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"A compendium of witches"

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malins

Stumbling Seeker
Witches have of course long been popular characters here...

An artist named Nataša Ilinčić has come up with a project called 'A compendium of witches'. She explains this way,

In 2016 my anthropological fieldwork took me to the rural highlands of Bosnia with the objective of researching and learning as much as I could about traditional female tattooing. I interviewed the elderly women who bear the last of these tattoos, the roots of which are embedded deep within a pre-Christian Illyrian past.
I collected not just symbols, but the stories and wisdom of strong and resilient women that had survived not one, but two wars.
All this made me wonder; if I could talk to the women of the past, what would I learn?
And if I could talk to the wise women of the past – those who were familiar with a wider world, that of the spirits and the invisible forces hiding within nature – then what would they tell me?
...
I wanted to meet these witches, to give them faces and voices. Weave their stories in the fabric of history.

See more on her website http://natasailincic.com or on her deviantart https://www.deviantart.com/natasailincic

I'll start with some examples from her series here,
but I'm also taking this as an excuse to dump some topically related images about witches, moon-priestesses, women practicing the occult, and other provocateuses against the patriarchy ...
(don't worry admins I won't be going overboard and spam with endless witch cosplay etc)

The idea being, to focus on the way how artists envision them looking/doing their thing, as opposed to the depictions of them getting their just deserts, which we'll find in threads like Burned at the Stake or Hell of Inquisition etc.

The occasional capture/torture/execution pic might be included as well that is just part of the inherent risk of being a witch but they won't be the focus ... this is the "before" thread, just like warrior girls go to "The last warrior in your last moment" to get stabbed, but "Girls with swords..." / "Fem warriors..." is were they prance about before they get run through....

So first, in the following some of the depictions by Nataša Ilinčić, of witch characters in different times and places:
(Italic text is always hers.)
 
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"The Queen of the Night gathered so many names during the millennia. Untameable, wild eyed, spinner of webs, star walker, torch bearer, mountain roamer. Her nature is so intricate and elusive that trying to depict it with a single image never seems to do her justice."


Aurelia-Natasa-Ilincic-Compendium-of-Witches.jpg
"When I left Rio in 1792, death seemed to follow me. Tiradentes had just been executed. All hope for a Brazil free from the grip of the Portuguese seemed to die with him."



Alfar-Natasa-Ilincic-Compendium-of-Witches-1.jpg
"The white veil wrapped around everything, giving the invisible an ethereal substance. It beaded on the spiderwebs strung between the trunks and the slender fingers of the álfar. The distinction between real and unreal lost its meaning..."


Viduca-Natasa-Ilincic-Compendium-of-Witches-1.jpg
“In the middle of the poplar wood stood the oldest tree. They called it the 'White Grandmother', due to the colour of its trunk that, where it began to branch, turned a brilliant silver. It was here that I would sit wrapped in a warm wolf pelt, and watch the sky. I would lose myself in the hectic dance of the leaves which followed the slow swinging of the branches; sinuous like river-weed. My heart would soften, gradually slowing to meet the rhythm of the earth below me. My eyelids became heavier, and heavier... Leaving my human skin there at the foot of the tree, I would let the wolf skin grow on me. I let it devour me whole, I let it invade me like roots on fertile soil.”


Melissa-Natasa-Ilincic-Compendium-of-Witches-1.jpg
"Melissa spent her life on Mount Parnassus, dwelling in a cave as a nympholept. It was through the possession by nymphs that she worked her art of divination. Many pilgrims in her lifetime and in the following decades visited the sanctuary to leave offerings to the local goddesses and consult the oracle. The visitors that would climb to the location were, unlike the clients of Delphi, poor people that lived in the surrounding areas."
 
The artist reminds us that witchery historically often also existed at the overlapping fringe with alchemy, astronomy and various other sciences...

