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The Magic of Rocks and Stones

Written and compiled by - Patricia Jean Martin

Stones - History, Myths and Lore

An introduction compiled by George Knowles

In the earliest days of mans evolution, the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age, man was a hunter-gatherer.  He hunted small animals and birds, fished and collected wild fruit, nuts and berries for his subsistence.  His first tools and weapons were simple and crude, sticks and stones picked up off the ground.  Later man learned to improve these tools using one stone to hammer away at another sharpening the sides and ends of the stone.  These could then be used to cut meat, carve wood and dig for roots.  These early stone tools were mainly handheld tools, later they learned to sharpen both sides of the stone and attach them to wooden handles, creating spear shafts and arrows and greatly improving their uses.  

The adzes (left and centre) were used for shaping wood and the sickle (right) was used in harvesting during the late Stone Age.   

Perhaps the most significant discovery during this early evolution of man was the use and control of Fire.  To prehistoric man fire would have been a frightening spectacle, produced by awe inspiring mystical events such as volcano eruptions and lightening striking trees.  Fire must have seemed more threatening than comforting, but conquering fear, they dared to approach the embers of a fire kindled by nature and learned to preserve it in the shelter of their stone caves.  They discovered that fire could cook food, sharpen wooden tools, light their way by night and frighten off wild animals and predators.  They later learned to build their own fires by striking sparks from stone (Flint) or rubbing two sticks together causing friction. 

Throughout the Stone Age, vast changes occurred in climate and other conditions affecting mankind’s evolution.  The Stone Age was thus divided into three periods: the Paleolithic, Mesolithic and Neolithic periods.  The Paleolithic, or Old Stone Age was the longest.  It began about 2 million years ago when stone tools were first used for hunting and gathering food.  Overtime a variety of stone tools were made for specific purposes, including bone tools.  By the end of the Paleolithic period, modern humans (Homo sapiens) had started making such specialized tools as needles and harpoons.  In the caves of Europe, such as the Cro-Magnon in France, wall paintings show evidence of both religious cults and social integration that point to the complexity of their developing cultures.

Cave paintings of the Cro-Magnon at Lascaux in France 

After 13,000 BC toward the end of the Paleolithic period, more clement weather patterns resulted in the greater availability of food.  In tropical and temperate forest regions, Paleolithic tools were adapted to the new conditions.  By the Mesolithic, or Middle Stone Age (8000-4000 BC), peoples of both the Middle East and Mesoamerica begun to develop into agricultural villages where stone tools became highly polished and varied.  In the Neolithic period, or New Stone Age (4000-2000 BC) pottery appeared in the ancient Middle East and metals such as Iron and Copper were being discovered and used for the first time.  New discoveries brought societies together creating sophisticated cultures.  They built cities, invented forms of writing and created complex social structures with class systems and religious beliefs.

Given mans early reliance on stone, little wonder then that stone would evolve as one of mans earliest symbols of reverence and worship.  Initially stone was worshiped as a manifestation of God himself, usually inspired with awe because of it’s size, shape and colour.  The pre-biblical Semitic cultures are believed to have possessed stone worshipping cults, as did tribes in parts of pre-Hellenic Greece, Crete, Thessaly, Africa and India.  As cultures became more sophisticated, stone ceased to be regarded as God himself, but instead became the abode of God whose powers, spirit and attributes became infused in stone. 

This belief of God, or the spirit of God in stone occurred among the tribes of the North America Indians, and equally among the aboriginal tribes of Australia, to whom the vestige of a large rock or boulder on the empty space of the prairie or desert would have seem especially awesome.  In the myths of these tribes these huge boulders were thought to be the dwelling place of special Gods or Ancestral Spirits who had not quite made the transition from ‘God as Stone’ to ‘God in Stone’.  A prime example is Ayers Rock situated in the Uluru National Park, Northern Territories of Australia.

Ayers Rock, Uluru National Park, Australia.

