Witchcraft magic. Magic lessons: the power of magic words and formulas in witchcraft

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Sorcery, witchcraft, sorcery - the ability of people to get rid of various damages, to realize what they want by using witchcraft rituals, as a rule, without physical influence - were an important part of the life of the Slavic people. Slavic sorcery among the ancient Slavs was considered a sacred science, inseparable from religion. They have always practiced both white and black sorcery, passing on magical knowledge from generation to generation.

The ancient handwritten literature called the Black Book - Myslennik, Volkhovnik, Charovnitsa, Traveler, Kolyadnitsa and other books have survived to this day. These books were passed down by inheritance or from teacher to student.

In ancient times, Slavic sorcery was of a natural nature, everyone who engaged in it did it openly, today many hide their witchcraft abilities from people. But, despite this, black and white Slavic magic continues to live and exist.

Slavic sorcerers have always been strong in love, healing and harmful magic. Witchcraft, much more often than in most other cultures, was practiced by representatives of the feminine gender - wizards, witches.

In general, Slavic witchcraft is a folk witchcraft that lies between the European tradition and primitive shamanic magic. In addition to traditional Slavic magic, there is another unique magical phenomenon - Slavic shamanism, which is widespread mainly in Siberia.

Slavic calendar rituals

In Russia, group witchcraft actions were very popular, the mention of which has come down to the present time in the form of descriptions and stories about pagan festivals.

Slavic magic is closely related to calendar rituals that were dedicated to deities and spirits, for example, rituals were held in honor of Perun, Mokosha, Kupala, etc.

There were a large number of such witchcraft rituals, they were divided into groups and were combined with the cycles of renewal and decay of nature. These are Kupala, and spring rituals, and magical harvesting rites, and rusal festivals, etc. They were attended not only by sorcerers and witches, but also by people without magical abilities.

The main elements of joint witchcraft were and remain ritual round dances and other dance movements. A round dance has always been a purely Slavic method of directing witchcraft energy: on the one hand, a closed circle creates a kind of power chain, and on the other, smooth, slow movements allow you to correctly direct the magical forces contained in the round dance. And of course, in the calendar ritual, the matter was not complete without a corresponding conspiracy song.

Water is an excellent carrier of any information

Slavic love witchcraft

In love magic, the Slavs most often use the power of water. It was she, as the purest bearer of magical energy, that was given great importance. Both damage and various healing rituals were almost always carried out with the participation of this liquid.

The sorceresses often made love incantations, love spells on the water, which they then brought to the victim or poured into the drink or food. In some rituals, a woman first had to completely bathe in the sacred water, and then only give it to her beloved.

But water was not always used in love rituals; it was replaced with another liquid, for example, milk. And for a dangerous and very serious love spell, the sorcerers used the blood of a woman who wants love. In the art of preparing various love potions, the Slavic tradition has always surpassed and surpasses many other magical practices.

Slavic harmful witchcraft

Initially, the Slavs used harmful witchcraft to protect their lands from enemies. A little later, when the need to defend itself was gone and knowledge remained unclaimed, various types of damage began to be sent to personal enemies. Damaging the ancient Slavs, like other people, could be intentionally or, on the contrary, by accident.

However, unlike other cultures, the Slavs believed that a bewitch or a sorcerer did not need to perform any special rituals (for example, casting spells), but just look at the victim. Damage sent with the help of the "evil eye" is called the evil eye in the Slavic culture, and they were afraid of it more than any other witchcraft. That is why people who are especially vulnerable to witchcraft - children, women in labor, sick people - have always tried to hide from prying eyes.

Another type of corruption is conspiracies containing a ritual component. Slavic sorcerers in their magical actions did not use photographs of the victim, for them some object was enough, for example, food (magicians were most often conjured on a person through the food they took). Also, for a conspiracy, sorcerers could use a special powder or ashes of the dead.

Slavic sorcerer is dangerous and unpredictable

The most powerful among the Slavs were considered witchcraft actions associated with the place where the victim slept on the eve of the ceremony. In Russia, sorcerers and sorceresses often sewed various witchcraft objects to their victims - women's hair matted into a ball, singed needles and other linings.

Another form of spoilage among the Slavs is a slander, that is, a word spoken out of place and at the wrong time. In our time, it is customary to call a slip of the tongue. This type of Slavic damage can be caused by every person, and not on purpose. In addition, with the wrong thoughts, a person can accidentally slander himself, that is, jinx him.

Spirits and protective Slavic magic

For the Slavs, the world around was always filled with spirits. Before the adoption of Christianity, they were mermaids, mermaids, gobies, brownies and many other magical creatures. Then demons and angels were added to them. In general, there were more bad spirits than good ones, and therefore it became necessary to create protective witchcraft. Magical protective actions were required not only from evil entities, but sometimes from their unkind neighbor.

In Russia, the Slavs used special plants as protection. Traditions concerning herbs were very strong and almost every sorceress and sorcerer could tell a lot about each blade of grass: when and where it should be collected, what calendar rite it belongs to, in what situation it can be useful, etc.

Herbs - the basis of the basics with Slavic magic

The magic of herbs has survived to this day, for example, in order to protect your home from evil spirits, a branch of a certain amulet plant is placed above the door or behind the threshold. The same weed is sewn into rag bags and carried with them in order to ward off evil forces from themselves.

Another type of protective Slavic magic is conspiracy words. Conspiracies, in contrast to the harmful curses, which were spoken in a patter and a fast rhythm, were chanting, melodic and unhurried. In some cases, a protective conspiracy was complicated by carrying out certain ritual actions, often "surrounding" the one who needed to be protected. That is, an object in need of magical protection was enclosed in a circle or in a round dance.

Slavic quackery

In Slavic witchcraft, all known means of witchcraft were used. These are a variety of conspiracies, often representing a variety of ritual actions and prayers, and powerful traditions of potion making.

The most famous were such healing rituals as "pouring on wax or water" and "rolling out with an egg." The egg in Slavic paganism was considered the implementation of the principle of renewing natural forces, and with the advent of Christianity, it became a sacred symbol of the Resurrection. Water, not only for the Slavs, but also for other peoples, has powerful miraculous magical properties that can heal from damage, diseases and much more.

An attempt to refute the widespread misconception that all "magical activities" are one and the same.

This article will try to refute the widespread misconception that all "magical activities" are one and the same.

Why is it commonly believed that wizards, sorcerers, and others like them are one and the same?

1. Apparently, such a belief was originally formed under the influence of the respected Christian church, which unites all sorcerers-sorcerers-diviners in the general category "from the Devil"

The church, in fact, once exterminated these same wizards-sorcerers from our society, as competitors in the struggle for minds. Yes, so thoroughly that now no one really knows what they were?

2. Representatives of modern traditional science perceive these categories as “fictional types of activity that do not exist in reality”.

On the one hand, since there are no objects of study, then there is nothing to study (that is, there is no one). On the other hand, the prevailing belief in science in the conditioning of the phenomena of spiritual life by the movement of elementary particles (namely belief, this has not yet been proven by anyone), and so, this belief instructs scientists to explore the world around them with the help of exclusively available five senses.

Everything that is perceived by intuition, foresight, premonition, feelings of love, beauty, danger, rhythm, gravity, orientation in space, etc. ... physicists, chemists, geologists, biologists and physicians consider “unscientific”, “does not exist as an object of scientific knowledge ”,“ By what can be expressed through the physiological phenomena of the organism ”. That is, they sharply limit their possibilities of perceiving the world.

All women know perfectly well that intuition, anticipation and love are not processes of the body's organs, although they affect them.

In the same way, men of military specialties have observed many times that a sense of danger often arises even when the danger itself is neither seen nor heard. And this feeling must be trusted if you want to stay alive. Especially in battle.

Where is the physiology and movement of molecules here?

This is not science, but one solid faith!

That is, it turns out that many of the phenomena of our world, natural scientists do not want to see and, therefore, of course, do not see.

And, in the end, I would like to note that those numerous charlatans who advertise like: “Hereditary sorcerer will remove generic curses, evil eye and damage (of course, you have it all!) For crazy money very much contribute to the denial of everything“ magic ”by people of science! Will fix the poor quality work of other specialists for free ”.

3. It is interesting that not only atheistic science, but also the religion of Marxism-Leninism believes that all processes in human society are caused exclusively by economic prerequisites. That is, the processes in society. Magic, by its very nature, (judging by fairy tales), is completely asocial. Therefore, it does not exist.

So, as a result, we see that there are three categories of persons who believe that sorcerers, sorcerers and magicians are smeared with one world.

Why is it wrong?

The above belief is just an ideological position. Not all people can agree with her.

For example, in any theater, the costumes of sorcerers and magicians, wizards and sorcerers are necessarily different. For researchers of folklore traditions, the difference between such fairy-tale characters is beyond doubt.

In addition, every philologist knows that in the same culture, in the same language different words necessarily mean different concepts (at least in shades).

Maybe these words, in fact, mean the same thing, but come from different languages?

Let's try to look for the answer in the most reliable primary sources that we have at our disposal, that is, in the tales of the peoples of Europe.

Analysis of folklore

At the first cursory glance, you can easily notice that all magical-sorcerous characters are very different in their occupation, and in their external attributes:

Where they live (in a hut, in a high tower, in a forest).

Whether they brew potions, or cast spells, use magic staff rings, or cast passes with their bare hands.

How they dress (in robes, in rags or like all people).

They are exclusively men, or only women, or both;

Do men have (or is not required at all) a beard, are they physically strong, or only spiritually.

Are women of these professions necessarily beautiful (or, conversely, ugly), etc.

You can easily see that sorcerers are always attributed to a strictly defined set of attributes, witches - another, wizards - a third, ... And these complexes never change their owners.

For example, magicians do not brew potions, sorcerers do not heal, witches do not read magic scrolls and do not use enchanted robes or staffs, sorcerers are not kind and do not live in white tall towers, and wizards do not make themselves more beautiful, etc.

And the most interesting thing is that the characteristics of these characters almost do not depend on the nation that composed fairy tales about them. They are, as it were, common to all European culture.

It is noteworthy that the names of these fairy-tale characters are in every language, and they are different everywhere. Only the word "magician" sounds the same in all languages. Apparently, it came to Europe from another culture. Most likely - from the Persian, since in the middle of the 1st millennium BC. e. a nomadic tribe came to this country with the name "Mag" or "Magush". The men of the tribe were engaged in something occult, and claimed that they were God's chosen priests for other peoples (like the Levite nomads among the Hebrew farmers). Gradually they became such among the Persians.

Characteristics of magical characters

Below, in more detail, we will restrict ourselves only to Russian and English names of occult professions (Russian terms are also common Slavic ones).

And we will do this because East Slavic and English mythology in this area is unusually developed. That is, the folklore of the Eastern Slavs and the English people, perhaps, has retained the most complete description of these activities.

Sorcerer (Conjure)

This is a person who conjures. The word "conjure" is related to the word "koltun" - a tight twisted bunch (grass, hair, mane). That is, the sorcerer twists, twists, connects, or possibly cooks something, stirring with a spoon in a circle. In the popular belief, sorcerers always live in houses hung with herbs and roots. Or they travel in search of ingredients for potions.

