Halloween Bats and Ghosts

It is coming... Halloween of course! So here are some more details of my Halloween decor. The bats and the ghosts... I also created the Last Minute Halloween Bats Decor tutorial. You are welcome to try if you want. Wishing you a spooky crafty adventure! Hope you all are doing great and I will be back with some more witches in literature soon.

Yours sincerely,

Witchcraft and Literature

Unconditional Love of The Witch Olesya - Part 2

Today we continue to look inside the relations of the novella's main heroes.
How the protagonist finally meets witch is somehow a folklore theme. While hunting a hare in the woods with Yarmola, the hero looses the way and proceeds walking inside the forest. The barrier is a swamp he has to cross. He sees the walls of a woodman's house among the trees and, struggling to go through the marsh, he approaches it. The main hero opens the hut's door and sees only the hut's dark premises... After he calls out for some live soul, he notices an old woman sitting on the floor with a pile of chicken feathers in front of her.

Baba Yaga's hut, as pictured in the Russian fairy tales

Of note note that the main hero's thinking regarding witches is not free from "standard" beliefs. He, not knowingly, feeds his mind with superstitions. When seeing  Manuilikha, he compares her at once with  Baba Yaga, a Russian folklore character. The hero, himself, is just like Ivan from the Russian fairy tales, who stumbles upon Baba Yaga's hut and then asks her to help him.The old witch Manuilikha is not happy at all to see a stranger in her house, moreover, a young man... All because she is accustomed to live out of reach of people and she has a 25 years old granddaughter. The main hero then tries to soften her offering a coin but she has to make a spread for him  in return. While this the hero hears a woman's voice singing a song... and this is how the meeting with Manuilikha's granddaughter Olesya occurs. The protagonist asks Olesya to show him a path out of the woods and they get into a small conversation. The young man of the story gets to know that Olesya and her grandmother were indeed driven away to the forest, and she says herself the people call "Grandmother a 'witch,' a 'shedevil,' a 'jail-bird'". Would you be friendly to others after such accusations in your address?
 Furthermore, the relations between Olesya and the master develop during frequent visits of the latter to the hut. First, the conversations of the young people remind "teacher-pupil" talks, when the hero tries to educate Olesya... Nevertheless, he considers her to be very intelligent for a girl who doesn't even know how to read and has been living in the woods whole her life.

 I guess that the "witchiness", secrets, surrounding Olesya, charm the main hero more that her wit. He tries to convince himself that magic and witchcraft and witches after all, don't exist, while Olesya's belief in her curse of being able to know secrets of life and. actually, do magic, never fades away.  Oleays shows few tricks to her lover and he tries to explain it by some laws of physics...She throws herself in the embrace of love though she knows that this won't lead to any good. Olesya's ability to give her whole entity to the person she loves and never ask for same in return, is her main strength as well as weakness. In order to please her beloved she, in spite of anything, decides to go to the village church, and this is where she meets peasants' enmity towards her witch's nature. They beat and abuse her, and while she manages to escape, she curses everyone around, singing a sentence to flee this place forever.
  The main hero hurries to see Olesya after this incident and finds her covered in bruises and wounds  She explains him that now she and her grandmother have to  leave... Olesya however is happy anyway, because she was able to love...unconditionally. She only regrets that she didn't have a baby with her beloved...
The main hero can't do anything: neither stop nor follow her. He is the one who is weak and can sacrifice his love to his social status. Olesya leaves the place suddenly and all is what the main hero left is her coral necklace... May be he will now start believing in supernatural because Olesya predicted that their love won't have a happy ending...
I can't  not to make analogy with Margarita, a woman, who sacrificed her entity  and Olesya, who stayed true to her witchy nature. Both had to persuade their lovers to believe in love and both physically suffered for standing their ground. Do Russian writers consider women to be stronger than the men? Or more dedicated... or do women simply BELIEVE in the power of love? 

Halloween in Bright Colors

 A quick post to present my witchy creations:) I made some stuff to set my room with, whereas I am going to celebrate Halloween this year. Hope you like these cute crochet pumpkins, bunting and a witch. Halloween doesn't have to be always scary. Let's fill it with bright colors and beautiful things!

Yours sincerely,

Witchcraft and Literature

Unconditional Love of The Witch Olesya - Part 1

 "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres." (1 Corinthians 13:4-7). It's a little strange to start a post about a witch from the Bible's quote.. However these three lines is the foundation of the romantic stories by Russian writer Kuprin A.I.  These stories is another favorite read of mine I got from home this summer.

