Witch Krafting with Kat

  Happy Anniversary to me! I have been officially blogging and having an online presence as 'Witchkraftingwithkat' since 2018. I would firstly like to thank all of you who have supported and encouraged me since the beginning. Some of you have been by my side for years and years some since the beginnings of the internet! Yes I am that old! When I used to have to turn on my computer and let it warm up for 20 mins before I could tap any information online! I had originally set up my 'witchkraftingwithkat' blog with a idea to tour the country to write stories about Folklore but due to bereavement, the darn covid lockdowns and then me becoming ill my blog became more of a place for me to share my interest online whilst recovering. My health is still causing me major issues (meh) so my blog is somewhat sporadic with some weeks being thin on content and others packed! But I am still going and I plan on keep going for another 8 years!!! And hopefully beyond as it brings me much...

  Wishing you all a wonderful Spring Equinox.    🌞🌸🌿🌱💐🌞🌸🌿🌱💐🌞🌸🌿🌱💐🌞🌸🌿🌱💐 

Hares have been historically connected with witchcraft across Europe and Britain. Commonly believed to be witches in disguise, shapeshifters, or witches familiars.  Their ability to "vanish" quickly, along with their wild "mad March" mating rituals, led to folklore suggesting witches transformed into them to escape detection or to cause mischief.   Whilst researching about Witches and hares I came across this lovely tale by Katharine Pyle. Book and images are in the public domain. The Rabbit Witch, and Other Tales by Katharine Pyle. Published in New York : E.P. Dutton and Company ..., c1895. Contents later published under title: Careless Jane and other tales. New York : E.P. Dutton, c1902. Thank you for visiting my blog please join me again next week for another Witchy Wednesday.  Between now and then here are some interesting links for you to visit and read.  Pewter Hare in wall in the Museum of Witchcraft and magic archive. https://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk...

Wood prints of mysterious creatures! The Sea Monk by François Desprez 1562   The World's First Costume Book: François Desprez's Collection of Various Clothing Styles (1562)  These woodcuts by François Desprez come from 1562’s Recueil de la diversité des habits (whose full title translates as “a collection of the various styles of clothing presently worn in the countries of Europe, Asia, Africa, and the savage isles”), published in Paris and sometimes cited as the world’s first costume book. As Europeans encountered and conquered new worlds during the Age of Exploration, they not only took an interest in novel geography, biological specimens, and exportable resources but also in the customs and dress of unfamiliar peoples. Desprez’s 121 engravings illustrate garbs found the world over, accompanied by anonymous quatrains describing the sartorial behavior of Desprez’s subjects. Taken from Public Domain Review please visit this link for the full detailed article.  h...

After watching the beautiful series Small Prophets, which I highly recommend watching, I just had to do a little Witchy Wednesday on the creatures at the centre of the series. If you haven't seen it yet then please come back once you have! It is currently available on BBC iPlayer.  Small Prophets is a British television sitcom created, written and directed by Mackenzie Crook. Set in and around Manchester, it stars Pearce Quigley as a man who turns to alchemy and homunculi in an attempt to learn what happened after his girlfriend disappeared, with the cast also including Crook, Michael Palin, Lauren Patel, Sophie Willan and Jon Pointing. The series premiered on BBC Two and BBC iPlayer on 9 February 2026. Information from Wikipedia. Lovely write up on the TV series here. https://dramaquarterly.com/gently-does-it-2/ Now to the History! What is a Homunculi? Warning contains references to more adult themes!  A homunculus (Latin for "little man") refers to a microscopic, fu...

W elcome to another Witchy Wednesday.  I am having a little study week this week s o instead of my usual written article I thought it would be nice to feature a gallery of costumes including some fabulous witch costume patterns from the Victorian era and early 20th century.  Enjoy! All these images were sourced from Pinterest for you to enjoy and to my knowledge are domain free because of their age. If you are thinking of using any of them for financial gain I would recommend double checking to make sure. 😊 A little note on AI images.  I always try to post original content, not AI generated, on my blog which is just my preference. I am not against technology to create art, I myself have created art using a stylus on a digital canvas which requires as much skill as using a traditional pencil on paper and enjoyed using painting apps to add wording and frames to my photos. But I am personally not too keen on any work produced by an AI generator where you type in words wait ...