A witch would probably be best suited for spending most of her time alone in her house in the forest, but that is not the kind of fate I imagine for my witch. It‘s not the kind of story I want to tell. Just as, having her die in the first attempts of the world to blame her for all the darkness would also be most unsatisfying for me. I have read those novels that turned into detailed and troubling court room dramas and I have loved those, but my witching novel I wish to be something else.
I want it to be a story that may be a bit unlikely and show where the weird ones go.
So, besides my witch, I need other aspects of this weirdness. More characters that fulfill tasks the world needs and may not be aware of. More aspects of falling out of this reality, and find new ways to go. I need more dark narratives our history has come up with to fill with a backstory. And of course, because my brain just works that way, I need someone to match my witch with. Maybe in a romantic way? Certainly in a sexual and intellectual way. The bored housewife surviving against all odds needs that as a reward, don‘t you think?
Well, I think so.
So, what do I know about this person yet? The one and most important thing: I know which books to find on their shelf.
„I know which book you‘d like to read, boy“, the witch in the back of my head giggles and we both agree that this is the most important thing to know.
Before I give you the titles I would expect this person to own, and my witch to stumble across, let‘s remember that it‘s the 17th century I am writing in. Books were already printed on a large scale, information and misinformation could travel faster than the earlier medieval years and the phenomenon of bestsellers had started to show, but still it was an expensive honour to own books. It could even become dangerous if you owned the wrong ones.
The latter was the case here, since the first title I am sure about is „De revolutionibus orbium coelestium“ written by Kopernikus about his discovery of the earth not being in the center of the universe but rather moving around the sun.
It was put on the list of forbidden books by the inquisition in 1616.
I see my witch falling for someone who has this on their shelf. Forbidden and tempting, and deeply interesting for the philosophers and scientists of her time.
Literally putting perceived reality into question.
Am I pairing her up with a forgotten scientist? With an alchemist whom she is destined to assist in trying to turn metal into gold and find the philosophers stone to life forever?
I don‘t think so. Mostly, because her only living to assist someone else is not what I have in mind.
And also, I think her match is darker.
When I think back to my surreal months in 2020 when I could not understand the world anymore, I often paired my witch up with a plague doctor (mostly thanks to the weird crisis the world was in), but still, I think that could be something to look at.
This dark, personalized figure that shows up when the worst case has become true. This someone that has seen and lived through the greatest nightmare of anyone still alive, and survived against all odds.
I could see that.
Oh, I was so mad when I came across the fact that the iconic beacon mask was never used at the time in central and northern Europe (but in southern Europe and England), and therefor not an image I could easily use in my novel!
Have I given away too much about my novel in this post? I don‘t think so. I am more or less only planing the next few steps. After her family dies, she is shaved and pierced with needles my witch finally needs something to look forward to, don‘t you think?
So, here are a few more titles I would like this mysterious, dark and unlikely someone to have on their bookshelf.
Malleus Maleficarum, of course. They have to know about demonology if they participated in the intellectual debates of their time.
As well as the Kaballah, because occult interests suit someone being so out of line in all aspects of their life.
I want that person to on the one hand seek knowledge we value today, as in his research in astronomy, but to also fall for other reality challenging ideas.
I think that this confusion can be seen as a symbol for this wild and dramatic time period I‘m writing in.
And my witch will make love to this symbol.
I am jealous.
Mistress witch writes 