Elizabeth Morrisette

My character's inspiration, character development, and roleplay blog.

[urbanelf]

🌸𝐹𝒪𝒩𝒯𝐼 𝒫𝐸𝑅 𝐿𝒜 𝒫𝑅𝒜𝒯𝐼𝒞𝒜🌸

Per tutte le streghe italiane, e non, ecco a voi un drive pieno di libri in pdf divisi per temi. Mancano molti argomenti, sentitevi liberi di scrivermi in privato se trovate qualcosa che vorreste farmi caricare! Molti libri sono in inglese ma una percentuale decente è in italiano. L'idea è di avere molto materiale in italiano così da venire incontro a chi ha problemi linguistici. 💙

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/148kjA48Uj7aOQshwjSSvBYj_LAXuThQu

[divaricca]

...In the lore, it is quite common to encounter charms and rituals associated with witchcraft that use christian liturgy, psalms, or Latin prayers for magical purposes. Although many pagans would try to deny it, witchcraft developed into the form we recognize today alongside christianity, not before it. Our path is not an ancient religion, but a folk tradition incorporating elements of pagan practices alongside adopted bits of Latin incantations derived from church liturgy. In this way, the development of witchcraft is not unlike the development of voudou or other folk traditions that blend disparate cultural elements. Our ancestors found the Latin language used by christian invaders very strange and mystical, and they sought to use it in their craft, much to the dismay of church authorities. By the early modern period, many old pagan gods had become saints, and identifying as christian was not optional if you wanted to survive.

Folks identifying with the cunning craft, the benandanti tradition, the bean fasa tradition, and many other folk practices at the roots of old world witchcraft had fully incorporated christian elements by this time. From a modern magical perspective, this is very clever, since the working at hand can draw on the egregores of the dominant culture, much like a magical battery. The modern folk witch need not feel any qualms about using psalms and Latin incantations from the christian tradition. This is part of our history. That said, it’s perfectly fine to use the names of non-christian entities if one prefers. Accept the paradox of calling on the Devil one minute and reciting a psalm the next. The craft is full of riddles, and there is mystery in the way these elements speak to one another.

Folk Witchcraft: A Guide to Lore, Land, and the Familiar Spirit for the Solitary Practitioner - Roger J. Horns

[happyheidi]

[labyrinthlocals]

[in-herbones]

A moment 🖤

Ig//in.herbones

[fannyrosie]

I really have no idea how to tag this outfit. There are elements from almost all periods in fashion.

[nonalimmen]

© Nona Limmen {via Instagram}

[ates-kadehii-deactivated2019081]

[hcney-b]

・• Circe Offering the Cup to Ulysses by John William Waterhouse •・

[dianasson]

I am interested in the Sicilian and Italian traditions! Can you direct me as to where to learn more about this/explain the basics of this practice? Thank you so much- your blog is great:)

Italian Witchcraft and FolkloreHey! That’s wonderful! They’re surprisingly difficult to find any accurate information on! My best resources are the article by Sabina Magliocco titled Witchcraft, healing, and vernacular magic in Italy, a less reliable article (that mixes witch-lore and folk magic all together) by J.B. Andrews called Neapolitan Witchcraft, and Carlo Ginzburg’s book The Night Battles about the benandanti in Friuli (Northeastern region of Italy).

If anyone knows any other sources feel free to list them!

Italian witch lore is very old, as there have been legends of witches in this region for a very long, accountable period. The word strega (witch) most likely comes from the Latin strix (screech owl) which witches were thought to take the shape of in the night. The practice of witchcraft is called stregoneria, a male witch is a stregone, and a female witch is a strega. There are more legends of Italian witches in the south (particularly near Naples). One of the most famous is the story of the witches of Benevento, who convened beneath a walnut tree on a hill therein, and danced and worshiped the Devil. This tree was supposedly cut down.

There is a popular image of a witch who arises among Christian tradition in Italy, even still today. This witch is called Old Befana or Bella Befana(Bruta Befana, Bella Befana or Vecchia Befana) who is a good witch who lived alone in a small cottage. One day, three wise men knocked on her door. “Behold! The child of God is born, (yada yada) we’re going to find him and bring him gifts! Will you join us Old Befana?” Now, Old Befana was glad to hear the news and excited to meet the new babe and give it what gifts she could. However, she was not one to shuck her responsibilities so she said she would have to wait until her chores were completed. They agreed and she saw them off, before finishing her cleaning. Once her duties were completed, she packed up her presents for the babe, hopped promptly onto the broom she had just finished sweeping with, and flew out the chimney into the cold night. However, they had not told her how to find them again! Not wanting to deny the boy his gifts, she decided to give some to all the little children she passed on her way, as any might be the new born child of God. Every year on that same night, Old Befana rides out on her broom and deposits gifts for little children, in hopes that one day she will finally find the baby Jesus and give him the presents she has been holding all this time.In southern Italy, many of the tales of witches (streghe) and folk healers (fattucchiere, or ‘fixers’) tell of the songs they sing to work their magic. Unfortunately, this seems to be all anyone knows on the subject, and I can’t find any references or information on these songs! In lore, the witches of both benevolent and malefic natures are closely related or interchangeable with more faerie-like spirits. The Janare of Naples/Janas of Sardinia (lit. followers of Diana) are magical women said to live in Neolithic shaft tombs and are expert weavers and spinners. They sometimes intermarry with humans, but are very different from the cogas  (or little cooks) of Sardinia, who are malefic witches that cook and eat their victims.

