The Museum of Alchemists and Magicians of Old Prague

Prague is a city steeped in history both known and otherwise, and the darker side of the Czech capital’s past is brought to light in evocative displays at The Museum of Alchemists and Magicians of Old Prague, which looks at some of the famous dabblers in the dark arts that have called the city home.

As king of much of eastern Europe and eventually Holy Roman Emperor during the 16th century, Rudolf II was not known as an especially effective ruler, but he is widely remembered for his interest and patronage of the occult arts. It was during his reign that he turned Prague into the unofficial capital of the dark arts. Funding a number of alchemists and other so-called sorcerers, most notably the likes of Edward Kelley and John Dee, Rudolf created possibly the most active period of occult practice in history.

Whether or not his patrons were simply charlatans wrapped in mystery, or bold proto-scientists, the legacy of these magicians and madmen is remembered with a carnival flair at The Museum of Alchemists and Magicians of Old Prague. Consisting of two levels of displays and tableaux, the exhibits trace the history of Rudolf’s alchemists in the city, especially Kelley. The main floor has displays and replica artifacts of the trade alongside such fantastical scenes as a failed magician being stolen up into the ceiling by the Devil while cackling sorcerers huddle around the glowing runes beneath. The second floor, which claims to be the actual tower where the real Kelley performed his esoteric experiments, is decked out like an alchemist’s lab, all aged scrolls and stacked grimoires, complete with a half-completed homunculus, the ultimate alchemical achievement.

The museum is more than a little sensational in its presentation, but to be fair, these alchemists were likely more than a little bit showmen themselves. What better way to remember and learn about their arcane history than with a little bit of magical realism?

Atlas Obscura

Also read: Witch museum opens in Cleveland!

Saturn in Aquarius, 3 Years of Change, Technology, and Justice

Today (March 21), Saturn enters Aquarius, and will transit through this sign until March 7, 2023.

Saturn hasn’t stationed in the Water Bearer’s realm for nearly three decades; in fact, its last visit was from February 6, 1991, to January 28, 1994.

Saturn represents discipline, patience, responsibility, maturity and boundaries. Saturn rules time and, in contemporary astrology, is known as the Lord of Karma.

Saturn is often considered a planet that brings damage, a malevolent planet, the opposite of Jupiter. But Saturn is actually essential in the lives of all of us for our own personal growth, for our maturity. 

Saturn represents our hardships and the lessons we learn in this lifetime. It can also indicate things that we fear or worry about, as well as how we deal with authority.

Certainly his way of acting is hard, concrete, sometimes terrible and can lead to difficult situations but that it was necessary to deal with situations. Saturn is the time, cronos, Saturn cut off the dead branches, things more useful to our work life, emotional and sentimental. After his passing we can be bigger, stronger and more aware of our quality. Sacrifice asks us this planet.

Saturn in Aquarius will find us taking our future much more seriously. 

Saturn was actually Aquarius’ ancient ruler, before Uranus was discovered in 1781. The ringed taskmaster feels quite at home in Aquarius. People with Aquarius in their chart are given a great ability to envision ideas. This is the sign of the Architect who can picture in their minds eye a new vision that can then be made manifest. If you are an Aquarian you may be going through what is known as a “Saturn Return”. This is a testing and intense time where you will be forced to confront parts of your subconscious self.

The placement of Saturn in Aquarius is so favourable because Saturn is a planet of tangible manifestation while the sign of Aquarius is about new ideas and visions. A vision without manifestation is of no use but when the hard work of Saturn is applied to refine and perfect and implement the vision in the real world the two are a very powerful combination.

Saturn has spent 2.5 years in Capricorn, exposing the good, and especially the bad and the ugly of the Capricorn archetype: lack of integrity, misused power, materialism and corruption.   

While Saturn was in earth sign Capricorn, it exposed the good, and especially the bad and the ugly of the Capricorn archetype: lack of integrity, misused power, materialism and corruption. 

It recognized the limits of material resources; Saturn in air sign Aquarius finds people and social groups to be a more important resource. 

Saturn in Capricorn found us looking to the past for clues about our history, and Saturn in Aquarius knows all the rules so that they can break and update them.

