Weekend of the Witch: Fame

Famous Witches:

The Immortal Witch Circe is one of the best-known mythological mistresses of mayhem. According to the Odyssey, Odysseus and his Achaeans found themselves fleeing the land of the Laestrygonians. After a bunch of Odysseus’ scouts were captured and eaten by the Laestrygonian king, and nearly all of his ships sunk by large boulders, the Achaeans ended up on the shore of Aeaea, home to the witch-goddess Circe. Circe is well known for her magical mojo, and had quite the reputation for her knowledge of plants and potions. She may have been the daughter of Helios, the sun god or a daughter of Hecate, the Goddess of Magic and Witchcraft. When Odysseus visited Aeaea, Circe turned his men into swine, but Odysseus was given a magical plant by the gods that prevented Circe from morphing him. After making Circe swear not to betray him, Odysseus and his men lived under Circe’s protection for a year before attempting to sail back to Ithaca.

Morgan le Fay, whose name means “Morgan of the fairies” in French, appears again in Thomas Malory’s Le Morte d’Arthur, in which she was unhappily married to King Urien. At the same time, she became a sexually aggressive woman who had many lovers, including the famous Merlin. However, her love of Lancelot was unrequited. Morgan appeared also as an indirect cause of Arthur's death. Malory tells us that Morgan was Arthur’s half-sister, but that didn’t mean they got along well at all. She works tirelessly with her magic to bring down the good Queen Guinevere, who banished her from the court when she was younger. She tries to betray Guinevere’s lover, Sir Lancelot, and foil the quests of King Arthur’s knights. In fact, depending on which legend you read, Morgan has been portrayed as seducing Arthur and giving birth to his child, trying to steal Excalibur from him, and basically using all kinds of nefarious sorcery to bring down her brother’s rule as King. The ultimate fate of Morgan is unknown, but she does eventually reconcile with King Arthur and brings him to Avalon after his final battle.

The Weird Sisters is Shakespeare’s Macbeth is one of the Bard’s defining plays, with brilliant characters galore and a story rife with magic, betrayal, and fear. But the very first characters in the story are the ones that set everything in motion—the Weird Sisters. And yes, they are more than a little weird, but in this case “weird” means “fate,” so they are the Sisters of Fate. They act as agents of destruction and not only send Macbeth into a spiral of corruption and paranoia; they send all of Scotland to war just to take one man out of power. 

The Witch of Endor is known also as the biblical Medium of Endor. According to legend, she was a medium who apparently summoned the Prophet Samuel's spirit. She is known from the Old Testament, but became a part of other traditions too. The Witch of Endor became an important legend for Judaism, Christianity, and pagan spiritual practitioners. She appears as one of the most mysterious people described in the Old Testament, in the First Book of Samuel, chapter 28:3-25. The new king of Israel was Saul. He looked to wisdom from God to choose a right course in his struggle with the Philistines. He wanted to solve the problem and take an action against their assembled forces. Saul didn't receive any answer from his dreams, prophets he asked, or other places. He asked all the possible necromancers and magicians who lived in Israel and around. He was looking for a person, who was a strong medium. Finally, he discovered the existence of a woman who lived in Endor. She claimed that she could see the ghost of Samuel. The ghost first complained of being disturbed, but with time, he started to collaborate with the Witch of Endor. He left a prophecy saying that Saul was going to perish with his army in a battle the next day. Saul was shocked, but he decided not to listen to the words of the ghost. The Witch of Endor tried to cheer him up, but perhaps hoped that he would listen to the wise ghost. Unfortunately, Saul decided to attack the enemy, and his army was defeated. After the battle, the king committed suicide.

Famous Wizards:

Merlin is one of the greatest and most powerful wizards who have ever lived. Part human, part demon, he is a being of supreme skill and wisdom. Various writings have shown Merlin to have the power of prophecy, telepathy, necromancy, and the ability to conjure realistic and terrifying illusions. He has been written about since the 12th century as first a prophet and madman to eventually be fleshed out as the first full-fledged wizard in the Arthurian court. One of the most famous wizards, he has been written about or featured in novels by dozens of authors including Marion Zimmer Bradley, Stephen R. Lawhead and T.H. White. Generally portrayed as a trickster with mystical powers, he usually helps Arthur, whether Arthur has the wisdom to ask for help on the right path of life or not. And not only has he been written about, often, but he has been portrayed many times on the big and little screens on both sides of the Atlantic.

