Witchcraft and Spells Photo Shoot

“This is the Discworld, which travels through space on the back of four elephants which themselves stand on the shell of a sky turtle. Once upon a time such a universe was considered unusual and, possibly, impossible.

The Discworld exists right on the edge of reality. The least little things can break through to the other side. So, on the Discworld, people take things seriously.  Like stories. Because stories are important. Stories have been blowing and uncoiling around the universe since the beginning of time. Stories, twisting and blowing through the darkness.”

            (From Witches Abroad, a Discworld Novel by Terry Pratchett).

 

 

 

Witch’s Garden

I love books in which the author describes beautiful witch’s gardens with mysterious plants and medicinal herbs, used both to handle diseases and practice magic spells. It is scientifically demonstrated that plants have chemicals that work like pharmaceutical drugs, and just as a pharmaceutical drug, they have benefits but also side effects that mustn’t be underestimated.

As we know, witches are very close to nature, so many of them are used to have a little garden where they spend many hours every day taking care of their magical herbs. But, what kind of plants, flowers and herbs are usually in these magic gardens, or also searched into the wild by witches? Here is a list of some of the most important flowers/plants that has been considered useful for different spells and purposes throughout the centuries.

 

White Poppy

• It is said that white poppy has the peculiarity of being sedative, calming and even sleep-inducing.

 

Vinca

 

• A flowering and beautiful plant with violet flowers that was used in ancient times to treat terrible diseases just like leukemias and cancer.

 

Christmas Rose

 

• Also called Black Hellebore, in spite of its name, this particular evergreen perennial floral plant doesn’t belong to the Rosaceae family. A strange feature of this plant is that it flowers in the depths of winter. This plant is very dangerous, it’s poisonous and can cause burning of the eyes, mouth and throat, gastroenteritis and oral ulceration.

 

Witch Hazel

 

• This is a northern America flowering plant that was used for healing different types of skin irritations (even if it’s not scientifically proven nowadays that it’s safe since oral consumption of witch hazel water is toxic).

 

Mandrakes

 

• This is one of the most mysterious plants in history, and there are several legends and myths around this big perennial herbaceous plant. Nowadays, more than 80 different substances have been identified inside it, and many of them are poisonous. The effects of consumption of mandrakes are many, including dilation of the pupils, vomiting, hallucinations and tachycardia.

 

The list could be longer and longer, because there are many plants that is and have been considered poisonous or with healing effects throughout the centuries, but we also have to remember and underline that thanks to modern traditional medicine and scientific researches, like the discovery of penicillin that has been one of the most important discoveries of all times, humanity has been saved from different horrible diseases.

 

 

The Real Story Behind the Blair Witch Project

I’ve already written about the movie The Blair Witch project, one of my favorite horror movies based on the legend of a witch and three student filmmakers that wants to find out how much of the story is real and film a documentary in mystic woods in Maryland in 1994. (If you’ve not read it yet, here is the link to the article).

The Blair Witch Project

But, what’s the real story behind the film? Let’s find out.

The Blair Witch Project was filmed in 1999 in Burkittsville, a little city with only 75 houses, a church and a post office. There were actually local legends around there, in the little mystic cemetery; it is said that Civil War Soldier Ghosts wander around there, and apparently there is also a legend about a mythical dragon that laid an egg in the hills.

 But, what about legends of witches? There is a very creepy place there called Spook Hill, in the woods you can find an old house, where it is said the real Blair Witch lived. Many that camped nearby says they have witnessed several paranormal activities, such as strange glowing lights and, absurd but true, if you happen to be on a road trip there, on the road of Spook Hill into the woods, your car will roll backwards up the hill! We don’t know if it’s an illusion or there is a scientific explanation to this, but something is really happening, and for sure it’s strange.

After the great success of The Blair Witch Project the major of Burkittsville spoke out saying that it was crazy there, and people with cameras were everywhere.

Anyway, a spooky fact of the movie was that they finished shooting it at Halloween Night, and the actor Michael C. Williams said that there was an incredible surreal atmosphere that night in the woods.

