Witches' Brew

Rating:
Summary: Broad Overview of Pop and Classic Witch Literature
Review: Witches' Brew is a dense literary anthology broken into three chapters. The first chapter Something Wicked This Way Comes: The Wicked Witch takes it name aptly from a line in a spell from Shakespeare's Macbeth. I was pleased to find this piece as the opening work in "Witches' Brew" but disappointed that this beautiful piece is abbreviated.

Something Wicked This Way Comes also contains W.B. Yeats, "The Sorcerer." Jocks identifies Yeats as a Ceremonial Magician in addition to the revered Irish poet and playwright that most know him to be. Yeats was a member of the Theosophical Society, Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. H.P. Blavatsky cofounder of this order, is included with a piece titled "Can the Double Murder" Cotton Mather, a staunch supporter of the 1692 Salem Witch Trials work provides an account that will chill the bones of most witches. Mather's short piece "Bridget Bishop" concerns a witch trial that depends on "spectral" evidence. On the lighter side, Benjamin Franklin's (yes, that Benjamin Franklin)short story is a tongue in cheek critique of the "scientific" approach used in witch trials. Franklin's contribution written in 1730 is a short essay called "A Witch Trial at Mount Holly." Oscar Wilde's mother, Lady Wilde's piece "The Horned Woman" is a legend about Irish witches. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, of Sherlock Holmes fame, is included with a dark look at magic in "The Leather Funnel."

Next, we find That's Witch with a "W": Witchcraft as Em-Power-ment. This chapter presents the powerful, omnipotent, witch and crone archetype. Beginning with a short poem by Emily Bronte, that uses nature as a metaphor for the spell that love casts. "Snatcher" by Dean Koontz is a compelling piece that makes a delightful read aloud piece on a dark and stormy night. This is a classic crone revenge story that includes a repulsive villain and a hideous monster. Doreen Valiente, one of the founders of the neopaganism movement is appropriately included in the anthology twice. Her poem "The Witch's Ballad," provides an insiders experience of a Sabbat. Erica Jong's "Figure of the Witch" truly embodies the theme of this chapter.

Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme: The Nature Witch is the last and my favorite chapter. Sandwiched between Doreen Valiente's basic course in witch craft "The Witches' Creed" poem and Erica Jong's potent warning against witch bias and anti-Semitism "Smoke," are wonderful pieces by the likes of Brothers Grimm and Emily Dickinson. A touching tale suitable to read to children "The Christmas Witch" by Rosemary Edgehill explains the significance of Yuletide. Evelyn Vaughn, (the pen name of the editor) contributes a lengthy story "Winter Solstice" that focuses on the semi-annual battle for dominance between the Oak King and Holly King.

It is pleasing that Native American voices are also included. Anita Endrezze's mythic tale, "The Humming of Stars and Bees and Waves," is an eerie Yaqui tale of a crone's epiphany after a retreat in a cave. Louise Erdrich, a member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, offers a haunting shape-shifter poem "The Strange People." If more diverse voices were included the anthology would be stronger still, afterall, witch and magic are global.

Yvonne Jocks' anthology provides a broad overview of popular and classic witch literature, crossing continents, cultures and approximately 400 years.