The energy is going to be focused on anything new, anything modern, and anything progressive.

Now, Saturn in Aquarius is determined to shake sh*t up, rewrite the rules, and change the world. It’s time to look for a different type of order.

Aquarius is the zodiac’s revolutionary—it’s known for its friendly, social, humanitarian traits—so the vibe is going from “let’s focus on these problems” to “let’s TALK about these problems, brainstorm ways to fix them, then go out and actually do something about them.” 

As a fixed air sign, its focus is heavily on getting work done through its mental energy — thoughts and ideas are a big part of how this sign relates to the world.

New laws, international treaties, and global changes are going to happen soon.

Aquarius is also the sign of technology, the mad scientist of the zodiac, and Saturn’s trek through this air sign will crystalize advancements in the field, allowing for new, advanced tech to become incorporated into day-to-day life. (Fun fact, the last time Saturn was in Aquarius, a little something called the internet became part of our day-to-day lives.)  

AI, space travel, virtual reality, and advances in medical technology are thematic of Saturn in Aquarius too.

Being able to navigate various tech tools and software will become more important than ever over the next few years as Saturn places great limitations on those who aren’t with the times.

Working remotely from home will continue to be picked up by more companies as advantages are realized and the health of worldwide communities necessitates. 

Although we’re more likely to lean toward scientific rational while Saturn is in Aquarius, there will still be an interesting dynamic between scientific communities and spiritual folks as Aquarius is both academically and spiritual-oriented. Saturn in Aquarius encourages us to elevate the mind, but we’ll have to be mindful not to fall into reductionism or dogmatic beliefs. As the planet of reality, Saturn in Aquarius will lead us to redefine what is possible.

Aside from its worldwide impact, Saturn in Aquarius is bringing personal changes to your life too.  

ARIES

What kinds of people do you surround yourself with? What associations or groups do you identify most with? You may realize that you no longer click with people who were your besties a couple of years ago, or you may decide that your professional network or political affiliations just aren’t very you anymore—and that’s okay! You’ll probably lose a few (or more) friends, but it’s time to find a new, better crew. Likewise, your hopes and dreams for the future may change dramatically. Honor yourself, your goals, and your beliefs, and hold yourself accountable for surrounding yourself with people who want to support you as much as you support them. By the time Saturn’s done with its time in Aquarius, your life will have undergone a major upgrade.

TAURUS

Certainly the squaring of Saturn for you will be very heavy and it will not be absolutely easy to digest and to endure. First of all, be careful about health and do not underestimate any discomfort that may worsen with the passage of time and then as soon as you have some health problems go to your doctor and do not underestimate anything, no symptoms. If health then can be the Achilles' heel during this planetary transition also the optimism and the level of self-esteem will drop a lot and will not allow to be very positive towards life. Life itself teaches that positivity and optimism bring good things while negative thoughts and pessimism create further difficulties and during these years you will not be able to be very happy, calm, quiet and balanced. But you must not give up. To combat this astrological aspect one must do one very important thing, that is to work a lot, get tired a lot without hoping to achieve excellent goals. Saturn wants a lot of effort and a lot of sweat from you and does not give satisfaction. All these months, therefore, are very tiring in the work and many of you can age more quickly with some problems to the bones and teeth that are often weak points with this planetary transition. We must also pay close attention to any enemies who hide and can create many professional complications and be careful not to waste money on absolutely wrong investments.

GEMINI

Saturn’s transit through Aquarius is actually not going to be that hard for you, Gemini! Since Aquarius is a like-minded air sign, Saturn’s doing a great job of harmonizing with your Gemmy vibes. This transit is helping you to do your favorite thing—learn! First and foremost, if you’re a student (or thinking about going back to school), this is a spectacular time to slay the game in the academic world. And even if you’re not going to school, this is a period when your mind is expanding in big ways. You’re notoriously a lil flaky and you rarely commit to one belief/opinion/worldview for long, but Saturn’s all about stability and crystalizing your philosophy on life. One thing to watch out for: Saturn in Aquarius can make any long-distance traveling a b*tch and a half to handle, so make sure you triple-check your schedule, flights, everything if you’re going on any trips in the next couple of years.

