Happy New Year

Posted by kitperriman on December 30, 2022

Happy New Year

2023

The dawn of a new era . . .

(Photo: Kit Perriman)

Gearing Up For Hogmanay!

Posted by kitperriman on December 29, 2022

Happy Hogmanay!

(GIF: Public Domain)

Kit’s Crit: The Familiars (Stacey Halls)

Posted by kitperriman on December 28, 2022

The Familiars is in many ways a modern gothic romance set against the backdrop of the Lancashire witch trials. It tells of seventeen-year-old Fleetwood Shuttleworth’s plight to provide an heir for Gawthorpe Hall after three unsuccessful pregnancies. She enlists the help of a mysterious local wise woman – Alice Grey – who later becomes one of the accused victims. After a string of dangerous adventures, however, things reach a satisfactory conclusion.

Unlike other recent books on the Pendle Witches, Stacey Halls chooses a minor, overlooked historical character as her focal point. Alice Grey is a midwife who may or may not be associated with a familiar in the guise of a red fox, though any magic we see her perform is practical herbalism rather than supernatural spellcasting. Yet we experience Alice through the eyes of Fleetwood Shuttleworth, a privileged narrator far removed from the violence and poverty of the accused witches, who only rushes to help the midwife for personal gain. Halls’ description of the Well Tower in Lancaster Castle is the closest we get to understanding the harrowing ordeal that these real prisoners went through. But having read some of the early reviews, such sanitizing of historical unpleasantness may be necessary for the modern squeamish reader.

The Familiars is an enjoyable story based on the few facts known about the events of 1612. I particularly liked the thoughtful observation that bearbaiting in London was popular because the bloodthirsty townsfolk did not get a chance to hunt!

Halls’ historical research is sound, the setting well-crafted, and the characters consistent with the gothic romance genre. This novel will appeal to readers who want to taste what living through a witch hunt may have been like, but without any graphic information.

Post-Christmas

Posted by kitperriman on December 27, 2022

(Cartoon: Public Domain)

Kit’s Christmas!

Posted by kitperriman on December 26, 2022

(Photo: Public Domain)

Happy Holidays!

Posted by kitperriman on December 23, 2022

Seasons Greetings to you and your loved ones –

from

Kit and the kits

(GIF: Public Domain)

Witches Galore: The Real Deal

Posted by kitperriman on December 22, 2022

PLEASE NOTE: Information below may be incorrect due to Covid-19 Restrictions. CALL BEFORE PLANNING A VISIT.

One of the most popular gift shops in the world is Witches Galore, an enchanting magic store nestled close to Pendle Hill at Newchurch-in-Pendle.

(Photo: Michael Ely)

Witches Galore

14 Newchurch Village, Newchurch-in-Pendle, Burnley, BB12 9JR, United Kingdom

(Telephone: 01144-1282-613111)

Tourists paying a visit are greeted by a coven of life-size hags, who instantly weave their charms to lure the customers within! Open seven days a week from 11am – 5 pm, Witches Galore offers an eclectic mix of information, games, and souvenirs. There are mugs, ceramic wall plaques, tea-towels, fridge magnets, and jewelry related to the Pendle Witches, alongside a variety of books based specifically on Lancashire history, and a miscellaneous collection of magic items such as tarot packs, chalices, scrying bowls, skulls, and so forth.

But unique to this store is their expansive collection of beautifully-crafted witch models. This one I ordered on-line (see below) is named after one of the Pendle Witches: Jennet Device.

(Photo: KIt Perriman)

And this doll was bought several years ago when I was in the area:

(Photo: Kit Perriman)

The individual details are amazing. I have never seen cloth-and porcelain figures of this quality anywhere else.

For a closer look inside Witches Galore check out this cute AffieFilms video with Cassie and Pippa (The Monkey Dogs). There is also some great location footage at the start and end of their short YouTube adventure. Enjoy!

(Video: YouTube)

Three Real Shakespearian Witches

Posted by kitperriman on December 21, 2022

When someone mentions Shakespeare’s witches we naturally assume they are referring to the three weird sisters from Macbeth. Yet around the same time as the Lancashire Witch Trials were taking place in Northern England, another sinister plot was unraveling closer to King James’ court. Ironically, it involved a nefarious character who moved in the shadows of Shakespeare’s own circle – a cunning man by the name of Simon Forman (1552-1611). Two years after his death, Forman was implicated in the murder of Sir Thomas Overbury through his relationship with two former female patrons, Countess Frances Howard Carr (1590-1632) and Mistress Anne Turner (1576-1615).

But Simon Forman was neither the fool nor evil magician that Stuart history suggests. Much more likely he was a self-trained quack whose chief sins concerned the numerous illicit sexual conquests he recorded in his diaries. Forman was a charismatic, intelligent seducer who dabbled in apothecary, astrology, and the occult arts. His clients included Emilia Lanier (possibly Shakespeare’s mysterious Dark Lady) and Mrs. Mountjoy, the bard’s landlady. Interestingly, Macbeth is one of the plays Forman mentions seeing at the Globe Theatre (April 20, 1610). Yet as Barbara Howard Traister’s biography comments, Forman appeared much more interested in the note-taking doctor than in the supernatural characters, which is intriguing for a man who had already been imprisoned on charges of witchcraft.

Although Forman died in 1611, his reputation and influence lived on. He was accused of having supplied the poison that killed Overbury in a diabolical plot hatched by the two femme-fatales – Carr and Turner – and of providing the countess with the magical means to be rid her former husband (Robert Devereux) in order to win over the king’s favorite courtier, Robert Carr.

At the center of the controversy stood Countess Frances, a virgin child-bride wedded to the Earl of Essex who had since fallen in love with the dashing Earl of Somerset. Frances wanted her political marriage annulled so she could marry her beloved, but Carr’s mentor – Sir Thomas Overbury – disapproved of this match and stood in their way. A plot was hatched to discredit Overbury, and he suddenly found himself confined to the Tower of London on trumped-up charges.

Some years earlier the countess had apparently contacted Simon Forman for a love potion. It was stated at her trial that the cunning man also supplied her with a range of poisons, that were later mixed with tarts and jellies before being fed to the imprisoned Overbury by his jailor. He died in September, 1613. A few weeks later the Devereux marriage was officially annulled leaving Frances free to wed Carr. But over the following months rumors of the murder plot began circulating at court, finally forcing the king to pay notice and address them. Under the weight of the overwhelming evidence presented the countess confessed to poisoning her enemy, was found guilty at trial, but eventually received a pardon. She was released from the Tower in 1622, having served due sentence for her crime. Her accomplice, however, was not so fortunate.

Anne Turner was rumored by some to be the illegitimate child of the conjurer, Simon Forman. She was widowed from Dr. George Turner in 1610 and then became the mistress of Sir Arthur Mainwaring. Somehow or other she befriended the countess, perhaps in her capacity as a sought-after dressmaker. Anne held the patent for the saffron starch that dyed fashionable ruffs and cuffs yellow, a more flattering color for many complexions than the usual ivory white lawn. She was also an independent business woman who ran houses of ill-repute in Hammersmith and Paternoster Row. But because she was not of noble birth, the accomplice became the scapegoat for Overbury’s death. Anne Turner, convicted of being a whore, a bawd, a sorcerer, a witch, a papist, a felon, and a murderer, was hanged at Tyburn in 1615. She was sent to execution in her own fashionable yellow ruff, by a man wearing the same saffron ruff and cuffs – denouncing the color of her dye and putting an end to that particular fashion.

Of course these were not the three evil ones Shakespeare envisaged when writing Macbeth. Yet he does add a final statement to the scandal in later versions of All’s Well That Ends Well by having Parolles mocked for wearing a big ruff starched with “villainous saffron.”

Jacobean witches came in many shapes and guises!

(Pictures: Public Domain)

Sources:

The Casebook Project: “Sinon Forman (1552-1611)” (Cambridge: U of Cambridge, 2013)

Downing, Sarah Jane. Fashion in the Time of William Shakespeare (Oxford: Shire, 2014)

Traister, Barbara Howard. The Notorious Astrological Physician of London (Chicago: U of Chicago P, 2001)

Wikipedia: “Simon Forman,” “Anne Turner(Murderer)” and “Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset.”