The main working tool of the sorcerer is a bubbling cauldron with another brew. In the end, you must definitely drink it (it is very rare to rub it into the skin or drip it into the eyes). This folk idea is very stable, and passes from fairy tale to fairy tale, both among Russians and among Englishmen.

Who has a need to often cook something from herbs? First of all - healers, somewhat less often - shamans who use all sorts of hallucinogens and similar substances for contacts with the other world. It is possible that, due to the great similarity of occupations, in ancient times, shamans and healers were one and the same person.

It follows from this that the sorcerer's interest in the other world is very peculiar. He does not climb into foggy subtle matters, or into someone's fate, but wants to know what needs to be mixed in order to drink and strengthen himself in any aspect. That is, the tasks of the sorcerer are applied, and desires are quite tangible. Treatment of all sorts of ailments, love spells and loot potions, damage to offenders, etc.

To successfully master such an art, the following character traits are necessary: \u200b\u200bgreat observation, attention to detail and side effects, the ability to thoroughly diagnose the patient in order to reveal the effect of the medicine and the ability to find hidden connections of things (substances).

If we assume that human relationships are also a kind of energy or matter (torsion fields in the physical theory of vacuum), then we can expand the definition of “sorcerer” to include relationships with people. (Conjure - (lat.) “Con” - with, together, “juro” - to swear, to call).

I mean that if a person can choose the proportion in which ordinary substances should be mixed, then he may well do the same with subtle matter (if, of course, he is convinced of its existence).

Paired folk and ballroom dancing (not sports) is a good example of this mixing. It would seem that there are not so many movements in them. Tops, claps, turns. This is not for you to run a hundred meters, or jump on the court for an hour or two. However, the energy boost after dancing is enormous.

All the same, let us assume that subtle matters do not exist, and let's return to medicines and love potions.

Attention is drawn to the fact that, according to fairy tales, women are much better at witchcraft of any kind. They have it, as they say, in their blood.

And according to the logically deduced traits of character, it is their natural inclinations that make it possible to find hidden connections between things (and people), to unite, twist and mix something.

Female witchcraft in fairy tales is considered more subtle and comprehensive than male witchcraft, but it is mentioned many times that it is also much weaker. A male sorcerer, as a rule, can create only 3-4 miracles, but very powerful ones.

And in the end we come to the following conclusion. The sorcerer (Conjure) is probably a healer of the ancient world, an alchemist, a researcher of connections between substances, (possibly an organizer of ritual actions).

Sorcerer

Resource - (English) resource, means, opportunity, rest, entertainment, resourcefulness, ingenuity.

The origin of the Russian word is unclear. Perhaps from the word "Magus".

In folklore, the image of a wizard is associated with all sorts of transformations, casting spells and various illusions such as disappearance and invisibility.

In English, the word similar to "wizard" sounds like "sorcerer", and is related in meaning to the word "resource". In the oral fairytale tradition of the English, a “sorcerer” is a person who draws strength from the other world, accumulates it, and uses it at his own discretion. He does not agree with anyone and about anything, does not ask for anything from otherworldly spirits, he does everything himself. Because "there is a force, the rest is not necessary."

We can say that the magician is a specialist in the study of vibrations of subtle matters. It is possible to accumulate energy-strength only when you know how to tune in to its vibration. So to speak, get into resonance. Good tuning and “gaining strength” are synonyms, both in the language of esotericists and in the language of physics (in the theory of physical vacuum).

So, the magician can enhance (muffle) the desired vibration in himself, or in any object. Then “bang” and others see a miracle. For example, he shouted a sound of a certain frequency and broke a huge stone to pieces.

It would be appropriate here to recall the Indian yogis, who claim that the effect of invisibility is achieved by the complete cessation of thought processes in the brain. True, yogis do not really explain why and how exactly this happens. Probably they themselves do not know.

So, the magician in the popular representation is necessarily associated with some kind of tricks, illusions, invisible power. Other esoteric specialties - magicians, sorcerers and sorcerers do not do such miracles. Everything with them is either absolutely not material, or, on the contrary, is even very material.

The main fairytale occupation for wizards is constantly figuring out which one is the best. A sort of Walshem games. The winners usually walk to the end of the tale, pouting with pride, and the losers either recoup or avenge their defeat.

Both men and women are equally endowed with the ability to sense vibrations. The former are more in the external world, the latter are in the internal. And in folklore, wizards and sorceresses are equally common.

Summarizing all of the above, we can conclude that a sorcerer is a kind of athlete of subtle matters. He wants to accumulate strength and be the best at something.

Witch

The origin of the English word is unclear.

A sorcerer is a person who can enchant, charm, change people's perception of themselves, thus, imperceptibly turning other people into their allies. This is a master of external illusions, achieving his goal on a completely physical plane. As a rule, by passing the imaginary as real. The magician creates the necessary atmosphere of communication, orients the mood or emotional states of his interlocutor.

Almost all women know how to do this, and many of them are fluent in some aspects. Women without charm are very rare, as well as men who are brilliant in this art.

That is, it would be more correct to say "sorceress" rather than "sorceress". By the way, in the English language there is no masculine gender for the word "Witch", That is, theoretically there is, but Witch-men as characters in fairy tales are never met (Witch-man and Witch-wife are in Scots).

It is very typical for sorcerers to use all kinds of enchanted items. The overwhelming majority of these are clothes, shoes, raincoats, hats, rings, amulets or bracelets, and even mittens (mittens). That is, everything that can be called in general terms "jewelry and clothing".

Sorcerers never use magic staffs, enchanted swords, armor, shields or clubs. These are the attributes of wizards. And for some reason, sorcerers do not like to go to the battlefield.

Summarizing all of the above, we can confidently conclude that the Witch or the Enchantress is a secular lady of antiquity, who perfectly owns a rich arsenal of different means to attract men.

Wizard

Vis - (lat.) Power, physical or moral strength, spiritual,

Ardeo - to burn, glow, shine, sparkle.

A Vedun is a person who knows something, knows. Knows necessarily something otherworldly and mysterious. Moreover, he not only knows, but can also tell about his subject. It can be knowledge about the structure of the world, about some significant event in life, about the past and the future, and so on ...

The English (non-Latin) term “Wizard” carries the same connotation. In the English oral tradition, the Wizard knows something well and can teach you this in a wonderful, quick way. Recall, for example, what buttons labeled “wizard” do in many computer programs.

“Sage” is very close to the concept of “teacher”, however, unlike the latter, he accumulates knowledge and keeps it intact, and does not live by constantly teaching something for a fee.

“Wizard” is a predominantly male form of activity. The word "Wizard" has no feminine gender, and the Russian "Witch" is used extremely rarely, mixing with a witch-witch. By the way, witches in fairy tales never teach anything, mostly they do various dirty tricks with their herbs and potions. Altruism and the pursuit of abstract truths are not at all peculiar to witches. This is the prerogative of the wizards.

The latter, by the way, are almost the only representatives of magical types of activity that are able to predict the future or to see with the inner eye the events of the past that have taken place far from here.

By the way, the existence of this ability is not fiction, but a scientifically proven fact. Here are a couple of examples borrowed by me from the site www.numen.ru:

“A classic example of the creation of events is the story of Edgar Poe, The Tale of the Adventures of Arthur Gordon Pym. It describes the misadventures of the four survivors of the shipwreck. After many days of hopeless wanderings on the open sea, mad with hunger and thirst, three of them kill and eat the fourth. The writer was pleased to name the murdered Richard Parker. The story was published in 1838. And in 1884, after a nightmare shipwreck, the ship "Magnonette" sank. Only four survived. Like the heroes of Poe's story, they wandered for many days in a boat on a deserted sea. Driven to despair by thirst and hunger, three kill and eat the fourth. The fourth was named Richard Parker.

Here is another vivid example of such a writer's "creation of the world": in 1898, M. Robertson's novel "The Death of the Titan" was published in the USA. It described in great detail the wreck and death of the passenger liner "Titan". At that time, the novel did not attract the attention of contemporaries. Interest in him aroused only in 1912, after the shipwreck of the superliner "Titanic". The coincidences invented by Robertson and real events were not limited to the name of the ship that collided with the iceberg. Tonnage, length of the ship, number of propellers, speed at the moment of collision, number of passengers, number of boats on board, month of the tragic incident and many other, smaller details up to the cries of curses by drowning people coincided ”(end of quote).

Ask any mathematician, and he will tell you that the probability of such a number of facts coinciding is one chance in a billion, if not less. Figuratively speaking, this is the same chance as getting a flying mosquito from a rifle at a distance of a kilometer. The first time.

Returning to the consideration of the wizards, we get that, most likely, the wizard is an ancient bookseller, teacher, and foreteller of the future. By the way, in the modern world, highly educated scientists also often correctly predict the future (although not at all in an esoteric way).

For people of unscientific specialties, their predictions are sheer miracles, as in antiquity. The physicist came to the plant, looked at the unit and said: “it will work for a year and break down”. And so it happened. Well, isn't it a miracle? Or the historian read the same newspapers that we read, and delivered the verdict: "This government will completely ruin the country in five years." And so it happened. Again a miracle (it would be better if it weren't)!

Mage (Mag)

It is possible that this word comes from the root "to be able".

And then a “magician” is a person who can do something. For example, maybe something that others cannot, which in the ancient world meant communication with entities of the subtle plane, with the spirits of the dead, gods, owners of fields, forests, rivers, etc.

Or maybe, as mentioned above, it came from the name of the nomadic people.

In any case, it cannot be said that the concept of "magician" for European culture was entirely borrowed. That is, it came along with the legends of other peoples and did not have real persons-carriers.

Most likely, this word supplanted its more ancient counterparts.

This statement can be confirmed by the following considerations:

1. In the fairy tales of the peoples of Europe, magicians have very special attributes, clearly marked, not similar to any other occupation.

2. If the Magicians really existed, and once came to Europe, then following the example of the Levites, they could well destroy competitors physically. Remember the biblical: “do not leave the sorcerers alive”, “may the sorcerers and spirit summoners be destroyed among you,” etc. By the way, it was the same in Persia.

In folklore, magicians necessarily communicate with otherworldly entities, summon the souls of the dead, converse with the gods. Magicians and only magicians are able to influence the fate of a person imperceptibly. Sorcerers or witches can also influence a person's future, however, only with the help of curses, damages or spells.

Mages and only mages live in high towers (sometimes standing in the center of the city, sometimes in the desert or in the mountains, but never in the forest). Their towers are either bright white or black-black, but not multi-colored. Wizards occasionally inhabit golden or silver towers (but never white or black).

In their fairy tale skills, magicians exactly coincide with the concept of "shamans" and quite well with the concept of "druids". All representatives of these three occupations differed (are) from those around them primarily in that could (can) communicate with the other world, while all other people of their tribes could not (or they can't).

Mages are the only characters who necessarily have a certain hierarchy in fairy tales, dividing them into skill levels. They certainly have a rank to which they reach for long training (by the way, just like shamans). The rank of a magician is closely related to how powerful spirits he is capable of summoning (although it is difficult to argue that this is precisely what determines him). Wizards, sorcerers and sorcerers very rarely have such a division into steps. The texts simply say that such and such a witch is stronger in such and such matters, or that this wizard knows the necessary spells, while the other one does not know, but owns some other.

