Grace Sherwood: The Witch of Pungo

(A street sign near Grace Sherwood's statue and near Witchduck Road, which leads to the river where she was ducked)

As promised, Mom and I went in search of some local history Tuesday. We set out to search and learn more about Grace Sherwood, "The Witch of Pungo." As I've said before she was the only person in Virginia tried for witch craft and she is the last documented trial in North America. Mom and I started our search at the place all people should start their searches. At the beginning. Or in this place that would be the place where she was tried for witch craft. That place is now a church (oh irony, I love thee). But across the street from it is a hospital and it is there that we find the statue to commemorate her memory.

One woman, Belinda Nash, took the initiative to campaign for 7 years to get Grace Sherwood's name cleared after 300 years of her being judge guilty of witch craft. Grace's story, at least the main version of it, is on a plaque at the base of her statue.

In case you can't read it the plaque says,

"The Trial of 1706

At Witchduck Point, 10 AM July 10th 1706 Grace Sherwood, the daughter of a carpenter and the wife of a planter in the county of Princess Anne, was accused by neighbors of the witchcraft. Grace was tried in the Second Princess Anne County Courthouse, found guilty, and consented to the traditional trial by water. Grace was tied cross bound and dropped into the water above man's depth. If she were to sink and drown she was innocent and could be buried on holy ground, Grace did float, thus was guilty as the pure water was casting out her evil spirit. She was incarcerated in the local jail beyond this statue. After her release, Grace paid the back taxes on her property in 1714, returned to her farm and worked the land until her death at age 80 in the Autumn of 1740. Grace Sherwood, Virginia's only convicted witch tried by water, she lays claim to Witchduck Road. Her legend lives on as "THE INFAMOUS WITCH OF PUNGO"

From there Mom and I journeyed to two different historical houses. The first one called "The Lynnhaven House" which is about 5 minutes away from the statue. We thought we would get some information there. I had visited here once as a child in search of the "Witch of Pungo" and remembered the tour guide giving me some information about her. Unfortunately, this house has no connection to Grace Sherwood, but it did serve as a very pretty place and got Mom and I in the mood for more historical sleuthing. The wind was blowing in a crazy manor and it just felt like the world was a buzz with something. We walked the ground and looked around a bit. I took some nifty photos of random nature and artifacts and then we headed out.

