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samwisethewitch · 4 years ago

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Neopagans, reconstructionists, and revivalists, oh my!

As we’ve discussed before, “pagan” is an umbrella term that actually encompasses a wide range of traditions. Not all pagans believe the same things, worship the same gods, or conceptualize those gods the same way.

Within the bigger pagan umbrella, there are three smaller umbrellas that can be useful for classifying pagan worship: neopagan, reconstructionist, and revivalist. These labels describe different approaches to ancient pagan religion and different ways of incorporating paganism into daily life. It’s important to remember that words like “neopagan” or “reconstructionist” refer to someone’s practice and not necessarily to their beliefs.

A neopagan is someone who takes inspiration from ancient pagan religions, but does not try to recreate those religions in their practice. For example, a neopagan might feel a strong connection to the Roman gods, but they don’t necessarily observe all the intricacies of Roman ritual (and believe me, there’s a lot — Roman polytheism is where Catholicism gets a lot of its formal structure) in their practice. They’re comfortable making things up as they go along, combining concepts from different historical sources, and practicing a thoroughly modern type of paganism. You could say that neopagans strive to capture the spirit of ancient paganism, but do so in a very 21st-century way.

Neopagans are more likely to be monists than hard polytheists, and may even use pagan-style ritual as a means to connect to a single divine Source rather than a specific deity. Neopagan groups often place a great emphasis on reverence for nature and strive to live in harmony with the natural world. Neopagans are sometimes described as practicing “Earth-centered religion.”

The most famous neopagan faith is Wicca. Rather than being a recreation of an ancient religion, Wicca combines concepts from these religions (particularly Celtic and Germanic paganism) with elements of ceremonial magic and Western occultism. Wiccans worship the God and Goddess, personifications of the masculine and feminine sides of the divine Source, and many covens have their own unique mythology to describe the interactions between the God and Goddess through the cycle of the seasons. Wiccans tend to play fast and loose with historical sources, or may not include any historical elements in their practice at all. This is a good example of what a neopagan practice might look like.

On the exact opposite end of the spectrum are reconstructionists, who strive to recreate or “reconstruct” ancient religion. If you can’t do anything without reading three books about it first, you might be a reconstructionist. Jokes aside, reconstructionists seek to emulate a historical religion as closely as possible. Reconstructive practice is very research-heavy, and revolves around recreations of ancient rituals based on historical sources. There is a great emphasis on connecting to and honoring the ancient culture being reconstructed. Some reconstructionists may even learn ancient languages for use in ritual.

Reconstructionists may be monists, hard polytheists, or somewhere in between depending on the religion they are reconstructing. Their values, beliefs, and practices also depend on the culture being reconstructed. A Hellenic reconstructionist will have very different beliefs and practices from an Irish reconstructionist, for example.

Nova Roma is an example of a reconstructionist faith. According to their website, “Founded 2,750 years after the Eternal City itself, Nova Roma seeks to bring back those golden times, not through the sword and the legions, however, but through the spread of knowledge and through our own virtuous example… The modern practice of the Roman religion, the Cultus Deorum Romanorum is our attempt to reconstruct the religion of the ancient Romans as closely as possible.” Members of Nova Roma choose a Roman name for use in ritual — and those rituals are as close as possible to the rites of Imperial Rome. They even have communal religious spaces built to resemble Roman temples!

One important note about reconstruction: it’s impossible to do it perfectly. No matter which historical culture you’re reconstructing, there will likely be some gaps (possibly very large gaps) in our knowledge of their religion. No matter how much research you do, you will sometimes have to use your best guess.

While reconstruction seeks to recreate ancient religion, it is not all about looking backwards. No matter how closely you recreate Egyptian religion, you can never have the same thoughts, experiences, or worldview as an ancient Egyptian peasant. Even the most hardcore reconstructionist has to adapt their religion to fit a modern lifestyle. As author Morgan Daimler points out, “reconstruction is understanding the old pagan religion so that we can envision what it would have been like if it had never been interrupted by foreign influences and had continued to exist until today.”

I like to think of revivalists as the halfway point between neopagans and reconstructionists. Revivalists seek to recreate the spirit of a specific ancient religion, but they may not necessarily reconstruct all of the practices associated with that religion. Revivalists are much more concerned with theology and upholding ancient cultural/religious values than they are with dogma or practice.

Like reconstructionists, revivalists’ beliefs depend on the ancient culture they are seeking to revive. Also like reconstructionists, revivalists do a lot of research — however, their research acts more as inspiration or general guidelines than as something that has to be followed to the letter. Like neopagans, revivalists are very much practicing a modern religion.

Going back to our example of Roman paganism, a Roman revivalist will strive to uphold Roman values in their daily life, like xenia (roughly translated as “hospitality,” though that is an oversimplification). They likely worship the Roman gods, but may do so in a more informal way than Nova Roma or other reconstructionists. They may include some historic elements in their rituals, like wearing a head covering and making burnt offerings — but the ritual will likely be performed in their native language. Revivalists are all about taking the big ideas of ancient religion and adapting them for modern life.

The line between revival and reconstruction is not always clearly defined. Many revivalists use reconstruction in some areas of their faith, and every reconstructionist is a revivalist when they have to fill in gaps in historical knowledge of their religion. The distinction really lies in how closely you want to follow ancient traditions.

