An archeologist before there were any. The point of origin for the idea that witches gather in covens. The mother of all subsequent covens, in a way. The first woman to unwrap a mummy. Author of ''The Witch-Cult in Western Europe''. Criticized for the way she worked, partially because she made flying leaps, she went following… something! following her own intuition from what she saw and heard in primary sources without relying on what experts had already said. Criticized for her cognitive leaps, discredited for the way she pieced through sources choosing what resonated, and for the way that, over time, the ellipses in some of her quotes go missing. A Feminist who marched for the vote and ardently supported women scholars and archeologists out in the field. A witch who cursed a peer in front of witnesses and became president of the Folklore Society when she was in her 90s. A person of fierce connection to the past who sketched into mainstream modern thought the idea that pre-christians had a system of worship and practice that was joyful, tied to a goddess, and deeply invested in the earth and animals... This episode is dedicated to that smart as a whip, fairy godmother witch, tomb-whisperer and wildly prolific and problematic author, Margaret Alice Murray.
An archeologist before there were any. The point of origin for the idea that witches gather in covens. The mother of all subsequent covens, in a way. The first woman to unwrap a mummy. Author of ''The Witch-Cult in Western Europe''. Criticized for her cognitive leaps, discredited for the way she pieced through sources choosing what resonated, and for the way that, over time, the ellipses in some of her quotes go missing. A Feminist who marched for the vote and ardently supported women scholars and archeologists out in the field. A witch who cursed a peer in front of witnesses and became president of the Folklore Society when she was in her 90s. A person of fierce connection to the past, who sketched into mainstream modern thought the idea that pre-christians had a system of worship and practice that was joyful, tied to a goddess, and deeply invested in the earth and animals...
This episode is dedicated to that smart as a whip, fairy godmother witch, tomb-whisperer and wildly prolific and problematic author, Margaret Alice Murray.
The Life of Margaret Alice Murray: A Woman's Work in Archaeology. Kathleen Sheppard, Lexington Books, Toronto, 2013.
The Witch Cult in Western Europe: A Study in Anthropology. Margaret Alice Murray, 1921.
Murray, M A (1963). The Genesis of Religion. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Abydos-ancient-city-Egypt#ref83857
Palgrave Advances in Witchcraft Historiography
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/egypt/abydos/attractions/osireion/a/poi-sig/1574759/1330439
https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=KWYSAAAAQBAJ&pg=GBS.PA196
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margaret_Murray#cite_note-FOOTNOTEWinick2015565-237
https://www.ai-journal.com/articles/10.5334/ai.1608/
The Mistake of Dismissing Margaret Murray and the Origins of Wicca
http://www.ancient-wisdom.com/egyptabydoss.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mishnah
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gematria
https://www.gaia.com/article/ancient-egypt-and-freemasonry
https://www.ai-journal.com/articles/10.5334/ai.1608/