Saturday 16 March 2013

The Witching Hour

 



 
 
 
  
Her Kind
 
by Anne Sexton
via 1
 
 
I have gone out, a possessed witch,
haunting the black air, braver at night;
dreaming evil, I have done my hitch
 
over the plain houses, light by light:
 lonely thing, twelve-fingered, out of mind.
 A woman like that is not a woman, quite.
 I have been her kind.

 
 


 

 
 
 

 

 
 
I have found the warm caves in the woods,  
 
filled them with skillets, carvings, shelves,  
 
closets, silks, innumerable goods;
 
fixed the suppers for the worms and the elves:
 
whining, rearranging the disaligned.
 
A woman like that is misunderstood.
 
I have been her kind.

 
 
 

 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 

I have ridden in your cart, driver,
 
waved my nude arms at villages going by,
 
learning the last bright routes, survivor
 
where your flames still bite my thigh
 
and my ribs crack where your wheels wind.
 
A woman like that is not ashamed to die.
 
I have been her kind.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Outfit:


Black dress: Nicole Farhi warehouse sale
 
Black spanish lace: passed down from late granny Kiki

 Black suede court shoes: bought many years ago from Hobbs

 Isis pendant: from a car boot sale

 

 
The Soundtrack

Dead Will Dance: Into The Labyrinth



All photographs taken of myself and my beautiful Mum by Mr Eve, using my little digital camera.
 
 
 
As I've been too busy to take outfit photos or blog this week, I thought I'd share some photographs, for those of you who haven't seen them before, from a post first published last year at my other blog Idle Bakes in celebration of Halloween. I've always wondered, why only show a witchy post in the autumn? After all, "witches" lived all year long. No doubt if I had been born in the 1500s I could've been called a witch, as so many unconventional women such as ourselves were in those days, and burned at the stake for no good reason. Witches were nothing like the modern stereotype of cruel carbuncled hags, they were ordinary people, young and old, who were scapegoated for not "fitting in" or for being poor, and blamed for everything from the bad crops to a death in the village.
I'd like to think that those days have passed, but the present conservative government's victimisation of the disabled and the most vulnerable in our society shows a remarkable similarity to the witch hunts of the burning times: nowadays people are left to die through extreme poverty and neglect instead of being burned alive.
 


I'm delighted to be a part of Visible Monday, hosted by the lovely Patti from www.notdeadyetstyle.blogspot.co.uk, click on the website link to see her outfit and those of many others.
 

30 comments:

  1. This is such a thought provoking post. Ann Sexton has puzzled and horrified me in equal turns over the years but there's no doubt her words still resound deeply with the tortured soul within. Thank you for such a cerebral and well thought out post xx

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    1. I'm so glad you found it thought provoking Lucy, thanks very much for your kind words! Ann Sexton is very intense isn't she, up there with Plath as an incredible poet of all things anguished.

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  2. You have a gift for crafting atmosphere, Emalina! I love the masks and the lighting, and as always, the poem.

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    1. What a lovely thing to say, Amber, thank you my dear!

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  3. i love this witch post, so enchanting! you really know how to capture a certain mood with your photos darling!
    hope you had a wonderful weekend!
    kiss,mary

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    1. I'm delighted you enjoyed the post, sweetie! Hope you had a wonderful weekend too!

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  4. Wonderfully atmospheric pictures, and a great poem, Anne Sexton takes me back to doing my degree 30 years ago! xxx

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    1. I bet it was fascinating studying her, wow! Thanks so much!

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  5. Great pics! I love the mirror photo!

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    1. Ah it's one of my favourites too! Thanks Bella!

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  6. Wonderful, enchanting pictures - I am glad you brought them around to share - and thanks for linking them up to Visible Monday!

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    1. Thanks so much for having me, Patti! I was having browser problems earlier which meant I couldn't comment on your own gorgeous suited and booted outfit, but have managed to now with the second post I've brought to your lovely Visible Monday clan :)

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  7. I enjoyed being turned around, confused in my sense of seasonal direction. Are those little hands cookies? I think I would enjoy being at your party. The poem was equally evocative. Now you have me wanting a Halloween party!!!

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    1. Hope you've had a wonderful birthday party Jean, I'm about to check out your birthday post yay! So glad you enjoyed this post despite the unseasonality. The little hands I made from white chocolate, and they, along with the white chocolate skull, are sitting atop a bleeding raspberry jam cake!

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  8. Such mystic photos! Love the one with the cat!

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    1. Thank you so much Olga! So glad you liked them. The close up of me and my familiar is my total favourite :)

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  9. Thanks for re-airing this post and reminding us that we are witches all year long. This post is poetry. I wish I were there. I have been her kind.

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    1. Wow thanks so much for your kind words Melanie. It would be so good if we could all have a witchy gathering together! The poem resonates with me in many ways at the moment, and I do find the dark and the eerie strangely comforting when times are hard.

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  10. I loved these photos! What a wonderful halloween's party. The table you've laid with all those cakes and sweets looks amazing! I loved the poem too. I've always found it so enraging to think of how women were treated in the days of witch hunting, and as you say, the witch hunt continues to this day in other guises. I love your black lace Spanish mantilla - I ought to get one myself.

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    1. Ah I'm delighted you enjoyed it my dear! Yep it was a very tasty spooky night! I can totally see you in a black lace spanish mantilla, as you dance a firey flamenco, go get one do :)

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  11. Wonderful photos, that shot of you and your friend reflected in the mirror as you light the candles is incredible. I have always loved the history of witchcraft and witches. Before I changed majors I was a history major and one of the greatest courses I did was the history of witchcraft. It covered everything from rituals to the persecution of witches over the centuries, all very fascinating.

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    1. Thanks so much! You know that friend is my dear and gorgeous Mum! She seems to get into many of my posts, along with my little familiar :) I bet that history course was so interesting, I would love to learn something similar one day.

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  12. I love this deliciously moody post - the pics are fab, the cakes look amazing, the masks are exquisite and your kitty is perfect!

    Sarah xxx

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    1. So glad you do, Sarah! Thanks very much! I do love a spooky mask, and a tasty cake for that matter.

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  13. Thanks for reposting this, it's easy to get overwhelmed with witchy posts at Hallowe'en and much nicer to admire them at a later date. Love the masks and your gorgeous cat.
    I'm always being mistaken for a witch, it's all the silver, apparently! xxx

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    1. I'm often mistaken for a witch too! I'm sure we're in the best company Vix! Thanks so much for your lovely words about the post.

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  14. I love these fire-hued photos. Throughout time, insecure people have always felt threatened by those with special gifts. I guess it was easier for them to slander and put away these "witches," who were blessed with the healing arts and knowledge. - J xx

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  15. Stunning pics-- I love this whole post and I agree about how we are abandoning the least fortunate in the most inhumane way.
    Amazing blog,
    Becky :)

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  16. Lovely, eerie photos and poem. I like the comment above "insecure people have always felt threatened by those with special gifts." Sad but still true.

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