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GARTERS
Ornaments with magical properties, and in Neo-Pagan Witchcraft, worn in various rituals and as badges of rank. Garters may have been used in rituals in Paleolithic times: an ancient cave painting in northeastern Spain portrays nine women, wearing pointed headdresses, dancing in a circle around a naked man, who wears a cord or garter tied under each knee.
Garters are prominent in folklore and folk Magic. The color of a garter carries special meaning. Green, for example, is the color of Fairies and Robin Hood. Garters are. worn by Morris Dancers, and "Green Garters" is the name of an old tune used in Morris Dancing. Red is protection against bewitchment; Silver is associated with the moon.
In the Middle Ages and Renaissance, garters, or "pointes," were associated with Satan. Accused witches often described the Devil's clothing as being tied with garters, as in this description by Margaret Johnson of Lancashire in 1633: "...a spirit or divell in the similtude and proportion of a man, apparelled in a suite of black, tyed about with silke pointes."
Margaret Alice Murray, the discredited British anthropologist, theorized that the garter was a secret symbol of identification among medieval Witches; however, no evidence exists that witches were widely or uniformly organized.
In modem Witchcraft, garters have nothing to do with Satan, who is neither recognized nor worshipped by Wiccans or Neo-Pagan Witches. Rather, the garter is considered the ancient emblem of the High Priestess of the Craft. Some garters are made of green snakeskin or leather, or green or blue velvet, and decorated with a silver buckle. In some Traditions of the Craft, a High Priestess who becomes a Witch Queen over more than one Coven adds a silver buckle to her garter for each coven under her.
see also: ORDER OF THE GARTER
PLEASE NOTE:
One of the major problems with 'defining' Paganism and/or its beliefs and practices is that it is an 'organic' movement, in that it is undergoing constant change and re-evaluation from within, and as such any 'one-size-fits-all' approach to understanding Paganism will be found wanting.
Due to the very 'organic' nature of Paganism, and the many differing Paths and Traditions within it, in many cases no one definition may be universally accepted by all Pagans. Therefore, where such cases of possible conflicting and/or contradictory meanings of certain terms occur I have endevoured to give not only the generally accepted meaning, but also any major 'variations' in belief and/or practice.
Christians who believe this difference in meaning of certain key terms, beliefs and practices to be unique to Paganism need to remember that such conflicts also arise within the Body of Christ - the Church. Take for instance the differing practices amongst Christians concerning Baptism and the different attitudes towards women in the clergy.
- Jean-Luc
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