Category Archives: Magic and Occult

“Beware the Ides of March!”

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Vincenzo Camuccini, "Morte di Cesare", 1798,

Vincenzo Camuccini, “Morte di Cesare”, 1798,

“Beware the ides of March!” the prophet warned Julius Caeser in 44 B.C. and Caeser was assassinated shortly thereafter, on the ides. Ever since, the Ides of March has been a day associated with doom, disaster, or failure in some form. But what is the “ides”?

Unlike currently used dates, which are numbered sequentially from the beginning of the month, the Romans and medieval Europeans counted backwards from three fixed points: they designated the “kalends,” the “nones,” and the “ides” and all other dates were based on these. (ex. the kalends = the 1st, the nones = the 5-7th, and the ides = the 13-15th days of the month). For instance, rather than saying, “Today is March 3” they would say, “Today is three days before the nones of March.” The kalends marked the new moon, the nones was the half-moon and the ides was the full moon.

The ides of the month marked the full moon and thus the following days of each month were governed by the waning moon, a good time for curses as dark magic grew more powerful as the nights grew darker. Not only would dark magic grow stronger but the darker nights also made crime in general more likely. That the last half of each month was steeped in evil and disaster was underscored by its association with the assassination of Caeser.

 

Bloodstone

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Bloodstone, the birthstone for March, is used as a medicine and an aphrodisiac.

Bloodstone, the birthstone for March, is used as a medicine and an aphrodisiac.

Bloodstone, long considered the birthstone of March, is jasper speckled with iron oxide. (Months were assigned stones and gems from the high-priest’s breastplate of Aaron in the Old Testament or the gems described as the foundations of the New Jerusalem in the Apocalypse, the “Revelation of St. John.”)

Bloodstone was used to heal blood disorders and stop bleeding noses and wounds in Babylon and was carved into amulets to protect against the Evil Eye. Ancient Greeks thought using it in ritual would hasten changes in fortune. Western European Christians in the Middle Ages thought all bloodstones had been splashed with Christ’s blood at the crucifixion and used the stones to curve images of either the Crucifixion or scenes of martyrs’ deaths.

These gems would be pulverized and mixed into egg whites with honey and used to remove poison from snakebites. Knights and soldiers would bring bloodstones with them into battle not only to staunch bleeding but to increase courage and physical strength as well. It was also thought to confer invisibility, a useful skill in battle. It was also used as an aphrodisiac (useful after battle).

Sequester and Treasure

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Basil in your pocket or on your threshold will attract wealth and prosperity.

Basil in your pocket or on your threshold will attract wealth and prosperity.

With the Congress debating the budget and the “sequester” and all manner of financial matters – together with the financial difficulties in much of the rest of the world as well – I thought that traditional conjurations of prosperity and wealth might be worth considering.

Burning incense made of ground allspice was one way of attracting wealth. A leaf of basil in the pocket or on the threshold will also attract wealth, as will sprigs of alfalfa in a small jar in a cupboard or pantry or an open jar of sesame seeds. Sheaves of wheat placed around the house will do this as well. Keeping buckwheat in the kitchen guards against poverty.

Treasure-hunting was one of the usual accusations made against male witches in the Alps mountain regions. One method of hunting for treasure involved “dowsing” with Y-shaped rods of hazel (although willow or fruit trees might also be used).

These Alpine male witches were not hunting for treasure for themselves, however. They were accused of selling their services as treasure hunters and then cheating their clients who would never come away with the anticipated treasure. It was these disaffected clients who would then bring charges of witchcraft against their guides. Treasure hunting remained popular, nevertheless. It was a sign of the fading of the great witch hunts that these accusations against the treasure-guides began to be considered “fraud” and “swindling” rather than “witchcraft” in the late 1700s. (Manfred Tschaikner published an excellent study of these treasure hunting Alpine witches in 2006, if you want more information on them.)

Ground allspice, burnt as incense, will attract wealth.

Ground allspice, burnt as incense, will attract wealth.