a whitish mouse with a man’s face and long beard called Sweat, a black rat with a swine’s face and boar’s tusk named Catche and a whitish toad named Vizitt

—

familiars belonging to the bewitchers of Anne Gunter,
Berkshire, 1604

The Insect's Christmas

a stop-motion film by Ladislaw Starevich

Shirley Collins | Pretty Polly

Shirley Collins | Death And The Lady

Freyja at the entrance to the iron wood,
from Frank Leslie’s Sunday Magazine, 1885
found at danskjavlarna

illustrations for George MacDonald

Dorothy P. Lathrop illustrations from 'Princess & The Curdie', 1943


Nora S. Unwin illustrated edition of 'The Princess & The Curdie', 1954


Charles Folkard illustration for 'The Princess & The Curdie', 1949


'The Princess and Curdie', 1883 (illustrations by Maria L. Kirk)

illustration by Arthur Hughes, The Princess and the Goblin
 Good Words for the Young, 1871.
From Illustrators of the Sixties by Forrest Reid (Faber, 1928)


John Bell, 1894 'Curious Little Figures'
from 'Phantastes: A Faerie Romance' by George MacDonald


John Bell, 1894 'One Began to Sing'
from 'Phantastes: A Faerie Romance' by George MacDonald


American Education Publications, 1970

Arthur Hughes ‘The Wicked Fairy'
for "At the Back of the North Wind’’ by George MacDonald (c.1870)


Puffin edition, 1964

"Madness and witchery as well as bestiality are conditions commonly associated with the use of the female voice in public, in ancient as well as modern contexts. Consider how many female celebrities of classical mythology, literature and cult make themselves objectionable by the way they use their voice. For example there is the heartchilling groan of the Gorgon, whose name is derived from a Sanskrit word garg meaning “a guttural animal howl that issues as a great wind from the back of the throat through a hugely distended mouth.” There are the Furies whose highpitched and horrendous voices are compared by Aiskhylos to howling dogs or sounds of people being tortured in hell. There is the deadly voice of the Sirens and the dangerous ventriloquism of Helen and the incredible babbling of Kassandra and the fearsome hullabaloo of Artemis as she charges through the woods. There is the seductive discourse of Aphrodite which is so concrete an aspect of her power that she can wear it on her belt as a physical object or lend it to other women. There is the old woman of Eleusinian legend Iambe who shrieks and throws her skirt up over her head to expose her genitalia. There is the haunting garrulity of the nymph Echo (daughter of Iambe in Athenian legend) who is described by Sophokles as “the girl with no door on her mouth.” Putting a door on the female mouth as been an important project of patriarchal culture from antiquity to present day. Its chief tactic is an ideological association of female sound with monstrosity, disorder and death"

from 'The Gender of Sound', Anne Carson

recent drawings

A photo posted by grisly witch pits (@xphaiea) on Nov 23, 2016 at 11:16am PST

a small familiar and moth friend in the hand of a goblin creature

A photo posted by grisly witch pits (@xphaiea) on Nov 19, 2016 at 2:51am PST

A photo posted by grisly witch pits (@xphaiea) on Nov 20, 2016 at 9:49am PST

A photo posted by grisly witch pits (@xphaiea) on Nov 19, 2016 at 12:37am PST

   to see more of my drawings and photos, follow my instagram page which I update daily with personal and sourced imagery - more of a scrapbook of sorts than here 

"The fairies, besides being vengeful, are also very arrogant, and allow no interference with their old-established rights"

Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland by Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde (1887)

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"decked with black lambskin and white catskin, with polished metal and shining stones"

garb of a female witch, Folklore Vol. 63, No. 4 (Dec., 1952), M.A. Murray

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"witches had their favourite flowers, one having been the foxglove, nicknamed ‘witches’ bells, from their decorating their fingers with its blossoms; while in some localities the hare-bell is designated the “witches’ thimble.” On the other hand, flowers of a yellow or greenish hue were distasteful to them."

 The Folklore of Plants, Margaret Baker, 1969

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"All over its branches were hundreds of locks of coarse black hair, teeth, bits of coloured cloth, rags, and morsels of ribbon"

The Folk-lore of Plants, By Thomas Firminger Thiselton Dyer

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"she applied ointments and drops with tiny feathery brushes and little bone pins …"

A.S. Byatt, from The Djinn in the Nightingale's Eye

Japanese ivory Shibayama carving of a fig

the art of playing cards

Satirical Playing Cards: Germany - Designed by Peter Flötner,
 Nuremberg, c.1545 - Suits: Acorn, Leaf, Bell & Heart





King of Collars, from The Cloisters Playing Cards, ca. 1475–80

The Medieval Scapini Tarot Deck

17th or 18th C. 10 of Spades. Cat Fiddling mice dancing. Engraved and hand-colored German playing cards based on French suit designs imported into England in 1712

5 of Stags, from The Stuttgart Playing Cards,1430, made in Upper Rhineland, Germany


Playing card with nine engravings of rabbits or hares 1500


Upper Knave of Falcons. Stuttgart playing cards c.1430

Review: The Summer Tree

The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

This wasn't bad, but it felt decidedly stilted. I don't particularly like the concept of people from modern times being transported into a fantasy world, it feels clunky, and had a lot to do with why I didn't get on as well with this as I thought I might. The sole exception to this is the Narnia series, which I love, but there it works successfully because they are genuinely awestruck by the travel through the wardrobe, and the characterisation and writing serve to enhance this. It feels real, even though there are talking animals, and Father Christmas.

