Witchcraft

The King’s Men at Rollright – a stone circle dating back to around 2500 BC.

The Legend of the Rollright Stones, Where a Witch Tricked a King

Posted on by The Gothic Dispatch

While you or I may – and should – depart this strange site as soon as possible, the King’s Men at Rollright must themselves wait until midnight. Or so goes one of the many stories.

Greetings from the Rollright Stones, three ancient arrangements in a field in Oxfordshire, England. Hear the stories, both plausible and improbable, behind their mysterious appearance. Pay tribute to the wooden witch that still watches over them. And if you’re spending the night in the nearby village, make sure you’re safe in bed before the clock strikes midnight.

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The exterior of the Museo del Prado in Madrid, with its large statue of Francisco de Goya outside.

The gothic moods of Francisco de Goya’s Black Paintings

Posted on by The Gothic Dispatch

There aren’t many people who could withdraw to a remote farmhouse, paint horrifying scenes on the walls and be hailed for their genius. Francisco de Goya was one of them. I am not.

Greetings from the Museo del Prado, one of the world’s most prestigious art museums and home of the 14 Black Paintings of Francisco de Goya. Discover some of the darkest work of Goya’s life and the tragedies that inspired it. Lose yourself in scenes of witchcraft and violence, gothic moods of which he was a master. And do your best to keep the work out of sight – just as the artist intended.

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In a display case in Toledo’s museum of witchcraft in Spain is a handwritten recipe book surrounded by obscure plants preserved in jars.

The wise healer becomes the evil witch in Toledo’s Brujeria Museum

Posted on by The Gothic Dispatch

Just as superstition and misunderstanding have ruined the reputation of this writer, so they ruined the image of the witch in 15th century Europe.

Greetings from the Brujeria Museum, a cabinet of curiosities collecting the history of witchcraft in Spain – and her fall from wise healer to wicked heathen. Learn why witchcraft was safer practiced in the south of Spain. Read the handwritten recipe books for spells of transformation, invisibility and more. And help keep the image of the wise witch alive – even if you can’t save the other.

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