Portal:The Folklore Society

“ Witches do the same, no less than demons, ghosts, and other eldritch folk in all parts of the world. Fairies delight in dancing and feasting by night: these formed great part of the occult joys of the witch-Sabbat, and the dances of both are probably an imaginative exaggeration of actual orgiastic folk-dances. The intruder on fairy or witch revels was likely to fare badly. ”

“ The sorcerers of the Roro-speaking peoples of New Guinea get a stone from the black snake which possesses such power that they can kill a man by touching him with it. [16] The Cherokee of North America believe in a great snake of fabulous size, with a blazing crest like a diamond upon its forehead with which it dazzles its victims. ”

“ None the less, medieval medicine and modern folklore testify to the deep impression made by terror of the snake upon popular imagination, and it is significant that Pliny gives to snake-bite the place of honour in his list of ills which may be remedied by simples. ”

“ It is clear that the man settles in enjoyment of the property, as the successor of his father-in-law in possession of the mother-in-law, not as son-in-law and husband of the daughter. These facts, taken with the precedence allowed to the widow in the new ménage, indicate that the marriage with the widow is the key to the system which notably creates "a sort of dual control over all property, the balance being in favour of the wife's machong" (motherhood) . ”

“ This is possible, and, while some of the "witches" made no pretension to alliance with the devil, it was certainly a widespread belief that fairies could give supernatural power to their favourites. It may partly explain the mingling of the two beliefs; but if so, we have not met with such magistrates as would have accepted this milder origin of the witches' power, and clearly the king would not have tolerated them.
Thus in Scotland the connexion between fairy, witch, ghost, and devil tended to be a close one. ”

“ Nowhere either in Great Britain or in France is there any suggestion from the legal authorities that the witches were formed into companies or that there was a definite and fixed number in each company. The Malleus Maleficarum is equally silent. Except in the cases of Isobel Gowdie whose evidence was given voluntarily, and of Ann Armstrong who was "King's evidence," the number composing a coven is not mentioned, no question on the subject is ever recorded as being asked, and the evidence of the witches also shows that they were not questioned on the matter. ”

“ The supernatural powers possessed by both are the same—invisibility and shape-shifting, as well as that of taking the substance of food-stuffs from their rightful owners—the toradh, as it is called in Gaelic, the essence of milk or corn or of an animal. Both steal children or exchange them for their own kind, and both are apt to extract the soul or heart of a man, leaving him with none or with a fairy or demon soul, or a heart made of straw. ”

“ The belief in snake stones, which have magical properties, particularly the power of curing snake-bite or acting as an antidote to poison, is widely distributed. In tropical climates, where venomous reptiles abound in great variety and man under more primitive conditions of living is less protected against attack, the absorbing terror of snake-bite is intelligible enough. In Western Europe, however, where snakes are less numerous, and poisonous varieties comparatively infrequent, the preoccupation with snake-bite is more surprising. ”

“ There are many pieces of subsidiary evidence which must be passed over, and the evidence for this mingling of beliefs is less copious elsewhere. Yet we find it in sporadic trials or traditions in England and in Germany. Fiends, fairies, and hags are classed together by English poets, divines, and enquirers into the supernatural. Yet the trial of an English healer cited by Webster in his Displaying of Supposed Witchcraft (1677) , while it bears a close resemblance to certain incidents of the Scottish trials, shows how enlightenment was beginning to influence those in authority. ”

“ The fairies, in his opinion, were delusive creations of the devil. The foretelling by witches of the death of persons seen by them in fairyland, not persons already dead, is either a mistake or a diabolical prompting. Rather unreasonably, while James pities those, not being witches, to whom fairies appear, he thinks that witches, seeing them in fantasy, ought to be punished. They were willing victims of the father of lies. Some speak of their traffic with fairies in order that ignorant magistrates may not punish them, as they would punish witches leagued with the devil. ”

“ Elsewhere the evidence is only occasional, but it is probable that Scottish superstition was not alone in this assimilation of two quite different groups, fairies and witches, or three, if we include the devil and his demoniac train, with whom all witchcraft had officially been associated. The official, ecclesiastical orthodoxy of Europe had long regarded all spirits as either angelic or demoniac. Fairies, elves, brownies, water-sprites, forest and woodland folk, were certainly not angels ; therefore they must be demons. To the orthodox theologian the world was full of such demons ”

“ Among the magical stones which were catalogued in later classical times there are some which enjoy the reputation of putting serpents to flight or curing the victims of snake-bite, which cannot with certainty be brought under any of the above categories of so-called snake stones. [48] And mention should be made of a class of snake stone which appears to derive its name not from its serpentine shape, markings or origin, but from its function of extracting poison, for which it is qualified by its adhesive properties. ”

“ In all the writings of the mediaeval period they are demons, pure and simple. Many of the ecclesiastical or semi-ecclesiastical authors of that age, Etienne de Bourbon, Caesarius of Heisterbach, Gervase of Tilbury, Giraldus Cambrensis, must have been folk-lorists without knowing it, for they sought far and wide for stories illustrating the doings of the demons. ”

“ Stones of this type, which by their shape or markings resemble snakes, are naturally thought to be curative in virtue of homoeopathy. Just as the application of the body or fat of a dead snake [13] or a draught of viper wine [14] are sovereign against snake-bite or poison, so the application of a stone resembling a snake or the drinking of a concoction, in which it has been steeped, will produce similarly desirable results. Analogous is the use of the herb dracunculus, which, being spotted like a viper's skin, enjoyed a reputation as a specific against snake-bite. ”