After that we felt a little miffed though. WE honestly had NO IDEA of where to look next. There really isn't much information on the Internet about Grace Sherwood aside form her trial. We took a chance and road another 5 minutes away to a house known as "The Ferry Farm Plantation House." I'm not gonna lie, besides being a plantation built in the 1830's that is now just one lone house that resides in the back yards of about 6 different houses (when I say back yards I mean literally you could see into their houses from this houses front door), it really was a pretty fruitless place. Mom and I almost bailed and went home early, but Mom pushed on and decided since we haven't been into this house before to go ahead and take the tour. Maybe it would offer something, a clue, anything. So we took the tour, it was pretty fruitless. Interesting and very informative (you know I'm a history nerd, so I soak it all in like a sponge), but pretty fruitless. Then it happened. The tour lady mentioned Grace Sherwood. AHA! I thought. and I ran with it and Mom and I told her about our wanting to know more and our guide said that the other lady down stairs who does tours is the house expert on Grace and that after the tour she would introduce us to her. After the tour, we met the lady and she gave us an amazing history on Grace. Are you ready for it? This is my condensed version of our talk. Grace was born an only child to her father and mother. Her father was a carpenter and during the growing months he was a farmer and her mother was a healer. So Grace grew up with the best of both worlds. She grew up knowing about natural medicines and how to treat ailments from her mother and she grew up knowing the land and the sky from her father. She married a farmer and and they stayed local and lived directly across from her parents. Every two weeks Grace would go to church at the Lynnhaven Parish via a ferry and was actually in really good standing with the congregation. But something happened, Grace's parents died and left she and her husband over 100 acres of land. In case you're wondering, that's A LOT of land! Next her husband died. And this left all of that land to Grace. Grace had 3 sons and made the decision to not remarry, that was not how the tradition went. She was supposed to remarry and stay doing her wifely duties. She decided not to, for whatever reason, and this made her neighbors very jealous. Back in history land equaled your wealth and stature in society, and here was a woman breaking all the rules and refusing to do as society deemed fit. Grace was brought to court 12 times before she was convicted. Each time it was by a neighbor and each time it was for something bogus. Once she was a witch because she was a farmer and wore pants, another time it was because someones cow dried up and Grace put a hex on it, or another time someones cotton field withered and Grace hexed it. The final trial occurred because Grace was accused of causing a miscarriage of a woman. What people don't know is that a few months before she was accused, the woman and Grace got in an altercation and left Grace with bruises. Grace sued the woman and her husband for assault and battery and won the court case. Grace was tried and was taken to the higher courts in Williamsburg. The thing is that when "women cluttered the court with gossip," as it was put, then they were hung in the gallows. The courts said that there needed to be proof and that Grace's house was to be searched for talisman, charms, anything to prove her guilt. When her house was searched NOTHING could be found. So the next thing to be done was to examine graces body of marking for the devil. Two moles were found that didn't look like any other moles that the women examiners had seen before (or so they said). And so Grace was convicted of witch craft and she consented to be tried by water. Unfortunately, the people were unaware that Grace was an excellent swimmer. Before Grace was tossed the people of the town had camped out around the river banks to watch the night before and as she arrived the all started chanting, "Duck the witch! Duck the witch!" Before she was thrown into the water she said, "Before this day be through you will all get a worse ducking then I." Grace was tossed over board, she sunk to the bottom and swam back to the surface, proving her evil soul being rejected from the water. Next they strapped a 12 pound family Bible onto her neck tossed her into the water hoping to drown her once and for all. But Grace sank to the bottom untied the Bible and herself and swam to the surface. Then she continued to swim around the river laughing at everyone. Now you remember her final words.... go back, reread them...... I'll wait... ok you got it? The very moment they were pulling Grace from the river and back into the boat it started to rain. Everyone on the banks got scared and packed up and ran for cover. Epic right? All of this is true and can be found in the court records. Grace spent the next 7 years of her life in jail until she was finally released. After which, she reclaimed her land, got back her sons, and lived the rest of her days out on her land until she was 80. The only remainders of her house are just bricks. Not many people know where to find the ruins of her house, they are tucked away and hidden out in what here in the area we call the boons, or BFE ( meaning it's nothing but farm land and it's the middle of nowher, cell phone coverage is crap out there!) But now, I know where to find them! Wanna know how? The lady telling me story, she is Belinda Nash herself!

The women who fought for 7 years to exonerate Grace. Can you believe I actually met the lady and got to talk to her not only about all the side information she knows about Grace but also about Nash's struggle and fight for Grace. Yep, I had an amazingly lucky day! Coincidence? I think not. So we went on a search for the history of Grace Sherwood and after being thwarted actually ended the day meeting the incredible woman responsible for not only giving Grace her good name back but also all of her living descendants as well. You just don't realize the stigma that your ancestors convictions can have 300 years later. There are women, Sherwood's, The last of Grace's ties and to this day they still get talked about as being descended from witches. Now some of you might embrace that thought. What's wrong with being a witch?

Today, nothing. But to be a witch convicted in the 1700's meant to be malicious, devious, and that you were doing things to cause others harm. In my eyes Grace will always be a witch, but in the terms of today's world. She was a healer who was very close to the cycles of the Earth. She refused to live by anyone's standards but her own. She was a strong, independent woman who embraced life and what it threw out at her. She believed in the old ways and because of that it set her far beyond her time. She was a woman the future, even then. For this, Grace is a role model, even 300 years later. Witch? maybe. Woman? absolutely!

I hope this was informative to you. It was an eye opener to me. I was fascinated by Grace Sherwood because of the mystery of her being a witch. Now, I find myself fascinated by her because she was an incredible woman.

Magickal Monday..... er....2 days late

So, on my list of things to say:

1) Sorry I missed Monday, I got sucked into the world of crafting in order to finish a swap package. I was literally crafting all day save the few hours I went to work.