Mages, unlike other magical specialties, rarely live on their own. They always have a "Guild of Mages", that is, a kind of constantly functioning community.

Let's speculate, what could be the essence of the occupation of a person whose main characteristic is the ability to communicate with those with whom other people cannot contact?

In our modern society, such people are found in abundance. Some of them are called translators, others are diplomats.

In both cases, these people themselves never produce anything, but perform a kind of "transport" function. If a diplomat needs something, he goes and negotiates with the right people. Translators often do the same. Why get into a fight when you can negotiate with the military, who will do everything much better than you? Why stand in line at OVIR's, if you quickly contact a specialized company and save time?

This, of course, is just my speculation, but why not assume that magicians are the same translators or diplomats who communicate with the entities of the other world, other dimensions, but in principle it doesn't matter where they live, the main thing is not here, not on the physical plane.

Developing this crazy idea, it is probably worth thinking about what services these most hypothetical astral entities can offer? What is so necessary and useful that a magician can get from them?

Ghosts are unlikely to be able to move objects, cause an earthquake or rain, just as they can turn lead into gold. It takes a lot of gross physical energy for this. This means that in matters of gross matter, the essences or spirits of the dead are completely useless.

Now, if we assume once more that communication between people is based on some kind of “subtle matter” (torsion fields), then you can immediately notice that it is from this subtle matter that these invisible entities are made. Therefore, they have many opportunities to influence people's behavior. To instill in the right person some thought, desire, or to orient his attention in the right way.

That is, subtle entities are quite capable of influencing the course of a person's fate, pushing his actions in a certain direction.

As a result of this long series of hypotheses, we get that magicians are such personalities whose main interest is in correcting their own destiny (or someone else's).

Was it mentioned above that magicians in fairy tales always unite in guilds? Not for the same reason, this is happening as with diplomats?

In the latter, it is customary to severely punish mistakes for mistakes, and the very first big "blunder" often becomes the last.

For example, one day the Japanese ambassador at Buckingham Palace threw a cat out of his chair, and the end of his diplomatic activity came the very next day. By the standards of “subtle entities” - that is, the British, this act was incompatible with the high rank of ambassador. And he, the poor fellow, did not even suspect that it was necessary to politely apologize to the cat and gallantly ask her to give up her place, having neatly contributed to this. And nothing else!

Among translators, as well as among diplomats, it is just as difficult to maintain a reputation, and it is easy to lose it. It is enough just once to create something similar to the Russian translation of the book "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone".

In both of these cases, if “ours” do not cover it up, then everything, the end of a career. For this, “ours”, that is, the “guild of such and such,” in fact, is needed.

Along the way, we note that it is extremely important for diplomats and translators to know the art of performing rituals adopted in the environment in which they rotate.

Likewise, sorcerers in folklore perform long, complex and often very dangerous rituals. They carefully enumerate their titles in appeals to entities, draw pentagrams in a certain way, speak strictly certain words.

In fairy tales, often because of a minor mistake in the pentagram or because the magician is interrupted in the middle of the ritual, an evil spirit breaks loose and kills the person who called him.

This is probably why only men are involved in the art of magic in fairy tales. Responsibility, after all, is more characteristic of them.

The female magician in the white tower is nonsense.

By the way, what are these towers? Where did they come from?

Alas, fairy tales do not give a direct answer. One can only try to find related concepts in the descriptions of Chukchi shamans or Irish druids.

Shamans claim (mind you, I am not saying, shamans) that each of them communicates with the other world through a special “astral tube” coming out of his forehead or crown and going vertically up into heaven. The quality of this pipe is determined by its height and width. The higher and wider it is, the better. The most interesting thing is that shamans have two types of “astral tube”: white - allowing contact with the inhabitants of the “upper world”, and black - providing contact with the underground “lower world”. For some reason, the black pipe, like the white one, still goes up from the head, not down.

Thus, in the concepts of “astral tube” and “tower of the magician,” something in common is felt. Although it must be admitted that this common lies entirely in the field of esotericism, that is, it requires the recognition of the existence of the subtle world, invisible entities and similar objects.

Probably, our distant ancestors were precisely in such a system of views on the world and believed in all such esoteric things. Modern science categorically does not recognize them, however, at the same time, and cannot answer the question, where do 20 grams of weight go from the human body at the time of his death?

In the end, we note that, in the old days, for sure, many magicians were at the same time wizards, wizards were sorcerers, and sorceresses were sorceresses. For ordinary people, they were something mysteriously incomprehensible. And which of the modern “ordinary people” can point out the difference between, say, a hydrobiologist and a biohydrologist?

Apparently, this is - there is another reason why all magical specialties have merged in the minds of people into one today.

The illustrations used in this article are mainly taken from the site http://myfhology.narod.ru

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A few years ago, Eric Maple's book "Witchcraft" was published in England, where the author tried to put together everything that is known today about witches and their craft. We bring to the attention of the readers several excerpts from this book and keep all the author's assessments and judgments, which, of course, does not mean that they are entirely shared by the editors ...

Introduction to demonology

Many still firmly believe that we are surrounded by powerful supernatural forces that control our destiny. This psychological inclination to believe in the supernatural is inherent only in humans. It must have arisen from an intuitive conviction of the existence of a soul, whose eternal nature survives mortal flesh. Primitive man was convinced that any object, whether alive or not, has its own soul and consciousness, like its own.

"Wizards", "sorcerers" and "sorcerers" have been known since ancient times. Their role in society was - and is - in contact with the world of spirits, that is, through enchantments, sacrifices, they make spirits obey them both in their own interests and in the interests of "clients". Usually, sorcerers were asked for rain and a good harvest, they also predicted the future by the stars or with the help of a "magic crystal" (also known as a "crystal ball"), they sent evil spells on enemies. If the magic used by the sorcerers set in motion good spirits and was beneficial, it was considered "white magic." "Black magic" appealed to the help of evil forces or evil spirits, it was always considered antisocial, and people believed that it was based on the most evil intentions.

In the Middle Ages and during the European Renaissance, the church began to mercilessly persecute sorcerers and their activities. It was believed that a witch or sorcerer is in league with Satan. "Demon" - "devil" of the middle rank or just an evil spirit, subordinate to the "Spirit-master", "Devil" or "Satan" (these are the most famous names of the devil-tempter and the forefather of all evil). The Inquisition, established by the papal authority to fight heretics, considered witchcraft and black magic among the most serious sins against the laws of God. For about two hundred years, starting in the last decade of the fifteenth century, the inquisitors burned out witchcraft heresy in the cities and villages of Europe with a hot iron. Fear of black magic reached America as well - more than two hundred thousand victims were brought to trial in this country on charges of witchcraft: they were tortured, hung and burned at the stake. Village sorcerers were accused of being able to evoke the sinister forces of nature, while they themselves communicate carnally with "demons", therefore their descendants are "possessed" or "possessed". The meetings attended by witches — sometimes extremely unbridled — are known as "sabbaths." When the fires of the Inquisition began to wane in the eighteenth century, village magic began to flourish again, but later, with the growth of cities and the emergence of industrial society, it fell into decay, although ancient prejudices still existed in cities, but magic was practically not practiced.

At the same time, "Satanists" created their own, different from other beliefs, based on the desire for evil. These people, deciding that the spirit of evil dominates among all vital forces, came to the conclusion: Satan, the lord of evil, is God. And the ritual of devil worship usually takes the form of "black magic". In 1951, immediately after the repeal of the anti-witchcraft law in England, a new religion actually arose here. They called her "Wicca". The English word "witch" - "witch" comes from the Old English "wikka", that is, that man or woman who practices magic or witchcraft. "White sorcerers" (or witch) in modern Wicca organize gatherings or sabbaths of their believers - they try to implement - the release of the spirit and set themselves the goal of directing the forces of the spirits for the benefit of humanity. Thus, since the fifties, the Sabbath "became fashionable" in the large cities of Europe, America and other centers of the "civilized" world. However, it is wrong to think that only women are involved in witchcraft. This is not true. In ancient times, the woman - the creator of life - played a dominant role in mythology. Then, when the fathers of the Christian church overthrew the ancient pagan gods, the status of women also dropped, and later, with the advent of the Inquisition, women became the main victim of the struggle against witchcraft. Today, the Wicca religion is practiced by sorcerers of both sexes.

Most systems of witchcraft are based on the belief that a person is able to release his immortal soul or "divine spark" and thereby acquire enormous supernatural power - to gain power over the spirits that rule the world, to force nature to submit to the will of man. In our eternal quest for self-expression, we alternately turn to one of these two paths: inner self-liberation and the projection of the personality onto the outside world (here the goal is absolute domination over the universe).

Both the sorcerer and the scientist-researcher use the second method, and he and the other are trying to transform the world, and in doing so they use exclusively "human" methods. The modern chemist does not even suspect how much he has in common with the medieval alchemist. As the prophet Eliphas Levi, who lived in the last century, said, "witchcraft is the science of the mysteries of nature." The witch, on the other hand, often draws witchcraft abilities from her inner sources - although she, naturally, is engaged in witchcraft. Like a sorcerer and a scientist, a witch is possessed by a passion for magical power - but in her obsession she is selfish and, from the point of view of Christian society, is an anti-divine force.

The line between witchcraft and religion is sometimes very vague, but the sorcerer, in search of power over nature, undoubtedly invades the territory where the Lord rules, and the church regards this invasion as heresy.

Most peoples at a low stage of development, to this day, still believe that objects can have feelings of affection and sympathy for each other - James Fraser wrote about this in detail in his famous book "The Golden Bough": "Objects that even once they were in contact with each other, they continue to affect one another even after the contact has been interrupted. " And further: "... similarity gives rise to similarity, and the effect is very similar to the cause." Having received a lock of hair at his disposal, the sorcerer can influence its owner from a distance. Black magic is a kind of psychic attack, since in most cases the desire to enslave the mind and body of another person is behind the enchantment.
The traditional sorcerer or wizard was convinced that powerful spirits or gods control four elements — fire, earth, air, and water — and that other, less powerful spirits infuse specific mountains, valleys, rivers, trees, and animals. All these spirits are obliged to obey the one who has mastered the art of witchcraft.

There is no fundamental difference between black and white magic, both embody a kind of desire for power and strength, which is very characteristic of the human person. But still, there is a clear border between them, since black magic is directed against a person and it is based on evil - here evil spirits are called to achieve goals, while white magic helps a person and resorts to good spirits for this. However, no sorcerer will ever admit that his witchcraft has a black tint - they all insist that their art is aimed at the good of humanity. Society as a whole tends to treat the activities of any sorcerer with prejudice, and the church anathematizes both magic and those who practice it.

From the point of view of orthodox religion, the spirits summoned by the sorcerer are no different from the devilish forces, and the Master Spirit controlling them is just a kind of devil of the highest rank who tries to belittle the authority of the Lord. In ancient times, due to the power attributed to the spirits over the elements, it was believed that they could cause crop failures, epidemics and wars. In the eternal striving for power over people, spirits infiltrate the bodies of men and women, using natural "entrances" for this, and drive people crazy. For example, involuntary actions such as yawning or sneezing indicate the presence of spirits. Spirits watch over unsuspecting men under the guise of a charming beauty or, if we are talking about women, in the form of a handsome lover with a demonic appearance.

