As it is Halloween on Friday I thought I'd talk about my fascination with witches... I've been intrigued by witches and witchcraft for as long as I can remember, avidly consuming books about witches, television shows (from the good to the awful) and films. I had little journals where I would write down spells, and collected crystals, incense and candles that I thought were particularly special, me and my friend would get together and talk about whether we thought they worked or not. I dressed up as witches at least three years in a row for book-day at school (Mildred from the Worst Witch, Hermione from Harry Potter and the White Witch from the Chronicles of Narnia): essentially, I devoured as much as I could about witches, my mother would have to supply me endlessly with books because I would read them so fast. Maybe it was growing up with a Catholic influence, but it always felt a little bit illicit to be reading about witches and magic.
I've hidden this obsession well as I've grown up, but every time Halloween rolls around, I find myself returning to those stories, shows and cinema and thinking how fucking cool it would be if it were all real. For 10 months of the year I am generally grounded in reality, but in September, when the air begin to cool, I let my solid footing slip.
Maybe it's the change in the seasons, I have always had romantic notions about nature, and the hidden Pagan inside of me wants to make wicker effigies at harvest. I begin to pay close attention to the cycles of the moon, and wish it was acceptable to wander barefoot over the local common, lighting bonfires and wearing a black cape. I fear it wouldn't go down too well, where I live.
Maybe it's the change in the seasons, I have always had romantic notions about nature, and the hidden Pagan inside of me wants to make wicker effigies at harvest. I begin to pay close attention to the cycles of the moon, and wish it was acceptable to wander barefoot over the local common, lighting bonfires and wearing a black cape. I fear it wouldn't go down too well, where I live.
For now, I'll collect crystals, and stones with perfect circles inside, dried herbs and sticks and feathers, pretending that I have my own little tree-stump altar and a circle made from branches..
(Images taken from Pinterest, photo credits where possible are provided on Pinterest.)