One of the most touching and beautiful of them is the one called "Olesya". I read it three days back, again. It always boosts my imagination and I walk half dreaming about it for few more days.

The protagonist, from whose side the story is narrated, is an official, sent to the "God-forsaken village in the Volhynian borderland of Polesye" as he says about the place. He tries to keep himself busy by game-shooting, giving medical help to locals, and noting the area's legends and tales. He doesn't like the place much and calls it "out-of-the-way corner... - simple manners, primitive characters". The relations with the peasants "never went beyond the fact that, on seeing me from a distance, they would take off their caps and, as they came alongside, would mutter sullenly "Speedjue," which was supposed to mean "God speed you." The locals would also start kissing the hands - "an old custom from the time of Polish serfdom". The main character is placed in such environment which doesn't relate his vision of the world. He underlines throughout the story the wildness of the local beliefs...

Ivan Shishkin (1832-1898), The hut in the Forest

The rationalism of the main character is opposed to the superstitions which fill the minds of the peasants. One winter day the main hero, which is called master by his helper Yarmola, sat in his room, while the severe storm was blowing outside...
"Where do you think this horrible wind comes from, Yarmola?"
"The wind?" Yarmola looked up lazily. "Why, don't you know, master?"
"Of course not. How could I know such a thing?"
"Don't you, really!" Yarmola was roused. "I'll tell you," he went on, a shade mysteriously. "Either a witch has been born, or a wizard's making merry." I pounced eagerly on this. "Who knows," I thought, "perhaps I may worm out of him some interesting story of magic, hidden treasures, or werewolves."
"Have you got any witches here in Polesye?" I asked..." This is how the main hero started getting involved in the world of witchcraft and... love. Yarmola then tells the master the tale that there was a witch but "the lads drove her away" to the forests, burning her house "so that not a chip would be left of her accursed nest".
Here we can see that the attitude towards witches is completely negative, moreover, the witch is blamed in whatever bad happens in the village. Thus the witch was driven away because she was believed to do loads of harm like casting spells, plait the stalks in the sheaves...and of course to cause serious illness in the family and furthermore a death of one woman's child!
The curiosity of the master rises as he gets to know that the witch is now living in the forest with her daughter or granddaughter. He intends to see her as soon as the days get warmer. Yarmola tells that the witch's name is Manuilikha...
I am going to cover the rest of the story in the next post, as this one gets too long to read at once. I am going to tell about the relations which tie up between the main hero and  the witch's granddaughter...Do you think it's going to be as successful as the mystic venture of the Master and Margarita?
P.S. the citations are from the  book "Olesya" translated from the Russian by Stepan Apresyan. The book is available here.

The Spring Ball of the Full Moon

If you were following the ventures of Margarita, you must be knowing that she is now getting ready for the so-called Spring Ball of the Full Moon (or the Ball of the hundred kings) held by the devil himself, Woland. Margarita is told by one of his servants to be a mistress there, Queen of the Ball. This is the price she has to pay for returning her Master. I won't be getting into the implication of the name of the ball. You can read about it  here. I would like to see the novel as a completely magical composition right now. The ball is held at the midnight and Margarita is led by Koroviev and cat Begemot to the dark hall, where she steps into the swimming pool and is bathed in blood and rose oil,  then rubbed with some green leaves. "A force picked her up and placed in front of the mirror, and the Queen's diamond diadem glittered in her hair. Koroviev appeared from somewhere and hung on Margarita's breast a heavy, in the oval frame, picture of the black poodle on the massive chain. This jewelry has burdened Queen immensely. The chain started rubbing a neck suddenly , the image drawn her to bend. But something rewarded Margarita for all these inconveniences, which were caused by this chain with the poodle.  This was that reverence Koroviev and Begemot began treating her with". Then someone makes rose petal shoes for Margarita, which lock with golden buckles on their own.

The first detail of this transformation of Margarita into Queen of the Ball is an oval-framed picture of the poodle which is hung on her neck. This is a reference to the Goethe's Faust, where Mefistopheles appears to Faust as a  poodle. She wears the poodle picture as she is the Woland's mistress at the ball. Koroviev suggests her to give special attention to each of the guests, as they may feel hurt otherwise. "You have to love, love him, Queen. The mistress of the ball will be handsomely rewarded for this!"

