect. Many baboons spent their lives housed in temple complexes. Allegedly, Egyptian priests tested male baboons by placing writing implements before them. If the baboon ignored them he was revealed to be nothing more than a baboon; if however he picked one up and began scribbling, perfectly feasible for this highly intelligent, manually dexterous creature, he was then consecrated to Thoth or Ra.
Thoth's nature is calm, rational, and sharply intellectual. He is what is known as a "cool" deity: he doesn't anger easily, thinks before reacting, argues rather than attacks, and can be depended upon to defuse volatile situations. For instance, during a mythological episode when Ra's daughter, Sekhmet descended to Earth in an uncontrollable murderous rampage that none of the other gods could stop, it was Thoth who was ultimately successful in disarming her and leading her back home.
Whether Thoth is capable of cooling down his fellow baboon spirit Babi is unknown. Babi or Baba is a similarly primordial god, from whose name the word "Baboon" derives. Lord of the Night Sky, Babi is called the Bull of the Baboons, meaning he's the pre-eminent alpha male. Essentially he is the god of testosterone.
Babi is fierce, aggressive, and belligerent; no peacemaker, he steals offerings from other spirits. He's bloodthirsty, devouring human entrails as snacks. A terrible, fearsome deity, Babi was also a role model to which one might aspire. He was very specifically a role model for the pharaoh, who prayed to possess Babi's power, ferocity, instant reactions and, his virility.
Babi controls the darkness. His phallus serves as the bold on the gates of heaven. The boat that ferries souls to the next life uses Babi's phallus as its mast. Although Babi was recognized as a destructive force, allied with the equally volatile spirit Seth, his powers were also perceived as potentially beneficial. Various magic spells exist to protect oneself from Babi; others seek his aid. Babi wards off snakes, controls darkness and turbulent waters. An alliance with him offers safety and protection-provided you can stay safe from him.
Different Egyptian deities were affiliated with various parts of the human anatomy for purposes of healing; Babi, no surprise, heals affliction of the penis. He is also Master of Sex in the after-life. Men were buried with magic spells identifying their sexuality with Babi's, so that they'd retain their virility after-death.
Perceptions change. In medieval Europe, the hamadryas baboon became a symbol of lust as deadly sin. Baboons in general came to represent evil spirits. Perhaps most insulting, baboons, whose form once graced the Lord of Wisdom, because identified with his opposite: today if you're called a big baboon, it's an insult, no ambiguity about it.
Associations of baboons with witchcraft are not only ancient or medieval but also current. South Africa has been plagued with witch-burnings in recent years. Various incidents featuring baboons are indicative not only of cruelty but of the negative passions still inspired by witchcraft. As an example, in March 1996 a baboon was spotted in a village in Mpumalanga Province. A woman announced loudly that this baboon was a witch. A crowd then chased the baboon into a tree, from whence a man grabbed it swinging it around violently until the baboon became dizzy and disoriented. The baboon was flung to the ground and beaten with iron bars. Gasoline was poured over it and a rubber tire was placed around the baboon, which was set aflame. The woman who first identified the baboon as a witch claimed that it was a particularly huge baboon. When the flames burned out, the corpse was discovered to be small; this perceived transformation, combined with the lengthy time the baboon took to die, was recognized by some as sufficient proof of witchcraft.
*Credit to Judika Illes
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