Witch Marks & Historical Graffiti Associated With Magic & Curses

[lordmongrove]

Witch Marks, Curses & Magic in the Neglected History of Medieval Graffiti

The ornamentation of medieval churches is often associated with the elite: stained glass windows, ornately carved pews, and memorial monuments to lords and knights. However, carved right into the structure of the building, in the dark corners and beneath the whitewash on the walls, are less visible traces of the lower and middle class: graffiti. Since 2010, historian and archaeologist Matt Champion has led the Norfolk Medieval Graffiti Survey (NMGS) to discover these carvings in England, findings which he recently published in Medieval Graffiti: The Lost Voices of England’s Churches from Ebury Press.

Champion writes that “the medieval church was a far more interactive space than we may once have believed.” So while looking back on the graffiti, it can appear like a desecration, the spirit behind it was one of devotion. Rarely were these marks and messages removed or written over by other parish members, showing a sign of respect and acceptance. Curiously, many of the graffiti traces discovered by Champion relate to curses, magic, and more pagan practices than are often connected with Christianity.

Continued:
http://hyperallergic.com/266861/wit...n-the-neglected-history-of-medieval-graffiti/

[Yith: edited to include extract]

 

[Xanatic*]

All we get is a URL?

 

[blessmycottonsocks]

"Gaffiti" noun. Hastily scribbled or etched mistakes on a public wall or similar surface.

I do like a new portmanteau word!

 

[FrKadash]

Mysterious hexafoil markings in Australian homes point to hidden magical past
ABC Gold Coast
By Nicole Dyer and Damien Larkins
Updated Tue at 10:14am

Markings found etched in historic Australian homes could indicate the presence of magical practices brought by the early British colonials.
Circular scratchings in wood and rock designed to ward-off evil spirits, known as hexafoils, have been found in houses dating back to the first fleet.
A researcher into the lost and secret history of folk magic in Australia, Ian Evans, has completed a doctorate on objects deliberately hidden in houses.
But he felt there was still more to discover about the markings.
"It turns out the shoes and garments and concealed objects were just a part of the whole panorama of magic in Australia," he said.
Now he is turning his attention to these patterns which are found throughout the world.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-21/hexafoil-markings-point-to-hidden-magical-past/8290464

 

[EnolaGaia]

Recently recognized medieval "witch marks" at Creswell Crags can now be viewed online via a video ...

Centuries-Old 'Witch Marks' in Hidden Cave Can Finally Be Seen ... in 3D

These marks were used as protection against evil spirits and witches.

Mysterious "witch marks" that were carved into a cavern's walls centuries ago to ward off evil are getting a public viewing, thanks to 3D modeling and animation.

The marks were discovered earlier this year in Creswell Crags, an enclosed limestone gorge in the United Kingdom that houses a cave used by humans during the Ice Age, Creswell Crags Museum & Heritage Centre representatives said in a statement. But humans were also using the cave during the medieval period, covering its walls and ceilings with so-called witch marks as a form of protection against evil spirits and witches.

During a tour in February, a team of cavers spied marks on the cavern walls that had previously gone unnoticed, or were dismissed as modern graffiti. Further investigation revealed hundreds of marks; carved emblems such as these were common in the medieval U.K., etched around doorways, windows and fireplaces to keep evil spirits out, site representatives said in the statement.

A chamber that held the most witch marks was inaccessible to the public, but site officials partnered with researchers at Sheffield Hallam University in South Yorkshire, England, to scan the marks and create a virtual tour of the remarkable sight, university representatives said. ...

Protective witch-mark carvings are also known as apotropaic marks, from the Greek word "apotrepein," which means "to turn away." The variety of marks in the cave is extraordinary: There are references to the Virgin Mary in the inscriptions "PM" (for "Pace Maria") and in double "V" engravings ("Virgin of Virgins"), according to the Creswell Crags statement released in February. Some marks are designs resembling boxes, mazes and diagonal lines, and are thought to represent devices for trapping evil. ...

FULL STORY (WITH PHOTOS & VIDEO):
https://www.livescience.com/witch-marks-cavern.html

 

[lordmongrove]

Roman cock n' balls. https://allthatsinteresting.com/had...LaevHWZhdtAfI-7x_PTiAgR7nAf5sH2j6dYocmcOkG5tI

 

[escargot]

Roman cock n' balls. https://allthatsinteresting.com/had...LaevHWZhdtAfI-7x_PTiAgR7nAf5sH2j6dYocmcOkG5tI

There is still plenty of cock'n'balls graffiti in Italy, scrawled on walls along with footy team names.

 

[EnolaGaia]

Witch marks have been discovered in the ruins of St. Mary's church at Stoke Mandeville during salvage excavations in advance of a rail project obliterating the site.

Witch-repellent graffiti discovered in ruins of medieval UK church

Learning no lessons from horror films of yore, Britain has plans for a high-speed rail project that will lay tracks over the ruins of a medieval church. And, apparently, the project has run into some trouble with witches and dark spirits.