2)Yes, I missed Tuesday too, but I'll make up for that today when you read about my AMAZING ADVENTURE in the next post

3) mmmmm, magick

Ok, so the last one doesn't count too much. I was originally going to be writing 3 days a week for Halloween/Samhain. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. But that was before I took the challenge over at The Whimsical Cottage and decided to write something Halloweeny every day to get in the spirit. So I welcome you to Magical Monday.... mmmm, alliteration.... tasty. :P

I thought I would share something that I have read or have come to use in spells or ritual for Samhain on these days. Like most witches Samhain is a big time of year for me. It is also one of the saddest. For my best friend and I Halloween was the most Epic day of the year for us growing up. We dressed up every year, well into our high school years. We celebrated it as big as we celebrated every Friday the 13th. We even made a horror movie of our own one year (it was terrible lol). In my junior year of high school I lost my best friend and the holidays just have never been the same. After a few year of taking it all in, I made the decision to keep our love and tradition strong, even if it was just me. So every year for Samhain I still dress up, hand out candy, and last year I even decorated our yard (I was told we were the scariest house on the block thanks to the bloody hand prints!). And for ritual every year I light a candle for all of the people in my life that I have lost and have flown to the other side of the veil. During ritual I have a portion that is set aside just for honoring them. I usually have their photos set up on my altar and I light a candle for them and if available I put little tokens there for them as well. From there I usually do a little tarot or some other kind of spirit communication in hopes of hearing from them. After ritual I leave the candles burning and the when their gone I wake up the next morning and light another one for each of them. Sometimes I will write letters and leave them on the altar and then the next morning I will burn them in hopes that they find their way to them across the veil. So today I will talk about writing letters to the dead.

This is a simple spell that can be done anytime of the year. All you need is a bit of paper and a pen. It can be a special paper and pen or it can be something from your school bag. Just know the more preparation and thought you put into it every ingredient of every spell or ritual the more special it will be and the more energy you are putting into it. Personally, I usually use just plain paper that I sit on my altar the day of and I usually place it there and say something like,

"God and Goddess, These papers are soon to be vessels. They will carry my love and thoughts to spirits whom I miss greatly. Please help me bless these papers in hopes that they will serve their purpose."

Or something of that manor. I do a lot of improv at the altar. I focus some energy into them and then I usually leave the papers there until that night or until I am ready to put my love and thoughts into words. Whenever the moment strikes throughout the day and you feel ready, then just do it. Sometimes I get picky with my pens, depending on the person I'm writing to. For my best friend it's always pink, that was her favorite color. When you're finished writing you can always choose to anoint the papers and your words with a spirit oil or water used for communication with spirits or you can seal your letter with an herb for that purpose and leave it in there to be burnt with the letter when it is time ( I think this year I will add a flower in the one to my grandmother who just passed a few months ago, she would enjoy that). I usually just roll the paper up like parchment and tie it with a ribbon (Yep, I even get choosy with the color ribbon. Every little thing adds an extra touch of you and your connection to them) and I'll sit it in front of the picture of the person it is going to. You can also decide to leave the paper open in hopes of your loved one popping by during the day and reading it. I like to read mine out loud during the honoring before sealing it the final time.

In the morning, or the next day, I set aside time and I either take my cauldron to a place where it's well ventilated and set up a tiny altar there or if I'm the only one home I just leave it on the altar and unplug the smoke detectors ;) I take the first letter and hold it. I focus on the words written within it and I picture the person whom I am sending it to. If the feeling arises I may say something like,

"This letter acts as a vessel and it carries with it my heart,

Please help it to reach (person's name here) through our two worlds apart."

Or something of that nature. Once again I improv :) Then I hold it over the cauldron and light it. I watch it burn and stay focusing my energy on it until it is completely gone. Then I repeat until all the letters are sent. When it is cool enough I take my cauldron outside and let the ash join the Earth.

There are a lot of way to take this and personalize it to you and your loved ones, as well as many ways to go about it. Always do what feels right for you. Does anyone else write letters already? How do you go about it? Thanks for reading and I'll be back with Tuesday soon!

On the 3rd Day of Halloween......

