Paul Barnes.

Divine, mythically beautiful imaginings that combine inspirations of folklore and anthropology from Scottish painter Paul Barnes.

BUY PRINTS | FOLLOW ON INSTAGRAM

Folklore and witchcraft in the north of France: Part 1

A WARD AGAINST THE EVIL EYE

[ INTRODUCTION HERE ]

There are things from your childhood you can never forget, and my first introduction to witchcraft is one of them: 

My family had been invited for lunch to a place that was ten minutes away from the sea. It used to be a small farm and the owner had a lamb so I spent my time outside playing with her, and that’s how I found some rocks that had a hole in their center. When the owner of the place noticed, he explained to me that farmers and shepherds used to hang them to their walls to protect themselves from a witch’s curse. These rocks are called Cayeux Cornus in Picard dialect, which translates to “horned stones” which usually just means “flint” but that can also represent the good eye:

This custom is very specific to the region of Santerre, Picardy, and Mr. Lefebvre-Marchand, from the Antiquarian society of Picardy, wrote down a testimony he heard near the town of Chaulnes: he explained that to ward off the evil eye, you had to find a rock with a hole that looked like an eye without looking for it on purpose, and to hang it to the walls of your house or stables. That rocks were so powerful that they could protect the household against all kinds of curses, however, if a witch happened to trespass and close the good eye with a smaller stone, the effects of the talisman would vanish and the witch could do anything to you. 

Though it is now rare to see such talismans hanging on houses walls, it is still possible to find those powerful rocks in some farms, just like I did as a kid!

In Higashiyoshino Village [東吉野村] (Yoshino Dist. [吉野郡], Nara Prefecture) there is a shrine called Mid-Niukawakami Shrine [丹生川上神社中社] (above), but the locals also calls it Aridōshi Shrine [蟻通神社] for Aridōshi-myōjin [蟻通明神] is enshrined as one of the deity.

Long time ago (presumably during 9th century AC), an elderly couple were exiled from the city by the Japanese Emperor for being too old to sustain themselves. An Imperial lieutenant general, however, took pity on them and secretly provided refuge to the couples. After a while, a Tàng Dynasty Emperor decided to conquer Japan, but first wanted to test the Japanese Emperor's intelligence. Alas, one of the challenges that the Chinese Emperor poised to the Japanese Emperor was: attach a string on an ant and make it come out from a different ant hole with the string still intact. Unable to solve this challenge himself, the Japanese Emperor tasked the lieutenant general to find a solution who then asked the same elderly couple for an answer. The couple suggested the lieutenant general to place syrups on an ant hole. Taking this solution, the lieutenant general then released the ant tied with a string and as the ant smelled the sweet scent from the syrup, successfully came out from one hole to another carrying the string. After noticing that the Japanese Emperor overcame the challenge, the Chinese Emperor abandoned all plans to invade Japan and as the lieutenant general later confessed that such pending war was only avoided thanks to the wisdom provided by the elderly couple, the Japanese Emperor allowed them to return to the city as well as abolishing the law of exiling old people. The lieutenant general, on the other hand, was deified as Aridōshi-myōjin after his death and was enshrined at Mid-Niukawakami Shrine. ①

This story from Nara Prefecture, however, isn't the only version telling the origin of Aridōshi-myōjin for there's another shrine by the name of Aritōshi Shrine [蟻通神社] (below) in Izumisano City [泉佐野市] (Ōsaka) as well. According to "Otogi-zōshi" [御伽草子] established from Kamakura to Edo Period, the Tàng Chinese Emperor challenged the Japanese government to make an ant tied with strings of 5 different colors to come out from the mouth of a trumpet shell via the opposite end instead and failure to do so resulted in the Tàng Chinese invasion of Japan. In this legend, the same lieutenant general took up the challenge by himself. After the success, the lieutenant general this time revealed his true identity by declaring to be Aridōshi-myōjin of Aritōshi Shrine before vanishing into thin air. ②

