zan

Weird Things People Believe: like Witch-Panics

 books, culture  2 Responses »
Apr 262012
 

Perhaps the single greatest historical factor with which modern Pagans and Witches have to grapple (even beyond the question, what was going on with Gerald Gardner?) is that of the Demonization-Campaigns of the Middle Ages Churches. (Seriously- why did Witchcraft, and Paganism, disappear so thoroughly in the medieval period, except through the deliberate, terrorist-onslaught of the medieval churches, both Catholic and Protestant?) Michael Shermer’s Why People Believe Weird Things: Pseudoscience, Superstition, and Other Confusions of Our Time (W.H. Freeman & Co, 1997) is a very intelligent dissertation upon Weird Things that people will believe in, and why; among other subjects, he takes up folks who believe in UFO abductions, in addition to those who deny Evolution (so-called “Creationists”) and those who deny the Holocaust (so-called “Holocaust-deniers”). Interestingly, he notes the same methodologies among those who deny Evolution and those who deny the Holocaust; as he is writing in 1997 (a little before the issue of Climate-Change really takes off), he does not address what might be fascinating similarities between the Evolution-denying set, the Holocaust-denying set, and the Climate-Change denying set. Be all this as it may: what interests me is Chapter 7, “Epidemics of Accusations,” which concerns “Medieval and Modern Witch Crazes.”

Less than a full-on review of the Burning Times period (admittedly, probably beyond the scope of Mr. Shermer’s book), this single chapter ponders medieval Witch-Hunting against such “Modern Witch Crazes” as the “Recovered Memory” Movement (the “Recovered Memory Movement” being both a “frightening parallel to the medieval witch crazes” and the phenomenon of the early 1990s, whereby people began to “recover” memories of childhood sexual abuse); Mr. Shermer also considers the “Satanic Panic Witch Craze” of the 1980s, when “thousands of Satanic cults were believed to be operating in secrecy throughout America, sacrificing and mutilating animals, sexually abusing children, and practicing Satanic rituals.”

The correspondences between the two phenomena, and the medieval Witch-Trials, are close and alarming: in regards to the “Satanic Panic Witch Crazes” of the 1980s, Mr. Shermer quotes experts who observe that many of the descriptions of Satanic Ritual-Abuse emanated from children, and were directed against adults (an aspect of many of the historic Witch-Cases, such as Salem); in many cases, these children’s disclosures were “influenced, coached, or pressured” by adults. The authorities cited by Mr. Shermer go on to suggest that the “evangelical Christian campaign against new religious movements” proved to be a “powerful influence encouraging the identification of satanic abuse.” (p. 108) (Pretty much as was the case in the Middle Ages.)

All three phenomena- the Satanic Ritual Panic, the “Recovered Memory” Movement, and the medieval Witch-Crazes- depend upon a “feed-back loop,” according to Shermer. In the “feed-back loop,” accusations and allegations generate sensation, often leading to more claims and accusations. The general mood grows more and more hysterical (frequently leading to the vilification and ostracism of the accused parties), “until the movement hits a critical peak of accusation, when virtually everyone is a potential suspect and almost no one is above suspicion.”

“Then the pendulum swings the other way. As the innocent begin to fight  back against their accusers through legal and other means, the accusers sometimes become the accused and skeptics begin to demonstrate the falsity of the accusations.” (p. 100) In addition to well-describing the dynamic of the ’80s Satanic Panics and the ’90s Recovered Memory movements, this effectively characterizes the medieval Witch-Craze.

Shermer goes on to ponder the various theories offered by historians, sociologists, and anthropologists, to explain the Burning Times. (p. 103) These range from Henry Lea’s theories in 1888 that the Craze was “caused by the active imaginations of theologians, coupled with the power of the ecclesiastical establishment” (surely a major factor, at least in the early development of Burning Times thinking). Thence: Marion Starkey (1963) and John Demos (1982) have considered the matter in psychoanalytic terms; Alan Macfarlane (1970) argued (with “copious statistics”) that the scapegoating of socially marginalized individuals played a huge part; H.C.E Midelfort (1972) theorized that Witchcraft-accusations arose from unresolved interpersonal conflicts; Barbara Ehrenreich and Deirdre English (1973) made a correlation between Witchcraft-accusations and the suppression of the Wise-Woman/ Mid-Wife traditions; Linnda Carporael (1976) proposed an ingenious connection with the unwitting ingestion of hallucinatory substances; and Lederer (’69), Klaits (’85), and Barstow (’94) attribute the Craze to medieval misogyny and chauvinistic gender-politics. All are surely correct, to a degree: as Hans Sebald interjects, no explanation for the complicated business of the “medieval mass persecution” of Witches can be derived from a “monocausal frame”; rather, its solution must lie in a “multivariable syndrome.”

Shermer agrees, cautioning that “divers sociocultural theories can be taken to a deeper theoretical level by grafting them into the witch craze feedback loop”; all were components of the feedback loop, and all drove the system forward as they were fed in or out of the system.

Two other thoughts are interesting: sociologist Kai Erikson observed that, “Perhaps no other form of crime in history has been a better index to social disruption and change, for outbreaks of witchcraft mania have generally taken place in societies which are experiencing a shift of religious focus- societies, we would say, confronting a relocation of boundaries.” (p. 107) This is especially born out by the fact that the worst phase of the 1400s-1600s Burning Times period occurred just after the 1600s- the time when the disruption of the medieval period was undeniable, and the advent of the modern age unavoidable.

In another way, we can see the Witch-Hunting Scapegoating instinct at work, as we listen to anthropologist Marvin Harris (1974), who noted that the “principal result of the witch-hunt system was the poor came to believe that they were being victimized by witches and devils instead of princes and popes.” “Preoccupied with the fantastic activities of these demons, the distraught, alienated, pauperized masses blamed the rampant Devil instead of the corrupt clergy and the rapacious nobility.” (p. 107) As two of the internal components of the feedback loop include: the “social control of one group of people by another, more powerful group,” as well as the “need to place blame for misfortune elsewhere” (p. 101), the Witch-Hunt system explains not only the distraction by the medieval elite, of the medieval disadvantaged, away from the true cause of the misery of the medieval poor: it explains the “Witch-Hunting” of the Conservative sets today (exemplified by say, Fox News), of the so-called “Liberal Media-Elite,” intended to blind folks to the egregiously unequal social and financial policies that favor the more-monied classes.