Later Megalithic monuments, large roughly dressed stones standing alone or combined to form a structure were erected for religious purposes or as burial places.  Found in all parts of the world, those in Western Europe date from the Neolithic and Bronze Age era, while those of India date from the first centuries of the Christian era.  Areas with the greatest concentration of megalithic monuments include:  the British Isles, France, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, the islands of the western Mediterranean, Scandinavia, North Africa, the Crimea, the Caucasus, the Middle East, the Iranian uplands, Japan and Myanmar (formerly Burma), Assam and the Deccan Plateau in India, also the islands of the South Pacific Ocean, particularly Easter Island.

Easter Island, Chile 

The most common European megalithic monuments include the ‘menhir or monolith’, single standing stones often of great size, such like for example The Five Kings in Northumberland, England, stone circles containing many monoliths as at Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England, and the rows of monoliths such as those at Carnac in Brittany, France.

Five Kings, England - Stonehenge, England  -  Carnac, France.

Burial chambers, or chamber tombs were built and usually walled with monoliths roofed by capstones or false vaults.  These would then be covered with earth, smaller stones, or Cairns (see below).  Chamber tombs are sometimes called ‘dolmens’ and are the most widespread type of megalithic monuments in Western Europe.  Most of those that remain have through the ages lost their coverings, and their monoliths exposed to the ravages of time now look like forlorn huts, such as Kits Coty in Kent, England and Glenroan in County Tyrone, Ireland.  

Kits Coty, Kent, England  -  Glenroan, County Tyrone, Ireland.

The majority of these burial chambers were originally built within earth mounds or barrows.  Common among these are the ‘passage grave’ in which the chamber is approached by a passage; and the ‘gallery grave’ containing a long rectangular chamber.  The interiors of the walls and roofs of some tombs were decorated with geometric or naturalistic designs.  Perhaps the most famous example of a passage grave is Newgrange in County Meath, Ireland.  

Newgrange passage grave in County Meath, Ireland  -   Entrance Stone & Roof Box. 

The idea of God or the spirit and power of God in Stone, natural stone, not sculpted stone, was a worldwide phenomenon.  The ancient Greeks and Celts devoted much of their religious beliefs to such stones, particularly those vaguely phallic in shape, which they attributed to the Gods of fertility.  Such stones as ‘the Pipers’, two megalithic stones in Cornwall were venerated; and interestingly are situated near to a stone circle called the ‘Merry Maidens’, perhaps showing how much importance our ancestors place on the gods of fertility.  

Piper 1  -  Piper 2  -  The Merry Maidens near Penzance in Cornwall. 

The Greeks also erected Cairns, heaps of stones, which they ascribed to the god Hermes ‘the god of travellers’.  These they placed at holy places, crossroads and boundaries, where travellers could add a stone and partition the gods for a safe journey.  This practice was common throughout the Celtic regions of Europe, including Britain, the Middle East and Asia, as well as the aboriginal tribes of Australia.  The Celts placed many of their Cairns on mountain peaks and summits dedicated to the mountain gods, believing that by adding a stone it would magically wipe away a traveller’s weariness.  Hikers and mountain climbers still continue the practice today, but more as a pleasant tradition rather than a piece of magic or worship. 

Cairns was also used to cover burial chambers (see above), and some fine examples can be found in the Kilmartin Valley of Argyll in Scotland.  The ‘Nether Largie Cairns’ are part of a linear progression of Cairns that appear in a North-South direction.  The North cairn is a fairly large circle with one burial chamber.  The Middle cairn is about 100 feet in diameter with a burial chamber in the centre, and the South cairn, the oldest burial site in the line is a round cairn constructed in the Neolithic period.

North Cairn  -  Middle Cairn  -  South Cairn 

Stones with natural holes (a female symbol) were also given prominence, as much so as the phallic kind.  Barren women would be passed through the hole of larger specimen stones, to undertake the magical and curative powers of a symbolic birth or re-birth.  Smaller stones with natural holes were worn as amulets, on pendants or as necklaces by women around the world to facilitate fertility.  They were also hung over the beds of a woman in labour and over the doorway to fend away witches.

Men-An-Tol in Cornwall, England   

The concepts of god-as-stone and god-in-stone developed into the belief that stones with natural holes and other stones with unusual features were sacred stones because of their mystical association with divine powers.  Down through the ages many other stones were thought to have gained their own inherent powers, and many legends are told of their use in religious ceremonies, ritual and magic.  

