The Devil's Muse

Category: famous witch

  • Famous Witch: Biddy Early

    I’ve been feeling sentimental lately about being Irish, so I looked up a famous Irish witch. I found a lyrical article about Biddy Early, an 18th-century seer and healer. She was exactly the kind of witch I’d be: resourceful, generous and wise. Her magic came from her relationship with the fairies, which is also quite appropriate for me, being a fairy myself. Wink, wink.

    I have to admit that it is easy to forget one’s magic when caught up in a world largely made up of unfeeling narcissists. I’m fortunate to have many close, wise and magical friends, but dealing with the day-to-day corporate drones can wear away at one’s soul. Reading up on Biddy Early reminded me that me being Irish means that my blood is full of magic passed down to me from generations of Celts.

    Read up on Irish fairy lore and the story of Biddy Early in the article The Story of Biddy Early: Ireland’s Most Famous Witch and Faery Friend.

    Ireland-Countryside-9-830x450

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  • Famous Accused Witch: Joan of Arc

    joan of arc

    Until grade 8, I attended Catholic school. When we studied the saints, I always wanted to choose Joan of Arc (link in French). The images of her burning at the stake were commonplace and they told a story of rebellion, faith, perseverance and a healthy touch of mysticism, or in my more cynical moments, insanity.

    As a preteen, I loved nothing more than to read about how she heard voices and saw visions, and how she changed her culture’s history by listening to them. Paintings depicting her death at the stake spoke to her righteousness and strength despite her weakness of being eaten up by the flames at the hands of her enemies. (Narrative tension like that is my favourite kind of storytelling!)

    I used to imagine fighting under Joan of Arc’s command, picturing her inspiring armies of soldiers to rally in a war. She was so opposite of a typical 15th-century woman, she reminded me that weird people have always existed, and have been celebrated. As a very weird kid myself, I saw her as a ray of light in my sometimes bleak childhood.

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  • Famous Witch: Isobel Goudie

    17th century witch trial

    Isobel Goudie is a 17th-century Scottish woman famous for having been recorded as confessing to be a witch—to describing a shape-shifting spell and consorting with the devil. Reading about her confession on the Spooky Isles blog, it’s hard for me to believe in its authenticity. To me, her confession reads more like a propaganda pamphlet, which were wildly popular in the nearby London at that same time. True crime stories were particularly popular, and Isobel’s confession reads like a sensational pamphlet. It would be interesting to learn more about this case to see if the origins of the document have been verified as being legal.

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  • Famous Witch: From the Bible

    I love discovering dark things in unexpected places. I found a reference to a witch in the Old Testament. Having been raised Catholic, I never considered I would find a witch in the Bible. Her name is the Witch of Endor, and she called up the ghost of the prophet Samuel for King Saul in Samuel 1, 28: 3-25. The Witchcraft and Witches website describes the story and comments:

    The Biblical passages have been subject to much discussion and interpretation as, read literally, they appear to affirm that it is (or at least was) possible for humans to summon the spirits of the blessed dead by magic. Dissatisfied with this interpretation, many medieval glosses suggested that what the witch actually summoned was not the ghost of Samuel, but a demon taking his shape, or that, if Samuel did in fact appear before Saul and the witch, then it was by a sovereign act of God himself. Either way, the passages seem to satirize Saul, the once righteous king who upheld God’s law by his sword, reduced to participating in forbidden rituals.

    witch of endor 17th C Flemish
    Witch of Endor, 17th Century, Flemish

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  • Famous Witch: Baba Yaga

    One of my favourite legendary witches is Baba Yaga. To me, she’s an old lady who wanders the forest looking for children to eat. Growing up, I used to hang out a lot in forests, so it creeps me out to imagine coming across an old lady amongst the trees appearing wise but ready to eat me.

    Visit OldRussia.net to learn a more accurate picture of Russia’s legendary Baba Yaga.

    baba yaga 1

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  • Famous Witch: Canada’s Witch of Plum Hollow

    For The Devil’s Muse’s first post about a famous witch, I decided to search for a famous Canadian witch. I found Mother Barnes, a 19th-century psychic from Southern Ontario. Reading her story, she appears to have been a resourceful, clairvoyant, strong woman. She is famous for having conducted psychic readings for one of Canada’s former Prime Ministers Sir John A. MacDonald, including one that predicted Ottawa as the nation’s capital—which is special to me because Ottawa is my hometown.

    Visit Mother Barnes – The Witch of Plum Hollow to read the full biography of Canada’s famous witch.

    ElizabethBarnes-Witch of Plum HollowImage from http://www.pinecone.on.ca/MAGAZINE/stories/ElizabethBarnes.html.

     

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