 

The Physick Book of Deliverance Dane

This New York Times bestseller is a must-read for everyone who is interested in American history, and in particular in the period of the Salem witch trials, mixed with a bit of fantasy and mystery.

The author Katherine Howe is personally related to Elizabeth Proctor and Elizabeth Howe, both women actually accused of witchcraft during the troubled year of 1692 in Salem. This makes the story even more realistic, and you can feel reading that the author knows well this sad page of American history. The book analyzes two different periods: 1692 and 1991, and tells the fascinating story of a Harvard graduate student, Connie, who has to spend the summer doing researches for her doctoral dissertation, and accidentally finds out many dark secrets of her family.

Everything begins when she spends time at her grandmother’s abandoned house; I love the description of the house itself, little, cozy, completely hidden from view, no electricity and surrounded with nature. Connie discovers a mystic book the first night she is in the house, that will open up a new world for her. I also love how the “witches” are described in the book, as actual healers.

The book is not only a fantasy book, but also a historic description of everything that happened, on how fear and suspect led a small town to unspeakable acts.

The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The Scarlet Letter has been considered by many critics as one of the books that established the modern tradition of American literature. Set in Puritan Boston during the years 1642 – 1649 and telling the story of a woman charged with witchcraft, this is a perfect Halloween reading.

Hawthorne wants to underline, through the protagonist Hester Prynne, how dangerous and mean people’s judgment can be, especially in the famous 17^th century Witch Trials period. The book is very interesting because it explains historically what happened during that period, mixing information with a very powerful story.

Hawthorne began writing The Scarlet Letter in September 1849, after his mother’s death. The author was born in Salem.

The book is divided into two parts, in my opinion one very different from the other. Only at the end of the book you manage to find out the real meaning of the first part, named “The Custom House”.

Hester is different from all other characters in the novel, because she chooses not to conform to the Puritans strict rules and beliefs, and for that, she will be isolated by the Puritan society, both physically and spiritually.

The Scarlet Letter is a perfect picture of the society, very realistic. Many important themes are analyzed by the author, like the importance of freedom, faith and how the man can change his destiny if he wants.

I think Hawthorne wants to identify Hester with the change of the American society, the hope of a better way of facing life and situations, remembering to not commit the same mistakes of the past.

 

Halloween Movie Night: REC

Usually the best scary movies are American, but this is not the case: REC is a Spanish zombie horror film shot in Barcelona, Spain, and directed by Spanish producer Jaume Balaguerò. The movie has the same “shaky camera” techniques as The Blair Witch Project, and this makes the film really realistic. REC is filmed as a found footage movie, in which the protagonists are trapped in a scary house where strange and horrible things happen. A reporter and her cameraman manage to record everything that happens; apparently, there is an infection and they cannot be rescued from the situation.

The film was shown on several Festivals around the world (also at the famous Venice International Film Festival), and when the producer was interviewed, he said that the most important influence for their movie wasn’t other movies, as it usually is, but TV; in fact, they wanted to create an original horror movie, played like a TV Show, and analyzing the aspects of not being able to escape from your fears.

This movie has received very positive critics and is considered a really original movie, that catches the attention of the audience during the entire experience.

This is a movie recommended for Halloween night, because there is a solid story behind and it’s realistic.

Thanks to the success of the first movie, the crew was able to do a sequel in 2009, portraying the events that followed after the end of the previous film.

 

 

Halloween Must-See: The Addams Family

This is a brilliant show that can be considered a real classic Gothic Horror TV series. If you have not seen it yet, you just have to, and this is the perfect period; The Addams Family is an iconic TV show, and its enduring popularity had led to numerous references in popular culture, and has inspired artwork, music, films, games and musicals.

 

Charles Addams (1912 – 1988), has become one of the most popular American cartoonists after creating the first sketches of The Addams Family in 1938, that was published for the first time in the American magazine of reportage and satire The New Yorker. His idea was that of creating a satirical inversion of the classical American family, but with darkly humorous and macabre characters. The family lives near a graveyard in a Victorian mansion, sharing macabre interests. But, they are not depicted as an evil family, on the opposite, they are very kind with each other, and friendly with their visitors; the only thing is that they are very strange. And that’s the feature that makes this TV show so hilarious.

