Since I couldn’t make up my mind
whether I preferred elves to witches, I decided to blend them hoping to give
life to a gracious female character for upcoming rpg campaigns and also for the
book I (was/am – not sure) writing. I named this sorcerer-elf after my nickname
(or maybe I was named after her…). She’s often the character present in my
drawings, for every artist needs a muse who can inspire him! I have no interest
in listing accomplishments for the new year like methodic people do as a
ritual, but in 2014 I want to put some old projects on its feet, and the first
thing to be done is to start my dream drawing/painting course! My collection of
pencils, tortillions and ink will definitely be put to work as soon as I go
back to Curitiba. According to my schedule I’ll have a few hours off before the
translation class (Yeah! My translation course begins this semester!) which
gives me half a morning to spend at some arts school near my college.
I fucking love witches!
For most of the vacation I watched a
few movies that were on queue for the past 3 years or more, including Blair
Witch I and II, Season of the Witch, Black Death, Robin Hood, Dark Water, Pan’s Labyrinth,
Dark Shadows, Sinister, Mirrors, The Woman in Black and a few others. It was my
mom who awoke my appetite for movies with the wonderful “Sack of Bones”, adaptation
of Stephen King’s novel. Horror movies are great options especially when there’s
a witch on the plot!
Some funny things happened to me
after hours in front of my computer playing, watching the movies above and reading about paganism and witchcraft:
Curious fact one: the combination of
my pills and fantasy movies before going to bed
granted me with weird dreams involving the middle ages, witchcraft,
zombies, me casting spells from Giants Citizen Kabuto and a nighttime flight with
my victorian umbrella ‘.’
Curious fact two: One night I dreamed
of a Blair Witch Project T-shirt. It was dark and I was flying again, holding
a knife in search of victims!
Curious fact three: my family and
friends are pretty concerned about my mental health :x
Curious fact four: I find it all
amazing and am already searching for shirts to customize with the Blair Witch’s
Voodoo symbol! :D
Now, if you feel like sharing the
experience of psychotic dreams, go ahead! These are my favorite witch ladies
and its respective movies:
The Salem Witches (or The Crucible)
The Witch Trials are intensily explored by the film industry, given its rich background involving sometimes the
middle ages or the beginning of the modern age (the number of people accused of
witchcraft in this time was far worse than that of the Middle
Ages). Despite what people might imagine after consuming countless fantasy
books, in New England the suspects of practicing magic weren’t connected to
paganism like medieval folks, most just didn’t follow blindly what was demanded
by the church. But indeed the most fascinating thing that comes into our minds when we think of witches
are the pagan rituals, gods and goddesses, Celtic mythology, etc. I was always
curious to know how common men could catch such powerful women! They were
suppose to cast spells to defend themselves, so how… In fact I wish they
existed *-* Anyway, The Crucible is not about magic, but about witch trials
against innocent people.
Black Death
Oh this picture reveals exactly the stereotype in which I slot most witches: a beautiful young lady, with long hair, elegant dark
garments, carrying a basket full of mushrooms and other herbs while she wanders
in the woods looking like a defenseless lady… But try to touch her and wait
until she casts a spell to crush you. This girl is the witch and necromancer in
the medieval movie Black Death. The story begins with a few knights reaching a
monastery in search of some monk who can lead them to a heathen village that
seems to resist the plague. Believing that the locals have broken their faith
and alliance with god, they’re gathering strength to kill the witch responsible
for bringing paganism into the Christian England. Obs: Sean Bean is on the
cast, and yes, he dies ._.
Blair Witch Project
If I was a witch I’d want to have Elly Kedward’s power along with the grace of Angelique from Dark Shadows.
The so called "Blair Witch" actually never appeared in the movie, and it was certainly
a fine ingredient to put our imagination to work. Her habitat and voodoos made out
of wood is very proper for an elf, don’t you think?
Dark Shadows
Good movie, though I’m not a big fan
of comedy. It is
said that a man shouldn’t refuse a witch woman’s love, and if he does, he must
suffer the consequences! The movie begins with the return of Barnabas Collins,
a man who was turned into a creature of the night by the sweet Angelique. She
was played by Eva Green, now do you want to know what is funny? A few years ago
she incarnated in another witch: Serafina Pekkala from the Golden Compass. The
only difference is that Serafina is more like a wicca girl, whereas Angelique is
the devil himself. What I like about her? Watch the movie and see the way she
moves her hands everytime she casts a spell. And what can she do? It’s wiser to
ask: what can’t she do.
The Season of The Witch
The best movie ever!! I remember reading
the reviews years ago before the release. At the
time another medieval movie was in progress: Your Highness. Unfortunately this
one was a totally waste of money and time, for it’s a stupid medieval version
of American pie! The Season of the Witch focus on witch trials, but this time some of the women being chased are really
sorcerers. And powerful ones. The story involves a knight (Nicolas Cage) who fought in the crusades and then deserted. Trying to serve the church again he accepts the mission of taking a girl accused of witchcraft to a monastery (very similar to Black Death, eh?). On the way strange things start to happen and the little faith he has left is put at stake. Great movie, and my favorite :D