CANCER

With Saturn’s transit through Aquarius, you are coming face to face with other people’s impressions and values. Sometimes this is addressed by dealing with matters involving other people’s money, consolidating debts, or taking out a loan. Other times this involves clashing with other people’s opinions, and learning how to live with other people’s perspectives while maintaining your own integrity and bottom line. If you have been relying on others too much, you are likely to encounter situations that require you to stand on your own two feet, while others will learn how to cooperate and depend on others in order to reach their goals. Sometimes this transit brings up feelings about your own mortality or some form of loss, which ultimately helps you see what matters most to you at the end of the day.

LEO

The meaning of commitment becomes a greater focus of yours during Saturn’s transit in Aquarius, and you’ll be encouraged to spend time and energy on relationships that offer more stability to your life. Saturn binds things and people together—but Saturn also symbolizes boundaries. If you’re romantically involved with someone but haven’t defined your relationship, Saturn will nudge you to do so. In Aquarius, Saturn reflects a need for clarity and communication, especially when it comes to what you do and don’t want in a partnership. As the planet of tough love and limitation, Saturn could also reflect growing pains in your partnerships—including business-oriented partnerships. The mood can feel icy or indifferent between you and those you’re closest to during this transit, but if tension rises to the point where you don’t feel like you can be yourself anymore, you’ll need to discuss boundaries or maybe even move on from the relationship. If you find yourself ending a partnership during Saturn’s transit through Aquarius, consider it an opportunity to better understand what you need from a committed relationship and how to be a reliable partner.

VIRGO

Saturn in Aquarius is not treating Virgos very kindly for the next couple of years. Saturn’s transit through Aquarius is rough, tough, and extremely hard to handle—but if anyone can handle it, it’s you, Virgo! You’re one of the (if not the) hardest-working signs, and the next couple of years marks a period when your obligations are reeeaaally piling up. This means your job (and the rest of your life) is busier than ever, so it’s your mission to stay focused and productive and make sure you’re getting all your sh*t done in a timely fashion. Your health is also a focus right now. It’s not like Saturn’s going to magically make you sick out of nowhere, but if you’re not taking care of your physical and mental health in practical ways, you’ll start to feel it. How can you survive this transit? It’s simple! Eat well, exercise, take care of your mental health, and set a productive day-to-day routine. Make healthy lifestyle changes and commit to them. You got this.

LIBRA

Superfluous intimate relationships aggravate your Saturn as it enters Aquarius. Lately, relationships have acted as a welcome relief from your strict workload—but Saturn in Aquarius calls you out on the half-assed parts of your relationships, encouraging you to treat your heart with more respect and care. Similarly, this transit asks you to act in a straightforward way when making deals or interpersonal agreements—you've got to solidify your rules of engagement before Saturn in Pisces in the future improves your ability to blur the lines. If you've struggled with health issues in the past few years, try to crack the case again as hidden pressures may ease up with Saturn in Aquarius. Respect is more important in your relationships than ever. This is a time to carve out space in your social circle and creative life takes your pleasure and your happiness seriously. Work through your creative blocks or any hesitancy to self-express by throwing perfectionism out the window and recognizing that your friends will appreciate your work no matter how high your personal standards are.

SCORPIO

As Saturn transits through Aquarius, your focus shifts to a more internal perspective. Nothing appears to be going on at the surface, but when you dig deep, you may notice that your emotional world—as well as the things you base feelings of security on—are being overhauled, leading you to become more resilient. Your emotional wellbeing, family issues, and the topic of housing become more pressing with Saturn’s transit. You could move to a new home, make your first home purchase, add a member to the family, or deal with longstanding emotional issues that hamper your wellbeing. Now is an excellent time to seek professional help from a counselor or psychotherapist, spend time writing in your journal, and reflect on your feelings, as you’re ready to make productive emotional changes that leave you feeling more stable and secure than you have in the past. Tending to your emotional world in a productive, positive way will set you up for success in the following 14 years.

