The Witches' Garter

The magical garter has significance dating back to prehistoric times. Cave art in eastern Spain that dates to the Paleolithic period shows a sorcerer performing in a ritual while wearing nothing but a pair of garters just below his knees.

In many traditions the garter is worn only by a Witch Queen, or Queen of the Sabbat. However, the traditional dress of Morris dancers consists of garters, usually red, and "Green Garters" is a traditional Morris Dancer tune.  

In the trial recond of Margaret Johnson (Lancshsire 1633) the Devil was said to wear: "a suite of black, tyed about with silke pointes (garters)."  If we take the position that the "Devil" was the Magister of the coven, then we see that the garter is not the sole province of the Queen of the Sabbat, but was also worn by men.

Red garters were said to be worn by a witchcraft coven Summoner. The Summoner's job was to advise members on meeting days and times. The red garters signified to others that s/he was genuine.  Gerald Gardner used the red garters as a plot device to this effect in his novel about the witch cult, High Magic's Aid.

In some traditions the garter is prepared with green leather or velvet with a lining made of blue silk. In others the garter is made of red leather or snakeskin. There is usually one large, silver or gold buckle on the garter, representing the Queen's own coven, with additional, smaller, silver buckles for each of the other covens under her authority. The garter is worn on the left leg, just above the knee.  It may be fastened with the large buckle or with silk ribbons.

Queens stitch garters, circa 1753. Wintertur Museum

Pennethorne Hughes states that when a tortured witch was likely to reveal others, he or she may be murdered in jail by the other witches to avoid further arrests and tortures. To prove that the murder had been done under those circumstances, a garter would be left tied loosely around the victim's throat. Such a potential informant would be known as a "warlock," meaning traitor. The case of John Stewart of Irving in 1618 is one such example. John Reid, of Renfrewshire in 1696, is another. Many legends and folk tales have a garter as the leitmotif.

The Witch Garter is found in English history as being linked to the creation of the Order of the Garter. This order is Great Britain's highest and most ancient order of knighthood. The most widespread story states that the countess of Salisbury was dancing with King Edward III at a court function. As they danced, the countess's garter fell to the ground. The king picked it up and, to save her embarrassment, put it on his own leg with the words, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (Shame be to him who thinks evil of it.") He went on to found the Order of the Garter, with that phrase as its slogan. The precise date for the founding of the order is not known, since the records have been destroyed, but it is thought to be 1344 or 1350. The most likely date, however, appears to be 1348.

Margaret Alice Murray mentions that it took more than a dropped garter to embarrass a lady in the 14th century, even a lady of the court. However, if the garter dropped was a ritual one, demonstrating that its owner was in fact a leader of the Old Religion, then there would be very real embarrassment, particularly since there were high personages of the Christian Church in attendance at the event. Edward's action, then, was incredibly smart thinking, for in placing the garter on his own leg, he not only saved face for the countess, but also proclaimed himself prepared to be a leader of the Pagan population as well as the Christian. This was a clever move taking into account that a large portion of his subjects were still Pagan at that point in time. Murray is puzzled by Edward's words, but if deemed as referring to the Old Religion itself, rather than the action or the garter, then they make very good sense. Edward then went on to form the Order of the Garter with twenty-four knights, himself, and the Prince of Wales-a total of twenty-six, or the number of two traditional covens. As Chief of the Order, the king wore a blue velvet mantle powdered over with 168 tiny garters. Along with the one on his leg, that made 169, or 13 times 13.

According to the Key of Solomon by Mathers this is the proper procedure for making magical garters:

HOW TO MAKE THE MAGIC GARTERS

TAKE enough of the skin of a stag to make two hollow tubular Garters, but before stitching them up thou shalt write on the side of the skin which was next the flesh the words and characters shown in Figure 8, with the blood of a hare killed on the 25th of June, and having filled the said Garters with green mugwort gathered also on the 25th of June before sunrise, thou shalt put in the two ends of each the eye of the fish called barbel; and when thou shalt wish to use them thou shalt get up before sunrise and wash them in a brook of running water, and place them one on each leg above the knee. After this thou shalt take a short rod of holm-oak cut on the same 25th of June, turn in the direction thou wishest to go, write upon the ground the name of the place, and commencing thy journey thou wilt find it accomplished in a few days and without fatigue. When thou wishest to stop thou hast only to say AMECH and beat the air with the aforesaid wand, and incontinently thou shalt be on firm ground.

