Witches in Fiction 2015

Yippee Magaly Guerrero has announced the date of her annual Witches in Fiction blog party as the 17th of October. You have until the 15th of October to sign up for this most delicious extravaganza in the Autumn blog party line up where you can indulge in what every form your creative heart likes to travel.

The theme this year is;

Death Rites and Remembrances; meaning that we can write, or paint, or sculpt… pieces about rituals associated with death and how we celebrate, honor and/or remember those whose flesh has left the world of the breathing.

 Follow the links to find out all the details from Magaly herself.

Shakespeare Witches

The Witches Spell

Act IV, Scene 1 from Macbeth (1606) by William Shakespeare

A dark Cave. In the middle, a Caldron boiling. Thunder.
Enter the three Witches.

1 WITCH. Thrice the brinded cat hath mew’d.
2 WITCH. Thrice and once, the hedge-pig whin’d.
3 WITCH. Harpier cries:—’tis time! ’tis time!
1 WITCH. Round about the caldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.—
Toad, that under cold stone,
Days and nights has thirty-one;
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot!
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the caldron 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 owlet’s wing,—
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
3 WITCH. 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 ingrediants of our caldron.
ALL. Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and caldron bubble.
2 WITCH. Cool it with a baboon’s blood,
Then the charm is firm and good.

or maybe you might prefer Terry Pratchett's parody....

"The wind howled. Lightning stabbed at the earth erratically, like and inefficient assassin. Thunder rolled back and forth across the dark, rain lashed hills. The night was as black as the inside of a cat. It was the kind of night, you could believe, on which Gods moved men as though they were pawns on the chessboard of fate. In the middle of this elemental storm a fire gleamed among the dripping furze bushes like madness in a weasel's eye. It illuminated three hunched figures. As the cauldron bubbled and archaic voice shrieked: "When shall we three meet again?!!"
There was a pause.
Finally another voice said, in a far more ordinary tones: 
"Well I can do next Tuesday""

Terry Pratchett ~ Wyrd Sisters

 

Taking part in Haunted Humpday hosted by Marfi at 

Incipient Wings.

Granny Weatherwax and headology

I love Granny's view on headology, it's much more pragmatic than our earth bound psychology therapy. Take this quote from Terry Pratchett's 'Maskerade'

"Granny Weatherwax had never heard of psychiatry and would have had no truck with it even if she had.  There are some arts too black even for a witch.  She practiced headology---practiced, in fact, until she was very good at it.  And though there may be some superficial similarities between a psychiatrist and a headologist, there is a huge practical difference.  A psychiatrist, dealing with a man who fears he is being followed by a huge and terrible monster, will endeavor to convince him that monsters don’t exist.  Granny Weatherwax would simply give him a chair to stand on and a very heavy stick."

Granny's is the much more sensible advice, because in the end we all have to turn and face our fears if we are going to combat them.

Headology is all about knowing people and more importantly understanding them. For instance, Granny could if she wish curse people but it's much simpler to just say she had cursed them and let them assume that she is responsible for the next bit of bad luck they have. After all, as long as you know the truth about yourself and keep your feet on the ground. You might as well use what people think and believe to your advantage, so if they think you are a witch you might as well be one. On such things are reputations build. Granny could do magic of course if she wanted, but why put yourself to lots of trouble when people are so ready to believe what they are told by someone such as herself. A big part of learning to be a witch is all about headology.



Today was the last day of Magaly's 'Witches in Fiction' blog party.  I made a list of subjects when I joined the party but with life getting in the way I've only written a handful of the things I wanted to. As I've really enjoyed writing the few post I have, I have decided to carry on with this theme and make some more occasional posts on it. To read some more posts head on over to Magaly's blog Pagan Culture for the links to the other party guests. I haven't had chance to visit all of them yet and I want to go back and make comments on some of the great posts I just made flying visits too. Thanks for the party Magaly, it's been a great theme and sparked off loads of ideas.

Mary Poppins - A Witch by any other name

I hope everyone had a great bank holiday weekend, did anyone else see the film Mary Poppins which was on again. O.K. I know it's on every bank holiday but I just don't care, it's one of my all time favourites and I can always watch it again. It's so happy and uplifting and also just so witchy.

I'm sure everyone knows the film, Mary Poppins is the traditional British nanny who arrives to look after the children of the apply named Banks family, the father of the family just happens to be a banker. She then proceeds to sort out the dysfunctional family as well as involving the children and the rest of the household in some very strange and yes, magical adventures.

The word witch is never mentioned but really what else could she be? She arrives and leaves with the changing direction of the wind. The elements of the weather seem to work with her, as a strong wind blows away all other applicants for the job of nanny. Her methods of cleaning are much more fun than using a duster, can anyone else see a likeness between her clicking her fingers and Samantha of the Bewitched series wiggling her nose? Her ordinary looking carpet bag has the capacity to hold all the furnishings for her room, it's depth seems never ending. She can turn a snow globe into a crystal ball and while no broom is in sight, she carries an umbrella that is lovingly carved in the shape of a parrot, which also talks like a parrot and helps her fly through the air. Every outing she takes the children on turns into a magical adventure. Even her medicine that pours from the one bottle becomes unique in taste to the individual taking it, talk about supercalifragilisticepialidocious. As well as her medicine she dispenses kindly old age wisdom that by the end of the film has brought the family all back together, leaving her to move on once more. Apart from her friend Bert, who seems quite at home with a touch of magic himself. No one sees her leave, just as no one saw her arrive.

Mary Poppins, supper nanny, quiet witch.

For more about Witches in Fiction head on over to Magaly's blog Pagan Culture for the links to some great posts in her Witches in Fiction blog party. 

Witches in Fiction and Folklore

Witches, you just can't get away from them. In our early years they appear to us in nursery rhymes and fairy tales, and they keep finding new forms of media to find us through out our lives. In every culture and language witches have found a home in stories and folklore.

Magic and witchcraft appears in the very first forms of the written word, the invention of the printing press spread the stories still further. The Bishop of Worms in 1015 linked the Goddess Holda with witches in 1015. Geoffrey of Monmouth gives us the story of Morgan Le Fay in the Arthurian legends. Authors from Chaucer and Shakespeare to Terry Pratchett and J.K. Rowling, have taken witches as inspiration. The witches have taken every moral position from good to evil, stunningly beautiful to hideous hags. They now beckon to us from books and comics in all the forms of the written word.

The image of witches have gone from paintings of the classical age to greeting cards and advertisements. The modern age transferred the tales of witches to film and television. From Horror, Historical, Classic Stories, Comedies to Walt Disney's animation they have all taken the witch as their muse or presented the traditional written stories in new form. Television has set whole series around them and change their image from the traditional old women to that of teenage girls with all the problems of growing up. Just when you think that all avenues of witches have been explored someone comes up with a new angle and view. Now they are appearing in computer and video games for a whole new generation. Witches are keeping up with progress as fast as it is invented.

Music and dance have been associated with witches since the days of pre history and is still littered with reference to them. Take any form of music you wish; Operas, classical music, easy listening, soul, blues through to rock and roll and you will find some associations with witches.

Witches I am happy to say are here to stay. They are scattered through our lives in all the many forms of fiction, image and music. They inspire, frighten and give strength to our spirits in equal measure.



For more about Witches in Fiction head on over to Magaly's blog Pagan Culture for the links to some great posts in her Witches in Fiction blog party.