One of the most terrifying activities of sorcerers was necromancy - communication with the dead. Taking a magic wand in his hand and protecting himself with a magic circle, the sorcerer summoned spirits from the grave and forced them to reveal their secrets.

It was believed that the dead have reason and feelings, but they do not have the opportunity to realize their desires, and therefore they are envious and intolerant of people. To appease their restless souls, special sacrifices were made. For example, when a warrior died, his beloved war horse was buried with him. (A relic of this barbaric ritual was the custom according to which a cavalry horse to this day accompanies a military's funeral cortege.) At pagan funerals, slaves were sacrificed to serve dead masters in the underworld. It was believed that those who were forcibly deprived of their lives would persecute their friends. The same applied to suicides, and to exclude such a possibility, the suicide was usually buried at a crossroads, having previously pierced his heart with a stake.

According to the history of demonology, the closest relative of the ghost was a vampire, who was believed to "sustain" its existence by drinking the blood of the living. Vampires were no different from other demons - they also did not disdain any means in striving to achieve their goals, moreover, they were reputed to be insatiable - so, according to the canons of old demonology, vampires in the guise of demonic lovers entered the bedrooms of young maidens. There is every reason to believe that the vampire was a kind of proto-ghost: over the years he lost his masculinity and began to increasingly resemble a ghost.

Eric Maple | Translated from English by S. Kastalsky

Witchcraft. Part II

Ancient fears

Folklore and historical evidence confirms that as long as we fear death and as long as we have to adapt to this fear, there will always be a place in society for a sorcerer and a priest, whose rivalry has long since become less acute due to the fact that they converged in contempt and hatred for the common enemy - the witch. Doubts about the possibility of expelling the persecuting and overwhelming demons are still alive, and it is quite possible that they are the product of the subconscious nightmares of prehistoric man.

Man's fear of black magic was embodied in one of the earliest laws known to us. For example, according to the laws of the king of ancient Babylon Hammurabi, adopted more than 1900 years before the birth of Christ, it was forbidden to engage in witchcraft with images. Like primitive people from a tribal society, men and women of antiquity continued to cling to hordes of exorcists and sorcerers who expelled demons from mentally ill people - they saw disease as a sign of demonic possession. For people of early civilizations, nature seemed inhabited by demons and spirits - good and evil, who had to be pacified with bloody rituals. In places where a house or a gate of a new city was laid, human sacrifices were made, often it was burning alive. By the way, there is an assumption that perfumery traces its history from incense, which was smoked in ancient temples in order to hide the unpleasant smell that arose when the victims were burned.

Roman amulets

The Roman poet Ovid describes the fear of black magic in the following way: “Is my body wasting away because I was drunk with Thessalonian dope? Maybe a spell or herbs are killing me, oh woe to me? Or did the witch scrawl my name on Punic wax or thrust fine needles directly into my liver? " Those who practiced magic with images of people, as well as those who asked for advice from the demons and the dead, were usually expelled from the cities, but as soon as the struggle with witches subsided, they returned. In the canons of the religion of the Roman Empire, magic was not officially prohibited, but pagan priests and after them Christians were the first to condemn witches and black magic.

However, despite the fear of witches, the Romans in no way wanted to temper their sexuality, whipped up by aphrodisiacs (Aphrodisiac is a sex drive enhancer. - Approx. Trans.), Which were prepared and "prescribed" by the same witches. And not only one Apuleius was accused of having won the favor of a rich woman with the help of witchcraft and a love potion.

Food was of great importance in magic. Fish was highly regarded as a "love dish", since the large number of eggs - "fish eggs" - led the Romans to think about the possibility of equally impressive reproduction of offspring. For the same purpose, they ate partridge meat - among the Romans, partridge had a reputation as a "sexual athlete". However, mandrake root was considered the best way to restore sexual desire, as well as a medicine for infertility. When the root was pulled out, it became covered with drops and began to shrink - the legend said that anyone who was within the distance of a human scream from such a root dies. Amulets made from mandrake root were attributed to great power: they protected their owners like an impenetrable screen, which is inherent in all sexual symbols. Pliny the Elder wrote: "If you find a mandrake root in the form of a male genital organ, you are guaranteed success in carnal love." Armed with such a useful and profitable fable, the witches began to extract the root of the mandrake, which they shaped with knives. Among other famous components of the pharmacology of the witches of Ancient Rome was the satyricon - this was the name of a plant with a forked root, which allegedly gave the "consumer" enormous sexual power.

Fortunetellers

At one time, the classic witches of antiquity were even admired. They were valued for their medicinal art, respected for their ability to prepare deadly poisons. They were praised for their ability to penetrate into the nature of things, for their talents in predicting the future. In the 5th century BC, in Athens, a metal dish was used for divination, polished with oil to a mirror shine - for the Greek soothsayer it was the same as a crystal ball is for a modern fortune teller.

Among the known methods of predicting the future, electriomancy was especially popular, for which in Ancient Greece a rooster and a bag of grain were required. First, a circle was drawn on the ground and divided into 24 equal sectors. In the upper part of each sector, the sorcerer wrote one of the letters of the alphabet and put a seed on the letter. After the rooster pecked up some of the seeds, a careful study of the circle began. The letters corresponding to the peeled grains formed in response to the question asked.

Not everyone knows that the dice game originally arose as one of the forms of predicting the future among peoples at a low stage of development - later this kind of fortune-telling took root among the sorcerer priests of Greece, who argued that they could determine the future by falling a cube.

Sorcerers often practiced Sayomancy and Necromancy, the art of invoking the mantles (souls) of the dead. Thus, the sorcerers tried to obtain information inaccessible to the living. The Bible describes the Endor witch who took advantage of Sayomancy: she summoned the soul of Samuel to predict the outcome of the battle to Saul - in the Bible this witch is described as "one who knew how to dwell in animals."

Perhaps the most valuable gift was clairvoyance. As Plato wrote, the philosopher Socrates invariably “received instructions” from an “inner voice” that prevented him from doing stupid or dangerous things. Then, as now, the most popular form of communication with the spirit world was onyrocriticism, that is, messages received in a dream - therefore, the interpretation of dreams was widespread in the ancient world. The sages of Egypt and Babylon predicted the future from the "pictures" seen in a dream, and the dream itself was considered as such a mental state in which the soul is able to enter the future. However, since the wandering soul traveled in different time dimensions, it was believed that it can only transmit an inverted image of what it sees - hence the old saying "In a dream, everything is vice versa."

The Druidic religion of the Celts included the very latest advances in magic at the time - it seems that the Celtic priests were much more progressive than it might seem. The desire for power was very strong in Druidism, which, probably, extremely irritated the secular authorities. It was believed that druids can become invisible, that their spells are deadly; they also believed that they control the elements, namely, the four winds. Like witches from later history, thunder and lightning obeyed them. The Druidic religion was also very cruel: in his memoirs, Julius Caesar wrote about huge, woven from rods, images of the gods, inside which men, women and animals were driven, and then betrayed them to the sacred fire.
By the end of the pre-Christian era, all humanity plunged into the abyss of magic and witchcraft. Detachments of evil spirits were seen everywhere, for the pacification of which human sacrifices were required. Spirits watched those who were not protected by means of magic.

And yet, despite their, from our point of view, barbarism, the people of antiquity knew very well about the harmony that exists in nature. Apparently, they instinctively understood not only the interdependence of all living things in nature, but also the religious nature of life itself.

Flying witches

In the territories where the peoples of the Romano-Germanic language group lived, which also includes the British Isles, there were very strong traditions of flying witches; some of them are believed to date back to the era of cannibalism. Sometime in 906 AD, a significant theological work called "Episcopal Covenants" appeared, which spoke, in particular, of women "seduced by the illusions and fantasies of demons - under their influence, women convinced themselves that they could fly, riding animals, and on flights they are accompanied by Diana, the goddess of the pagans. Countless numbers of these women fly in the dead of night over various cities and countries, and on specially agreed nights Diana calls them to her service. Those who are blinded by this fake take everything at face value and depart from the true faith, believing that besides God, the one and true, there are other divine and powerful forces. " From the above passage it becomes clear that man's flights were regarded as an illusion generated by the devil. “Satan (who turns into an Angel of Light), who once possessed the mind of a woman, having done this through her unfaithfulness and conversion to false faith and subjugating her to his power, begins to take on the guise of soothsayers and deceives his followers in a dream, because the victim believes in what he is experiencing only her spirit, and believes that the same is happening with her body. " The condescending attitude towards the flights of witches as illusions could not last forever, and soon a real crusade against witchcraft and magic began. The clergy united with a united front, although not very successfully, against those who slipped into paganism.

In the early folklore of Western Europe, there are many curious legends about female vampires flying at night in search of newborns from which they drank blood. In the XII century in Hereford, according to legend, a newly buried sorcerer rose from the grave and called out loud several names of his neighbors, who then died within three days. By order of the bishop, the sorcerer's body was beheaded, sprinkled with holy water and buried again - after this act of exorcism, the sorcerer no longer disturbed the area.

A decapitated skeleton recently discovered in the cemetery of Clanieck Monastery (Prittlewell, Essex) indicates that the above case was by no means an isolated one. The skull was near, but was turned face down, that is, towards Hell.

Probably the most fearsome figure among all the demons of the Middle Ages was the Possessed Hunter - a ghost racing across the stormy sky on horseback, accompanied by a pack of hounds; he destroyed all living things that came his way. It was believed that a ghost came from France or Germany, the British considered it the birthplace of Windsor Forest and called this ominous horned phantom Hunter Hern. Shakespeare, in his play The Wives of Windsor, described how Herne "thundered terribly" with his chain. Under the influence of Christianity, the Hunter lost the features of the Scandinavian god of death and transformed into the biblical Satan, who, with flocks of hellish headless hounds, filled the nights with terrible screams and screams - again and again he rushes in his eternal pursuit of souls, especially for the souls of unbaptized babies.

Joan of Arc

The first consequences of the Holy Inquisition for witches in France were often political, in particular, the cases of Jeanne d'Arc and Gilles de Rais, in which there are controversies that have not been resolved to this day. Jeanne was accused of heresy, but accusations of “heretical witchcraft”, as some researchers believe, were not brought against her. Having captured Jeanne at the siege of Orleans, the Inquisition found it possible to put forward against the virgin "very strong suspicions of several delusions that have a touch of witchcraft." From the very moment of her captivity, she was subjected to all kinds of humiliation - she was publicly exposed in a cage, where she could hardly straighten up. The question of Jeanne's witchcraft would have to be resolved once and for all, and decided in her favor: it turned out that she was a virgin, which meant that she could not participate in ritual copulation, which was believed to be practiced by all witches.

However, this most important proof of innocence was carefully and skillfully hidden during the investigation. The whole affair of Joan revolved around the question of the source of the voices that the virgin claimed she hears and which directs her. Were they holy voices, as she insisted, or, as the church believed, devilish? Jeanne had to answer tricky questions, which the inquisitors were fluent in. When asked if she believed that the Lord still favors her, Jeanne replied: “If not, then maybe the Lord will be pleased to return his favor to me; and if so, then maybe he will be pleased not to leave me. " If she answered “no,” she would be accused of proclaiming heresy. On the other hand, if the answer were in the affirmative, with her ignorance, she herself would have signed her own verdict.

