Pencil Portrait - "Glance" .....................Watercolour Portrait "Burning" ....
Once, a clairvoyant friend and follower of my art (I have never seen his face) posted a comment under one of my artworks. He commented, “It is your destiny to burn!” (He often gives a psychological analysis of my artwork). I jokingly commented back, “Well ! the stakes have been piling up for a long time. I can feel the heat ” . He replied with a smiley. At that time I did not understand what did he mean. I do today !
He was telling me that I am free spirited like a witch & society doesn’t like such people ! The stakes will always be piled up high !
Ah !! witches, witches, witches .
Flying on broomsticks, brewing dangerous potions.
Hunted and persecuted. Yet feared by all !!
Devil’s accomplices? Who art Thou?
I have always been fascinated by this intriguing topic of Witches.
Living far away from people, at the edge of dangerous forests. All alone, with animals and plants for company.
Beautiful and intelligent sorceresses and sirens. Luring “hapless” men to their death and doom. Casting spells. Sought by the daring. Forbidden to all !
Down the ages, beautiful, intelligent and independent women have been accused, hunted down like animals and persecuted and burnt at the stakes by the religious orders, clans and powerful men of the time. And the practice still continues in many parts of the world.
Joan of Arc was burnt at the stakes. Today she is worshipped as a saint !
So, what is this mystery called “Witches”.
I have read some texts on witches. I will not bore you with details already available on the net. I will tell you my observations.
There a few common threads I have found amongst all the women who were accused and burnt at the stakes as witches, across the cultures and across the globe.
1 - These were often women of great intelligence and awareness and were very independent. They refused to cower down to the threats of a male dominated society.
2 - Often these were women of great beauty. Powerful men sought them. But these women, for whatever reason, refused the advances of men of power and prestige.
3 - Many of these “witches” were gifted and blessed women. They were gifted with talents and knowledge and skills. Perhaps they had the knowledge of herbs. Or they were gifted in communicating with animals. Perhaps they understood the winds and the clouds. Or perhaps they were intuitive and clairvoyant. Is this witchcraft or talent ?
4 - In a few cases, these were women, who inherited property and wealth but did not choose to have a man with them . The churches and the princes wanted to acquire their wealth and businesses .
Here I would like to tell you of an interesting fact. -
In Spain, a group of women got together, brewed beer and sold beer to the sailors. Their kitchen was the first beer brewery of the world. They went to ports to get their customers. The women , to attract the sailors and to stand out in the crowd, wore long, black, pointed hats. In their inns, these women were often seen with brooms. They were hardworking business women after all.
And then there was the problem of storage and rodents. So they kept cats. And they shared a beautiful emotional bond with their adorable cats.
These awesome and beautiful, independent business women were called ALE WIVES !!
The Religious Order …. (Oh! these religious orders have caused much mayhem ! ) urggggghhhh !!!))))
The Church and the Powerful Men wanted control over the beer business. They wanted the “Ale Wives” out of the scene.
Hence were born “Ugly Witches With Crooked Nose, Wearing Pointed Black Hats, Flying On Broomsticks With Cats, Brewing Dangerous Potions” !! Hmmmmm !!!
WOW ! What Imagination !!
So what is the picture that emerges ? —
My mind deduces and draws a picture of a beautiful, intelligent, aware, courageous, talented, wise woman who dares to live by her own sceptre ! (in this case, by her own broomstick :D ) .
She dares to think and have opinions.
She refuses to cower down to a patriarchal society.
She rebels against being enslaved or oppressed by men in the garb of unequal relationships.
She dares to stand alone and say NO to a man in a man’s world !!!
She is a threat.
She is a threat to women who think that their power comes from their men, and not from within their souls.
She is a threat to the power of masculinity in a man’s world !!
Blasphemy !!
She is a WITCH ! Just like an independent thinking man is a heretic and a wizard !
The only difference is that, in a man’s world we do have Kind and Benevolent Wizards and Wise Heretics too . Such is not the case with Witches ! Witches are out and out ‘evil’ …How convenient :)
In my opinion, Witches were and are, simply women of substance who are beyond the comprehension and beyond the oppressive control of the Society of their time.
I prefer to think of a witch as Sabrina and Wendy ( accurate comic book creations)- Spirits of Freedom and Beauty and Independence.
In fact, comic book series have been very kind to witches and wizards. Their depiction is way more correct than the interpretation of mainstream society.
The witches and wizards of the dark ages are the Super Heroes of today — Avengers, Justice League, Black Widow, Poison Ivy, Dr Strange, Valkyries — are they not awesome ! 😎😊
So ladies, it is an honour and a compliment to be a Witch !!
Well ! Well! Well! I have a black dog that catches rats like a cat. I am blessed with a few talents, by the grace of God and Devil both ! And Hell, ! I think !!!
Perhaps …. I am a witch. I love wizards. 😎
Pencil Portrait “Glance” by Neha Bisht / style - expressionism
Watercolour Portrait “Burning” by Neha Bisht / Style — Expressionism
My artwork is in support of my writing, as an illustration.
