Search Results
6/30/2025, 1:00:02 AM
>>17801876
>The cauldron, a symbol of magical and alchemical power, represented the cosmic womb, the vessel of generation and transformation. The broom — and not only the broom but any staff, wand, or wooden rod of trees used in rituals — symbolized both the phallus (active masculine principle), the cosmic pillar (axis mundi) and the connection to the vegetal world, since wood was seen as the dwelling place of spirits (daimones phytoi). This sacred wood linked the witch to the plant kingdom and evoked the world of birds who also live there, long associated with witches and female night creatures (Strix/Strigoi) as emblems of the soul’s flight and metamorphosis
>The Sabbaths, magical gatherings under the command of these lunar and chthonic powers, functioned as inverted banquets, rites of communion with the sublunar daimones. They included ritual sex, chaotic fertility rites, and inversions of Christian order. The use of plants such as mandrake, belladonna, and datura, applied as ointments to the brooms and vaginal mucous membranes, aimed to liberate the ochema pneumatikon (the subtle vehicle), allowing the soul to detach from the body and "fly" through the aer where encounters with the daimones took place
>Familiars — cats, crows, toads, goats — symbolized the witch’s link to the animal world, which were sometimes used as mounts in place of brooms, showing its connection with daemonic powers in the lunar and chthonic planes. Sex with demons and other profane rites expressed direct communion with these daemonic forces of generation, passion, and raw nature
>While Neoplatonic theurgy sought to purify the ochema and raise the soul beyond the Moon toward the One, witchcraft — in the Christian and inquisitorial imagination — represented the embrace and manipulation of lunar and chthonic powers to gain mastery over bodies, passions, and the hidden secrets of nature, but also the risk of bringing imbalance, destruction, and curse upon the living world
>The cauldron, a symbol of magical and alchemical power, represented the cosmic womb, the vessel of generation and transformation. The broom — and not only the broom but any staff, wand, or wooden rod of trees used in rituals — symbolized both the phallus (active masculine principle), the cosmic pillar (axis mundi) and the connection to the vegetal world, since wood was seen as the dwelling place of spirits (daimones phytoi). This sacred wood linked the witch to the plant kingdom and evoked the world of birds who also live there, long associated with witches and female night creatures (Strix/Strigoi) as emblems of the soul’s flight and metamorphosis
>The Sabbaths, magical gatherings under the command of these lunar and chthonic powers, functioned as inverted banquets, rites of communion with the sublunar daimones. They included ritual sex, chaotic fertility rites, and inversions of Christian order. The use of plants such as mandrake, belladonna, and datura, applied as ointments to the brooms and vaginal mucous membranes, aimed to liberate the ochema pneumatikon (the subtle vehicle), allowing the soul to detach from the body and "fly" through the aer where encounters with the daimones took place
>Familiars — cats, crows, toads, goats — symbolized the witch’s link to the animal world, which were sometimes used as mounts in place of brooms, showing its connection with daemonic powers in the lunar and chthonic planes. Sex with demons and other profane rites expressed direct communion with these daemonic forces of generation, passion, and raw nature
>While Neoplatonic theurgy sought to purify the ochema and raise the soul beyond the Moon toward the One, witchcraft — in the Christian and inquisitorial imagination — represented the embrace and manipulation of lunar and chthonic powers to gain mastery over bodies, passions, and the hidden secrets of nature, but also the risk of bringing imbalance, destruction, and curse upon the living world
Page 1