518 – Pierced heart
- Physical description:
- Dog's heart pierced with nine pins.
- Museum classification:
- Curses
- Size:
- 50mm
- Information:
Dog's heart with nine pins. Recovered from pathway leading to my house. Reason? The Cornish are not too keen on 'come ins'. Well, that was more than thirty years ago now. Anyway I had my magic mirrors set to reflect back the evil - so no harm done. (Text by Cecil Williamson)
In fact this may have been counter-magic by someone who blamed Cecil Williamson for the death of their dog, or a general counter-magic spell against witchcraft. See, for example, the cow's heart pierced with pins and nails in the Lovett Collection in the Cuming Museum. According to Edward Lovett it was used by a dairyman who believed someone had bewitched his cows. There are also some similar charms in Scarborough Museum: - a seagull's heart pierced with four pins used to reverse a curse (S. Devon, 1910); a pigeon's heart pierced with eight pins (one bent), and with thread for hanging, "to exorcise and punish a witch" (Durham, c.1841); and a fox's tongue carried to protect against witchcraft (apparently 16th century(!)) (information supplied by Tabitha Cadbury - see her report 'The Clarke Collection of Charms and Amulets' in the museum library).
The Horniman Museum has a sheep's heart pierced with iron pins, from Exmouth c.1912, used to reverse a curse on farm animals.- Resource:
- Object
- Materials:
- animal, metal
- Copyright ownership:
- Copyright to The Museum of Witchcraft Ltd.
Dog's heart with nine pins. Recovered from pathway leading to my house. Reason? The Cornish are not too keen on 'come ins'. Well, that was more than thirty years ago now. Anyway I had my magic mirrors set to reflect back the evil - so no harm done. (Text by Cecil Williamson)
In fact this may have been counter-magic by someone who blamed Cecil Williamson for the death of their dog, or a general counter-magic spell against witchcraft. See, for example, the cow's heart pierced with pins and nails in the Lovett Collection in the Cuming Museum. According to Edward Lovett it was used by a dairyman who believed someone had bewitched his cows. There are also some similar charms in Scarborough Museum: - a seagull's heart pierced with four pins used to reverse a curse (S. Devon, 1910); a pigeon's heart pierced with eight pins (one bent), and with thread for hanging, "to exorcise and punish a witch" (Durham, c.1841); and a fox's tongue carried to protect against witchcraft (apparently 16th century(!)) (information supplied by Tabitha Cadbury - see her report 'The Clarke Collection of Charms and Amulets' in the museum library).
The Horniman Museum has a sheep's heart pierced with iron pins, from Exmouth c.1912, used to reverse a curse on farm animals.