Each of these approaches to paganism has its benefits and its drawbacks. Different approaches work better for different people — a lot of it comes down to personality and preference. Here’s a quick rundown of some of the obvious pros and cons of each approach.

PROS of neopaganism:

Because this is by far the most widely practiced type of paganism, there is an abundance of beginner-friendly literature available for new neopagans.

Because of its popularity and flexibility, it’s usually fairly easy to find a neopagan group to worship with, either in person or online.

Neopaganism allows for a lot of experimentation and personal exploration. You are free to incorporate whatever elements work for you.

CONS of neopaganism

Ironically, an abundance of literature also means there are a lot of bad neopagan resources floating around. Newcomers should take care in choosing the books they read on the subject.

Some people become frustrated with the lack of structure in many neopagan traditions.

It can sometimes feel like there are no “real” right answers, since neopaganism relies heavily on personal truth.

PROS of reconstruction

Reconstructing an ancient religion provides a sense of structure.

Choosing to focus on a specific religion/culture can lead to a deep feeling of connection to that culture. This can be especially powerful for pagans who feel disconnected from their cultural heritage.

Because reconstruction seeks to recreate ancient religion, it’s easy to find other people who practice the same way you do, at least online.

CONS of reconstruction

Reconstruction is largely based on primary sources, so reconstructionists will likely have to read dense, academic, and/or archaic literature at some point.

Unless you live in a big city, it may be hard to find an in-person community that shares your beliefs and practices.

Focus on a single culture means there is less room for experimentation. You can still incorporate elements from other traditions, but only if they don’t contradict your existing beliefs.

PROS of revival

Revival allows pagans to feel a close connection to an ancient culture, while also allowing them freedom to customize their path.

Allows practitioners to be their own priest/priestess and make their own decisions regarding their practice.

Provides a middle ground between the fluidity of neopaganism and the stricture of reconstruction.

CONS of revival

Because every revivalist practices differently, it can be very hard to find a group to worship with, online or in person, without having to make compromises.

Like reconstructionists, revivalists will occasionally have to do some difficult reading.

Because this path is so often solitary, it can be hard to stick with it if you aren’t good at keeping yourself motivated.

If you are considering becoming pagan, take a moment to think about which of these approaches appeals most to you. Are you most attracted to neopaganism, reconstruction, or revival?

Don’t just think about which approach sounds the best, but think about which one is most practical for you. Do you need the external motivation of a group to keep you on the right track, or are you very internally motivated? Do you like following instructions, or do you prefer to make things up as you go? Do you feel a strong connection to a specific ancient culture, or do you feel more connected to nature itself? All of these questions can help guide you towards the right approach for your practice.

Resources:

Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner by Scott Cunningham

Nova Roma’s website, novaroma.org

Irish Paganism: Reconstructing Irish Polytheism by Morgan Daimler

The Way of Fire and Ice by Ryan Smith

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tipsycad147 · 5 years ago

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THE CARE AND FEEDING OF THE WITCH BROOM.

Posted on March 18, 2016 by Crooked Bear Creek Organic Herbs

As Witches, we need to be aware of the Ancient Broom Lore that has been passed down to us from those wonderful Crones of the past.

1- Never leave home for long periods of time without telling your broom.

2- Treat your broom as you would any other member of your family, with honour, reverence, and respect.

3- Magickal Brooms are not regular cleaning brooms and should not be used for such mundane tasks.

4- Never leave your Magickal Broom outside your cast circle.

5- Speak with your broom as you would speak to other members of your family or coven.

6- Never leave your Magickal Broom outside in the weather unless you ask the Broom.

7- Oil your broomstick with every turn of the wheel.

Brooms have long been known for their magickal ways, probably due to its shape, use in purification rites and kinship with magickal wands and staffs. The common household tool has been known to be so sacred that in many parts of the world there are Broom Deities.

Sao Ching Niang – The lady with the broom who lives in the Broom Star. When there is too much rain and the crops are threatened, it is not uncommon in China to see pictures of Brooms hanging on the front door or fences to bring clear and sunny weather to the field.

As this is invoking the Great Earth Goddess herself, the Broom Star is the fertile womb of our Great Goddess, and thus, she gives us life of the fields that are represented by the Corn Fields. Hence, the broom is brought into our homes from the womb of the Goddess.

In Mexico, the Witch Goddess Tlazoiteotl is depicted riding on a broom. This symbolises the coming of the night, the dark part of ourselves, the growing darkness of the winter.

The priests in South America have been known to burn offerings of owls and snakes. These were offered at the dark moon. Through these offerings, the people were calling upon the Broom Witch to sweep away their transgressions.

My grandmother was a Broom Witch. Here are some of the old backward things that can be done with a broom. On a hot summers day, I would watch her go out on the front porch and swing the broom over her head. Grandma would just tell me to be quiet, the rain was coming. And if fact she was right. A few hours later we always had rain. So Granny would call the rain with her broom by swinging it clockwise over her head.

In turn, if it was raining too much, she would go out and talk with her broom for a while on the front porch. She would sing “Rain, rain, go away, come again some other day”. Then she would raise her broom and swing it over her head counter-clockwise to stop the rain, and again, a few hours later the rain would stop.