I present the indigo streak of mystery & spiritualism in my “Burning” Witch, for the Saturday Indigo Colour Challenge :)
Thank you for reading and viewing :)
what an amazing writeup to go with amazing artwork! I love to read stories about witches and I knew some of your historical info here, but I didn't know about the Ale Wives!that is fascinating! Thank you @nehab! Great post!
Thank you, @beautifulbullies. I am so happy that you like my artwork and write-up. Yes Ale-wives are very interesting. Often referred to as Beer Witches :D :D
wow....... It is beautiful.
thank you, @honeychum :)
Thank you @s4s for your appreciation and support :)
You are always awesome ! Enjoyed your post !! Nice work dear Neha !!
:D :D ... Witches are entertaining ;) ... :D Glad you enjoyed the post :) Thank you for the appreciation :)
You are welcome my friend !
not only is your artwork great, the attached stories make for a compelling read! well done... a very unique take on withces ;)
Thank you, @jznsamuel . I am so happy that you like my writing and my artwork 😊 . Witches are an interesting topic 😊
Wow... Beautiful!!
thank you, @geetharao. Honoured by your comment :)
Esteem problems.. Long comments are not accepted
No problems @geetharao. I understand :) . I understand what you say and what you do not say. After all I am a Witch :D :D :D .... You are Awesome. Keep smiling :)
As always I very much Love your artwork and also I love the words and concepts/ideas/story's you paint and draw as well...
Yes I Love your witches best. It has been too easy in the past to call someone a 'witch' to manipulate the ignorance of the masses, as a tool to destroy or control...
By the way I've always loved "Wendy the good little witch" :-)
Thank you for your post!
I'm not sure if I'm responding coherently cuz I'm just awake for only about 10 minutes. :-)
6:30 in the morning here now... :-)
You spoke absolutely coherently. 😊 . Thank you for your awesome compliment and your accurate inference and review of my post. I too love Wendy ! 😊
Beautiful work.... Even Jesus was accused of witchcraft and called a Sorcerer in the Talmud for raising the dead and healing the sick. You are in good company.
😁😁😁😁 Gives me hope ! 🍷🍷. I told you I love wizards and soccerers . I have immense faith in them 😎😊... I am aware about Jesus . 😊 Thank you, @offgridlife for the appreciation and for reassuring 😊🌹
Jesus was the greatest Sorcerer, Gnostic, Magician that ever lived. He was so in tune with the Universe that he understood that he is God. I believe that Jesus was in fact a Pantheist and understood that God (the Force) is within all things.... http://www.JesuswasaPantheist.blogspot.ca
True. Jesus was in tune with the energies of the Unverse inside him and outside him. I will definitely go through this link you shared. I am a great believer of Energy Science and Concept of the Universe as Energy Movement and Interaction. This Universe is Energy. Energy is God. Hence the Force is within us all. Everywhere, in Everything.
amen
Amen 🌹🌹
Awesome post and I think being free spirited is the best gift ever.
I didn't know about the story of these women in Spain selling beer that is very interesting. Maybe the witch hunt was a ploy to defeat strong women and feminism?
Cool post and a lot of interesting facts as usual:)
thank you, @dandesign86 ... "Maybe the witch hunt was a ploy to defeat strong women" ... You got it right. :) The power corridors of the world do not like rebellion of a different thought. They only want zombies in their control :)
I completely agree with you !
:) :)
Every day I looked into Your blog, but was not.And now joy! You wrote an interesting story and illustrated their gorgeous paintings! The portraits are awesome, you are a talented witch).
Thank you so much for looking into my blog, @rajskij-sad :) . I do not post daily. It becomes exhausting and it is a stress on all my friends who are interactive with me, like you. Witches like to keep things simple. ;) Spells are effective when cast with thought. And spells are productive when cast in controlled measures :) . Thank you so much for the appreciation. And thank you for the compliment. Being a witch gives me freedom to fly :D :D :D
I think You're right. 😊
:) :) :) .... thank you for the resteem :)
Resteemed! I'm a huge fan!!!!!!
thank you, @bloghound ... I am honoured. Birds of a feather, flock together :) I admire your wisdom of life :)
Thank you so much for the appreciation and support. :)
Interested in something mysterious! And I was enchanted by your mysterious painting 😬 I think it's right to describe it with music like this.. Meredith Monk
Awesome video link you shared @matajingga . Meredith Monk accurately suits my post. Thank you for your appreciation and thank you for the awesome share. You have a talent for accurately understanding artistic expression :)
You are welcome! Thanks for your compliments :) Sometimes in seeing a painting, I imagine a music to feel it more :D :D
You are an artist in your soul 😊
https://www.youtube.com/user/SamisSpirit/videos - a witch I came across on youtube :)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alewife_(trade) - don't click this link, copy it with (trade), otherwise it takes you somewhere else :)
that is a lot of witchery and witchcraft you collected under one roof :D .
