Tag Archives: witches

How Did I Choose Me My Witchcraft Kin? My Past and Future in Witches

Posted on 28th October 2015 by Sam George

‘My Nannie says I’m a child of sin. How did I choose me my witchcraft kin?’ (Waterhouse, ‘The Magic Circle’, 1886, thanks to Janette for this) I found myself in the north of England at the weekend for the Gothic … Continue reading →

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Witch-Finding, Marina Warner

Posted on 27th October 2015 by firekrank

Set your alarms for 10.00pm tonight (or head to BBC iPlayer tomorrow) in order to hear Marina Warner’s edition of Radio 3’s Free Thinking, ‘Witch-Finding’. The show includes Catherine Spooner talking about the history of witchcraft trials. If you are … Continue reading →

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Witchy Vampires

Posted on 15th October 2015 by William the Bloody

This is a little light, but fun, and a starting point for those who want to explore the folkloric vampire/witch figure from outside the usual Western literary paradigms. (Though calling these kindred bloodsuckers ‘vampire’ and universalising them thus opens up … Continue reading →

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Witches from Fiction, Witches from History

Posted on 14th October 2015 by firekrank

Having read Sam’s post on The Emergence of the Sympathetic Witch in Twentieth-Century Culture, I was pleased to see one of my favourite online groups, A Mighty Girl, posting about a book called History’s Witches: An Illustrated Guide (2013) by Lisa Graves. … Continue reading →

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The Emergence of the Sympathetic Witch in Twentieth-Century Culture

Posted on 13th October 2015 by Sam George

I’ve been wondering lately how neatly the sympathetic witch corresponds to the rise of the sympathetic vampire in twentieth-century culture?  I was named after one very memorable good witch, Samantha Stephens below, played by Elizabeth Montgomery (my parents were huge … Continue reading →

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Happy Walpurgisnacht!

Posted on 30th April 2015 by William the Bloody

Tonight is the night that witches party. There is a wild, fantastic depiction of this in Goethe’s Faust and there are memorable reworkings throughout literature and the arts–in Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, Bulgakov’s The Master and Margarita, Joseph Heller’s … Continue reading →

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17 of March 2015’s Best YA Books

Posted on 10th March 2015 by William the Bloody

The YA novels listed here look very exciting, and many have a Gothic, paranormal tinge to them, featuring witches, ghosts, and so on. I have to confess to not knowing any of these but I’ll be investigating them!

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Podcast: A.S. Byatt discusses the fairy tales of the Brothers Grimm

Posted on 16th January 2015 by William the Bloody

Novelists A. S. Byatt and Lawrence Norfolk venture together into Germany’s dark woods to discover witches, goblins, lost children and treasure.

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Review of Witches and Wicked Bodies exhibition at the British Museum

Posted on 20th December 2014 by firekrank

Last Monday, I decided to treat myself to the Witches and Wicked Bodies exhibition at the British Museum. It was my kind of treat because it covers a subject matter of much interest to me and it was also free. The exhibition … Continue reading →

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‘Witches and wicked bodies’, British Museum, 25 September 2014 – 11 January 2015

Posted on 15th December 2014 by William the Bloody

This looks a marvellous and thrilling exhibition on the representation of witches in the visual arts through the ages. I really do want to see this myself! This exhibition will examine the portrayal of witches and witchcraft in art from … Continue reading →

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