With some practice, I know have mastered this little broom lore spell. I find it handy to tell the broom what I want it to do before I do it, then I say my incantation and swing the broom.

THE CARE AND FEEDING OF A MAGICKAL BROOM

When you first get your broom, always greet it by rubbing your hand over the entire staff of the broom. Learn the body of your broom, inspect it’s divets and curves. Use anointing oil to open and activate your broom. A good oil is made from rosemary, thyme, myrrh and lavender in the base oil. Make this oil by the full moon and then open your broom on the first day of the new moon. When getting a new broom, it’s always good to talk with it awhile. I usually carry mine along with me in my car, and I sleep with it by my bed. Talk with your broom, it’s amazing how much these magickal tools have to say to us and how lonely they become when cast to the side. After your broom has been chosen and spoken to, then start using it to call in your circle. I point the broom in the direction that I’m casting and use this to focalise the energy. Once the circle is cast, then I lay the broom to the east to guard the entrance until my magickal work is done. I also sprinkle salt in the east over the broom to strengthen the seal, especially if I find myself doing some intense spell casting. Once I’m done with casting my magickal work, I thank my broom and lift it from east and dismiss the quarters. A broom can also be used to cast a circle in a hurry, much the same way a staff can be used. If I know I need immediate protection, I point my broom to east and cast a circle with my broom pointed to the earth, moving in a clockwise direction. This really works if you are in a hurry and need to have some sacred space like NOW. I also oil my broom handle with my anointing oil 4 times a year during each turn of the wheel. This helps recharge the broom and helps you reconnect with it. It likes to be stroked and caressed. Your broom is a sensuous creature and likes to be part of the Divine Feminine.

BROOM SPELLS

The “Come to Me” Broom Spell

On a warm night (or turn the heater up), put on some Goddess clothing (loose and feminine), put on some soothing music that makes you want to dance. Now take your broom as if it were your beloved and dance with the broom until you are flying into the arms of your beloved. Whisper this four times to yourself….

By night’s light we shine bright By sunlight we are right By days end we are together by sacred rite.

Now cast your circle by laying your broom in each quarter. Lay the broom to the east and jump clockwise over it. Lay the broom in the south and jump clockwise over it. Lay the broom in the west and jump clockwise over it. Then lay it in the north and jump over it. Once you have completed your circle, your beloved will come to you within 24 hours. Use this spell to mend fights, or if you don’t have a mate, use this to call a mate to you.

SWEEPING SPELLS AND LORE

If you feel your life is in chaos, take a look around at your front porch and front walkway. If the front walks is cluttered with leaves and dirt, then sweep your walkway and front porch clean with your magickal broom and envision that your life is in order and that all that comes to your will be clean and cleared.

When you move from one house to another, it’s always good to change your workaday broom. Either burn your old one, or make sure that it is buried with honour. Always bring a new broom into the new house, but sweep some dirt from the outside in before you sweep the dirt from the inside out. This is to bring in good luck from the beginning and not push your luck out the door.

Always hang a broom by the front door for protection. Brooms will keep the bad things out and the good things in. I have a broom at every the door of my home. I keep it in the corner. Always stand a broom on end with the brush facing up. This helps the wear and tear on the brush and it’s also said to bring love from the earth through the broomstick and given up to the heavens through the brush.

If your broom falls from your hand while you are sweeping or doing other work, make a wish before you pick it up. It’s also said that if a broom falls from it’s kept place, company is coming and it’s not good news. When you pick up your broom after something like this happens, sweep the energy out the door and bid it adue not to return again.

If you or your kin are having recurrent nightmares or night haunting s, sweep the room clockwise while stating that all that lies between here and the other world be gone and back whence you came. Hither, hither, hither gone. Hither, hither, hither gone Hither, hither, thither gone So Mote It Be.

Now stand the broom outside the bedroom door and place a piece of garlic under the bed.

HANDFASTING AND MARRIAGE BROOM LORE

As a Priestess and Wiccan Minister, I perform several Handfasting Rites per year. One of the main things I encourage Wiccan engaged couples to do is to find a broom together. This is the symbol of hearth and home. Once the broom has been found, then it is anointed as I stated above, then some of the broom brush is pulled from the stem. That brush is then woven together and placed upon the wedding altar. The broom is present during our counselings sessions and then the wife-to-be is usually the keeper of the broom until the wedding. This represents that she is the keeper of the home and keeps peace and harmony while the man goes out to work. It also means that she is the keeper of the Magickal power of the home. As it seems in these modern times that this is wrong to have such sexed roles, this is Celtic lore from more than 600 years ago.

The night before the wedding, the couple will dress the broom by weaving 3 a strand of coloured ribbon around the handle. What this represents is the inter- twining of their lives and they themselves are no longer individuals but are part of each other. The broom is then placed either standing by the altar or placed lying under the altar during the ceremony as the vows are said, the promises made, that hands fasted. They are pronounced husband and wife and the broom is then put before them as the final test of love. The couple either steps, or in the old tradition, jumps, over the broom. This is the final end of the ceremony. Then it is recommended that the couple takes the broom home and makes love with the broom under the bed. This seals the marriage.

