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T]here is still a considerable gulf between hedge witches and cunning-folk, not only in relation to the unbewitching trade, but also from a religious point of view. Cunning-folk were essentially Christian. Whether conscientious churchgoers or not, they employed the Bible and Christian rites and rituals. Hedge witches, on the other hand, are mostly [Neo]pagans in some form or other. They worship nature and have an animistic conception of the physical environment. This, in turn, is mirrored in the content of the spells and charms they use. [89] This is what the LORD of Hosts says: Consider, and summon the women who mourn; send for the skillful women. Thus saith the LORD of hosts: Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; And send for the wise women, that they may come; Witch’ or ‘wicce’ in Old English, began life as a simple tribal name – Hwicce. During the Dark Ages the Hwicce tribe inhabited the area of England famous today for Stonehenge, Avebury and the Cotswolds and it is here where our cunning-woman and others like her have been found. Some cunning folk claimed to have the ability to locate treasure, and at times were employed by people in this capacity. In some of these cases it was believed that a supernatural entity, such as a demon, spirit or fairy, was guarding the hidden treasure, and that a cunning practitioner was needed to overcome them using magical means. [41]
Yet by teasing out the true identities of cunning-women from the historic record, a very different understanding of them is consequently revealed, from before the word ‘witch’ conjured images of green skin, hooked noses and unholy unions with the devil. From centuries of attempts to eradicate cunning-women, such as the Augustinian reworking of woman’s role in sin, the misogynistic writing of Bishop Prüm, the assimilation of paganism by Pope Gregory and the infamous Malleus Maleficarum (and all this before the advent of the witch trials), it becomes clear that condemning them, changing their tribal name to witch, torturing them, burning them and re-branding their pagan beliefs as evil, has only served to confuse, confound and portray women as lesser creatures than men – a view which, arguably, persists today. This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Take note, and summon the wailing women; send for the most skillful among them. British cunning folk would also often be involved in love magic, offering services pertaining to sex and relationships. One form of this was a form of fortune telling where they would divine the name or appearance of a client's future lover, often using palmistry, scrying or astrology. Another popular practice of the cunning folk was the casting of spells or charms to ensure a spouse's fidelity, preventing them from committing adultery; for instance, a cunning man from Newcastle upon Tyne, Peter Banks, was charged in 1673–74 with offering to draw up a magical contract which would bind a husband to staying loyal to his wife for a year. [40] Agapkina, Tatiana (2010). Vostochnoslavyanskie lechebnyezagovory v sravnitel'nom osveshchenii: Syuzhetika i obraz mira (in Russian). Moscow. p.366. {{ cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher ( link) Thus said Jehovah of Hosts: Consider ye, and call for mourning women, And they come, And to the wise women send, and they come,The Lord is like an enemy; He has swallowed up Israel. He has swallowed up all her palaces and destroyed her strongholds. He has multiplied mourning and lamentation for the Daughter of Judah.
When printed books on the occult, particularly in the English language, had begun to be produced, some cunning folk obtained, and used, grimoires, or books of magic. In many cases they made a big show of the fact that they owned such tomes, which would have appeared impressive in the minds of many of their customers in a period where only a minority of people were able to read and write in Britain. [51] Indeed, some cunning folk appeared to own these grimoires purely for cosmetic reasons, to impress their clients, and did not actually make use of any of the magical rituals contained within them. [47] Practitioners of folk magic A model of a nineteenth-century cunning woman in her house, at the Museum of Witchcraft, Boscastle in England. Although some twentieth and twenty-first century Neopagan authors, such as Rae Beth, [68] have claimed that the British cunning folk were followers of a surviving, pre-Christian " pagan" religion, this is something rejected by historians. As Ronald Hutton noted, whilst there was pagan influences in some folk magical charms and a possible connection through the belief in familiar spirits, there is "no known case of a cunning person or a charmer calling upon a pagan deity." [57] History [ edit ] Medieval period [ edit ]Cut off your hair and throw it away. Raise up a lamentation on the barren heights, for the LORD has rejected and forsaken the generation of His wrath.'
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