"Wer reitet so spät durch Nacht und Wind?
Es ist der Vater mit seinem Kind;
...
Mein Sohn, was birgst du so bang dein Gesicht?
“Siehst, Vater, du den Erlkönig nicht?
Den Erlenkönig mit Kron und Schweif?”"

From "Der Erlkönig" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

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I believe–I know that ghosts have wandered the earth. Be with me always–take any form–drive me mad. Only do not leave me in this abyss, where I cannot find you! 

—Emily Brontë, Wuthering Heights 

🎨 Edmund Dulac

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In Japan there are many gothic tales about yurei, or ghosts, particularly involving women who return to seek revenge on those who hurt or betrayed them. Some of the most famous tales are: 'Oiwa: The Ghost Story of Yotsuya', 'Okiku: The Manor of the Dishes'...

1/4

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Beloved (1987) is a novel by Toni Morrison set after the American Civil War, that tells the story of a family of former slaves whose Cincinnati home is haunted by a malevolent spirit. "Like a classic Gothic protagonist, Sethe is haunted by a past wrongdoing."

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“By Hecate, the goddess I worship more than all the others, the one I choose to help me in this work, who lives with me deep inside my home, these people won't bring pain into my heart and laugh about it.” (Euripides)

Hecate is also the Queen of Witches.

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Tales sometimes portray Bilquis, the Queen of Sheba, as a bad influence, a dark foreign queen who influences Solomon negatively: but read the tales. She grows too. She finds love in her soul, and replaces material pleasure with devotion.

🖼: MoishPain

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Daji was not officially queen but she acted like one, ordering her subjects to do bizarre and outlandish things for her amusement. To deny her whims or fail was death for you and your loved ones, and for that reason, she was hunted down and killed.

🖼: QCreator

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The original 'Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs' intended the Queen to have 7 black panthers guarding the entrance to her room with the Mirror. A concept art of the Queen walking a panther can be seen in The Walt Disney Family Museum and at Disney California Adventure

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In Scotland Nicnevin is said to be a Queen of the Faeries. According to Walter Scott she's believed to be a sort of mother witch or the Scottish Hecate who 'rode on the storm and marshalled the rambling host of wanderers under her grim banner.'

🎨Thomas Maybank

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Don't mind me, I'm just the cutest lil' Faustian bargin maker around

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The deadly Fool’s Parsley ☠️ (Aethusa) contains poisonous alkaloids and is responsible for much of the death-related folklore surrounding its look-alike the common Cow Parsley.

Plate by Grandville (1803-1847) 💛

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Poppy seeds are associated with sleep & dreams due to their soporific properties, but also w/ death. However, in fairy tales, the task of separating poppy seeds from the dirt carries the teaching that death is essential as a transformative process toward rebirth.

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Mandrake is part of the nightshade family. Its long root resembles the human form. Since ancient times it is believed to have magical properties, the power to increase wealth, overcome infertility & aphrodisiacal qualities. Best not ingest as it is highly toxic.

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Belladonna, or deadly nightshade: a poisonous herb. Mixed with morphine from the opium poppy, it would induce the anaesthetic ‘twilight sleep’, believed to have been used by Queen Victoria during childbirth. Symbolism: silence, death, falsehood.

🎨Unknown

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It's the berries of the Belladonna that is most deadly. This plant can shut down the bodys ability to regulate breathing & heart rate, leading to ⚰ Not all doom & gloom though! It can treat some illnesses/diseases with the right dosage.
🖤🖤🖤

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been sneezing for the last six hours

legitimately ruminating on faustian bargains were they possible

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At the Salem trial of Sarah Goode, she was asked to confess by Rev. Nicholas Noyes. Her reply: "I'm no more a witch than you are a wizard, and if you take away my life God will give you blood to drink." 25 years later, he choked to death on his own blood.

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“All hail, Macbeth, thou shalt be king hereafter!”
Macbeth: Act 1, Scene3


The prophecy of the witches.

(Art: Daniel Gardner)

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The Crystal Ball, Waterhouse, 1902. 🔮

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