Team Pentacle

- Swapnil Desai “Witch” – The one word that is as fearful or dreaded as a Demon. Wicca – A religion shunned by the New World. Witchcraft – A subject more feared than accepted.   When I was asked to write on this subject, I willingly and promptly accepted, not because of any “folklorish” elements of this topic that I will be addressing, but its because Who I am and What I believe is hugely misunderstood.   As much as the origin of the word “witch” is still debated, One popular etymology for witch maintains that it is related to the English words wit , wise , wisdom [Germanic root * weit- , * wait-, * wit- ; Indo-European root * weid -.* woid- , * wid- ]. 1   Another theory claims that witch is derived from a root meaning “holy” or “sacred” and thus reflects the witch’s ancient religious role [Germanic root * weih- , * waih-, * wih- ; Indo-European root * weik -, * woik- , * wik- ]. This appears in the Modern German word for Christmas, Weihnacht, literally “holy...

Defixiones which means to BIND or to CURSE and thus these are also known as the curse tablets. Usually made in lead with high tin content. The material is batted and flattened in rectangular sheet. The use of tin is more as it enables the sheet to be written on. It makes the surface soft and a stylus kind of thing is used to write on the sheet. After the curse or the prayer or the matter is written on to it, it is folded in such a way that the written surface is inside and then either it is kept in this state or is nailed to the coffin of the dead. Horrifying.. what has the dead to do with the tablets? This was a tradition practiced in the ancient Greco-Roman civilization as a part of some magic to bind, curse, destroy, pray for any person, business, place, love, emotion and almost everything. These tablets were found buried in the graves or nailed to the coffin or also sometimes found hanging from the old temple walls. The temple wall tablets where usually prayers for someone to...