Pondering the connections between “rumor-driven panics and mass hysterias,” Shermer finds the parallels between modern sex-abuse scandals and the Middle Ages Witch-Craze to be “eerie.” (p. 112) He cites The Satanism Scare by J. Richardson, J. Best, and D. Bromley (1991), which believed that public discourse about sexual abuse, Satanism, serial murders, and child pornography marked a “barometer of larger social fears and anxieties.” (p. 106) I personally think there is something to this, as I remember (as a kid) both the intense public fascination in the early ’70s with Satanism (seen in movies like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, and The Omen); the serial murders of the Manson gang (I remember the Helter Skelter TV-movie was both incredibly controversial, as well as something that FREAKED me out); and the severe disillusionment with the government, brought to a head with the Viet Nam War and the Watergate Hearings: both deeply traumatic national events.

As to the Ritual Satanic Sex-Abuse scandals of the ’80s, which so alarming mirror medieval Witch-Hunts: in a weird way, it was like society began to practice for the shocking bolt when genuine allegations of sex-abuse started being made against the Catholic Church later in the ’90s, as was kind of the fascination with “recovered memories” of sex-abuse in the early ’90s.

 

 Posted by zan at 12:21 am  Tagged with: , ,

Deities in Manhattan

 culture  1 Response »
Apr 242012
 

By the end of the 19th century, railway-access into New York City (only a few decades prior having been considered the ultimate in modern transportation) was deemed so insufficient as to require demolition, and reconstruction of, one of the main thorough-fares in and out of the city: Grand Central Station, situated on 42nd Street, at Park Avenue. This work, performed between 1903-1913, eventually necessitated the excavation of 2.8 million tons of bedrock; yet yielded (for being constructed in the early 1900s, when the Classical influence continued strong) a Neo-Classical building famed in 1914 for the largest sculptural-group then in the world (at 48 feet), surrounding Grand Central’s signature clock (the largest example of Tiffany glass in the world), complemented on one side by the Goddess Minerva; on the other, by the God Hercules; and in the middle, surmounting all of the Grand Central Railway: the God of Communication, Commerce, and most of all, Travel: Mercury.

To be inside Grand Central is an awe-inspiring experience; for such a busy place, it is surprisingly quiet. Due to the size of the terminal (275 feet long, 120 feet wide, and 125 feet high), the noise gets swallowed up by the space, and the environment can be almost meditative. For the Magickally-minded, there is a wonderful Microcosm/ Macrocosm dynamic at work, as the ceiling (the 125 feet high ceiling) is painted with a map of the Heavens, showing the Zodiac. This augments the Temple-like feel of the station; one wishes it were possible to conduct Magickal Ceremony inside, but this would probably alarm the security personnel. An interesting thing is that the ceiling-painting (apparently based upon a medieval astronomical map) depicts the stars backwards. The saving-grace explanation is that it is intended to portray the Gods’ view of the Heavens- but probably, no one noticed until too late that the Heavens had been painted in reverse. Also apparently, if one studies these things, the stars are a little “off” from their present positions; because of the use of a medieval map, the stars have shifted their positions, due to the precession of the equinoxes, since the Middle Ages.

Incredibly, there was a push in the late 1960s to tear down the jewel-like Grand Central, a marvel of early 20th century architecture (covered in the “Proposals for Demolition” section of the Wikipedia entry). Fortunately, no less a personality than Ms. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (a very famous New Yorker, as well as a gracious lady quite committed to artistic and historical preservation) got involved, and due hugely to her opposition, the plan was stopped, and an appalling act of civic vandalism averted. A few of Ms. Onassis’ eloquent words: “Is it not cruel to let our city die by degrees, stripped of all her proud monuments, until there will be nothing left of all her history and beauty to inspire our children? If they are not inspired by the past of our city, where will they find the strength to fight for her future?” Thank the Gods for that good woman: to this day, Grand Central serves as an example of the Neo-Classical in the early 1900s, and the God Mercury continues to hold open His arms in protection and fortune to the travelers who pass beneath His gaze, as they enter the curious combination of Ancient World Temple and modern railway-station.

 Posted by zan at 1:53 am  Tagged with: ,

Rise of the New York Pagan

 books, culture  5 Responses »
Apr 202012
 

If you check out my friend Luckylicious’ latest Eat My Pagan Ass podcast, you will find him discussing our mutual friend Michael Lloyd’s upcoming book Bull of Heaven: the Mythic Life of Eddie Buczynski and the Rise of the New York Pagan (which was also covered in a Guest-Post on The Wild Hunt). Eddie was active on the Scene during the exciting time of the early ’70s, when hippie-culture was high, Gay Liberation was in its heady early days, and Neo-Paganism was starting its influence in America: all especially so in New York City, where lived the young Mr. Buczynski. Perhaps (I guess) the first person in Neo-Paganism to address the needs of the Homoerotic Pagan, Eddie founded the Minoan Brotherhood (an initiatory Magickal Tradition for Gay men), as well as the Minoan Sisterhood (a companion Tradition for Lesbians); both Traditions continue to this day. It is for this boldness in recognizing Queer Spirituality Paganism (in the early ’70s, or roughly when Sybil Leek was pondering the question of the Homosexual’s place in Witchcraft), that Michael (co-founder of the Between the Worlds Men’s Gathering) calls Eddie “the Gerald Gardner of the Gay Pagan community.” Since Eddie was busy on the early New York Pagan scene (he and his lover Herman Slater opened the Magickal Childe, one of the more memorable of NYC’s Witch-Stores), this book unfolds against the back-drop of 1970s New York Paganism as well. As much a history of the Pagan Movement in the Big Apple as it is about Eddie Buczynski, this book is being very eagerly awaited in certain circles; it is already being called the successor to Drawing Down the Moon, and indeed, Margot Adler provides the Foreword. Please be sure to read this book when it comes out, and in the meantime, please check out this Eat My Pagan Ass podcast.

 Posted by zan at 10:20 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

Jonson’s Witches

 culture, Stage  1 Response »
Apr 172012
 

Once the medieval church assimilated Witchcraft to Devil-Worship in the 15th century, the stereotypical image of a Witch was that of a perverse, amoral, ghoul-like creature; after two hundred years, this stereotype appeared to have the solidness of oak. As James (the first Stuart king of England) was known as a proponent for the maligned view of Witches, play-writer Ben Jonson is very careful to indulge his Majesty’s prejudices when he puts up The Masque of Queens in 1609, at the royal court. Charles Manson and Jack the Ripper together had nothing on these Hags, who (as one can see from the copy of the play posted on The Holloway Pages) make their various entrances (p. 348) boasting of killing infants with a dagger, in order to gain their infant-fat; rifling the hanged corpse of a murderer for grotesque trophies; and killing a black cat for its brain. Demented and psychotic as the Hags undoubtedly are in their characterizations, there is a logic to the performance of their rite, and a layer to their presentation, that suggests the deliberate demonizing of something otherwise “real” in the culture. In describing the outfitting of the Hags (p. 345), Jonson indicates quite a bit of folklore-association going on in their costuming; they are “all differently attyr’d [attired]: some with Rats on their Head; some on their Shoulders; others with Ointment Pots at their Girdles; all with Spindles, Timbrels, Rattles, or other veneficall Instruments, making a confused noise, with strange Gestures.” Other than the “rats on the head” (surely one of the most unusual costume-directions in the history of theater), nothing about this presentation of Witches fails to conform to what we might imagine of early 17th century village Wise-Women- identified by their “ointment pots” worn on their belts (“girdles”); with the spindle of a spinning wheel; and with timbrels (tambourines), rattles, and other “veneficall” (for being associated with Witches) music-making instruments.

