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Witches (General; Compendium)

(Also posted to the Edinburgh Fortean society thread).

Only noticed today, in local library

Borders Witch Hunt

A talk on the 17th century witchcraft trials in the Borders with Mary W. Craig, author and historian.

Friday 1st September
7:30 p.m.
Caddonfoot Hall, Clovenfords.


Public transport: I have checked thoroughly and without going into great detail, there is no guaranteed, late night public transport for a return to Edinburgh - there is a "20 minute walk" involved from Caddonfoot to nearest bus stop at the Clovvenfords hotel and even then, that requires making the bus traveling to Galashiels, to catch last train to Edinburgh.

If it's running and trust myself - not always the case.

And we all know what a "20 minute walk" means, when they neglect to mention "with suitable hiking equipment".

I hope to be there, tomorrow night and if anyone else likewise, please let me know - via a P.M., if preferable. Wish I had known about it sooner and not a late alert.

This is a must, for myself. Although living in the Borders, I only have a cursory knowledge of local witchcraft trials, a subject of interest, despite its macabre nature and zealous religious overtones.

Compress_20230831_215823_3785.jpg
 
Not a very convincing witch.

A witch who practises “sex magic” to give herself and her partners “maximum pleasure” praises witchcraft for turning her life around after being “flat broke” in 2020, and now wants to “normalise” witchcraft in Ireland.

Billie Bryan (40) is the founder and president of a non-profit organisation and a cafe owner, originally from the Cayman Islands but now living in Galway with one of her partners, chef Jay Logan (21). She got into witchcraft in 2019 after becoming “captivated” by “stories of mysticism and the occult”.

Since then, Billie has given many tarot readings professionally. She claims she often gets messages from the Mother Goddess, a composite of various feminine deities from past and present world cultures and religions, and has recently had a “one-on-one conversation” with her.

Billie thanks manifestation and the Mother Goddess for her successes in life – in 2020, she was “in a bad place” but has since been able to move to Ireland and set up her own business.

https://www.breakingnews.ie/lifesty...craft-in-galway-with-themed-cafe-1525213.html
 
Not a very convincing witch.

A witch who practises “sex magic” to give herself and her partners “maximum pleasure” praises witchcraft for turning her life around after being “flat broke” in 2020, and now wants to “normalise” witchcraft in Ireland.

Billie Bryan (40) is the founder and president of a non-profit organisation and a cafe owner, originally from the Cayman Islands but now living in Galway
https://www.breakingnews.ie/lifesty...craft-in-galway-with-themed-cafe-1525213.html
Hmmmm. Don't know if I believe her story of being flat broke. Quote from Wiki:
With a GDP per capita of $91,392, the Cayman Islands has the highest standard of living in the Caribbean, and one of the highest in the world.[9]
 
Hmmmm. Don't know if I believe her story of being flat broke. Quote from Wiki:
With a GDP per capita of $91,392, the Cayman Islands has the highest standard of living in the Caribbean, and one of the highest in the world.[9]

The GDP is likely distorted though by resident tax exiles and financial services employees. At least she has a toyboy!
 
Witchcraft claims linked to 17th century women’s jobs

Employment types open to 17th Century women came with a much higher risk of magical sabotage claims, a Cambridge University historian has found.

Dr Philippa Carter used the casebooks of a Buckinghamshire astrologer-doctor to analyse links between witchcraft accusations and women's occupations.

simon-forman-richard-napier-case-notes-medical-records.jpg


Richard Napier, whose casebooks are housed at Oxford University's Bodleian Library, was officially the rector of Great Linford, but gained a reputation as a "physician both of body and soul".

These [occupations] included healthcare, childcare, dairy production or livestock care.

In contrast to men's work, which often involved labour with sturdy or rot-resistant materials such as iron, fire or stone, women worked in areas where decay was more likely.

Dr Carter, from the department of history and philosophy of science, said: "Natural processes of decay were viewed as 'corruption'. Corrupt blood made wounds rankle and corrupt milk made foul cheese."

