A way to ward the evil eye--the fun way!

Stuck with the evil eye? Don't know how to get rid of it? this is for you!

So i was reading this book on the evil eye's cross cultural history and ways to ward it. Apparently in India, one way to ward it is to have images of copulating couples. This is supposed to divert peoples' eyes, thus diverting the evil eye. (Who would've figured????) I present to you now... Images of copulating couples from India... (This is all to divert the evil eye mind you!)

Not a academic book per se, but i am going to review it

The Element Encyclopedia of 1000 spells by Judith Illes

This book is not "academic". But i guess you could consider it, part of studying modern anthropology. Enjoy~!


Honestly, i really enjoyed this book. The author claims to use spells from around the world, although most seemed to have a modern flair to them even when having the claim of ancient origins. (which is not a bad thing btw.) Just be very cautious. I would take the claim of the background of some of the spells with a grain of salt. However this is not what is important about the book.

I will go through the flaws first. (For some reason, I feel like saying the criticism first than the positive stuff.) Being someone who has done a little research on some areas of spells in the ancient world, i thought she could have used some better spells in these areas than what she put in the book. For example,. not a ancient based spell per se, but one that needed more oomph, was the Dream Incubation Spell (2) Artemis Assistance Spell on page 257. The problem is not the spell itself. But the fact that the goddess Artemis is not the Greek deity of sleep or dreams. Our goal here is dreaming. There is a Greek deity of dreaming; Morpheus, from which we get the word "morphine" from. So why not build an altar and ask assistance from Morpheus the god of dreams and dreaming vs Artemis, goddess of the hunt and wild animals? This is one of the flaws i found with in the programming and structure of certain spells. They seemed to have good intentions, but it seemed like it could use tweaking in order to be more effective.

Note: Later after i wrote this i found a article here on mugwort's application on dream and the goddess Artemis. Where it says: "In the West, mugwort was historically associated with the Greek goddess Artemis and the moon, perhaps because it stimulates blood circulation and was used chiefly to aid painful and irregular menstruation.
Of course, Artemis is one of the Greek Gods who was known to send divine dreams. In other words, mugwort, dreams and the Moon are all bundled together in an aromatic and cosmic smudge stick." Now i see the derivation of the spell by the author.


The other problem was some of the authors claims about witchcraft's history seemed to be off. The same pseudohistorical "witchcraft survived through lineage" BS. However, this was NOT a focus of the book and for some reason based on me reading it, i did not get offended or very corrective about it. Its not the focus of the book by far, or a goal. Its the opinion of the author.

A big flaw i thought about the book was the claim that the book was good for new comers to spellcraft and for the more advanced in a format both could enjoy.This was not my feeling reading the book. if i was a newcomer reading this book i would be a bit confused. I did not at all, believe this book was very good for any novice, but especially those who just started their witchcraft. That's not a bad thing. Not at all. However, when you start doing magic you take baby steps, not leaps. The info in the book would confuse most newbies, too, i think. It seems to be geared for the more experienced in ways.

Ok so let's get to the positive aspects of this book! The spells were in such a format that they are very easy to do and concoct. Most of this book seems to focus on herbs, such as mugwort. This is very good as the book has a collection of many different spells. it is not bound by the Wiccan or any pagan oath. Therefore, the book contains Christian spells evoking archangels and hexes! This is a big plus to me! Its a HUGE turn around from a lot of books that claim to be "authentic" witchcraft and only focus on one tradition that "harms none". (Wicca) Not only that but the book pays homage to many belief systems and religions.

The book has many warnings. Warnings about how the book is not aimed at children, and how certain herbs can be harmful. I thought this was good. Some more New Age books preach about certain things that could be potentially harmful to the reader. (Like drinking your own body fluids.) This one outright admits that there are herb spells that use potentially hazardous herbs.

When this book says 1000 spells, well I have no idea if it reaches 1000, but its got spells for just about anything. Basic mundane needs like luck, love, money, success. To more complex problems like the evil eye and fertility. Various methods of divination, spirit summoning, hexing, and protection is included too. I highly recommend this book for anyone who likes to collect spells and books on magical practices. This is a helpful and good edition to your collection.

Xochipilli and hallucinogen use amongst the Aztecs (and a little on some other plants)

For those of you unfamiliar with Mr.Xochipilli, he is the twin of the goddess of erotic love Xochiquetzal. He is a god of love and games. He has a dual personality where if someone commits sexual wrong doings he is prone to curse them with sexually transmitted diseases. But then he has this fun side as the god of games.

We have Xochipilli with a couple of known hallucinogens that were used by the Aztecs. Here he is depicted with a obvious blissful look on his face. Its a good bet that this is depicting him in ecstasy on the various plants he's being depicted with.


Frontal view:

I've also notice some similarities to this statue of Xipe Totec:





Anyway, I pulled out "The gods and symbols of ancient Mexico and the Maya" by Miller and Taube. it says that hallucinogens were used for communion with the gods and ancestors, divination, visions, self-knowledge, and as a source of pleasure and entertainment. Psilocybin mushrooms may have been used during the late post classic period. it goes on for some about mushroom iconography in Mixtec codexes and how in night banquets successful Aztec merchants would eat them mixed with honey. then says that another important hallucinogen was morning glory seed. In Nahuatl it was ololiuhqui and that Alarcon has detailed accounts of its use in divination in the treatise. It was considered a actual god that communicated to special practitioners through visions. It was treated with great veneration and respect. Peyote and potent jimsen weed are described by Aztecs as "fever medicine". (Patecatl btw is the discoverer of peyote and god of medicine.)