Fig 8. "The Magick Garter" From the Key of Solomon

Lilith

Lilith is a Hebrew name for a figure in Jewish mythology who is generally thought to be in part derived from a class of female demons called Lilitu in Mesopotamian texts. The Gilgamesh appendix and the Arslan Tash amulets are the two sources used to connect the Jewish Lilith to an Akkadian Lilitu. The Hebrew term Lilith first occurs in Isaiah 34:14.

In Jewish folklore, from the 8th–10th century work The Alphabet of Ben Sira onwards, Lilith becomes Adam's first wife, who was created at the same time and from the same earth as Adam. This contrasts with Eve, who was created from one of Adam's ribs. Lilith’s legend was greatly developed during the Middle Ages. In a 13th Century writing, Lilith left Adam after she refused to become subservient to him and then would not return to the Garden of Eden after she mated with archangel Samael. She was said to have spoken the secret Holy name of God and transformed herself into an owl to fly from Eden. The name "Lilith" means "screech owl".  In some medieval folklore, Lilith does return to Eden as a serpent. She then offers forth the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge to Eve, making her a kind of proto-Sophia or wisdom Goddess.

Charles Leland associated Aradia with Lilith. Aradia, says Leland, is Herodias, who was regarded in stregheria folklore as being associated with Diana as chief of the witches. Leland further notes that Herodias is a name that comes from West Asia, where it denoted an early form of Lilith.

Gerald Gardner asserted that there was continuous historical worship of Lilith to present day, and that her name is sometimes given to the goddess being personified in the coven, by the priestess. This idea was further attested by Doreen Valiente, who cited her as a presiding goddess of the Craft: “the personification of erotic dreams, the suppressed desire for delights.”

In some Traditional covens, Lilith is viewed as the embodiment of the Witches' Goddess. She was said to have embodied herself in the form of Na'amah, the sister of Tubal Cain, and is therefore one of the original sources of Witchblood. Some see this Lilith as the Queen of the Fairies and Grandmother to them as well.

One of the old names for the moon is Lilith’s Lantern, as it was said to be the light that Witches met by. Lilith is associated with the moon, owls, and serpents.

Prayer Unto the Queen of Succubi
by Andrew Chumbly

I bless the Waters of Desire
I drink the Fountain White.
I call thee Mother Lilith
Harlot of the Night.

Mine are the Blossoms of Rousing
To Bewitch the Moon-Feast round;
Unto me thy Daughters
Ye Nymphs of Paradise ground.

I bless the Waters of Desire
I drink the Fountain White.
I call thee Mother Lilith
Harlot of the Night.

By the Mystery of the Bright Moon
And the Vessel of Quickening Fire
Thy Power is Made Flesh.

The Burney Relief, thought to depict Lilith

Hecate

Hecate or Hekate is an ancient goddess, most often shown holding two torches or a key and in later periods depicted in triple form. She is variously associated with crossroads, entrance-ways, fire, light, the Moon, magic, witchcraft, knowledge of herbs and poisonous plants, necromancy, and sorcery. She has rulership over earth, sea and  sky, as well as a more universal role as Savior (Soteira), Mother of Angels and the Cosmic World Soul.

Hecate is also one of the ‘patron' goddesses of many witches, who in some traditions identify her with the Triple Goddess, for Hecate has three faces, or phases. Her role as a tripartite goddess, which many modern-day Wiccans associate with the concept of ‘the Maiden, the Mother and the Crone', was made popular in modern times by writers such as Robert Graves in The White Goddess.

Historical depictions and descriptions show her facing in three different directions, a clear reference to the tripartite nature of this ancient Goddess.


Hecate was associated with borders, city walls, doorways, crossroads and, by extension, with realms outside or beyond the world of the living. She appears to have been particularly associated with being ‘between' and hence is frequently characterized as a “liminal" goddess. Hecate was also associated with plant lore and the concoction of medicines and poisons. In particular she was thought to give instruction in these closely related arts. Medea was said to be taught by Hecate.