In Greece “The Omphalos” is a decorated stone covered with sculpted engravings of Honeybees.  It was used as a symbol indicating that Delphi in Greece was the centre of the world.  According to myth, Zeus let free two eagles from the deepest corners of the universe in order to find the centre of the earth.  As they circled the earth from different directions, they flew towards each other and met at Delphi, ‘the navel of the world’ (omphalos in Greek means navel).  Another myth has it that the Omphalos was the tomb of a dragon Python, known as the Son of Gaia, who was killed by the god Apollo in order to get possession of the Oracle.

The Omphalos

In Saudi Arabia, the “Black Stone of Islam” is one of the cornerstones of the Kaaba, the ancient stone building towards which all Muslims pray.  The Black Stone was declared by the prophet Muhammad to have been given to Abraham by the archangel Gabriel, and is revered the world over by Muslims.  The Kaaba is located in Mecca, Saudi Arabia where it is surrounded by the enormous Grand Mosque called Masjid al-Haram.  The stone itself is comparatively small, being roughly 50 cm (19.7 in.) in diameter, however it can be instantly recognized by the large silver band that holds it all together.  The Stone was actually broken into several pieces when Ismaili warriors sacked Mecca in 930, and carried the Black Stone away.  It was returned twenty-two years later and is now held together by the silver band, which is fastened by silver nails into the NE corner of the Kaaba.  When pilgrims circle the Kaaba as part of the ritual of the Hajj, many of them stop and kiss the Black Stone.  

The Black Stone of Islam  

In England the Stone of Scone (pronounced 'scoon') also known as the Stone of Destiny or the Coronation Stone, is a block of sandstone that was historically kept at the now-ruined abbey in Scone, near Perth in Scotland.  It was used for centuries as a seat at the coronation of the Kings and Queens of Scotland, and later the Kings and Queens of England.  Mythologically, it was thought to have been a stone pillow used by the Biblical Jacob, and in another legend it was the travelling altar used by St Columba during his missionary activities throughout Scotland.  In still another legend it was the Coronation Stone of the early Irish Gaels, which they brought with them when invading Caledonia.  Since the time of Kenneth MacAlpine, King of Dalriada and the first King of Scots at around 847, Scottish monarchs were seated on the stone during their coronation ceremony.

In 1296 after invading and conquering Scotland, Edward I declared himself King of that realm and Stone of Scone was removed to Westminster Abbey in London, England.  There it was fitted into a wodden throne known as St. Edward's Chair, and used at the coronations of the future Kings and Queens of England.  On Christmas Day 1950, the stone was stolen from Westminster Abbey by a group of Scottish students intent on returning it to Scotland, but it was recovered four months later and returned Westminster Abbey.

In 1996 the British Government decided that the Stone should be kept in Scotland when not in use at coronations, and on St Andrews Day the 30th of November 1996, the Stone of Scone was returned to it’s natural heritage home of Scotland and placed in Edinburgh Castle.  It now remains protected behind sophisticated security systems and armoured glass.  The stone will continue to be use at future coronations and will be transport back to Westminster Abbey when it is required for that occasion.

St. Edward's Chair ‘circa 1855’  -  The Stone of Scone today 

In more modern times singular sculpted stones are used commonly as gravestones.  The idea of erecting a tombstone over a grave comes from the ancient belief that after death a person’s soul or spirit will inhabit the stone.  What is now a memorial, in ancient times was a person’s spiritual abode. 

Gemstones and Jewels 

From the earliest Paleolithic times of Stone Age man, all the way down to our present technological age, people of all cultures have found beauty, power and mystery in stones.  In ancient times precious and semi-precious stones were selected for their symbolic value based on colour, shape and durability.  Properties were accorded through their natural elemental brilliance associated with nature i.e. the richly glowing greens of Emeralds with Earth, the sparkling sunshine yellows of Citrine with Air, the intense flaming reds of Ruby with Fire and the cool clear blues of Aquamarine with Water.