Interestingly, we have Peyote described as an medicine, while morning glory seed (which is featured with Xochipilli here) seems to be more used for recreation and religious use. (I don't have Florentine codex book 11 i believe it is, yet so bear with me here.)

I came across this which also details various plant use amongst the Aztecs. Often times, the Aztec sorcerer (Nahualli) was a curer as well as an practitioner of malevolent magic. It seems, that similarly to Egyptian medicine, healing magic and actual medical treatment/usage of plants are synonymous in Aztec medicine. According to "Historia de los Mexicanos", we have Quetzalcoatl creating the first people. With the woman it says "certain grains of corn for making cures, for soothsaying and witchcraft, and thus the women use them to this very day [Leon-Portilla, 1990:34]." I think its a good note the connection of witchcraft and women in this instance, which is not even seen as nessecerly bad.

Oh dear, after reading the article it seems, I should make a new post about plant use in witchcraft amongst the Aztecs. Excuse me here.

Red jasper tit amulet of Nefer/Aset's Knot/Aset's blood

Flipping through my Egyptian books, I stumbled upon some curious connections between Aset (Isis), her blood, and red jasper. It seems to be a important protective stone. So when I got back online I looked up further information.

I found the tit(Tyet, Tet, Tyt,Tiet, Tjet) amulet of Isis.

The British Museum reports:

"From Egypt
New Kingdom, about 1250-1100 BC

The protection of Isis

The tit amulet was one of several which was placed on the neck of the deceased at the time of burial. It is first mentioned in funerary papyri and first appears on mummies in the mid-Eighteenth Dynasty (about 1550-1295 BC). From then on it was considered vital.

This example is made of red jasper, as prescribed in the Book of the Dead, though many examples were of other red materials such as glass or carnelian. Some were also made of green faience or glass. In ancient Egypt, green was symbolic of regeneration. The amulet was linked with the goddess Isis, and also known as the knot-amulet or girdle of Isis. It consists of a loop of cloth, from the tied lower end of which hung two folded loops. It may represent a cloth used during menstruation.

According to Spell 156 of the Book of the Dead the amulet bestowed the protection of Isis against 'whoever would commit a crime against him'. The spell, invoking the goddess' blood, power, and magic, was to be recited over the amulet, which was moistened with the juice of various fruit. This example is inscribed with Nefer's name, to ensure that the spell would be specifically applied to him."

You'll notice the shape of this knot is similar to a Ankh. Ancient Egypt online reports:

"The Tjet (Tyet, Tet, Tit, Tat, That, Thet) is also commonly known as the Isis knot, or Isis girdle. Some commentators have argued that the symbol was originally a variant of the Ankh. It has a similar appearance (except its 'arms' are bent downwards) and could also have a similar meaning, sometimes being translated as ' life'. As a hieroglyph it represented the Tjet amulet and the phonetic sound "s".

[...]

There is much debate regarding the subject of the symbol. It is similar to the knot used to tie garments in place, and so is often called the "knot of Isis". Knots were thought to bind magic, and so this would not seem to be an unreasonable suggestion. However, other commentators have suggested that it should really be 'the girdle of Isis' or 'the blood of Isis' as the symbol represents a female sanitary cloth used during menstruation or an ancient charm to help women deal with menstrual cramps. Others suggest it represents the female reproductive organs and represents Isis in her role as the universal mother.

While we cannot be certain of the original meaning of the symbol, there seems to be a link to blood, power and regeneration. The Book of the Dead states that a Tjet amulet should be formed from a red stone (such as carnelian, red jasper or red glass) and buried with the mummy. According to this ancient text - "The blood of Isis, the spells of Isis, the magical words of Isis shall keep this great one strong, and shall protect him from whosoever would harm him". However, the Tjet was not always red. Tutankhamun was buried with a beautiful blue Tjet and amulets were also fashioned from yellow sycamore wood (as the tree was sacred to Nut, Isis, and Hathor)."

Science

I'm thinking of dedicating more of this blog to other sciences and not just anthropological works, as my interests have broadened. That being said, much of this blog will probably be dedicated to a variety of subjects.

History is written by the victors...

...is a inaccurate statement. For example, with the Aztecs we have a plethora of sources written by them, post conquest and pre conquest.

Don't believe me?

The Broken Spears: The Aztec Account of the Conquest of Mexico

Post conquest:

Florentine codex

Pre conquest:

Borgia codex

If the Aztecs were like this than surely other histories must be as well. This debunks what many say about inaccuracy in some cases. I'm not saying history can't be biased, not at all, I'm saying that making the claim that history is not credible based on the assumption that all of history was written by winners is quite false.

Hello and welcome

I am making this blog as someone interested in anthropology. I want to detail the works, my thoughts, and notions of human culture. Therefore, this blog will focus on history, cultures,  and religion from around the world. It will be using references from various works of anthropology, archeology, ethnographic, and eytmological significance.

I will, likewise, reference my own experience and I will criticize and question other peoples' beliefs. I do not want this blog to be a straight shot of academia, I will had my own personal thoughts. Even if the reader is not happy to read them. 

*This blog will also contain help for those who practice some form of modern paganism.