This meant they were much more likely to be linked to death, disease or spoilage, causing their clients suffering or financial loss.

Men were accused of witchcraft in the 16th and 17th Centuries, but figures suggest only 10 to 30% suspects were men.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-66854122

maximus otter
 
Witchcraft claims linked to 17th century women’s jobs

Employment types open to 17th Century women came with a much higher risk of magical sabotage claims, a Cambridge University historian has found.

Dr Philippa Carter used the casebooks of a Buckinghamshire astrologer-doctor to analyse links between witchcraft accusations and women's occupations.

simon-forman-richard-napier-case-notes-medical-records.jpg


Richard Napier, whose casebooks are housed at Oxford University's Bodleian Library, was officially the rector of Great Linford, but gained a reputation as a "physician both of body and soul".

These [occupations] included healthcare, childcare, dairy production or livestock care.

In contrast to men's work, which often involved labour with sturdy or rot-resistant materials such as iron, fire or stone, women worked in areas where decay was more likely.

Dr Carter, from the department of history and philosophy of science, said: "Natural processes of decay were viewed as 'corruption'. Corrupt blood made wounds rankle and corrupt milk made foul cheese."

This meant they were much more likely to be linked to death, disease or spoilage, causing their clients suffering or financial loss.

Men were accused of witchcraft in the 16th and 17th Centuries, but figures suggest only 10 to 30% suspects were men.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cambridgeshire-66854122

maximus otter

l’ve just remembered that this is the same Richard Napier to whose notebook l referred here. It gives interesting details about the patients who approached him, their perceived problems and his diagnoses.

maximus otter
 
Hmmmm. Don't know if I believe her story of being flat broke. Quote from Wiki:
With a GDP per capita of $91,392, the Cayman Islands has the highest standard of living in the Caribbean, and one of the highest in the world.[9]
My dentist went to live and work there. And she was already loaded, by the look of her.
 

Practical Magic: The Lucrative Business of Being a Witch on Etsy and TikTok

When Maira Khan’s boyfriend left her last year, she was desperate to win him back. “I knew he was seeing someone else, but I didn’t know how serious it was,” said Ms. Khan, an influencer in Toronto. “I kind of just wanted her gone.”

At a loss, she decided to consult the occult. “The first spell I bought was a cord cutting spell, which for me was about removing a third party,” Ms. Khan, 28, said. She found a witch through TikTok who only required the former couple’s name to perform a candle ritual: tying a length of twine around two candles and letting the wicks burn down until the string is broken by the flames. “She said that it went well,” Ms. Khan said.

It’s a good time to be a witch. Those steeped in the “craft” are part of a $2.3 billion industry in the larger psychic-services universe, a field that includes palm reading (palmistry), tarot cards (cartomancy) and astrology.

People aren’t dialing psychics from the phone book or knocking on witchy storefronts and back rooms for their fortune anymore — supernatural entrepreneurs have set up shop on TikTok and Etsy. There are nearly 36,000 Etsy sellers offering “psychic readings” and related paraphernalia like enchanted candles, apothecary kits, ritual oils and voodoo dolls.

https://dnyuz.com/2023/10/28/practi...business-of-being-a-witch-on-etsy-and-tiktok/

maximus otter
 
(...)

Men were accused of witchcraft in the 16th and 17th Centuries, but figures suggest only 10 to 30% suspects were men.

(...)

I am currently reading a newly published book on the "Louis de Gaufridy" sorcery case in Southern France. A note in this book underlines the fact that in most parts of France, there were more documented cases of male witches than female witches. In the territory of the Parliament of Paris (the judiciary district covering roughly half of France, around the capital), more than 50% of condemned witches were male. In the Parliament of Rouen, the proportion of convicted males even reached 70%. This data contrasts heavily with the profile of British, German or Scandinavian witches, which were predominantly women. I wonder what were the figures in Italy and Spain, in the 16th and 17th century.