The fact that the Hags gather for a Witch-Ceremony, tricked out with rats on their heads, ointment-pots at their girdles, and with music-making instruments in their hands, indicates that rhythm and music-making were an important part of 17th century Witchcraft. Jonson goes on to describe how he “prescribed them [the Witches] their Properties of Vipers, Snakes, Bones, Herbs, Roots, and other Ensigns of their Magick, out of the Authority of ancient and late Writers.” Jonson wants to assure us that his Witches are as realistic as possible, so he carefully makes a point to tell us that he has consulted both “ancient” (meaning “Classical”) writers, as well as “late” ones (meaning, “more modern ones”) as “authorities” on the subject. In addition to vipers and snakes (possibly used in traditional English Witchcraft, but more likely, in my opinion, to be a grotesque detail of a kind with the “rats on the head”), Jonson’s Hags are presented with such Magick-Working devices as bones, herbs, roots, and other “ensigns of their Magick.” One notes a portrait based upon traditional elements- ointment-pots; bones, roots, and herbs; and musical-instruments- “Hagged up,” or made sensationalistic, by being combined with vipers, and rats worn as chapeaus.

Further insight into what Jacobean English culture considered “the Witches’ Craft” is seen in the fact that the Witches join in a collective, collaborative “Working”: they function as a coven (although they do not use that word). This Magickal dynamic is seen in other dramatic works, notably Macbeth and Middleton’s The Witch. One important element is missing, however: as soon as the Witches gather, “one of them missed their Chief.” Utilizing invocation, the Witches summon their Dame- or what we would term their “High Priestess.” (“Dame” being a medieval term intended to confer honor upon a lady as one high-ranking, the highest honor that the British Empire can bestow upon a female still being the title of “Dame,” akin to a male “Knight.”) Jonson assures us of the habit of making some Witch of the coven the “Dame Witch,” or what we would call the “High Priestess,” in somewhat confusing form. As the English of the 1500s-1600s are excessively well-educated in Latin, they tend to accept the Romans as cultural authorities; moreover they don’t seem to make much distinction between Classical Witchcraft and that of their own English milieu: as Jonson demonstrates in his Notes (e) to The Masque of Queens (p. 345, in Holloway), when he says that, “amongst our vulgar Witches [meaning the 'lower-class Witches' of his own time], the honor of Dame (for so I translate it) [he is here referring to the Latin writers, explaining that he translates their Latin term for 'High-Ranking Female' as 'Dame'] is given with a kind of preeminence to some special one at their meetings.” As his authority, he cites Delrio, quoting Apuleius.

In essence, what Jonson is saying is, that both “our own vulgar Witches” (the Witches of his time, stereotypically thought of as uncouth and of the lower orders), and the Classical Witches, gave “with a kind of preeminence” the title “Dame” to “some special one” when they met in a Witches’ Meeting. He is basically describing a High Priestess, a practice otherwise seen in the leadership-role assumed by Hecate in Middleton’s The Witch, as well as in an authentic Elizabethan Witch-Case- that of the Windsor Witches, who seemed genuinely to have formed themselves into a coven (although that word is not used), with “some special one” acknowledged as the “Mistress-Witch” to the rest (a “Mistress” being the same as a “Dame,” both words meaning “women whose orders one must obey”).

In short order, the Dame appears, and is She a sight. (If you pursue Jonson’s Notes, you will see that he has modeled Her upon Classical depictions of Witches, say, with snakes intertwined, a la Medusa, in Her hair. But soft: She gives an Invocation to the Powers of Witchcraft, which the Elizabethan/ Jacobean theater-going types recognized as essential in the Performance of the Witch’s Arts- because that is what Medea does, in Ovid’s Metamorphoses (held by all in the time to be among the greatest of the Latin writers). According to Jonson (p. 349), this speech boasts “all the power attributed to Witches by the Ancients; of which, every Poet (or the most) doth give some.”

In this speech (and in imitation of Medea), the Dame does something very interesting from the point-of-view of Witches; She pauses to venerate the Moon. It’s a little difficult to tell if this is purely something derived from Classical literature, or if venerating the Moon was something that native English Witches did as well. On the one hand, A Midsummer Night’s Dream contains so many Moon-references as seemingly to make plain an English culture-observation (at least, if not outright veneration) of the lunar orb, and I believe that I am right in saying that both Anglo-Saxon and Celtic culture at least suggest Moon-Worship.

“And thou three-formed Star, that on these Nights art only powerful, to whose triple Name thus we incline, once, twice, thrice, and thrice the same.”

In other words, at this time of the Full Moon (who of all the Heavens art the “Only” Powerful “these Nights,” or the Nights of Her Majesty’s Brilliance, Goddess of the Night Skies), the Witches gather to work their secretive Craft: stopping first to honor Her Glory, by bowing, first three times- then “thrice the same.”

The Full Moon presents an interesting association for us: we tend to associate the Full Moon with Diana, Luna, Selena- maybe Isis (Heathen Traditions, I understand, consider the Moon as a God, and the Sun as a Goddess). However- to Jonson’s mind (and perhaps to the general mind of early 17th century England), the Full Moon represented Hecate (perhaps, again, because of Ovid’s Medea, who specifically invokes Hecate at the time of the Full Moon). In Note (c), Jonson refers to Hecate, called Trivia and Triformis, “believed to govern in witchcraft; and is remembered in all their Invocations.” As authorities, he cites Virgil, Seneca, and Lucan.

In fictionalizing a Witches’ Rite, Jonson draws upon the Classic writers for inspiration, and because Elizabethan/ Jacobean England was used to deferring to the Ancients as experts. However, the Rite that he begins to assemble at this point (one hopefully agrees) represents nothing so much as an Energy-Raising Ceremony, punctuated and energized by deliberately intensifying energies, assisted by rhythmic chanting, hand-clapping, and (so we were told at the very beginning) musical-instruments.

This is a procedure not encountered in Classical literature (that I know of); assuming that it is of English (Celtic-Anglo-Saxon) derivation: the best explanation that I can think of for performing such a (mutually cooperative) ritual, is that offered by Gerald Gardner in Witchcraft Today- that Witches believe that they can generate an Energy- a Witch-Power- out of their bodies, and that this Energy-Raising is beneficial to Witchcraft.