Furthermore, Aridōshi-myōjin also made an appearance in the famous Nō play titled "Aridōshi" [蟻通] written by Zeami [世阿弥] (1363-1443). In this play, a Heian Period noble and poet Ki-no-Tsurayuki [紀 貫之] (866?-945?) was in a hurry travelling through Kumano Highway [熊野街道] to visit both Grand Sumiyoshi Shrine [住吉大社] (Ōsaka City [大阪市], Ōsaka) and Tamatsushima Shrine [玉津島神社] (Wakayama City [和歌山市], Wakayama Prefecture), but was bogged down by heavy rain which forced him and his party to seek shelter in Aridōshi Shrine for the night. Though suddenly, Tsurayuki's horse collapsed and died. While contemplating what was happening, the shrine's keeper immerged from the darkness weeping out of utter loneliness and explained that his horse died as a punishment of Aridōshi-myōjin for Tsurayuki, not knowing that he was at Aritōshi Shrine due to the absence of lamp lights, didn't dismantle from the horse when he entered the shrine. In order to appease the deity and restore his favor, the elderly shrine keeper proposed to Tsurayuki in creating a poetic verse as an apology. For Tsurayuki's poem was composed of good, sincere heart, Aridōshi-myōjin resurrected his horse. Alas, Tsurayuki's pilgrimage recommenced after giving thanks to Aridōshi-myōjin.

The old shrine keeper from "Aridōshi".

Sources:

1. "Nara-no-mukashibanashi (10)" [奈良のむかしばなし (10)] via Nara Prefecture's official webpage.

2. "Aridōshi-myōjin-no-engi" [蟻通明神の縁起] via Kokugaku-in University's repository

I spent the full moon cleaning and cleansing bones. I find that winter is the perfect time for it. It’s the season of the Bone Mother, it’s when the Cailleach brushes her bony fingers along the harrowed fields and leaves them frozen and rendered, when Boreas swiftly descends from the mountains of Thrace with the cold north wind in tow.

(Pictured above: Sirius, being 19 years old, is an expert assistant at all things necromantic.)

In my personal practice, as with many others, the nature of my work often coincides with the season. The Light Months of Summer are filled with Life: the chickens and the goats graze in the grass — newborn chicks and kids in stride — and I tend to my witch’s garden of deadly nightshade, datura, castor, yarrow, henbane, mandragora, tobacco, aconite, vervain, mugwort, blue lobelia, American ginseng, black cohosh, and much more. The Dark Months of Winter are ripe with Death: dried herbs from the summer months are worked into charms and poppets, their sleeping roots woken from their black cloths and fashioned into manikins, alrauns, or spirit boxes. Things dead are given new life, and this applies to none more than bones.

Fiyero passed away in the summer of 2018 and was left buried for over a year. For those of you who don’t have the stomach for bucket maceration, or if you wish to give a proper burial as with Fiyero, I recommend the earth. It’ll take longer than bucket maceration for the bones to be cleaned of flesh and fur, but it gets the job done just as well.

The bones were separated and laid out on a cloth atop a butcher’s block. The air was thick with a chthonic and funerary incense of myrrh and juniper tips: Smoke as offering, smoke to mask the scent of moist earth. The din of drums and violins tangled with the smoke, the atmosphere heady and hallowed.

To clean the bones, I add hyssop and burdock root to spring water. Any number of cleansing herbs can be utilized here (sage, vervain, rue, etc.). It’s become a staple for me to also include a few splashes of Florida water — not only is it used to purify or as offering, but the floral notes sure do make a bucket of dirt and decay smell a hell of a lot better. The more stubborn bones are left to soak, while others are cleaned with the cleansing water and a brush. To sing is to heal, so a song to the spirit that resides in the bones is an effective way to appease them, especially if their death was less than pleasant (if they were hunted, killed for sport, or a number of other ways).

The bones can be cleaned and returned to the earth as an act of respect, or if the spirit wishes only to rest. If they’re willing to work with you, then a number of things can be done, from working them into charms or jewelry, made into art or decoration, or if you wish to consecrate them, they can be enlivened as fetiches or spirit houses. As for other remains, such as hides, I often have those made into drum skins for ritual drums.

(Note: I’ve had people ask where I get my bones. The majority of them come from livestock that have passed on our farm. They live long lives, and after they die, they’re treated with high respect and the parts of them that can become something new, do. Other sources include roadkill or humane bone collectors in the area.)

Japanese Mythology & Deities

Major Gods in the Chronicles (41)

Sukunabikona-no-kami ~ A drawf god riding on a rough potato pod & clad in moth skin

When the god Okuninushi was pondering the creation of a nation at the cape of Miho in Izumo, a little god who stripped the skin of moths for clothing appeared from the far side of the sea in a boat made of the rough potato pod, the guest deity. This was the god Sukunabikona.

The Okuninushi asked the little god his name, but he had no answer, and his attendants did not know it either. Then the toad Tanigugu appeared and said, “Kuebiko would know this one.

Tanigiku is a god who appears in Japanese mythology. The toad was thought to be "a being who knows every inch of the land” or “a ruler who crawls on the earth”, because he lived everywhere on earth.