And yes... this Alewife is different. It is fishy not witchy !! :D
:D
https://brewhoppin.com/2015/10/the-truth-of-women-and-beer-witches/
And I opened your wiki link correctly too. (with "trade" ) :)
@gezzazoom , I loved your video post on wizards :)
@donnadavisart your witch portrait is beautiful :)
I am becoming aware that you have a huge repertoire of styles in your art and this is indeed a very seductive image of a temptress! The story behind witches in the UK is extremely sinister, on the one hand we had the Church, and on the other we have what is now known as medicine from doctors etc, but in the middle was paganism which was a centuries old art derived from mother earth and her elements ( please note Mother earth.) The practice of an art called Wicker later change to witch craft by those wishing to eradicate the art, the church because they wanted to establish there own religion didn't want to compete against the craft, the craft was practised mostly by women who had the knowledge to heal, using herbal remedies and indeed spiritual energy, this was in direct competition with the then up and coming medicine we know today, so the pagan art of wicker was destroyed and for the most part lost to us, but still practised under a different name, herbal ism. Women had the greater role in human society, they were the givers of life and not what they were reported to be during a witch hunt! You are an amazing lady and a wonderful artist and you continue to surprise me, kind regards Gez..
how beautifully you have described it. I have read a little about Europe and Russia's pagan culture. Europe is my fascination. I studied European History. What you say is absolutely on the target. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with me and all of us here. All cultures have more or less have similar history. Just the terminology and names differ. I am so happy that a person of your knowledge likes my work !
Yes I have done many different art styles. Even workbook illustration and illustrative storybooks for little children. Nothing seductive over there :) :D . I just love artistic expression. Thank you @gezzazoom / Gez
Thank you lovely lady for your reply, I read and enjoyed what you had to say in your article and was inspired to reply and give another perspective, but your perspective also has a lot of merit and reflects the same story really! You are a wise, talented and intelligent lady for sure, and I do enjoy following you on your journey, kind regards Gez.........
😊😊 I am happy that I inspired you to add to the information and carry the story further 😊... Thank you for your appreciation Gez
@minnowpond1 has voted on behalf of @minnowpond.
If you would like to recieve upvotes from minnowponds team on all your posts, simply FOLLOW @minnowpond.
To receive an BiggerUpvote send 0.5 SBD to @minnowpond with your posts url as the memo To receive an BiggerUpvote and a reSteem send 1.25SBD to @minnowpond with your posts url as the memo To receive an upvote send 0.25 SBD to @minnowpond with your posts url as the memo To receive an reSteem send 0.75 SBD to @minnowpond with your posts url as the memo To receive an upvote and a reSteem send 1.00SBD to @minnowpond with your posts url as the memoGreat posting and drawing @nehab - wonderful work!
thank you... Glad you like it :)
You reminded me about those days when I used to watch documentaries (real stories of old era) about witch. It was all mesmerizing moments.
I really enjoy learning about sorcery but yet to learn anything piratical.
The fact is now a days everywhere it's all tech and tech, rarely people connected with spiritual and sorcery (I believe it's important for us to preserve that old precious Heritage)
Full upvote from my side :)
thank you, @robbinsmith . Glad you liked my post and it reminded you of some interesting stuff from the days gone by :)
Anytime, it's always my pleasure to read your post
Remember the Salem Witch trials?
Salem Witch trials of Massachusetts between 1692 and 1693 ! I have read about it. Wealth and resources and acquisition of wealth and greed has caused much pain and sorrow, down the ages. And medical conditions of spasms, vomiting and epileptic attacks, seizures, insanity have been twisted around by society to persecute innocent people and associate the "Almighty Devil" ! Thank you for reading my post and appreciating it :)
You're welcome. There's deep meaning behind your words. It's worth taking some time to let it settle in.
:) :) ... I understand that . And appreciate the value you give :)
great writing ans suitable art work thanks for sharring
thank you @jyoti-thelight ... Thank you for reading and sharing you insight. Happy you like it :)
thank you dear, you inspiring me to do some hard work on steemit
Glad to hear that :)
keep voting work as a team
Thank you. Of course ! What goes, comes around 😊👍
thank you
😊😊
Amazing artwork
thank you... glad you like it :)
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The @OriginalWorks bot has determined this post by @nehab to be original material and upvoted(1.5%) it!
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There is a common belief among all star extraterrestrial species and it is:
Our collective creator the One is a Goddess. Women and their blood are naturally in "better" resonance with our Mother Goddess. Witches are powerful individuals that the dark side was very afraid back in the days and still.
Thank you for this information, Mihail. Yes... I have read about this too. This resonates with the theory of cosmic Energy. Women have very high energy frequency. Hence their emotional and Intuitive frequencies are at a higher resonance. Witches are blessed with talents,, skills intuitions. Hence powerful ! Dark ? That is a matter of perception. Thank you for your input, @mihail.tsvetkov .
Unfortunately, not all who were persecuted and burned, were extraterrestrial species. Many were killed for ulterior motives of men. 😊