There have been several TV series productions during the years; the first of them was all shot in black and white and was produced in 1964 by the ABC TV network. The New Addams Family was filmed in 1998 in Canada. The original story was proposed, but with more modern elements and jokes.

 There have also been several film productions, as Halloween with The Addams Family, in 1977, where the family celebrates Halloween together.

The music is also a very important part of the show, and a CD compilation of The Addams Family TV series was released in 1981; there have been several musicals, and there will be more: in 2017 a brand new musical of the Addams Family will be played in the UK.

In 2010 it was announced that a film of The Addams Family would have been produced by the brilliant Tim Burton, a stop-motion animated film based on Charles Addams’s original drawings, but unfortunately, it has been cancelled. Let’s hope they will get again on this idea in the future because it would be awesome if Tim Burton directed a movie like this.

 

 

 

 

 

Ghosts Throughout the Centuries

The widespread believe in afterlife has supported the believe of the existence of the ghost, a soul or spirit of a dead person that can appear to the living. We have the first written proof of man that has seen a ghost already in very ancient literature, in particular in religious books and volumes; in fact, some practices of spiritualism and rituals, as funerals in the Christian religion (but also other celebrations in several other religions), are specifically designed to rest the spirits of the death.

 

A ghost can also be named poltergeist, and that’s a German word to indicate a very noisy ghost, and in particular one that manifests itself by moving objects, also violently.

The ghost is a very fascinating and mysterious figure and as such it has been analyzed in many human fields, like literature, religion, folklore, anthropology, science and mythology, to mention just a few of them.

In many cultures when you see a ghost it’s because it has some unresolved things on earth and it can’t rest in peace, or seeking revenge, so obviously most people would feel scared; many are both scared and fascinated, by something that is not known by mankind. Science try to explain the phenomena as light and air scientific phenomena, and optical illusions, but many of the proofs cannot be explained by science. So it’s a big mystery. As death itself; no one knows what’s going to come next, so the man is feeling helpless.

Ghosts are mostly seen as misty, white and transparent figures shaped in the air. But, there is a very important difference in sightseeing of ghost, because as they represent the good and the evil, there are ghosts seen considered “good souls”, but some not. In this case their names are demons.

Ghosts are often seen in ancient mansions or rural areas. A common legend is also that of the ghost ships, ships full of ghosts that can never make port and is doomed to sail the oceans forever. These legends are both from the Pirate periods, but also from the period of the American Conquest.

Whatever you believe in ghosts or not, on Halloween night it’s a must to sit down with friends and tell spooky ghost stories in front of a bonfire and with a warm cup of tea.

Runes and Spells

There are two equinoxes every year, one in March and one right now, in September. When the sun shines directly on the Equator, the length of day and night is nearly equal. Ever since the birth of man, this period of transformation was celebrated with bonfires, rituals and particular pagan spells.

 

Before the conversion to Christianity, and consequently the adoption of Latin letters, both Germanic and Scandinavian populations used runic alphabets, a very controversial and mystic form of writing, in fact we don’t know the process of transmission of this script. What we know is that there are runic inscriptions and rune stones that are analyzed by linguists nowadays to find out more about them; Runology is a specialized branch of Germanic Linguistics. Runes were made on wood, stones and bone.

The fascinating mystery of the runes is that the first runes found were probably not used as a writing form for communication at the beginning; specialists claims they were mostly used as magical signs and for divination, in shamanic initial rituals in which the initiate underwent a physical trial in order to receive mystic wisdom. Strangely, the word “rune” means “something hidden”.

 

Also, many runes that have been deciphered by linguists contain solemn inscriptions of glorious people who died.

A long time ago, during this period of time, and during traditional harvest pagan festivals and feasts, runes have been fundamental to make spells preparing for winter.