Corinne Boyer
Lecture & Workshop Host
LECTURE: The Flora of the Witches’ Ointment- A History of Origins
The witches’ ointment is perhaps the most enigmatic occult plant substance that came out of European folklore related to witches. The term is almost synonymous with the practice of witchcraft. It was deeply connected to the notorious Witches’ Sabbat. Not only used for night flight to meet with the Devil, it was also used for poisoning and maleficium. The witches’ ointment is as misunderstood during modern times as it ever was; the points of debate from demonologists, natural scientists, historians, academics, occultists and practitioners are still relevant today. The proposed ingredients of the mythical ointment, the reasons why it was used, how it was used and indeed if it was ever used at all bring us back to the mystery of this noxious grease that was supposed to originally be given to the witch by the Devil himself.
Early mentions of the ingredients of the witches’ ointment contained no plants. It was believed to be made of child fat (sometimes this was the sole ingredient), ill-omened animal fat, venom and blood. How and when did plants become mixed up with the witches ointment? Which plants were involved and why? And how did the idea of the ointment itself continue to perpetuate these plants as belonging to witches? All of these questions and many more will be addressed in this lecture.
This information comes from researching, growing and working with toxic witches’ plants for many years, from the history of pharmacy and herbalism, from demonology and folklore records, from the study of different magical salves out of Europe and how and why they were used in actual practice.
WORKSHOP: Magical Salves and Oils- Historical Recipes and Practical Uses
3 HOUR INTENSIVE– space is limited to 20 participants
In this workshop, we will explore the potential magical uses of salves beyond the witches’ ointment. Many historical and personal examples will be given to show how salves or oils were used in the invisible realms for both folk magic and medicine. Many of these examples contain plants. We will make an infused animal fat in class, and everyone will leave with a jar of this, along with the inspiration and knowledge to use occult unguents in their personal practice.
$65 workshop add on fee
$10 materials fee
*Materials fee paid to Corinne at time of workshop
BIO: Corinne Boyer is a folk herbalist, teacher, and author with a passion for traditions surrounding plants and folk magic. She has been studying and working with plants since 1998. Corinne has been teaching and writing full time about the history and folklore of plants, folk medicine and the plant traditions of northern and western Europe and North America since 2010. She has written over ten books and has had articles published in multiple occult journals since 2015.
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