Your broom can be your best friend and your magickal ally. Treat your broom with honour, reverence and respect and you will have a life-long companion and ritual tool.

And then there is this…….

The Broomstick

The traditional companion of the witches was the enchanted broomstick, used for their wild and unholy flights through the night and probably to some distant Witches’ Sabbat. This is one of the first images you get to see as a child and this was doubtlessly believed by the prominent rulers of Europe. The number of actual confessions of witches doing so is remarkably small. Usually confessions state that they went to the Sabbat on foot or on horseback.

Legends of witches flying on brooms go back as far as the beginning of the Common Era. The earliest known confession of a Witch flying on a broom was in 1453, when Guillaume Edelin of St. Germain-en-Laye, near Paris, stated that he had done so. In 1563, Martin Tulouff of Guernsey said to have seen his aged mother straddle a broomstick and whisk up the chimney and out of the house on it, saying “Go in the name of the Devil and Lucifer over rocks and thorns”. In 1598 Claudine Boban and her mother, witches of the province of Franche-Comte, in eastern France, also spoke of flying up the chimney of a stick. The belief of flying off through the chimney became firmly embedded in popular tradition, although only a few people ever mentioned doing so. It has been suggested that this idea was connected with the old custom of pushing a broom up the chimney to indicate the absence of the housewife. The Germanic Goddess Holda or Holle is also connected with the chimney. Other indications that lead to the popular belief that witches actually flew on broomsticks can be found in an old custom of dancing with a broom between the legs, leaping high in the air. In Reginald Scot’s book, The Discoverie of Witchcraft, published in 1584, we find a similar description:

“At these magical assemblies, the witches never failed to dance; and in their dance they sing these words, ‘Har, har, dive dive, dance here dance here, play here play here, Sabbath, Sabbath’. And whiles they sing and dance, ever one hath a broom in her hand, and holdeth it up aloft.” Scot quoted these descriptions of Witch rites from a French demonologist, Jean Bodin, who made observations of a kind of jumping dance, riding on staffs. These customs might have contributed to the popular picture of broomstick-riding witches through the air.

In 1665, from the confession of Julian Cox, one of the Somerset coven, mentioned “that one evening she walks out about a Mile from her own House and there came riding towards her three persons upon three Broom-staves, born up about a years and a half from the ground. Two of them she formerly knew, which was a Witch and a Wizard”.

History Some authors claim that the oldest known source of witches flying on broomsticks is a manuscript called Le Champion des Dames by Martin Lefranc, 1440. This might be one of the oldest images representing a hag on a broomstick, but it is certainly not the first. A wall painting from the 12th century in Schleswig Cathedral (Germany) shows the Norse deity Frigg riding her staff. If we really dig a bit deeper into history, we’ll find that from the Roman world there are reports that mention witches flying on broomsticks as well as having used ointments, as early as the first century. They were called Straight (Barn owl) and the Lamiae from Greek culture had similar characteristics.

Later in Roman history, the goddess Diana was the leader of the Wild Hunt: “It is also not to be omitted that some wicked women, perverted by the Devil, seduced by illusions and phantasm of demons, believe and profess themselves in the hours of the night to ride upon certain beasts with Diana, the goddess of pagans, and an innumerable multitude of women, and in the silence of the dead of the night to traverse great spaces of earth, and to obey her commands as of their mistress, and to be summoned to her service on certain nights”. (See: Canon Episcopi).

Similar beliefs existed in many parts of Europe. From Norse mythology, we know that the army of women, lead by Odin (Wodan), called the Valkyries, was said to ride through the skies on horses, collecting the souls of the dead. In continental Germanic areas, the goddess Holda or Holle was also said to lead the Wild Hunt and is connected to chimneys and witchcraft. Berchta or Perchta, another Germanic goddess, which can be identified with Holda, has similar characteristics.

Again in Celtic Traditions, the Horned God Cernunnos, and/or Herne the Hunter was leader of the Wild Hunt and the Scottish Witch Goddess Nicneven was also said to fly through the night with her followers. Eastern Europe sources also have a wealth of folklore about witches flying through the air. So flying through the air, evidently, was a deeply rooted mythological theme, associated with the free roaming of the spirit, the separation of soul and body.

Symbolism The broomstick is a female and male symbol, “the rod which penetrated the bush”. Its symbolism and interpretation is therefore purely sexual.

RITUAL USE There are hints of its use as an artificial penis or dildo. In a curious old book, A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon and Cant, by Albert BarrSre and Charles Godfrey Leland (1897-1899), we are told that the slang term in those days for a dildo or artificial penis was “a broom-handle”, and the female genitals were known vulgarly as “the broom”. To “have a brush” was to have sexual intercourse. Noteworthy is the evidence from Witch trials mentioning the “cold hard member of the Devil himself”. In 1662, Isabel Gowdie, accused of witchcraft, made a confession which could suggest that some sort of artificial phallus of horn or leather may have been used:

“His members are exceeding great and long; no man’s members are so long and big as they are….(he is) a meikle, black, rough man, very cold, and I found his nature as cold within me as spring-well water…He is abler for us that way than any man can be, only he is heavy like a malt-sack, a huge nature, very cold, as ice.

