#folklore witch

[nekrokatart]

Witchtember Day 29 - Folklore Daughter of the iron nosed midwife; friend of the wolves & foxes. She collects souls lost in the forest and brings it home to offer it to the shadows. She is condemned to eternal life, until she learns how to be good.

[stumpyshocky]

PSA for Folklore Enthusiasts

I have found that a lot of the early volumes of The Journal of American Folklore are free to download from JSTOR. There are those posts going around about JSTOR being free during COVID, but its only select items good thing I still have my college access.

A lot of the early volumes (1800s-1900s) are rich in old historic folklore, although the writing of the articles are a product of their time so be wary. 

You could also use scihub

[barberwitch]

@anon I'm chronically ill and disabled and to be honest it's really ableist and self-centered to associate someone else's illness with your curse. A person's health is a very personal and complicated thing. Please stop.

Alright, I’m starting by putting my privilege in check. I do not suffer from any physical chronic or debilitating illnesses. I have no disabilities to speak of. I come to this post trying to learn.

It seems like you’re equating an acute health event with a chronic illness and I thought chronic illnesses, physical handicaps and other disabilities are what ableism is in regards to. Discrimination or prejudice against a person based on those health related things. Is that accurate? Can someone explain to me, I would like to learn. I didn’t realize that ableism covered other things like appendicitis. I’m not trying to be sarcastic or smarmy or anything, I’m just trying to find out the parameters because I haven’t been discriminated against based on a disability. I’m trying to see if it includes temporary illnesses such as heart attack or sepsis or other health issues that result in hospitalization that have a shorter recuperation time if done successfully.

Different point, I bring this up because folklore, and historical accounts of witches are kind of...right up my alley? One of the things I really enjoy learning about at least. And historically, witches have...numerous accounts of directly affecting the health of others. Both negatively and positively. Celtic tradition of blasting rods made from blackthorn could cause miscarriages. There’s also Italian traditions regarding the evil eye being cast and maiming children and babies. Chronic illness caused by witches who threw elf bolts at the doors of enemies, eventually leading to death in some cases. People suddenly getting violently ill, or having broken limbs after crossing a witch. Conversely, there are many accounts of witches being “caught” after receiving injuries or other harm after magical counterpoints were made.

Someone thought they were being bewitched, hexed, cursed etc and shot a bird, or rabbit or black cat with a silver bullet and the next day the supposed witch had a limp, or had fallen or died. Someone beating milk and throwing it onto the fire and the old shut in down the lane comes into town with burns on their hand.

I’m not disagreeing or disagreeing, I’m laying out that history to have a discussion so maybe you can see where my confusion comes from. From my perspective basing a lot of my practice on the beliefs and customs of local peoples, there’s a connection that I can’t shake of health, illness, etc being connected to witches.

The other thing to consider is that the post wasn’t serious. I couldn’t decide if I should answer it as “Murphy’s Law Insurance” The witchcraft insurance or as a semi-serious post. This ask was sent a few days ago around the time of the last couple of ones, but wasn’t formatted the same.

Anyway, can someone shed some light? Please no more anons about this topic. I will turn them off because I am asking honestly and publicly, I’m showing you the respect of answering this publicly. I don’t appreciate discourse back and forth that I’m forced to mediate by posting anons back and forth. I just want some clarification please? Send me a DM, or comment.

I cannot stress this enough, I don’t want a fire storm, I want calm, honest and clear answers so I and others can learn if you have experience with these matters. I’m posting right before I go home and if I see comments that are rude, combatative etc. I will delete and block you. My blog, my rules. Tell me and teach me, don’t just yell. 

Regarding the previous post