Well, here we are again. Blessed Imbolc to you all. With the first light of Spring coming our way, I like to take things back to the root, and with today’s ART-icle, that is exactly what I am going to do.
As I have previously talked on, and as we are all aware, Paganism is steeped in rich visual history and symbolism. Today, in the spirit of Imbolc, I want to explore the origins of some of the most iconic visuals associated with Paganism and Witchcraft.
Picture above – witches illustrated by Peronet Lamy in Le Champion des Dames, 1451.
When it comes to western witchcraft and magic, you can’t get much more iconic that the image of women flying around on broomsticks.
The first known visual depiction of this stereotype can be seen in a work by Medieval French poet Marin le Franc (1410-1461) called Le Champion des Dames, or The Ladies Champion written in either 1440 or 1442. As a nerdy aside – if anyone wants to look into some cool mid 15th century feminist writing, this is a great place to start – now back to business… The illumination of the two women in medieval dress riding broom sticks was probably rendered by artist Peronet Lamy, a native of Savoy, known for his gothic paintings and manuscript illumination. Now, stick with me – this may sound like I’m reciting a rather wordy history textbook, but this is where it gets interesting. Lamy’s illumination with the broomstick illustration of le Franc’s manuscript is dated to 1451, however, the first witch to confess to riding a broom was actually a man, Guillaume Edelin. Edelin was a priest from just outside Paris, and was arrested in 1453 and tried publicly for witchcraft after speaking out against the church’s demonisation of witches. Under torture, Guillaume Edelin ‘confessed’ to riding on a broom and practicing witchcraft.
Now, although Edelin’s confession was the first-time history formally recorded a witch owning up to the broom as their preferred method of transportation, this stereotype of zooming around on the household staple was already well established. There are plenty of theories as to why this is, although the most credible suggests that the pagan tradition of ‘jumping the broom’ and the rumour that witches like to fly around at night got jumbled up together and ta daaaa we have witches flying around on brooms.
Moving on to a fluffier visual - black cats. Paganism and cats go hand in hand – or hand in paw – from the ancient Egyptians hailing felines as sacred, to the association of Hecate with the whiskered creatures, and then to the infamous medieval witches of Europe with their fury familiars, there is no separating cats and the craft - but why is this link so strong?
Modern day witchcraft, or more accurately, western witchcraft, can credit the association to our fury friends (like many stereotypes) to the medieval catholic church. Now, I could go on a bit of a theological rant about the relationship between the church and cats, but I’ll try my best to stick to the relevant bits. Cats were heralded across medieval Europe for their rodent catching abilities, repeatedly being recorded as just as valuable as a full-grown sheep. These talented little furballs were the only animals allowed to be kept within monasteries, becoming the monks best friend, and were often depicted in holy texts – the original Tom and Jerry, if you will.
Above - A cat and a mouse, from a 13th-century miscellany from the British Library Collection
However, thanks to a rather damning document issued by Pope Gregory IX in 1233, the attack on the cat began, declaring that black cats were an incarnation of Satan. Once again, there’s a whole load of arguments theorising over the link between European witches and their fury companions, although most come back to the age-old topic of misogyny and attempts to control women. Cats have a tendency to ignore authority, and the church viewed witches as the same, ignoring the authority of the patriarchal church, connecting the two through fear mongering tactics. Of course, black cats were singled out as particularly untrustworthy creatures of the night as they (rather uncreatively) blend in with said night.
“So fear the crazy cat lady” said the church, and medieval Europe listened.
Above – Sathan the Cat pictured in the 1566 paper report.
However, all this talk of black cats needs to be put aside for a minute to pay homage to the first witches cat that reached newspaper headlines in 1566. The first widely documented English witch trial featured Elizabeth Francis, Agnes Waterhouse, and her daughter, Joan Waterhouse, who lived in Essex. Elizabeth confessed that Sathan, her white spotted cat, was her familiar. Sathan, or simply ‘Satan’ in modern English, apparently used to speak to Elizabeth and would do anything for a drop of blood. Elizabeth confessed to killing livestock for Sathan, as well as several people (Sathan also committed murder himself), including a wealthy man named Andrew Byles, a previous lover of Elizabeth who refused to marry her after she became pregnant with their child. Sathan was a repeat feature in the trail of all three women, the cat being traded and passed among the three with equally bloody details. All in all, Sathan got up to some pretty intense stuff.
The vast majority of modern-day Pagan symbolism and iconography come from two avenues, the first being the teachings and beliefs of the ancients. Of course, these ancient Pagan beliefs are far from dead, with many practicing Pagans still following the ways of a variety of Pantheons, from Greek, to Norse, Roman, to Egyptian. The second avenue is the aforementioned Catholic Church, or perhaps more accurately, the Catholic Church and their tendency to rewrite history in favour of their teachings. To me, the fact that Paganism continues to have such a deep rooted connection to our visual histories, is testament to our belief, despite millennia and drastic efforts of erasure. That’s pretty darn magic to me.
By Ivy Bradshaw-
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