Hecate has survived in folklore as a ‘hag' figure associated with witchcraft. Scholars note that Hecate, conflated with the figure of Diana, appears in late antiquity and in the early medieval period as part of an “emerging legend complex" associated with gatherings of women, the moon, and witchcraft that eventually became established in the area of Northern Italy, southern Germany, and the western Balkans.

Epithets

Aedonaea (Lady of the underworld)
Anassa eneri (Queen of the dead)
Apotropaia (that turns away/protects)
Atalus (tender)
Brimo (the terrible one)
Chthonia (of the earth/underworld)
Enodia (on the way)
Klêidouchos (holding the keys)
Kourotrophos (nurse of children)
Liparocredemnus (bright-coiffed)
Nyctipolus (night-wandering)
Phosphoros (bringing or giving light)
Propolos (who serves/attends)
Propulaia/Propylaia (before the gate)
Scylacagetis (leader of dogs)
Soteira (savior)
Trimorphe (three-formed)
Triodia/Trioditis (who frequents crossroads)
Zerynthia (of Mt. Zerynthia in Samothrace)

Amulets and Talismans

A Sator square talisman.

A talisman is an object which purports to contain certain magical properties which would protect the possessor from evil or harm or provide good luck. The word comes from the Arabic word Tilasm and
ultimately from the Greek word teleo which means "to consecrate."

Amulets and talismans are often considered interchangeable despite their differences. An amulet is an object with natural magical properties, whereas a talisman must be charged with magical powers by a
creator; it is this act of consecration or “charging" that gives the talisman its alleged magical powers.  The talisman is always made for a definite reason whilst an amulet can be used for generic purposes such as averting evil or attracting good luck.

According to The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, a magical order active in the United Kingdom during the late-19th and early-20th  centuries, a talisman is:

“a magical figure charged with the force which it is intended to represent. In the construction of a talisman, care should be taken to make it, as far as possible, so to represent the universal forces that it should be in exact harmony with those you wish to attract, and the more exact the symbolism, the easier it is to attract the force."

It is generally agreed that a talisman should be created by the person who plans to use it. They also recommend that the person making the talisman must be familiar with all the symbolisms connected to all the different planetary and elemental forces. In several medieval talismans, geomantic signs and symbols were used in relation with different planets. These symbolisms, which are frequently incorporated into geomantic divination, also have alchemical implications. Other magical associations, such as colors, scents, symbolism, patterns, and Qabalistic figures, can also be integrated in the creation of a talisman. However, they should be in  synchronization with the elemental or planetary force selected to represent the talisman. It is also feasible to augment a personal touch to the talisman through adding a verse, inscription, or pattern.

The Sator square talisman shown above was popularly used during Ancient Rome to protect against house fires.

Meeting at the Crossroads

The crossroads -- a place where two roads cross at or about at right angles, -- is the subject of religious and folkloric belief around the world. Because the crossroads is liminal space (that is, a place between places), it is considered a suitable site to perform magical rituals and cast spells. The use of the crossroads as an impromptu altar where offerings are placed and rituals performed is widely encountered in both European and African folklore.

In ancient Greece, Hecate, the Goddess of witchcraft and necromancy, was ruler of all places where three or more roads crossed.

In Africa, almost every cultural group has its own  version of the crossroads god. Legba, Ellegua, Elegbara, Eshu, Exu, Nbumba Nzila, and Pomba Gira are African and African-diaspora names for the spirit who opens the way, guards the crossroads, and teaches wisdom.

European tales of, by, and about musicians, dancers, and others who seek physical dexterity selling themselves to the Devil are frequent and commonplace. The blues musician Robert Johnson is one example of this legend from African-diaspora possibly influenced by European beliefs.

Witches have always met at liminal times in liminal spaces. The solstice on a beach where the water meets the land is one example. The crossroads at midnight is another, classic, example.

When we cast the Circle and call in the Quarters and the Gods, we are doing more than delineating a working space, we are creating roads to the center of the Circle, where the stang is raised. These roads cross at the stang, which is the true “Devil” at the crossroads. The Circle itself is a liminal space,  both of this world and the world between worlds.

Because Hecate is the Goddess of both witchcraft and necromancy, the crossroads are also seen as a place where one can contact the spirits of departed loved ones. Offerings are sometimes made at crossroads for these hungry ghosts.