The thing is, that Witches consistently act out the same Ceremony, in three notable Jacobean plays: The Masque of Queens, Macbeth, and Middleton’s The Witch. Each time, the best explanation (to my mind) for, why do they keep doing this?- Is, as Mr. Gardner stated: to raise their Witch-Energy.

 Posted by zan at 2:22 am  Tagged with: ,

Sybil Leek, on Homosexuals in Witchcraft

 books, culture  6 Responses »
Apr 082012
 

Sybil Leek (the subject of a recent biography, Sybil Leek: Out of the Shadows, by Christine Jones) was once known as the “World’s Most Famous Witch”- or at least, as the Witch most famous in the world for self-promotion, as well as for the promotion of modern Witchcraft or what we tend to call “Wicca.” To judge from her book The Complete Art of Witchcraft (first published in England in 1971, then in America in 1973, and written as follow-up to Diary of a Witch), Ms. Leek was routinely on the lecture circuit, habitually giving interviews, and regularly keeping up with prodigious volumes of correspondence from folks anxious to know more about what she calls “the Old Religion” and the “Craft of the Wise.” (To hear her tell it, as well, she was the High Priestess of a 700 year-old surviving coven, the keepers of what she calls Celtic Witchcraft, which is way, way more authentic than anything that Gerald Gardner had going on. For all that, though, she has a tendency to refer to Celtic Witchcraft as the “Dianic Religion,” which is kind of a Margaret Murray term to use, and her “Invocations” chapter [#13] opens with what is recognizably a version of the Charge of the Goddess attributed to Doreen Valiente.)

I don’t mean to dog on Sybil Leek; although my impression is that she had an especial genius for self-mythology, as well as a canny sense of how to seize the imagination in publicizing Witchcraft, I find her to be a very good writer: humorous, articulate, and passionate about the Dianic Religion of her Celtic Witchcraft- more than anything, it is her passion for Witchcraft, and for helping people to understand it as a Religion, that impresses me. That, and her willingness in Chapter #11, to address what she describes as a pressing question in the early ’70s- “The Place of the Homosexual in Witchcraft.”

One should remember that “Homosexuals” had only just started their campaign for acceptance, and liberation from the severely restricted position in which they were kept by a hostile society, in the beginning of the 1970s. As Homosexuality was at the time still quite controversial to a degree to which we today have trouble relating, a “Place for the Homosexual in Witchcraft” was apparently an equally controversial issue, and subject for debate amongst the earlier practitioners of modern Witchery.

Describing it as a question of “comparatively new origin” now being “consistently” addressed her way in lectures and conversations, and in the “thousands” of letters that she receives, Ms. Leek sets out to ponder the Place of the Third Sex in the Craft of the Wise (I love the quaintly antiquated way that she discusses “Homosexuals,” after the fashion of the early ’70s: the Third Sex, Intermediate Beings between Females and Males, and my absolute favorite- Men of the Uranian Temperament). The issue arises from Witchcraft being (as Ms. Leek explains), a “matriarchal religion acknowledging the Life Force” as a universal link- “Life Force” being thought of at the time purely in terms of the generative power of Heterosexual Sex. Seeking some “key to the question of the homosexual in religion,” Ms. Leek considers similarities in the position of both the Homosexual and the Witch, in an association that impresses me for being so unprecedented for the time, as well as for remaining quite valid today. She discerns that, like Homosexuals flinging open the Closet-Door, “members of witchcraft” had only begun emerging from their “own secret society type of life some fifteen years ago.” More basis is located for a simpatico relationship as Ms. Leek reflects that, just as the Homosexual is misunderstood for “his unnatural way of life” [sic], Witches are not understood properly, due to their “unorthodox faith”; exactly as the Witch cannot deny her faith, the Homosexual cannot “go against his nature no matter what the costs are in his life.” (I get a kick out of the fact that Ms. Leek uses the really-’60s term “Squares,” to define the conservative types alarmed by out-Witches and out-Homosexuals.)

Ms. Leek’s next move astounds me, for being so very ahead-of the curve, even by the standards of what we call Queer Culture Academia today: recognizing that Homosexuals were not then “truly welcome in orthodox religions,” she sets out to research the role of Homosexuals in Ancient World (Pagan/ Shamanic) cultures- and is amazed to discover much incorporation of the “Uranian Temperament.” She makes a connection between the “Sodomites” of the Bible, and the temple-courtesans of Nature-Worshipping Syria and Canaan (she also notes similar customs in West Africa): it “seems logical to presume that the religious worship of the Canaanites involved male courtesans attached to the temples and inhabiting their precincts, as well as consecrated females, and that the ceremonies connected with the cults were notably of a sexual character.”

She uncovers tribes of the Bering Straits for whom Homosexuality is “very common,” “its relationship to shamanism or priesthood” very marked, the shamanic apprenticeship often beginning with a “change” of one’s gender. As with native tribes of the far-North, so with the tribes of the American continent. Ms. Leek references the Illinois, for whom the male Homosexual was Manitou, or “Supernatural.” The Sioux, Sacs, and Fox all possessed ceremonies and social customs involving the Berdashe: a male dressed in women’s clothing. The Jesuit Lafitau, who lived among the Illinois, Sioux, and tribes in Louisiana, Florida, and the Yucatan, wrote in 1724, that he encountered women who lived as courageous warriors, and men who lived as women. Lafitau poses the question, whether these figures were of a type with the Asiatic worshippers of Cybele, and the Easterners dedicated to the worship of Male/ Female Deities such as the Goddess of Phrygia or Venus Urania.

Ms. Leek discovers that for the Hindus, Brahm and Siva were often Two-Sexed, or literally “Bisexual.” She considers the fact that the Canaanite Baal was often represented as the Androgyne, with Mithras, Dionysos, and Adonis frequently depicted in an androgynous manner, as were Venus and Aphrodite, worshipped as Men-Women Deities by transvestite-priestesses and priests, in Syria and Cyprus. So often does she unearth evidence of Ancient World Homosexuality- specifically associated with religious devotion- that Ms. Leek concludes, “It is possible to link homosexuality with religion and magical practices all through the world- the list of cases in all countries connecting homosexuality with sorcery and priesthood can go on indefinitely.”

Ms. Leek makes the fascinating point (also one of Margaret Murray’s): that the Gods of a conquered Religion will often be cast as Demons by the usurping faith. Hence, perhaps, the modern antipathy towards the Homosexual: just as the early Israelites wished to divorce themselves from the Sacred Sexual practices of Fertility-Worshipping Canaan (Men NOT lying with other Men, as with Women); so perhaps the early Christians regarded Homosexuality as too Pagan to handle.

