Spirited Enterprise

Many forms of magick involve animals and/or animal parts in their rituals. It is believed that most animals carry within them a magickal power.

 

Certain animals were thought to hold the most power and were highly sought out for some of the strangest brews and cures.

 

Though most traditions no longer practice rituals that involve harming animals, it is still interesting to learn some of the old methods which were once very commonly practiced.

 

BATS:

~Washing your face in bats blood was thought to enable you to see in the dark.

~Carrying the right eye of a bat in your pocket was said to make you invisible to enemies.

~Sewing bat bones into your clothing was said to bring about long, prosperous streaks of good luck.

~Adding a few drops of bats blood to someone's wine was thought to make them more passionate and loving in the bedroom.

 

*Did you know that one of the ingredients in the original "flying ointment" was bat's blood?

 

CATS:

~Rubbing the tail of a tortoiseshell cat on a wart during the month of May was said to cure it.

~Holding a dry cat skin over your face was said to cure toothaches.

~Swallowing 9 hairs from the tail of a black cat was said to cure whooping cough.

~Gravy made from stewed meat from a black cat was often prescribed to cure hunger and obesity.

 

*Did you know that black cats were said to be an accidental creation of the devil? During the burning times, black cats were often burned to death because of their association with witchcraft : (

 

DOGS:

~Wearing a dried dogs tongue around your neck was said to cure scrofula (Scrofula is the Latin word for brood sow, and it is the term applied to tuberculosis of the neck)

~Allowing a dog to lick sores was said to heal them faster.

~To cure jaundice a concoction of dogs brain and red wine was smeared over the skin.

~Melted dog fat was prescribed for rheumatism.

 

*Did you know that the howling of a dog in many countries is considered to be a death omen?

 

SNAKES:

~Drinking a broth made from fresh snake skin was said to cure tuberculosis.

~Powdered snakeskin was prescribed to cure diseases of the spleen. Some witches said to add it to your food while others said to hold it on your tongue until it dissolved.

~Carrying a snake’s tooth was said to ward off fever.

~Wearing a shed snakeskin in your hat or bonnet was said to prevent migraines.

~Laying a fresh snakeskin on an embedded thorn, sliver or prickle was said to draw them out of the skin.

 

*Did you know that snakes were the most commonly used ingredient in magickal cures and rituals during medieval times?

 

TOADS:

~Wearing a dried toad in a silk bag around your neck was prescribed for frequent nosebleeds.

~Carrying a dried toads tongue in your pocket was said to attract the opposite sex.

~Swallowing a fresh toads heart was prescribed to cure epilepsy (according to old manuscripts, this really worked)

~Smearing the ashes of a freshly burnt toad was prescribed for rheumatism, plague and dropsy (An old term for the swelling of soft tissues due to the accumulation of excess water)

~Wearing a dried hind leg of a toad around your neck was said to cure warts, tumors, swelling and other skin conditions.

~Massaging your breasts with a live toad was prescribed to cure breast cancer and swelling of the breasts.

 

*Did you know that toads were said to be the manifestations of demons due to the 2 small “horns” on their forehead?

 

WOLVES:

~Eating wolf meat daily was said to prevent the gift of sight.

~Sleeping with a wolf’s head under your bed or pillow was prescribed to stop night terrors.

~Rubbing a wolf’s canine tooth on a baby’s gums was said to alleviate teething pain.

~Wrapping an epileptic in wolf’s skin was said to alleviate seizures.

~Wearing or carrying a wolf’s canine tooth was said to keep evil spirits away.

~Rubbing wolf’s feces on your limbs was said to cure colic.

 

*Did you know that the first werewolf was recorded in German Mythology? They thought that witches could shape shift into wolves.

Perhaps even odder the the prescriptions themselves is that there are actual manuscripts that document that these cures worked!