Category: Magic

  • Thunderstones in European Folklore

    In Scandinavia thunderstones were frequently worshiped as family gods who kept off spells and witchcraft. Beer was poured over them as an offering, and they were sometimes anointed with butter. In Switzerland the owner of a thunderstone whirls it, on the end of a thong, three times around his head, and throws it at the door of his dwelling at the approach of…

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  • A 12th century Bishop of Rennes asserted the value of thunderstones as a divinely appointed means of securing success in battle, safety on the sea, security against thunder, and immunity from unpleasant dreams

    During the Middle Ages many of these well-wrought thunderstones were venerated as weapons, which during the “war in heaven” had been used in driving forth Satan and his hosts. Hence, in the 11th century the Byzantine emperor sent to the Holy Roman emperor a “heaven axe”; and in the 12th century, a Bishop of Rennes asserted the value of thunderstones as a divinely appointed means…

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  • Albanians believed the supreme powers of thunderstones were formed during lightning strikes

    Albanians believed in the supreme powers of thunderstones (kokrra e rrufesë or guri i rejës), which were believed to be formed during lightning strikes and to fall from the sky. Thunderstones were preserved in family life as important cult objects. It was believed that bringing them inside the house would bring good fortune, prosperity, and progress to people, especially in livestock and agriculture,…

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  • Humans have been interested in echinoid fossils (the fossilised remains of sea urchins) for millennia, considering them lucky and imbuing them with magical powers linked to their deities

    Humans have been interested in echinoid fossils (the fossilised remains of sea urchins) for millennia, considering them lucky and imbuing them with magical powers linked to their deities

    A folk tradition in Denmark and southern England imagined sea urchin fossils to be thunderbolts, able to ward off harm by lightning or by witchcraft, as an apotropaic symbol. Another version supposed they were petrified eggs of snakes, able to protect against heart and liver disease, poisons, and injury in battle, and accordingly they were carried as amulets. These were,…

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  • Kodoku: The Venomous Vortex of Ancient Curses

    Kodoku: The Venomous Vortex of Ancient Curses

    Here’s one that might make your skin crawl and your blood run cold! Welcome to the world of Kodoku, the sinister sorcery that turns creepy crawlies into catastrophic curses! Imagine, if you dare, a jar teeming with nature’s most venomous vermin – scorpions, centipedes, and snakes, oh my! But this is no petting zoo, my…

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  • Gu: The Venomous Vortex of Ancient Chinese Sorcery

    Gu: The Venomous Vortex of Ancient Chinese Sorcery

    Here is another that may make your skin crawl and your blood run cold! Welcome to the world of Gu, the sinister sorcery that turns creepy crawlies into catastrophic curses! Picture, if you dare, a jar teeming with nature’s most venomous vermin – centipedes, snakes, and scorpions, oh my! But this is no petting zoo,…

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  • “Ye therefore, who seek in science a means to satisfy your passions, pause in this fatal way: you will find nothing but madness or death.”

    “Ye therefore, who seek in science a means to satisfy your passions, pause in this fatal way: you will find nothing but madness or death.”

    This is the meaning of the vulgar tradition that the devil ends sooner or later by strangling sorcerers. Eliphas Levi, Transcendental Magic Also… “We have said that impassioned ecstasy may produce the same results as absolute superiority, and this is true as to the issue but not as to the direction of magical operations. Passion…

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  • Seven heavens notes

    Seven heavens notes

    In religious or mythological cosmology, the seven heavens refer to seven levels or divisions of the Heavens. The concept, also found in the ancient Mesopotamian religions, can be found in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; a similar concept is also found in some other religions such as Hinduism. Some of these traditions, including Jainism, also have a concept of seven earths or seven underworlds both with the metaphysical realms of deities and with observed…

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  • Tiresias was a blind prophet who was transformed into a woman for seven years

    Tiresias was a blind prophet who was transformed into a woman for seven years

    In Greek mythology, Tiresias was a blind prophet of Apollo in Thebes, famous for clairvoyance and for being transformed into a woman for seven years. He was the son of the shepherd Everes and the nymph Chariclo. Tiresias participated fully in seven generations in Thebes, beginning as advisor to Cadmus himself. Mythology Eighteen allusions to mythic Tiresias, noted by Luc Brisson, fall into three groups: the first recounts Tiresias’ sex-change episode and later his…

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  • Saints Cyrus and John, Wonderworking Unmercenaries

    Saints Cyrus and John, Wonderworking Unmercenaries

    Saints Cyrus and John (Italian: Ciro e Giovanni; Arabic: أباكير ويوحنا, romanized: Abākīr wa-Yūḥannā; died c. 304 or 311 AD) are venerated as martyrs. They are especially venerated by the Coptic Church and surnamed Wonderworking Unmercenaries (thaumatourgoi anargyroi) because they healed the sick free of charge. Their feast day is celebrated by the Copts on the sixth day of Tobi, corresponding to 31 January, the day also observed by the Eastern Orthodox Church; on the same day…

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  • Jet

    Jet

    Jet is a type of lignite, the lowest rank of coal, and is a gemstone. Unlike many gemstones, jet is not a mineral, but is rather a mineraloid. It is derived from wood that has changed under extreme pressure. The English noun jet derives from the French word for the same material, jaiet (modern French jais), ultimately referring to the ancient town of Gagae. Jet is either black or dark brown, but…

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  • Toadstone aka bufonite

    Toadstone aka bufonite

    The toadstone, also known as bufonite (from Latin bufo, “toad”), is a mythical stone or gem that was thought to be found in the head of a toad. It was supposed to be an antidote to poison and in this it is like batrachite, supposedly formed in the heads of frogs. Toadstones were actually the button-like fossilised teeth of Lepidotes, an extinct genus of ray-finned fish from the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. They appeared to…

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  • Bezoar

    Bezoar

    A bezoar is a mass often found trapped in the gastrointestinal system, though it can occur in other locations. A pseudobezoar is an indigestible object introduced intentionally into the digestive system. There are several varieties of bezoar, some of which have inorganic constituents and others organic. The term has both modern (medical, scientific) and traditional usage. Types By content Food boluses (or boli; singular bolus) have the…

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