Still, Kay does have a gift for prose. I much preferred A Song for Arbonne, which I read a year ago. The characters here feel cardboardy, not fully fleshed out, they don't struggle with the sudden change of setting or express much wonder at all, and as such this doesn't read convincingly. It is more mythical in style in the same vein as Lord of the Rings or Katherine Kerr's welsh myth based Deverry series (which I tried one volume of and literally couldn't finish it, the prose was so dull). I just didn't feel involved, none of the main characters are particularly engaging or likeable and at just under 400 pages it became a bit of a slog. The book is split into four main sections, but just as the plot builds up at the end of section 2 - the tension is dropped - as section 3 deals exclusively with Dave, the moronic Dave (human sloth) and the threads aren't picked up again until section 4. I dislike stilted flashback sections like this. Tad Williams is an author who manages to write many concurrent storylines, and still manages to keep things fresh and the story alive.

The main problem with The Summer Tree is that it just doesn't cover any new ground, the fantasy elements are lifted from existing myth and legend and the ideas from existing fantasy worlds. Characters like 'Dave' who struggle to connect with their emotions were tedious in my eyes, and the appearance of a unicorn was laughable. I guess the writing didn't hook me, maybe this is because this was written in the 80's - the few scant references (Kimberley's hair turns white and she briefly considers going 'new wave' - I laughed out loud!) - and it does feel a tad dated, but ultimately I just didn't feel drawn into the world Kay has created, it didn't feel alive for me. It's a shame as the cover by John Howe lured me in, and I've wanted to read this series for ages. I will attempt the next volume, maybe, albeit with trepidation.

View all my reviews

Magic curse against enemies in a trial, written on a lead figurine put in a lead box, found in the enclosure of Aristion, and dating from 420-410 BC. On display in Room 10 (devoted to the Late classical period) of the Kerameikos Archaeological Museum (Athens)

Detail from VETERA (aged), by Dino Valls

Review: Schalken the Painter

Schalken the Painter by J. Sheridan Le Fanu
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Another superbly chilling tale from Fanu, who I am quickly becoming a big fan of. I found that several volumes of his short stories are available from Project Gutenberg, so am aiming to read one every night before bed (possibly ill advised due to the potential occurence of strange dreams or even nightmares) but they aren't quite the sort of tales that drive you utterly hair ripping insane - more of a hair standing on end style of thing.

This tale concerns a young painter who is hopelessly in love with his master's niece, who is his ward. A ghastly visitation from a mysterious and shrouded strange who also seems to be incredibly rich (he carries around gold ingots of immense value) begins the downfall of the poor young lady and Schalken's dreams of marital bliss are snatched away from beneath his eyes.

The mysterious stranger is tall, dark, but not conventionally handsome - having a blue and blackened face which is quite literally rotting, and a horrible malodorous presence. It is later discovered that he was a reanimated corpse, Schalken being led to his vault by none other than the ghost of the gorgeous and delightful young female who he had hoped to ensnare. He then paints a picture of this occurrence, which is that which is described in the opening paragraphs.

Delightfully creepy and unsettling stuff.

View all my reviews

Review: Falcon

Falcon by Helen Macdonald
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Whilst I've never been particularly keen on birds (insert witticism here), personally I am more of a mammal person - Macdonald does an admirable job of making the falcon a fascinating subject matter. Through concise chapters which in turn deal with the natural history, mythology, conservation of falcons she manages to pack a huge amount of information into a slim volume. I had no idea for example that birds were used in the past by the military to finish off any pigeons sending messages from the enemy during the war, and that they are still used today.

The sheer amount of modern iconography that utilizes the image of the falcon is incredible, right down to a pair of birds who decided to nest on the top of skyscraper buildings in New York, mirroring the capitalist stance and outlook of individuals working below (the falcon is commonly seen as a majestic and regal, its predatory practices certainly reflected in the shrewd world of business) therefore having a falcon choose to nest on your building was seen as the ultimate endorsement by nature herself!

Macdonald excels in making very astute observations on the links between culture and how it intersects and adopts the image of the falcon to mirror human behaviour and drives. This enhances the appeal of the book, and I think it would be of interest to someone who wasn't a falcon fanatic. I certainly learnt a great deal.