In ancient times precious and semi-precious stones were found lying on the ground exposed to the sun and stars, washed down from mountains high by rain torrents, floods and rivers.  They were also found buried in the ground when digging for roots, dull, prismatic, dense and coarse, but representing all shades and colours of the rainbow.  Early man sensed a force and power trapped within these stones, and they became the gifts of the earth, manifestations of universal forces and representative of Deity that created the all, the all that was, and all that has the potential of being. 

Over time as cultures became more sophisticated, stones basic associations with nature were expanded into more complex schemes of occult correspondences, elaborated by priests, magicians, wizards and sages.  Even common stones because of their colour and brilliance became endowed with celestial values that exalted them to veritable jewels.  Stones in their natural state were often used by early man, shaped and worn as attractive, practical and decorative adornments, buttons to fasten clothing etc.  Later, as their intrinsic values and associations appreciated, they were worn and fashioned into Amulets, Talismans and Charms.   

Amulets are protective and were used for protection against illness and disease, physical dangers such like lightning and storms at sea, but more particularly they were worn to fend off demons and the evil eye of Witches.  Talismans on the other hand are attractive, and were used to attract such things as fertility, wealth, luck and success.  A charm is generally an amulet, though the term is often used indiscriminately to describe both amulets and talismans. 

As gemstones increased in value, so were they were mounted into crowns, pendants and badges, as emblems symbolic of the wearer’s social, religious or official rank.  Studded with gems of glistening fire, shining water, sparkling air and richly glowing earth, these adornments have been worn throughout history by Prophet, Priests, Kings and Queens.  Gems for such adornments were often chosen for their rarity, symbolic and intrinsic value, such like Diamond for its sparkling brilliance and unyielding durability, Pearl for purity, Topaz for nobility and regal splendour, and the flaming Ruby for the administration of justice. 

Perhaps one of the most famous early examples of gemstones in use for religious purposes is the story of Aaron’s Breastplate: 

"And Aaron shall bear the names of the children of Israel in the breastplate of judgment upon his heart when he goeth in unto the holy place for a memorial before the Lord continually"

(Exodus 28.29). 

Aaron was the first high priest of the Jewish people, a brother of Moses.  His breastplate is said to have been made "for glory and for beauty", and made according to a design given to Moses by God.  On the breastplate four rows of precious stones were set, three in each row, each of which was engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 

According to the bible, the responsibilities of the High Priest required a sanctified person to be dressed in "holy garments" (Exodus 29).  In addition to the usual garments of the priestly class, the high priest wore the ephod (or mantle, an upper garment), a breastplate and a headdress.  The ephod was a sleeveless robe of purple the lower hem of which had a fringe of small golden bells alternating with pomegranate tassels in red, scarlet, purple and violet.  Most important was the breastplate, which was square in outline and served as a pouch in which the divinatory devices of the Urim and Thummim were kept.  Exodus, chapter 28, verse 15, specifies that it was to be woven of golden and linen threads dyed blue, purple and scarlet.  Because of its oracular function it was called the “Breastpiece of Judgment.”

The bible states:

"And thou shalt set in it settings of stones, even four rows of stones:  the first row shall be a sardius, a topaz, and a carbuncle: this shall be the first row. 

And the second row shall be an emerald, a sapphire, and a diamond.  And the third row a ligure, an agate, and an amethyst.  And the fourth row a beryl, and an onyx, and a jasper; they shall be set in gold in their enclosings. 

And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings on a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes....” 

The Urim and Thummim are thought to have been two sacred crystal stones, which when held up by the High Priest while standing in front of the holy alter, reflected light from the alter candles onto the breastplate.  As the light from the alter candle reflected through the Urim and the Thummin onto the 12 stones of the Breastplate, this provided up to 24 combinations (2 x 12).  Since there are 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, the flashes of light could produce strings of letters.  It was said that God breathed through the wind, permitting a breeze to flicker the flame of the candle, which momentarily altered the angle of the light from the Urim and Thummin onto the Breastplate.  Thus was God able to communicate directly to the high priest with his pronouncements.

Dress of the High Priest wearing Aaron’s Breastplate

When we mention gemstones, perhaps the first and most sought after stone is the diamond.  Indeed some of the most famous diamonds have a tragic and chequered history.  The Hope Diamond for instance is a sapphire-blue gemstone originally from India, and is one of the largest blue diamonds ever known.  Legend has it that it once adorned a statue of the Hindu goddess Sita, wife of Rama.  It was stolen by a Brahman priest and the curse of the angered goddess has been visited upon its owners ever since. 