Besom Chant

Besom, besom long and lithe made from ash and willow withe Tied with thongs of willow bark in running stream at moonset dark. With a pentagram insight as the ritual fire is lighted Sweep ye circle, deosil, Sweep out evil, sweep out ill, Make the round of the ground Where we do the Lady’s will. Besom, besom, Lady’s broom Sweep out darkness, sweep out doom Rid ye Lady��s hallowed ground Of demons, imps and Hell’s red hound; Then set ye down on Her green earth By running stream or Mistress’ hearth, ‘Till called once more on Sabbath night To cleans once more the dancing site.

Broomstick Or The Besom, The broomstick has come to be the traditional companion to the witch, and the enchanted steed for her wild and unholy night-flights through the air. Even Walt Disney paid tribute to its legendary magical character, in his film “Fantasia”, when he drew Mickey Mouse as the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, with a bewitched broomstick that did its work only too well.

However, the broomstick was only one of the means witches were supposed to use for the purpose of flight. Its frequent occurrence in folklore points to the fact that it possessed some special significance. This significance is in fact a phallic one. In Yorkshire folk-belief, it was unlucky for an unmarried girl to step over a broomstick, because it meant that she would be a mother before she was a wife. Is Sussex, the May-Pole, which was itself a phallic symbol, used to be topped with a large birch broom. A ‘besom’ is a dialect term for a shameless, immoral female.

‘To marry over the broomstick’. ‘jump the besom’, was an old-time form of irregular marriage, in which both parties jumped over a broomstick, to signify that they were joined in common-law union. At gypsy wedding ceremonies, the bride and groom jump backwards and forwards over a broomstick; further evidence of the broom’s connection with sex and fertility.

In a curious and interesting old book, “A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon, and Chant”, by Albert Barrere and Charles Godfrey Leland (London, 1899 and 1897, also Gale Research, Detroit, 1889), we are told that a slang term in those days for a ‘dildo’ or artificial penis was ‘a broom handle’; and the female genitals were known vulgarly as ‘the broom’. To ‘have a brush’ was to have sexual intercourse. This throws considerable light on the real significance of the broomstick in witch rituals, and in old folk-dances, in which it often plays a part.

The original household broom was a bunch of the actual broom plant,”Planta genista”, tied round a stick. “Broom! Green broom!” was old street cry, used by vendors of broom-bunches for this purpose. The “Planta genista” was the badge of the “Plantagenet” family, who derived their name from it. They were rumoured to favour the Old Religion.

At one time of the year, the broom plant was unlucky. The old saying goes: “If you sweep he house with blossomed broom in May, you will sweep the head of the house away.” This could perhaps have some connection with old sacrificial rites at the commencement of summer. Sometimes the broomstick was regarded as having power to repel witches; perhaps with the idea of turning their own magic against them. At any rate, a broomstick placed across the threshold of a house was supposed to keep witches out.

A broomstick could also be a luck symbol. When alterations were being made to an old house at Blandford in Dorset in 1930, a broomstick was found walled up in the structure. It was recognised as having been put there for luck, and it was allowed to remain in its hiding-place. These additional meanings of the broomstick are in accord with its phallic significance. Things which are sex symbols are life symbols, and hence luck bringers and protectors against the Evil Eye.

In Reginald Scot’s “Discovery of Witchcraft” (London, 1584, and edited by Hugh Ross Williamson, Centaur, Southern Illinois University Press, 1964), he says of the witches’ Sabbats:” At these magical assemblies, the witches never faile to dance; and in their danse they sing these words, Har, har, dive divell, danse here dance here, plaoe here plaie here, Sabbath, sabbath. And whiles they sing and danse, everie one hath a broom in hir hand, and holdeth it up aloft.” He was quoting from the descriptions of witch rites given by a French demonologist, Jean Bodin. It appears from the other old description that witches also performed a kind of jumping dance, riding on staffs; and if broomsticks were used for this purpose, too, it is easy to see how this dance, combined with the witches’ experience of wild visions and dreams of flying while in a stage of magical trance, gave rise to the popular picture of broomstick-rising witches in flight through the air.

When broomsticks or besoms began to be made of more durable materials than the broom plant, the usual combination of woods for them was birch twigs for the brush, and ashen stake for the handle, and osier willow for the binding. However, in the Wyre Forest area of Worcestershire, the traditional woods are oak twigs for the sprays, which is the makers’ term for the broom part; hazel for the staff; and birch for the binding. All of these trees are full of magical meanings of their own, and feature in the old Druidic tree alphabets of Ancient Britain. The ash is a sacred and magical tree; the oak is the king of the woods; the hazel is the tree of wisdom; the willow is a tree of moon-magic; and the birch is a symbol of purification.

More Broomlore There are many beliefs based on the Broom as it made its genesis from medicine staff to symbol of Rebirth. The wedding broom represents a joining of souls working together as they jump over the Broom into their new life together. When a bride and groom moved into a new house, a new broom was be used to sweep a little dust into the door. Then this swept dust was placed onto the hearthstone to retain blessings.

Here is some of the folklore surrounding the Broom:

1) Never step over a broom laying on the floor, if you do & are unmarried you will stay that way.

2) When moving into a new home, a loaf of bread & a new broom should be sent in first for good luck.

3) It is bad luck to take a broom across the water.

4) Never lean a broom against a bed.