As the case developed, the court gradually became convinced that Jeanne was not a witch or a witch. But suddenly she suddenly gave up and confessed that her views were wrong. On charges of wearing men's clothing and denying the church, she was sentenced to life in prison and returned to her cell. However, the enemies managed to deceive their victim and figured out how to achieve her death: they made the jailers take Jeanne's clothes, leaving in return a man's dress. Dressed again in men's clothing, Jeanne was accused of stagnant heresy through legal and church sophisms. Then Jeanne renounced her previous confession, and on May 30. In 1431, after a solemn excommunication from the church, this heroic peasant girl was hung by one hand, and the bailiff gave the order for her execution. She was burned over a low fire in the market place in Rouen - Jeanne was wearing a miter with the words "Inveterate heretic, apostate, idolater."

The horrors of Salem

But even as the inhabitants of Europe began to shake off their fear of witchcraft, the inhabitants of distant New England were only preparing for terror. In the quiet Massachusetts village of Salem - home to the Reverend Samuel Perris, a fanatical Protestant and hater of witches like most of the villagers - lived his Negro slave named Tituba, who entertained local girls with colorful descriptions of Negro magic and ghost stories. One evening, during one of these "performances", several of the girls went into hysterics. One of them committed an incredible crime: she threw a Bible on the floor. The shrill screams and fits of the young ladies prompted the familiar thought of "possession" - soon the girls announced that they had been bewitched by the slave Tituba and two other women, white beggars Sarah Goode and Sarah Osborne. The girls claimed that the Seilem sorceresses attacked them in the form of ghosts, while their real shells were in a completely different place.

Tituba confessed that she had ghosts at her disposal, but tried to save her life by blaming two white women, who, she said, against her will forced her to become a witch. Probably to add some drama to this already explosive situation, she stated that there are nine more secret witches in Salem. The harsh hand of justice rose, and widespread arrests began.

The Sarah Goode investigation began in 1692. When the prisoner was brought against her accusers, the "bewitched" girls went into hysterics, and they unanimously began to assure the court that they had been attacked by the spirit of Sarah Goode, invisible to everyone else. Then, as expected, began the usual accusations and disclosures in such cases. Goode declared that Osborne was to blame, and both of them, along with Tituba, were thrown into prison. At the next stage of the investigation, the "bewitched" maidens were escorted to the district court, where they were required to name those whom they considered to be witches. It soon became clear that only those who are ready to admit their participation in this story and to betray their accomplices can count on leniency. Those who had the audacity to protest and insist on innocence found themselves in a trap prepared for them.

Rebecca Nurse, a 70-year-old woman with an impeccable reputation, was initially found not guilty by the court, but then the verdict was changed to the diametrically opposite, and she was sentenced to death. The public was so amazed and frightened by the "witch's coven" that even the priest, the Reverend George Burroughs, was executed as a sorcerer. As the black fever of fear consumed the minds of people, more and more victims were thrown into prisons.

The country was plunged into darkness, but in the end, the "bitches of witches", as they were gently called, plucked up courage and accused the representatives of the highest establishment, including the governor's wife, who had the courage to speak out in support of one of the accused. From that moment on, the campaign of repression by the official authorities began to subside and ended as suddenly as it began.

The prison doors flew open, and Salem began to calculate how much the orgy of hatred had cost him: 90 men and women died on the gallows, and one man was “crushed to death” (a form of legally sanctioned torture) for refusing to plead guilty. To extract a confession, torture was applied to two more men, but, as it turned out, these tortures were illegal.

Crafty people

The relaxed anti-witchcraft laws in Britain and elsewhere in Western Europe reflected the views of an enlightened aristocratic minority rather than those of the rural population. A superstitious poor man, when it seemed to him that there was a danger from evil spirits, each time turned for help to white witches or "crafty people".

These sly ones, who continued to operate quite openly in the British Isles even during the strict times of the law, were usually seventh sons or seventh daughters, which meant that their abilities were then believed to be inherited. They not only "cast spells", but, like their Anglo-Saxon ancestors, healed with herbs and, it was claimed, were able to use spells to expel disease from animals.

Until the middle of the 18th century, this public had a significant influence in rural life, often treated with even greater respect than priests. In East Anglia, they were sometimes the only potent healers, especially in the years when mainstream medicine was too expensive. In Devon and Cornwell, they were consulted not only by the poor, but by everyone else - they were popularly called "magicians." In Wales, the seventh sons of the seventh sons prepared and prescribed medicines that were formulated in the Middle Ages.

There is a story about one such wise country woman. She usually received visitors, sitting at a table in a darkened room, her face hidden by a hood, and in a magic crystal she read the future of her "client". The most famous "cunning" was a man named James Murrell from Essex - the seventh son of the seventh son, who read the future in a tiny mirror, and decorated the vault to heighten the effect! "Consulting room" with yellowed skulls. Much of his income came from farmers who saw themselves as victims of seven witches from the nearby village of Kenyudon.

In Scotland, spa whites (as the fortune tellers were called there) could build a reputation for being a prophetess simply by being the seventh daughter of a seventh daughter.

France was also famous for such healers, one of the most famous was Marco of Orleans, who healed diseases with his breathing. In the 18th century, in some Germanic principalities, the rulers became "sponsors" of the seventh sons of the seventh sons.

The "tricksters" often went about their business for free, believing that providing services on a commercial basis was tantamount to abandoning professional ethics and leading to a deterioration in "magic" abilities. Therefore, they relied on voluntary donations from patients - in the form of food, goods or money.

But since such village soothsayers simultaneously acted as catchers of witches, their social role was, alas, very dubious: those unfortunates whom they blamed for the illnesses of their patients often became victims of neighbors and sometimes lost their lives due to such accusations. Magic and cruelty
Anyone who believed himself to be under the influence of a witch's spell and sought help from a white witch received advice on magical self-defense measures.

He was taught, for example, to stick a nail in a witch's footprint on a dusty road - it was believed that thereby inflicting a wound on a witch; or a person could scratch the witch's forehead just above the eyebrow: with the appearance of blood, the spell was neutralized. It was also customary to nail a horseshoe to the front door of the house or to hang a consecrated stone (heg-stone) from the keys to the barn or barn: this was how animals were protected. The scissors hidden under the rug provided similar protection. In order to overcome the evil eye, a glass ball filled with colored stones was placed on the windowsill - such a ball was called "witch's". At Cornwell, long glass tubes, also with colored stones, were placed in the chimney at night.

The belief in the power of the evil eye remained very persistent after the repeal of the law against witchcraft, which led to a number of brutal murders. In April 1751, in Hertfordshire, an angry crowd suspected an elderly couple named Osborne that they had bewitched a herd of cows, stripped the old people naked, tied them to each other, thrown them into the river, and then, having fished them out, beaten them to death. The execution of the instigator of this murder, Thomas Colley, which took place in August 1752, aroused the indignation of his neighbors: they considered Collie almost a martyr.

In the 18th century, there were many attempts to revive the old, by that time prohibited, procedure for testing for guilt with water. The worst case of this kind happened in 1863 in the town of Syble Headingham, Essex: an old man nicknamed Scarecrow was attacked by a crowd of peasants. They not only threw him into the river, but also subjected him to "walking torture" - the poor man was forced to walk for a long time, accompanied by two strong men, so that he would remove the spell from the wife of the local hotel owner, who was allegedly enchanted by him. As a result of this "treatment", the old man died, and the perpetrators were sent to prison.

The centuries-old fear of ghosts seemed to affect all walks of life and eventually led people to believe even the most incredible stories on the subject. In Pembury, Kent, the deceased climbed out of his grave and began to wander through the village. Lady Brown's ghost of Rainham House, Norfolk, was shot by a naval officer. In Priddy, Somerset, the ghost of a local witch roamed the roads, and in Croglen, Cumberland, a girl was attacked by a vampire. Devilism of one kind or another has always been dear to the hearts of the British.

However, there is no doubt that the most notable case of devilism occurred relatively recently - the murder of the Clonmel witch in 1894, the echoes of which swept across Europe. And although the town of Emerald Isle was aloof from the past noisy witchcraft trials, they were well aware of witchcraft. For example, in one house a straw effigy studded with pins was found, and such an effigy was buried near another house: it was believed that after the straw rotted away, the person who embodied the effigy would suffer the same fate.

In March 1894, a certain Bridget Cleary disappeared without a trace in the town of Bolly Redley, County Tipperary. Rumors spread that she had been killed. Shortly thereafter, her husband Michael Cleary and several relatives were arrested - they were all accused of encroachment on Bridget's life and ill-treatment of her. As a result of intensive searches in a nearby swamp, her half-burnt corpse was found. It became obvious that her husband, confident that he was sharing a bed with the fairy, "christened" her with urine and chicken droppings, and then doused her with lamp oil and set her on fire. At the same time, there were at least thirteen people whose task was, as they stated in court, "to drive away all witches and fairies." The court found them guilty and sentenced them to prison. After this unfortunate incident, many Irishmen began to hum a very dark song:

Apparently, you are a witch or a fairy, since you have found peace in the grave, Maybe it so happened that you are Michael Cleary's wife?

In 1836, Polish peasants from the town of Hela, near Gdansk, "reproduced" to the smallest detail the murder of a witch named Tring, which had happened in England almost a hundred years earlier: an elderly woman was thrown into the sea, and when she swam out, she was stoned to death.

At the end of the 19th century, the French writer Charles Senio described in great detail Nea, a famous white witch from Rochefort-entre in Brittany. She stretched out her hands to the sky and summoned a subordinate spirit named Gnami - in any case, the gestures made an indelible impression on the clientele.

At the very beginning of this century, a curious incident occurred in the south-west of France, in the town of Nerac: a white witch told Madame Delia that she was bewitched by her own husband, a local peasant. She and the children left home, and in her absence, the father and family friends "sorted out" the sorcerer: they killed him in the basement and threw his body into the river.

For almost every such murder, the influence of a local "sly" or a white witch was felt - they continued to practice their ancient profession, since people needed their services. In 1927, in Germany, a sorcerer turned a peasant against his wife: she allegedly bewitched the herd. For two weeks, the husband regularly beat the unfortunate woman to drive evil spirits out of her body, in the end she died of the beatings.

In the mid-1920s, Jabez Few of Willingham, Cambridgeshire, was accused by neighbors of planting a white mouse in a woman's bedroom, leaving the woman bewitched. The "devilish" mouse pounced on the cat with such fury that the poor animal was forced to flee.

In 1928, the American state of Pennsylvania attracted the attention of the whole world: when a man named Remeyer, exposed as a sorcerer, refused to give a lock of his hair in order to reverse the enchantment that he allegedly put on one of the residents, neighbors killed him.

Events like this, reported from different parts of the world, have fostered a persistent fear of black magic and evil spirits. For example, in 1923 in Extremadura, Spain, the body of a pretty young shepherdess was found in a field. She was severely tortured, some parts of her body were cut off, blood was completely released. The opinion that she was a victim of vampirism was supported by evidence: a tiny wound was found on the girl's throat.

In February 1960, a bricklayer from Argentina confessed that he had entered the bedrooms of women, with whom he bit their throats and drank their blood.