Shakespeare’s Recipe For Disaster

Posted by kitperriman on December 20, 2022

In Act IV – Scene I of Macbeth, Shakespeare’s three “weird sisters” prepare a “hell-broth” to produce a series of apparitions for Macbeth that set in motion a chain of deadly events. Written only six years before the Lancashire Witch Trials, this script provides a good insight into some of the magical beliefs of that time.

“Round about the cauldron go;

In the poison’d entrails throw.

Toad, that under cold stone

Days and nights hast thirty one

Swelter’d venom sleeping got,

Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot.

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,

In the cauldron boil and bake;

Eye of newt, and toe of frog,

Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,

Adder’s fork, and blind-worm’s sting,

Lizard’s leg, and howlet’s wing,

For a charm of powerful trouble,

Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,

Witches’ mummy, maw and gulf

Of the ravin’d salt-sea shark,

Root of hemlock digg’d i’ the dark,

Liver of blaspheming Jew,

Gall of goat, and slips of yew

Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse,

Nose of Turk, and Tartar’s lips,

Finger of birth-strangled babe

Ditch-deliver’d by a drab,

Make the gruel thick and slab:

Add thereto a tiger’s chaudron,

For the ingredients of our cauldron.

Double, double toil and trouble;

Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

Cool it with a baboon’s blood,

Then the charm is firm and good.”

The Jacobean audience believed that witches brewed such diabolical charms, and seeing this dramatic scene live on stage they would likely have been terrified, fascinated, mesmerized, and revolted by the disgusting ingredients – exactly as Shakespeare intended. But let us take a closer look at his recipe.

The bard was not only a master playwright, he was also a shrewd psychologist who understood the minds of the masses who flocked to the London theatres. Therefore, it is not surprising that one of the first things thrown in the pot is the fenny snake, a nod to the snake who tempted Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Catholic Church claimed that all women were necessarily evil because of Eve’s transgression, and that explains why the majority of accused witches were female. The next three ingredients – eye of newt, toe of frog, and wool of bat – are added to the first item swelter’d toad venom – highlighting four nocturnal creatures that are often associated with witches and their familiar spirits. The liver of blaspheming Jew endorses the common anti-Semitic beliefs of that era, alongside the racial prejudices held against the Turk and Tartar. And Shakespeare further played into the beliefs of his class-conscious, biased audience by having a good man like Macbeth brought down by his scheming wife and a band of wicked hags.

A country audience, however, may have interpreted Macbeth’s cauldron quite differently from the royal courtiers and city dwellers. Many of these exotic ingredients are actually poetic variants on the common names for herbs. Fenny snake = chickweed; Eye of newt=mustard seed; Toe of frog = frog’s foot or bulbous buttercup; Wool of bat = bog moss; Tongue of dog = hound’s tongue; Adder’s tongue = adder’s tongue fern; Lizard’s leg = ivy; Howlet’s wing = henbane; Scale of dragon = dragonwort; Tooth of Wolf = wolf’s bane; Hemlock root = hemlock; Liver of Jew = Jew’s myrtle or box holly; Gall of goat = St. John’s Wort or honeysuckle; Slips of Yew = yew tree bark; Nose of Turk = Turk’s cap; Tartar’s lips = ginseng or tartar root; Tiger’s chaudron = lady’s mantle; and the Finger of birth-strangled babe= foxglove, also known as “bloody fingers”. The remaining items – toad venom, powdered mummy, shark, and baboon’s blood – were all widely thought to have medicinal properties.

Why did Shakespeare choose these fierce-sounding ingredients? Joyce Froome (Wicked Enchantments) argues that, for the wise women of Pendle, these herbs would be part of their everyday folk magic. Catt Foy (Witches & Pagans) suggests that maybe “Shakespeare knew a little more about herbcraft than he was letting on,” and Nigel Beale (Literary Tourists Blog) believes he chose names “designed to gross out the masses, to stop them from practicing magic.”

But William Shakespeare was also a poet. He knew the magic of words and rhythmical power of his hypnotic witch chant. It did not matter that these characters may have been throwing armfuls of common hedgerow roots and leaves into a boiling cook pot. Much more important were the awful-sounding names that conjured up terrifying images in the minds of his audience – and at this he was an unsurpassed wizard!

(Pictures: Public Domain)

Sources:

Beale, Nigel. “Macbeth and what was in the Witches Brew” (Literary Tourist) http://literarytourist.com/2009/10/macbeth-and-what-was-in-the-witches-brew/ accessed 2/2/2015

Foy, Catt. “A Witch’s Brew: Recipe by Shakespeare” in Witches & Pagans #29 (Oregon: BBI Media, Spring, 2014) pages 24-26.

Froome, Joyce. Wicked Enchantments: A History of the Pendle Witches and their Magic (Lancaster: Carnegie Books, 2010)

Stuart, Malcolm. The Encyclopedia of Herbs and Herbalism (London: Macdonald & Co., 1987)

Olde English Rice Pudding

Posted by kitperriman on December 19, 2022

For a deliciously creamy rice pudding, try my Great Grandmother’s version:

Ingredients

knob of butter

1 pint of full milk

2oz short grain pudding rice

2oz castor sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

pinch salt

fresh grated nutmeg

1/4 pint fresh whipping cream

(Photo: Public Domain)

Method

1. Heat the oven Gas 2/150 c/300 f

2. Grease a 2-pint baking dish with the knob of butter.

3. Slowly heat the milk in a large pan on the stove. Add the rice, sugar, salt, and vanilla essence, stirring constantly until the mixture boils.

4. Pour into a greased baking dish. Sprinkle with lots of grated nutmeg.

5. Bake 60-90 minutes until golden brown on top.

6. Remove and cool slightly.

7. Carefully peel off the skin if not required (though most people love it). Fold in the fresh cream and stir well.

8. Serve warm with homemade raspberry, strawberry, or blackberry jam.

For a fruitier, chewy version fold in 4oz of dried fruit (currants, raisins, or sultanas) to the pan of boiled rice before pouring into the baking dish.

Tradition

Posted by kitperriman on December 16, 2022

“In forgetting the past

we lose the powers from whence we came.”

(Traditional Wisdom)

(Photo: Kit Perriman)

Old Demdike’s Charme

Posted by kitperriman on December 15, 2022

A Charme to Cure the Bewitched.

(Painting: Francisco de Goya y Lucientes)

“Upon Good-Friday, I will fast while I may
Untill I heare them knell
Our Lords owne Bell,
Lord in his messe
With his twelve Apostles good,
What hath he in his hand
Ligh in leath wand:
What hath he in his other hand?
Heavens doore key,
Open, open Heaven doore keyes,
Steck, steck hell doore.
Let Crizum child
Goe to it Mother mild,
What is yonder that casts a light so farrandly,
Mine owne deare Sonne that’s naild to the Tree.
He is naild sore by the heart and hand,
And holy barne Panne,
Well is that man
That Fryday spell can,
His childe to learne;
A Crosse of Blew, and another of Red,
As good Lord was to the Roode.
Gabriel laid him downe to sleepe
Upon the ground of holy weepe:
Good Lord came walking by,
Slep’st thou, wak’st thou Gabriel,
No Lord I am sted with sticke abd stake,
That I can neither sleepe nor wake:
Rise up Gabriel and goe with me,
The stick nor the stake shall never deere thee.
Sweete Jesus our Lord, Amen.”

(Taken from Jennet Device’s testimony against her brother, James – August 1612)

(Painting: Public Domain)

The First Temptation

Posted by kitperriman on December 14, 2022

Do you think a look

in the crystal vault of wanting

can secretly covet

without red’s betraying blush –

that some unsteady charm

will fool a close observer

and open the portal

on all of that heady rush?

(Kit Perriman)

(Photo: Public Domain)

Kit’s Crit: The Hangman’s Daughter (Potzsch)

Posted by kitperriman on December 13, 2022

The Hangman’s Daughter is the first of a seven-book series set in medieval Germany. It tells the tale of Martha Stechlin, a local midwife and herbalist accused of witchcraft. Several children die in a small Bavarian town and each has a strange witch-mark tattooed on their shoulder. The local hangman, Jakob Kuisl, is sent to torture a confession from the accused, even though he does not believe in her guilt.

