#saint anne

[tinyuglyworld]

Fragment of art depicting Saint Anne, 8th-9th century C.E., discovered in Faras, Sudan

Inscription reads: "Anna, mother of the mother of God." x

[classic-art-favourites]

The Birth of the Virgin by Vittore Carpaccio, 1504-1508.

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[theraccolta]

The blessings of thy father are strengthened with the blessings of his fathers: until the desire of the everlasting hills should come; may they be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of the Nazarite among his brethren.

Genesis 49:26

[margaritiques]

Anne de Beaujeu and her daughter Suzanne, later Duchess of Bourbon, being supported by Saint Anne; by Jean Hey, from a triptych created for Moulins Cathedral, c.1498-1500.

[mourama]

Santinhos or Registos (“little saints” or “Records”) — Portuguese Catholic Traditions, Feasts & Devotions I

From left to right:

(i) Santíssima Virgem (Blessed Virgin) – an antique laced print from 1901, made of natural damask, embroidered with silk, sequins, gold thread, gold canutilho (purl) and golden braid; (ii) Santo Ambrósio (Saint Ambrose) – a print attributed to the 17th century, made of cotton damask, embroidered with silk, sequins, gold thread, gold canutilho and golden braid; (iii) Santa Ana e Nª Srª encimadas por anjos (Saint Anne and Our Lady, crowned by angels) – a print made of natural damask, embroidered with silk, sequins, gold thread, gold canutilho and golden braid; (iv) Santa Emília, virgem mártir (Saint Emmelia [of Caesarea], virgin martyr) – a water-coloured print attributed to the 17th century. The image is encircled by flowers in a patra serrated pattern on natural damask, embroidered with sequins, gold thread, gold canutilho and stones, recovered from an antique piece. from: Fatela, Paulo – Mão com Alma, artes e ofícios tradicionais em Coruche, ed. Associação da Charneca Ribatejana, 2014, pp. 17-18. Photo credits: Carlos M. Silva

~*•°.♱.°•*~

The Santinhos or Registos are devotional prints that represent an important expression of popular religious practice in Portugal. Originally derived from the miniatures or illuminations found in medieval manuscripts, these images—typically depicting God, Our Lady, and the saints—were cut out from worn pages and repurposed as devotional objects. With the advent of the printing press in the 15th century, it became possible to produce these registos on paper using techniques such as woodcut, engraving, and lithography, thus enabling their widespread distribution at an affordable price.

These objects of devotion not only served to adorn homes and shrines but also functioned as protective symbols and markers of significant life events (such as baptisms, first communions, and other religious ceremonies), as well as accompanying festivities and pilgrimages. Over the centuries, the registos have maintained their essentially devotional character, while today they also boast a strong decorative appeal, blending traditional techniques and materials with more contemporary designs.

[lesorciercanadien]

Witchcraft in New France and Acadie

As a modern witch of my Quebecois and Acadian cultures, I acknowledge that my practice is adhering to the folk ways, cosmologies, remedies, and catholic prayers of my ancestors (who would not have not called it witchcraft by any means, much less labeled themselves witches). I give myself the title of sorcier to reclaim that negative connotation, and to acknowledge that I'm not afraid to dig into the shadows for truth.

From our first days in this land well into the 20th century, we've had some reputed and supposed witches and sorcerers that were feared, judged, sometimes sought out, their names whispered in the dead of night to frighten our siblings. Many of these people however were misunderstood in their time, judged as sorcerers and witches, even as they might not have done anything of the kind.

Our ancestors however had a belief that witches existed. We'd do our best to avoid calling their curses our way. It's been said that on Fridays, witches would hear what we said about them across the winds. Acadians viewed the following people as witches: the sybils, those that pulled fortune-telling cards for a living, those that threw spells (jeteux de sorts), and revenants (walking dead).