   The ball at Satan's, as described by Bulgakov, is the most fascinating I have ever read about in literature and I doubt there is another one. It began with the cat Begemot's scream "Ball!".  Music and different flavors suddenly fell on Margarita and she saw herself in the tropical garden. Margarita followed Koroviev and Begemot along the wall of the white tulips which appeared all of a sudden. She saw an empty hall, with "the columns made of some sparkly yellowish stone". All the musicians in the orchestra stood up to greet Queen and  the kapellmeister "bowed low with wide spread arms, and, Margarita smiling, waved..." Later she gets to know that the kapellmeister is Johann Strauss... 

Her walk is not over, and the next hall she flies into, has three fountains, which are pouring champagne into the pools. Finally they arrive onto the platform where Margarita stands beside the low amethyst pillar under her left hand.  One of the black-skinned boys lays a cushion embroidered with a golden poodle under Margarita's feet. An invisible force bends her knee and puts her right foot on the cushion. Now she has to meet the arriving guests and let them kiss her knee. The guests are not common as they are those who went to Hell after their death. They are mostly murderers, thieves, sinful women...

Margarita, Queen of the Ball, cat Begemot and Koroviev

 The Margarita's mission on the Ball in the novel never leaves readers indifferent. She becomes pale as blood is streaming under her diadem and the oval-framed poodle image draws down more and more, her knee swells because of the numerous kissed from devilish guests, still she remains strong and replies that everything is all right when asked by Koroviev. She has to accomplish the duty with grace. Neither cut off head of Berlioz turned into a skull chalice which is filled with baron Meigel's blood, nor all those scary guests can make her change her mind. 

Margarita's truly queen nature saves her from faults as she internally senses what and how to speak with Woland. After Margarita's duty is fulfilled she is asked by Woland what does she want in  return, but even now she leaves her selfishness and asks for one of the guests Freida to be freed from the punishment of putting a handkerchief, with which she strangled her baby, beside her bed every morning as a reminder of her crime. Woland says that Margarita is just too generous and that this doesn't count, she can now ask for herself. Obviously that this time she requests to give her Master back and he suddenly appears in front of her, straight from the mental hospital... Further destiny of Master and Margarita is not  a "happy end" in mundane impression, it is something like eternal life without others around and peace...

Woland is not pictured as "good evil" which helps two lovers to finally be together. Woland is cruel, firm, he is testing mortals in the worst situations for them to check their greed, lust, in one word, provoking them to sin.  He succeeds as the people haven't changed much since the times of Jesus...
Margarita becomes witch because of the "misery and despair" as she herself explains it. Being a part of a dark side she now in fact can see the light, can see purpose of life in protecting her master and living with him in peace. Bulgakov doesn't mean that the dark side has to be your choice, he doesn't say it about the light as well, but he promotes values of human life like love, passion,dedication, honesty, and one of the main themes of the novel as freedom of spirit, freedom of  expression. 

Yours Sincerely,
Witchcraft and Literature

  

Master and Margarita - In the Woland's Apartment

The novel The Master and Margarita is rich in symbols and ambiguous interpretations of the events. Speaking about the witchcraft framework in the novel, I shall say that of course, this is not what the novel is about, but it is very important for the development of the characters. The elements of magic create a surreal world in which you have to find the real meanings. 

 "The room appeared to be not very big. Margarita saw a big broad bed with creasy and crumpled bed sheets and a pillow. An oak wood table with carved legs, on which was placed a chandelier with sockets in the shape of clawed bird's paws, stood in front of the bed. The thick wax candles were lit in these seven sockets. Besides this, a big chess board with the figures, remarkably adept, was on the table. A small bench stood on a shabby carpet. There was one more table with some gold chalice on it and another chandelier, branches of which were made in the shape of the serpents. The smell of sulfur and resin was in the room, shadows from the lamps criss-crossed on the floor...", - as seen by Margarita when she has her first meeting with the devil before the Spring Ball of the Full Moon.

We can see that the room is full of symbolic objects and details. There are seven lit candles. No need to say that the number seven is one of the most powerful and known for its magical properties. Number seven is associated with Venus and more recently with Neptun. This is the number of feelings and of instincts. Remember that we are talking about the novel and a love story in it?

Another object of interest for us is the chalice, which properties are known from the Meet witches' tools post. The chalice can be a part of Hella's altar (Hella is a witch and a vampire from the Woland's retinue). The animalistic details like bird's claws and serpents are those which belong to the dark symbols. Especially the serpent as the devil's disguise in the Old Testament. 

The chess board represents spiritual life and the choice. Playing chess with the Devil stakes your life. Even the chess party in Harry Potter, though wasn't with the devil, nevertheless was supposed to reward the winner. The smell of sulfur is traditionally associated with the Devil, evil spirit.