Jakob’s daughter – Magdalena – is an intelligent young woman in love with the local physician’s son. They both know Martha Stechlin is not a witch, and together they set on a mission to uncover the truth behind the false accusations.

The Hangman’s Daughter is an interesting read, steeped in the local superstitions and folklore of the period. Oliver Potzsch paints a vivid portrayal of an oppressive, patriarchal society where everyone’s lives are pre-ordained at birth. But against this stifling backdrop, he makes the hangman a compassionate, human, multi-faceted character, who remains loyal to friends and family even in personal adversity.

There is little difference between Martha Strechlin’s craft, the hangman’s renowned herbal cures, and the local doctor’s medicine – except the female practitioner is the only one selected as the scapegoat. This irony is not lost on the reader. And many parallels of misinformation, personal bias, malicious gossip, and fear skillfully demonstrate how “witch hunts” still gain traction in our sophisticated, high-tech society today.

There are, however, several unfortunate modern colloquialisms in the text that jar the reader out of the Seventeenth-Century setting, but I trust this is a by-product of translation and not an inherent flaw in Potzsch’s writing.

Dark Magic

Posted by kitperriman on December 12, 2022

From my voluntarie Confession and Examination (April 2, 1612)

” . . . the speediest way to take a mans life away by Witchcraft, is to make a Picture of Clay, like unto the shape of the person whom they meane to kill,& dry it thorowly: and when they would have them to be ill in any one place more then the other; then take a Thorne or Pinne, and pricke it in that part of the Picture you would so have to be ill: and when you would have any part of the Body to consume away, then take that part of the Picture, and burne it. And when you would have the whole body to consume away, then take the remnant of the sayd Picture, and burne it: and so thereupon by that meanes, the body shall die.”

(Thomas Potts. The Wonderfull Discoverie of Witches in the Countie of Lancaster, 1613)

(Pictures: Public Domain)

Chris de Burgh’s A Spaceman Came Traveling

Posted by kitperriman on December 9, 2022

A Spaceman Came Traveling

(Chris de Burgh)

A spaceman came traveling on his ship from afar,
‘Twas light years of time since his mission did start,
And over a village he halted his craft,
And it hung in the sky like a star, just like a star.

He followed a light and came down to a shed
Where a mother and child were lying there on a bed.
A bright light of silver shone round his head,
And he had the face of an angel, and they were afraid.

Then the stranger spoke. He said, “Do not fear,
I come from a planet a long way from here,
And I bring a message for mankind to hear.”
And suddenly the sweetest music filled the air.

And it went “La la la la la la la la la,
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la la.
Peace and goodwill to all men and love for the child.
La la la la la la la la la, la la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la la, oh!”

This lovely music went trembling through the ground
And many were awakened on hearing that sound,
And travelers on the road
The village they found,by the light of that ship in the sky
Which shone all around.

And just before dawn at the paling of the sky,
The stranger returned and said, “Now I must fly!
When two thousand years of your time has gone by
This song will begin once again to a baby’s cry.”

And it goes “La la la la la la la la.
La la la la la la la, la la la la la la la la la.
Peace and goodwill to all men,and love for the child.”
And I hear “La la la la la la la la la la la,
La la la la la la, la la la la la la la la la la la la,
This song will begin once again to a baby’s cry.”

Oh the whole world is waiting – waiting to hear that song again
Standing on the edge of the world.
And the time is nearly here . . .

That song will begin once again, to a baby’s cry.

Check out this imaginative video version by Artwayfarer:

(Photo: Public Domain)

(Video: YouTube)

Tarot Cards

Posted by kitperriman on December 8, 2022

Tarot Cards

Tarot Cards originated in the Middle Ages, probably in 15th Century Northern Italy.
They were first designed as a pastime to play games with.
The first cards were rare and hand-painted. They became widespread with the invention of the printing press.
By the late 18th century, Tarot Cards used for telling fortunes and special custom decks appeared.
Etteilla made the first pack of occult cards around 1789 based on Ancient Egyptian themes.
The Tarot pack is divided into two parts – the Minor Arcana (suited cards), and the Major Arcana (unsuited cards).
The four suits are usually SWORDS, CUPS, COINS (pentacles / discs) and BATONS (wands / rods / staves).
The unsuited cards are: The Magician, The High Priestess, The Empress, The Emperor, The Lovers, The Hierophant (Pope), Strength, The Hermit, The Chariot, Justice, The Hanged Man, The Wheel of Fortune, Death, The Devil, The Tower, The Star, The Sun, The Moon, Judgement, The Fool, The World, and Temperance (Angel).
There is a “spread” for every occasion. Different types of “reading” serve different purposes: A three-card reading can represent past / present/ future; a single card signifies the day ahead or can answer a specific question; a seven-card spread may represent the coming week.
Many people use Tarot Cards to guide their personal daily decisions.
Do they predict the future? Or do they merely help focus our thoughts to deal with everyday events? What do you think?

Sources:

“A Beginners Guide to Tarot Cards.” The Cut at http://www.thecut.com/article/tarot.cards

“A Q&A With Colleen McCann.” Goop at http://www.goop.com/wellness/spirituality/how-to-use-tarot-cards-to-guide-daily-decision-making

“Tarot.” Wikipedia at http://www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarot

(Photo: Public Domain)

The Last Wolf In England

Posted by kitperriman on December 7, 2022

“. . . now witchcraft celebrates

Pale Hecate’s offerings; and wither’d murder,

Alarum’d by his sentinel, the wolf,

Whose howl’s his watch, thus with his stealthy pace,

With Tarquin’s ravishing strides, towards his design

Moves like a ghost.”

—Macbeth Act 2 Scene 1

According to Roman and Saxon chronicles, the British Isles were once overrun with wolves. But a combination of deforestation and hunting virtually exterminated all traces of the Eurasian grey canis lupus by the end of the medieval period. At a time when wool production was the major industry, anything that threatened sheep farming was a serious public threat. So between 1066 and 1154, Norman rulers awarded land to official wolf-hunters, on the condition that they controlled the predators in their area. And as part of a plea-bargain to avoid execution, certain criminals could elect to provide an annual number of wolf tongues to escape the gallows.

By Henry Vi’s reign, wolves were found only in Scotland, Wales, Derbyshire, Yorkshire, and Lancashire. But they lived on in the public imagination, and were often one of the familiars associated with witchcraft.

Eurasian wolf (Photo: Public Domain)

Legend claims that the last English wolf was killed at Humphrey Head, north of Morcambe Bay, at a place that used to be called Lancashire Over Sands. At some time during the Fourteenth Century a royal bounty was offered for each wolf pelt captured, and during one of the local hunts Sir Edgar Harrington became separated from his companions and rode for the top of Humphrey Head to look for them. On his way through the forest he heard the terrified shrieks of a young girl cowering behind a rock, hiding from an enormous growling wolf. Taking his spear Harrington battled the wolf, rescued the maiden, and took her back to safety. Apparently, when her gratitude turned into love, the couple were married and they lived happily thereafter with a healthy batch of children. They put an image of a wolf’s head on their family crest and today lie buried together in Cartmel Priory, with a stone wolf carved at their feet.

How refreshing to have a romantic tale about wolves at a time when they were generally associated with witchcraft and evil!

Sources:

Ashworth, Elizabeth. Tales of Old Lancashire (Berkshire: Countryside, 2007)

Wikipedia: “Wolves in Great Britain” available http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolves_in_Great_Britain (2/24/2015)

Kit’s Crit: Wicked Enchantments (Froome)

Posted by kitperriman on December 6, 2022

What if the Lancashire Witches were actually guilty of practicing magic? Joyce Froome’s book, Wicked Enchantments: a history of the Pendle Witches & their magic (Lancaster: Carnegie,2010) explores this possibility from the prespective of the two teenagers involved, James and Alizon Device.

Froome’s website describes her methodology. She uses “quotations from a wealth of original sources, such as trial records and books of magic,” alongside “photographs of magical artifacts.”

