2023 Archived Content | Modern Wiggscraft

Setting:
In a remote land, there stands a small village once filled with children, families, liveliness, safety, and happiness. At a time not too long ago, the status quo shifted to much darker times, forcing the remainder of families to flee. In their absence, the darkness only became more prevalent and inviting to those already drawn to it. In this village, if you venture far enough, you may see what dwells in the darkness, their ancient practices, and whether you’ll avoid the fate of those you observe.

Characters:

Alabaster Coven

Alabaster Coven has long been forgotten since its inception in the Middle Ages. The traditions and rituals have been passed down through the generations in preservation of the magic established by the ancestors. Each member of the coven plays their part in the greater mission. Maintaining the symbolic nature, there must always be seven members, rooted in its origin of secrecy, mystery, the search for inner truth, completeness, and the key in understanding the rhythms of life. The Alabaster Coven was justly named as a tribute, if you will, to the biblical Mary Magdalene. As the gospels depict Mary as having broken a vessel of alabaster to pour perfume on Jesus’ feet, it is commonly understood that this was most likely Mary Magdalene. However, this admiration and allegiance to Jesus, the centerpiece of Christianity, is not the context in choosing Mary as the subtle icon and theoretical figure-head of the coven. In correlation with the coven’s practices is summoning and calling upon black magic in their endeavors, what signifies Mary Magdalene’s importance is her story of having seven demons brought out of her at the origin of her known history. Again, the noteworthiness of numerical significance surrounding even the basic initiation of this coven.

Aria

Aria found her place in the coven through the use of enchanting unwitting visitors with her song carried by the wind and spirits flourishing invisibly around her. She was born on October 6, giving her the gifts of Venus as a Libra. These gifts allow her to strive for balance in the coven, creating harmony and justice in all things. Aria’s name has multiple meanings. In Italian, Aria translates to “sound”, “melody”, or “air”. In Hebrew translations, it derives from Ariel, meaning “lion of God”. Because of the variations in translations, Aria has the innate ability to balance her own nature from a light airy chime to a mighty roar when necessary.

Astor

Astor created her path in search of a greater purpose. She learned at a young age that she was sensitive to not only the change in the seasons, but especially the days most other people felt somber and sad due to overcast weather. While others felt an increase in weariness, Astor felt more energized and connected to the world around her. After channeling her sensitivities, she learned her environment started to match and manipulate itself to her feelings. She was born on April 3, lending her the energy and fiery passion of Mars as an Aries. This growth of her ability to manipulate the weather around her to weaken those in proximity while increasing her own strength ushered her into becoming the more temperamental member of the coven, more apt to worry about taking revenge than instilling peace. Astor is Scandinavian and translates from Asthor, “God of Thunder”, which aptly reflects her personality of inciting aggression through her seemingly god-given gift.

Bridget

Bridget is a direct descendant of one of the coven’s original founders, similar to Marianna. She was taught throughout her upbringing that she was to be a High Priestess of the coven, embodying the principles that lead their way of life to their core. She is currently Co-High Priestess along with Caprice. Bridget was named as an ode or offering to Brigid, the Celtic goddess of fire and poetry. Having been born on May 4, the gifts of Venus shine upon her as a Taurus making her a reliable but possessive leader of the coven. Her personal rituals are typically done more methodically and spanning longer periods of time, allowing the centralized vessel of fire to consume the entirety of the energy necessary for her conjurings before extinguishing. Bridget’s rituals also tend to be more playful in their phrasing, imposing almost a nursery rhyme spirit in luring her prey closer.

Caprice

Caprice is the most misunderstood member of the coven, as she is prone to engulfing her entire lifestyle in the darkest and most occult practices. Since being appointed the Co-High Priestess of the coven, she has devoted her time to creating the most offensive and unnerving sacrifices and spells. She has been in pursuit of obtaining the sole High Priestess role and shifting the tides of the group to a much more sadistic and truly deplorable magic for years as her selection of deities differs from those of her peers. In opposition to the entire coven, she follows a single deity by honoring Baphomet. She claims to have been inducted into a secret society shortly after birth, but holds back any further details into her beliefs and traditions. Be weary when visiting her as her name translation is indicative of her behavior, “irrational or unpredictable idea or desire”. Caprice was born on January 6, perhaps furthering the notion of “As above, so below” reflecting upon her Capricorn sign as the reasoning of her worshipping a god likened to a goat and receiving the heavenly nature of Saturn, a god whose persona revolves around death, destruction and trickery.

Esther

Esther embraces a more stereotypically known practice of witchcraft through the use of divination. She is able to give insight into the past and future through the use of tarot, mirror scrying, and even through dice throwing for more specific details. Esther was born on June 1, under the influence of Mercury, the messenger of the gods. As a Gemini, Esther is inquisitive and welcoming of the knowledge given from the other spiritual realm through her practices. She does not often work alongside fellow coven members as she worries translations may become jumbled and inaccurate if done outside of her own reserved reading space. Because of this, her reading space is frequently filled with incense smoke and low light in order to conceal her environment. Esther is Persian for “star” or “hidden”, cementing her gifts were connected to her birth in understanding the hidden messages others may pass by unknowingly. As in biblical times, Esther is known for her knowledge having the ability to manipulate crucial decisions impacting not only her immediate patron, but all those dependent upon them as well.

