Witch Krafting with Kat

  A Witches grave!  Welcome to another Witchy Wednesday. This weeks article is about Mag Shelton.  In 1705, an elderly woman called Mag Shelton was found crushed between a barrel and the wall of her cottage. Long feared as a witch who, through dark magic, had sold her soul to the devil, her neighbours in the village of Woodplumpton, England buried her underneath a large boulder. It was hoped that such would stop her from rising from her grave. After all, there were many strange and creepy rumours about her paranormal powers. An exorcism was even allegedly performed at her gravesite to stop her from haunting the area and put an end to her devilry. Even so, her legacy lived on, and indeed grew, with Meg Shelton today being remembered as the Witch of Woodplumpton, the Hag of the Fylde. Please watch the video below by  The Paranormal Scholar   Links to great articles about Meg Shelton.  https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/Legend of shape-shifting witch 'buried he...

  Mandrakes on display at The Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford.  MANDRAKES!  Welcome to another Witchy Wednesday. This weeks article is about one of my favourite plants, the Mandrake. This strange magical plant has always fascinated me, many years ago long before Harry Potter was even a thought my first encounter of seeing these magical twisted mini humans was on our family holidays to Boscastle in Cornwall, in particular The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic. This museum which is still a huge draw to holiday makers and folklorist to this day has an amazing collection of magical artifacts and was a welcome attraction to a young Kat on a particularly wet and cold day way back in the 1980's! As a child it ignited my interests in Folklore and Witches, after my first visit I became quite fascinated in the history of Folklore and mythical creatures. Something that made childhood holidays much more interesting as I was never happier than finding out legends of where we were staying....

  The World of GIANTS! This weeks Witchy Wednesday is about both the folklore and reality of Giants. I have always found the subject of giants interesting. From folklore stories, fairytales to the real life fascination in tall people during the Victorian period. It is an immence subject which I will return to more in-depth in the Autumn. But for today here is an interesting article about Giants by Crecganford.  "Folklore featuring giants is widespread, with stories found across various cultures and time periods. These tales often depict giants as beings of immense size and strength, sometimes benevolent, sometimes malevolent, and frequently linked to natural formations or historical events." The Truth about Giants a really interesting vlog on YouTube by  https://youtube.com/@crecganford Real Giants!  All images below were sourced from The Welcome Collection and are all domain free.  The images and articles below are about real people who in the past were conside...

This week I thought it would be nice to share some historical images of Witches.  All source from the Welcome Collection and all in the public domain. Please visit their website to find out about their museum in London and access to their online digital collection. https://wellcomecollection.org/ Two witches tell Macbeth (representing the Earl of Bute) that he will be king and another, holding a noose, says he will be "Knight - the first that ever graced the Scottish annals". Etching, 1762. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. Three witches with a cat, a dog and a bird. Engraving, ca. 1800, after a woodcut, 1619. Two naked witches riding on a broomstick accompanied by an owl. Etching by F. Goya, 1796/1798. A witch holding a plant in one hand and a fan in the other. Woodcut, ca. 1700-1720. A circle of witches dance around a central figure. Woodcut, ca. 1700-1720 Witches: five silhouetted figures. Aquatint by M. Dubourg after B.A. Townshend, 1815. The history of witches and wizards...

 Lammas lughnasadh blessings to you all! 🤗 🌻🌿🌾🌻🌿🌾🌻🌿🌾🌻🌿🌾🌻🌿🌾🌻🌿🌾

  R.I.P Ozzy!  🌝  Ozzy Osbourne 'Bark at the Moon!' 

Root and berries of  Bryonia alba . Illustration from Eduard Winkler,  Sämmtliche Giftgewäckse Deutschlands  (Leipzig 1854) Welcome to another Witchy Wednesday, this week I wanted to do a little article about a plant I found locally were I live called Bryonia also known as English Mandrake, Ladies Seal, devil's cherry, devil's turnip, grapewort, red bryony, tetterberry, white wild vine and wild hop to name a few!  Bryonia photographed in my local area spotted on July 17th 2025.  Bryonia cretica flowers- image from Wikipedia White bryony (Bryonia dioica Jacq.): fruiting stem and separate flower and a description of the plant and its uses. Coloured line engraving by C.H.Hemerich, c.1759, after T.Sheldrake. Bryonia alba L. (Cucurbitaceae) illustration from Johan Wilhelm Palmstruch, Svensk botanik, (Stockholm1803) Cretan bryony (Bryonia cretica) has a thick fleshy white root, large lobed leaves, pale yellow flowers arranged in clusters in the leaf axils, and small r...