This unique compilation – based on the sound scholarly research of an assistant curator at the Museum of Witchcraft in Cornwall – focuses on the seventeenth-century rituals and spells that the poor cunning folk of Pendle may have used to eek out a living: love potions, healing tonics, protection charms, curses, good-luck talismans, fertility magic, and fortune-telling paraphernalia. In addition to multiple illustrations, there are also photographs of a modern family recreating many of the ancient rituals.

The only negative comment I have is that the binding of my book fell apart from frequent reading! But aside from this, Wicked Enchantments is a fascinating, well-documented, alternative portrayal of the Device family. Their spells are clearly explained. And I fully concur with Froome’s conclusion that centuries later “there were still cunning folk around Pendle Hill . . . . Magic had survived both demonisation and ridicule” (310).

Wicked Enchantments could have become a dry, intellectual, historical examination, were it not for the clever organization, and Froome’s subtle humor shining through the pages.

I love her opening warning: “You are strongly advised NOT to attempt any of the spells described in this book – particularly the one that involves removing a tooth from a live wolf” (iv). Reader beware!

More information is available at Joyce Froome’s website: http://www.joycefroome.com/wicked_enchantments.htm

On Edge

Posted by kitperriman on December 5, 2022

EDGE

(Sylvia Plath)

“. . . The moon has nothing to be sad about,

Staring from her hood of bone.

She is used to this sort of thing.

Her blacks crackle and drag.”

(Photo: Kit Perriman)

Olde English Honey Crispels

Posted by kitperriman on December 2, 2022

Try this medieval recipe for a sweet, fried pastry called Honey Crispels.

Ingredients

8oz plain flour

4oz butter (to rub in)

1-2oz butter (as needed for frying)

pinch of salt

I egg

2-3 tablespoons cold water

8 tablespoons honey

sprinkle of nutmeg or cinnamon

Method

1. Place the flour and salt in a bowl. Cut up the butter and rub in the flour until the mixture looks like large breadcrumbs.

2. Add the egg and sufficient water to bind in a dough.

3. Roll out on a floured surface to a thin pastry dough. Cut in 2-3″ circles. (Hint: To hold more honey, fashion a small lip round the edge of each circle so there is a slight hollow in the center).

4. Heat the butter (without burning) in a large frying pan. Fry each round of dough until crisp. Set on the paper to drain.

5. Slowly bring the honey to a boil over a medium heat, skimming any scum from the surface. Stir well to clarify. Brush over the surface of each fried pastry allowing some of the mix to sit and cool in the trough.

6. Modern Version: Dust with icing sugar, nutmeg or cinnamon.

7. Enjoy warm or cold.

* This recipe makes 4-8 crispels, and they take 2-5 minutes to fry, depending on size. Larger crispels are light and flaky. Smaller ones tend to be crunchier.

(Photo: Public Domain)

The Scrying Game

Posted by kitperriman on December 1, 2022

Since the days of the Ancient Persians, wizards, witches, and Romany gypsies and have sought for ways to look beyond the familiar world around them. Cunning folk have stared into fire, water, polished stone, magic mirrors, and crystal balls, seeking divination of hidden knowledge – visions of future events – or clairvoyant arts to find lost objects and detect criminals.

Scrying is a common Celtic practice too. It comes from the Old English word descry and means to make out dimly or to reveal the past, present, or future. Used to detect chaos, evil, good, and magic, scrying often brings a message. The seer goes into a trance and uncovers a series of hidden images, rather like a movie playing inside their skull. But the visions are symbolic and need interpreting, which is a skill that is only learned and honed over time.

Look into Kit’s crystal ball below. I see you – if you see me too then perhaps you’ve also got the gift!

(Photo: Public Domain)

A Less-Known Lancashire Witch: Meg Shelton

Posted by kitperriman on November 30, 2022

Aside from the infamous Pendle Witches who were put on trial in 1612 and 1634, there were other unfortunate victims maligned and persecuted throughout Lancashire. Many of their names were never recorded. Some were accused and later released – some went to court and were found Not Guilty – and some were undoubtedly dealt with by the locals in their own ways.

In these unenlightened times it was common for women denounced as witches, shrews, and gossips to be locked inside a scold’s bridle – a metal brank that caged the head and prevented eating or speech.

(Photo: Kit Perriman)

Public floggings and placement in the stocks were also regular market-day events. And tales of dunking suspected witches in near-by ponds and rivers to see if they were guilty (and floated) or innocent (and drowned) are part of local folklore. So it is quite surprising that one other name still fills the local schoolchildren with terror – Meg Shelton, The Fylde Hag.

Born Margery Hilton, Meg (or Mag) Shelton is said to have lived at various times in Cuckoo Hall near Wesham, Singleton, Catforth, and Woodplumpton. She was a poor beggar woman who survived mainly on a haggis made from boiled grouts and herbs. Meg is infamous for her shape-shifting skills, and apparently could turn into a variety of animals and all sorts of inanimate objects at will. One tale records her creeping into a barnyard at night to steal corn. When the farmer ran out after her there was no one in sight, though he did notice an extra sack of corn. So taking his pitchfork he prodded each bag, finally uncovering Meg’s disguise when she squealed and reappeared nursing a bleeding arm! Another of her injuries was explained by an accident trying to outrun a black dog when she was disguised as a hare. The dog nipped the hare’s hind leg – and Meg was said to walk with a limp thereafter. Meg was often seen riding her broomstick at night. She could turn milk sour, lame cattle, and curse hogs.

But the reason folk remember the Fylde Hag today is because of the strange events surrounding her death. She was killed in 1705, crushed between a barrel and the wall of her cottage. She was buried on May 2nd, at night, by torchlight, in the grounds of St. Anne’s Church in Woodplumpton. The following morning her hand had clawed its way to the surface and had to be reburied. The same thing happened again and everyone was naturally terrified. A priest came and performed an exorcism. Then someone suggested they rebury her upside down so she would dig her way to Hell, instead of to the surface. So they planted her head-first in a narrow trough, and then put a huge granite boulder on top to keep her in place.

In hindsight it seems odd that a known witch would be put to rest on consecrated ground. Usually they were buried at a crossroad with no signposts so they could not find their way home. Or their bodies were burned. And it is entirely possible that the granite stone in St. Anne’s graveyard is a harmless relic carried down by the ice age. But superstition is often stronger than common sense – and we all like to believe in a little magic.

Over the centuries, the legend of Meg Shelton has survived and flourished. I grew up being told that if you walked three times round her grave chanting, I don’t believe in witches, then that hand would rise up from the grave and grab your ankle. But I cannot say if that actually happens or not as I never dared try!

Meg Shelton’s Grave (Photo: Brian Young)

Source:

Ashworth, Elizabeth. Tales of Old Lancashire (Berkshire: Countryside,2007)

Exodus 22:18

Posted by kitperriman on November 29, 2022

^“Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live.”

Eight words

. . . and thousands of ruined lives!

(Drawing: Public Domain)

My Kind

Posted by kitperriman on November 28, 2022

I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil

From “Her Kind” (Anne Sexton)

(Photo: Kit Perriman)

Olde English Christmas Pudding

Posted by kitperriman on November 25, 2022

Ingredients:

4oz plain flour

2oz breadcrumbs

4oz shredded suet

4oz brown sugar

4oz grated apple

1 grated carrot

4oz mixed fruit peel (candied peel)

3 eggs

4oz currants

8oz raisins

4oz sultanas

2oz chopped dried apricots

4oz blanched chopped almonds

1 lemon – grated rind and juice

1 tablespoon treacle

1/4 pint beer or milk

2 tablespoons brandy

1 teaspoon mixed spice

I teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon grated nutmeg

pinch of salt

nub of butter for greasing pudding bowl

Method:

1. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Stir thoroughly. Cover and leave overnight in the refrigerator.

2. Grease a large pudding bowl. Add the mixture and press down well. Cover with pleated greaseproof paper (allowing the pudding to rise and expand) held in place with an elastic band.

3. Place in a steamer and boil for 6-8 hours until the center is cooked through. Remove wet paper.

4. When the pudding is completely cold wrap in cling-film and store in an airtight container.

To Serve On Christmas Day:

1/4 cup brandy for firing

1 pint whipped thick fresh cream

5. Turn out pudding on to a microwave-safe plate. Heat (full power) in a microwave for 3-4 minutes until steaming. Place on dining table.

