Witchcraft in Dark Shadows

[crystalball]

What in your opinion are the most interesting episodes dealing with witchcraft in the series?

[The Ghost of Sarah Collins]

What in your opinion are the most interesting episodes dealing with witchcraft in the series?

   it is my opinion that the episode I found to be interesting dealing with witchcraft    was the episode in which Angelique has assembled a structure made of playing cards and while chanting is overheard by Barnabas who pays no attention to this... thus forcing Vickie to flee rather hastily.

[jennifer]

i love her little  voodoo dolls that she plays with the woman was relentless!


jennifer

[ProfStokes]

In addition to the episode with the burning tower of cards that the Ghost of Sarah mentioned, I thought the episode where Nicholas Blair performs the black mass was very entertaining.

ProfStokes

[CastleBee]

I like the one where Angelique flys through the sky on her broom spelling out "Victoria" in puffs of smoke...oops, wait no...that was another victim and a fashion challenged and much less attractive witch.

Seriously though, any time Angie was cooking up something evil while choking a clay figure and staring into the fire at Collinwood was pretty good scary stuff. 

[Gothick]

Probably the best spell was one of the very first ones in 1795, because they actually showed her gathering herbs, and she needed to get someone to steal an article of clothing for the link to make it work.

In the later storylines, she evolves into Superwitch, and does a lot of the usual TV-witch silliness.  One thing about Lara Parker that I like is that she emotes the energetic conjoining of passion and will in Angelique's spellcasting really well. 

I really liked the spell she put on Laura Collins at the end of Laura's story in 1897 (just watched that one recently).  Another 1897 spell that's really cool is one she performs with the aid of a "jewel of antiquity"--it looks like something from Ohrbach's costume jewellry department, but I love it anyway.

Do you want episode numbers or DVD set information for these?  Or are you just generally curious?

G.

[PennyDreadful]

 For me, the most memorable act of witchcraft in the show would have to be the scene where Angelique puts the curse on Barnabas.  I actually used that monologue for an audition once (and got the role)!  It was for the part of Dominique the Madwoman in a Halloween attraction called "The Factory of Terror". 
http://www.factoryofterror.com/aboutus.htm

- Danielle

[Patti Feinberg]

[spoiler]I like when Ang makes a 'doppleganger' of herself, to throw Laura off.[/spoiler]

Speaking of witchcraft, I think (for when it was done & on a soap), the handling of the 1795 witchcraft trials were fairly well handled.

Patti

[crystalball]

Probably the best spell was one of the very first ones in 1795, because they actually showed her gathering herbs, and she needed to get someone to steal an article of clothing for the link to make it work.
...

I really liked the spell she put on Laura Collins at the end of Laura's story in 1897 (just watched that one recently).  Another 1897 spell that's really cool is one she performs with the aid of a "jewel of antiquity"--it looks like something from Ohrbach's costume jewellry department, but I love it anyway.

Do you want episode numbers or DVD set information for these?  Or are you just generally curious?

Yes, if you could tell me which DVD set these are on, that would be great.  Also the one that PennyDreadful mentioned would be interesting to know.  I was able to find the others thru some searching.

[Gothick]

Oh, OK.  The one where she's gathering herbs would be on the first "1795" DVD set (I don't own any of the DVDs myself--I have the videos).

I don't think the "jewel of antiquity" one has been released yet--it's from the Count Petofi storyline, which lasted several months (one of my favorite storylines--Count Petofi is a Magician, so his scenes with Angelique are interesting if you enjoy the notion of a Witch vs. a Magician).

Another thing I forgot to say is that in the original 1795 story, Angelique's powers seemed very much like folk Witchcraft (similar to what in the deep south is called Hoodoo or "root doctoring").  When she comes back as Cassandra in 1968, she's suddenly a Satanic Witch and invokes the Devil in her spells.  Lara Parker played up this angle very heavily in her novel, Angelique's Descent.

G.

[DSFan008]

most of 1795's witchcraft was good, but i also thought the stuff from early 1897 was good, angeliques arrival and the return of Laura...

