#crabwarlock

[breelandwalker]

Sneeeeeef

SNORF!

Hmmmm you smell like bookses...and smokysticks....

[breelandwalker]

Stares at the Wikipedia page

Ah, so I was correct in assuming that the witch trials were often affected by group and societal politics

You are, in fact, spot on.

Too often, people make the mistake of thinking there was a single root cause for witch trials, and forget to zoom out and look at the broader social and historical context in which they occurred.

Because that shit MATTERS.

It wasn't just popular anxiety or religious turmoil or political conflict or changes in doctrine or environmental problems or disease or famine or xenophobia or misogyny or gossip or greed or persecution of social "others." It could be any combination of these plus a dozen other factors that sometimes only matter in the particular circumstances under which they occurred.

The only thing they all have in common is that witch trials are never actually about witches at all. All the people who were persecuted, ostracized, tortured, and murdered were innocent victims of other people's fears. Not a single one was a self-described witch as we define the term today.

(Which is why it's super fucking gross when people claim that shit as "ancestral trauma" or "witch wounds" or "witch heritage" in an effort to bolster their own credentials or make themselves part of a persecution that isn't theirs to claim. Like, your problem is the patriarchy, call a spade a spade.)

[breelandwalker]

Hey Bree! I hope you're doing well!

So I'm going to write a commentary about the White Women Culture, Burning Times Witch Wound article and I got a few sources from my side but do you have any specific sources about the Burning times (debunking, talking about or just general) and the Witch cult theory?

I'm drawing primarily from Holy Harlots and a few psychology texts but I don't want to sound like an asshole lacking nuance

Oh. Oh I GOTCHU on this one, fam. I still have my sources from when I was researching for a few past episodes of Hex Positive. Prepare for the digital equivalent of a big stack of books being thunked onto your desk.

You can start with the Wikipedia articles on witch trials in the early modern period, The Burning Times 1990 documentary (and we use the term loosely), and the witch-cult hypothesis. These will give you an overview of where the ideas came from and how they made their way into modern thought.

Here are some books and articles that either address the history of witch trials and witchcraft beliefs, or directly address and rebut myths and misconceptions on the same:

Cautio Criminalis, or a Book on Witch Trials (von Spee, 1632)

The Witch: A History of Fear from Ancient Times to the Present (Hutton, 2017)

The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft (Hutton, 1999)

Witchcraze: A New History of the European Witch Hunts (Barstow, 1994)

Religion and the Decline of Magic: Studies in Popular Beliefs in 16th and 17th Century England (Thomas, 1971)

Margaret Murray: Who Believed Her and Why? (Simpson, Folklore, 1994)

There are also these podcast episodes from BS-Free Witchcraft and Hex Positive that talk about the Burning Times myth and the witch-cult hypothesis.

BS-Free Witchcraft, Ep. 23 - The Burning Times (May 2020)

Hex Positive, Ep. 020 - Witchcraft and the Law (Sept 2021)

Hex Positive, Ep. 036 - Margaret Effing Murray (with Trae Dorn) (July 2023)

I also have these great big masterposts of podcast recommendations for Witches and Witchcraft in History and resources for Debunking and Fact-Checking for Witches & Witchcraft Spaces. Both have entries that deal with the Burning Times and the witch-cult hypothesis, as well as the pseudohistorical and ahistorical bullshit that circulates in witchcraft circles related to those theories.

In particular, I recommend the Historical Blindness "A Rediscovery of Witches" duology from Oct 2020 and DIG: A History Podcast's "Doctor, Healer, Midwife, Witch: How the the Women’s Health Movement Created the Myth of the Midwife-Witch" from Sept 2020.

Have fun!

[wherenightmaresroost]

HEMLO FREM

1, 2, 5 and 14 for the Askies

omg thank u for the ask and for the mlem

weird asks that say a lot

1. coffee mugs, teacups, wine glasses, water bottles, or soda cans?

coffee mugs and tea cups, hands down. they come in all sorts of fun designs (which i like much better than most current reusable water bottle designs)

2. chocolate bars or lollipops?

tough choice - i like plain candy much more than lollipops, but i am very picky with my chocolate. maybe i'll go for lollipops, then.

5. do you prefer to drink soda from soda cans, soda bottles, plastic cups or glass cups?

either bottles (when on the go) or just glass cups, especially if it's from a soda fountain.

14. favorite non-chocolate candy?

sour candies! particularly tamarind candy.

[breelandwalker]

I associate you with the sight of sunlight streaming into the kitchen in the morning and the hug of friends.

Awwwwww! That sounds so nice and comfy, I love it! 🥰

[breelandwalker]

Hey hey, hope you're doing well. For the Or Questions

Lunar Magic or Solar Magic

Thanks in advance. I hope you have a good day ❤️

Lunar magic, for certain! I've always been kind of a night owl and I've always loved looking at the moon. Even as a kid, I used to "catch" moonbeams in my hands and play with the shadows created on a particularly bright full-moon night. There was always something magical about that to me and it brought me joy even though I wasn't altogether sure why.

Lunar cycle timing, making moon water, charging things under moonlight, and lunar symbols all play a significant role in my practices. And while I'm terrible at Doing A Special Witchy Thing for the monthly full moon, I do mark them all in my planner.

I will say that I love a good sunrise or sunset. I like working a bit of solar magic into my gardening and my moon decorations are sometimes paired with sun symbols. (My husband is a very solar/fire guy where I'm a very moon/earth gal, so we balance nicely.) And one of my deities is sometimes noted as a solar deity, though he's actually more a god of summertime. So I guess there's a little bit of both, but more moon than sun.

(Hope you have a great weekend!)

Witchy This Or That