Since the beginning of tribal life in Scotland, there were women and men who worked with nature, the elements, herbs, and seership. Known as ‘soothsayers’, healers, magicians, witches and wizards, they lived and worked peacefully among all peoples long before the Romans ever set foot on the lands and hills of Scotland. By about 750AD Scotland was inhabited by many different tribes, including the Scots, Picts, Britons, and English, who eventually supported and followed a Christian tradition to the detriment of the Pagan and Wiccan communities. At the beginning of the 16th century the great Scottish witch trials took place. The practice of PectiWita (Scottish Wicca) was first made deemed heretical by the Church, and then by the political government of the day using false trials against earth loving peoples who worshipped the Goddess and wielded death by fire and water as a tool to purge those who were seen to be dangerous, or those who did not conform to the institutions. People whose beliefs were to honour Mother Earth, who had a simple creed to ‘do anything as long as it did not harm others’ were ruthlessly exploited by methods of extortion. It took many decades, even centuries for the Christian Church to finally get hold of the power base. First churches were built on the ancient sites with a door in the East for the PectiWita and Pagans, these ancient peoples were driven into these houses of God with threats of the Monarchy through manufactured laws taking over their land and houses. Initially one half of the church was used by the PectiWita Pagan based peoples and then as the Church gained total control the East door became the door of the Devil and was closed for as long as the Christian Church held power. Fortunately today the old ways of honouring the Earth and each other are starting to return.
In this workshop you will firstly learn about the ancient ways of the wise, the history of the Scottish witches and wizards, and who they were. You will also learn the differences between Scottish witchcraft - the craft of the picts from the highlands of Scotland, and the traditional craft of England called Wicca.
Barbara was born in Inverness the capital of the highlands, where the Pictish capital in the sixth century was also in Inverness. She grew up in nature, learning from the elements, the trees, the animals. When she was twelve years old she met Swain MacDonald the Highland Seer, who became her spiritual father, and under his guidance she discovered the Druid, Pagan, and ancient ways of the old Craft of the picts. Today she interweaves all her knowledge together into one large cauldron of life, combining all the gifts she has been given so that she can share them with everyone she meets and bring the wisdom of the ancients and wise ones into the 21st century.