Kuebiko is the scarecrow of Yamada. This deity is said to be unable to walk on his feet, but he knows everything there is to know about the world.

Later, the dwarf god Sukunabikona became the right-hand man of Okuninushi, and played an active role in the founding of Izumo.

He is said to have worked with Okuninushi to determine how to eliminate disease and remove damage from insects, birds and animals. He is also said to have cured the ailing Okuninushi by bathing him in Hayami-no-yu, a hot spring with medicinal properties, in Oita.

For this reason, he is also known as the god of hot springs. And he is known as the god of sake making, as sake has been considered a medicine since ancient times and Sukunabikona spread the art of sake making.

Sukunabikona later climbed up a stalk of millet and was flung by it into the Land of Everlasting Life.

It should be noted that Sukunabikona-no-kami is also thought to be the prototype for the “little children” who appear in Japanese fairytales and folklore, such as “One-Dimensional Boy” and “Princess Kaguya”.

日本神話と神様たち

記紀に登場する主な神々(41)

少名毘古那神（すくなびこなのかみ）~ガガイモの鞘に乗り、蛾の皮を纏って現れた小人神

大国主神（おおくにぬしのかみ）が、出雲の美保岬（みほのみさき）で、国づくりについて頭を悩ませていたとき、蛾の皮を丸剥ぎにして衣服とする小さな神が、海の彼方から天の羅摩船（あめのかがみのふね＝ガガイモの鞘でできた舟）に乗って現れた客人神（まろうどがみ）がいた。それが少名毘古那神（すくなびこなのかみ）である。

大国主神はその小さな神に名を尋ねたが、答えがなく、従者もその名を知らなかった。そこにヒキガエルの多邇具久（たにぐく）が現れて、「これは久延毘古（くえびこ）なら知っているでしょう」と言った。

多邇具久（たにぐく）とは、日本神話に現れる神である。谷蟆（ヒキガエル）は、地上のどこにでも生息しているため、「国土の隅々まで知り尽くした存在」であるとか「地上を這い回る支配者」と考えられていた。

久延毘古（くえびこ）とは、山田の案山子のことである。この神は、足は歩くことはできないが、天下のことはことごとく知っているということである。

こののち、小人神の少名毘古那神（すくなびこ）は、大国主神の右腕となり、出雲建国のために活躍する。

大国主神とともに病を除く方法や、虫害・鳥獣の害を除去する方法を定めたとされている。また、病に苦しむ大国主神を大分の速水湯（はやみのゆ、薬効のある温泉）で湯浴みさせ、治したという。このことから、温泉の神としても知られている。また酒は古来薬の一つとされ、スクナビコナが酒造りの技術を広めたことから、酒造りの神としても知られる。

少名毘古那神（すくなびこなのかみ）はのちに、粟の茎をよじ登り、それにはじかれて常世国（とこよのくに）へ渡って行った。

なお、少名毘古那神（すくなびこなのかみ）は、日本のおとぎ話や伝承に登場する「一寸法師」や「かぐや姫」などの「小な子」の原型とも考えられている。

Japanese Mythology & Deities

Major Gods in the Chronicles (30)

Princess Ichikishimahime ~ Sarasvati, Benzaiten, the second of the three Munakata goddesses

Ichikishimahime is one of the three Munakata goddesses who were born at the scene of the oath between Amaterasu and Susanoo.

These three goddesses are incarnated from the mist that arose when Amaterasu broke Susanoo’s Totsuka (ten-fisted) sword into three sections and sprinkled water from the Manai of Heaven over it before biting into her mouth and blowing it out.

They have long been worshipped as guardians of maritime traffic by people living in the Genkai Sea. The Genkai Sea (Genkai-nada) is a body of water that comprises the southwestern tip of the Sea of Japan and borders the northern coasts of Fukuoka and Saga prefectures.

Of the three deities, Ichikishimahime is the most important. In the Middle Ages, this deity was worshipped in conjunction with Sarasivati, a water deity of Indian origin, due to the spread of the Honjisuijaku ideology. In the Edo period (1603-1868), the goddess became Benzaiten, one of the seven gods of good fortune and she was often invoked as a guardian deity.

