- Joined
- Sep 27, 2021
- Messages
- 2,139
- Reaction score
- 5,929
- Awards
- 31
Witches fly. Usually on brooms, sometimes on goats, and occasionally in a mortar. Another cool trick these ladies (M/F..) can pull off is to sail the waters in eggshells.
Yeah.
Please note that I spent close to 3.5 minutes researching this.
So.
Once upon a time the African Yoruba people used a material known as “efun” in their ceremonies. This is a natural substance, formed from seashells and clay. It signifies purity and is primarily used as a protection and to draw the symbols of their gods in ceremonies and rituals. The word translates as “white / purity / chalk” and is also named as a reference to the supreme deity orisha Obatala.
The word is a part of certain Yoruba names as well. A noteworthy example is Efunsetan Aniwura, a prominent slavetrader whose name could be interpreted as pure (efun) complete (setan) owner (ani) gold (wura)
In fact there's (at least) one other infamous female slavetrader whose name starts with this word. As a component of given names it references a royal (or noble) descent.
When the Yoruba were sold as slaves and brought to America there was no white earth and they found the solution in the form of
“cascarilla powder”
In today's world wide witchcraft where everything has influenced everything, cascarilla is something that most will have heard of, via conjure / hoodoo / santeria etc. It simply is made from crushed white eggshells. Just like seashells these are mostly calcium, and thus (also) are a good fertilizer especially for fast growing plants. What this then obviously means is that an area where the powder is used will (rather) quickly come to life and the positive effect is visually noticeable afterwards.
The word Cascarilla translates as “shell” and is also the name of a plant that is used as herbal medicine against fever and nausea – however: it is also known to be smoked. In the latter it can induce “intoxication”. To be fair, the name cascarilla is given to a whole range of very diverse species, and every plant known to man has been studied and classified as either beneficial or harmful,
where in some cases it can depend on the dose or even the region in which of the two categories it will be listed.
Since most of us now accept that it's much more likely that witches fly in their mind rather than on a broom, it is interesting that there's this (thin) link to a mildly psychoactive plant hidden in the word.
The inner waters.
So, let's briefly go back to the title of this post. Yes, it is incredibly funny and smart. Thank you.
But what is an egregore? It's commonly understood to be a spirit that is formed and sustained by the belief of a group. Maybe even a couple of beliefs that “aggregate” into one concept.
Witches are associated with the moon. The moon is associated with water. Water is associated with the subconscious.
Why would a witch that can fly go over the waters instead? Because air and flight is the conscious and ideas, and water is dreams and the hidden. Or because the(re has to be the) association with the seashell of the original protective powder.
Yeah.
Please note that I spent close to 3.5 minutes researching this.
So.
Once upon a time the African Yoruba people used a material known as “efun” in their ceremonies. This is a natural substance, formed from seashells and clay. It signifies purity and is primarily used as a protection and to draw the symbols of their gods in ceremonies and rituals. The word translates as “white / purity / chalk” and is also named as a reference to the supreme deity orisha Obatala.
The word is a part of certain Yoruba names as well. A noteworthy example is Efunsetan Aniwura, a prominent slavetrader whose name could be interpreted as pure (efun) complete (setan) owner (ani) gold (wura)
In fact there's (at least) one other infamous female slavetrader whose name starts with this word. As a component of given names it references a royal (or noble) descent.
When the Yoruba were sold as slaves and brought to America there was no white earth and they found the solution in the form of
“cascarilla powder”
In today's world wide witchcraft where everything has influenced everything, cascarilla is something that most will have heard of, via conjure / hoodoo / santeria etc. It simply is made from crushed white eggshells. Just like seashells these are mostly calcium, and thus (also) are a good fertilizer especially for fast growing plants. What this then obviously means is that an area where the powder is used will (rather) quickly come to life and the positive effect is visually noticeable afterwards.
The word Cascarilla translates as “shell” and is also the name of a plant that is used as herbal medicine against fever and nausea – however: it is also known to be smoked. In the latter it can induce “intoxication”. To be fair, the name cascarilla is given to a whole range of very diverse species, and every plant known to man has been studied and classified as either beneficial or harmful,
where in some cases it can depend on the dose or even the region in which of the two categories it will be listed.
Since most of us now accept that it's much more likely that witches fly in their mind rather than on a broom, it is interesting that there's this (thin) link to a mildly psychoactive plant hidden in the word.
The inner waters.
So, let's briefly go back to the title of this post. Yes, it is incredibly funny and smart. Thank you.
But what is an egregore? It's commonly understood to be a spirit that is formed and sustained by the belief of a group. Maybe even a couple of beliefs that “aggregate” into one concept.
Witches are associated with the moon. The moon is associated with water. Water is associated with the subconscious.
Why would a witch that can fly go over the waters instead? Because air and flight is the conscious and ideas, and water is dreams and the hidden. Or because the(re has to be the) association with the seashell of the original protective powder.