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Fire burn, cauldron bubble

Fire burn, cauldron bubble

Round about the cauldron go;
In the poison’d entrails throw.
Toad, that under cold stone
Days and nights has thirty-one
Swelter’d venom sleeping got,
Boil thou first i’ the charmed pot.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.

Fillet of a fenny snake,
In the cauldron boil and bake;
Eye of newt and toe of frog,
Wool of bat and tongue of dog,
Adder’s fork and blind-worm’s sting,
Lizard’s leg and owlet’s wing,
For a charm of powerful trouble,
Like a hell-broth boil and bubble.

Double, double toil and trouble;
Fire burn and cauldron bubble.

—Shakespeare, Macbeth

3 things Terry Pratchett taught me about witchcraft

3 things Terry Pratchett taught me about witchcraft

“The thing about witchcraft,” said Mistress Weatherwax, “is that it’s not like school at all. First you get the test, and then afterward you spend years findin’ out how you passed it. It’s a bit like life in that respect.”

—The Wee Free Men

 

You can tell a lot about a witch by the books they recommend.

If it’s your typical Wicca 101 book, they’re probably a lot like a lot of other witches. If it’s one they’ve written themselves, run for the hills. But if it’s fiction… well, then you might be on to someone who knows something about witchcraft.

My coven leader, a fascinating blend of New Age woo and down-and-dirty paganism, teaches alternately through storytelling and the Socratic method. She’s quick to laugh but often takes long pauses mid-sentence to run her thoughts through any number of filters before letting them squeeze past her lips.

For her, any education in the Craft naturally starts with Terry Pratchett’s Tiffany Aching series, which chronicles a young girl’s transformation into a powerful witch.

I think the endorsement says as much about the author as it does about the witch. My coven leader feels that Pratchett gives voice to her particular brand of witchcraft—and she’s not the only one.

…

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