SAGITTARIUS

In Aquarius, Saturn asks you to become more discerning in your thought processes. This transit reflects a period when you’re feeling serious-minded and interested in diving deeper into new learning opportunities. If you have a habit of speaking freely and off the cuff, you could find this a challenging time when you’re nudged to think and pause before speaking as your words carry more weight. Alternatively, it could feel harder to articulate yourself in the way you would like, which makes this a great time to work on your communication skills and spend time meditating on what your genuine thoughts are on topics that are important to you. Signing up for workshops and online courses could be commitments you’re interested in during this transit—but be mindful that people will expect you to take learning seriously. You’re also not likely to travel far from your local area during this time as Saturn restricts movement, but it’s a great opportunity to get more involved in your community. Don’t be afraid to share your originality during the next few years, because you’ll realize new ideas and how to share them in ways you’ve always wanted to, but never knew how!

CAPRICORN

If you’re reading this, congratulations! You survived Saturn’s transit through your sign, which is always a wild time, and now you don’t have to worry about the ringed planet’s wrath for another three decades! You’ve undergone a massive personal transformation, and now Saturn’s influence is shifting from your 1st house, which rules your sense of self, to your 2nd house, which governs your values and your valuables. What I mean by that is your morals, self-worth, and material possessions are all being highlighted for the next couple of years and you’re being pushed to develop a more realistic attitude toward them. You’re an earth sign, so you tend to be on the more materialistic side. Right now, you’re learning that you rely on your financial situation or possessions to determine how you feel about yourself as a person. Financial hardships are likely coming your way, so do what you can to save up money ASAP and organize your finances before sh*t hits the fan. You’re not gonna go broke out of nowhere, but you are going to learn that there’s more to the world than the stuff you own. This is a period to be frugal, work hard, and build up your self-esteem through your actions and inner values, not how much money is in your bank account.

AQUARIUS

This is a major, major period of your life, Aquarius. Saturn will be in your sign likely only two or three times in your entire life, and this is the start of a new, nearly 30-year cycle. You’re an outgoing, extroverted air sign, but Saturn is urging you to put the outside world on the back burner and really get to know yourself on a deeper, more significant level. That means instead of focusing on how your friends, lovers, coworkers, etc. treat you, you need to consider your inner traits and qualities. Get in touch with you—your wishes, your desires, your values, your talents, and your physical/spiritual/emotional needs. It’s difficult to connect with others now, because this is a period when putting yourself first is a must. You’re minding your own business, taking care of your own personal agenda, and, over the next few years, you’re creating a more solid, structured persona that’s true to who you are, deep down. 

PISCES

When there’s any planetary action happening in the sign before yours, it’s said to be “in aversion” to you—it’s almost like Saturn’s drama is going down just outside your line of sight. That being said, just because Saturn is hiding in your peripheral vision does not mean you’re safe from this transit. The influence of Saturn just isn’t directly focused on your personal life. This is the end of a nearly 30-year cycle, so you’re cleaning out all the areas of life, from your job to your relationships to your home life. That means it’s time to focus on getting rid of outdated relationships, distancing yourself from activities and settings that aren’t healthy, ending unnecessary beef with others, cutting your losses, and not dwelling on the past. Basically, you’re going through a factory reset so you can start from scratch and totally reinvent yourself when Saturn is in your sign in 2022.

Things witches and occultists can do while in quarantine

Don’t just let the hours pass by. It might be frustrating to be just at home right now, but if you learn into some of the things on this list, you’ll find that the time passes in a meaningful way.

• Do a deep home cleaning and cleansing.

• Are you a Pagan hoarder? Clean and organize your witchy supplies, books, herbs, oils, crystals collection, etc.

• Meditation: mindfulness meditation, focused meditation, movement meditation, mantra meditation, transcendental meditation, pranayama meditation, Kundalini meditation, guided meditation, visualization, etc.. There’re so many different types and techniques, find the one that works for you.

• Read a new grimoire (check my article for some ideas: A List of Magical Grimoires)

• Write. Start a dream journal. or a new shadow book.

• Ritual work. Is there a practice that you once enjoyed but lost touch with? 

• Learn the path study that has always interested you.

• Divination: learn a system you always wanted to explore (Tarot/Oracle reading, numerology automatic writing, bibliomancy, I Ching, palmistry, crystal ball gazing, mirror/water Scrying, runes, pendulum dowsing..).

• Create a new talisman or sigil.

