This is a great question, one I've had reason to consider for quite a long time. I have actual witchcraft practitioners in my family (my Nana was a Strega) so it's something that has lingered in my mind for awhile. I love the background you provided--very thorough! I think I need to marinate more on...

Thank you for the info on this. My dad's side of the family is full-blooded Italian, so I love reading about Roman gods. As for the way the festival was celebrated in the past....as a historian, I can tell you this: if you try to frame the actions of your ancestors in a modern light, they WILL look ...

A lot of these are too dark to tell, but I'll give a few of them a shot. The third crystal on the right of the first row looks like rose quartz, as does DSC04750 and the two stones in DSC04743. The first picture on the third row is hematite. DSC04759 is most likely a carnelian. DSC04752 is a dalmati...

A bit of herb lore about one of the most useful, versatile, effective herbs I know of; parsley. In European tradition, parsley was often associated with the dead. High medieval sources claimed that its roots had to grow to Hell and back seven times before it would sprout. This may be a reference to ...

"(She) had generally considered the laws of etiquette as the rules of the chase, and divided them into categories: those which everyone broke, all the time; those which one could not break without being frowned at; and those which caused one to be quietly and permanently left out of every future inv...

“He could not help a certain resentment that a conscience seemed to be so very expensive, and yet had no substantial form which one might admire, and display to one’s company.”

― Naomi Novik, Victory of Eagles

"Gentleness shown once is mercy, shown twice is folly.”

― Naomi Novik, Black Powder War

I honestly didn't feel anything, it didn't sound threatening, it just sounded like I was overhearing a conversation ( which i wasn't , that I know for sure, I had headphones on and it was like 1 am)and for some reason I instantly felt like the source is divine too, and the energy felt more like a g...

"I closed my eyes and lived in the dark choosing not to to see that the world outside was sick and running mad." “When the world is turned, may you find your true nature.” “There is a madness in you that feeds on the times. Between blood of birth and blood of death, there is life. This fight is now...

Oak: The Oak is known as the king of trees for obvious reasons. Oaks are large and rough-barked, strong and sturdy. Their wood is called ironwood for its rigidity and toughness. Their roots go very deep. Different Oak species range across the world. It is sacred wood, and associated with the souls o...

Thats actually different. Voodoo is a religion that uses Hoodoo in the practices. Its different than the Hoodoo traditions you will find here in the US. There are several related traditions some are religions and others are magical paths. Hoodoo is the American magical tradition. New Orleans Voodoo...

The Four Elements in Old Norse:

Earth: Jord

Wind: Vindr

Water: Logr

Fire: Aldrnari

sources:
English to Old Norse Dictionary
Old Norse Religion in Long-term Perspectives, ed. Anders Andrén, Kristina Jennbert, and Catharina Raudvere.

That would make sense. He was as I said a fertility deity mostly associated with the oceans bounty. The Norse were either fishermen or farmers. You had a few leaders/politicians and you had some warriors but most worked the land. I've heard in my anthropology class that the most secure ancient occu...

[ In the US forms of Hoodoo involve a lot of Christian elements. Most Hoodoos and Rootworkers are Christian. So the way they do their magical work is based in that paradigm. Some traditions are heavily based in Catholicism which includes prayers to Saints and Mary in its practice. So with Hoodoo th...

The original Old Testament was written in Aramaic, an ancient dialect of Hebrew. The word that is often translated as "witch" or "sorcerer" is chasapah which literally means "one who poisons wells." In a society living in an arid landscape where water was scarce, that would indeed be a heinous crime...