Continuing our window displays to represent the festivals of the year for Samhain we have decorated the stag's antlers with talismans and amulets and the window also contains amulets from the Museum's collection. Here are the texts as displayed in the window and some photos of the window display.
The Wheel of the Year
The Ancient Festivals
The year can be divided into eight major festivals which
mark the passage of the Sun through the year and relate directly to the
agricultural cycle. This is significant
to many people (including witches) The
current festival is:
Halloween or Samhain
31st October
Samhain is the most important of the cross quarter days
celebrated by witches. It marks the beginning of winter, and is the eve of the
Celtic New Year. On this night the Veil between the Worlds of life and death is
at its most thin and the ancestors return to feast and celebrate with their
living kin.
Of all the old pagan festivals, it is the most popular;
children dress up as ghosts and witches and spooky fun is enjoyed by all. The
origin of Trick or Treat may be to do with the Lord of Misrule, as boundaries
dissolve mischievous spirits play havoc on mortals.
The Christian Church calls it All Hallows Eve or All Souls
Eve. In the Midlands, Soul Cakes were baked and parties of “ Soulers” would go
from house to house begging for these cakes in memory of the dead.
Celebrate Samhain by honouring the return of the Dark, for
within it are the seeds of rebirth. Send
love and blessings to those of your family and friends who are dead, tonight
they are near.
The window display features a display of amulets and charms. Displayed with some information about them.
Amulets, Charms, Talismans
“An amulet protects us from what?...From witches, hobgoblins
and little folk, from evil spirits that dwell in dark woods, at crossroads or
in water, and in particular, from the evil eye.
Who or what does it protect? The
vulnerable or precious, such as hunters, babies, cows, houses and
tractors. Who protects us? God, Allah, ancestors, benign spirits of the
natural world. With what? With a complexity of materials and objects
that range from such things as misshapen stones, cloves, rattling nutshells and
moles’ paws, to blue glass beads and mirrors that express ideas of reflection
and confronting an eye with an eye.”
October 31st is a liminal time, a time when the veil between
the worlds is thin. For many, this makes
it a time to practise magic, a time when one may see more or gain more
knowledge than would usually be available.
October 31st is a time when spirits are abroad: scary for some but
entrancing to others. To mark this
special day, we have decorated our window display with magical objects:
amulets, charms and talismans. The stag
itself is a protective symbol with horned amulets appearing around the
world. Stag’s antlers also adorn the
outside of many houses perhaps because of the belief that a sharp point can
pierce evil preventing it from entering the home or because they are symbols of
regeneration and fertility. You can find
more about these types of objects inside the Museum in our protection magic
display.
What are amulets, charms and talismans?
“An amulet is a device, the purpose of which is to protect,
but by magical and not physical means—a lump of meteorite worn against gunfire
is an amulet, a bullet proof vest is not.”
“A charm is believed to bring good luck, health and
happiness. In so doing, it might also be
expected to protect from bad luck, sickness and misery, but protection is not
its primary function. ”
“A talisman is something thought to be imbued with some
magical property. It can both protect,
and radiate power, and is often used in a ritual.”
“There is always some overlap in the meaning of the three
words and they are often used indiscriminately.”
Extracts taken from Amulets by Sheila Paine (2004).
Black and White Pentagrams
Above the stag hang two pentagrams carved by Rory te
Tigo. The white one is a Spiderleg
Pentagram and the black one is a Dura Mater Pentagram. The pentagram has long been believed to be a
potent protection against evil. The
white and the black also seem emblematic of this time of year as summer light
fades into winter’s dark.
Rory’s comments on these objects:
“Whilst the Five Arms of the Spiderleg have the shape of the
rune Sowelu (the life force) the arms of the Dura Mater Pentagram pierce each
other...At the same time like in the Spiderleg Pentagram this creates a
protective sphere around a person or place.”
“I made this Dura Mater Pentagram for the Museum of
Witchcraft as a "Dark Sister" to the Spiderleg Pentagram as all
"White" things have a "Black" counterpart that is necessary
for the balance of all things. You may
notice that the moon at the top of the Dura Mater Pentagram is twisted by 90
degrees to the plain of the circle of the Pentagram. This is to express that whilst all things are
"under the moon" i.e. within the realm of the mother goddess the
plain of the negative energy of the Dura Mater Pentagram is offset by 90
degrees to the positive energy of the Spiderleg Pentagram.”
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