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Feline Faun

Two centuries before witches were first accused of worshiping the Animal Man with an anal kiss, the same accusation was leveled against the Cathars of southern France: Cathars being thus, in effect, proto-witches.

According to medieval French cleric Alain de Lille, the Devil appeared to them in the form of a huge black cat or, interestingly, of a man with the fur-covered legs of a cat.

In witch-trial documents of later centuries, the Devil is said not infrequently to take the form of a black cat, usually with tail raised: all the better to kiss you with, my dear.

(In 1682, Devonshire witches Mary Trembles and Susanna Edwards told the judges that he appeared to them as a lion.)

To the best of my knowledge, though, the man with cat legs—think feline faun—was unique to the Cathar vision.

Though the Animal God of the witches generally shows himself forth as one of the prey species by which we humans live, and have always lived—hence horned—neither is it unknown for him to take the form of a predator: each new form a revelation. Carved in mammoth ivory, the Lion Man is one of Europe's oldest images.

He is indeed a roaring lion, our god, our ancestors' god, stalking and roaring up and down the world.

As once again in our age and day he raises up a people to himself, let no one be surprised to behold him, once again, on feline paws.

This spell will ensure a faithful relationship. You will need:

Magnolia buds gathered under a waxing moon

You can make simple syrup, a base for any liqueur, in five short minutes by boiling a cup of sugar in a half cup of water. The method above can be used to create distinctive after-dinner drinks and digestives from angelica, anise, bergamot, hyssop, all mints, fennel and, perhaps the most special of all, violets. To your health!

In 1346, a particularly virulent form of the bubonic plague, known as the Black Death, arrived in Europe. In subsequent years, according to some estimates, it killed off something like 60% of the continent's population.

Did it also spark a pagan revival?

So says journalist Gavin Ehringer in his 2017 Leaving the Wild: The Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows, and Horses:

...[T]he Black Death caused many people in Europe to lose faith in the Christian god and the Catholic Church. (Many astute people observed that Rome had been better off during the management of of its myriad gods and goddesses than under the Christian God.) So, ironically, paganism made a comeback in some regions....Liberated from Christian thought, people also turned to the study of ancient Greek and Roman culture, which helped kick-start the Renaissance (145).

Well, now. A compelling tale, to be sure, especially for Latter-Day pagans like us, one with a very real ring of likelihood to it.

Consider. Six out of every ten people that you know have died miserably. Clearly, the Church has got something wrong. You remember those old stories that grandma used to tell. Well, the new god's not working. Maybe we should give the old ones another try.

So on Beltane you go out to the woods and light a fire. Out of old, half-remembered bits of folklore, and snippets of things you've heard in church, you cobble together a new paganism for yourself.

You get a little drunk, you dance, you have some sex. In a time otherwise notably lacking in good times, you have a good time.

So Midsummer's Eve, you go out and do it again.

What could be more likely? Who could doubt that it happened, spontaneously, again and again, all over the continent?

A good story, certainly. But is it historical?

Why "buck naked"?

Here's what we know about the expression. It's American; it dates from the early 19^th century; it's definitely not a euphemism for “butt-naked”, which expression doesn't turn up until the 1950s.

So, what's so naked about a buck?

700 years ago, “buck” referred specifically to a he-goat, but with time the term has come to be used for the males of several different species, including deer, rabbits, and (humorously) humans. But, America being America, and the deer being the American animal par excellence, in American usage “buck” has come to mean a male deer preeminently.

(Except to romantic pagans of Ye Olde Renn Fest variety, for whom every deer with antlers is a “stag,” and all big black birds, crows included, “ravens.” Gods, folks.)

So why would a buck be more naked than any other animal?

Well, consider a buck in flight. The tail goes up, exposing a white patch for others to follow.

Exposing also, well...other parts that aren't usually exposed. Um, sensitive parts, intimate parts.

That's pretty naked.

But there's more.

I don't need to tell you that the god of the witches goes by many names: names like “Old Buck.”

This popular beverage gives peppy energy and can also be a love potion. These few ingredients can lead to a lifetime of love and devotion:

1 cup vodka