The first thing that is remarkable, is that Sybil Leek is uncovering all this research, and putting it together in order to argue a case FOR the “Homosexual in Witchcraft,” by arguing that Homosexuals and Homosexual-related customs have been associated with Sacredness virtually everywhere- before the rise of the Monotheistic Religions. This is incredibly advanced territory into which to extend this conversation in the early ’70s: Ms. Leek presages by at least five years what is otherwise considered the ground-breaking work in this field of Queer Culture Spirituality, early NYC Gay Activist Arthur Evans’ 1978 Witchcraft and the Gay Counterculture. She is almost ten years ahead of Judy Grahn’s equally revolutionary Another Mother Tongue: Gay Words, Gay Worlds (1984), and has Randy P. Conner’s Blossom of Bone: Reclaiming the Connections Between Homoeroticism and the Sacred (currently considered the definitive work) beat by two decades. In short, Sybil Leek was very, very far-sighted- to the point of being visionary- on this matter, that of the Uranian Temperament and Witchcraft.

Having had, in good early ’70s fashion, her consciousness expanded by being “turned on” to the cultural history of  Queer Spirituality, Ms. Leek next re-directs her attention to the initial question- Is there a place for the Homosexual in early ’70s Witchcraft? As “we are beginning to see” that the Homosexual “temperament is widely spread among the various races of the world,” while already “there is an organized subculture in our present-day sophisticated society; the homosexual is emerging in many stages of unified action,” she assumes that there must be found such a place. Out of sympathy- she recognizes the social rejection of the Third Sex in her time, and finds it unfair and unjust; out of prudence- she ponders whether, indeed, the Uranian Temperament possesses a superior gift for intuition and extra-sensory perception: Sybil Leek urges an incorporation of the Intermediate Sex into Witchcraft. “The homosexual temperament survived, took in all it could of whatever culture was available, and applied it to its own subculture, until that subculture was ripe to emerge as a vital force in the world.” “With the world now alerted to such things as psychic awareness, seers, and sorcerers, with witches emerging out of their own secret society to take their place in the world, we must also see that the homosexual is ready to absorb again all that psychic phenomena can impart to him. Already we find today’s homosexual an individual well tuned to extrasensory perception, intuitively aware of the future but still seeking an outlet for the inevitable spirituality which must go into the make-up of any man if he is to be complete. To deny a subculture its right to existence is no solution to the problem. To deny a man his right to a spiritual enrichment of life only adds the sin of ignorance to our ever-growing list of social injustices.”

The final thing unique here, is this “blast from the past” remembrance of a time when a possible role in Witchcraft for the “Invert,” or One of the Homosexual or Uranian Temperament, was a controversial position. Ironically, when Ms. Leek leaves off her writing, she has no idea how this issue will play out; she cannot foresee the future enough to understand how the matter will resolve.

The funny thing is- this is such a settled subject by now: I know of no other Religious Movement as respectful and inclusive of its LGBTQ members as is Neo-Paganism (as an example: NYC Pagans, whether Queer or Straight, are planning to march in this year’s Gay Pride Parade, as Pagans Supportive of Gay Rights). The world that Sybil Leek fantasized over in 1973: has come to pass.

 Posted by zan at 11:54 pm  Tagged with: ,

Potter Phenomena, + Potted Potter Production

 culture, Stage  1 Response »
Apr 052012
 

One knows that one has a Cultural Phenomenon on one’s hands, when said Phenomenon comprises not only a Cultural Juggernaut in its own right, but when it springs forth the spontaneous roots of Cultural Inspiration. First JK Rowling created a Magickal Universe that seized the imagination of a generation with the Harry Potter books- which themselves thrilled Hollywood into producing a cycle of films unprecedented in the years of movie-making. Since then, the Phenomenon known as Harry Potter has inspired (1) a number of parody-videos on YouTube, my favorite of which is still the “Harry Potter Rap,” representing a unique form of Pop-Culture comedy-genius, as well as (2) a music-genre called Wizard Rock (which takes inspiration from the characters and situations of the books and movies), and which is the subject of a documentary called We Are Wizards, available at Hulu.com. In addition, Pop-Culture has felt compelled to create (3) a genuine form of Quidditch (which, as near as I can tell, is like lacrosse, only you have to play with a broom held between your legs), plus (in the to-beat-the-band category), (4) an actual amusement-park in Orlando, Fla. (which I continue to feel represents a severely under-utilized resource for Pagans and Wiccans, as “Wicca Day at Harry Potter World” is just too Meta to pass up).

To this corpus of kind-of eccentric creativity comes Potted Potter, a lively two-man (unauthorized) comic presentation of all seven Harry Potter books, performed at break-neck speed in 70 minutes (I assume they must eliminate some of the more minor characters). Having already performed in London and Toronto, the show’s United States debut has recently been announced, as it will begin an Off-Broadway run at the Little Shubert Theater, June 3-Aug. 12 (previews begin May 19). The producers are apparently not worried about possible legal action from Ms. Rowling, as (1) the show has already played in Britain and Canada, and as (2) parody is protected from copyright-infringement litigation, and as (3) Ms. Rowling probably has a good sense of humor. My congratulations to these two actors upon their New York premiere, sure to enliven the summer’s theatrical season (am I seeing an Event-Evening for Magick-Using NYC Pagans?); and how much more Potter-inspired creativity will we see in the years to come, Pagan Fans? Rock on, Harry Potter, rock on.

 Posted by zan at 10:25 pm  Tagged with: , ,

More Clash, New Wrath

 culture, film  No Responses »
Apr 022012
 

So I saw Wrath of the Titans Sunday afternoon with my friend Gary, and you know what? We decided that it didn’t suck. It’s not exactly great- anyone looking for the finer, more esoteric points of Hellenic Mythology won’t find them here; this is the type of film that considers the Gods and Heroes as comic-book adventure Super-Heroes. But that’s alright, isn’t it, because Classical Hero-Tales considered such figures as Perseus and Hercules as the original Super-Heroes, didn’t they, and Super-Hero Mythology can be an avenue for connection with the Gods, can’t it? Classical Mythology also treated the Olympic Gods as the ultimate dysfunctional family, and boy, is that an element in this flick (you think your family has issues and conflicts; check out the Divine Rivalries here). As a Clash of the Titans film (meaning, ultimately derived from the 2010 remake of 1981′s original), the selling-point is the marriage of state-of-the-arts cinematic special effects to Classical Mythology (ok, in the 1981 original, the state-of-the-arts special effects were two decades out-of-date: but the sincerity of impulse was there); Titans/Wrath is an admirable display of CGI-adventure film-making. (My favorite: Perseus riding Pegasus- like it’s a spoiler, cause it’s the advert to your left- right into the volcanic heart of re-awakened Kronos; it’s like Luke and the Deathstar, if the Deathstar were a gigantic, lava-formed Titan.) The strange Clash of the Titans 2010 Mythology remains: these movies take place in a World where Mortals refuse to pray to the Gods anymore (for some reason). For this, the Gods grow old and weak and feeble, losing strength (and letting loose Titans). This is actually an interesting Pagan point- have the Gods lost vigor as Humans turned from Them? More pointedly: do we, as Mortals, indeed invigorate the Gods Anew by re-adopting Paganism? Something about the theme of the necessary relationship between Mortals and Deities is expressed in this film (most poignantly, in the Place of the Gods scenes, with the Temple that lies in ruins, the statues of the Gods smashed and shattered, now that Humans have turned from Them). As interestingly, this film explores the theme of the relationship between Mortals and Gods as Parents and Children, and the loving relationship that is at its core.