Antonine Maillet recounts in her thesis on popular traditions in Acadie that she knew two women in the Memramcook area and one in Bouctouche who were reputed as witches, able to tell the future and consult tea leaves, palms and cards. They were all named Sarah, reflecting the Sarah of the Old Testament. (p.93-94)

She also noted that on the Magdalen Islands, there was a captain noted to be a sorcerer, who would allow his boat to float errantly on the waves, inviting the Devil on board. When his boat was sold for scrap and the wood used to built a local church in Lavernière, the builders said the cursed wood would never hold up to the winds of the islands, and it best the wood return to the Devil. (p.94)

Marie-Josephte Corriveau (1733-1763) was sentenced to death by British court martial for the murder of her second husband in 1763. Outside the walls of Lévis, Québec, her body was displayed in a gibbet after she was hanged. In Québec City, she is a figure of legend in her afterlife. However, she was the victim of an abusive husband, and the mores of the day condemned her beyond the grave as a witch. As her body was placed at a popular crossroads, and whispers of how her first husband died, local gossip became folklore. Her gibbet cage now resides in the Musée de la civilisation in Quebec City, after being returned to the province. It had been dug up from the cemetery in 1851 and acquired by P.T. Barnum, after which, it was on display at the Boston Museum. 19th century writers milked the folklore extensively, adding that the Corriveau, hanging in her cage at the Pointe-Lévis crossroads, would terrorize one passer-by, imploring him to carry her to the Witches' Sabbath on the Ile of Orléans in the harbour (Philippe Aubert de Gaspé, 1863). On the shores of that island, known as the Sorcerers' Island in local legend, feux-follets have been seen. In the 20th century, interest in social history and women’s roles in early Quebec society prompted historians to reassess her story. In the 1990s, historian Catherine Ferland and others delved deeper into the trial records, revealing that many of the details had been misinterpreted or exaggerated over time. La Corriveau was accused of killing her abusive husband, not of serial killings or witchcraft. Moreover, her trial raised questions about fairness, suggesting it may have been affected by biases related to gender, class, and local politics. The likelihood of a fair trial was further diminished by the circumstances: a military occupation and a tribunal of British officers who did not speak French.

Tom Wabo from the l’Ile-des-Surette in Nova Scotia: this sorcerer was known to play pranks in his spells.

Cy a Mateur of Meteghan in the Baie Sainte-Marie region, a local shoemaker, was known to have undertaken la chasse galerie, riding tree bark. (To read his story: Le Diable et le cordonnier: vie et légende de Cy a Mateur par Lise A. Robichaud, 2001, and pictured above.) Otherwise known as Celestin Trahan, he was known as the Terror of Baie Sainte-Marie. Many have reportedly seen him flying the skies on his way to Boston. It's been said that in his mid-forties, he made a pact with the Devil, and people in his community were whispering that he wasn't aging. He was known as an avid dancer, and no distance could keep him from attending the next soirée. He was also reputed to have shape-shifted into a white horse, a bear, or a large black dog. (Croft).

Le vieux Dollard de Sainte-Marie-de-Kent is a name, when uttered in this region, to cause abject fear. His witchcraft persists beyond the grave. He is known to have wanted to destroy the church in Bouctouche, and boasting that he could rebuild it in three days. People have seen a feux-follet float above his grave, floating then above and through the skies to set fire to the church. He is known to haunt the locality at night as a revenant. (Maillet 94-95). It's said that his daughter, Marguerite Dollar (known as La Vieille Dollard) inherited his powers, and that the next seven generations would inherit. (Croft).

Clary Croft presents many more fabled witches in his book, which I would recommend (except for when he uses Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon as history... nah man).

The Folkloric Image of Witches and Reconciliation with First Nations and Métis peoples in Canada

A fair warning to those looking through Acadian folklore for witch lore... The Taoueille figure we often see; a witch that is a healer, wise-woman and spell caster, is an unfortunate condemnation of Mi'kmaq women that visited Acadian communities. It carries racist and misogynistic accusations that I won't tolerate. As there are instances of Acadians welcoming herbal knowledge and medicine with these esteemed healers, the accounts are very few and far between, the majority of them being accusatory and bigoted. The Taoueille is a purely Acadian concept and view of the world, and is in no way indicative of actual Mi'kmaq and indigenous traditions and knowledge. This refusal to humbly try to connect with our Mi'kmaq neighbours has caused figures like Saint Anne to be abandoned in favour of the Virgin Mary as an Acadian identity saint (decided by the Acadian elite in the 1880s conferences), relegating Saint Anne to be associated with some popular ocean folklore, and closely associated with the Mi'kmaq, and the sun (due to missionary efforts). (Denise Lamontagne).