The room, where Woland resides, speaks for itself and gives hints that it is habitation of the dark power. Margarita's sight was attracted to the bed where Woland sat and Hella was applying some ointment onto his aching knee. The aching knee, limping is a reference to the fall of Satan from Heaven after which he damaged his leg. However Bulgakov's Satan Woland appeared in front of Margarita with very human features too: "he wore a long night gown, dirty and with patches on the left shoulder", "his face was skewed and a mouth was drawn down, there were cut deep wrinkles parallel to his sharp eyebrows on his high bald forehead".    

Margarita also notices that "the skin on the Woland's face seemed to be burned evermore", what refers to the fire of Hell, because even Woland's hands seem to be very hot when he makes Margarita sit beside him on the bed. Margarita notices "a beetle, skillfully carved from a dark stone, on the golden chain and with some script on its back" on the hairless Woland's chest, which is definitely is an Egyptian scarab.

Woland greets Margarita and excuses for his "homely look" , he has a very low quality of voice. Woland is very frustrated (!) because of his knee as he has to participate in the upcoming ball. When Hella is told to do preparations for the ball, Margarita willingly offers her help to apply the ointment on the Satan's knee. The ball is going to start at the midnight which is nee, Woland suggests Margarita to be calm and not to drink anything except water during the ball. Let's see what other witchcraft elements are used by Bulgakov at The Spring Ball of the Full Moon .

One more interesting note: Margarita was surprised that the chess figures were alive! They were moving, fighting, getting upset... about 70 years prior to that idea of Harry Potter magical chess :)!
P.S. the passage describing the room and  other snippets of the novel are translated by me.

Yours sincerely,

Witchcraft and Literature

All the witches need a BLACK cat?

I myself adore cats and I had one who was living with our family for 17 years and died because of senility. The cat was black and white, with green eyes. If I were a witch I would have definitely considered him to be my magical cat :) And he was, I believe, not an ordinary one.
More than the brooms and the cauldrons the witches have to own ... a black cat. How it happened that this fluffy fellow became a favorite tame animal among the wizardry folks? What is the role of it in all the process at last? And do all the witches need particularly a black cat?

The witchcraft is much more complicated matter than as it is presented in popular culture. The black cats are being one of the inalienable characters of  the witchcraft as a simple interpretation of it. The book of  1964 "Ugh, Ugh, Touch Wood" (Tьфу, Tьфу, чтоб не сглазить) by V. Ostrovsky was one of my favorite read. The book is not just about the witchcraft but it gives kind of atheistic point of view on the human's beliefs, including magic. Look at the cover - the black cat is crawling among the letters!

Why black? Because this color is traditionally considered to be a color of witchcraft and we keep this in out mind too.We know that the cats were worshiped in ancient Egypt, and when mummified had to accompany their owners in the other world. It is mentioned in "The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Witches and Wicca" that the black cats at the same time were associated with darkness and death in the Egyptian mythology (b). 

 In the same book is said that "according to lore every witch, sorcerer, gypsy was supposed to have a cat. During (the XVI century) witch hunts, the cats were familiars, they embodied the demons who performed the witches' tasks of maleficia against their neighbors". The book then gives an example of a  convicted witch Elizabeth Francis who said she kept white spotted cat named Sathan, which whenever it performed a job for her, demanded a reward of a drop of her blood". The cat isn't black in this story, is it? However during the same XVI century the black cats were said to be the Devil himself and many of them were hunted and burned. Is it some kind of a "black color phobia"?

The Love Potion by Evelin de Morgan

   "Though the black cat is associated with witchcraft, it is considered a good luck own one in parts of Europe, England and  the United States. But having one's path crossed by a black cat is always bad luck," -says the above mentioned Encyclopedia. So the belief in black cat's dark powers is relative. All the cats were bestowed somewhat supernatural powers like seeing ghosts, being able to sense danger and so on.

What about the black cat in modern witchcraft tradition? As Encyclopedia says " In Wicca, the cat is favored companion or familiar, valued for its psychic sensitivity and assistance in magic and ritual". However it is not mentioned in any of special rules that the cat a witch owns has to be necessarily black. I found such statement "black cats are just double the witchiness! The black cat is one of the most common Wicca symbols, to outsiders" on one of the Wicca sites.  I consider that such perception of the black cat by modern Wiccans is based on an ancient thinking of which I told about earlier in this post: witchcraft - black color.
The concept of the particularly black cat as a companion of any witch can be an archetype (Carl Gustav Jung's term) which is being popularized in our century and got a second life. So seven are left still? ;)
What we can conclude is that the cat was an enigmatic animal even centuries ago, it continues being such nowadays too. We value cats for their ability to be sensitive, tender, create a homely atmosphere and make our life a little more happy, no matter if they are black or of any other color.