No explanation is given for these national contrasts. So we are left to wonder why in such and such country females were the usual suspects, while in other areas, suspicion predominantly fell on males.

Wasn't it a matter of religion ? In terms of number of convictions, it appears that the witch hunt was much fiercer in the Northern countries than in the South (contrary to what later Romanticists would claim). So protestantism might have played a role as a "reformist" religion aiming at the revival of a purer model of christianity. As in many "purification drives" along the world (in other religions), women might have been targeted because they were thought to be "temptresses" (as it is still the case in modern day countries where they are requested to cover their hair and stay at home - not doing so deserving them insults such as "you're immodest" or even beatings]).

"History is written by the victor", so I guess the way the history of the witch hunts was initially written may have put all the blame of the Catholic Holy Inquisition and presented protestantism a mild, beneficial evolution as opposed to the corruption of the Roman world. Yet, it suffices to compare a description of rural life in the Western Isles of Scotland before (see Martin Martin's accounts) and after the establishment of protestantism to measure the impact of the reformist faith on the development of extreme puritanism. In a couple of centuries, we pass from abundant festivals were the faithful drink and dance to their fill to a strict observance of the sabath ...

On the other hand, the Catholic world was split between ageless tradition and its own reformist drive aimed at facing the challenge of protestantism. So although there was also a hunt for "deviants", old practices were still aknowledged, especially the fact that medieval magic and conjuring was predominantly a clerical practice. Priests being males, when sorcery was to be considered, they remained a prime vehicle for witchcraft. Then it was up to who got the upper hand in the power struggles within the Church : traditionalists would just let "sorcerers" be (that's how the Frioulan "Benandanti" were handled by the Italian inquisition : none of them was executed ), while hardcore tridentine reformists would sue.

The Louis de Gaufridy's case rather supports this hypothesis as he was himself a priest. His case was judged by a militant reformist priest (Michaelis) while his bishop instead tried to protect him. So we can see the tension between diverging postures within the Catholic Church.

A second factor which might explain the North / South difference in scope and gender-focus may be "precedence". It may be that the first reported cases contributed to define what was then expected to be a witch in every country. And once the model was set, subsequent cases would be oriented towards this model.

In France, it appears that early documented witch trials focused on men. The Carroi de Marlou's trial, in the 1580s, is a prime example of this, four to five men (common folks) being convicted for only one old lady. Later on, the Gaudridy case focused on a priest seducing young girls in a monastic community. The case of Urbain Grandier at Loudun reproduces almost exactly the same model : again it is a priest leading young girls astray. And in the case of the possessions of Louviers, again a love affair between a priest and nuns is pivotal ... Thanks to the development of printing, these stories were largely broadcasted. That may have shaped peoples' attitudes towards what was to be expected of sorcery cases, which in turn tended to reinforce national trends in terms of gender positionning of witches / warlocks.

That's my hypothesis, but I might be deluded by the devil and the Pope ! :p

*** edit : additional possible explanation ***

Ritual language might also have played its part : while the Catholics kept using Latin, in Protestant countries, the Bible was translated into the national language. Depending on the translation (translation is always a betrayal), it might have encouraged a harsher stance towards "magicians" ...
 
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I was completely unaware of the late Mr Sharpe's work. :(

'In the mid-1990s the historian James Sharpe, who has died aged 77, wrote Instruments of Darkness, a book on witch-hunting in England that reopened a field of research that had been in the doldrums for a generation. Published in 1996, Jim’s book helped to make the study of British witchcraft what it is today: one of the most lively areas of historical writing.

Earlier historians had argued that whereas witch-hunting on the European continent was fantastical, dominated by beliefs about the devil, English witch-hunting was comparatively rational and down-to-earth, centred on beliefs about the practical harm that witches caused to people and animals. Jim showed that this was nonsense, and that English witch-hunting was also powered by fear of the devil and followed much the same pattern as many other European countries.'

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/mar/15/james-sharpe-obituary
 
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