The creepies brought to me....... RAIN! LOTS AND LOTS OF RAIN! Seriously? Why? Which can only mean that Mom and I cancelled our trip to Poe's house. We've decided to reschedule for next Sunday and in exchange I made her promise that she would trip with me on Tuesday to go to Grace Sherwood's house, also known as the Witch of Pungo. She was the only person tried in Virginia for witch craft and she is the last known witch trial in North America. She was tried by ducking and guess what..... SHE SURVIVED! HA! She was then imprisoned for about 8 years and then returned to her land where she lived out the rest of her days in solitude. There is a lot more to the story and if you are interested this site gives you the very basics and even shows the memorial statue and this site gives a bit better of a story as well as some honoring ritual and what nots dedicated to her (the poem at the beginning is very nice as well). She was given a pardon by the Governor on the 300th anniversary of her trial. Being a local, you here about her history often throughout your life. There is even a main road that is called Witchduck that goes from the old court houses where she was tried to the bay where she was ducked. MMmmm, love the south and our inevitability to name things after tragic events. So that's our deal, and I will make sure she sticks to it!!
As for today, I was busy crafting and up to my elbows in chocolate and powdered sugar. Results of which you will see at a later day this week. For the moment, the kitty is curled up next to me and there is a terribly cheesy movie on SyFy, all the makings for a good ending to a dreary day. I hope you all had a more productive day than I. And if you got caught in the rain too I hope that you were able to salvage some of it. See you tomorrow!

Pumpkin patch.... on my feet?!

So, today was a very long day.... No, seriously... VERY VERY LONG! Lets just say I love the taste of CPR and First Aid Training in the morning (please read that with EXTREME sarcasm). And straight from that I had to go to work. That part wasn't to shabby. The kid I work with and I had a lovely little picnic outside. I got to lay back for about an hour while he ate and diddle daddled and breath in the chill of October while looking up at the pines. Best hour ever. And while I came home and crafted (while rocking out to Nightmare Revisited of course! "And I Jack, THE PUMPKIN KING!") I have nothing completed to show you as of yet. Just know I have mini chocolate sugar skulls in the work, a few things pertaining to Poe, a few B-Horror Movies, and more s'mores! So I promise updates on them later this week. So as a consolation prize I present to you a little something I managed to finish last week in the spirit of the coming Halloween season.

Why, what is that, you ask? To which I respond most excitedly, That is my pumpkin patch! The best thing about the October for me is the Pumpkins! I actually hate pumpkins in all edible senses, however I love the way the look! Don't ask, I'm strange. Just know that they have a big spot light on the seasons festivities for my house. I've been dying for a pair of bare feet sandals for some time now. So last week I got up the nerve and decided to bead me a pair. I found a tutorial somewhere on the interwebs but they had flowers in theirs. I decided I'm not a flower type of girl... I mean it's FALL for crying out loud!! And some how it dawned on me. PUMPKINS! And thus, the Pumpkin Patch was born.

For the love of all things divine, please pay no mind to my tired dogs. Years of playing sports has caused them to look most unattractive. lol. And you may have also noticed that I'm only modeling one foot. Well that's because I only beaded one of them. So I guess technically I have one bare feet sandal. >_<

I hope your second day was a bit better than mine! I'll see you tomorrow! Mom and I are going to Poe's house tomorrow in Richmond. I love terribly short road trips!! Wish us luck!

Creepy Freaky Friday- Ode to the Night Walkers

It is October 1st!!!!!!!!!! Let Halloween BEGIN! There is so much to do this month! And I think I will enjoy every minute of it. muhahahaha! I have decided to make every Friday this month a Creepy Freaky Friday. Meaning that I will post some kind of Halloween inspired whatnot that I am up to . Today, I have someone I would like to introduce.

Meet Dracula! Pasty white from his centuries of life he has come to visit in order to disprove the myth. No, unfortunately, contrary to popular belief he is unable to turn into a bat and fly away. His once beating heart, now possibly black hole abyss, is saddened as well by new myth and popularity. FOR THE LOVE OF SIX YEAR OLD SALLY HE DOES NOT SPARKLE! Ask him to step into the sun and glisten and it may just be the last thing you say. However, you could try and starting counting numbers and he may be inclined to continue while you make a speedy escape. One, two, three ah ah ah!