 Yours sincerely,
Witchcraft and Literature

Margarita's First Flight and Sabbath

Margarita applying a magical ointment

 In connection with the guest post "Margarita - a witch of a Russian descent" I continue to follow the venture of Bulgakov's character.

Margarita the witch

As it had been told, a newly turned witch Margarita heads towards the Sabbath. The Sabbath is a gathering of the witches during the full moon. This event takes place in the novel somewhere on the open grounds, far from  the Moscow city (this is where the story occurs), and Margarita has to reach it by riding her floor broom (a modified broomstick). While flying above the Arbat street she finds out that she is invisible and it gives her a certain amount of confidence. Margarita in anger breaks one of the street signs as she accidentally bumps into it, then flying further and higher she notices a "mass of a eight-storeyed house perhaps a newly built one", she is reminded of something by the board on it and enters the house's premises. She destroys the apartment of a critic who was involved in failure of the Master's writing career.

We can see that Margarita's nature changes. The belonging to the world of dark art makes Margarita to free herself and do things she always wanted to do but was afraid of even attempting. She becomes bold, defiant and even vengeful. This might be considered as a characteristic of a bad witch, however won't you behave the same in order to save your beloved?
The flight of Margarita is described by Bulgakov with such energy and beauty that many times while reading it I wish to try it once in a life myself... Margarita flies above the forests, fragrant meadows, cool ponds. The full moon is escorting Margarita all the way, after a fast ride she feels the proximity of water and later on sees a river and a glimpse of bonfire with small moving figures on the other bank. She then swims in the river's warm water and continues her way to another coast - towards the bonfire of Sabbath. Though Bulgakov doesn't call it so, I think that it is what meant to be.

an image to illustrate the story - couldn't fine the one with the full moon and fire

  As soon as Margarita appears the march is being played in her honour and all the witches bow, moroever she is called the Queen Margo now. The Sabbath gathers such creatures as goat-footed who offers Maragrita champagne, the mermaids (rusalka in Russian), the singing frogs and the witches themselves. The Sabbath in the novel presented as a cheerful event, where the participants dance, consume some wine, mermaids make roundelay and overall atmosphere is quiet pleasing.
Margarita is not at all scared of the sudden change of her life, she accepts it and goes with the flow. As I had told in the previous article, she seems to be a random choice of Woland but Koroviev (from the retinue of Woland) says to her: "... because you are yourself of the royal blood..." and gives few more hints which reveal that Margarita has one of the French Queens of XVI century as her ancestor! There are actually two French Queens who it could be related to: Marguerite de Navarre and Margaret of Valois. However, the latter is considered to be the one chosen by Bulgakov.
Our heroine lived one of the necessary events of the witches' life - Sabbath. Bulgakov's focus nevertheless is not on the witchcraft. itself but on the interpretation of powers hidden within us and the way we use them (or don't). The Margarita's journey hasn't come to an end yet as she still has a task to do after which she will get her Master back.
Bulgakov certainly knew a lot about witchcraft and described so many details of the rituals conducted during the Margarita's turning into a witch and afterwards. Sabbath was one of them. Another one called the great Ball at Satan's will be a culmination and one of the best written places in the novel. You are invited there too.

Yours sincerely,

Witchcraft and Literature

Origin of Witchcraft - Seiðr Magic

Scandinavia... It sounds mystic for me and I remember that I used to be interested in Scandinavian mythology when I first got to know about it at school. Yet I don't know much about this historical region of northern Europe. I am sure there is a lot to explore about magic in Scandinavian culture.

Mythology is a huge and important part of every culture, especially in the origins of it. I'd like to go beyond term Scandinavia and explore witchcraft in Norse culture which will include not only Sweden, Denmark and Norway, but Germany, Iceland and Faroe Islands.

The very first term I happened upon while searching was Seiðr, a type of sorcerywhich was practiced in Norse society during Late Scandinavian Iron Age.  Seiðr relates to the Norse paganism, and according to the archaeological facts the beginning of Norse paganism can be attributed to 2300-500 BCE. The practitioners of this magic were called vǫlur, seiðkonur and vísendakona. The theme of Seiðr  appeared in sagas like Eric the Red and others later.
Seiðr was associated with the god Odin a deity who was responsible for war, poetry and sorcery... quiet diverse fields of influence. In many sources Seidr is considered to be a shamanic type of magic, where practitioners of it get inspiration from visionary journeys (b).