5) To keep a ghost out, lean a broom against the door jam.

6) To drop a broom means the company is coming.

7) To give away a used broom is bad luck.

8) A broom should never be used to sweep dust out of the front door because it sweeps the luck out with it.

9) Never sweep a house at night. It is an insult to the faeries & the spirits of the dead.

10) A broom standing outside the front door says that the lady of the house is away & the men of the house are at liberty to entertain guests. Even MORE Broom Lore……

BROOM LORE:

A broom dropping in front of the door means company before the day is over.

Always pick up, for luck, a broom that is lying on the floor or ground.

Always sweep dirt out the back door or you will sweep away your best friend.

Bad luck will befall you all year, if you sweep on New Year’s Day.

Burn up the rubbish when you sweep on New Year’s Day and you will have money throughout the new year.

Carry a broom under your arm for luck.

Carrying a broom over your shoulder will give you bad luck.

Do not sweep immediately after the departure of a guest or you will sweep him bad luck.

Dropping a broom while sweeping is the sign of a new carpet.

Hitting someone with a broom means that he will go to jail before a week has passed.

If a broom falls as you are passing it, you will have bad luck.

If a broom falls in front of you and you step on it before picking it up, you will have a “bed of sickness.”

If dirt is swept out a door before sunrise, you may expect bad luck.

If dirt is swept out of the house on Friday, the house will burn.

If someone comes in to see you and you pick up a broom and go to sweeping in front of them, that is the sign they are not wanted and you want them to go home.

If you go to someone’s house and have to step over a broom, it shows that the mistress of that household is an untidy housekeeper.

If you hand a broom through a window to someone, you may expect bad luck.

If you hit a person with a broom just before he starts “uptown,” he will have trouble before returning.

If you let a broom fall and do not step back over it immediately, someone dirtier than you will come.

If you must borrow a broom, take it without the owner’s knowledge, and you will not have bad luck.

If you must sweep on New Year’s Day, you can avert bad luck by not taking up the dirt and leaving it in a pile on the floor.

If you must sweep your kitchen after sunset, you can avert bad luck by burning the dirt.

If you step over a broom you will be arrested.

If you sweep after dark/ You will bring sorrow to your heart.

If you sweep after dark, you will sweep out the money made that day.

If you sweep in front of someone, you are sweeping them off the earth.

If you sweep under someone while he is sitting on a chair, you are giving him bad luck.

It causes bad luck to sweep a porch after dark.

It is a sign of good luck to have a broom drop in front of you.

It is a sign of misfortune, to lay a broom on the bed.

It is unlucky to borrow a broom.

It is unlucky to sweep dirt out a door at any time. Pick up the dirt and carry it outdoors for luck.

It is unlucky to sweep on Monday.

It means bad luck when a broom falls across the derail

It signifies bad luck, if you sweep under a bed on which someone is lying.

It signifies bad luck, to carry a broom through the house from the front door to the back door.

Keep the corners of your broom square or even for luck.

Lean a broom against a bed and you will be unlucky.

Lending a broom will cause you bad luck.

Let the broom rest with the straws up and you will be lucky.

Letting the sweeping edge of a broom wear off at the two corners will bring you bad luck.

Never burn up a broom; it will bring you bad luck.

Never sweep dirt out the front door; it will bring you bad luck.

Never sweep the kitchen after supper, whether daylight or dark, or you will sweep out all your money.

Never sweep your kitchen early in the morning before sunrise, or you will be unlucky.

Stand a broom on its handle and you will always be poor.

Step over a broom and you will break your mother’s back.

Stepping over a broom is a sign of slovenliness.

Stepping over a broom will bring sorrow to your heart.

Stumbling over a brook handle will bring you good luck.

Sweep after dark and you will never be rich.

Sweep dirt out of the house on Friday and it will cause you bad luck.

Sweep on the third day after Easter and you will have bugs in the house.

Sweep the top of a bed and you will have bad luck.

Sweep under a person’s feet while he is sitting in a chair and he will not grow any more.

Sweeping after dark means you will lose a friend.

Sweeping dirt over a doorstep after six o’clock in the evening will bring bad luck.

Sweeping on New Year’s Day means that you will sweep out the money made during the coming year.

Sweeping under chair upon which someone is sitting will make you unlucky.

The child who steps over a broom will get a whipping.

The one who is hit by a broom will soon be arrested.

The person under whose feet you sweep will always be poor.

The person who is hit on the top of the head with a broom will be arrested.

To avert bad luck after you have walked over a fallen broom, step backward across the broom.

To brush your boot with the broom while your are sweeping will give you bad luck for a week.

To have good luck, place the broom on its handle in a corner.

To set a broom in the corner with the brush up shows that you are an untidy housekeeper.

To step over a broom will start a quarrel in the house.

To sweep after dark will bring trouble to the house.

To sweep dirt out the door is a sign of a slovenly housekeeper.

Touching anyone with a broom while you are sweeping causes bad luck.

Walking over a fallen broom will cause you bad luck.

When a broom falls across the door, it indicates that you will walk on the strange ground.

When a small child takes a broom and begins to sweep, the company is coming.

When someone is hit with a broom, he should spit on the broom and take ten steps backwards so he will neither have bad luck or be arrested.