Dracula, or shall we call him Vlad, was born sometime in 1431 as a human child. If you are a history nerd such as I, or happened to obtain a freaky reputation in high school for doing a research project on Dracula and his human life , then you know the story of the vampire is based of a real life man. His name was Vlad Dracul III, also known as Vlad the Impaler, and he was from, you guessed it, Transylvania and he ruled over a place called Wallachia. He was one of the most fearsome tyrants you will ever meet. I like to consider him a bloodier and earlier Hitler. He was, for lack of a better term, a serial killer with a throne. There is much more history I could give I but I won't. There are biographies all over the Internet. All you have to do is google. Just know that you won't like what you find.

But this post is not an ode to Vlad, that wretched man! No, this post is an ode to Vampire fiction. It's an ode to Boris Karloff, Bram Stoker, Anne Rice, and Stephenie Meyer for bringing us Vampires to love throughout the ages and even well into our futures! CHEERS TO THEM!! And what better way to say cheers than with a S'more. Yes, you know that ten year old inside you is already sqeeing with extreme excitement. Mine is!

mmmmm, Bat-tastic! The graham crackers and the marshmallows are all homemade from scratch. The chocolate is store bought..... what? I'm not a miracle worker ya know! The graham cracker recipe is from Smitten Kitchen and is the best I have tasted so far! Even the dough is amazing with out baking (ssshhhh, I swear I didn't eat too much of it XP ). And the marshmallows are from Alton Brown (I heart that man!)

I tried turning the marshmallows a nice Halloween orange but I added the color too soon to the mixture. Therefore I added colored sugar on top to add a little shabang to it. Mind the already melted chocolate, the kitchen was a little hot. I love making homemade marshmallows. It's really easy and they taste so much better than store bought. At Christmas/Yule I make candy cane flavored ones. They are always a big hit.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmm, melted half eaten goodness. Trust me, it was hard to set this down to take the picture not to mention I got ooey gooey yum yum on my camera. But the best foods are the ones that you end up wearing aren't they?

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF HALLOWEEN!!!! I hope yours was as yummy and productive as mine!!

Craftacular me!

I have been a very, very busy girl.... But before I plug my stuff I would like you all to check out Blue Fairie. She is having a give away on her blog, Dancing with a Spatula Wand , of this AMAZINGLY CUTE crochet toad as part of her Practical Magic entry. He's is so adorable, and it's no secret that I LUST after all things yarn, crochet, and knit. That seems to be the only craft stuff I completely fail at. And besides her always amazing recipes, she pwns the crochet hook. Go, look, visit, cook, and love the toad as I have!

So, I have been very busy making swap packages the past few months. It's become an addiction I must say. And in a later post I will highlight some of my favorite things I've made for others, but this post is all about ME! I never make myself anything and last week I got the urge to craft. So I made myself this:

Cute right? I found the fabric at a Joann's

and I couldn't resist it. It's a corduroy I think.

And the little Acorn closure is made of felt.

Inside! I left the post-its in so you could see the inside zipper pocket.

It's almost like a Mary Poppins purse.

It fits my a handful of pins, sun glasses, makeup,

keys, ipod, phone, post-its, lotion, and my giant

Nikon CoolPix Camera. But wait, is there something more???

A wallet!! It's a pattern in progress. But not

too shabby for mostly winging it. Under the change

part is a tiny slot for my check book and money.

It has 4 card slots, it was supposed to be 6 but you can

tell that didn't work out. I didn't measure properly so oh well.

The lot together.

I'm extremely happy with it. I love the fall, outdoorsy, child like humor of it. It's very, very me. YAY!! I hope to get on here later and post a few more things I have been working on. Have a crafty day!!

Mabon, where did you go?

BLESSED MABON!!!