Photo above: Chapel Island, Potlotek First Nation, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Taken by Verne Equinox, Wikipedia. 5 November 2010.

I would urge anyone interested to interact with Sante' Mawio'mi, St. Anne's Mission (diocèse of Antigonish). They host a large annual pilgrimage on Chapel Island, Nova Scotia, for the Feast Day of Saint Anne on July 26. The island is a sacred Indigenous site and home of St. Anne Mission, an important pilgrimage site for the Mi'kmaq and a place of national historic significance. Many Indigenous (from many First Nations and Métis communities in Canada) Christians also flock to places like Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré in Québec and the Lac Saint-Anne in Alberta on July 26th. On that day, the basilica in Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré holds Mass in Innu-aimun.

I for one wholeheartedly welcome Saint Anne in that context on that day, and celebrate her grandmother spirit and wisdom within my own practice. Saint to my great-grandmother's island realities and guardian of those who travel the forests and rivers, she is incredibly vital to my understanding of my ancestors and personal path.

Sources

Denise Lamontagne. "Towards a New Approach to Folk Knowledge in Acadie: Saint Ann, the Aboriginal Woman and the Witch". Revue d'ethnologie de l'Amérique française, vol. 3, 2005. 31-48p.

Antonine Maillet. Rabelais et les traditions populaires en Acadie. Les presses de l'Université Laval: Quebec. 1980.

Clary Croft. Witchcraft: Tales, beliefs and superstitions from the Maritimes. Nimbus Publishing. 2010.

[st-neventers-chapel]

-Sainte-Anne-La-Palud sanctuary, Finistère

24 / 04 / 24

[dvoeverie-stitches]

Broom Decorating and Blessing on St. Anne’s Day

I’ve been meaning to decorate this broom for awhile and when I remembered that St. Anne is the patron saint of broom-makers, today seemed the perfect day!

Mostly I used items that are apotropaic in my practice, but I also tried to keep the colors simple with the green and red that are associated with St. Anne, non-competing white blooms of elder and yarrow, and the neutral colors of the hagstone, barred owl feather (found on St. Anne’s Eve in an abandoned cemetery at the foot of the Ozarks), and the Czech style folk necklace I made from cloves and some beads from a broken necklace belonging to my grandmother-in-law (Anne is also the patron saint of mothers and grandmothers).

The brooch that the hagstone is hanging from is a vintage Stuart Nye (early to mid twentieth century Appalachian silversmith) piece that was a gift from my husband. Dogwoods have long been my favorite spring tree and in the Ozarks are associated with the crucifixion (see legend below).

Maybe I will remember to freshen the herbs next year and make it a yearly tradition.

Gorgeous blooms I found out on the bayou this spring

The Legend of the Dogwood

At the time of the crucifixion, the dogwood had reached the size of the mighty oak tree. So strong and firm was the wood that it was chosen as the timber for Jesus' cross. To be used for such a cruel purpose greatly distressed the dogwood. While nailed upon it, Jesus sensed this, and in His compassion said, “Because of your pity for my suffering, never again shall the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used for a cross.

Henceforth, it shall be slender, bent, and twisted, and its blossoms shall be in the form of a cross–two long and two short petals.

In the center of the outer edge of each petal will be the print of nails. In the center of the flower, stained with blood, will be a crown of thorns so that all who see it will remember."

In his book on Ozark folklore Vance Randolph credits C.E. Barnes, a regional Arkansas newspaper columnist, for spreading this specific version of the story across the region during the 1930s, cementing it in local lore.

Red berries from the dogwood, winter a few years back, in the swampy area to the side of where the bayou meets the lake.