During the periods of the witch hunt, such killers were considered Satanists or vampires, although now it is clear to us that they were all victims of one or another mental or emotional disorder, in need of medical, and not occult help.

However, it was not at all mental illness that caused the centuries-old persistence of legends about otherworldly forces and evil spells, everything is explained much more simply and prosaically: the point is in the most banal fear of the unknown and incomprehensible that simple-minded people who lived in small, isolated villages experienced. When it seemed to them that something threatened their lives (and in many cases one sidelong glance of a neighbor was enough for such an opinion), they were seized by an aggressive desire to attack themselves. Having done this - of course, the effect was quite impressive - they seemed to eliminate the influence of incomprehensible forces, and the feeling of depression passed. In extreme cases, this could only be achieved by destroying the enemy.

And although these views and the living conditions that nourished them are gradually disappearing today, they nonetheless still exist in many parts of Europe and America. Moreover, in primitive social systems, they continue to play a very important role, we will learn about this in the next chapter, which tells about the remnants of the past.

Eric Maple | Translated from English by S. Kastalsky

Witchcraft. Part III

Rise of Satanism

Despite widespread misconceptions, Satanism and the Black Mass as they exist today are relatively modern phenomena, with their roots in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. However, their traces go back to ancient times, when the idea that the world was in the power of evil spirits prevailed. Those who were imbued with the idea that the world is ruled by evil, and Satan is the Lord, should, in principle, deny all Christian values \u200b\u200band turn Christian symbols inside out. Classical devil worshipers viewed the renunciation of the ten commandments, the desecration of churches and altars, and the black mass as essential elements of their faith.

The roots of the modern black mass, or Mass of Saint Siqueira, go back to the Basque province of France. However, it was completely unrelated to the worship of the devil: the mass was a peculiar act of witchcraft to send death to the enemy. Usually such a mass was served by a person ordained, and it took place in a destroyed church. The black host was solemnly consecrated, and instead of the sacramental wine, the devil's water was used (that is, the one in which the unbaptized baby drowned). Modern devil worshipers have taken this ceremony as a basis. Their services usually take place in an atmosphere of complete secrecy, outsiders are extremely rare, which is understandable, since many churches are desecrated every year.

The mysterious and sinister story of Clophill Church Cemetery in Bedfordshire is a prime example. In March 1963, seven graves were opened, a skull was extracted, which was hoisted by unknown persons on a pole surrounded by a ring of human bones. The vicar, who retired in 1969, said in an interview: "In the seven years since I arrived in Clophill, not a month has passed without opening the grave or crypt and holding a secret ceremony."

Today, such vandalism continues, as a rule, with the complete indifference of the authorities.

In this type of ceremony, the black sorcerer attempts to use the bones of the dead as a weapon of attack. After the bones have been exposed to mana, or magical power, they are positioned so that they are directed towards the person for whose death the ceremony is organized - mysterious bruises, known as "devil's pinches" appear on the body of this person.

Those who want to experience the true Gothic should visit the secluded Clofill and taste the whole nightmare of desecrated and robbed graves, symbols of the revival of black magic in the twentieth century.

In 1968, on the eve of All Saints' Day, a Satanist cemetery in north London was attacked; they not only smashed the coffins, but also removed the body of the recently buried woman and pierced it with a steel bar. They turned one coffin over and put a black cross on it. In March 1969, a charred pig's head was found on the altar of the parish church in Stansted, Essex (the pig is a symbol of Satan), and in 1970 several graves were opened in the old part of Highgate Cemetery in London, and the corpses from them were stolen for rituals used in black magic. More recently, magical symbols have appeared on the walls of some crypts.

A study of newspaper filings over the past seventy years confirms that Satanism has become one of the hallmarks of our time, but nevertheless it is not a relic of the past, but only a melodramatic aspect of modern life.

Voodoo world

Voodoo, or voodoo, embodies the most terrifying form of black magic associated with snake worship and, in some cases, ritual cannibalism. Voodooism has long been practiced among the descendants of African slaves living in the United States, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. It is assumed that the name "voodoo" comes from the word "water" (the so-called religious sect of heretics, which in ancient times settled in the south-east of France - members of the sect were accused of dealing with their enemies with the help of witchcraft). For the first time, the word "voodoo" was used by Catholic missionaries working in the West Indies. However, it is more likely that it came from the word "vodun", which in the language of the Ashanti people meant a magical rite. Perhaps voodoo is really associated with black magic, but, be that as it may, in general it is an African type of religion, which is characterized by the following: believers become "possessed" by the gods they worship. As in other mystical beliefs of this type, the priests (hungan) and priestesses (mam-bo) call the spirits of the ancestors for consultation. Initiation in voodoo is associated with two main rituals: the ritual of the Sun, which is called radas (its highest deity is Dangbe, that is, the serpent god), and the rite of Petro, the one who bestows the faithful with magical power.
The rite of "crossing the waters", which is also part of the initiation, is carried out as follows: a "white as snow" sheep are sacrificed to the sea - two white doves and two white chickens are sacrificed to the sea simultaneously. During this bloody ceremony, the air is filled with heart-rending cries of the Hungan and wild exclamations of the audience - all this happens to the rhythmic beat of drums. In the voodoo religion, the drum plays a central role, as the drum's skin is believed to be made of sunlight, and whoever touches it receives the energy of the luminary.

Voodoo temples, or humphos, are sometimes decorated with completely inappropriate colored reproductions of Catholic saints, whom Africans have long identified with their gods. These include Erzulia, the Holy Mother of God voodoo, who, like Venus, is associated with the moon. Erzulia's shoes are suspended from the ceiling of voodoo temples.

For the most part, voodoo rituals are designed to protect communities from the attacks of evil spirits. The voodoo cult also created its own sorcerers-healers - this is a whole clan of wandering magicians who, to relieve stress from patients, prescribe water potions to them. Voodoo sorcerers are quite adept at reverse charms and can unleash evil upon anyone who summons it. Those with whom this happens become seriously ill with the neuroses known as "shock relapse".

Voodoo's magical arsenal contains extremely powerful enchantments for both defense and attack. For example, to use the spell of Black Musa, you need to write on a piece of paper thirteen times the name of the enemy, then his body or soul will be seriously affected. The paper is covered with a layer of "black mus" powder (its composition is kept secret) and burned at midnight. It is very important to remove all the ashes from the paper from the house so that there are no traces of the forces of evil left there.

Magic is also used to solve various personal problems. In order to control the consciousness of another person, it is enough to moisten the soles of his shoes with a magic liquid, "conquering oil". In the southern regions of the United States, the so-called "boss taming oil" is being sprayed. When the owner steps on this "oil", he not only becomes kinder to his subordinate, but also quite favorably treats the request for a raise.

Despite the fact that ordinary Haitians have an unpretentious enchantment "for everyday use" and they are not always dictated by malice, most voodoo magical rituals are intended for evil, such as, for example, a "harmful spell" that sends the forces of the dead to the living. First, a miniature coffin is erected, which is consecrated with the names of the devilish trinity - Meter Carrefo, Lord of crossroads and demons; Grand Bois, Lord of the night land and night forests; and Baron Saturday, Lord of the Cemeteries. Then a spell is pronounced, after which the coffin is sent to its destination, and the recipient of this "gift" is sent to another world.

Zombie

For most voodoo fans, the zombie appears to be the most sinister figure in the religion. An integral part of the religious doctrine of the Haitians is the idea that with the help of magical rituals the bodies of the dead can be brought back to life - in their new status as zombies, they will play the role of slaves. A man or woman becomes a zombie (in the language of the Arawak Indians, this word means "spirit") after the corpse is forced to "taste" mancinella, or stinking dope, which contains atropine. Zombies are easily recognizable by their half-idiotic facial expressions, clumsy gait and slurred mumbling.

The fear of becoming a zombie after death is widespread in Haiti, and special ceremonies exist here to protect the deceased from evil sorcerers. The people of Haiti are deeply convinced that in the ranks of the police, which is here called "tonton macoutes" (we are talking about the times of the Duvalier dynasty.) (Like the voodoo sorcerers), there are solid zombies (it was believed that zombies served in the personal guard of the former life President of the country Pope Doc Duvalier).

The zombie myth has penetrated all sectors of society, and faith in this legend continues unabated. It is said that in 1959, residents managed to grab one zombie and brought him to the police station, where he suddenly revived after being given a drink of salt water! There are many stories of how people saw their long-dead friends on the streets or in the homes of powerful sorcerers. Many believe that the owners of the zombie slaves treat them extremely cruelly because they fear their sophisticated revenge. Such is the power attributed to the occult in this corrupt and underdeveloped country, a power that has traditionally allowed politicians to keep a stranglehold on a brutally suppressed and gullible population.

Spiritualism and magic

This happened in the fifties of the last century, when the spiritism that appeared in the United States, like a fever, swept Europe, and as a result, contact with the dead turned into almost a respectable religious activity. The nobility often attended the seances of Dee Dee Home, one of the leading representatives of the new cult. Long-forgotten ways of divination came into vogue almost overnight. For example, the Ouija board, a tool for transmitting messages from the dead, traces of which can be found as early as 540 BC, has become a constant companion of seances held throughout the Western world.

During this period, there was a rapid revival of magic of an extremely complex type. Its leading apologists were Eliphas Levi and his followers McGregor Mathers and the famous Alistair Crowley. Levi claimed that he did indeed evoke the spirit of Apollo of Tyana, a pagan sorcerer who lived in the first century AD - among the equipment Levi used in a similar session in 1854 were a magic sword, a pentagram (five-pointed star) and an altar. Later, he said that he protected himself from evil spirits with a chain of magnetized iron.

Another important figure in modern magic was the Frenchman Pierre Ventra, who claimed to be the embodiment of the prophet Elijah. In France, Abbot Bullan became his follower, who is remembered for his dashing sexual parties with perfume. By the end of the century, the world of magic had acquired new recruits. They became interested in writers and aesthetes, tired of naturalism, artists and critics, who were tired of portraying an unpleasant world exactly as the eye sees it. As a result, they plunged into the abyss of occultism and mythology. Members of one of these groups - the Symbolists - were staunch anti-materialists; they focused their attention on depicting moods, since they believed that feeling was more important than material objects. J.C. Guisman, who described the modern black mass in his novel “There,” was so imbued with the idea of \u200b\u200bthe movement that he openly declared about the attack on it by spirits sent by the sorcerer Marquis de Guaita.

Another important contribution was made by the Order of the Golden Dawn, a secret society that included the poet Yeats, and the journalist and Astronomer Royal of Scotland, Arthur Maken. The main task of the Golden Dawn was "the study of the intelligent forces behind the forces of nature, the purpose of man and his relationship with God." However, the society became mired in disputes between various factions and eventually fell into the hands of the experienced occultist Samuel Mathers (better known as MacGregor Mathers), the translator of many occult books. Mathers was the high priest of this society until there was a new contender for power, the impulsive magician Elster Crowley, whose finest hour, according to a popular legend among members of society, came in 1918, when he killed Mathers with the help of magic.

Elster Crowley - Antichrist

Without a doubt, Elster Crowley (1875-1947) will go down in history as the most formidable magician of the first half of the twentieth century. Crowley joined the Order of the Golden Dawn in 1898, but was later exiled for trying to destroy Mathers with an army of only forty-nine evil demons led by Beelzebub himself. He founded his own society "Rgeninum Astrum" and soon became the head of the English branch of the sex-obsessed German occult group, the Order of the Templars of the East, into the secrets and secrets of which he allegedly penetrated.