Hertha-Natasa-Ilincic-Compendium-of-Witches.jpg
“More than anything, it was alchemy that intrigued me; the research of the invisible rules that govern macrocosm and microcosm, the secrets of the transformation of matter. In hindsight, I realised that, conversely from what one might think, my interest hadn’t been sparked by my father’s work, but rather by my observation of the craftsmen and workers in town. I’d seen them turn clay into vases, sand into glass, grapes into vine, flour into bread, and I had been mesmerised.”


Cyanea-Natasa-Ilincic-Compendium-of-Witches.jpg
“The smallness I’d feel when clouds dispersed to show the heavenly arch blossoming with stars was a feeling that I lived for. It wasn’t a smallness that
crushed, but one which held me in a wide embrace.”


Magpie-Natasa-Ilincic-Compendium-of-Witches.jpg
"I would wander off and get lost observing whatever would draw my attention: animal nests, mushrooms, insects. In the city it was no different: I would peruse old attics, antiques shops, flea markets, always on the lookout for hidden gems. Not necessarily valuable in monetary terms, but objects that had their own history. I would favour those with a patina of time which would tell me about the hands that held them, about the stories they lived."


Meraude-Natasa-Ilincic-Compendium-of-Witches.jpg
“I recalled how the sermons portrayed snakes as evil bearers; deceiving creatures, chastisers of those who wished to know too much. But then my thoughts would turn to older stories, stories in which these animals acted as guardians of the household and symbols of wisdom."


Airini-Natasa-Ilincic-Compendium-of-Witches.jpg
"Airini"
comes without further explanations but my guess is she awakened some cousins of Ötzi the iceman long before our scientists discovered that specimen...
 
I thought that all witches were young and beautiful?
That's what the witchfinders will say when they're trying to get new recruits.
I guess if you uncover them soon enough most of the captives will be young;
the witchfinders will refute any criticism that they're just rounding up young girls in order to satisfy their own carnal desires by pointing out that only if you catch them young, you can get the plague of witches under control.

so that is what they'll tell you to look out for...

kseniya_on_broomstick_by_dashinvaine_dcqtebt.jpg deny8ga-00048715-5c6d-489a-8f64-9320b3951bc7.jpg William Moretensen_de7w9hy-39f65794-b587-4cb1-8cf6-7fb784687f00.jpg

and when you've successfully netted them maybe you get something like this...
prisoner_girl_001_by_heligen_dbjnf81-fullview.jpg witch_awaiting_her_fate_by_princeps76_dd3rkuh.jpg witch_in_chains_by_princeps76_de7tn75.jpg

Artists: Dashinvaine (DA), ptero-pterodactylus (DA), William Mortensen,
heligen (DA), princeps76 (banned from DA)
 
What a very “malins” idea for a thread! I mean that as a compliment! It’s good to learn more about witches and female shamans.. such knowledge will help us, as representatives of the patriarchy, to round them up for torture and punishment. appreciate the vital role such female archetypes play in our culture .. :enamorado:
 
That's what the witchfinders will say when they're trying to get new recruits.
I guess if you uncover them soon enough most of the captives will be young;
the witchfinders will refute any criticism that they're just rounding up young girls in order to satisfy their own carnal desires by pointing out that only if you catch them young, you can get the plague of witches under control.

so that is what they'll tell you to look out for...

View attachment 1056277 View attachment 1056279 View attachment 1056278

and when you've successfully netted them maybe you get something like this...
View attachment 1056280 View attachment 1056281 View attachment 1056282

Artists: Dashinvaine (DA), ptero-pterodactylus (DA), William Mortensen,
heligen (DA), princeps76 (banned from DA)
Seems like severe caution for the captured 'witched'!!!
 
fantasy artist Arantza Sestayo has a lot of heroines meddling with the occult...
https://www.arantzasestayo.com/ https://www.deviantart.com/arantzasestayo

... sorcerer empresses
arantza_001.jpgarantza_013.jpg

... the Great Dark One enslaves those who thought they could control him...
arantza_011.jpgarantza_012.jpg

... offering herself to the creatures of the moon
arantza_010.jpg

... the Serpentwined Sisters?
arantza_009.jpg

Anyway the witchfinders know how they would deal with all of that...
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And sleeping, dream of ‘morrow’s mess,
And leave the day to rot and rust,
As, unaware, we take our rest,
The Gloamers, silent, come to us.