• Astrology: Now you have the time to explore your Natal Chart in depth (or someone else's).

• Dream magick: interpret your dreams, learn lucid dreaming. 

• Astral Projection/out-of-body experience (OBE).

• Set up an altar: it is time for a spring one!

• Ancestral work.

• Invoke your guides. Connect with your familiar, spirit guide, totem, power animal, tulpa, patron deity, etc.

• Magickal crafting: you can learn how to make incense, tinctures, herbal baths, potions, powders, sachets, candles, sacred jewelry, wands and staffs..

• Mythological exploration: learn about a pantheon, deity or culture that fascinates you.

• Indoors gardening. It's spring, the perfect time to start! 

• Telepathic communication, develop your telepathic abilities. There are many techniques and exercises you can do. Practice With a Partner – Practicing sending and receiving with a partner is one of the best ways to develop your telepathic abilities. Decide who is the sender, when you will send and then swap sending and receiving positions.

• Energy work. If you are feeling unbalanced either physically, emotionally, or mentally, energy work is a great practice to restore and realign the body's subtle vibrations. While Reiki is one of the main ways to practice energy work, there are many ways to integrate energy work and healing into one’s life.

• Indoors exercise: pilates, yoga, plyometrics, dancing, qigong, tai chi, etc.. You can find many YouTube videos or apps with great workouts and practices.

• Nourish your body with foods that help keeping your immune system strong! So important during this time!

• Keep in contact with your love ones! 

Keep calm. Stay safe. We're all in this together!  - Jovanna Goette

The Greek goddess Hygieia

We all know the term hygiene, during these times you don’t go a few hours without hearing it but have you ever wondered about where the word came from?

hygiene (n.)

Conditions or practices conducive to maintaining health and preventing disease, especially through cleanliness.

The Greek goddess Hygieia is the personification of health, cleanliness, sanitation, how to live a long life and the prevention of sickness.

Hygieia was imported by the Romans as the goddess Valetudo, the goddess of personal health, but in time she started to be increasingly identified with the ancient Italian goddess of social welfare, Salus.

The oldest traces of her cult are at Titane, west of Corinth, where she was worshipped together with Asclepius, the god of medicine. At first no special relationship existed between her and Asclepius, but gradually she came to be regarded as his daughter; later literature, however, makes her his wife. 

Hygieia played an important part in Asclepius's cult. While Asclepius was more directly associated with healing, she was associated with the prevention of sickness and the continuation of good health. Her name is the source of the word "hygiene".

In Greek ‘hygeia’ meant ‘soundness’ or ‘wholeness’. Hygiene in medicine was about maintaining the ‘wholeness’ of the body and keeping it fit. This is called ‘health’. Hippocratic doctors from the 300s CE onwards gradually formulated a philosophy of hygiene that covered every possible aspect of health – mind, body and environment. The influence of this thinking continued to impact on public health reforms during the last two centuries.”

The cult of Hygeia as an independent goddess spread during the 400s BCE after the first appearance of plague in Greece, and was established in Rome in the 100s CE. The Roman traveller Pausanias noted her cult statues all over the empire, adorned with votive offerings.

Hygieia was often depicted as a young woman feeding a large snake that was wrapped around her body or drinking from a jar that she carried. These attributes were later adopted by the Gallo-Roman healing goddess, Sirona.

The Bowl of Hygeia has become the international symbol of pharmacy in the same way the Staff of Asklepios has for medicine.

Hmmm… A snake drinking a cup. What might this be referring to? 😉

Also read:

• The Dance of the Serpents (kundalini)
• Hatha, the Union of Sun & Moon 
• The Three Treasures and Sexual Energy Cultivation
• Taoist sexual practices and sexual vampirism in ancient China

Find your astrological Demon in this rare guide on Persian mysticism

In Princeton’s Department of Rare Books and Special Collections lies an illustrated manuscript on magic and astrology from Iran that includes 56 painted illustrations of demons and angels.

Demons, genies, and evil spirits permeate ancient occult traditions in Iran and neighboring countries. An early 20th-century Persian manuscript on magic and astrology held at Princeton’s Department of Rare Books and Special Collections provides a glimpse into this mystical world with dozens of watercolor illustrations of demonic, otherworldly creatures.