Crowley was an extremely rare type of person whose authority only grows over the years - even today he remains a cult figure among young people. Perhaps the most striking feature of his character was his complete disregard for norms; most likely it was this circumstance that lay at the basis of his charm, since he was able to simultaneously play the role of a moral anarchist and a rebel against bourgeois society. During World War I, he defied a campaign of patriotism and wrote an anti-British leaflet for the Germans - he despised the legal system so much that he once used a talisman to tilt a court decision in his favor.

Crowley's poetry and prose are filled with ominous allusions, each line harboring a powerful sexual charge. He loved to wander the streets, having previously smeared his body with "magical" incense - the most interesting thing is that, apparently, this somehow had an effect on women, as they constantly besieged the doors of his bedroom. Some of the rituals of his order were cruel and bloody. Crowley recommended to his followers that every time they utter the word "I", they make an incision in the hand with a razor - thus they gradually get rid of the feeling of their individuality: as Crowley believed, the highest goal of a person's life should be the desire to destroy his ego.

In 1920, he founded the famous Abbey of Thelema in Sicily, but soon the authorities became aware of the dubious rituals and orgies taking place there, and three years later Crowley was expelled from Italy. For some time it was worn throughout Europe, he died in 1947 in Hastings almost a beggar. The cremation took place in Brighton, and news of this event spread throughout the world, as Crowley's "flock" shocked the audience by singing a hymn in honor of the pagan god Pan during the ceremony: “Io Pan! Io Pan Pan! Pan! Io Pan! "

Several portraits of Crowley have survived, one depicting him at the peak of his career as a magician, the other showing an old man. In the first picture his face is calm, almost beautiful, but in the second, as in the portrait of Dorian Gray, two eyes sparkle from the devil's mask of time-dried flesh, in which the fire of power burns. It is noteworthy that Crowley's letters were signed by the Antichrist.

Despite the amazing impact that Crowley had on his contemporaries, in reality his fame owes much to the feverish work of writers and journalists. His contribution to the revival of interest in magic remains to be appreciated, but his influence in this regard was apparently less noticeable than, for example, the novelist Dennis Wheatley, whose book And The Devil Rides, attracted millions of readers around the world.

The first truly serious student of ancient witchcraft was the renowned folklorist Margaret Murray. In her book Witch Cult in Western Europe, published in 1921, she advanced the theory that witchcraft arose as a relic of the pagan fertility cult, which, after brutal suppression by the church, somehow revived in the sixteenth century. This book stimulated a surge of interest in a subject that had not attracted attention for a long time. Alas, her theory failed to pass the test of time because, as Richard Cavendish wrote in his book The Art of Black Magic, "Christians viewed witches as a new sect and treated them not as pagans, but as heretics."

New witchcraft

As a result of a minor change in English law, witchcraft, for the first time in many centuries, became a completely legal occupation. The self-appointed witches quickly took advantage of the liberation of the occult from the shackles of the law, and they created "wicca", this, as they proclaimed, the true religion of organized witchcraft.

Despite the claim of the founder of the movement, Dr. Gerald Gardner, that "wicca" has its roots in prehistoric times, it is, without a doubt, based on the works of Margaret Murray and Elster Crowley. However, the timing was well-chosen, and wicca took deep roots, attracting young people. So now it has become a solid religion.

Gerald Brousseau Gardner, High Priest of the Wicca, was born in Lancashire in 1884 and raised into an aristocratic family. As a child, he traveled with a governess in North Africa, visited the Canary Islands. From the age of sixteen until 1936, when he retired, Gardner lived in the Middle East, where, among other occupations, he worked as a supervisor at rubber plantations and a customs officer. He was widely known as a specialist in oriental daggers and coins. In 1939, he joined the Folklore Society and that same year claimed to have attended the Wicca Sabbath, which he believed was the only link to the obscure “ancient religion” of the British Isles. Gardner published three books that had a tremendous impact on the development and formation of "wicca": "With the help of higher magic" (1949), "Witchcraft Today" (1954) and "The Meaning of Witchcraft" (1959). Until his death (died in 1964) he was the leader of the so-called "Gardnerian witchcraft."

Those who met and spoke to him found Gardner a sweet and charming person. However, playing to the audience, he aroused fear even among serious folklorists, many of them considered him almost a cannibal.

After his death, the influence of Gerald Gardner on the movement he created has somewhat weakened, and now his followers are in the minority among many other movements that unite modern witches and sorcerers. But his memory is alive in large part thanks to the Museum of Witchcraft, which he helped create on the Isle of Man. He was always striving for fame, was an amazingly business man, and, without a doubt, thanks to his regular appearances on television, witchcraft strengthened its position in the British Isles.

Gerald Gardner claimed that he had discovered a whole clan of witches, who for many centuries passed on their witchcraft power from generation to generation - now his statement can neither be proved nor disproved. And in the preface to his "handbook of witches", "The Book of Shadows", he cleverly explains the absence of any written confirmation of his "discoveries and theories": "Take the book in your hands and write. Allow the Brothers and Sisters to rewrite whatever they wish, but never let go of the book and never allow them to keep these records, for if this is discovered, everyone faces arrest and torture. Everyone should guard their records and destroy them at the slightest danger. Try to comprehend as much as possible with your heart, and when the danger is over, restore your book if you feel that you are safe. For the same reason, in the event of the death of a Brother and Sister, destroy their books if they did not do it themselves, because if the books are found, they will become a testimony against the dead. And remember: you are not alone. Therefore, all your friends may be in danger. Therefore, destroy everything unnecessary, for if they find the book with you, it will be evidence only against you alone ... "

It is obvious that Gardnerian witchcraft arose on the basis of literary sources - this is confirmed by its rituals and ceremonies, but this in no way can belittle its significance. Even if, as many hint, Gardner invented wicca, it was a creative act, and it is quite possible that it was the novelty of the idea that ensured its success in the first generation of followers.

Witchcraft is a matriarchal religion, with a high priestess at the head of each group, or coven. The priestess is chosen by all members of the group, each priestess has her own assistant, who is called the "maiden". In each group there is also a high priest, who at large sabbats personifies the horned god. According to their belief, he descended from the horned god-hunter, whom people worshiped in the Stone Age.

Witch calendar

Initiation into the "brotherhood" occurs at each of the four annual gatherings: at the Meeting (February), Beltane (Beltane - an old Celtic holiday, celebrated by lighting fires.) (May 1), Lammas (Lamas - a quarter day in Scotland, originally a harvest festival. ) (August 1) and All Saints 'Eve (All Saints' Eve - in Scotland and the north of England is traditionally celebrated by divination about the future spouse.) (October 31). The choice fell on these dates, since each of them represents a specific phase of the "cycle of tides" in the witch's calendar. All Saints' Eve, the ancient festival of death, is the last day of the year with the lowest point of the winter solstice. The meeting marks the end of the kingdom of darkness and the rebirth of life in nature. Beltane marks the "awakening" phase that peaks by mid-summer. By the time of Lammas, nature begins to gradually fall asleep at this time of harvest. Nature makes a complete cycle, and again on its way there is darkness, which personifies the Eve of All Saints' Day.

Thus, the witch's calendar reflects the movement of nature itself, each Sabbath marks a turning point of the year and occurs precisely at a time when the powers of magic are most powerful. Witches believe that in ancient times the Sabbath was a cathedral of clergy, the nucleus of a gigantic gathering of laity who worshiped the Mother Goddess in forests and secluded wastelands. Today, they believe, the Sabbath is the only thing that has survived the once universal religion of fertility worship.

The sexual element is especially strong in Gardnerian witchcraft, but this does not necessarily apply to other groups. Where the precepts of Gardner are followed, sex is viewed more as a means of achieving "greater power", and therefore only the ceremonial aspect comes to the fore. Most witches see sex as a "religious rite," just as Christians treat the words of the marriage ceremony: "and my body will belong to you." Many witches strip naked in order to increase the power emanating from the body and believe that nudity is of the utmost importance, helping to avoid the pitfalls of material life that prevent them from entering the energy circle. Others prefer ritual clothing, but in general, the traditions of witches are based on the rituals of the Druids.
During an estabat, or business meeting of witches, a circle with a diameter of nine feet is drawn on the floor with a magic sword, and this circle is restored at each new meeting. The high priestess stands in the center of the circle - at this point she can be “alone with the goddess,” whose statuette is at this time on the altar. Then a prayer from the Book of Shadows is recited. The "handbook of witches" contains all the spells and rituals of "wicca"; then chants and dances to rhythmic music begin, which is necessary for the concentration of psychic energy, known as the "cone of power." The energy is then scattered in the direction of those who need help.

At the end of the ceremony, it is common to celebrate light snacks and wine and give a break until the next meeting. For followers of "wicca", witchcraft rituals are the most important religious reality, filling each member of the cult group with the spirit of love.

Despite the fact that these witches resort to magic, they should not be confused with commonplace sorcerers and magicians, whose actions are dictated by the desire for power. The followers of "wicca" today, like the sages of the past, believe that their moral duty is to serve humanity.

Initiation ceremony

Initiation into witches (or sorcerers) symbolizes the ritual rebirth of the novice in a new and more useful capacity, or, using the lexicon of witches, he or she "gets a new life in the family of brothers and sisters in witchcraft" and thus throws off the fetters of spiritual isolation, which , alas, is typical for the overwhelming majority of Protestants. However, not all witches need to go through the initiation rite, as many of them were born into "families of witches" and therefore have a hereditary ability to witchcraft.

For a long time the initiation ceremony was kept secret, but today its details are well known. Strictly speaking, in each particular case, depending on a particular group of witches, it may be different, but its main elements do not change. A circle is made with a magic sword or dagger, and the high priestess creates a "cone of power." She then appeals to the Almighty - the gods of witches - and asks for their protection and patronage. Then the novice, who is symbolically entangled in ropes, reads the pastoral message. It begins with the following words:

“Listen to the words of the Great Mother, who in ancient times was called Artemis, Astarte, Diana, Melusina, Aphrodite, Ceres, Davaia, Ariadne, Venus and many other names.”

The initiation process required the novice to "listen to the mysteries of witchcraft, appear naked before initiation, sing, dance and kneel." The message ends on a truly poetic note:

“I who make up the beauty of the green earth, I who am the white moon among the stars, I am the mystery of the waters and the joy of the human heart. I enter your soul, rise up and enter me. "

A naked novice is asked a series of questions, while a magic sword or dagger is directed at his heart. At the end of the ceremony, the novice must say: “I learned two beautiful words - absolute love and absolute truth,” to which the priestess replies: “We will receive everyone who recognized them with redoubled joy. To get through the formidable door, I'll give you a third. " The priestess kisses the novice and announces that he is ready for initiation into witchcraft. She walks around the circle three times while the other witches kneel down.