Most folk magic in Italy has died out, even in many of the rural areas. What is documented and what remains is all, unsurprisingly, Catholic magic. Much of it draws to saints, prayers, and Catholic holy tools. One name for this form of magic is benedicaria. However, much of it seems more agricultural or magical and less religious in nature. There is no point assuming this other source is pagan, because we could never prove where almost of any of it originated. Most witchcraft you will find today in Italy, especially in urbanized areas, is of a New Age or Neo-pagan persuasion. Neo-Wicca is about the best you can hope to find, and even that is comparatively rare to that found in Great Britain, Australia, and the U.S.In conversations about Italian magic and witchcraft, Raven Grimassi’s book Italian Witchcraft tends to come up. THIS BOOK IS UTTER BULLSHIT. HOGWASH. STUFF AND NONSENSE. It’s almost literally just Neo-Wicca with different names and some made up information. I’m not exaggerating. If you have this book, it’s better off as kindling than on your bookshelf. Just saying. Charles Leland’s book Aradia: The Gospel of the Witches is a pretty piece of poetry, and perhaps has some truths in it, but it can never be relied upon. His source is not credible, and the information doesn’t add up well. It is a beautiful book, but not an accurate account of Italian magic or witchcraft. Here are a few blog posts I have made relating to Italian witchcraft and folk magic:

The Curse of the Lemon and Pins

Neapolitan Flying Ointment

The Use of Stones in Italian Folk Magic

Charm Against the Evil Eye

To Cure Jaundice

To Cure Worms

To Bind an Eagle from your Flock

To Keep Birds from the Crops

[broomclosetwitches]

Celtic Gods and Goddess

The Celtic world included Ireland, Britain, and a large section of the mainland

Aine: Goddess of love and fertility; encouraged human love; has command over crops and animals; daughter of Eogabail  

Amaethon: God of agriculture 

Anu or Danu/Dana: Mother goddess 

Aonghus: God of love; son of Dagda and Boann

Badb: Irish goddess of battle; could influence the outcome of conflict by inspiring fear or bravery in warriors

Balor: The one-eyed god of death, everyone he looked upon was destroyed

Belenus or Bel: Sun god; appears throughout the Celtic world in different forms; Beltaine celebrates him 

Boann: Water goddess; mother of Aonghus

Brigantia: Chief goddess of Brigantes tribe; associated with water, war and healing

Brigid/Brigit: Goddess of healing and fertility; said to help women during labor; possibly same goddess as Brigantia 

Camulos: God of war mostly worshiped in Belgium areas; said to wield an invincible sword

Ceridwen: Goddess of fertility

Cernunnos: God of wild animals, forest, and plenty; possibly also the god of death; known as the horned one

Cliodhna: Goddess of beauty; her three birds could sing the sick to sleep and heal them 

Dagda: The great god; could restore the dead to life

Dian Cecht: God of healing 

Don: Welsh version of Dana

Donn: God of the dead

Dylan: Sea god

Epona: Horse goddess

The Formorii: Sea gods; violent and misshapen

Goibhniu: Smith god 

Lir: God of sea, healing  and magic 

Lugh: Sun god (Ireland)

Lugus:  Sun god (France and Britain) 

Mac Cecht: God of eloquence

Macha: One of the war goddess

Manannan Mac Lir: Sea god; could stir up or soothe the sea

Manawydan: Welsh sea god, extremely similar to Manannan

Morrigan/Morrigu: Goddess of death on the battlefield 

Nechtan: Water god 

Nemain: Goddess of war

Nemglan: Bird god

Nodens: God of healing; owned magic healing hounds

Ogma: God of eloquence; creating of Ogham, the oldest writing system in Ireland

Taranis: Name means thunderer; Romans equated him to Jupiter; symbol was the wheel

Teutates or Toutatis: Romans equated him to Mars

**Not all inclusive 

All information gathered from “The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Mythology by Arthur Cotterell and Rachel Storm 

[fallingforleavesandpumpkins]

[thestrawberrynight]

living in the little cottage, growing lavender and selling bouquets on the local market, making lavender oil and soap, riding a bike, wearing wide-brimmed hats and white dresses, and walking barefoot in my garden

[brittany]

Crimson Peak (2015), dir. Guillermo del Toro

[valendyke]

i made a quiz: what does your soul smell like? (friendship/ relationship compatibility in the results!)

[princesshamlet-deactivated20210]

calling all dumb bitches take this quiz to find out which absolute moron from classic literature are you?