When you sweep after dark, you sweep away your friends and let enemies in.

You sweep away your best friend by sweeping after dark.

You will be unlucky if you do not pick up a fallen broom at once.

Your luck will be swept away, if you sweep your kitchen after sunset.

https://goodwitcheshomestead.com/2018/12/30/sacred-spiritual-nature/

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ugglescraft · 7 years ago

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The History of Witchcraft Part 1

An Introduction to the Tangible Facts

Sit tight this is going to be a really long post, but interesting I swear.

With a topic as varied and vast as this, it'll be difficult to narrow it down. Especially when essentially witchcraft can cover anything vaguely phantasmagorical and unbelievable. So to start with I'm simply going to look at the actual history of it. As much as I would love to use this is as an excuse to research the folklore and myths and legends of other cultures and religions, due to the time restrictions of this project, I'm going to keep it local. I will look at witches originating from UK origins, maybe sliding slightly into the puritan purges in America, but essentially Anglo-Saxon history. It's the one I already have the best base knowledge on and the one I feel I can manipulate the aesthetic of fairly and accurately.

To really dive down into the history I’ve split this post into two parts. For the sake of my examiner a lot of my research I’ll be putting into posts like these but feel free to skip to the end where I’ll put a vague bibliography of where I got my info. It won’t cover everything I’ve read though as I do a lot of article reading on my phone.

But if you are interested click the read more.

What I didn't really anticipate in this project is how confusing it is to find a starting point with witchcraft. Even trying to define it is a struggle. It largely depends on who or what religion is in charge and what the leaders of that religion deem to be heresy. For example one of the earliest forms of organised practice of magic comes from Celtic history and folklore. The Druids were members of the high-ranking professional class in ancient Celtic cultures. While perhaps best remembered as religious leaders, they were also legal authorities, adjudicators, lore-keepers, medical professionals and political advisors. They were responsible for organising worship and sacrifices, divination, and judicial procedure in Gaulish, British and Irish society. They had scripture but it was largely oral, thus a lot of what is known about them was from Roman and Greek scholars studying them. The records kept on these Druids, especially those detailing the human sacrifice, is met with some criticism. Records state that Druids used to burn people alive in large Wicker Man structures or stab them in the chest and read the future from the blood splatter. However, the Romans and Greeks were known to project what they saw as barbaric traits onto foreign peoples including not only druids but Jews and Christians as well, thereby confirming their own "cultural superiority" in their own minds. So it's unknown if their accounts are reliable.

Despite the fact the main religion of the Romans was now Catholic and the belief in Roman mythology was dwindling during the occupation, there's a lot of evidence to suggest that other religions like that of the Druids were still heavily prevalent in Britain. By the time of the Anglo-Saxon occupation, many Britons held firm to their own spiritual practices and found it easier to assimilate into another polytheistic religion like that of the Norse. Thus religion in Britain was a strange amalgamation of various cult practices, ritual and folklore. With Christianity being the opposing force to the Roman, Celtic and Norse polytheistic religions, they coined the term Pagan to insult them. Paganism is considered by many to be witchcraft but actually originates as the name given to those (mainly Romans) who practised a polytheism. Christianity, a monotheistic religion, eventually became the dominating force and denounced it as such. Pagan was a derogatory term used to allude to its inferiority, it was referred to as "the religion of the peasants".

"Paganism was a pejorative term that was applied to any non-Abrahamic or unfamiliar religion, and the term presumed a belief in false god(s)."

Paganism has been adopted by various religious groups since the 19th century, by groups who idolised the ancient world. It became an umbrella term generally applied to religions that strayed away from mainstream religions that generally followed one God, scripture and prophets. Contemporary Paganism or Neopaganism can be anything influenced by various historical pagan beliefs of pre-modern Europe. These groups largely practise religions that pantheistic, polytheistic or animistic.

Animism is the religious belief that objects, places and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. It's a term that is often used to describe the religions of indigenous peoples and directly contrasts the worshipping system of many organised religions. Sacred status is granted to all things rather than selected artefacts and alters. It's an anthropomorphic construct that is used to explain peoples 'spiritualism'.

"Animism encompasses the beliefs that all material phenomena have agency, that there exists no hard and fast distinction between the spiritual and physical (or material) world and that soul or spirit or sentience exists not only in humans but also in other animals, plants, rocks, geographic features such as mountains or rivers or other entities of the natural environment, including thunder, wind and shadows."

So under that banner, I would place polytheistic mythologies such as Norse religions where thunder and lightning were personified as Thor, a powerful God that could be appeased with offerings. Or a lot of Native American beliefs stemming from the power of nature and animals, although I confess I do not know as nearly as much as I would like about it. This could be used to describe the religion that had a residence in England before Christianity, now referred to as Anglo-Saxon paganism. The religious beliefs and practices followed by the Anglo-Saxons between the 5th and 8th centuries AD, during the initial period of Early Medieval England seemingly didn't have a name if it did it has been lost. It came with much regional variation so definitive practises and beliefs cannot be pinned down but it carries a lot of similarities of Germanic paganism that had spread across a lot of North-West Europe. According to the archaeologists Martin Carver, Alex Sanmark, and Sarah Semple, Anglo-Saxon paganism was "not a religion with supraregional rules and institutions but a loose term for a variety of local intellectual worldviews." As Christianisation of England happened much of this religion gradually bled into folklore.