日本神話と神様たち

記紀に登場する主な神々(30)

市寸島比売命（いちきしまひめ）~ 宗像三女神の次女、弁財天・サラスヴァティー

市寸島比売命（いちきしまひめ）または市杵島姫（いちきしまひめ）は、天照大御神(あまてらす)と須佐之男命（すさのお）との誓約（うけい）の場面で誕生した宗像三女神（むなかたさんじょしん）の一人である。

この三女神は、天照大御神(あまてらす)が須佐之男命（すさのお）の十拳剣を三段に折って、天の真名井（まない）の水を振りそそいでから口に噛んで吹き出したときの霧から化生する。

そして、玄界灘（げんかいなだ）にくらす人々によって古くから海上交通の守護神として信仰されている。玄界灘（げんかいなだ）は、日本海の南西端を構成する水域で、福岡県と佐賀県の北岸に接している。

三神のうち特に重要なのは、この市寸島比売命（いちきしまひめ）である。この神は、中世には本地垂迹（ほんじすいじゃく）思想の流布により、インド起源の水神・サラスヴァティーと習合、崇拝されるようになる。また七福神の一神、弁財天（弁才天）となり、江戸時代には財産の神、技芸の神として大いに流行し、寺院や地域の鎮守神としてしばしば勧請された。

Magic symbols from Australia’s forgotten chapter

From: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-07-17/magic-symbols-reveal-superstitious-colonial-past/11306586

A hexafoil carved into the walls of a stable. A hexafoil, also known as a daisy wheel, is thought to offer protection. Modern Wicca describes them as a sun motif, and a more secular point of view is that they are a geometric exercise for apprentices.

Painstakingly chiselled into century-old stone stable walls, tucked away in the back of a blacksmith’s workshop, lies a forgotten piece of Victoria’s colonial history.

It is a hexafoil — small, white, circular, and intricately carved with a witch’s mark.

It is one of many thought to be hidden in south-west Victoria, according to historian and Australian Magic Research Project Director Ian Evans.

“It’s a circular mark, probably about six inches across, and within the mark there are a number of arches made with the use of a protractor or compass and these look like the petals of a flower,” Dr Evans said.

Burn marks and hidden boots

Dr Evans said magic symbols like the hexafoil were often used by tradespeople and farm workers to protect buildings and animals without the knowledge of the property owners.

“It was not a case where there were wizards roaming around, this was the magic of the ordinary people of the cities, towns and countryside,” he said.

Stables and homesteads were common places to find signs of magic and superstition, but this is the first instance where researchers have looked at colonial-era buildings around Victoria to trace the lineage of Australia’s folk history.

Already, the researchers have found burn marks in more than 20 stables in the southern midlands of Tasmania and a boot beneath the floor of one of Brisbane’s oldest homes — both symbols of folk magic thought to ward off evil spirits and offer protection against misfortune and disease.

“The belief was if you hid, for instance, a child’s shoe in the house … that that would protect the child while the child lived in the home,” said Dr David Waldron, a senior history lecturer at Federation University.

Crosses on door hinges were thought to ward off evil spirits and protect against disease.

Filling in the forgotten chapter

Hexafoils, burn marks and hidden clothing are part of a set of ancient superstitions that date back to the Roman times, carried to Australia by the colonialists in the 18th century — especially the impoverished Irish.

“You get a lot in the papers at the time about trying to stamp out superstitions amongst the poor Irish Catholics,” Dr Waldron said.

The symbols could relate to deeply personal fears — those of mothers who worried they would lose their children to typhus, or farriers concerned for the safety of their horses.

Ritual burn marks in a stable in Victoria. Burn marks were thought to protect against evil spirits.

Medical advancements and institutionalised education saw a decline in superstitious thought in the 19th century, but the ancient magic symbols still hide on homesteads and colonial properties around Australia.

In Victoria, these symbols have already been found on farming properties near Terang and Mortlake, close to Warrnambool.

Dr Evans said he was especially keen to hear from property owners from south-west Victoria with intact stables and farm buildings in the hopes of uncovering the truth about Australia’s folk magic past.

“It’s a lost and secret history,” he said.

“A forgotten chapter in Australian history.”

Personally, I think its amazing to see the “everyday” magic of the non-practitioner. When science and medicine wasn’t enough, people fell back to the old ways - and used these techniques to protect themselves, their families and their livelihoods. 

A Working Bibliography of Books On Rootwork/Conjure/Hoodoo That Are Actually Authored by Black Folk

 “Wherever there are Africans, or people of African descent, there is magic.”- Faith Mitchell

 My calling to rootwork is ancestral. However, I unfortunately I have yet to encounter elders in my life to apprentice under on this plane of existence.  Coming up, I didn’t know other people who identified themselves as rootworkers/hoodoos/conjurers etc. Being a scholar (among other identities), my entry point into hoodoo began with books, archives, and scholarly journals. As a result, I was able to garner a wealth of information as to what hoodoo is and isn’t, which recipes (old school hoodoos don’t cast ‘spells’) to use for what, to be able to engage in an intangible mentorship with the elders that came before me. All of these things have informed how I move through the world and grow stronger in my practice.