Dated to 1921, Kitāb-i ʻAjāʾib-i makhlūqāt (Wonders of Creation) includes an illustrated manuscript on magic and astrology, a book of spells listing incantation and talismans, and 56 painted illustrations of demons and angels. Several texts accompanying the illustrations in Arabic and Farsi are dated from 1911 to 1921.

A closing line at the end of the book suggests that it is composed of two main texts. It reads, “The book of the ‘Wonders of Creation’ and ‘The Seventy Two Demons’ have been completed.” It is not entirely clear which text is which, but Ali Karjoo-Ravary, an assistant professor at the Department of Religious Studies at Bucknell University in Pennsylvania, tells Hyperallergic that the illustrated book of demons is most likely the second.

“This text describes the different demons associated with each zodiac sign and the ailments associated with each and some remedies,” Karjoo-Ravary, who published a blog post about the manuscript in 2017, says.

The zodiac demons are introduced as a series of menacing (although somewhat endearing) beasts, some multi-headed. Each is depicted with cuffs on its clawed or hoofed limbs, suggesting that these creatures had been bound or confined.

Other illustrations show the monstrous demons in action, attempting to inflict harm on humans with inscriptions of spells and incantations in Farsi. These latter drawings, according to Karjoo-Ravary, describe ailments and the demons associated with them, together with instructions on how to exorcise them. For instance, one inscription instructs sorcerers to take a handful of soil from underneath the feet of the possessed person and repeat the following sentence seven times: “God of the heavens and the earth, hurry, hurry, bring back, bring back, bring back the love for virtue.”

By contrast, the manuscript also includes illustrations of winged angels like Michael and Gabriel, who are summoned to expel demons and malign spirits.

The author of the demonology book attributes his knowledge to the court of Biblical King Solomon, who was believed to possess power over demons and spirits. However, the author’s identity remains a mystery. “We don’t know much about this figure other than the fact that he wrote this book, that he had some artistic skill,” Karjoo-Ravary says.

The author signs the book as “Rammālbāshī, the son of Ja’far.” However, “Rammālbāshī” is not a name, but rather a profession derived from the Farsi word rammāl (healer, sorcerer).

“A rammāl was a type of occult expert to whom people would frequently turn in the event that they had problems that couldn’t be solved by normal means, such as sicknesses that appeared incurable,” says Karjoo-Ravary. “They could do many things, primarily divination (which their name alludes to), types of magic, breaking spells, exorcisms, spirit summoning.”

Persian demonology has a long tradition that predates Islam. The Shahnameh (“Book of Kings”), a 50,000 verse epic poem written by the Persian poet Ferdowsi, is teeming with descriptions of battles between humans, devils, and demons.

Practicing rammāls still exist in Iran, typically performing palm-reading, faith-healing, and exorcism, but they have been outcast to the fringes of society.

“Rammāls are ridiculed by a good chunk of society,” says Karjoo-Ravary. “The official clerical establishment is mostly against them and magic, and even recently conservative critics of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad [former president of Iran] accused him of associating with rammāls and magicians.”

In his book, The Iranian Metaphysicals: Explorations in Science, Islam, and the Uncanny, Islamic studies scholar Alireza Doostdar writes that secularizing officials and intellectuals in Iran of the early 20th-century disparaged rammāls as charlatans, and blamed them for Iran’s “backwardness” in comparison to the developed West on superstitious beliefs.

This negative attitude towards rammāls continued throughout the Islamic Revolution in Iran in 1979. Shi‘i clerics found the sorcerers’ use of the Islamic notions of the “world of the unseen” (Gheyb) and of genies (Jinn) as a threat to their spiritual hegemony.

And yet, these occult practices continue to thrive not just in Iran, but also in neighboring countries, according to Karjoo-Ravary. “Magic, the world of the jinn, demons, and exorcism are still around in most Muslim and other societies, even if they’ve been pushed into the peripheries by polite society.”

Aries

Taurus

Gemini

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

Also read:
The Dark Side of Each Zodiac Sign

Meet the famous “Dracula Parrot" in all its glory

Dracula Parrots are the Dark Kings of the animal kingdom.

