I am knitting hats at the moment, engrossed in the rather lovely wool of John Arbon, rather pricy but muted colours I love. The world whirls round and there is nothing I can do to make it better, except sign umpteen
things.
The heating went a few days ago, of course it did, what would you but expect at this time of year. We can pump up the pressure every day for a couple of hours hot water and the plumber will be here next Monday, so no great deal.
I should be doing another saint, but my heart isn't in it today. Outside I hear the sound of birds as dusk starts to fall, reminding me that we circle in real time and one day the Earth will return to our warmer spring.
Back to the 'Witch' book being read out aloud, did not realise that the whole witchy thing is experienced in every country, especially such places as Africa. The tortures used to get you to own up to being a witch (should I use the term wizard for male I wonder) are the usual nasty things. Damned if you are and damned if you are not.
I heard an intriguing thought the other day. In fact calling people with the term sorcerer or witch, is a way of getting rid of them. So your next door neighbour maybe has land you covet, or a wife. So denounce them as having caused the illness in your cows, or some bad luck with your crops. For women over 40 years old and past the menopausal stage they were not good for anything. This of course also applies to old people as well.
When women became a singleton in the olden days, they became just an extra mouth to feed. This was emphasised by the more modern pagan witches who are always in touch with their inner beings, this is put down to misogyny of course. The eskimos practised something like this, leaving the old to die in the snow. Don't worry, it happened ages ago.
That is widely accepted in America, that 'witches' were put to death for personal gain or as a warning to keep women in their place.
ReplyDeleteAbout 5 years ago, there was a local minister who was from Africa. I don't remember the country. But he firmly believed that mental illness wad demon possession. I could not believe that in this day and age, people still believe that.
In fact the devil/satan/demon was just a bogey man and madness was the devil itself. Silly. As for women being put in their place by killing them, we have come along way forward from there Debby.
DeleteUnless you live in Afghanistan...
DeleteWhen my daughter was small, we used to spend our holidays in Switzerland. Karen's cousin Marc who was also there and who had been brought up in Persia (Iran today) on the oilfields. He used to terrify Karen with tales of a giant witch. Once found her crying under the bed terrified by his tales. He is completely different now by the way!
Deletealways thought it was ' make Granny comfy on an iceberg' then give it a good push out to sea. Worse ways to end your life when I see today's TV screens.
ReplyDeleteWell not to get too gruesome Pat, I think dying by cold is fairly painless. Me I always worry about the poor polar bears stranded on ice floes.
DeleteOur house overlooks a hidden, little medieval lane running down to the river. One of its names is 'Ducking-Stool Lane'. I think it was mainly 'cuckolds' who were ducked.
ReplyDeleteSeemed ducking was a form of humiliation, mostly for women. Duckings to find if you were a witch or not, rested on you dying at the ducking - guilty, Dying of drowning - you are innocent but still dead.
ReplyDeleteI am going to guess that only unfaithful women were ducked. Unfaithful men just watched from the shore, I am guessing.
ReplyDeleteIf only men had the where with all to have babies, it would have put a damper on 'free sex' ;)
ReplyDelete