Through out its 300-year history, the owners of the Hope Diamond have suffered a series of tragic and mysterious circumstances.  They include Marie Antoinette; a British heir to the stone who died in bankruptcy; a French ‘Folies Bergère’ star slain by a jealous lover; a Greek broker who drove off a cliff with his wife and children; and an American millionairess whose husband and two of four children died in tragic circumstances. 

The Hope diamond was thought to have been cut from a 112-carat stone brought to France by the jewel trader Jean-Baptiste Tavernier, and purchased by Louis XIV in 1668 as part of the French crown jewels.  The stone, later called the French Blue, was re-cut into a 67-carat heart in 1673.  In 1792, a revolutionary mob stormed across Paris and Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were imprisoned; the thieves scaled the colonnades of the Garde Meuble, broke into the glass case containing the French Crown Jewels, and made off with its contents.  The 45.5-carat Hope diamond, re-named for the London banker Thomas Hope who purchased it in 1830, was apparently cut from the French Blue, and is now on display in the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.   

The Hope Diamond on display in the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C.   

Another equally famous diamond is the Koh-i-Noor, whose history includes centuries of romantic lore.  The Koh-i-Noor is a large diamond first reported in 1304 to be in the possession of the Raja of Malwa.  It later fell into the hands of Baber, who founded the Mogul dynasty in 1526.  For the next two centuries it was considered the diamond jewel among jewels in the treasury of the Mogul emperors. 

In 1739 Nadir Shah of Persia invaded India, looted the Mogul palace and rummaged through the capital city of Delhi for 58 days, looking for among other things, the famous diamond.  A harem woman told him that the emperor had hidden it in his turban.  The conqueror thereupon invited the conquered to a feast and offered to exchange turbans as a sign of amity.  The emperor, having to make a fast choice between his head and his diamond, doffed his turban.  Nadir Shah in the privacy of his tent, unrolled the turban and found the brilliant gem and exclaimed:  “Koh-i-Noor!” the ”Mountain of Light!” 

Nadir Shah was assassinated in 1747, and it is said that his son died by torture rather than give up the priceless gem he had inherited.  Eventually though, it passed to other rulers with other armies, first to the Afghans, then to the Sikhs and finally to the British, who found it in the treasury at Lahore, the Punjab capital in 1849. Two officers took it off to London to present it to Queen Victoria. 

The British found it rather dull.  In an attempt to give it greater brilliance, the queen had it re-cut from its original 186 carats to 108.93 carats, at a cost of $40,000, and almost everyone was displeased with the result.  Victoria wore the huge diamond as a personal ornament.  She willed it to her daughter-in-law, Queen Alexandra who wore it at the coronation of Edward VII. 

In 1911 the Koh-i-Noor was placed in the crown of Queen Mary.  Twenty-six years later, Elizabeth the consort of King George VI, had a crown made to wear at her husband's coronation.  It is now known as the Queen Mother's Crown, one of nine British crowns, and from it flashes the Koh-i-noor.  Today it is one of the most popular treasures displayed in the Tower of London.

The Koh-i-Noor diamond was fitted into the Queen Mother's Crown . 

In folklore stones have been used for many purposes, even such stones as plain ordinary pebbles.  Pebbles collected off a beach were often used to cure warts.  Take as many pebbles as you have warts, spit on them and rub them onto the warts (or prick the warts and smear the blood on the pebbles), then throw the pebbles over your left shoulder and walk away without looking back, the warts will then fade away.  This cure is also said to work on freckles.  Another belief was that to trip over a stone was unlucky unless you return and touch it.  Likewise an old Hawaiian tale tells of a man who kicked a stone that was unknown to him sacred to a god.  His sleep thereafter was plagued with dreams of being stoned to death, and only stopped when he went back and replaced the stone to its original place. 