A lot of evidence of this religion comes from the writings of Christian scholars and archaeological artefacts attesting to ritualistic and cultic practices. "Further suggestions regarding the nature of Anglo-Saxon paganism have been developed through comparisons with the better-attested pre-Christian belief systems of neighbouring peoples such as the Norse." Since it has similar polytheistic beliefs, they believed in deities known as the ése (singular ós). Deities such as Woden, Thunor and Tiw. "Cultic practice largely revolved around demonstrations of devotion, including the sacrifice of inanimate objects and animals, to these deities, particularly at certain religious festivals during the year." A lot of their beliefs in supernatural entities have survived through folklore and now pop culture, elves, fairies and dragons all come from this practice.

Their beliefs clearly became entwined with the Christianity that eventually wiped it out, why else would Saint George randomly be fighting a dragon. I can't be the only person who was confused by the lack of other dragons in the continuity of the Bible. I will have to check that for definite since that is my own speculation but it would make sense that the patron Saint of England is a blend of the two opposing beliefs that dominated Britain in early centuries. Because Carver stresses that, in Anglo-Saxon England, neither paganism nor Christianity represented "homogenous intellectual positions or canons and practice"; instead, there was "considerable interdigitation" between the two.

It's speculated that magic and witchcraft played heavily into their beliefs, elements that could be classified as a form of shamanism. Anglo-Saxon pagans believed in magic and witchcraft. There are various Old English terms for witches, including hægtesse translating to "witch, fury", which is believed to lead to the word hag in Modern English. Other words like Wicca, gealdricge, scinlæce and hellrúne are also used to describe what we would describe as witches.

"The belief in witchcraft was suppressed in the 9th to 10th century as is evident e.g. from the Laws of Ælfred". The Christian authorities attempted to stamp out a belief and practice in witchcraft, with the Paenitentiale Theodori attributed to Theodore of Tarsus condemning "those that consult divinations and use them in a pagan manner, or that permit people of that kind into their houses to seek some knowledge". Similarly, the U version of the Paenitentiale Theodori condemns those "who observe auguries, omens or dreams or any other prophecies after the manner of the pagans".

The word wiccan "witches" is associated with animistic healing rites in the Paenitentiale Halitgari where it is stated that:

"Some men are so blind that they bring their offering to earth-fast stone and also to trees and to wellsprings, as the witches teach, and are unwilling to understand how stupidly they do or how that dead stone or that dumb tree might help them or give forth health when they themselves are never able to stir from their place."

Amulets were a big part of Anglo-Saxon Paganism at least a large chunk of the physical evidence we have of that time as there are many cases where corpses were buried with them. As David Wilson noted, "To the early [Anglo-]Saxons, they were part and parcel of the supernatural that made up their world of 'belief', although occupying the shadowy dividing area between superstition and religion if indeed such a division actually existed." One of the most notable amulets found in Anglo-Saxon graves is the cowrie shell, which has been often interpreted by modern academics as having been a fertility symbol due to its physical resemblance to the vagina and the fact that it was most commonly found in female graves. Not being native to British seas, the cowrie shells had to have been brought to England by traders who had come all the way from the Red Sea in the Middle East. Animal teeth were also used as amulets by the pagan Anglo-Saxons, and many examples have been found that had formerly belonged to boar, beaver, and in some cases even humans. Other amulets included items such as amethyst and amber beads, pieces of quartz or iron pyrite, worked and unworked flint, pre-Anglo-Saxon coinage and fossils, and from their distribution in graves, it has been stated that in Anglo-Saxon pagan society, "amulets [were] very much more the preserve of women than men". Which is the stemming point for where a lot of imagery associated with witchcraft now is amulets and precious stones containing power.

Apologies if all this information is a bit disjointed I've been cherry-picking pieces of info I thought were fascinating and using this blog as kind of an online notebook. I'll keep dropping posts like this as I eventually pool my knowledge together to actually start building my project. So, I think for a first research post this suffices for one night of extensive googling. I'll be back at it again with more witchy history tomorrow.

A lot of my early research has come off Wikipedia I will admit that. But I like to read a lot at once and the way you can just click through links on there is exactly what I need to consume a baseline of information before I can research specific things more thoroughly and corroborate the facts. Honestly, I'm glad I did because I had no idea that Pagan was an old-timey slur, I was originally just going to jump into the modern day stuff and hope I could get the history through context but it seems the meaning of that word has changed drastically. So these blog posts will be picked out sentences and paragraphs that I find relevant. I will try to write a lot of it in my own words but for time's sake I probably will cut and paste a lot of it, just so I can keep all the info I might want to refer back to in one place and not have to go on multiple internet dives to find it. From here I will go onto look at the persecution of witches and from there the modern-day impacts. All photos are from Google and Pinterest if it's a piece of artwork that I could trace back to an artist I've put their names in the caption.

Basic Bibliography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Witchcraft

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Druidry_(modern)

https://www.druidry.org//druid-way/what-druidry/what-druidism/what-druid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/0/20693321https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_paganism

https://www.thoughtco.com/wicca-witchcraft-or-paganism-2562823

#FMP

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