“ The stony secretions of the lynx were used in antiquity to cure falling sickness and to alleviate pains in the kidney, [25] and the Byzantine Philes asserts that calculi from the ostrich are an excellent remedy for ophthalmia. [26] To such calculi, which are not in fact of resplendent appearance nor in the least like diamonds, appears to belong the dracontia lapis of Solinus, an authority upon whom the medieval lapidaries drew. It must be cut out of the head of a living snake, for, if the snake dies before it is procured, the stone dissolves. ”

“ The jewelled appearance of some of the more venomous species and the phenomenon of fascination, by which snakes paralyze their victims, may have suggested the almost universal belief that snakes possess a jewel or stone, or that a stone is to be found in their head or body which possesses magical properties. ”

“ Although treated by literary and learned men, these show clearly what poets like Dunbar, Lindsay, and Montgomery could make of the traditions of the folk, well known to them in their early years from the teachings of the credulous, kindly, if masterful Scottish nurse of the old school, like Burns's old woman. ”

“ In France fairies are still sometimes regarded in popular belief as sorceresses, or their revels are and were participated in by these as well as by demons, while many centuries ago the trial of Joan of Arc shows that her judges, if not the folk, were determined to regard the fées as evil spirits, and to connect them with the devil and the Sabbat. [17] In Germany the names given to the witches' devils are sometimes of an elfin kind; the spells of witches concern elfins, dwarfs, and the like, rather than devils ”

“ The fortunate possessor of a genuine adder stone [40] was assured of success in all his undertakings, particularly, according to Pliny's informants, in law-suits and royal audiences. [41] According to more modern authorities, in addition to the general good fortune which it guarantees to the possessor, the adder stone has specific qualities, among which its use as prophylactic against the attack of snakes or as an antidote against their poison is almost universal. The method of cure is usually to dip the stone in water, which is then given to the patient to drink. ”

“ No contemporary Englishman had a wider knowledge or a more just and discriminating appreciation of Bengali literature, and none was more delighted to watch and promote the advance of the Bengali. To great knowledge of oriental subjects he added a charming personality, and he was ever ready to assist students in the subjects of which he made a speciality. ”

“ At all events the British Association has more than once taken note of them, and has not gone so far as the Russian Commissary of Education, who has announced that all mention of fairies, angels, or devils in fairy tales is to be supplanted by the words "scientists and technicians who have served humanity." ”

“ In a letter of 1787 Burns speaks of the numerous tales current in Scotland, and told him by an old woman in his childhood, "concerning devils, ghosts, fairies, brownies, witches, warlocks, spunkies, kelpies, elf-candles, dead-lights, wraiths, apparitions, cantraips, giants, enchanted towns, dragons, and other trumpery," and describes the effect which these still had upon him in his later years as well as upon his poetry. Scotland has, in fact, always been a peculiar haunt of such beings. ”

“ There was first a chief who presided over the whole community; then there was a small body of persons who correspond to the “elders” of a church, and lastly there was the general congregation. It is the study of this small body or company of “elders” which yields some interesting results. These companies were called “covens” in Great Britain, a word which is derived from the same root as “convene,” and I have adopted it as a technical term to describe a band of male and female witches, in other words, the hierarchy of the cult. In each district there was at least one coven ”

“ The boastings and ravings of half-crazy and self-conscious as well as self-deluded persons, the hallucinations of women dominated by the superstitions of the time, the admissions of victims maddened by torture, were alike accepted as evidence, and that evidence was regarded as fact by men of learning and knowledge sitting in the seat of judgment. ”

“ They are the owners of all property, and the relations of a deceased husband will often keep his widow waiting for years for a mere child. By the time the child is of marriageable age the woman is already old. In such a case the young husband is always allowed to marry a young girl as well, so the widow is kept unmarried for years for the sake of her property. ”

“ Before these cults became banned by the advance of orthodox Christianity, there must certainly have been more than one place of celebration, and the topography of Grail Castle, Perilous Chapel, etc., may well vary as the result of surviving traditions of different localities; but when our romances were composed I imagine that the tradition of one secret sanctuary where the banished ritual still survived was dominant. ”

“ In Wales, whenever a snake is found under or near a hazel tree on which the mistletoe grows, the creature has a precious stone in its head. [18] According to the Malays the cobra has a bright jewel on its head which shines at night, and snakes carry a jewel in their mouths for the possession of which they fight. ”

“ Most of the matters alleged regarding witches can be found in savage sorcery and this shows that the roots of classical, mediaeval, and later witchcraft go deep into the soil of humanity. To savage spirits and demons of all kinds, Arabian Jinn, Greek Nereids, the spirit foxes of Japan and China, to ghosts, fairies, and dwarfs, can be applied now this, now that incident, or manner of acting, or characteristic. ”

“ It seems certain then that, in the constitution of the witch-societies, thirteen was the appointed number for a coven in Great Britain. The French evidence is not so clear, for the French trials are rarely published in extenso. There is, however, one cause celèbre, which in modern times is usually regarded as a trial for murder; but was considered by the contemporary recorders, and is in its essence, a witch trial. This was the trial in 1440 of Gilles de Rais, Marshal of France. [19] The evidence is given in full detail, and the number of persons implicated can therefore be ascertained. ”

“ Whether these partake the nature of angels or of devils, or incline more to that of fairies, I leave you to judge.
Everyone who has studied the various sets of beings, more or less supernatural, in which humanity has believed, is aware that a large number of characteristics is common to all. ”