Three horns - a symbol of Odin

The etymology of the word Seiðr is unclear, however some of the authors of the book about Norse paganism give the following versions. According to the suggestion of this book the etymology goes to the Old High German and Old English and has equivalents in such words as "cord, string" and "snare, cord, halter" (b).     
The book explains very well with many examples from the Icelandic, North European folklore and mythology the thought behind such connection. With a cord one can not only bind things but also attract it and this is a characteristics of Seiðr. In Icelandic Seiðr tradition for example. Further thinking of the author leads to the assumption that the shamanic character of  Seiðr allows its performer's mind to be regarded as something spun like a thread or rope, something what a performer could send forth (b). 
The author then explores the possibility of connection Seiðr magic with the concept of spinning. He says that it is widespread that magic wind can be a sorcerer's mind. "One's mind is one's breath". Then the author takes  the  examples from Saami (Northern Norway) legend, in which a woman who's husband sailed away didn't return by Christmas. The woman then went to the seashore and started spinning her distaff while saying the wind to turn and bring her husband back.

The magic of spinning a thread relates to Seiðr. Though the texts the author uses for proving his point of view are later than the High Middle Ages, however the theory of spinning in Seiðr magic finds its support in Viking's burial tradition. The Vikings used to bury their women with distaffs, some of them, as the author says, can belong to ones of the Seiðr. Hence mostly the practitioners of Seiðr were females because spinning was most characteristic women's work (b). 

 I shall add that the element of spinning, we can consider weaving too, is one of the ancient concepts. It can be found in many fairy tales and folklore stories (Sleeping beauty, Baba Yaga and Vasilisa the Brave).

a distaff beside the bed of Sleeping Beauty

My first guest post on A Witchy Life by Sita

 I am very much excited about first guest writing experience for a blog A Witchy Life by Sita. You can find the article here. The name of the post is "Margarita - a Witch of Russian descent". It narrates a  story of a witch from the novel by M.A. Bulgakov "The Master and Margarita". I hope you will like it and I am going to post about Margarita in my blog as well as her story still continues.

Yours sincerely,

Witchcraft and Literature

Meet Witches' Tools

I was thinking about witchcraft a lot and what makes it attractive for me... Witches' tools! Almost anyone can name few of them like brooms, cauldrons, wands... and then you will start guessing and may be will name crystals. But do we really know witchcraft tools and do we know all of them? I decided to explore the topic of witches' tools and found many interesting facts.

As soon as the power of nature plays the most important role in the witchcraft practice, the tools also, in my opinion, have direct connection to the nature, the very first phenomena a human faced,  and that's why  the tools are made of natural materials like wood, stone, metal (as soon as nature gives it).

I was lucky to find a very good book "The Witches' craft: The Roots of Witchcraft and Magical Transformation" by Raven Grimassi ( I bet it's a pseudonym). The author explains that each of such basic tools as pentacle, wand, dagger, and chalice is "an extension  of our (Wiccans'/witches'?) own personal power, a symbolic inner connection to the divine spark within us that allows for external creation".

 According to the author the mentioned tools have a "history of great antiquity.. each tool connects to an ancient belief system". That is what I was looking for and it means that witchcraft has inherited its system in the beginning of time. So what I knew about some of the tools and what discovered now.

Wand

Me: The wand in my opinion has to be considered as one of the most ancient witchcraft tools. The wand is the best known witchcraft tool and very well reflected in popular culture (Harry Potter is in my mind). I know that wand is used for casting spells.

Discovery: In immemorial times people used to worship trees and observe their qualities. Many cultures had (and have) a concept of a Sacred tree - roots extend into Underworld, dark side, while upper branches of tree - to Heaven World, a light side, and both the world are connected to each other.

The book says that there was a custom for leader to carry the branch of a tree, the most powerful of all plants. The custom made the person possessing the wand a medium between Gods and humans, what later led to the association with shamans, prophets and wizards. Others also started using small branches of a tree for religious and magical purposes, and this is how the witches' wand appeared.
The wood was also a material easily available and easily worked up by our ancestors. There are many types of wood hence many types of wands which inherit the quality of each tree. The main wood used for wand making is oak, willow, birch, elm, rowan and walnut.Wand represents the extension of the arm and associated with the element of air. It is used to evoke and invoke the spirits and Gods of Nature (as it has connection to the Heaven World) (b).

Broom

Me: Well, the tool which is very well known to me. Seems like I knew about it since my childhood. In Russian folklore and Russian literature all the witches always used to ride a broom. So no doubt it is a mean of transport.