Its official name is Pesquet's parrot, but is also known as the Dracula Parrot, or the Vulturine parrot because of its distinctive vulture-like head.

Pesquet’s Parrot, is a bird endemic to hill and montane rainforest in New Guinea. With it’s black and red plumage and vulture-like appearance, this bird is truly remarkable.

It is a large parrot with a total length of approximately 46 cm and a weight of 680–800g.

Despite it’s name and vulture-like visage, the Dracula Parrot is a highly specialized frugivore, feeding almost exclusively on a few species of figs (not blood). Flowers and nectar have also been reported. At least in parts of its range, it is seasonally nomadic in response to the availability of fruits. The bare part of the head is presumably an adaption to avoid feather-matting from sticky fruits.

These parrots produce quite peculiar noises that are often described as rasping and growling.

Sadly, because of their stunning appearance they have become a target for poachers, who hunt them for their high-quality feathers. The Dracula Parrots are classified as vulnerable, on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

'Curse tablets' found in 2,500-year-old Greek well

Thwarted by a new law from placing their hexes in tombs of the untimely dead, Athenians sought a new avenue to the underworld gods.

Thirty lead tablets engraved with curses have been discovered at the bottom of a 2,500 year old well in ancient Athens. Discovered in the area of Kerameikos, ancient Athens’ main burial ground, the small tablets invoked the gods of the underworld in order to cause harm to others.

These curses were ritual texts, usually scratched on small lead objects. “The person that ordered a curse is never mentioned by name, only the recipient,” observes Dr. Jutta Stroszeck, director of the Kerameikos excavation on behalf of the German Archaeological Institute in Athens.

Before the discovery of the 30 specimens in the well, dozens of curses from the classical period (480-323 B.C.E.) had been found mainly in tombs of dead people who had died in an untimely manner and were therefore thought suitable to carry the spell to the underworld. One had also been found in another well. But there was good reason for the transition of ill-will from graves to wells in ancient Athens. 

Forbidden magic

Apparently, there’s a reason the hexes were in the well. According to Cicero (De Legibus II 66), Demetrios of Phaleron, who ruled Athens in 317-307 B.C.E. enacted legislation to govern the management of tombs. He also created a new magistrate’s office to oversee adherence to the law: et huic procurationi certum magistratum praefecerat.

“Black arts” were frowned on in Athens to begin with, and with the new law governing the cemetery, hexes couldn’t just be placed in tombs any more, as had been the habit (35 had been found in the graves of Kerameikos, in previous excavations).

So, ill-wishers by the last years of the fourth century B.C.E. had to find other points of contact with the underworld gods, Stroszeck explains. It seems they came up with the stratagem of covertly tossing their curses into wells.

Oval lead "coffin" with a spell against Pytheas et al., ordered by an Pytheas' opponent in an Athenian law court

Avenue to the underworld

The well is ten meters deep and at its bottom, the archaeologists found a built-in pedimented niche bout a meter in height, made of limestone.

It is true that the denizens of Athens would never see it, but it wasn’t for them. It was dedicated to the well’s water nymph.

“Water, and in particular drinking water, was sacred,” Stroszeck says. “In Greek religion, it was protected by nymphs, who could become very mischievous when their water was treated badly.”

To appease these emotionally precarious godlets, offerings such as miniature vessels containing liquids and other gifts were thrown into in the water.

Waters in rivers and wells, both protected by nymphs, was believed to provide direct access to the underworld, as Dr. Stroszeck says. The belief was that throwing the curse into a well would activate it.

The 30 new tablets have been documented using reflectance transformation imaging, an digital technique that enables even the smallest inscriptions on lead to be read. The archaeologists hope to ultimately learn the name of the nymph, the nature of the curses and whether the targets of the hexes were any of the famous Athenians living in the city during the late fourth century B.C.E.

The place of the living and the dead

The Kerameikos graves from the Classical period were ornate, marked with stelai, reliefs, sculpted animals, or marble vases. Grave markers in Hellenistic times were much simpler. In any case, this area was characterized by transition: from urban to rural land, and from the city of the living to the realm of the dead.