As a legacy, the chipped-flint tools, axes and arrowheads, used by our stone-age ancestors, are now being found throughout Europe and the rest of the world.  What were once of practical use, have now been given mythological status.  To some they are thought to have dropped from the sky, or were hurled by the gods as thunderbolts associated with Zeus or Jupiter.  In Ireland, they are associated with the Fairies, the arrowheads known as fairy bolts. 

Today many stones are accorded special significance for their healing, magical and divination properties.  My soul mate in America “Patricia J. Martin” has compiled a brilliant series of articles on individual stone correspondences, for more see the collected series under "Rocks and Stones".

End.

Sources:

To be added.

Best Wishes and Blessed Be.

Site Contents - Links to all Pages

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Let there be peace in the world  -   Where have all the flowers gone?

About me:

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Wicca & Witchcraft

Wicca/Witchcraft /  What is Wicca /  What is Magick

Traditional Writings:

The Wiccan Rede /  Charge of the Goddess /  Charge of the God  /  The Three-Fold Law (includes The Law of Power and The Four Powers of the Magus) /  The Witches Chant /  The Witches Creed /  Descent of the Goddess /  Drawing Down the Moon /  The Great Rite Invocation /  Invocation of the Horned God /  The 13 Principles of Wiccan Belief /  The Witches Rede of Chivalry /  A Pledge to Pagan Spirituality

Correspondence Tables:

Incense /  Candles /  Colours /  Magickal Days /  Stones and Gems /  Elements and Elementals

Traditions:

Traditions Part 1  -  Alexandrian Wicca /  Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) /  Ár Ndraíocht Féin (ADF) /  Blue Star Wicca /  British Traditional (Druidic Witchcraft) /  Celtic Wicca /  Ceremonial Magic /  Chaos Magic /  Church and School of Wicca /  Circle Sanctuary /  Covenant of the Goddess (COG) /  Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans (CUUPS) /  Cyber Wicca /  Dianic Wicca /  Eclectic Wicca /  Feri Wicca /

Traditions Part 2  -  Gardnerian Wicca /  Georgian Tradition /  Henge of Keltria /  Hereditary Witchcraft /  Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn (H.O.G.D.) /  Kitchen Witch (Hedge Witch) /  Minoan Brotherhood and Minoan Sisterhood Tradition /  Nordic Paganism /  Pagan Federation /  Pectic-Wita /  Seax-Wica /  Shamanism /  Solitary /  Strega /  Sylvan Tradition /  Vodoun or Voodoo /  Witches League of Public Awareness (WLPA) /

Other things of interest:

Gods and Goddesses (Greek Mythology) /  Esbats & Full Moons /  Links to Personal Friends & Resources /  Wicca/Witchcraft Resources /  What's a spell? /  Circle Casting and Sacred Space /  Pentagram - Pentacle /  Marks of a Witch /  The Witches Power /  The Witches Hat /  An esoteric guide to visiting London /  Satanism /  Pow-wow /  The Unitarian Universalist Association /  Numerology:  Part 1  /  Part 2  /  Part 3 /  A history of the Malleus Maleficarum:  includes:  Pope Innocent VIII  /  The papal Bull  /   The Malleus Maleficarum  /  An extract from the Malleus Maleficarum  /  The letter of approbation  /  Johann Nider’s Formicarius  /  Jacob Sprenger  /  Heinrich Kramer  /  Stefano Infessura  /  Montague Summers  /  The Waldenses  /  The Albigenses  /  The Hussites /  The Native American Sun Dance /  Shielding (Occult and Psychic Protection) /  The History of Thanksgiving /  Auras  - Part 1 and Part 2 /  “Doreen Valiente Witch” (A Book Review) /   

Sabbats and Festivals:

The Sabbats in History and Mythology /  Samhain (October 31st)  /  Yule (December 21st)  /  Imbolc (February 2nd)  /  Ostara (March 21st)  /  Beltane (April 30th)  /  Litha (June 21st)  /  Lammas/Lughnasadh (August 1st)  /  Mabon (September 21st)

Rituals contributed by Crone:

Samhain / Yule /  Imbolc /  Ostara /  Beltane /  Litha /  Lammas /  Mabon

Tools:

Tools of a Witch  /  The Besom (Broom) /  Poppets and Dolls /  Pendulums / Cauldron Magick /  Mirror Gazing