    As a result of a White spiritual hijacking of African Traditional Religions and Africana Magico-Spiritual practices (i.e. hoodoo), the vast majority of the information about hoodoo on and offline has been authored by white people, so much so that they have become the face of hoodoo (similar to white women and yoga). 

    For those of us who are looking to grow and learn from other Black practitioners, here is a working list of books. This list consists solely of non-fiction texts, however, there is a lot to learn from novels as well, perhaps I’ll create a part two some other time. 

Please hit me up if I am missing anything or if you have a personal connection with these texts, I’d love to be in conversation. 

Many of these mentioned texts can be found online for Free.99. 

Also, sorry this is a long ass post. 

My Personal Favorites:

   1. Jambalaya: The Natural Woman’s Book of Personal Charms & Practical Rituals - Luisah Teish

 2.  Of Mules & Men- Zora Neale Hurston

3. Working the Roots: Over 400 Years of Traditional African American Healing

4. Mojo Workin: The Old African American Hoodoo System- Katrina Hazzard-Donald

5. Black Magic: Religion and the African American Conjuring Tradition- Yvonne P. Chireau

6. Secret Doctors: Ethnomedicine of African Americans by Wonda L. Fontenot ( I think this one might be out of print but much of it can be found online via Google Books) 

Honorable Mention: Tell My Horse- Zora Neale Hurston

 Ok, so this is one of my absolute favorite texts though it doesnt discuss American hoodoo. It focuses on Haitian Voodoo and Jamaican Obeah. However, there is a lot that can be learned from this text and how African magico-spiritual practices are indeed “scientific” as opposed to mere superstition. 

Additional texts that I haven’t gotten to reading yet or are simply not in my favorites (no shade, no tea):

7. Hoodoo Medicine: Gullah Herbal Remedies - Faith Mitchell

8. 365 Days of Hoodoo: Daily Rootwork, Mojo and Conjuration- Stephanie Rose Bird

9. Sticks, Stones, Roots & Bones: Hoodoo, Mojo and Conjuring with Herbs- Stephanie Rose Bird

10. A Healing Grove: African Tree Remedies and Rituals for Body and Spirit - Stephanie Rose Bird

11. African American Folk Healing- Stephanie Mitchem

12. Faith, Health, and Healing in African American Life (Religion, Health, and Healing) - Stephanie Mitchem ED. 

13.  God, Dr. Buzzard, and the Bolito Man: A Saltwater Geechee Talks About Life on Sapelo Island, Georgia - Cornelia Walker Bailey

14. Rootwork: Using the Folk Magick of Black America for Love, Money and Success- Tayannah Lee McQuillar

15. Voodoo & Hoodoo: The Craft as Revealed by Traditional Practitioners- Jim Haskins

Thank you!

Yes thank you very much!!!

Slavic Countries

no one like literally nobody at all:

me: what if angels emit ionizing radiation

this is probably just going to be a bunch of pseudoscientific bullshit but hear me out anyway:

in conclusion:

Sun Shower

In Japanese, sun shower is sometimes referred to as “Kitsune-no-yomeiri” [狐の嫁入り] meaning “Fox’s Wedding” when translated directly to English. 

The history behind this unique term’s creation, according to “Hokusai-yōkai-hyakkei” [北斎妖怪百景] (2004) by Natsuhiko Kyōgoku [京極 夏彦] (1963 - present), can be traced back to Edo Period when artist Hokusai Katsushika [葛飾 北斎] (1760 ? - 1849) illustrated a Ukie scenery titled: “Kitsune-no-yomeiri-zu” [狐の嫁入り図] where a group of foxes heading to their wedding ceremony accompanying the gloom and the spouse during a sun shower. 

This idea of “fox’s wedding + sun shower” later caught on and was popularized even further as famous Japanese poets during both Edo Period and Meiji Era such as Issa Kobayashi [小林 一茶] (1763 - 1828) and Shiki Masaoka [正岡 子規] (1867 - 1902) implemented Katsushika’s concept into their poetry works. Subsequently, the reference “Fox’s Wedding” (Kitsune-no-yomeiri) became a word to indicate “sun shower”. 

The Theological Importance Of Rain

Keep reading

Nokhur Cemetery

Located in the village of Nokhur (Turkmenistan), this graveyard has gravestones that are fitted with the horns of mountain goats. It is believed that they ward off evil spirits and guide the soul of the deceased into heaven.