6. Pour over brandy. Carefully set the alcohol alight with a long match to flavor the pudding.

7. When the brandy burns out the pudding is ready to slice.

8. Serve with fresh whipped cream.

(Photo: Public Domain)

Thanksgiving Blessing

Posted by kitperriman on November 24, 2022

What does Kit give THANKS for?

YOU — for your friendship and following –

Blessed be!

(Cartoon: Public Domain)

Coldplay’s Magic

Posted by kitperriman on November 23, 2022

A little MAGIC for the holidays:

Happy Thanksgiving!

(Video: YouTube)

Kit’s Crit: The Wise Woman (Philippa Gregory)

Posted by kitperriman on November 22, 2022

The Wise Woman by Philippa Gregory

This historical fiction begins in 1540 and follows the tragic life of seventeen-year-old Alys, a young peasant girl in Tudor England. Alys grew up on the moor with a harsh foster-mother called Morach, the local wise woman. But turning her back on superstition and the pagan arts, Alys decides to join a nunnery. For a time she finds contentment in this orderly sanctuary. She enjoys the rigid structure, comparative luxury, and the safety afforded to the Holy Sisters.

But Alys happiness is short lived. One night the monastery burns to the ground, a casualty of King Henry’s Reformation, and the young woman is summoned to the local castle to work as a scribe for the ailing lord of the manor. Here she falls in love with his married son and heir, Lord Hugo. She grows intently jealous of the Lady Catherine, and seeks to replace her in Hugo’s bed. Calling on all the cunning tricks she recalls from living with Morach, Alys devises a difficult, disturbing plot to gain her heart’s desire. At this point the novel slips into magical realism.

Gregory’s story has many Faustian overtones. Alys conjures up the powers of darkness to possess the man she fixates on, aware that her actions are prompted by self-promotion rather than genuine love. By the end of the book the Wise Woman is exposed as self-centered, unlikable, and evil – and therefore she meets with a hellish end.

The Wise Woman can also be read as a morality tale. Although Alys is a victim of historical circumstance, feudalism, and gender, she serves as a warning against forbidden love and obsession. She tries to take the rightful place of another woman – a place where she can never truly belong. Alys discovers she has the power to unleash terrible things on the world, but by the time she realizes she has little control over them, it is too late to go back. She sinks further and further into witchcraft.

I enjoyed the atmospheric setting of Gregory’s novel, and not expecting to sympathize with the central characters I was pleased to find them portrayed in a refreshingly honest way – warts and all! The historical research is sound and convincing, and any book set in the medieval era must acknowledge the common superstitious beliefs of that time.

This is not a feel-good story. It suggests everything in Alys’ world is a sham – magic, life, love, faith, and family. But one of the great joys of reading is the ability to close the book at any point and find yourself back in the twenty-first century!

Shape-shifting

Posted by kitperriman on November 21, 2022

A shape-shifting spell from the Scottish wise woman, Isobel Gowdie:

I shall go into a hare,

With sorrow, and sigh, and much care;

And I shall go in the Devil’s name,

Aye while I come home again.

I shall go into a cat,

With sorrow, and sigh, and sudden pain!

And I shall go in the Devil’s name,

Aye while I come home again

I shall go into a crow,

With sorrow, and sigh, and convulsion!

And I shall go in the Devil’s name,

Aye while I come home again.

Adapted from Joyce Froome’s book, Wicked Enchantments (Lancaster: Carnegie, 2010)

(Picture: Public Domain)

Olde English Parkin

Posted by kitperriman on November 18, 2022

Parkin is a chewy gingerbread cake that is very popular in Northern England, especially on Bonfire or Guy Fawkes Night (November 5th).

Ingredients:

4oz plain flour

4oz fine or medium oatmeal / porridge oats

4oz softened butter

4oz soft brown sugar

4oz black treacle

4oz golden syrup

2 eggs

1/2 level teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon bicarbonate soda

2 teaspoons vinegar

1 teaspoon dry ginger

1oz crystalized ginger

1 teaspoon mixed spice

6 tablespoons milk

Method

1. Heat the oven to 325 / 170 / Gas 3. Grease an 8-inch lined square tin.

2. Place the butter, sugar, treacle and syrup in a saucepan and heat gently until the fat melts. Do not boil. Set mixture aside to cool slightly.

3. Sieve all the dry ingredients (except the bicarbonate of soda) in a large mixing bowl and scoop out a well in the center.

4. Place the bicarbonate of soda and vinegar inside the well and wait for the fizzing to stop.

5. Add the milk to the slightly cooled mixture in the saucepan, and beat well with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are blended together.

6. Carefully add the contents of the saucepan to the ingredients in the mixing bowl and stir thoroughly.

6. Lightly beat the eggs. Add to the mixing bowl. Blend until it looks like a loose batter.

7. Pour into the tray and place in the center of the oven for about 1 hour. The parkin will turn a dark brown color and spring back to the touch when cooked.

8. Leave inside the tin until completely cold.

Hint: Parkin should be wrapped in greaseproof paper and stored in an airtight container for at least a day before cutting up and eating. It keeps for about 2 weeks, growing moister and richer with time!

(Photo: Public Domain)

Anne Boleyn, the Witch: Part Four

Posted by kitperriman on November 17, 2022

Witch Crime #4: Anne Boleyn was presented as a seductress by her early suitor, Sir Thomas Wyatt.

In Poem XI he writes –

“Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,

But as for me, hélas, I may no more.

The vain travail hath wearied me so sore,

I am of them that farthest cometh behind.

Yet may I by no means my wearied mind

Draw from the deer, but as she fleeth afore

Fainting I follow. I leave off therefore,

Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind.

Who list her hunt, I put him out of doubt,

As well as I may spend his time in vain.

And graven with diamonds in letters plain

There is written, her fair neck round about:

Noli me tangere, for Caesar’s I am,

And wild for to hold, though I seem tame.”

Wyatt is thought to be describing his own romantic pursuit of Mistress Anne, in direct competition with the reigning “Caesar” (King Henry). With his characteristic play on words he presents “an (Anne) hind (deer)” – “Dear Anne” as their beautiful prey. But as Karen Lindsey points out, “everyone knew what happened to the wild creature at the hunt’s end”(59) – it was captured, possessed, and destroyed. Further, by alluding to the ingrained imagery from the Malleus Maleficarum, Wyatt’s line, “Sithens in a net I seek to hold the wind” unfortunately conjured up the witches described by the two Catholic Inquisitors: “Their face is like a burning wind . . . and when it is said that her heart is a net, it speaks of the inscrutable malice which reigns in their hearts” (46). Yet while Wyatt’s word-choice was most likely an unconscious literary device intended to portray the beloved as an illusive free spirit, his subliminal portrayal of Anne as a wild woman was not in her best interests, especially when the courtiers familiar with the Malleus, who had access to his early manuscript poems, were most likely the same men who sat at her trial. The pretty doe of the hunt soon turned into a dangerously seductive temptress.

Even Wyatt’s enigmatic riddle (Poem LIV) implicates the Queen –

“What word is that that changeth not,

Though it be turned and made in twain?

It is mine answer, God it wot,

And eke the causer of my pain.

It love rewardeth with disdain:

Yet is it loved. What would ye more?

It is my health eke and my sore.”

Again, not intentionally associating his “answer” (Anne, sir) with witch craft, the poet’s ambiguous phrasing lends itself to a potentially sinister interpretation. For although both the “causer of my pain” and “my sore” are common terms from the Courtly Tradition, they are also reminders of the Inquisitor’s warning that, “a woman is beautiful to look upon, contaminating to touch, and deadly to keep” (46), and one of her many “injuries towards men” is the agony of “bewitching into an inordinate love”(47). Wyatt’s poems stand in acknowledgement of Anne Boleyn’s seductive powers. They may further have reminded her enemies of the old Queen Catherine because of this statement from the Malleus: “. . . how many adulterers have put away the most beautiful wives to lust after the vilest of women!” (51).

Perhaps one of Wyatt’s most damning poems is XXV –

“The lively sparks that issue from those eyes

Against the which ne vaileth no defence

Have pressed mine heart and done it none offence

With quaking pleasure more than once or twice.

