Apotropaic mark: Difference between revisions
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#REDIRECT [[Apotropaic magic#Markings on buildings]] {{R from merge}} {{R to section}} |
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{{Short description|Symbols used to keep witches out of a building}} |
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{{for|the bodily marking thought to be found on a witch|Witch's mark}} |
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{{Use British English|date=October 2016}} |
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[[File:Worlington.jpg|thumb|Medieval apotropaic mark on the inside of a church in Worlington, Suffolk, England.]] |
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[[File:Apotropaic pentagram at Niemala.jpg|thumb|Apotropaic marking on a farmhouse from Niemelä Tenant Farm, now exhibited at [[Seurasaari|Seurasaari Open Air Museum]] in [[Finland]]]] |
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An '''apotropaic mark''', also called a '''witch mark''' or '''anti-witch mark''', is a symbol or pattern scratched on the walls, beams and thresholds of buildings to protect them from [[witchcraft]] or evil spirits. They have many forms; in Britain they are often [[overlapping circles grid|flower-like patterns of overlapping circles]]. |
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==Marks on buildings== |
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[[File:Witch mark in St. Peter's Church, Sudbury.jpg|thumb|An apotropaic mark carved into a [[nave]] column in [[St Peter's Church, Sudbury]], England]] |
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Apotropaic marks (from Greek ''apotrepein'' "to ward off" from ''apo-'' "away" and ''trepein'' "to turn") are symbols or patterns scratched into the fabric of a building with the intention of keeping witches out through [[apotropaic magic]].<ref name=Kennedy2016>{{cite web |last1=Kennedy |first1=Maev |title=Witches' marks: public asked to seek ancient scratchings in buildings |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/oct/31/witches-marks-historic-england-evil-spirits |work=The Guardian |access-date=31 October 2016 |date=31 October 2016}}</ref> Evil was thought to be held at bay through a wide variety of apotropaic objects such as [[amulet]]s and [[talisman]]s against the [[evil eye]]. Marks on buildings were one application of this type of belief.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Asuni |first1=John |title=Apotropaic Talisman Against the "Evil Eye" |url=http://archaeologicalmuseum.jhu.edu/the-collection/object-stories/the-roman-house-at-hopkins/the-art-of-light/apotropaic-talisman-against-the-evil-eye/ |publisher=Johns Hopkins Archaeological Museum |access-date=31 October 2016}}</ref> |
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Other types of mark include the intertwined letters V and M or a double V (for the protector, the [[Virgin Mary]], alias ''Virgo Virginum''), and crisscrossing lines to confuse any spirits that might try to follow them.<ref name=Kennedy2016/><ref>{{cite web|title=Here Be Witchcraft|url=http://www.lassco.co.uk/lassco-news/2013/10/29/here-be-witchcraft/|publisher=Lassco|access-date=31 October 2016|date=29 October 2014}}</ref> |
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At the [[Bradford-on-Avon Tithe Barn]], a [[overlapping circles grid|flower-like pattern of overlapping circles]] is incised into a stone in the wall.<ref name=Kennedy2016/> Similar marks of overlapping circles have been found on a window sill dated about 1616 at [[Owlpen Manor]] in Gloucestershire, as well as [[taper burn mark]]s on the jambs of a medieval door frame. |
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The marks are most common near places where witches were thought to be able to enter, whether doors, windows or chimneys.<ref name=Kennedy2016/> For example, during works at [[Knole]], near Sevenoaks in Kent, in 1609, oak beams beneath floors, particularly near fireplaces, were scorched and carved with scratched witch marks to prevent witches and demons from coming down the chimney.<ref name="Gresham College">{{cite web|last1=Wright|first1=James|title= Ritual Protection Marks and Witchcraft at Knole, Kent |url=https://www.gresham.ac.uk/lectures-and-events/ritual-protection-marks-and-witchcraft-at-knole-kent|publisher=[[Gresham College]] |date=19 October 2015}}</ref><ref name=Kennedy>{{cite news |last=Kennedy |first=Maev |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/nov/05/witch-marks-king-james-i-knole-sevenoaks-national-trust |title=Witch marks fit for a king beguile archaeologists at Knole |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=2014-11-05 |access-date=2014-11-05}}</ref> <!--Witch marks, both scratched and in the form of chalk circles in front of fireplaces, are still made as a tradition, as found at [[The Fleece Inn]] in Worcestershire, England.{{cn|date=October 2016}}--> |
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Marks have been found in buildings including [[Knole House]], [[Shakespeare's Birthplace]] in [[Stratford-upon-Avon]], the [[Tower of London]],<ref>{{cite web|title=Tower of London staff 'used magic to repel the forces of the Devil'|work=[[The Independent]]|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/tower-of-london-staff-used-magic-to-repel-the-forces-of-the-devil-a6697476.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220508/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/tower-of-london-staff-used-magic-to-repel-the-forces-of-the-devil-a6697476.html |archive-date=2022-05-08 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=31 October 2016|date=16 October 2015}}</ref> and many churches, but little effort has been made to look for them on secular buildings.<ref name=Kennedy2016/> A collection of over 100 marks – previously thought to be graffiti – was discovered in 2019 on the walls of a cave network at [[Creswell Crags]] in Nottinghamshire.<ref name=BBC>{{cite news|title=Cresswell Crags: Witches Marks Found In Cave Network|date=15 February 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-47242603}}</ref> |
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==See also== |
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*[[Taper burn mark]] |
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==References== |
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{{reflist|30em}} |
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[[Category:Anthropology of religion]] |
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[[Category:Magic symbols]] |
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[[Category:Folklore]] |
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[[Category:Objects believed to protect from evil]] |
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Revision as of 19:26, 11 March 2024
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