This is a bad land for gods

A mythology and occult appreciation blog.

strampunch:

sprightlymind:

i. A magical miscellany, early 17th century. (MS. e Mus. 173, folios 61v – 62r)
ii. The Rawlinson necromantic manuscript, 15th century. (MS. Rawl. D. 252, fol. 28v)
iii. The Rawlinson necromantic manuscript, 15th century. (MS. Rawl. D. 252, fol. 29r)

A selection of texts from the Bodleian Library’s summer exhibition - Magical Books: From the Middle Ages to Middle-earth.

Although many seventeenth-century magical manuscripts were no longer written in Latin, their authoritative mystique was preserved in the use of complex occult alphabets and mystical symbols. This miscellany contains relatively straightforward instructions of how ‘to see by thy selfe … in a crystall stone’ or ‘get treasure out of the sea’, but it also includes these elaborate magical charms. The circle bottom right wards off violent death ‘by sword and poison’. It is sealed with the spell-word ‘Abracalabra’ [sic] and promises the user ‘Verum est’ (It is true!). (x)

People from Streitstadt, check this out!

(Source: bodleian.ox.ac.uk, via beastoftheblackhole)

thecarvingwitch:

siciliancunningcraft:

Italian Folk Sigils

In the region of Puglia, in the south of Italy, there exists a structure called ‘trulii’. These white conical homes are native solely to that region and are believed to be the result of an Arabic/ Byzantine influence, however there exists one feature of these houses that remains solely in the realm of southern Italian folk religion.

Upon each roof of the trulli are large sigils, painted in white and placed there for protection. The subject matter of these unique sigils come from the realms of Catholic symbolism, ancient nature religion, and planetary symbols. Each year these symbols are renewed and repainted, all for the purpose of protecting the home’s inhabitants from curses, witchcraft, and evil spirits.

The picture above shows the door to my “cunning room”, where I do most of my workings, I have also outfitted the door jams to the rest of the bedrooms as well as the front door of my home with sigils and blessed them properly. In keeping with tradition these symbols should be drawn in white, such as paint or chalk (blessed chalk from the Feast of the Epiphany works nicely) and blessed for the protection of the home or space. These sigils are ancient and though not Sicilian in origin still lie within the Southern Italian folk religion, what many now call Stregoneria or Benedicaria.  

s’abbinirica.

*grabby hands*

maudelynn:

Medieval Skull Clasp, made in 1500, it was designed for the road: it concerns a portable Book of Hours (or prayer book) that was carried around by a pilgrim on his religious pilgrimage. The clasp holds the book closed, which is decorated with a skull carved out of bone – Source

(via mirroir)

erikkwakkel:

Dog prints in medieval chained library

I made this image in the chained library “De Librije” in the Dutch city of Zutphen. Established in 1564, everything about this place is still precisely as it was, including the tiles on the floor. Remarkably, throughout the library there are tiles with a dog’s paw prints. These 450-year-old traces of a large dog come with a local legend. One night, a monk called Jaromir was reading in the library while enjoying a meal of chicken, delivered to him by some nuns. He was not supposed to do this: not only does one not eat in a library, but he was also going through a period of fasting. Then suddenly the devil appeared in the form of a dog, scaring the living daylights out of the monk. The devil ate the chicken and locked the monk inside as a punishment - as devils do. Knowing the story, it’s hard to ignore the prints when admiring the books. 

Pics (top my own): Zutphen, Librije Chained Library. More on the legend on the library’s website, also source for lower pic, here (in Dutch).

(via craftwitch-archive)

sixpenceee:

VICTORIAN MOURNING JEWELRY 

During the Victorian era, it was common to wear “mourning jewelry”. This jewelry typically included hair from deceased loved one.

The deceased loved one’s hair would be carefully arranged within the brooch, often creating intricate pictures or designs.

Hair was considered to be an ideal keepsake, since it does not break down over time.

SIMILAR POSTS

(via mirroir)

chthonicgodling:

but seriously though i’m sick and tired of those masterposts that are like “here! A reference site on Greek mythology for all your needs! Look it has all fifteen Greek gods on it!” And I’m like. tHERE WERE LIKE HUNDREDS OF FIGURES IN MYTHOLOGY YOUR CRAPPY HIGH SCHOOL LEVEL BIBLIOGRAPHY SITE MEANS NOTHING TO ME 

if you want a basic outline of Greek mythology okay sure fine??? but like. if you want an extensive fucking reference site you are looking in the wrong goddamn places

as a self-declared greek mythology snob my reference site is fucking always this fucker right here. almost every single figure ever mentioned in a Greek text is on it, it has the most obscure gods, spirits, nymphs— it’s GREAT. You really wanna extend your mythological knowledge past the basic 12 and like four others? USE THEOI.  plus plus PLUS everything is cited so you can actually read the source material written about whoever it is you’re looking at.

fucking signal boost this. i’m so sick and tired of writer’s helpers blogs referring people to sites with as much information you would get from opening a third grade mythology book jesus chriiiiiist

(via mirroir)

unicorndraws:

it occurred to me I’ve never really drawn a gorgon before and decided i had to remedy that

(via bogzoi)