Filed under: Podcast Episodes | Tags: entheogen, flying, flying ointment, shapeshifting, unguent, witchcraft, witches salve
Listen | Download as mp3 | 30:30
Follow the witch as she delves into the history of flying ointments through the literature of ancient Greece and Rome, then forward into the grimoires and verse of the early modern period, and then lastly to a modern folktale of a witch and a flying ointment from the United States, collected from oral sources in the 1930s. Learn about the poisonous plants and the methods used to create witches’ unguents and why they may be more ancient than commonly believed.
Music Credits: “Mandragora” by Alraune and “Belladonna Smiles” by Bone Poets Orchestra
Resources:
- Apuleius, Lucius . The Golden Ass. [160 AD].
- Blackwood, Margaret and Skelton, Robin. Earth Air Fire Water: Pre-Christian and Pagan Elements in British Songs, Rhymes and Ballads. Arkana: London, 1990.
- Davis, Hubert J. The Silver Bullet and Other American Witch Stories. Johnathan David Publishers, 1975.
- Della Porta, Giovanni Battista . De Miraculis Rerum Naturalium. 1558.
- MacGregor Mathers, S.L. The Book of the Sacred Magic of Abramelin The Mage As Delivered by Abraham the Jew unto his Son Lamech, A.D. 1458. John M. Watkins: London, 1900.
- Rhodius, Apollonius. The Argonautica. [200 BC].
- Shantell Powell”Flying Potions and Getting to the Sabbat“. The Witching Hours. 1998.
Filed under: Podcast Episodes | Tags: Appalachia, hare, Ireland, Isobel Gowdie, pagan, paganism, Scotland, shamanism, shapeshifting, witchcraft
Pop-up Player | Download as .mp3 | 20:00
Join the Witch of Forest Grove in crossing the hedge to explore the ancient art of shapeshifting on a journey through folklore, legends, songs, and magical incantations. Hear two tales of shapeshifting witches; one from Ireland and one from the Appalachians. Then the witch will take you through songs and chants to show you how to attempt shapeshifting yourself as well as provide a word or two of warning.
Tales Told & Chants Sung
- ‘The Witch- Hare” from Mr. and Mrs. S.C. Hall of Ireland
- “The Witch-Cat” from Helen Skeen of Virginia
- ‘The Fith-Fath Song” – Traditional Scots
- Fāth-Fīth Incantation from the Carmina Gadelica
- Isobel Gowdie’s Shapeshifting Chants
References and Resources:
- Carmichael, Alexander. The Carmina Gadelica / Ortha Nan Gaidheal: Hymns and Incantations with Illustrative Notes on Words, Rites, and Customs, Dying and Obsolete: Orally Collected in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland. Vol. 2. Edinburgh: T. and A. Constable, 1900.
- Davidson, Thomas. Rowan Tree and Red Thread: A Scottish Witchcraft Miscellany of Tales, Legends and Ballads; Together with a Descriptions of the Witches’ Rites and Ceremonies. Edinburgh: Oliver & Boyd, 1949.
- Davis, Hubert J. The Silver Bullet and Other American Witch Stories. New York: Jonathan David Publishers Inc., 1975.
- Spence, Lewis. The Magic Arts in Celtic Britain. London: Rider, 1949.
- Yeats, W.B. Fairy and Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry. London: Walter Scott, 1888.