Animals:

Animals in Witchcraft (The Witches Familiar and Totem Animals) /  Antelope /  Bats /  Crow /  Fox /  Frog and Toads /  Goat / Honeybee /  Kangaroo /  Lion /  Owl /  Phoenix /  Rabbits and Hares /  Raven /  Robin Redbreast /  Sheep /  Spider /  Squirrel /  Swans /  Unicorn /  Wild Boar /  Wolf /  Serpent /  Pig /  Stag /  Horse /  Mouse /  Cat /  Rats /  Unicorn

Trees:

In Worship of Trees - Myths, Lore and the Celtic Tree Calendar.  For descriptions and correspondences of the thirteen sacred trees of Wicca/Witchcraft see the following:  Birch /  Rowan / Ash /  Alder /  Willow /  Hawthorn /  Oak /  Holly /  Hazel /  Vine /  Ivy /  Reed /  Elder

Sacred Sites:

Mystical Sacred Sites  -  Stonehenge /  Glastonbury Tor /  Malta - The Hypogeum of Hal Saflieni /  Avebury /  Cerne Abbas - The Chalk Giant /  Ireland - Newgrange /

Rocks and Stones:

Stones - History, Myths and Lore

Articles contributed by Patricia Jean Martin:

Apophyllite  / Amber /  Amethyst /  Aquamarine /  Aragonite /  Aventurine /  Black Tourmaline /  Bloodstone /  Calcite /  Carnelian /  Celestite /  Citrine /  Chrysanthemum Stone / Diamond  /  Emerald / Fluorite /  Garnet /  Hematite /  Herkimer Diamond /  Labradorite /  Lapis Lazuli /  Malachite /  Moonstone /  Obsidian /  Opal /  Pyrite /  Quartz (Rock Crystal) /  Rose Quartz /  Ruby /  Selenite /  Seraphinite  /  Silver and Gold /  Smoky Quartz /  Sodalite /  Sunstone /  Thunderegg /  Tree Agate /  Zebra Marble

Wisdom and Inspiration:

Knowledge vs Wisdom by Ardriana Cahill /  I Talk to the Trees /  Awakening /  The Witch in You /  A Tale of the Woods /  I have a Dream by Martin Luther King /

Articles and Stories about Witchcraft:

Murdered by Witchcraft /  The Fairy Witch of Clonmel /  A Battleship, U-boat, and a Witch /  The Troll-Tear (A story for Children) /  Goody Hawkins - The Wise Goodwife /  The Story of Jack-O-Lantern /  The Murder of the Hammersmith Ghost /  Josephine Gray (The Infamous Black Widow) /  The Two Brothers - Light and Dark

Old Masters of Academia:

Pliny the Elder /  Hesiod /  Pythagoras

Biographies

A "Who's Who" of Witches, Pagans and other associated People

(Ancient, Past and Present)

Remembered at Samhain

(Departed Pagan Pioneers, Founders, Elders and Others)