Was never man could anything devise

The sunbeams to turn with so great vehemence

To daze man’s sight, as by their bright presence

Dazed am I, much like unto the guise

Of one ystricken with dint of lightning,

Blinded with the stroke, erring here and there.

So call I for help, I not when ne where,

The pain of my fall patiently bearing.

For after the blaze, as is no wonder,

Of deadly ‘Nay’ hear I the fearful thunder.”

It is thought that “The lively sparks” may be a reference to Anne Boleyn’s “striking and unusual” dark eyes (Chapman, 21). The second line, “Against the which (witch) ne vaileth no defence,” suggests that the lover has no protection against the sorceress, and the phrase, “Have pressed mine heart ” recalls one of the punishments dealt to witches when their bodies are “pressed” under heavy stones to extract a confession. The speaker of the poem is “ystricken with dint of lightning” as if falling under a spell, and though he should say “Nay”(No), her power over him is too strong to resist. Ironically, this young man’s heart-felt love poems may have helped pave the way for his sweetheart’s execution.

It is doubtful if any of the Queen’s friends actually believed she was a witch. And though she was condemned for treason and adultery, her own conscience was apparently clear. Shortly before her death Anne told her jailor that she “would be a saint in Heaven, because I have done many good deeds in my days” (Lindsey, 100). But unfortunately, over the centuries, Wyatt’s damning words have reached far more ears than her last cry of innocence.

Sources for Part Four:

Chapman, Hester W. Anne Boleyn (London: cape, 1974)

Kramer, Heinrich; and James Sprenger. The Malleus Maleficarum (New York: Dover, 1971)

(Worldwide: Addison-Wesley, 1996)

Wyatt, Thomas. The Complete Poems Ed. R.A. Rebholz. (Worldwide: Penguin,1978)

(Photos: Public Domain)

Anne Boleyn, the Witch: Part Three

Posted by kitperriman on November 16, 2022

In today’s enlightened age, few would believe that Anne Boleyn was actually guilty of witchcraft. She may have had traces of an extra nail growing on her little finger, and possibly a mole on her neck, as reported by early biographer George Wyatt (grandson of Sir Thomas) who based his information from interviews with Anne’s former attendants. But who does not have any form of blemish on their body? Such flaws were obviously acceptable to King Henry when he desired her, but they appear to have been greatly magnified by her detractors in later years. By the time Nicholas Sanders gave his account a half-century later, the disgraced Queen was said to have buck teeth and a whole extra finger on her right hand! Yet the remains of a body thought to be Anne Boleyn’s, exhumed in the nineteenth century, showed no signs of skeletal abnormality. Of course, after three hundred years there would be scant trace of a mole or extra finger-nail remaining, but the evidence suggests that any imperfections Anne had were minor. So why were they interpreted as signs of devilry? A clue may be found in the English language.

The Malleus Maleficarum states that “The word ‘woman’ means ‘the lust of the flesh'”(43), which today can be understood as a psychological projection of blame onto the object of male desire. Women were seen as fickle, seductive creatures who would lead good Christian men astray. They made easy prey for demons to recruit, and then these familiar spirits would claim their victims with “witches marks” (moles, skin tags, supernumerary nipples, or birth marks) – places on the body where they could suckle human blood. Therefore every sexually-active woman was potentially the devil’s gateway.

Unfortunately, the dual concepts of wickedness and blame worked their way into everyday language. If a man found a woman attractive it was because she was consciously bewitching, beguiling, enchanting, charming, captivating, or seductive. Now as part of every day speech, such terms were harmless. But when certain courtiers wrote them into love songs and sonnets, then they became exceedingly dangerous. Especially for a suspect Queen.

It seems unlikely that Sir Thomas Wyatt (1503-1542) and Anne Boleyn ever consummated their close relationship, despite the fact he was an ardent suitor of Mistress Boleyn before King Henry started noticing her. With the reputation for being one of the best poets of his age, Wyatt used clever wordplay and an ambiguous “I” speaker in the poems thought to have been written with her in mind: “Whoso list to hunt, I know where is an hind,” “What word is that that changeth not,” “If waker care, if sudden pale colour,” and “Sometime I fled the fire that me brent.” The poet was arrested in May 1536, charged with committing adultery with the Queen. Five other men were also accused, but he was the only one who escaped execution – proof enough that Henry believed his relationship with Anne was platonic.

And yet the beautiful words in Wyatt’s love sonnets may have ultimately helped to condemn his lady. Find out how in Part Four.

Sources for Part Three:

Daalder, Joost. Sir Thomas Wyatt: Collected Poems (Worldwide: Oxford UP, 1975)

Foley, Stephen Mirriam. Sir Thomas Wyatt (Boston: Twayne, 1990)

Kramer, Heinrich, and James Sprenger. The Malleus Maleficarum (New York: Dover, 1971)

Wiatt, William H. “Sir Thomas Wyatt and Anne Boleyn” in English Language Notes, Vol. VI (December, 1968). Colorado: U of Colorado, 1968. 94-102.

(Picture: Public Domain)

Anne Boleyn, the Witch: Part Two

Posted by kitperriman on November 15, 2022

The Malleus Maleficarum stated that, aside from fornication, “the chief aim of the devil is to corrupt faith” (43), which the English Catholics interpreted as the influx of Lutheranism coming from Henry’s break with Rome, after his marriage to Mistress Boleyn. Bluff King Hal was beyond reproach, but his concubine was not. Anne – an intelligent, radical thinker with her own ideas about religion – became a rallying point for the Reformers. But how much of a Protestant was she? Katherine Lindsay’s book Divorced, Beheaded, Survived points out there was no record of the queen “denying the doctrine of transubstantiation, one of the central Protestant concerns,” and she clung to the Catholic notion that “good works could assure a place in Heaven,” as opposed to the Lutheran “insistence on justification by faith” (100). It seems evident, therefore, that the queen believed herself to be a good Christian. But the plotting courtiers painted her in an entirely different light.

Witch Crime #2: Anne Boleyn was suspected of being a key player in a diabolical plot to overthrow the Church of Rome.

Archbishop Chapuys reported to his employer (Emperor Charles V) that His English Majesty was “bewitched by this cursed woman . . . does all she says, and dare not contradict her” (Chapman, 151). For as Alison Weir explains in The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Cromwell had told him the king “made this marriage seduced by her witchcraft, and for that reason he considered it null and void” (304). The Malleus decreed that “if witchcraft takes effect in the event of a marriage” it “destroys the contract” (4). This gave the unhappy husband a loophole to be rid of Anne so he could wed Jane Seymour instead. By itself, however, enchantment was not a sufficient reason to execute a royal wife. Other charges were needed. So as the case against Anne grew she became accused of “having poisoned the late Queen Katherine [and] attempting to do the same to Lady Mary” (Weir, 326) – which on top of the multiple counts of adultery, including incest with her brother, amounted to the heinous crime of witchcraft.

Exodus 22:18 commands, “Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live,” and the Catholic Inquisitors were quick to condemn all women as inherently wicked “because of the first temptress, Eve, and her imitators” (Malleus, 44). According to Pierre Brunel’s Companion to Literary Myths, Heroes, and Archetypes the sorceress became “the core, the center of all that cannot be understood or accepted.” She attracted fear, hatred, and loathing until she was no longer seen as a human being but instead turned into “the expression and cause of the misfortune” suffered by all (1165). In short, the cunning woman became the royal scapegoat.

Witch Crime #3: Being an instrument of darkness, Anne Boleyn was directly and indirectly responsible for all the wrongs in the kingdom.

Yet who did the most damage to the Queen’s reputation? The answer may surprise you! Check back for Part Three tomorrow..

Sources Cited in Part Two:

Brunel, Pierre. Companion to Literary Myths, Heroes, and Archetypes (London and New York: Routledge, 1992)

Chapman, Hester W. Anne Boleyn. (London: Cape, 1974)

Holy Bible (London: Collins)

Kramer, Heinrich, and James Sprenger. The Malleus Maleficarum (New York: Dover, 1971)

Lindsey, Karen. Divorced, Beheaded, Survived (Worldwide: Addison-Wesley, 1996)

Weir, Alison. The Six Wives of Henry VIII (New York: Ballantine, 1993)

(Picture: Public Domain)

Anne Boleyn, the Witch: Part One

Posted by kitperriman on November 14, 2022

How could anyone believe that the crowned Queen of England was a witch? Of all the accusations made against Anne Boleyn (c. 1501-1536) this seems the strangest to the modern observer. But the Tudors were more than willing to accept the king’s second wife was guilty of a whole list of diabolical crimes. Let us examine why.

