Witches at Night: Creative Responses to Early Modern Witch Trials
In the 1613 pamphlet Witches Apprehended, Examined and Executed, a servant gossips about a local woman he believes to be a witch. As he speaks, he is struck by a […]
Category Archives: Guest Posts
Nordic Noir: Creating Denmark’s First Museum of Witchcraft
In December 2018 a small group from the Museum of Southwest Jutland in Denmark, consisting of Lulu Anne Hansen (Head of Historical Research), Mette Slyngborg (Curator), Louise Lindgaard (Research Assistant), […]
The Witch of Loddon and Changing Perceptions of Witchcraft in Victorian England
There are many stories of witchcraft in rural England from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but it is rare to find accounts of self-professed witches who actually attempted to make […]
Book Review: The Familiars by Stacey Halls
The 1612 Pendle witch trials in Lancashire began when the peddler, John Law, refused to sell his pins to Alizon Device. Following the encounter, Law was stricken with a sickness […]
The Routledge History of Medieval Magic: Reflections on a Big Editing Project
This post was first published on the blog of the Exeter Centre for Medieval Studies. I’m very pleased to announce that the Routledge History of Medieval Magic, edited by Sophie Page (UCL) […]
Dog Days: Making The Black Shuck
A ferocious hound, an omen of death, a guardian to lonely women, the size of a horse, the size of a calf, two glowing red eyes, one red eye. The […]
Image Magic: Drawing the History of Sorcery, Ritual, and Witchcraft
In October last year I was sent an email accompanied by a zip folder full of images; these included a witch and her familiars, a woman suffering from convulsions, an […]
Finn-Kirsten Iversdatter: Norway’s Forgotten Witch
When thinking of witch trials in Norwegian history, the case of Lisbeth Pedersdatter Nypan and her husband Ole often springs to mind. The case was brought to international attention with […]
Spheres of Influence: The Magical History of the Witch Ball
Witch balls are globes of glass, with a hole in the top, often suspended in doorways or windows. They were made in most glass factories across Europe as glassblowers’ ‘whimsies’ […]
Coral: The Enduring Magic of the Medusa’s Blood
Coral is a complex marine organism and has a calciferous skeleton. It is sometimes blood red and is vascular in its form. Therefore in Greek legend it was said to […]