Discovery: As appeared the broom is not that plain tool. It is evolved into a composite of both male and female fertility. As a ritual tool of Witchcraft the broom is used to sweep the ritual setting for purification. The broom is comprised of three different materials: the handle is mad of ash, the sweep of birch twigs and the binding lash is made of willow strips. The triad the materials announces all the spirits that the witch operates from the name of Hecate. The broomstick allows the witch to have power over spirits of night, shadow and darkness (b).

Not a single word about flying on the broomstick! Is it then a modern interpretation of this tool?

     Athame

Me: I had a little knowledge about this tool and used to call it a "knife". TV shows mostly present it in the scenes where a witch uses it to for killing ritual animals.

Dicsovery: I never knew it is called athame. This tool appeared later in history when people actually learned how to make tools out of metal. Athame is "a tool of elemental fire because the metal itself was forged in fire and retains the memory of this transformative power". The athame does such functions as tracing out a ritual circle and evoking the guardians of the four quarters (b).

 Not as bad tool as I thought and quite a peaceful tool.

 Cauldron       

 Me: I know that witches prepare their potions and ointments in the cauldron.

Discovery: The cauldron has more significance for witchcraft than we think. The cauldron is usually made of iron and associated with fertility, abundance and revival of the dead  It is also a symbol of womb of the Great Goddess. In Celtic myths the cauldron is hidden in the Underworld or some magical castle or labyrinth. What means that cauldron can't be reached easily and the person has to make a long journey to obtain it (b).

Once again the stereotype thinking about the cauldron makes it simple and ordinary tool.

 Chalice

 Me: I must have seen this tool in many movies picturing the witchcraft in the scenes where a witch holds it above her saying some spells and then drinks out of it, or offers to somebody else.

Discovery: Chalice is a tool connected to the Goddess through a womb symbolism (just like the cauldron). In ancient times chalice was a gourd, a large shell or a wooden bowl used to contain the sacred liquids. Nowadays the chalice is made of silver, a metal sacred to the moon goddess. In the Witchcraft chalice is used to hold ritual wine, which used to represent goddess blood and later with the raise of patriarchal power and the creation of agrarian society, the blood of the Goddess symbolized by the red wine became the blood of slain god of the harvest. The cult of Dionysus is the best known example of such symbolism. Chalice is a vessel of offering and receptivity (b).
The chalice  didn't go far from my understanding of it as you can get to know easily what it is used for from its shape. Yet the deep symbolical meaning of it is not known to us.

These were several the most important tools of the witchcraft. However there are still many of them of which I didn't have any idea like the witches' ring, pentacles, a ritual scourge and others. I will try to give time to post about them too. Here now some stereotype image of a witch in modern art. Can you some of the tools beside her? ;)

P.S. All the material taken form the book has linkage (b) in order to follow copyright. Some citations are not full and modified a bit.

A Magical Pathway to My Goal

I haven't been posting recently in my Witchcraft and Literature. No time and no inspiration like I used to have in the very beginning. Nevertheless I have so many ideas for this blog! They are still in the process of shaping, and I hope I can post some of them soon.

I have realized too that the topic I am exploring is much much wider and richer than I could envisage. First of all, witchcraft on its own is a very diverse and multidimensional subject, so it involves a serious preparation for any kind of research, and secondly, literature.. oh, I know it well and I don't know it at all at the same time. If just to imagine how many sources I have already read and studied and how many more are waiting for their turn! Literature doesn't assume only what is written by famous writers in their famous books, literature is a treasury of human thoughts, feelings and beliefs too, what expands it till folklore, myths and other forms of self expression, unwritten sources as well.
My head is full of ideas, which are like flying smoke or movement of air. It makes me feel sometimes that I might lose them, omit them and never get again. So in order not to let it happen I am going to continue my way towards cryptic witchcraft in not less cryptic world literature.
The result will depend on which pathway I am taking. It can be fairy tale-like, sunny and seen far:

fairy magical pathway

It can be hidden among the trees and I will discover many unknown things on the way:

enigmatic magical pathway

Or I will always be seeing the light somewhere there, so close and so far, which will be guiding me:

light magical pathway

However any path you choose gives a lot to your personality  development, enriches your mind. I am not afraid now and can go bravely along one of them... or many :)

P.S. Links to the images are given in the captions to the pictures.