One has to divorce oneself from Classical Mythology a bit, in order to embrace this movie. Liam Neeson, as Zeus, is seen more as the Sacrificial God (say, Odinn) than in Greek Mythology (you cannot tell me that Mr. Neeson, and Mr. Ralph Fiennes, are not sub-textually playing Lear and Gloucester, as Zeus and Hades; I have the impression that King Lear must be more readily accessible to them than Olympic Deities might). Don’t get me wrong; this is Pop-Corn Entertainment, not Sophocles or Euripides (interesting to think how they might have done the screen-play). But isn’t an aspect of Classical Mythology to initiate the attention into the wondering world of the adventuresome imagination? Moreover, this film invites the viewer to imaginatively enter a world where Mortals have relationships with Gods, the Two feeding off each other in strength (in other words, the world of Paganism, perhaps?) Film-wise, I think this is better than the 2010 remake: perhaps because it is freed of the 1981 plot, it has the opportunity to develop its own story-line. I found it tighter; more linear; more dire, and better played (although it is the type of movie to have enough of a sense of humor to give shout-outs to the 2010 version’s surprise/ hit/ camp line, “Release the Krakon!,” as well as another nod to that weird little mechanical owl from the original).

It’s not a great film; but it’s a good one, and it’s a good one that encourages the viewer to enter a Pagan mind-set (an interesting thing, I feel). As a final impression: Gary and I saw this at a Sunday afternoon matinee in Chelsea (which, as the New York aficionado knows, is the Gay Guy neighborhood of Manhattan). Here we have a crowd willing to ruthlessly cut-throat anything that falls short of their expectations, or that crosses that perilous line into foolish Camp. Yet this audience sat rapt (perhaps this has to do with the fact that Sam Worthington- who plays Perseus- is a very handsome man, as well as a very fine actor; he anchors this film not only through physical charisma and athletic training, but through an actor’s devotion to craft sufficient to convey emotion through tight close-ups): but the Gay Guy crowd that Gary and I saw this movie with, were very intent on following this Pagan adventure-story through from the beginning to the end (when the Titans got smacked-down; take that, Titans and your Wrath). It held their attention, and imaginations.

 Posted by zan at 11:13 pm  Tagged with:

Snow White Legend, More Inert Than Alive

 cinema, culture  3 Responses »
Mar 312012
 

At its classical heart, the Snow White legend concerns an exchange: the gift of an apple from an older woman to a younger. In the manner of the classic Faerey-Tales (surely the preserved mythologies of Pagan Europe), the subtleties of this gifting are great: the apple represents initiation into the sexual nature of womanhood, and the jealousy projected upon Snow White by the Evil Queen is a folkloric warning to young maidens, that their ripening female powers of beauty and fertility may be resented by envious older females. Indeed, the lifeless sleep into which Snow White enters, upon eating of the poisoned apple extended as “gift” by the treacherously disguised older woman (much more potent in the Arts of Witchcraft than poor, younger, guileless, Snow White), can be read as a sort of spiritual initiation, given the number of instances in European Culture in which a lifeless sleep serves as the basis for a shamanic experience (please check out Carlo Ginzburg’s accounts of the Benandanti, as well as the number of instances in which a Witch was supposed to have left her body lifeless, while in spirit she flew to the Witches’ Sabbat; the majority of Salem accusations concerned Witches’ “sending” their spirits, to torment others [mostly, younger women]). All this is to say, that there is an intelligent, observational subtlety to the Snow White legend- a nuanced meaning largely lost in the newly released “update” on the Faerey-Story Classic, Mirror, Mirror.

Mirror, Mirror means to be a hip, “modern” version of Snow White, told in the “Shrektifying” manner of the ironic sensibility made popular by the Shrek movies. It wants to take the Snow White legend, and turn it into a modern tale of feminine Empowerment; it intends to morph its heroine from a Passive Princess, into a proactive, self-consciously engaged, modern-sensibility-reflecting movie protagonist. Not that I don’t want to present myself as a fan of Young-Female-Power- but this isn’t really a cinematic reflection upon the Snow White mythos, so much as it is a hi-jacking of the essential story-line, in order to make a very 21st-century cinema-point.

For all that Mirror, Mirror intends to reflect the Power of Youthful Passion and Virtue against the Treachery of the Older Generations- it severely upstages itself, by the fantastically superior performance of Julia Roberts as the Evil Queen, against the poor, clueless girl playing Snow White. Ms. Roberts demonstrates herself as such a magnificent character-actress, able to communicate vast layers of sub-text through the smallest movement and gesture- she gobbles up the movie with her presence, and leaves such a wake in her absence as to make futile the story’s point, that a younger female is more desirable than an older. In short, the dear, sweet, young actress playing Snow White is simply not up to Ms. Roberts’ level of dramatic accomplishment; the older woman’s intelligence and sly cunning are so much more seductive and intriguing than poor, clueless Snow White’s, as to pitch the balance of the film off, in favor of the Wicked (Witch) Queen. This makes Ms. Roberts the saving grace of this film- but throws the Snow White legend proper seriously askew.

More art-directed than directed, Mirror, Mirror is sumptuously beautiful, frequently exploiting the remarkable camera-angles and perspectives made possible by CGI-technology. Its script goes for a jokey, tongue-in-cheek irreverence that mostly works, while smacked-up to the brim with bromides such as “believing in yourself,” and never accepting defeat, no matter what the odds against you; it has a very modern political-sense of responsibility to the poor and the importance of social contracts and safety-nets. If I were a girl somewhere between ten and fourteen, I expect that I might be really into this movie, which urges young women to take life into their own hands, and responsibility for their own fortunes, while waiting for both that cute prince and the opportunity to rule their kingdoms outright. Children presumably will be amused by the cartoon antics of the characters and the film’s general look of an animation brought to life; adults have the comic pleasure of Ms. Roberts’ performance to sustain the movie for them (the air kind of goes out of the entertainment whenever she leaves the screen). This is the type of movie that seems to run for longer than it does, and whose ending is anticipated more eagerly than the producers might have wished.