Ok, so I know... I'm like a week late.... I haven't posted in a while and I know I completely missed Mabon. I hope everyone had a wonderful day and gave many a thanks to the Earth. I spent The weekend before Mabon at the local Mabon/Pagan Pride event.... it.was.awesome! I've been active in my local community for a over a year now! Happy any to me! I got there kind of late since I was finishing up a hat for a friend of mine I was meeting there. When I got there they had just started the chanting workshop.... mmmm, chanting. I love it! I learned a few new chants and now I have forgotten them. But they were really nice, trust me. One day it will dawn on me and I'll write the words down. After that I did some window shopping while a local artist sang beautifully in the background. I stopped by the alter and placed some acorns on it as an offering. I was surprised to find that the alter this year was designated to the patron God of Virginia Beach.... can you guess who it is? Neptune of course! You have to love living by the beach! It was beautifully set up I wish i took a picture of it. They had stones sitting there that anyone could come up to and charge and place into a another dish filled with sand. They were released back into the ocean after the festival in order to help heal our oceans with everything that has been going on. My friend Julie, and I took her son to a children's drumming workshop which was really nice. Unfortunately not a lot of children showed up since they were required to bring their own drums. Julie and I discussed maybe setting up a children's tent next year so that the kids can come and do crafts and maybe make their own instruments while learning about some Pagan goodness related to mabon or paganism in general. If I don't vend next year I think I will try and arrange that. Next, we had a drum circle in the middle of the day (unheard of right? NOBODY DANCES IN THE LIGHT!! lol) But it was connected with other drum circles around the world taking place at the same time in order to promote global unity . We all circled up, people brought their drums, others of us just clapped, and a few people decided to get out there and dance. Somehow, this chick I was standing and clapping beside got the urge to dance. So she went out into the circle and started doing her thing. Next thing I know she has come back over to me, grabbed my hand, and led me out to the circle to dance too. I don't know her at all!! But I embraced it and got my dance on and somehow, I didn't feel paranoid or shy at all. I don't usually dance in the circles because, well, I find it just a bit relaxing and I don't feel the urge to dance. Not to mention sometime you just feel paranoid like others are looking at you like WTF is she doing! Which I know is never the Case, but I mean, come on, we're raised to think people are always going to look at us strange is we step out of line. But yeah, there I was, in broad daylight, dancing. I'm not gonna lie.... it was kind of awesome. After all that was done the local Pagan choir, The Inchantors, serenaded us with lovely music, harmonies, and drumming. After which the community came together and participated in a Mabon Ritual. It was a lot different from last year. Which is expected since every year someone different leads it. This year when you came in to the festival they handed you a mini baggie with 4 papers in it. Each saying something different, such as: Things continuing, Things to throw away, Things to start, and Things finished. We were to take time throughout the day and write things on these papers that corresponded with what each was saying. During the ritual the corner callers walked around at certain points with branches and we strung our papers on the branches. they looked almost like leaves. And then we took the one with Things to throw away on it and we placed it in a cauldron to be burned. After all of that was done we all sat in a circle and meditated and raised energy in order to do a Peace Spell while two very talented ladies played on the Tibetan singing bowls. Then a candle was passed around and we each put our energy into this candle which would be burned and the energy released. And finally we all got up, were given a piece of paper with a chant on it, and marched and stomped around the circle while chanting in order to bring down the circle or cone of power as we were calling it in the chant. It was one of the most active rituals I have been a part of this past year (minus dancing around the may pole). I left with a sense of accomplishment. After ritual a very popular and talented group by the name of Mystic Fire performed for us (I love them sooo much!!). And to close the entire day out we had a massive drum circle in a field. Best.Day.Ever... I'm sure that's what you're thinking. But it doesn't end yet. I was laying on my back looking up at the stars and letting my mind wonder with the drumming, when all of a sudden, there it was. A shooting star. I've never seen one in my life. Not in person. It was like some celestial sign. So I did what all people do and should do in the case of a shooting star. I made a wish. I wished for another job so that I could finally start making some money. I know, I know I shouldn't tell you what I wished for right? PISH POSH! That my friends is a bunch of hocus pocus! If I don't voice it out loud how will the universe know what it is I need. It's not a mind reader ya know! So, I came home, slept an amazing sleep and the next thing I know, my dad is calling me and telling em to fill out an application online at a store my non-blood-related-but-should-be Uncle works as at. He's going to get me a job!!! WHAT!??!!! Psh, Epic Win! I had an interview this Saturday morning and got the job. It's just a cashier position but it's money and I am in need of it. Student loans are no joke!

Long story short, after a very long year things are slowly taking a turn for the good. Let's hope this plane keeps on rising.

Children's Drumming Workshop

The Inchantors

(well, a select number of them shall we say)

Mystic Fire

My Friend Julie,

and wait what's that she's wearing...

why a hat I made ;)