Monthly Archives: August 2022

Steve Miller Band’s Abracadabra

Posted by kitperriman on

Abracadabra

(Daphne Vialletet and Jean Philippe Verdin)

Cute witch

I heat up, I can’t cool down.
You got me spinning
‘Round and ’round.
‘Round and ’round and ’round it goes,
Where it stops nobody knows.

Every time you call my name
I heat up like a burning flame.
Burning flame, full of desire,
Kiss me baby, let the fire get higher.

Abra-abra-cadabra
I want to reach out and grab ya!
Abra-abra-cadabra
Abracadabra!

You make me hot, you make me sigh,
You make me laugh, you make me cry.
Keep me burning for your love
With the touch of a velvet glove.

Abra-abra-cadabra
I want to reach out and grab ya!
Abra-abra-cadabra
Abracadabra!

I feel the magic in your caress.
I feel magic when I touch your dress.
Silk and satin, leather and lace
Black panties with an angel’s face.

I see magic in your eyes,
I hear the magic in your sighs.
Just when I think I’m gonna get away
I hear those words that you always say:

Abra-abra-cadabra
I want to reach out and grab ya!
Abra-abra-cadabra
Abracadabra!

Every time you call my name
I heat up like a burning flame.
Burning flame, full of desire
Kiss me baby, let the fire get higher.

I heat up, I can’t cool down
My situation goes ’round and ’round.
I heat up, I can’t cool down
My situation goes ’round and ’round.
I heat up, I can’t cool down
My situation goes ’round and ’round.

Click on link to watch the live version:

mqdefault[2]

(Photo: Public Domain)

(Video: YouTube)

Copyright © 2022 | KitPerriman.com | All Rights Reserved

Abracadabra!

Posted by kitperriman on
  • Abracadabra is the famous magical word that is still used today by stage conjurers.
  • It may have derived from an ancient Jewish cure for sickness that went:

Ab Abr Abra Abrak Abraka

Abrakal Abrakala Abrakal

Abraka Abrak Abra Abr Ab

  • Another theory is that it came from the followers of Basilides who worshipped a god called Abraxas.   He ruled the 365 days of the year. The 7 letters of his name may represent the 7 astrological planets that control fate.
  • The first recorded use of Abracadabra was made by Quintus Serenus Sammonicus, who was the doctor of the Roman Emperors Caracalla, Geta, and Severus.  In 208 AD he accompanied Emperor Severus on his expedition to Britain.
  • The word was used as a healing charm set out like this:

Abracadabra

  • These letters were written on paper and tied around the patient’s neck with a length of flax.  After 9 days the charm was thrown backwards over the shoulder into an east-moving stream.  As the words shrank away, so did the fever.
  • According to Daniel Defoe’s Journal of the Plague Year (1722) people thought the Black Death was caused by an evil spirit taking possession of the body.  A similar Abracadabra spell was used to ward of the sickness using the power of magic.
  • Many favorite charms were written in pyramid form.  These amulets would be worn on the body, kept under the bed, or placed in a box and hidden somewhere about the home.

Sources:

Man, Myth and Magic.  “Abracadabra” (London: Purnell, 1970)

Wikipedia. “Abracadabra,” at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abracadabra

(Photo: Public Domain)

Copyright © 2022 | KitPerriman.com | All Rights Reserved

Ella Fitzgerald’s / Frank Sinatra’s That Old Black Magic

Posted by kitperriman on

That Old Black Magic

(Johnny Mercer, Dub Allbritten, Harold Arlen, and Ronnie Self)

witchy woman

That old black magic has me in its spell,
That old black magic that you weave so well,
Those icy fingers up and down my spine,
The same old witchcraft when your eyes meet mine.

The same old tingle that I feel inside
And then that elevator starts its ride,
And down and down I go, round and round I go,
Like a leaf that’s caught in the tide.

I should stay away, but what can I do?
I hear your name and I’m aflame,
Aflame with such a burning desire
That only your kiss can put out the fire.

Because you are the lover I have waited for,
The mate that fate had me created for,
And every time your lips meet mine,

Darling, down and down I go, round and round I go,
In a spin, loving the spin that I’m in,
Under that old black magic called love.

Ella Fitzgerald version:

Frank Sinatra version:

Who sings it best?

(Photo: Public Domain)

Copyright © 2022 | KitPerriman.com | All Rights Reserved

Olde English Treacle Toffee

Posted by kitperriman on

Olde English Treacle Toffee

This chewy toffee is a great Halloween and Bonfire Night favorite! Try it for Thanksgiving . . .

Treacle Toffee

Ingredients

4oz butter

Knob of butter for greasing pan

8oz brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar

4oz dark treacle

4oz golden syrup

glass of cold water

Method

  1. Melt the butter over a medium heat in a large pan.
  2. Mix in the sugar, cream of tartar, treacle, and syrup.
  3. Boil steadily but do not stir. After 10 minutes test for the soft crack (setting) by dropping a small spot of the mixture into the glass of cold water.  Repeat every few minutes until the toffee turns solid.  This may take up to 20 minutes.  The longer the mixture boils, the harder the toffee will be.
  4. Pour into a lightly-greased flat baking tray and leave to cool.
  5. When set, turn out onto a wooden board and break into small pieces with a rolling pin or toffee hammer.  Serve and enjoy.

