Craft of the Untamed Quotes

“Other?”
― Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold, Craft of the Untamed: An inspired vision of Traditional Witchcraft

“The mystery of night travelling is disclosed in the silent world of the ‘herbs of solace’ or ‘flying ointment’. Iohannes Weyer, a student of Cornelius Agrippa, gives the following formulae: Sium (cowbane), acorum vulgare (sweet flag), pentaphyllon (cinquefoil) uespertilitoris sanguis (bat’s blood), solanum somniferum (deadly nightshade) and oleum or oil. Another traditional ointment uses root of liquorish, root of Mandrake, flowers and leaves of Datura Metel, Belladonna, Anis and oil. I would advise extreme caution with this recipe including variants utilizing aconite (monkshood). Monkshood is a frequent ingredient in flying ointments, but can be a poison capable of paralyzing the lungs, so its use is not advocated. Belladonna is its antidote. This explains why most ointments using Monkshood also used Belladonna.”
― Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold, Craft of the Untamed: An inspired vision of Traditional Witchcraft

“Without going too deeply into the details we can list the following repeating themes: They took on a different shape at night, while their bodies were as dead in their bed - They went out to fight for the fertility of the land The fight was against malevolent witches or the malevolent dead The benandanti was intimately linked with the Mysteries of death, even the night flight they describe as a state of lesser death. The presence of herbs, such as the tripartite conjunction of asphodel, which is reputed for its connection with the Underworld, fennel for exorcisms and rue for protection. The presence of a mark, either invisible or visible, in the case of the latter this was usually a birth-mark or an eerie mole. The reference to ‘devils’ as their lovers and deities of power.”
― Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold, Craft of the Untamed: An inspired vision of Traditional Witchcraft

“The same motif is found in the 16th and 17th Century in the Italian countryside, more specifically Friuli, where the term benandanti was given to women who participated in the procession of the dead. It was also referring to others, many of them men, who declared that they were going out at night with fennel stalks to fight for the fertility of the crops against the malandanti armed with canes of sorghum. They further said that they took on the shape of mice, butterflies, hares or other animals to either journey to the procession of the dead or in their night fights. It is unclear in Ginzburg’s account whether we are here encountering two different classes of witches or if these terms refer to the same witch but in his or her aggressive and hostile aspect.”
― Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold, Craft of the Untamed: An inspired vision of Traditional Witchcraft

“The first account of the Witches’ Sabbath in any British trial is Lancashire witches of 1612. Anne Whittle confessed to having been admitted to the witches’ circle by the witch Elizabeth Southerns. She said that after midnight the Devil came to Elizabeth’s house and they went out to meet him. They partook of a meal and their familiars took the remnants. Elizabeth’s daughter was also charged and told that at one point some twenty witches came to their home, two of them men, with the purpose of naming her familiar and to plot the murder of Thomas Lister. Elizabeth’s daughter said after they had wined and dined the witches left in human form, but away from the house they took on the shape of horses, fowl and other animals. However, it was the conspiracy to murder Thomas Lister that most concerned the court and it was on these grounds that they were convicted.”
― Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold, Craft of the Untamed: An inspired vision of Traditional Witchcraft

“The witches travelled by air in the night to meet their master and initiator. This Mystery is intimately linked to folklore all over the world, such as the Varcolac in Romania, the Vetalas in India and Carlo Ginzburg’s night battles. Ginzburg is preoccupied with the areas of Trieste and Friuli, bordering the Slavic regions, where the legends and myths of night flight are many and detailed. This specific association between witches, lycanthropy and vampires will be further disclosed in the sixth chapter. Emma Wilby in her study about the cunning folk in Northern Europe and in particular the British Isles comments that “the Sabbath was more commonly described as occurring in churches and churchyards, or out of doors.”17 Janet Hewitt in 1661 claimed she attended Sabbaths at a place called Muryknowes where the nocturnal gathering was celebrated with ale, bread and meat.”
― Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold, Craft of the Untamed: An inspired vision of Traditional Witchcraft

“The Horned Master governs the generative powers of the kingdom of the beasts, the raw forces of life, death and renewal which sustains the natural world.” Nigel A Jackson. The Call of the Horned Piper: 38 The Art and Craft of the Witches is found at the crossroad, where this world and the other side meets and all possibility become reality. This simple fact is often forgotten as one rushes to the Sabbath or occupies oneself with formalities of ritual. The cross marks the four quarters, the four elements, the path of Sun, Moon and Stars. The cross was fused or confused with the Greek staurus, meaning ‘rod’, ‘rood’ or ‘pole’. Various forms of phallic worship are simply, veneration for the cosmic point of possibility and becoming. It is at the crossroads we will gain all or lose all and it is natural that it is at the crossroads we gain perspective. The crossroad is a place of choice, the spirit-denizens of the crossroads are said to be tricky and unreliable and it is of course where we find the Devil. One of the most famous legends of recent times concerns the blues-man Robert Johnson (1911– 1938). He claimed that, one night, just before midnight he had gone to the crossroads. He took out his guitar and played, whereupon a big black guy appeared, tuned his guitar, played a song backwards and handed it back.2 This incident altered Johnson’s playing and his finest and most everlasting compositions were the fruit of the few years of life left to him. This legend tells us how he needed to bury himself at the crossroads, offering himself to the powers dwelling there. Business done with the Devil is said to give him the upper hand. The ill omens and malefica associated with such deals is present in Johnson’s story. He got fame and women, but he died less than three years later before he reached thirty. His body was found poisoned at a crossroads, the murderer’s identity a mystery. Around the Mississippi no less than three tombs carry the name of Robert Leroy Johnson. The image of the Devil remains one of threat, blessing, beauty and opportunity. Where we find the Devil we find danger, unpredictability and chaos. If he offers a deal we know we are in for a complicated bargain. The Devil says that change is good, that we need movement in order to progress. His world is about cunning and ordeal entwined like the serpents of past and future on the pole of ascent. It is to the crossroads we go to make decisions. It is at the crossroads we set the course for the journey. It is at the crossroads we confront ourselves and realize our”
― Nicholaj de Mattos Frisvold, Craft of the Untamed: An inspired vision of Traditional Witchcraft