Albus Dumbledore (Harry Potter Books) represented the quintessential wizard in a world filled with wizards. Of the thousands and thousands of wizards sporting wands tucked under their robes, only Dumbledore struck fear into the heart of the vile and dastardly Lord Voldemort. His encyclopedic knowledge and ability to wield magic made Hogwarts’s headmaster nearly invincible. He was the wielder and the master of the Elder Wand. Albus Dumbledore was considered to be the most powerful wizard of his time. He was most famous for his defeat of Gellert Grindelwald, the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with Nicolas Flamel.

Nicolas Flamel was a scholar and scribe. After his death, he became known as the alchemist behind the Philosopher's Stone. According to legend, an angel appeared to Flamel in a dream and told him of a magical book he would happen upon — which he did shortly thereafter. Flamel and his wife spent the rest of their lives trying to decode it, traveling as far as Spain to find Jewish scholars versed in Kabbalah to help in the translation. The tome was believed to hold the secret to the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life, and in 1382 Flamel wrote in his diary that he had found the secret to transform lead into gold. That feat may seem unlikely, but historical records show that Flamel became very wealthy after this date and donated almost all of his money to charity.

Setna was son of Rameses the Great, Pharaoh of Egypt, learned in all the ancient writings, great thief and a magician of note. While the other princes spent their days in hunting or in leading their father's armies to guard the distant parts of his empire, Setna was never as happy as when left alone to study. Not only could he read even the most ancient hieroglyphic writings on the temple walls, but he was a scribe who could write quickly and easily all the many hundreds of signs that go to make up the ancient Egyptian language. Also, he was a magician whom none could surpass: for he had learned his art from the most secret of the ancient writings which even the priests of Amen-Re, of Ptah and Thoth, could not read.

King Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived and also one of the most foolish. God gifted him with unsurpassed wisdom, which Solomon squandered by disobeying God's commandments. Magical practices are ascribed to him although not mentioned in the Bible, yet a vast amount of material exists based upon oriental tradition. Although without factual evidence the depiction of Solomon's magic remains legendary and makes it valid within the magical sense even today. Solomon's knowledge to expel and control daemons came from God, according to Josephus. In this science, or art, which proved useful and attractive to men, he composed incantations that served also as exorcisms to drive away daemons as well as distempers. Such a force was very great to have, men possessed it, one was Eleazar who performed curative feats in the presence of others including Vespasian, his sons, captains, and soldiers. The exorcism took placed as thus: he with a ring took a root of a substance mentioned by Solomon, place it to a nostril and the man immediately fell down; he then recited the incantations he had composed; then he admonished the spirit to return to him no more. As for the proof of his claimed power Eleazar set a bowl or cup of water not too far away, as the spirit let the person he overturned the water which the spectators saw. From other sources the substance in the ring was known to be mandrake. Solomon supposedly prayed to God for understanding of the heart in a dream. A wish which God granted him this wish saying that there was none like him before him nor would there be none after him. This is mystic, a communication between God and man where a wish is fulfilled. Solomon marrying an Egyptian princess, a common practice in that era to strengthen political and commercial ties, did not set too well with his Israelite God because Solomon allowed his wife and attendants to practice Egyptian religious beliefs; it is claimed he practiced some of them as well. However, God forgave him these offenses because he built the Temple that his father King David started and placed God's things in it.

Simon Magus Also known as Simon the Sorcerer or Simon of Gitta, he was a biblical wizard who had the power to levitate and travel. He lived in Sebaste in Samaria, and practiced magic, but later got converted to Christianity by Philip the Evangelist. It is believed that he tried to bribe the Apostles in order to take their healing powers from them. There are various accounts of his death, most popular being, he levitated himself in the air in the church forum, and when Apostle Peter prayed to God to stop him from flying, he fell from mid-air and broke his legs. He died of his injuries in spite of being taken care by fellow outcast sorcerer named Castor.