Witches

 

  Isobel Lilian Gloag 1890

  Diana is the Roman incarnation of the Greek Artemis – goddess of the moon and the hunt. From Homer, Hesiod, and the Homeric Hymn to Apollo, we learn that Artemis is the twin of Apollo born to Latona and Jupiter. Known as Deiana , Diana’s name derives from the notion that she can turn darkness to daylight ( dies ). In The Nature of the Gods ( De natura deorum , 45 bce), Cicero recounts that Diana and the moon ( luna ) are regarded as one and the same. While Diana and dies (day) are connected etymologically, luna (moon) is cognate with lux (light) and lucere (shine), hence Diana Lucifera. She is associated with secret activities taking place during the night even in ancient times. Along with Selene and Hecate, Diana’s trio of lunar goddesses is often associated with dark magic and witchcraft. Diana also appears in the New Testament of the Bible. Acts 19.24 instructs: “the temple of the great goddess Diana should be despised, and her magnificence should be destroyed, whom all A...

  Many female archetypes associated with strength in the Western tradition have a static, enduring valence. Munificent figures Ma’at, the Moirai, and Bona Dea evoke thoughts of generosity. Warriors Artemis and the Furies conjure images of fighters for justice. Portents of misfortune, Medusa and the Harpies provoke fears of destruction and doom. Yet some formidable women undergo a metamorphosis of valence. Hecate, once compassionate and skilled in herbalism, became a chthonic goddess. Circe, merely mortal, shifts back and forth between good and evil. Sometimes respected, magical healers with knowledge of and a close connection to nature, sometimes harbingers of diabolical evil who gained abilities in black magic following the infamous flight to the sabbath where they signed a pact with Satan, this taxonomy of wise, potent women of ever-shifting valence is known as the witch. Bibliography   Hesiod. Theogony. Edited by Martin L. West. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1966. Kate Hodges a...

  Circe enticing Ulysses , Angelica Kauffmann, 1786 Circe , one of the earliest and most enduring powerful females appears in Homer (late 8 th  century bce). In the  Odyssey , she is a sorcerer, a magical enchantress; we know her today as a Greek goddess and witch. She dwells alone among her magically calm lions and wolves (enchanted humans) refining spells and collecting herbs. Then, Odysseus arrives. Circe displays powers of many kinds: she transforms Odysseus’ men into swine with her wand, she deprives men of their virility, she practices necromancy to summon spirits from the Underworld. Homer provides the template for a powerful female with a complex personality. While there is little mention of flight or night activity, Homer’s Circe has both light and dark elements within her character. The darker aspects are gradually woven into her myth and literary tradition over the centuries. In Argonautica , Apollonius of Rhodes (3 rd  century bce) focuses more specific...

  Dear Reader, this is a blog about witches as they are portrayed in culture (literature, television, film, etc.). I will regularly post information about characters deemed to be witches and I will attempt to combine the rigor of academic scholarship with a writing style that is accessible to most readers of English.