After that, the priestess kisses the novice five times, and he promises to honor the sacraments of the cult. He rises from his knees, he is consecrated with oil and wine, and the symbolic ropes are weakened. He is handed a magic sword for drawing circles and intimidating recalcitrant spirits, atam (or dagger) - "the weapon of witches

People greatly underestimate the power of a simple word, spoken in joy or sorrow, mercy or anger. But it can become both a deadly weapon (poison) and a great boon (a healing elixir). This is the essence of the magic of words, which can be used by anyone who wants to comprehend the ancient art of magic. About magic in general and the power of witchcraft formulas in particular - below.

The magic of words

Magic words are the essence of the concept spell, which can be denoted as :

A specially created combination of words, phrases or texts, capable of invoking a specific power to achieve the set goals.

A beginner in the world of witchcraft and magic usually starts with the magic of words. This is primarily due to its simplicity. To master it, you don't need to walk around churchyards and crossroads with wax candles at the ready. Moreover, you don't even need to leave the house. The whole the ritual can be performed at home, which is extremely attractive for people who do not want to dive into the seamy part of the witchcraft world.

Spells play an important role in many witchcraft rites, so it is very important to understand what their meaning and deep meaning is. In no case do not take up the ritual without figuring out how to use the spell correctly. The consequences can be irreparable - both for you and for those close to you.

We will not give specific magic formulas and spells, since they will not serve an inexperienced young magician or sorceress. It's more important to get to know conditions for the successful implementation of a magical ritual... There are three of them. It:

• Relaxation (the ability to free your head from all unnecessary and weedy).
• Concentration (the ability to fully focus on the object of magical influence).
• Visualization (the ability to present in all details the ultimate goal of a witchcraft ritual).

As soon as you succumb to these three elements, any spell that inadvertently escaped your lips will hit the target. Be diligent in mastering the magic words, and you will start to succeed!

Being, in essence, the next stage in the development of this terrible and at the same time attractive witchcraft reality, the magic of gestures can give in to a beginner.

Such magic is not necessarily the passes grotesquely sung in literature by the hands of some magician, magician or hypnotist. The movement may be barely noticeable, elusive, but meanwhile, in strength it is unlikely to yield to any obvious witchcraft waving of hands.

As a rule, the magician's energy transmitter is:

Mage's grimace is not a way to throw someone off balance. Likewise, skilled and skilled sorcerers resort to gesture magic. Be extremely careful both in using this magic and in contemplating its manifestations. This can be very dangerous.

• Head.
• Other limbs.

The most common and desirable in terms of mastering is witchcraft with the help of hands. Young children and even adults, after watching various films, having read fantastic books, think about how to conjure with their hands. By and large, you can learn very quickly that it is easy for fairies, witches, sorcerers, sorcerers and wizards to learn. But a person will need:

Then no obstacles will stop a person from mastering the magic of hands!

The hands of any person are the most powerful instrument of witchcraft. Therefore, in order to learn how to transfer magical energy with their help, you should resort to a number of fairly simple exercises that both children and adults can handle.

Exercise 1. Book between palms

Very easy to learn.

A person will need:

Exercising daily, at some point you will feel a tingling sensation in your fingertips, a general feeling of tension between the warmed up palms. This is a clear sign of the accumulation of magical powers. Do not give up this business, and witchcraft with the help of the power of the hands will cease to be impossible for you!

Exercise 2. Streams of magical energy

It is a little more difficult, requires more concentration and visualization of the target. Its essence is as follows:

Try to channel your energy for impact on the water, not on the glass itself. Otherwise, there is a risk of getting burned, injured by glass fragments, etc. Therefore, be more careful about what you want to achieve.

After 5-10 minutes of magical action on the water, try to check whether it has warmed up, whether it has become warm. If your manipulations have had an effect, then you can proceed to the next exercise. Well, if all your attempts have not been crowned with success - do not grieve! Patience and labor in magic will lead to all benefits. Do not even doubt it.

Exercise 3. Remote exposure

As soon as you managed to influence the glass, clamped in your palms, you need to move on to remote exposure. This is the final step towards mastering the essence of hand magic.

For the exercise you will need the following:

And then the fun begins. You need, concentrating in the same way, direct the magical streams to the glass. When you start to get it right heat the glass without touching, you can increase the distance - one meter, two, ten, etc.

You are now ready to cast with your hands!

And now you have a mute string of questions in your eyes: what to do with all this knowledge? how to force an object to jump around the room with the power of thought? What magic wand spells should a novice use? I still can't do anything ?!And so on, and so on.

A number of these incoherent, sometimes chaotic and extravagant questions occupy the head of every person who zealously strives to learn levitation in a minute, the ability to move in time, space, etc.

We hasten to upset you - you can do everything, you just don't know about it. After all, the main thing in witchcraft is not spells, ritualization and other crap. The main thing - the power of your thoughts... Direct through your hands (if you like - with the help of a magic knotty stick carved from wood) the power of your desires, and everything you have planned will come true.

Now you definitely don't have to wonder, "How to learn to conjure with real hands"... After all, now nothing is impossible for you: even now, thanks to unpretentious hand passes, you can make even a pencil rise into the air!

Just do not harm your neighbor, since any magical interference has consequences. After all, they can overtake you if you are not careful.

The magic of thought

The most difficult stage in the comprehension of magical science. Learning to conjure with the help of thought, mental image oh how difficult it is! But at the same time it opens up to the magician new opportunities:

Such a force raises an ordinary person (albeit endowed with some sacred knowledge) to the rank of a god who can create everything out of nothing.

Very few people can achieve such a level, since an applicant for such knowledge is required simply to be inhuman perseverance and diligence. It is unlikely that even one in a million will be able to resort to the magic of thought. But the perseverance is worth it as any initiate can:

As you can imagine, the list of possibilities is inexhaustible. Another thing is that only a few can achieve this. And, what is important, only with the assistance of initiates with similar knowledge. True, they very rarely allow themselves to condescend to mere mortals. But, in any case, do not succumb to despondency and set yourself only the most ambitious goals and objectives!

Magic arsenal

Let's summarize some intermediate result. What does a newly-minted magician need in order to comprehend witchcraft, to enter from the ordinary world into the special world?

First you need:

These four areas are very important, so one should not be given preference. You need to move and develop in each position and mark the results. Only then will you notice how much your witchcraft abilities have increased.

A few words about magic formulas

If you still have questions about how to learn to conjure, and you urgently need spells for beginners, then do not despair. Next we will give universal magic formula of treatment... Thanks to the intricacies of magic words, you can conjure yourself money, power, luck, etc.

Chthonic forces, the forces of earth and sky, I appeal to you, for I thirst (the reason for conversion) more than the light and joys of life. I conjure by the strength of my spirit! Give me what I ask, I thirst with all my soul and body. Fall in place three times (to spit over my left shoulder), if my impulses are unclean. Three times! (beat yourself in the chest, quieter and quieter pronouncing the last witch's word of the formula)

But this is just one of the options for a magic phrase. You can create your own as soon as you feel ready. The main thing when creating spells is to be guided by the following rules:

If you follow these rules, then there will be no problems with creating a quality spell.

The magic of words, gestures and thoughts is part of that immeasurably powerful force that is called witchcraft. And it only depends on the person how he will use it: for good or, conversely, for evil. Hopefully, you will make the right choice for yourself. Otherwise, there is a risk of feeling all the destructive power of those forces that are on the other side. And they extremely severely punish those who choose the wrong path of atrocities for themselves ...

Attention, only TODAY!

Magic is a branch of magic that allows you to realize your most cherished desires. In order to implement it, you do not need any professional attributes or complex, specific actions. It will enrich your consciousness and nourish you with positive energy. As well as, this magic can be used daily, but it is better not to get carried away - if you do not have special magic skills.

Many people believe that magic is the lot of fairy tales and cartoons, but this is not the case. It can be found in real life. There are many known cases in which people were healed with the help of magic, received love and solved many problems that are associated with various situations in life.

Great magic can not only heal people, give them happiness, peace and love, but also fulfill their cherished desires. The most important thing is that if you move towards your goals correctly and think over each step mentally, you see the end result - you will get what you want much sooner. This is the difference between magic and other magical effects - because in some cases it can act with a phenomenal speed. But just as in magic in general, you need to remember that this is an integral part of any magical mystery.

Please note that great magic also cannot be used to achieve selfish goals. When you want to get something, first clear your thoughts and think about whether you can do without it.

What is Night Magic

The night of magic is full of mysteries and secrets unknown to anyone before. First of all, it should be noted that the magic of the night is directly opposed to the magic of the day. You have never noticed what is happening around with the onset of night ... The magical power that was hidden under the cover of day revives. Perhaps someone does not at all like this time of day, many prefer the day, but there are witches, magicians, sorcerers and even beginners in this area who cannot wait to realize their plans and fulfill their most secret desires.

When this time of day comes, you need to clear your thoughts of extraneous factors and prepare for this or that love spell, ritual, spell. At the same time, it is worth remembering that the effects are applied differently, depending on whether you have chosen a day or a night for execution. In this case, accordingly, these mysteries will draw their power from different magical sources. Some magicians are closer to the energy of the sun, while others, the reflected energy and the light of the moon.

In no case should you compare Black magic with the magic of the night, because many confuse them and attribute to the second, the most nasty intentions, starting with control over souls and ending almost, but these are completely different things. If it seems to you that you are not fully prepared for night witchcraft, then be sure to wear silver jewelry on yourself - this will give you more strength and self-confidence.

As soon as you understand that the Higher Forces heard you, go to bed and try to talk to no one. And when you wake up, you will feel internal changes, because night of magic takes its roots in the strongest ancient, the main thing is to sincerely believe in everything that happens.

What is the magic thread

For the implementation of the sacraments, some attributes are often used, to which refer thread of magic... It will help you achieve a wide variety of goals, but it's worth noting that a regular thread will not work for such an action.

In order for it to start helping you in everything, it needs to be saturated with your energy. The thread must be purchased in a place where almost no one touched it. Then, wind it around your hand and not take it off for a long time, it can take a couple of months, and when exactly it is saturated with your energy, you will definitely feel. During this time, it will merge with you into one whole and help you get what you have planned.

Once the magic item is ready, use it when performing any ritual or love spell. It will contribute not only to almost any sacrament, but also to protect you, also enhancing the effect that will be obtained from this or that magical influence.

The thread of magic should only be made of wool. Do not purchase synthetic threads as they cannot be used in.

Love magic

Love is one of the most important components of any person's life. If you live without love, you are a miserable person. Sometimes it happens that feelings are not mutual, and all attempts to get them end in failure. It is in such cases that the magic of love can solve your problem.

But, for this you need the following attributes:

· Magic wand;

· Thread of magic;

· Church candle;

· Personal item of a loved one.

After you collect all the necessary items, start performing the magical ordinance. Tie a magic thread around your hand and light a church candle. Place the thing of the beloved person next to the candles. Take a magic wand in your right hand and say the following words:

« Magic to help me, in spite of enemies, we will always be together (lover's name)».

Then, find a secluded place in your home and put the thing of your loved one there. Your magic thread must be next to it. Don't touch them until you start a relationship with the chosen one. The magic of love is famous for its efficiency, so you won't have to wait long, and after a few months your destinies will be reunited.

If it seems to you that such magic is not enough, then of course you can carry it out or else. And if you are not completely confident in your abilities, it is better to ask for help.

If you still have any questions, ask them through the form "contact a magician" and I will answer them as soon as possible.