Illustration ‘Drawing down the Moon‘, from page 102 of ‘Thracian Magic‘. The drawing-down of the moon was the characteristic activity of Thessalian Witches. [Thessaly is in northern Greece, below Macedonia, and in antiquity was considered the country of Witches]. The author Publius Papinus Statius in the ‘Thebaid’ 3.558-9 refers to ‘Drawing down the Moon’ as being part of ‘Thessalian horrid rites‘ (!).

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Today’s sharing from the Blue House of Via-HYGEIA is an extract from Dr. Georgi Mishev‘s seminal and trail-blazing work, ‘Thracian Magic, past & present’, published in English by Sorita d’Este at Avalonia Books in the U.K. in 2012. English translation from the original Bulgarian is by Ekaterina Ilieva. Excerpted from page 99 to 103. This text echoes marvelously our recently published posts covering the Moon’s spiritual attributes and her key role in the hermetic transformational process with, 1- ‘Creating Moon in Oneself’, by Ocke de Boer and 2-‘Center of Gravity-Sun-Moon-Stars’-by Maurice Nicoll. Both texts echoing Suhrawardi‘s ‘Epistle Of The High Towers’ – Chapter II.

The importance of the Moon in the Western Tradition has long been framed within patriarchal systems and subdued to the hierarchical he-ge-mo-ny of the Sun. With the hierophantic mysteries of the dark Sun and the revelation of the Moon’s deeper role leading to the hierogamic nature of their union, we witness by living the ‘miraculous birth of their off-spring‘: being a new state, a μετάνοια (metanoia), denoting a radical change of mind, a re-orientation, a fundamental transformation of out-look, of our vision of the world & ourselves: a new way of loving others and God.

Pre-existing the multiple take-overs and make-overs by western patriarchal systems, an inner and elusive current has persisted up to our epoch, against all odds, that preserves, maintains & develops the actual living presence in our western cultures of the Moon-outside of the cropped space given to her as ‘consort of the sun‘, displaying any ‘real‘ powers & attributes; or if any, only as ‘reflections‘ of the Sun’s own powers & attributes.

Here we are are skillfully guided by Dr. Georgi Mishev in witnessing one of these rare manifestations of the Moon that is impressively embedded in the Balkans, the Thracian & Bulgarian folklore, directly witnessing her nurturing powers and strong affinity over women that draw from her-for all kinds of aspects of life-Outside of any patriarchal settings.

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From the chapter:

The Magician in Traditional Bulgarian Culture

‘…Along with influencing some completely everyday life things like fertility, success in trade and the changing of human relationships, magician of the Bulgarian lands were also credited with the ability to draw down the moon, and according to some beliefs even the sun and the stars. Most often this drawing was done, so that the magicians could increase their power and obtain an additionally stronger magical inventory, to use in other rituals. The drawn moon tells the magician everything she knows, and if we consider that the moon lights the night, it was believed that she knows also the secret of people and nature. Drawing the power of the moon, the sun and the stars in Bulgarian traditional belief is done most often as the celestial body takes the image of a cow and it is milked by the magician, and the milk is the essence of its power.

In other cases the drawing is done in a sieve, water with herbs or directly by the magicians, who takes the power into themselves. This mysterious rite is described in literature, but incompletely, and we cannot be sure as to the veracity of the description, nor do we have the ritual texts. The zeal with which the ritual for drawing down the moon is kept hidden, shows it belongs to the innermost part of the magical tradition.

If we bear in mind the mentioned practice is known from antiquity and is mentioned most often as a part of the knowledge and abilities of the Witches of Thessaly, we can suppose that in Bulgarian folk belief the moon can be drawn by a mother and her daughter, who breastfeed at the same time, and also by one female magician. There are almost no known cases, when there is a mention of a drawing down the moon performed by a man.