(Photo: Public Domain)

Copyright © 2022 | KitPerriman.com | All Rights Reserved

Kit’s Crit: THE KING’S WITCH (Cecilia Holland)

Posted by kitperriman on

Cecelia Holland’s The King’s Witch (New York: Berkley, 2011) is a historical novel set during the Third Crusade to take Jerusalem, around 1191.  Edythe – a young Jewish woman pretending to be Christian – is dispatched by Queen Eleanor of Aquitaine to inform on her children, Richard the Lionheart and his sister Johanna.  Edythe has inherited a little folk-healing skill from her physician father, and using her knowledge of herbs and potions she manages to save the king’s life when he contracts a dangerous fever, a feat than earns her the nickname of witch.  Fortunately, this is the era before the Burning Times swept across Europe.

King Richard embarks on his holy campaign to atone for the homosexuality he believes makes him a monster in the eyes of God.  On the same journey, Edythe begins her own religious pilgrimage to discover and reclaim her Jewish heritage.  She develops a bond with another outsider, the king’s bastard relative called Rouquin, who tells her that Richard’s crusade “isn’t about God” but rather “about power.”  This ironically proves true at the end – with the suggestion that the strongest power on earth is love.

Although a lot of political background informs the start of the novel, Holland’s crisp style cuts cleanly through to the center of this original, inventive tale.  It is well-researched and nicely executed, especially the early medicinal knowledge which includes a particularly harrowing head-trauma surgery.  The King’s Witch can be classified as both a romance and a fiction.  And while the relationship between Edythe and Rouquin is not entirely convincing, the action scenes and excellent details prove sufficient to make this a satisfying historical novel.

Copyright © 2022 | KitPerriman.com | All Rights Reserved

The Enigmatic Pentagram

Posted by kitperriman on

In the beginning, the pentagram (pentagon) was a holy symbol for The Divine.  How did it come to represent evil?  And why is it now the most popular image of modern Wiccans and witchcraft?

pentagon

The pentagram is a five-pointed star within a circle.  Originally, the single peak was on top and pointed towards God.  It was first recorded around 3500 BC.  The Ancient Mesopotamians used it represent their power extending into the four corners of the world.

The Hebrews chose the pentagram to signify Truth, and Pythagoras’ followers considered it to be the emblem of Perfection.  Celtic Druids also associated it with the Godhead, because five was their sacred number.

The Early Christians connected the pentagram with the Five Wounds of Christ, but eventually decided to use the symbol of the Cross as their banner instead.  Yet the religious connection to the “Endless Knot” of the star endured, and it soon became a personal talisman to ward off demons.  In Medieval times it was used as an amulet over windows and doors to stop evil from entering the home.

According to Arthurian legend, Sir Gawain adopted the pentagram for the coat-of-arms on his shield, claiming the five points represented Generosity, Courtesy, Chastity, Chivalry, and Piety.

It was also used by the Knights Templar, who believed the pentagram contained certain mystical powers.  Later, when they were persecuted by King Louis IX’s Inquisition, this symbol became associated with heresy.

Before long, the five-pointed star was linked with the Horned God, Pan.  It was renamed the “Witch’s Foot” and entered in the mythology of witches and  pagans.  No longer did the pentagram represent the Divine.  For many years it was the public symbol of Satan and his devils.

In private, however, the power of the pentagram lived on. Western Occultists and Freemasons believed that mankind was a smaller part of a greater universe and they decided that this symbol – the “Star of the Microcosm” – was the best representation of human insignificance.

During the Nineteenth Century certain Metaphysical Societies – particularly those based on the ancient Holy Kabbalah – established the pentagram as part of the Tarot Card system of divination.  They renamed the Suit of Coins as the Suit of Pentacles.

Twentieth Century Satanists adopted inverted pentagrams (and inverted crucifixes) as symbols of evil – an unfortunate association that has stuck in public consciousness.

Meanwhile, the upright pentagram has been reclaimed by Wiccans and Witches.  They see it as a representation of the five elements – Earth, Fire, Wind, Air, and Spirit.   It remains the most recognized symbol of their beliefs, and has once again become associated with the Divine!

Sources:

Cyber Witchcraft. “Witchcraft Symbols,” at http://www.cyberwitchcraft.com/witchcraft-symbols.html

Pagan’s Path. “History of the Pentagram”: at http://www.paganspath.com/magik/pentacle1.htm

Wikipedia. “Pentagram,” at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentagram

(Picture: Public Domain)

Copyright © 2022 | KitPerriman.com | All Rights Reserved

Olde English Jam

Posted by kitperriman on

Jam is the English version of American jelly or fruit preserves.  It can be made from a variety of fruit.

jam

Ingredients:

1lb fresh fruit (apricots, cherries, blackcurrants, blackberries, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, etc)

3/4 pint water

1lb granulated sugar

Method:

  1. Wash (peel and stone) the fresh produce.  If the fruit is larger than a berry, cut into smaller pieces.
  2. Put the fruit and water in a large boiling pan over a low heat.
  3. Simmer gently until the fruit turns soft.
  4. Stir in the sugar.  Allow it to thoroughly dissolve.
  5. Boil rapidly until the fruit mix reaches the setting point.  Check by holding a wooden spoon horizontally over the pan – if a drop of jam holds firm at the tip it is ready to test on a cold saucer.  Add the drop to the saucer.  Push with your finger tip.  If the jam has reached setting point it will wrinkle.
  6. Spoon into warm jam jars and cover.

Tips:

  • Over-ripe fruit can prevent the jam from setting.
  • Sweeter fruits (like cherries) need less sugar than tart fruits (like blackcurrants).
  • Over-boiling the fruit takes away the flavor.
  • Burnt jam tastes disgusting!

(Photo: Public Domain)

Copyright © 2022 | KitPerriman.com | All Rights Reserved