Pagan Pioneers:  Founders, Elders, Leaders and Others

Abramelin the Mage /  Agrippa /  Aidan A Kelly /  Albertus Magnus - “Albert the Great” /  Aleister Crowley - “The Great Beast” /  Alex Sanders - “King of the Witches” /  Alison Harlow /   Allan Bennett - the Ven. Ananda Metteyya /  Allan Kardec (Spiritism) /  Alphonsus de Spina /  Amber K /  Ann Moura /  Anna Franklin /  Anodea Judith /  Anton Szandor LaVey /  Arnold Crowther /  Arthur Edward Waite /  Austin Osman Spare /  Balthasar Bekker /  Biddy Early /  Barbara Vickers /  Bridget Cleary - The Fairy Witch of Clonmel /  Carl " Llewellyn" Weschcke /  Cecil Hugh Williamson /  Charles Godfrey Leland /   Charles Walton /  Christopher Penczak /  Christina Oakley Harrington /  Cornelius Loos /  Damh the Bard - "Dave Smith" /  Dion Fortune /  Dolores Aschroft-Nowicki /  Donald Michael Kraig /  Doreen Valiente /  Dorothy Morrison /  Dr. John Dee & Edward Kelly /  Dr. Leo Louis Martello /  Edain McCoy /  Edward Fitch /  Eleanor Ray Bone - “Matriarch of British Witchcraft” /  Eliphas Levi /  Ernest Thompson Seton /  Ernest Westlake /  Fiona Horne /   Frederick McLaren Adams - Feraferia /  Friedrich von Spee /  Francis Barrett /  Gavin and Yvonne Frost and the School and Church of Wicca /  Gerald B. Gardner - The father of contemporary Witchcraft /  Gwydion Pendderwen /  Hans Holzer /  Helen Duncan /   Herman Slater - Horrible Herman /  Heinrich Kramer /  Isaac Bonewits /  Israel Regardie /  Ivo Domínguez Jr. /  Jack Whiteside Parsons - Rocket Science and Magick /  James "Cunning" Murrell - The Master of Witches /  Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone /  Jean Bodin /  Jessie Wicker Bell - “Lady Sheba” / Johann Weyer  / Johannes Junius - "The Burgomaster of Bamberg" /   Johann Georg Fuchs von Dornheim  -  the “Hexenbrenner” (witch burner) /  John Belham-Payne /  John George Hohman - "Pow-wow" /  John Gerard /  John Gordon Hargrave and the Kibbo Kith Kindred /  John Michael Greer /  John Score /  Joseph “Bearwalker” Wilson /  Joseph John Campbell /  Karl von Eckartshausen /  Lady Gwen Thompson - and "The Rede of the Wiccae" /   Laurie Cabot  - "the Official Witch of Salem" /  Lewis Spence /  Lodovico Maria Sinistrari /  Ludwig Lavater /  Madeline Montalban and the Order of the Morning Star /  Margaret Alice Murray /  Margot Adler /  Michael Howard and the UK "Cauldron Magazine" /  Margaret St. Clair - the “Sign of the Labrys” /  Marie Laveau - " the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans" /  Marion Weinstein /  Martin Antoine Del Rio /  Matthew Hopkins - “The Witch-Finder General” /   Max Ehrmann and the "Desiderata" /  Michael A. Aquino - and The Temple of Set /  Monique Wilson /  Montague Summers /  Nicholas Culpeper /  Nicholas Remy /  M. R. Sellars /  Mrs. Maud Grieve - "A Modern Herbal" /  Oberon Zell-Ravenheart and Morning Glory /  Old Dorothy Clutterbuck /  Old George Pickingill /  Olivia Durdin-Robertson - co-founder of the Fellowship of Isis /  Paddy Slade /  Pamela Colman-Smith /  Paracelsus /  Patricia Crowther /  Patricia Monaghan /  Patricia “Trish” Telesco /  Paul Foster Case and the “Builders of the Adytum” mystery school /  Peter Binsfeld /  Philip Heselton /  Raven Grimassi /  Raymond Buckland /  Reginald Scot /  Richard Baxter /  Robert Cochrane /  Robert ‘von Ranke’ Graves and the "The White Goddess" /  Rosaleen Norton - “The Witch of Kings Cross” /  Rossell Hope Robbins /   Ross Nichols and the " Order of Bards, Ovates & Druids" (OBOD) /  Rudolf Steiner /  Sabrina Underwood - "The Ink Witch" /  Scott Cunningham /  Selena Fox - founder of "Circle Sanctuary" /  Silver Ravenwolf /  Sir Francis Dashwood /  Sir James George Frazer and the " The Golden Bough" /  S.L. MacGregor Mathers and the “Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn” /  Starhawk /  Stewart Farrar /  Sybil Leek /  Ted Andrews /  The Mather Family - (includes:  Richard Mather, Increase Mather and Cotton Mather ) /   Thomas Ady /  T. Thorn Coyle /  Vera Chapman /  Victor & Cora Anderson and the " Feri Tradition" /  Vivianne Crowley /  Walter Brown Gibson /  Walter Ernest Butler /  William Butler Yeats /  Zsuzsanna Budapest /  

Many of the above biographies are briefs and far from complete.  If you know about any of these individuals and can help with additional information, please contact me privately at my email address below.  Many thanks for reading  :-)

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