(Author’s note: In the magical practices of the Bulgarian, Greeks and Serbs, the strong magical function of mothers and daughters who breastfeed at the same time is known. From their mother’s milk a round bun is kneaded, which is used for love spells and others. It is quite possible that the explanation of this belief is based on a mythological idea, according to which in this way the two women unify the role of a mother and of a daughter, but also of a nurse, and to impersonate in them the image of the Goddess).

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Even though  there are no full description of the rite available, one of the most detailed and trustworthy analysis of the ritual elements is given below:

The woman who performs the rite places a cauldron with water which was poured after midnight in the middle of the threshing floor, and in it she puts special herbs. Next to the cauldron she places her sieve, which she uses for spells. All this is done before midnight. When midnight comes the magician strips naked and with  a bunch in her hand goes to the cauldron, says the ritual formula and looks to the moon. She goes back in her house and goes out with a pot in her hands, in which powerful magical instruments are placed, she goes to the cauldron and says a new spell. When she says the words, the magician takes the sieve and goes around the house three times, goes back to the cauldron and says a third spell, after which she places the sieve on the cauldron. Then she dips the bunch in the pot, sprinkles the sieve, the threshing floor on four sides, herself and sprinkles towards the moon.

It is considered that with this the spell is done and the moon, that until that moment has shined on the sky, becomes darker and disappears, and becomes bright as day on the ground at the place  where the magician performs her rite. The moon falls in the sieve and from there talks with the magician, who asks for everything and after that releases it to go up in the sky again. There the moon shines weaker, because it is tired from going up and down. The magician gathers the water, the bunch and the herbs, which are transformed into powerful magical tools. According to folk belief, if someone becomes a witness to the actions of the magician, they become either insane or mute.

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There are a number of elements that make an impression in the preserved notion of the rite for drawing down the moon, but my wish is to focus on one of the ritual element: the sieve.

(Author’s note: The sieve is a commonly used instrument in magic and in the Bulgarian tradition it is used as a protective instrument, because its holes can’t be counted, as well as in spells  for love and taking fertility.)

During archeological excavation of Thracian cult sites parts of objects have been found resembling a sieve or a strainer, which until recently were easily related to wine making. According to the latest research and findings these strainers don’t have traces of wine, and hypotheses have arisen that it is possible that they were used for producing cheese and not wine. The presence of fragments of such objects in the burials mounds of cult sites shows a possibility, and it is a bif one, for a cult function of the strainer, especially the sieve, since the Thracian antiquity.

In Bulgarian traditional culture, the sieve is a ritual instrument, which is present in a different character in different actions-the flour for ritual bread is sieved with an upside down sieve or with three sieves, the ritual offerings are placed in a sieve, a sieve is rolled in rites and divination are made according to the way it falls, with a sieve the magician steals fertility and others.

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Another element, which appears as common between the ancient idea of magicians drawing down the moon and their later image in Bulgarian folk culture, is the fact that ritual nudity is a necessary precondition for the act’s success. The Thessalian witches who are drawing down the moon are also depicted naked. In a number of magical acts, nudity, which even today is relatively more accepted in society, female nudity has been regarded as unacceptable from antiquity to the present day. Getting naked, the magician comes out of the profane field, i.e. she is no longer part of the human society, she disregards it and unifies with the sacred.

A further element is the finds of naked female figurines from prehistoric times. In this case the magician identifies herself with the Goddess and like her, accepts the features of the master of the elements. Therefore she receives the ritual power to unify her forms, i.e. the human form with the celestial, as is the moon and in this manner she receives the knowledge of the initiate, i.e. the one who has unified with the deity.’

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The Author:

Dr. Georgi Mishev

‘One writes about magical practice most commonly either from the position of a scholar or from the position of a practitioner. This book, which G. Mishev offers us, leads the reader into the secrets of the magical with the dignity of a descendant and carrier of millennial traditions, preserved in the South-eastern European area, and with the passion of an explorer, rushing towards the light of knowledge.’

Prof. Dr. Sc. Valeria Fol.

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Sources:

At Avalonia Books in 2012

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Also available since 2021,

at Avalonia Books

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And available in Bulgarian

by Zerynthia Books in 2016

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