I have a strong feeling I should have read 'H Is For Hawk' first, and not this... but oh well - I generally tend to read things in the wrong order. I have to admit though, I'm still not entirely sold on birds.

View all my reviews

charm, hung at the foot of the bed to ward off evil dreams

from Galloway, Scotland

The Crowhurst Yew

The Crowhurst Yew resides in the churchyard of St. George's church in Crowhurst, Lingfield, in the county of Surrey. It is an ancient tree, believed to be over 4000 years old, and possessing an impressive girth of 10.01 metres - making it one of the largest in Britain. At once time it was home to a destitute family, and a table and benches were installed inside - a door being fitted into a natural opening in the contorted and twisted trunk. A cannonball was also discovered to be embedded in the trunk - the wood had already begun to grow over it, and it was believed to have dated to the civil war!

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Yews are popular trees in churchyards, apparently mainly for the fact that their poisonous qualities detracted local farmers from letting their animals stray into them to graze, although the toxicity of the tree has been challenged - it apparently only effects humans and horses, leading to stomach disorders.

"We … know that ever since people arrived in force upon these shores they have been in the habit of planting yew trees in acts of sanctification, close to where they eventually hoped to be laid to rest"
David Bellamy, The Times, 3 October 1998



We know that early Christians hoping to convert the masses commonly adopted existing holy sites for their own purposes, and many churches were built on sacred sites, incorporating existing deities into their own pantheon of saints. The yew was seen as a protecting force, many people believing it had the power to ward off the devil and evil influences, and therefore was encouraged near dwellings and sites of habitation. It was one of the few trees that also flourished on the natural material and organic matter decaying beneath the churchyard grounds, the shade the tree casts and the toxins in the root system lead to a natural space being left around the yew, and therefore it is perfect for ceremonies. Yew shoots were also frequently buried with corpses.

The yew is famous also for being used to make bows, the wood of the trunk being tough and durable, and the tree was also utilised in this manner in classical times. Another interesting link between Christianity and the yew is the fact that the heartwood is red, whilst the sap of the yew when seen runs white - which could be believed to represent the blood and body of Christ. The tree linking with the common themes of birth, death and resurrection - as evidenced in Celtic, Nordic and Anglo-Saxon tradition.

The yew being evergreen it stood all year round as a reminder of eternal life, adopted by Druidry for its strong symbolic value - the branches grow down into the ground to emerge back towards the skies, eventually growing around the existing trunk, becoming part of the original tree. Yew staves are used as tools for recording incantations and information, words were cut into the wood in Ogham for magical uses.



In Ireland, the yew was cut into staves, and these were kept in graveyards as measuring tools, for graves and corpses. Yew was also used in Beltaine rites, being one of the nine sacred trees burnt in Beltaine fires. According to the Tree Council of Ireland, most Irish yews are apparently female.

In modern times tinctures have been made from yew berry flesh to cure headaches.

Finally, the bard himself - Shakespeare - famously used the yew in his witches' incantation in Macbeth: ""slips of yew, silvered in the moon's eclipse" crow the crones whilst stirring the cauldron to create a noxious brew.

"At Crowhurst alias Crowherst, in the hundred of Tanridge in the eastern part of the county, and in the church yard, there is the largest tree I have met with in the kingdom ; its circumference at 5 feet high in the stem is 36 feet, and the extreme height about 50 feet. The situation of the church yard, standing upon a bold elevation, commanding the most extensive views of the counties of Kent, Surrey, and Sussex, and forming, as it were, a rallying point to each"

from A Compendium of modern husbandry; principally written during a survey of Surrey
 James Malcolm, 1805

photos: monumentaltrees.com

This pen wiper doll is made from wood, wax, paint and with arms fashioned from a wish bone (or merrythought bone). The doll wears a red cloak which covers three layers of fabric in black, green and red, which were used to wipe excess ink from pens. Other similar dolls have rhymes pinned to them describing the wishbones journey from hen to (wiping a) pen, and the red patch on the front suggest this doll once had one its own rhyme.

The Art of Jillian Tamaki

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Jillian Tamaki's wonderful graphic painterly style is perfect to illustrate myths, legends and fairytales. Her line work reminds me in part of Yoshitaka Amano with his intricate and detailed fantasy universe, and also the illustrative style of Solange Gularte of Natural Snow Buildings She was commissioned to illustrate the Folio Society edition of Christina Rossetti's 'Goblin Market', and has also illustrated a collection of Irish myths and legends. Superbly atmospheric, her style also has a sharp menacing edge - dark and mysterious. I'd love to see her take on the Grimm fairytales.

Lion's claw amulet from the Pitt Rivers Museum Collection

photos of children in 1900's London, most by Horace Warner