Yes I am a witch
Yes I have flown to the Sabbat
Yes I have seen the Dark Man from Boston
Yes I have signed his Book
Yes I have drunk his Wine
Yes I have danced to his Piping
Yes I have suffered him
to know me per ano
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Yes I am a witch
Yes I have flown to the Sabbat
Yes I have seen the Dark Man from Boston
Yes I have signed his Book
Yes I have drunk his Wine
Yes I have danced to his Piping
Yes I have suffered him
to know me per ano
Iceland, 1655. The reverend Jón Magnússon is convinced that he's bewitched.
The devil haunts him whenever he tries to carry out his priestly functions. His livestock have fallen ill. One of his servants is struck dumb.
Obviously, someone has hexed him.
His suspicions fix on two of his parishioners, a man and his son, both named Jón Jónsson. (The vast majority of Icelanders accused of, and executed for, witchcraft were men.) He denounces the two to the sheriff and they are brought before the local court on charges of witchcraft.
A search of their home turns up galder-books and galder-staves. Galder—sung magic—has long been a primary form of magic in the North. (The word derives from galan, “sing, chant,” as in nightingale, “singer by night,” and gale, the “singing" storm.) One gales (chants) the spell and rists (engraves) it on a stave to “set” it.
On this evidence, both father and son are condemned. Both are burned alive.
But the burnings do not end the haunting.
A woman convicted of witchcraft centuries ago gets a second look. Illegal sand mining in Taiwan raises concerns among environmentalists. And trade between Europe and the United States is debated. It's Fiery Tuesday, our weekly segment on political and societal news from around the world! All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!