Witch covens near me are groups of witches who come together to practice their craft and share knowledge and experiences. These covens can be found in various cities and towns, providing a close-knit community for those who are interested in practicing witchcraft. Being a part of a coven offers many benefits, such as guidance from experienced witches, the opportunity to participate in group rituals and spellwork, and the chance to connect with like-minded individuals who share a similar spiritual path. Covens often meet regularly to discuss and explore various topics related to witchcraft, such as herbalism, divination, and spellcasting. Finding witch covens near you may require some research and networking within the local pagan and occult communities. One way to find covens is by attending pagan or witchcraft events, such as festivals, workshops, or meetups.
We may never know for sure how the myth of the flying broomstick arose. But the pharmacological actions of scopolamine and atropine, extracted from local herbs, might well be at the heart of this iconic image. If so, the flight to the Sabbat would have been a delirious, drug-induced hallucination – a dream of the deadly nightshade, given contemporary, corporeal form in our ghoulish Halloween costumes.
Even among those few who did confess to witchcraft, there s not much evidence that they made potions for flight, or for other nefarious purposes, he says. If contemporary accounts are to be believed, witches applied this hallucinogenic ointment with the handle of a broom, smearing the ointment onto the length of the broom and then rubbing the handle against their genitals and even inserting it into the vagina.
One way to find covens is by attending pagan or witchcraft events, such as festivals, workshops, or meetups. These gatherings provide an opportunity to meet other practitioners and learn about local covens. Additionally, online platforms and social media groups dedicated to witchcraft can also be helpful in finding witch covens near you.
Halloween witch: is a travel sickness drug behind flying broomstick myth?
At Halloween, images of witches flying across the night sky astride broomsticks are everywhere. The myth that witches could fly with the help of their broomsticks has been around for centuries, but could its origins be traced to a chemical in over-the-counter medicines found in most of our homes?
In the heyday of witch-hunting hysteria, talk of a mysterious "flying ointment" began to gather momentum among those investigating witchcraft. This herbal unguent, rubbed into the skin, was purported to confer the power of flight, transporting witches to their Sabbat gatherings.
The Spanish court physician Andrés de Laguna, writing in the 16th century, claimed to have taken from the home of a couple accused of witchcraft "a pot full of a certain green ointment … composed of herbs such as hemlock, nightshade, henbane, and mandrake."
That would have been a potent mixture. Nightshade, henbane and mandrake are some of the most toxic plants in the family Solanaceae. Nightshade (Atropa belladonna) is immediately recognisable for its deep purple fruit and was said to be tended by the Devil himself. Like its close relatives henbane (Hyoscymaus niger) and mandrake (Mandragora officinarum), its leaves and berries are packed with chemicals called tropane alkaloids.
One of these, scopolamine (also known as hyoscine), is the active ingredient of travel-sickness medications such as Boot's Travel Calms and the skin patch Scopoderm. Tropane alkaloids are unremarkable additions to a modern medicine cabinet, but if you took the raw plant material and pounded it in molten fat, you'd extract an uncontrolled mixture of the alkaloids in their pure, base form. You will have created the green ointment of de Laguna's alleged witch.
Scopolamine and its close cousin atropine are "muscarinic antagonists" – they bind to receptors in the nervous system that would, ordinarily, bind to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. Low doses of these chemicals will induce a dry mouth and dilated pupils – and relieve the nausea of travel sickness. But high doses can lead to antimuscarinic syndrome: a state of altered consciousness often characterised by delirium and intense hallucinations.
If contemporary accounts are to be believed, "witches" applied this hallucinogenic ointment with the handle of a broom, smearing the ointment onto the length of the broom and then rubbing the handle against their genitals and even inserting it into the vagina. As the drugs took effect, delusions of flight may have ensued while astride the broomstick's handle. It has been argued that this drug-induced delusion lies at the the root of the myth of witches' flight.
The pharmacology is sound. "Ointment would have been very effective as a delivery method for scopolamine," says Dr Randolph Arroo, head of research at Leicester School of Pharmacy, De Montfort University. "Alkaloids go through your skin into the bloodstream – consider nicotine patches." Tropane alkaloids easily cross the blood-brain barrier, acting on the central nervous system.
"Mucous membranes are particularly good at transporting drugs - that's why cocaine is snorted," he adds. "Vaginal application would be pretty efficient, and the effects of the drugs would be noticeable quite rapidly."
So the ointment may well have been capable of delivering powerful delusions of flight. But the image of hallucinating women astride brooms is so highly sexualised as to seem comic. Did some of those accused of witchcraft really apply flying ointment in this way?
Dr Andrew Sneddon, a historian at the University of Ulster, is sceptical. "Even among those few who did confess to witchcraft, there's not much evidence that they made potions for flight, or for other nefarious purposes," he says. Rather the opposite, in fact: "As far as I'm aware, the material culture of witchcraft, in terms of surviving artefacts, relates mainly to anti-bewitchment measures – amulets and such like – made by cunning folk."
Did the ointment even exist? It's hard to be sure. "Many writers of demonological tracts were convinced that witches flew with the aid of ointments. It's there in the Malleus Maleficarum [a 15th century treatise on the prosecution of witches], with witches using the fat of murdered children as the basic ingredient," says University of York historian Professor Jim Sharpe. Significantly, though, any such admission by a "witch" would have been made under torture.
According to Sharpe, twilight flight has been a remarkably persistent cultural reference, going back as far as the cult of the Roman goddess Diana. Moreover, Aztec shamans in 15th century Mexico used another tropane alkaloid-containing plant – Datura stramonium or thorn apple – to transport their souls on "a magical flight to mythic time and space", reports Bernard Ortiz de Montellano in Aztec Medicine, Health, and Nutrition.
We may never know for sure how the myth of the flying broomstick arose. But the pharmacological actions of scopolamine and atropine, extracted from local herbs, might well be at the heart of this iconic image. If so, the flight to the Sabbat would have been a delirious, drug-induced hallucination – a dream of the deadly nightshade, given contemporary, corporeal form in our ghoulish Halloween costumes.
That would have been a potent mixture. Nightshade, henbane and mandrake are some of the most toxic plants in the family Solanaceae. Nightshade (Atropa belladonna) is immediately recognisable for its deep purple fruit and was said to be tended by the Devil himself. Like its close relatives henbane (Hyoscymaus niger) and mandrake (Mandragora officinarum), its leaves and berries are packed with chemicals called tropane alkaloids.
These groups often have members sharing information about local gatherings and covens seeking new members. However, it's important to exercise caution and do thorough research before joining any group or coven to ensure compatibility and safety. When considering joining a coven, it's essential to meet with its members and leaders to get a sense of their beliefs, practices, and dynamics. Each coven has its unique traditions and rituals, so finding one that aligns with your own spiritual beliefs and goals is crucial for a positive and fulfilling experience. In conclusion, witch covens near me provide an opportunity for witches to come together, learn, and practice their craft in a supportive and community-oriented environment. By engaging in research, networking, and attending events, individuals interested in joining a coven can find one that resonates with their spiritual path and goals..
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