“In such areas, the presence of divine and the supernatural were experienced intensively, which is why cult and mantic (prophetic) activities are dense there,” Stroszeck told Haaretz.

Why would the ancient Athenians place their curses in graves anyway? Because of the superstition that the souls of certain types of dead remained active around the tombs for a while after death, making them suitable bearers of the curses to the netherworld, where hopefully the chthonic gods would do the curser’s bidding.

Inscriptions found at ancient Kourion in Cyprus in the 1930s give precise instructions on how cursing was to be done. A tablet hexing a person very much alive had to be put in the tomb of the fresh corpse of a person who died prematurely – having failed to complete the “normal” life cycle, such as a child or an unmarried person; or a person who died by violence, like murder victims or war casualties, Stroszeck says. As their souls were believed to be “unquiet,” they could carry messages between the underworld and the mortal sphere.

All 35 curse tablets from tombs of the Kerameikos cemetery were situated at the necropolis’ borders, including in the children’s necropolis and in a polyandrion, a communal grave for fallen soldiers.

Love 'n' hate: Curse against the newlywed Glykera, focusing on her vulva, by someone jealous of her marriage

Final nail in the coffin

There seemed to have been four main types of reasons to curse someone: to win a lawsuit (by cursing the opponent’s tongue and hands, for example); for business purposes, for instance cursing metalsmiths, bankers, prostitutes and pimps; to win athletic contests; and – of course – because of love and hate.

The norm was to hire a professional curse writer, who was believed to possess supernatural powers and would know the requisite procedures and spells.

The completed curse tablet was folded up, pierced with an iron nail (defixio), and was sometimes nailed to the wooden coffin of the deceased conveyer.

And then there were the curses that weren’t done in secret. One of Athens’ most infamous sons, the general Alcibiades, was cursed very much in public.

Alcibiades had been a disciple of Socrates and was known for adopting the customs of whatever places he visited. For instance, in Sparta he was renowned for his cold baths and drinking black broth; in Thrace he was reportedly always drunk; and in Athens he became an orator who deliberately pronounced his r’s as l’s, since in this city, it was considered virtuous to lisp.

However, the day after his election as the admiral of an Athenian expeditionary force to Sicily during the Peloponnesian War, it so happened that the citizens of Athens discovered that the stone genitalia of the city’s hermes (rectangular boundary stones featuring a phallus and a head) had been broken off. Rumor spread that Alcibiades and his drunken companions were responsible for the vile deed. When the news reached Alcibiades, he became so afraid that he fled to Sparta and turned traitor. This merited him to be publically cursed in Athens.

Another person with the ill fortune to be publically cursed was Cassandros, one of Alexander the Great’s generals. The tablet cursing him was found inside a well near the Dipylon, the main gate of Athens and the principal point of entry of everyone in the city.

Although the curse tablet was cleverly deposited so that Cassandros would be cursed when he made his first public appearance upon entering Athens, the spell seemed to have had little effect on him. He died a natural death, unlike many of his Macedonian peers, who were mostly either poisoned or killed in battle.

Curse tablet in the shape of a liver, Kerameikos

A stroke of bad luck

One has to wonder why a civilization that developed philosophy, science and logic would stoop to black magic. The answer may be very concrete, and may date back to the mid fifth century B.C.E. at the time of the dedication of the Parthenon atop the acropolis, the acme of the ambitious building program on that hill at the initiative of the Athenian statesman Pericles.

The construction of the Parthenon met with a fair amount of opposition. Some felt, not without reason, that it was not right to use the federal (union) treasury for municipal purposes in Athens.

Pericles answered that as long as Athens was fulfilling its defense obligations, it owed no accounting to its allies over its use of the tribute money.

But the criticism did not ebb, and Pericles was attacked both by satirists and in the general assembly. During a famous speech by Thucydides, son Melesias, against Pericles construction program at the Pnyx, the meeting place of the Athenian assembly, Thucydides managed to incite passions of the assembly against his political opponent –but in the middle of his speech his jaw suddenly dropped and he had to leave the platform. Probably he had been struck by stroke, but to the people it looked like Thucydides had been effectively cursed. This incident could explain the sudden increase of curse tablets in the Kerameikos during the 5th century B.C.E.

haaretz