Although witches had been persecuted for over a hundred years on the European Continent, the first statute was not passed in England until 1542, when the Catholic clergy persuaded their congregations that Satan’s army was on the march. This was likely the direct result of the widespread distribution of the Malleus Maleficarum (1486) – the prominent and damaging witch-finder manual written by two German Inquisitors, Heinrich Kramer and James Sprenger. The Malleus was intended to halt pagan practices, but instead it triggered a wave of witch hunts that resulted in countless innocent deaths.

James Sharpe, in Instruments of Darkness, explains how the Reformation caused similar concerns among the early Protestants because “Idolatry included not only witchcraft but also the telling of the rosary, going to Mass, and saint worship” (27). But while Catholicism and sorcery were the twin evils in the early Lutheran mind, the Papists thought Protestants and witches were heretics too. And as Hester Chapman’s biography claims, it was not a huge leap for the Catholics to see Protestant Anne Boleyn as the temptress whose “advent had brought about disaster on the kingdom. She was the personification not only of evil, but of an assault on religion, crops, cattle, fair weather – every aspect of daily life” (106).

Unfortunately, Mistress Boleyn was an easy target. An unconventional beauty, her enemies claimed she bore the mark of the devil from birth in an extra finger (or finger nail), and that she had numerous moles, which were widely associated with wicked women. But as Antonia Fraser reveals in The Wives of Henry VIII, as a mature lady she “exercised a kind of sexual fascination over most men who met her” (123). Anne was condemned for adultery with several others, but because the cuckolding of a king had no legal precedent, this alone was not a Capital offence. Thomas Cromwell therefore had to imply hundreds of liaisons between Boleyn and her lovers because the Malleus claimed “all witchcraft comes from carnal lust which is in women insatiable”(47). If she could be proven to be a lascivious witch – especially one who intended to use magic to harm or kill members of the Royal Family – then she could be sentenced to death. Not for witchcraft per se (because laws against this specific problem had yet to be passed in Henry’s reign) but rather for the ambiguous, treasonable act of betraying the sanctity of marriage and entertaining malice against the king.

Witch Crime #1: Anne Boleyn was a wicked seductress who intended to harm the royal Defender of the Faith and destroy his Christian kingdom.

Part Two tomorrow . . .

Sources Cited in Part One:

Chapman, Hester W. Anne Boleyn (London: Cape, 1974)

Fraser, Antonia. The Wives of Henry VIII (New York: Random, 1994)

Kramer, Heinrich, and James Sprenger. The Malleus Malficarum (New York: Dover, 1971)

Sharpe, James. Instruments of Darkness: Witchcraft in England, 1550-1750 (London: Hamish Hamilton, 1996)

(Picture: Public Domain)

Put to Question: The Strappado

Posted by kitperriman on November 11, 2022

Put To Question: The Stappado

Torture was banned under English Law except in certain circumstances,
but some unfortunates fell prey to The Strappado:

“They tied my hands behind my back. Then they hung me from a door. It feels like they are stretching you from all sides. My torso was twisted and my shoulders were dislocated from their joints from time to time. The pain cannot be described. The [Inquisitor] was shouting, ‘Confess or you will die here’.”

(Confession: Public Domain Records)

(Drawing: Public Domain)

Put to Question: Pressing

Posted by kitperriman on November 10, 2022

Put To Question: Pressing

Torture was not allowed under English law unless by royal decree –
but some folk still got pressed to death by the peine forte et dure!

“he will lie upon his back, with his head covered and his feet, and one arm will be drawn to one quarter of the house with a cord, and the other arm to another quarter, and in the same manner it will be done with his legs; and let there be laid upon his body iron and stone, as much as he can bear, or more.”

(Confession: Public Domain Records)

(Drawing: Public Domain)

Put To Question: The Thumbscrews

Posted by kitperriman on November 9, 2022

Put To Question: The Thumbscrews

Torture was not allowed under English law without permission from the king
but the thumbscrews or pilniewinks crushed even the strongest will.

“. . . in 1596, the son and daughter of Aleson Balfour, who was accused of witchcraft, were tortured to make her confess her crime in the manner following: Her son was put in the buits where he suffered fifty-seven strokes; and her daughter about seven years old, was put in the pilniewinks . . .”

(Confession and Photo: Public Domain Records)

Put To Question: The Pear

Posted by kitperriman on November 8, 2022

Put To Question: The Pear of Anguish

Torture was not allowed under English law . . .
but those Wise Women who helped young lassies to miscarry their shame were sometimes punished with The Pear of
Anguish:

It was pushed up between the legs and unscrewed into four brutal petals that tore the insides apart.

(Image Source http://www.medievalarchives.com)

Put To Question: The Rack

Posted by kitperriman on November 7, 2022

Put To Question: The Rack

Torture was technically not allowed under English law unless royal consent had been given in advance.
Traitors and heretics often got stretched on The Rack:

“We went to the torture room in a kind of procession, the attendants walking ahead with lighted candles.
The chamber was underground and dark, particularly near the entrance. It was a vast place and every device and instrument of human torture was there. They pointed out some of them to me and said I would try them all. Then he asked me again whether I would confess.
‘I cannot,’ I said.”
(Father John Gerard, 1597)

(Picture: Public Domain)

Olde English Flapjack

Posted by kitperriman on November 4, 2022

Olde English Flapjack

Ingredients:

8oz butter

4oz sugar

4 big tablespoons of Lyle’s Golden Syrup

1lb porridge oats

Method:

1. Heat the oven to 250 / 130 / gas 1.

2. Grease a 8″x 8″x 2″ metal baking pan with a nub of the butter.

3. In a large pan stir the remaining butter, sugar, and syrup on a stovetop over a low heat.

4. Add the oats and salt. Stir well.

5. Press the mixture evenly into a greased baking pan.

6. Cook in low oven for 1 hour 30 minutes until the side are slightly brown

(the middle will seem uncooked).

7. Remove from the oven. Cut into 12 pieces. Leave inside the pan until cold.

Do not overcook! The best flapjack is moist, buttery, and chewy.

(Photo: Public Domain)

What Do You Believe?

Posted by kitperriman on November 3, 2022

For thousands of years people believed in magic. They were simple folk – often afraid and confused – unable to grasp the scientific world around them.

They struggled to:

* explain natural events

* understand why bad things happened

* barter with fate

* accept their place and rank in society

* influence things around them

* blame unseen forces when things went wrong

* believe in, and belong to, something bigger than themselves

* grapple with supernatural forces and events

* worship a greater power as part of a divine plan

* and find solace in a harsh, unfair world.

According to Sigmund Freud, each civilization passes through three distinct stages of development.

In the Magical Phase the primitive does not understand a natural phenomenon like rainfall, but he knows he needs water to survive. By creating a ritual – rain dancing for example – he believes he can influence the weather to obey his wishes.

As society progresses the community enters the Religious Phase. The rain-seeking ritual develops into an intricate rite of prayer, song, dance, and sacrifice, whereby the worshippers barter with the gods for their precious water.

But once the mechanics of rainfall are understood as a process of evaporation and cloud formation, that society progresses into the Scientific Phase. At this point, Freud argues, there should be no more need for religious or superstitious belief. “Religion is a system of wishful illusions together with a disavowal of reality” without which the masses “could not bear the troubles of life and the cruelties of reality.”

Was Freud correct though? Even in today’s super-scientific space age a huge portion of the globe still follows the religious beliefs of their ancestors, and paganism is on the rise.

It turns out science does not have all the answers. It might satisfy the mind but it cannot soothe the wounded soul!

Source:

Freud, Sigmund. The Future of an Illusion. New York: Norton, 1989.

(Drawing: Public Domain)

Fairy Dust

Posted by kitperriman on November 2, 2022

FAIRY DUST

A few wires –

a leap from reality –

and Peter Pan took flight

through fairy dust

in front of us

on an ordinary weekday night.