It also seems to inaugurate what might be a “Bad Witch” summer movie-season. The revelation of the enchantments used by the Evil Queen, as well as the special, Magickal “World between Worlds” environment of her sorceries, is a highlight of Mirror, Mirror (keep your eye on the crescent-shaped pendant that the Queen wears), and Coming Attractions promise a Tim Burton/ Johnny Depp remake of Dark Shadows that looks hilarious, and a Sixth Sense-inspired animation called ParaNorman. Both appear to involve Evil Witches who curse folks into vampires and raise the dead. As an Evil Witch is more likely to be a catalyst for change than a Good One (or at least a more dramatic catalyst), the prevalence of Wicked Witches in story-telling is easily understood, and something seemingly in vogue. Stay tuned, Pagan Fans-

 Posted by zan at 5:17 am  Tagged with: , ,

Stonehenge, Modern Paganism, and of course, Human Sacrifice

 books, culture  4 Responses »
Mar 292012
 

What is it about Paganism in a modern context that causes the (non-Pagan) mind to flash onto Human Sacrifice? I guess that this is a Pop-Cultural trend that started in 1973 with the original Wicker Man movie (which I thought was a really good, Twilight Zone-type film that postulated the possibility of Celtic Paganism continuing into the modern age- of the 1970s- right up to continuing the practice of human sacrifice, which is something that Caesar charged of the Gallic Celts). Alright, seriously- that is an interesting and legitimate premise for a fictional movie. But first, the remake of The Wicker Man (the one infamous for sucking, and for starring Nicolas Cage), and then, the remake of the remake (called The Wicker Tree, famous for just plain sucking), both play up the idea of “modern Pagans” as deranged enough to resort to human sacrifice as part of their modern Paganism, to a degree garish enough to qualify as exploitative. The conclusion to a relatively recent American detective novel Wicked Witch Murder (spoiler alert) hinged upon a Wiccan coven’s decision to re-adopt the “ancient” Pagan practice of human sacrifice (right, like this is an idea that, say, one is going to see duplicated anytime soon, at say, PantheaCon. As in say, tonight we will be conducting the Ceremony of the Human Sacrifice- in the Oak Room, from 8-10). There is the kind-of famous Village Voice piece on local NYC Heathen politician Dan Halloran, with a cover depicting a sacrificed goat (ok, admittedly not a human, but still). And now there is The Stonehenge Legacy, a new novel by Sam Christer (Overlook Press, 2011), that presents the “international sensation 5000 years in the making.” Its premise (this is not a spoiler, as I am quoting the blurb on the book-jacket): “Eight days before the summer solstice, a man is butchered in a blood-freezing sacrifice on the ancient site of Stonehenge before a congregation of robed worshippers. Within hours, one of the world’s foremost treasure hunters has shot himself in his country mansion. And to his estranged son, young archaeologist Gideon Chase, he leaves a cryptic letter.”

“Teaming up with an intrepid policewoman, Gideon soon exposes a secret society- an ancient international legion devoted for thousands of years to Stonehenge. With a charismatic and ruthless new leader at the helm, the cult is now performing ritual sacrifices in a terrifying bid to unlock the secret of the stones.”

“Packed with codes, symbology, relentless suspense, and fascinating detail about the history of one of the world’s most mysterious places, The Stonehenge Legacy is a blockbuster to rival the very best of Dan Brown. Already sold in 35 countries and reaching the top of bestseller lists, this is a breakthrough novel of addictive and eerie suspense.”

Pretty obviously inspired by the genre-fiction more or less created by Dan Brown with The Da Vinci Code (the endorsements on the back jacket mention Mr. Brown twice, including one that praises this “creepily compelling tale that deftly mixes the near-Satanic activities of an ages-old pre-Christian cult with an entirely modern kidnap plot”), The Stonehenge Legacy imagines an “ancient pagan cult” that reveres the Stones and the Ancients that created them- by kidnapping visitors to the site, to be sacrificed at regular astrological intervals, in order to “feed” the Stones with sacrificial blood, in honor of the ancient Gods of the Craft (that term is used). As the newest Henge Master invokes, during the opening chapter (p. 10): “Great gods, I feel your eternal presence. Earth Mother most eternal, Sky Father most supreme, we gather in adoration and dutifully kneel in your presence.” “We, your obedient children, the Followers of the Sacreds, are gathered here on the bones of our ancestors to honor you and to show you our devotion and loyalty.” Then they bash out the brains of their terrified victim on top of the Slaughter Stone.

The book is well-written, with an engrossing, labyrinthian plot populated with vividly-drawn characters. Mr. Christer (a pseudonym adopted by the award-winning documentary-maker- English, I take it- who authored this, his first novel) has an agreeable habit of ending his chapters with provocative tantalizers that keep one turning the pages to find out what happens next (a talent useful in a thriller). Some of my favorite scenes involve the female police-detective sleuthing out crime scenes, to determine what sorts of culprits committed these crimes, and why.

Certain details the author doesn’t get quite right: the daughter of an American Vice-President, studying abroad, will not have a couple of bodyguards provided by her father; she will have an entire Secret Service detail, provided by the American government. As is the way with conspiracy-thrillers, the conspiracy gets larger and more fanciful as the book goes on: the “ancient pagan cult” appears finally to have initiated members in every strata of English society, with (finally) its own paramilitary-unit. Since Stonehenge is the necessary site for the “pagan cult’s” murderous activities, Mr. Christer is required often to move the action from Stonehenge itself, to the (wait for it) vast, cavernous underground space underneath Stonehenge, created alongside Stonehenge by the Neolithic builders, specifically compared to an underground version of the Great Pyramid of Giza (no, seriously; it wasn’t enough for Mr. Christer, that these forgotten people built this megalithic stone-circle at all- they have to dig out an enormous, subterranean temple, too, with adjacent passageways and chambers).

His reverence for the site is plain, as he pauses frequently to comment on its mysteries and alignments, and I appreciate his attempt to create a group of people dedicated to a sacred service for the Stones, committed to reverence for them, feeling ancient Energies alive within them, and seeking a communion and a bonding with their power. The thing is (as if one needs to point out): the Followers of the Sacreds in this story accomplish all these things- by slaughtering innocent people, in honor of the Gods of the Stones (nothing says “sanctity” to a God quite like a murder-victim, right?)

It’s not like Mr. Christer is unaware of Neo-Paganism; he opens Part Three (p. 183) on the morning of the Summer Solstice, describing the “thousands” of people who descend upon the site for the sunrise, including “Pagans, druids, Wiccans, heathens, Christians, Catholics, and Jews” (I’m not quite sure why Catholics seem distinct from Christians to Mr. Christer). It appears that he can’t really find the sympathy for such “kooky” types as these, and can’t appreciate a sense of awe and devotion to a pre-historic, Pagan monument without allowing for bloodshed and criminality.

