A SHORT BACKGROUND OF THE POEM:
Legend has it that in the 17th century, a particular group of women were tortured and burned alive, as they have been claimed to perform ‘magic’ against humanity. These particular group of women, titled ‘witches’, were condemned by the then-dominating religion and was labelled ‘satanic’, as a result many witches were slaughtered in the 17th century Europe.
However the conspiracy over the incident says that the witches were not performing magic with ‘spells’ but magic with ‘words’. They say that they were creative, bold and brave for their very talent of words was a sword to them. However the dominating religion was gender-racist at that time and could not accept women as defenders. So they faked a ‘witch’ drama and performed a massive slaughter justifying their belief. This poem ‘Fairy Witch’ is based on this concept.
When I was a 6-year old,
The ‘fairy witch’ was my loved saga-
Long fluttering wings that soar,
Antique pendants on her neck that adore,
Ancient symbols inked on her supple skin
Intense blue eyes, harsh enough to pierce
Were her descriptions- a breed of fairy and witch.
Though the sky wasn’t a definite lane,
She would fly firm to breathe golden rays;
Whenever a flower was in need,
She was the mother of mercy;
A kind heart would melt her;
A poem’s mewl would stew her.
She was the soft side of the Earth!
As sweet as she was, mystery side lied deep in her soul-
Spells from divine lips either kiss or kill,
Words knit together spoken aloud
Made the men go crazy- either for good or for bad!
Each subject, predicate, clause of her sentence
Was a power to her and hence feared.
She was also the hard side of the very Earth!
In the end, the fairy witch was devoured
By fire- Men always trembled for what they don’t perceive!
The fairy witch was the antagonist in the tale
And the man who burned her was legend.
But she appeared heroic to me- A free thinking woman!
All the fairy witches were slayed in 17th century
For, only her mysterious witch part was seen.
But now, in the 21st century I stand
As a fairy witch, with the long wings of femininity
And the words mightier enough to kiss and kill.
The 17th century slaughter burned the body,
But her words diffused in air, creating more of fairy witches.
Olden myth of witch magic was ‘abra-ca-dabra’,
But the reality of witch magic is ‘ABCD’!
The Act Against Conjuration was actually a series of pieces of legislation enacted against witchcraft in the sixty two year period from 1542, reflecting the vicissitudes of Royal attitudes to the occult in a period of such dramatic political and theological change. Witchcraft was first classed as a felony in 1542 under Henry VIII. That made it a crime that was potentially punishable by death. Initially the 1542 Act also removed the loophole that allowed witches to avoid death should they be able to read a passage from the Bible, although this part of the Act was repealed five years later under Edward’s more Protestant administration which wanted to promote Bible reading.
However, in 1562 under Elizabeth, a far more stringent Act was enforced, broadening the scope of what was considered witchcraft and making death the standard – rather than just maximum – penalty. The Act Against Conjuration (1604) came into force following James’ accession from Elizabeth. Anyone who communed with spirits or familiars could then be put to death. The nature of that death had also been changed by these two last Acts: hanging became the standard means of carrying out the death penalty for those found guilty.
The irony is that Elizabeth had people in her own Court who were quite busily engaged in acts of conjuration – most noticeably John Dee.
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I understand your explanation for the case. But how the term ‘magic’ perceived in a legal context? How was it shown the act of ‘magic’ evidently?
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Modern day fairy witch
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