Andrew Theitic - The Witches Almanac 2023-2024 Standard Edition Issue 42: Earth: Origins of Chthonic Powers

Spring 2023 to Spring 2024

ANDREW THEITIC
Executive Editor

JEAN MARIE WALSH
Associate Editor

MAB BORDEN
Copy Editor

Est nemus et piceis et frondibus ilicis atrum.

Vix illuc radiis solis adire licet.

Sunt in eo fuerant certe delubra Dianae:

Aurea barbarica stat dea facta manu.

There is a wood, dark with spruce and boughs of oak;
the rays of the sun are scarcely even allowed to pierce it.
In that place, there isor certainly there wasa sanctuary of Diana.
There stands the golden Goddess, fashioned by a barbarian hand.

Excerpt from Heroides XII

OVID

by Timi Chasen

PARDON ME It was hysteria that was the driving force behind the Witch hunts of the late Middle Ages. The frenzy sweept through European society between 14501750. In many cases accusations were driven not only by wild fanaticism but also by greed, the property of the accused being ceased before they were even executed.

The hysteria swept with a particular fervence through Scotland, where the Witchcraft Act was instituted in 1563, being repealed in 1735. In the span of 172 years approximately 4,000 individuals were put to death, with the majority being womenin many cases they were widows or women over 40 years of age. In most cases the accused were hanged and then burnt at the stake.

Accusations of Witchcraft came from not only the disgruntled neighbor but also from the higher strata of society. The coastal town of North Berwick was at the center of the craze when King James VI accused the town's residents of using Witchcraft to thwart the arrival of his intended bride via ship from Denmark.

Marking 500 years since the passage of the Scottish Witchcraft Act, Scotland may be considering pardons for those that were put to death during the hysteria. On International Women's Day in 2020, a organization known as Witches of Scotland submitted a petition requesting the pardons to the government, with nearly 3,500 signatures. The leader of the Scottish National Party, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon, voiced support for the bill in late December 2021. This could lead to passage of a formal apology.

A LOT OF BUZZ The largest known bee is the Megachile pluto, that was first catalogued by the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace. This rather large member of the bee family is as large as an adult humans thumb and approximately four times the size of most bees. It has been known as Wallace's giant bee as well as the giant mason bee.