[onyx_treasure]

Hi Gothick,
     If you have time, could you explain why you refer to Count Petofi as a Magician?  I know zilch about witchcraft.  I always think of a magician as someone who uses slight of hand illusions.  However, am I thinking of the title magician in more modern terms?  Is Petofi a witch, wizard, sorcerer or enchanter?  I did learn at the museum in Salem that warlock is not a valid term.  Thanks in advance.  

[PennyDreadful]

Hi Onyx_treasure,

     I think what Gothick means by "magician" is that Petofi is more of a wizard - i.e. he does not derive his powers from an evil being who resides on another plane of existence.  As Count Petofi said, "I have but one God, and his name is Petofi."  Petofi most likely acquired his powers through years of studying alchemy and ancient texts.
     In folklore, and gothic horror tales and films, witches (and warlocks) derive their powers from the devil.  I'm not talking about paganism or wicca.  I refer to the folklore/horror story/horror film version of the witch/warlock which is based on Christian depictions of those particular beings.  Unlike Petofi, the witch (Angelique) and warlocks (Nicholas and Judah) on "Dark Shadows" derive their powers from Satan.
     Also, the term warlock is pretty much redundant, but it is a valid historical term and does indeed refer to a male witch, although historically I believe the term was sometimes applied to both men and women.  Here's some information on the word: "English warlock was warloghe in Middle English and in Old English was wƒ¦rloga, literally "oath breaker, traitor", from wƒ¦r "pledge" and loga "liar".  The meaning shifted from "traitor" to a general term of abuse.  It was also used as a name for the Devil in Old English. It is that connection that probably gave the word the meaning of "evil sorcerer", which first turns up in the 14th century." [/U] Recent arguments indicate that the word has even older origins and is derived from the Norse word "vardlokkur"  which meant a wise man of great power who could ward off evil.  In films and horror stories, the word most definitely denotes the male witch.  I live fairly close to Salem.  Take what the tour guides tell you with a grain of salt.  Some of them tend to relay information through a pagan/religious point of view, and do not always provide an accurate historical perspective.  Of course, folklore about witches is generally ignored in these tours because it usually paints witches as.. well, what you see on DS basically, and that's a negative depiction the Salem tour guides don't really want to go into very much, despite the fact that historically many people believed in those stories.

Hope that helps.  

 ~Penny Dreadful~

[Sandor]

One of my favorite moments dealing with witchcraft on DS was when... sigh... I feel a "Spoiler Text" comin' on... [spoiler]when Angelique (posing as Cassandra) LOST her powers after betraying Nicholas in the Adam storyline.
When Nicholas hands back her clay voodoo doll, and eggs her on to "try it," poor Angelique looks so pitiful upon realizing her good thing has come to an end. "I can't..." she nearly sobs, her brunette wig askew, her powers gone. Then Nicholas proceeds to smash the clay into a ball, and tosses it playfully as he heads upstairs, leaving Angelique to her mortality.[/spoiler]
A classic DS moment! 

[Gothick]

Hi Onyx,

what Penny Dreadful says is right on the mark.  In Christian folklore, Witchcraft ofen implied a pact with the Devil.  It's interesting to note that one of the earliest documents actually banning non-Christian religious practices, a 9th century Papal bull, includes such acts as "worshipping" sacred springs, trees, standing stones, and other natural features; honoring the New and Full Moon; healing with the aid of herbs; and a lengthy list of other practices that are part of today's Wiccan practice, but seldom linked to the late Mediaeval and Renaissance iconography of "the Witch figure."

I think of Angelique as deriving her powers from Elemental sources--Fire, Air, Water, Earth, and herbs that contain potent combinations of these agents--but she often invokes the Devil "Prince of Fire," "Dark Lord," etc. in her incantations.

In the case of Count Petofi, his powers come from his Will.  The 4 powers of the Mage were cited by Eliphas Levi, a 19th century mystic and magician, as "To Know, to Will, to Dare, and to keep silent."

It's also implied that Count Petofi has Elementals at his beck and call.  There's a scene where he tells someone, maybe Lady Kitty, that his information "does not come from human sources."

I could ramble on and on about this topic, so I have tried to keep this short.

Hey, Penny, I'm going shopping in Salem late in January.  Want to do a meet-up at the Front St. Cafe? *wink*

Gothick