The Spook's Bestiary - By Joseph Delaney Page 0,34

over a distance, either by lip reading from one another’s reflected images or by writing. Most witches are skilled at lip reading, but sometimes they write on the mirror when communicating with others unused to the practice. Using dark magic, they can locate another mirror and their message appears there. A very skillful witch can even use a puddle or any surface of calm water.

2. They use mirrors to spy on their enemies or victims. As a defense against that magical art, many inhabitants of the Pendle district turn their mirrors to the wall after dark.

3. Some witches believe that they have the ability to use mirrors to prophesy. Using the blood of a victim as ink, they draw magical symbols along the edges of a mirror. Afterward, spells are chanted, and they supposedly see visions of the future in the glass. Such so-called scryers are almost certainly deluded. I refuse to believe that the future is fixed. Free will and choice shape what happens.18

Moon Magic

This type of magic is mostly practiced by benign witches. Practitioners sometimes dance naked at the time of the full moon to strengthen the power of the herbs they gather for healing.

The moon is said to show the truth of things, and can sometimes counter spells of false appearance.

Sniffing

Long sniffing is used by a witch to sniff out approaching danger.19 Seventh sons of seventh sons are immune to that power, but we must still beware of short sniffing; up close, a witch can use it to find out our strengths and weaknesses. The nearer she approaches, the worse it gets. Always keep a witch at bay with a rowan staff, and above all, never let her breathe into your face!

Spells of False Appearance

Otherwise known as dread, glamour, and fascination, these spells allow a malevolent witch to hide what she really is.

Dread is used to change her appearance in order to terrify her enemies. Instead of hair, a nest of black snakes may adorn her head and her eyes may glow red like fiery coals. Additionally, her face deforms and becomes monstrous.

Glamour and fascination work together. The former makes a witch seem younger and more beautiful than she really is; fascination then forces a man to believe anything she tells him. He becomes like a rabbit in thrall to a stoat. But only the very strongest of witches can maintain such illusions in moonlight.

Sympathetic Magic

This type of magic is usually used to kill, cripple, or seriously hurt the enemy of a witch. A clay or wax figure is modeled in the shape of the intended victim. Into it are mixed ingredients that make it more potent, such as the victim’s blood or urine. If these cannot be obtained, a strand of hair or a small piece of material from the victim’s clothing will usually suffice.

What happens next is bounded only by the imagination and vindictiveness of the witch. Any injury inflicted on the figure will result in the victim feeling that pain. The witch has created sympathy between the figure and the living person. So a nail driven into any part of the model’s anatomy will be felt in the same place on the living being. If the head and heart are targeted, then death will come swiftly. Alternatively, the victim may be crippled. Melting part of the model might result in a wasting disease.

A witch bottle is often used as a defense against an enemy witch who is already using dark magic. Some of her urine is placed in the bottle, along with sharp stones, pins, and iron nails. Once corked, the bottle is given a good shake, then left in the sun for three days. On the night of the next full moon it’s buried under a dung heap. The next time the witch tries to urinate, she finds herself in agony. Thereupon the witch is informed of what has been done, and in return for halting her own magical attack, the witch bottle is destroyed.

DEALING WITH WITCHES

Unlike boggarts, witches cannot be confined using the power of salt and iron alone. But several techniques can be used to bind them successfully.

Symbols such as those sketched on the facing page are used to mark the pit of a bound witch. A Greek letter sigma is used to denote a sorceress, and a diagonal line sloping from right to left indicates a successful binding. Additionally, the type of witch (here the Greek letter lambda for lamia) and the ranking (1 being the most powerful) may be