And glitter

shone in the eyes of the child

sat there all evening

stock still – grinning –

finger in mouth –

catching his breath and believing

every tick

of the crocodile’s tock-clock,

and each brave sword blow,

walking the plank –

taking the plunge –

without ever needing to slow.

And I ask

myself why the magic is

sham and corrupt,

in failing to

ward off those

pirates of old – our growing up?

(Kit Perriman)

(Degrassi Wiki Gif in Public Domain)

Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos)

Posted by kitperriman on November 1, 2022

Dia de los Muertos

The Latin American Day of the Dead is a two-day celebration taking place on November 1st and 2nd.
This tradition originated in Mexico.
Several ancient Aztec death rituals were combined with new Catholic beliefs brought to the New World by the Spanish Conquistadores.
Instead of mourning the souls of the departed, Dia de los Muertos commemorates their lives with the food, activities, drink, and clothing that were most enjoyed during their time on earth.
During these two special days the dead are invited back to celebrate with their remaining loved ones.
The souls of children rejoin their families on November 1st.
Adult spirits return on November 2nd.
Feliz dia de los Muertos!

(Photo: Eneas de Troya)

Sources:

National Geographic Society, “Dia de los Muertos,” https://www.nationalgeographic.org/media/dia-de-los-muertos/

History.com Editors, Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) https://www.history.com/topics/halloween/day-of-the-dead

Visit to Mexico, 2011

Happy Halloween!

Posted by kitperriman on October 31, 2022

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

(GIF: Public Domain)

Return Of The Druid

Posted by kitperriman on October 28, 2022

Return of the Druid

In the days of old they called us
the Wise Women
and begged our aid
when the world beat against them.
The Druids crowned us
High Priestesses –
we raised storms to keep
the invaders at bay.
Dancers span spells
and wrought powerful potions,
bringing new life into being
and healing ill.
We brewed roots, bark, plants and
poisoned berries
and sang to claim the winds and wilds.

Then the clergy spoke and made
all the Cunning
into Heretics,
ostracized from the Divine.
We terrified them
and were ground down
under the boot of
the cruel Inquisition.
We became Witches
and the burnings began.
But we never honored Satan –
only nature.
Yet those put to question
still gave up
their friends to fire and gallows.

We now roam the land as Vagabonds
telling futures
and changing luck.
Skilled eyes that can pierce through the veil
will be Clairvoyants,
mastering the spirit world.
When doctors and science
fail to tame the feral –
they will label us mad and
damaged Hysterics.
Yet healers always find new ways
to combat superstition.
And when faith returns
I know Wise Women
will ride the moon once again.

(Kit Perriman)

(Pictures:
Wilhelm Kotabinski
John William Waterhouse
Evelyn Nesbit)

A Word From The Wise

Posted by kitperriman on October 27, 2022

“It’s easier to curse the darkness than to light a candle!”

(Traditional Wisdom)

(Photo: Kit Perriman)

Kit’s Crit: The Witch (Movie)

Posted by kitperriman on October 26, 2022

The Witch (2015)

Robert Eggers debut film The Witch is a masterpiece. Precisely because it is not the typical action-packed Hollywood horror movie it is far more realistic and terrifying. Eggers has created “A New England folktale” that is seen through a seventeenth-century lens. We experience the slow-fuse tension in the same way as the Puritan characters.

The plot is fairly straight-forward. A family is banished from their village because of differing religious beliefs. They find a remote spot next to a forest and build their home. A few years later a baby boy joins the other four children, but he disappears beside the woods while his sister Thomasin is looking after him. This triggers a series of events that suggest Satan is at hand in various guises – a mysterious wood witch, a curious hare, a sinister black goat, and perhaps one of the two daughters. Things go from bad to worse until the family are split apart by suspicion and quarrels. One by one the members die until only one virgin is left to fulfil her destiny and join the local coven of witches. Satan emerges as the victor because he has wrestled these Christian souls away from God.

Several things make this movie stand out from others in its genre. Firstly, the historical accuracy. Eggers and his crew have gone to great lengths to recreate the costumes and sets of the early Colonial period. Then there is the superb attention to detail, especially in adhering to traditional religious beliefs and occult superstitions. Thirdly, the wonderful cinematography recreates the beauty and wildness of the remote countryside. Another strength is the convincing cast, particularly the child actors involved. Further, I enjoyed the accents and dialog that made the period more authentic. And finally, there is the originality of the tale. The Witch takes us back to a time when people believed Satan was a real presence stalking the earth in search of vulnerable souls. The magic we see is evil, harrowing, and deadly; it seduces and corrupts the innocent. And sadly, the dark side wins.

Unlike many other supernatural films, The Witch does not show a group of beautiful women dabbling in magic for their own gains. Eggers makes the horror lie in the fact that no matter how Christian or good one might be, the Devil will always find a way to claim those he wants.

Highly recommended.

(Photo: University of Illinois)

Queen’s It’s A Kind Of Magic

Posted by kitperriman on October 25, 2022

It’s A Kind Of Magic

(Roger Taylor)

It’s a kind of magic.
It’s a kind of magic.
A kind of magic – no way.
One dream, one soul, one prize,
one goal, one golden glance of what should be.
It’s a kind of magic.
One shaft of light that shows the way.
No mortal man can win this day.
It’s a kind of magic.
The bell that rings inside your mind
is challenging the doors of time.
It’s a kind of magic.
The waiting seems eternity,
The day will dawn, of sanity.
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh.
Is this a kind of magic ?
It’s a kind of magic.
There can be only one.
This rage that lasts a thousand years
will soon be done.
This flame that burns inside of me,
I’m hearing secret harmonies.
It’s a kind of magic.
The bell that rings inside your mind
is challenging the doors of time.
It’s a kind of magic.
It’s a kind of magic.
This rage that lasts a thousand years
will soon be, will soon be, will soon be done.
This is (this is) a kind (a kind) of magic (yeah).
There can be only one – one – one – one.
This rage that lasts a thousand years
will soon be done – done.
Magic – it’s a kind of magic.
It’s a kind of magic.
Magic – magic – magic – (magic)
Ha ha ha haa – it’s magic.
Ha, haa.
Yeah, yeah.
Wooh.
It’s a kind of magic!

See Freddie’s performance:

(Video: YouTube)

(GIF: Public Domain)

Season of the Dead

Posted by kitperriman on October 24, 2022

Samhain, Halloween, All Hallows Eve, or Souls Night

Call it what you will, but the veil between the worlds is at its thinnest on October 31st.

Samhain means Summer’s End. Wise Women used to celebrate on the nearest full moon before November, after the harvest was gathered, halfway between Autumn Equinox and the Winter Solstice. This date represented the end of summer and the start of the spiritual New Year. Samhain came from the Celtic Fire Festival when the Druids remembered their dead. Bonfires were built to cleanse and protect, and sacrifices were offered to the gods. It was a night of divination, mummers, feasting, guising, and young lads following the Hobby Horse about the village.

The Church of Rome turned this feast into All Hallows’ Eve, the start of All Saints’ Day to honor the Christian saints and martyrs. Soul Cakes got eaten instead of meat. Candles were lit for the dear departed and there were vigils, feasts, and the ringing of church bells everywhere.

Youngsters, in particular, enjoyed celebrating Halloween, short for Hallowed or Holy Evening. They remembered the frailty of life with skeletons, ghouls, cobwebs, tombstones, and demons, hoping to chase evil and death away by honoring the darkness. Some carved turnips into Jack o’ Lanterns for those lost souls who’ve been denied both Heaven and Hell, while others partook in pranks to imitate mischievous spirits, costume feasts, processions, and mummers’ plays.

When the Puritans colonized America they introduced the concept of Halloween in the United States. Private costume parties were held to celebrate and protect the harvest. Over time, pumpkins replaced turnips; Irish immigrants introduced “trick-or-treating”; and candy, costume, and greeting card companies began actively promoting this festival as a national holiday to increase their sales. Halloween has now become one of the most popular celebrations on both sides of the Atlantic.

It’s a powerful time – so be careful and guard your own soul!

(GIF: Public Domain)