The Huggermuggery of Magical Jewels
Yes…well…let us begin with this: By a show of hands…who out
there knows the meaning of Huggermuggery? Hmmm? Wow! All of you. I am
impressed. And here I thought I was going to have to go to the
dictionary to get you the exact meaning. Goes to show what I know.
Unless of course you’re all bluffing…and you have no idea what it
means but don’t want to let on. Yeah…well…two can play at that
game. And if you think I’m going to tell you it means “disorder and
confusion”…you can all think again. Oops. Heh heh. Come on. You
didn’t really know. Did you?
The 14th century found brooch makers busy as all get out. There were
fine and delicate brooches to be worn on lace. And there were heavy
massive brooches…such as the Scottish Loch Buy Brooch which was
pinned at the shoulder and used to hold in place the heavy plaids
worn by both men and women of Scotland.
Brooches worn as amulets to ward off evil were the order of the day.
One could never be over-protected. Wearing a brooch–whether you
believed in witches or not–was often proof that you weren’t a
heretic. Independent thinkers were at great risk. One writer of the
times stated that over a course of one hundred years, 30,000 witches
were burned at the stake. That’s about 300 witches a year. Almost a
witch a day folks. Had they not been burned, the belief goes on, the
combined powers of these witches could have brought all of the earth
to destruction. It was a good idea therefore, especially if you were a
witch with a keen mind…to wear a brooch in order to protect yourself
from your own kind. Who would believe that a witch would wear an
amulet for protection against the forces of evil. Oh…they were a
canny lot…those witches were.
Look around your world folks. How many of those people you’ve always
considered friends…or even husbands and wives…are really
descendants of those witches who hid from suspicion of heresy by
wearing a piece of jewelry in the form of a saint. How many of your
friends are really witches and warlocks…lying in wait for the right
moment …in order to foist who knows what magical spells upon you.
Beware, I say. Beware…and protect yourselves.
Wal now then mi amigos…I know where you can get an amulet…a
symbol of a saint perhaps…in fourteen karat gold no
less…guaranteed… guaranteed I say…to protect you against that
person I know you know…who you’ve always suspected of being
responsible for the bad luck in your lives. Oh…how I blush to say
this. How embarrassing it is for me to be so self serving.
But…well…here it is. Go to the religious section to be found at
the Tyler-Adam home page…and find yourselves an amulet. Quickly my
friends. Before it’s too late. Send your orders in. Vite vite.
And now for the graphic. I know I would invoke your wrath if I didn’t
have a graphic to show. In those times, a very popular brooch was that
of St. Christopher bearing the Christ child on his shoulder. St.
Christopher represented love, and affection. And his magic was
particularly powerful in that he was able to give immunity from
sudden death for a short period of time. Not a bad piece of magic to
be wearing on your lapel…no? Of course…this graphic is available
for all of you to see at the regular place.
For those of you who are new to this thing called Tidbits…may I
direct you to my home page at www.tyler-adam.com where you will
scroll down the table menu till you get to the box that says
Tidbits…and inside the box where it says Tidbit Graphics…click on
the link that says: Brooch…where you will see a rendering of St.
Christopher.
And there ya have it. That’s it for this week folks. Catch you all next
week. Benjamin Mark