Author: A Solitary Pagan

Merlin was as Archetypal wizard of Arthurian lore. Merlin is a Latinized version of the Welsh Myrddin. His exact origins are lost in myth; he may have been a god, perhaps a version of Mabon or Maponos, the British Apollo, the divine ruler or guardian of Britain. The name Merlin may have been given to a succession of wizards. There is no concrete evidence, but it is likely that a Merlin, who was a ...

 In English folklore, the Berkeley Witch was a wealthy woman who lived during the time of the Norman Conquest in the town of Berkeley in England’s heartland. She was wealthy and well liked, and lived luxuriously. Her secret, kept until she was close to death, was that her wealth was given her by the Devil, in a pact for her soul. Apparently, she earned the name witch because she sold her soul to t...

Befana is an old woman who delivers gifts to children throughout Italy on Epiphany Eve (the night of January 5). A popular belief is that her name derives from the Feast of Epiphany or in Italian La Festa dell’Epifania. . In popular folklore, Befana visits all the children of Italy on the eve of the Feast of the Epiphany to fill their shoes with candy and presents if they are good. Or a lump of co...

Whether you are casting a simple spell, using items from your kitchen cupboard, or performing a complicated group ceremony, the source of the power behind it is the same. Every spell or ritual involves channelling the life force that runs through all forms of existence and transforming it into higher spiritual energies. These spiritual powers include our own evolved self, which some say is formed ...

Apples, cultivated in Britain as early as 3000 b.c.e., have had a long association with magic, witches, and goddesses. Magic apple lands, whose fruit gave eternal life, were cultivated by various Western pagan goddesses, among them the Greek Hera, the Scandinavian Idun (Idhunn), the Teutonic Freya and the Norse Hel, Queen of the Underworld. In Iroquois myth, the apple is the central tree of heaven...

A 15th-century English witch and seer who supposedly prophesied scientific inventions, new technology, wars and politics through several centuries, all written in crude rhymes. The books of her “prophecies” are likely the invention of later writers, among them Richard Head, who published a book of her predictions in 1667; an anonymous writer who published the Strange and Wonderful History of Mothe...

An old technique of magical healing by wise women and men, wizards, and witches involving the measuring of the patient’s girdle or belt. Changes in girth revealed the presence of evil spirits or fairies that had invaded the body to cause the illness. After exorcising the entity, usually through charms, the witch took another measurement to verify that the spirit was gone. Some cures involved the r...

It is the duty of the banshee or ‘woman of the fairies’ to foretell the death of an individual. Banshees are attached to particular families and their cry is only heard when a family member is about to die. Banshees are reported either to be young women of mournful aspect or else to take the form of hags. With eyes red from weeping she continually combs her hair with a gold or silver comb. The cri...

Spells designed to bring about a difference in bodily appearance in order to dissolve mischievous enchantments by the fairy folk or frequenters of the lower world were legion in most cultures. In Celtic lore for instance, during the process of dissolving the enchantment, having cast a magic circle, the rescuer had to keep repeating the name of the enchanted person to remind them of who they truly ...