Hazel

Hazel grew into her role within the coven by embracing her roots, or the gifts that run through her family tree. The gifts that she has inherited all find their place in a world of healing and medicine through the use of plants. Hazel has always been drawn to giving life and helping the botanical world around her flourish. Gardening, herbal medicines, and healing are traits that have been passed through her ancestry. She takes pride in being able to share her knowledge and give back to those around her by using her gifts. Hazel was born September 7, making her abilities of even greater value when combined with the communicative nature of Mercury, helping to understand those around her intuitively and tending to their needs. As a Virgo, Hazel acts as subservient to others, even at the cost of her own wellbeing by transferring their negative energy into herself as a means of cleansing them and encouraging their positive energy to grow among them.

Marianna

Marianna is a direct descendant of an original coven member, similar to Bridget. In contrast to Bridget, Marianna has not shown the desire to become the High Priestess. Instead, she prefers to become a teacher to the witches that will succeed her as well as assisting with the path of the coven through her role as the Maiden. Marianna takes its meaning from Latin meaning “star of the sea” or “grace”. As such, she prides herself on her ability to look past the mistakes of her rising witches and grant them grace and encouragement instead of repercussion and retaliation. She has a strong pull from the forces of Neptune due to her zodiac Pisces by her birth on February 14. Marianna gives way to those forces of Neptune by allowing her students to fluently grow their craft by means of trial instead of strict guidelines. This allows her methods to be fluid and help with the natural learning preferred by each witch practicing under her leadership.

Storyline:

If you will, imagine the darkest feeling you’ve ever experienced, magnify it boldly, then channel that energy into deciding your fate.For some, you will cling to your faith and learned religion for safety and guidance. For others, a darker calling guides their soul. It may start out as a small flicker of misunderstood light and slowly envelope the body and spirit progressively engulfing the individual.

However innocent the initial intentions may be, the darkness settles in and encroaches on the very life-spark within. When following this left-hand path, the pure light is forgotten and what once seemed wrong and corrupted now seems justified and the solitary path for the greater good. We can all become blind to the pure light when the darkness starts to call. Calling in the name of what is “good”, relying on our internal struggle with conventional light vs dark, good vs evil, the very essence of right vs wrong.

Both historical text and philosophers have found this to be true. Proverbs 16:2“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,but the Lord weighs the spirit.” Richard Cavendish“No one is a black magician in his own eyes,and modern occultists, whatever their beliefs and practices,think of themselves as high-minded white magicians”

While embarking on this life quest of choosing your fate, one must mask their current identity both figuratively and often literally. This task being done as a form of imitative magic, it creates the link for the individual to shed their mask and give way to their true form or identity.“As above, so below” is often a guiding truth into determining one’s fate using heavenly bodies as a map of sorts. This truth can also reflect the inner self guiding the outer form. Tonight, we will don our masks, forcing our fate to be revealed underneath in the process. The coven of women, conventionally known as witches, whom now inhabit this once lively and hopeful village have given into the call of darkness.

Each have their own path leading them here, to the darkness and cursed nature that has grown into the scene you will experience, often deciding to mask their intentions and true form still.Within this experience, all symbols, colors, numbers, and words have significance requiring proper caution when witnessing these rites, practices, and rituals.

Be not distressed, for if you do not believe in witchcraft, then surely it cannot harm you. This has been a long-standing principle in witchcraft since its origin.In order for your spell, your intentions, or your practices whether kind or devious to work, both the source and the target must believe. As you progress through life, you may learn not to believe in everything you hear or read, no matter how trustworthy the source. As a child, you may not be so lucky…

A child may be more susceptible to being cursed or transformed, serving as the ultimate opportunity to those practicing black magic. A magic who’s ultimate goal is to elevate man into the role of a god, nullifying all others when seen as equal.Due to this unfortunate set of occurrences, removing the life-spark of children, transferring their remaining soul into a mere memento on a shelf, and supplying the imagination required to obtain the ultimate position of power, can only feel like the left-hand path.A path of necessary justice, a by-product of a falsely guided calling, a soul succumbing to the darkness they feel is the solitary voice. A voice that grows louder until it is roaring in your ears, until ultimately it abandons you leaving incomprehensible silence.

Fun Facts:

The members of the Alabaster Coven are named based on the significance of the Fibonacci Sequence (1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13) corresponding to the first letter in each name (A, A, B, C, E, H, M)

Astor’s birthdate was specifically chosen to coincide with “April showers bring May flowers”, increasing her character’s connection to rainy or stormy weather.

Bridget’s birthdate is the only one of the coven members that does not add up to a numerical significance of 7, due to the significance of May 4th being the sacred day of the Celtic Festival honoring goddess Brigid. 9 is also meant to be symbolic of high spiritual and mental achievement, signifying her position of High Priestess.

Saturn was originally mistakenly identified by Romans as a harmless agricultural god instead of the actual Greek god Cronos due to a mixup of similar emblems. There is also a historical mix-up between Cronos and Chronos, resulting in Saturn being linked to the ruling of “inexorable passing of time which eats its own children in turning all things to dust”, another correlation to the long term goal of the coven.

The Missing Child posters are all parodies of horror writers.

On the Missing Child posters, the posters are issued by the “City of Raptus”. “Raptus” is Latin for “missing”.