Yours sincerely,

Witchcraft and Literature

Greek Magical Papyri

I was so much happy and excited when I got to know about such ancient text as "Greek Magical Papyri" (Papyri Graecae magicae). It eventually gives and answer on the question about practice of magic in ancient Greece and Hellenic countries as well as it gives us first magical instructions in a written form. I have also found that there is not much information in the internet about it and moreover, not so many images of it though I found some and I hope they are genuine.
"Greek magical papyri" is the name given by scholars to a body of papyri from Graeco-Roman Egypt, which each contain a number of magical spells, formulae, hymns and rituals. The  materials in the papyri date from 2nd century BC to the 5th century AD. The manuscripts came to light through the antiquities tarde, from the 18th century onwards. One of the best known of these texts is the so-called Mithras Liturgy (Wiki).
I must say that the papyri has a very strange look, it has not only script in it but some pictures too and I would like to know the reason. It looks more like some kids' drawing to me as well.

Greek magical papyri sheet

I found the text of "Greek magical papyri" here. So what is the content of this papyri. Mainly the texts included in it are :

• instructions for magical rituals
• different magical spells
• guidance on how to deal with demons
• formulae
• curses
• hymns

and other miscellaneous.
The text of "Greek magical papyri" contains references to various gods and demons, Greek, Egyptian and Jewish. In "Papyri graecae magicae III. 1-59" are found names of Hermes, Hekate (papyri spelling), Hermekate (perhaps merging of Hermes and Hekate) and some Meliouchos. In another papyri IV.4-25 there are names of Egyptian and Jewish gods: Osiris, Anubis, Thoth, Sabaoth. Also Zeus is mentioned there. Moreover, angles are also met in the text.

As I had said above there were images in the papyri too. I consider them to be images of Gods or demons with the spells written in the borders of their body.

Greek magical papyri sheet

 The "Greek magical papyri in translation Including the demotic spell, Second edition" book  explains pretty well the origin, history of discovery and the meaning of "Greek magical papyri". The author of the "Introduction to the Greek magical papyri" Hans Dieter Betz says that beside the insight into syncretism of Greek, Egyptian, Jewish and even Babylonian ancient religions, the papyri also "provides many insights into the phenomenon of magician as a religious functionary(...) Some of the magicians writing and using the spells may have been associated with temples of Egyptian and Greek deities".
The author had good words about the meaning of magic in the time of papyri creation: " In a transitional culture like Graeco-Roman Egypt, a religious functionary who operated as a crisis manager became a necessity to the lives of ordinary people. This role the magician was bale to fulfill". This is what I was saying about the origin of magic   , that it appeared as a support for those who needed it, and the person who performed had a special knowledge, so that he or she could communicate with the world of demons and dead.
Papyri is an amazing written source for the study of magical knowledge in ancient times and we also shall value it as any other opportunity to get a little bit closer to the understanding of how our ancestors lived.  

Origin of Witchcraft - Greek Hecate

 I had opened a big topic related to a reflection of a witchcraft in ancient Greek literature. Therefore, I would like to continue my thoughts on the subject of the first witch/wizard in the human's history. And I would like to descry ancient Greek mythology and Goddess Hecate and her relation to witchcraft.
Hecate is an ancient Goddess who is presented mostly as a triple formed Goddess: triple headed, triple bodied, six armed and six legged. I also found that  "earliest Greek depictions of Hecate are single-faced, not three formed" (wiki), and that her mystic nature was created later.

Ancient Hecate, 3rd century BCE

Goddess Hecate has associations  with a variety of phenomenon as fire, light, the Moon, crossroads, entrance ways, knowledge of potions and herbs, necromancy, sorcery, magic and witchcraft. Hecate also has a universal rule over the earth, sky and the sea, what might be reflected in her triple bodied figure.

Modern Hecate

Hecate's image as a witch can be treated as much valuable and powerful than any other. I must say that Hecate also figures in a myth about Jason and the Argonauts, discussed here in regard with Medea. Nevertheless, Hecate shall be considered as the source of witchcraft, probably it's origin, or the origin of belief in it.
In the Michael Strmiska's book "Modern paganism in world cultures" I found the lines about the origin of witchcraft and Hecate's cult, where the author says that Hecate conflated with Diana (Roman Goddess) was a protector of witches and sorcerers in their work and was most active at night. This then, in late antiquity and early medieval period, gave a ground for association of Hecate with witchcraft and night rituals.
According to Greek tradition Hecate can be called the first Goddess in humans history which used to have links with witchcraft and officially could be called as a Goddess of witches. However, in my opinion, we can't really know how she was treated by ancient Greeks and did they really worship this side of her deity. For that matter I also would like to know about the magic as a tool of mortal people in ancient Greece. How they used magic and how magic was treated that time.