I suppose one could resort to words like “risible”; or one could take the objective approach, and ponder whether Popular Culture indeed finds modern Paganism so alarming, that the Zeitgeist conjures up images of human-sacrificing psychos to account for it. What is it, with this paranoid projection of Pagans as the Sacrificers of Other Humans?

 Posted by zan at 2:13 am  Tagged with: ,

Ben Jonson, on Dancing Witches

 culture, Stage  3 Responses »
Mar 272012
 

That  seventeenth century Witches should be credited with dancing as a custom ought not be surprising, considering that pretty much everyone in the Middle Ages danced (if you check out Wikipedia’s entry on Medieval Dance, you will find many examples of the sort of Circular, Ring, or Round dance often attributed to Witches, but plainly popular among other groups of society as well). The thing was that, as a rule (especially amongst the higher classes), dancing was an extremely decorous affair, with partners seldom touching beyond their hands whilst executing polite, well-mannered dance-steps. The dance of Witches, on the other hand, was apparently a mad, improvisational, rambunctious thing, probably alarming to the more staid and reserved upper-class types (the comment has been made that medieval descriptions of Witches dancing sound much like later accounts of rock ‘n’ roll or thrash-rock today). One of the best examples of the Witches’ Dance is provided by English playwright Ben Jonson, in his 1609 Masque of Queens, a ceremonial play performed at court and starring the ladies of the court as Goddesses of Virtue, with the back-up of actors as various disreputable Witches. In addition to providing useful discussion of the habits and customs associated with Witches in the early seventeenth century, Jonson (in an effort to appeal to the teen-aged prince, son of King James and Queen Anne) writes out extremely detailed references to prior sources for the young royal to consult. In short, in addition to depicting Witches and Witchcraft as the period conceived, Jonson’s work laboriously documents the legitimacy of his presentation, by establishing the precedent of earlier writers.

As Jonson is writing just after the cusp of the 1600s (the very worst period of the Burning Times), and as he is writing for the court of King James I (who is not quite a Witch-Hunter himself, as- for instance- George Lyman Kittredge establishes in Witchcraft in Old and New England, but who nonetheless is known for his anti-Witch point-of-view, established in his book Daemonology), Jonson is under certain constraints in his presentation, as you will see if you check out the on-line text provided by the Holloway Pages. Jonson’s Hags are a pretty grotesque, perversely twisted group of Witches; but with James in attendance, Jonson doesn’t really have much other choice.

That said, Masque of Queens presents a blueprint of a Witches’ Magick-Working Ritual- one that mirrors closely what we would conceive of as an Energy-Raising ceremony, and one that depends heavily upon Witches dancing their Witchcrafts into being.

At the very top of the show (p. 345 in Holloway), once the Witches have made their entrance onto the stage, Jonson’s stage-notes indicate that they begin to dance, “which is a usual Ceremony at their Convents, or Meetings, where sometimes also they are vizarded and masqu’d.” In this brief statement, we find quite a bit of information about Witches as the seventeenth century conceived them, presuming them to facilitate Meetings, or “Convents” (derived from the Latin for “to assemble,” and possibly the original form of our word “Coven”). At these Witches’ Meetings or Convents, Witches perform the “usual” Ceremony of dancing; fascinatingly, Jonson also alleges that Witches are sometimes “vizarded” or masked (“masqu’d”). “Vizard” affords us the derivation for our word “visor,” and “masque” (mask) yields the term for the court Masque, a pageant originally marked by the presence of “maskers” or masked entertainers. In short, Jonson claims that Witches sometimes “mask” or disguise themselves whilst performing the “usual” ceremony of dancing at their meetings or convents; as demonstration of proof, Jonson directs the teen-aged Prince Henry, in note (d), to the “King’s Majesty [James']” book Daemonology, as well as other well-known anti-Witch writers such as Bodin, Delrio, and the Malleus Maleficarum.

The Witches’ Rite, which began with dancing, concludes with dancing (immediately prior to the show’s pay-off, the glorious entrance of the Goddesses of Virtue, played by the ladies of the court, led by Queen Anne). As their Ninth Charm (p. 350 in Holloway), the Witches chant: “Around, around, around, around, around, around, till a Musick sound and the pace be found, to which we may dance and our Charms advance.” (1) “Around, around” (repeated three times) suggests that the Witches are spinning or turning wildly in circles. At a certain point, (2) a “Musick” will sound (music will begin to play; music is frequently alluded to in descriptions of medieval or late medieval Witchcraft; witness Macbeth’s Witches and their final line [Act IV, scene i]: “I’ll charm the air to give a sound [a reference to music], while you perform our antic Round,” equally an association of Witchcraft with music and dancing in a circle). (3) As the music plays, Jonson’s Witches will dance, an activity that appears to “advance” their Charms somehow.

Jonson describes in his stage-notes what happens next: “with a strange and sudden Musick, they fell into a magical Dance, full of preposterous change and gesticulation.” This seems to characterize the crazy, out-of-control quality of Witches’ dances that were often ascribed to them, as Jonson goes on to explain that Witches, “at their meetings, do all things contrary to the custom of Men [by which, he means 'non-Witch' people], dancing back to back, and hip to hip, their hands joined, and making their circles backward, to the left hand, with strange fantastick motions of their heads and bodies.” Jonson pauses to give a shout-out to the “maker of the Dance,” or the show’s choreographer, who did an “excellent” job of “imitating” the movements of a Witches’ Dance. In note (h), Jonson explains to Prince Henry that the “manner of their [Witches'] dancing is confest [described]” by anti-Witch writer Bodin, as well as various other writers, some of them Roman. Jonson interestingly cites Bodin again, when he states that “they [Witches] use brooms in their hands, with which we armed our Witches”; according to Bodin (cited as authoritative by Jonson), Witches will “use” brooms in their Dances (implying some sort of Magickal utensil), so Jonson’s acting company “armed” their Witches with brooms as well. Interesting to find an early 17th century assertion of brooms as Witches’ tools.

All in all, Ben Jonson’s 1609 Masque of Queens depicts a rather full account of what early 17th century England imagined to be a “Convent” or Meeting of Witches- which ceremony is powerfully influenced by the custom of Witches dancing (and dancing in circles), in order to “advance their Charms.” A custom which is rendered understandable if one considers what Gardner explained about English culture Witchcraft in Witchcraft Today, when he discussed the Witch belief that Witches can “raise” a sort of Energy from their bodies, useful in the effecting of Witchcraft.

 

 Posted by zan at 6:06 pm  Tagged with: ,
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