Keaton Henson
This from an Amazon Prime / Starz eight-part series about witches called "The Gloaming." If you get a chance to catch it, it's worth a watch. It's intelligent, eerily spooky, and engaging. It weaves the story of a coven of Scottish witches in two time periods, the 1850's in Scotland, and the current day in Tasmania where a murder investigation is in progress.

BTW, I'm fairly certain they're @Eulalia 's relatives.
 
Nice thread, Malins. You don't, um, identify with the subject in some way, do you?

Doing their thing

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I really enjoy the work of Liigaklavina, a watercolour artist from Latvia who specialises in mythology and folk tales with a strong emphasis on female characters and archetypes.
Her gallery is really worth a visit!
A small selection of her many witch-themed works: (ok, Shamhat is more of a sacred sex-priestess than a witch, but I’m sure @malins won’t mind!)
DDA411BD-C3F8-4B73-8183-9F472A38BDAF.jpegBFD5FFEE-2345-4571-A602-E591FE2FBAE2.jpeg46A67C9C-EB04-47D7-A2BF-35FDDA954F2D.jpeg88E1F3E3-D97D-4CBF-AE05-0B22F2CCFA6D.jpeg131B1FC1-BC78-486D-A97B-4596BCA80D6C.jpeg184F2E17-858B-47EE-B484-1227ECBC2D74.jpeg
1: Shamhat and Enkidu
2: Night Witch
3: Witch
4: Bats
5: Flight
6: Mushroom Crown
 
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You don't, um, identify with the subject in some way, do you?
uuhmmm I think I have to watch out that I'm not drawing too much attention to myself instead of 'the subject' what with all these witchfinders about...

they are so wrapped up in the ritual that they haven't noticed the intruder who's spying on them ... and they don't even seem to have a working protective perimeter ... oh well coven opsec failure...
I really enjoy the work of Liigaklavina, a watercolour artist from Latvia who specialises in mythology and folk tales with a strong emphasis on female characters and archetypes...

thanks for the recommendation, have added her to my DA watchlist.
And yes of course sacred sex-priestesses are on topic here ;)
As an aside ... while we've done a lot of complaining about DA & bannings ... wehn I look up an artist and find for instance they have works on Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Artstation and DA I have to admit DA just hast the best usability of all of them, for me at least...
 
fantasy artist Arantza Sestayo has a lot of heroines meddling with the occult...
https://www.arantzasestayo.com/ https://www.deviantart.com/arantzasestayo

Going mildly offtopic for a moment to showcase some more of Arantza Sestayo's work

she also works in color;

... the undead have their own taste in lingerie I guess,
... someone trying to do a sexy revival of precolumbian cults,
...the Rapunzel incantation worked quite well...
Arantza Sestayo Tutt'Art@ (45).jpg arantza_002_0.jpg 223952481_1006794033508358_7833440162864453077_n.jpg

She also does dragons, doomed women, cyborg tentacle terror, and sword-girls of course though those have their own thread
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And it's probably no surprise, Game of thrones scenes,
the first showing the Hound, Sansa, and a large audience of piked heads,
the second is Daenerys and Mirri Maz Duur which brings us back to witch-craft.
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and here's the artist presenting her work
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The perils of supreme technique I suppose!
Well, here she is with "Detail process of the third place winner in Imaginative Realism category 13th Annual ARC Salon"


I do have to admit ... for some pieces, there is a sketch version available as well as the fully painted one. And I tend to prefer the sketches.
For instance these, the first one leaves a lot more to the imagination...
32070044_381510882355506_7271258002949144576_n.jpgarantza-sestayo-11_orig (1).jpg
 
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