According to archaeologists working at Stoke Mandeville, a village that lies in the path of the proposed railway, an early excavation of the site's 700-year-old church revealed stone beams etched with strange circular patterns known as "witch marks."

These markings, which look like the spokes of a wheel with a hole drilled into the center, were created to "ward off evil spirits by entrapping them in an endless line or maze," project officials wrote in a statement.

Michael Court, lead archaeologist at HS2 Ltd (the company behind the rail project) said the unusual markings offer a "fascinating insight into the past" at a site that has long been lost to history. ...

The church in question, named St. Mary's, was erected around 1070 as a private chapel for the lord of Stoke Mandeville in what is now Buckinghamshire, England, according to the statement. The church building was expanded in the 1340s to accommodate local villagers, then ultimately demolished in the 1860s when a new church popped up closer to town. ...

... The witch marks were carved into two different stones, one sitting at ground level and the other higher up. Given the location of the ground-level stone, the radial pattern wasn't likely used as a sundial, something that is typically found near the southern doors of medieval churches, the archaeologists said. ...

Similar witch markings have turned up at medieval sites across the U.K., including a set discovered last year at Creswell Crags, a limestone gorge and cave complex that has been inhabited on and off since the last ice age. The markings are typically etched into stones near doorways, windows and fireplaces, to keep spirits away. ...

FULL STORY: https://www.livescience.com/witch-marks-medieval-church.html

 

[ramonmercado]

I guess that's why they were called Satanic Mills.

Centuries-old graffiti - including ancient carvings designed to ward off witches and demons - has been revealed at a listed mill.

The marks were found at Kibworth Harcourt mill, in Leicestershire, parts of which date from at least 1711. The carvings, made by millers and others, were intended to ward off evil.

Archaeologist James Wright said: "These marks are significant as they show real belief in Satan and demons lasted much later than is sometimes thought."

Grade II* listed Kibworth is the only surviving example of a post mill - an earlier design than the more familiar brick tower mill - in the East Midlands. For years owned by Merton College, Oxford, it was passed to the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings (SPAB) in 1936.

Ahead of renewed conservation work, SPAB commissioned a new study of the structure's 264 examples of graffiti.

Mr Wright said: "That's a lot of marks in a space about the size of a suburban kitchen. And almost 18% of them are Apotropaic, which means designed to ward off, rather than names or dates."

The symbols are either rosettes or teardrop-shaped burn marks. ...

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-leicestershire-58259268

 

[escargot]

Went to an Elizabethan manor house yesterday that's covered in the things. Their meaning has only quite recently been ascertained.

 

[escargot]

Mentions of apotropaic graffiti crop up elsewhere on'ere.

Graffiti Hunt Finds 600 Marks In Orkney's St Magnus Cathedral

Mysteries Of Medieval Graffiti In England's Churches

The examples I was able to examine at the weekend were mainly Tudor or later and in a secular setting, like the marks in the windmill.
Once the guide had told our group about them I was away on the hunt.

I always take a head-mounted lamp* on such visits so was able to scrutinise dark areas and light up the marks.

This is a great subject that's growing in importance and one that any poster visiting ancient buildings might keep in mind and report back on.

I will certainly be doing that.
@Frideswide might be interested.

*Yes @catseye, I did indeed use it to inspect the Tudor sanitary arrangements, along with their apotropaic graffiti. There are photos.

The guide explained that these marks were considered necessary in that location because of the vulnerability of the occupant.

So the evil spirits could swirl upwards from the moat, as well as downwards via the chimney.
Must have been a constant background worry, of which we have no concept in modern times.

 

[catseye]

So the evil spirits could swirl upwards from the moat, as well as downwards via the chimney.
Must have been a constant background worry, of which we have no concept in modern times.

My friend, who lives further down my (incredibly unhaunted) village has some witch marks on a beam in his house. The beam appears to have been moved from elsewhere in the house to where it is currently preventing the upper storey from reaching ground level, but I suspect it was originally part of a fireplace.

 

[escargot]

My friend, who lives further down my (incredibly unhaunted) village has some witch marks on a beam in his house. The beam appears to have been moved from elsewhere in the house to where it is currently preventing the upper storey from reaching ground level, but I suspect it was originally part of a fireplace.

The house we visited at the weekend has an upper gallery which was added after the original building was finished.
When it proved too heavy for the existing structure it was propped up with what the guide said looked like half an old barn!

 

[catseye]

The house with the witch marks used to be the old Post Office in the village. The old counter is still in there, and the stable out in the yard where the Post Pony who pulled the trap lived. The layout of the house leads me to think it predates being the Post Office by some way (the current owner says it's seventeenth century, but I think bits are even older).

 

[escargot]

Some of the marks we saw were flame-shaped, achieved by holding a burning taper against the wooden beam or upright. They used to be seen as accidental burns but tests have shown that they take 15 minutes to make.
I'd read about them but this was the first time I'd seen any when knowing what they were.