The royal square is the site of all witch executions in the island. Being the market square at the time, it provided a large area where many could watch the accused being hung and their body burnt. The images from this photoshoot would conclude the story that I want to put together.
With this shoot, I want to look at the rituals and the actions of witches in Jersey, with a a clear focus on the goings on at the dolmen at La Pouquelaye de Faldouet. In my research I have found that witches were active at the dolmen in the 1980s, as evidence was found suggesting satanic rituals and sacrifice. I want to produce images commenting on this idea with actors portraying the modern witches dancing around the dolmen. As the evidence was found by a priest who came to exorcise the dolmen for a third time after the first two attempts at an exorcism failed. I want to explore ways to display this failure and the power that the ‘dark’ arts supposedly have over this site.
In the 16th and 17th Century, ways of cursing individuals and cattle was very physical and took more than a few words and incantations. Spells came in the forms of little hempen bundles twisted with feathers and moulded with clay; these were kept placed close to the victim – often under their mattress or pillow. I want to create a series of these little bundles to scatter around the dolmen as a way to comment on this aspect of witchcraft that led to the accusations and convictions of so many people within the island.
The other link to witchcraft that I want to explore with this photoshoot is the pagan history of the toad. Jersey people have always been referred to as Crapauds (jerriais for ‘toad’) The toad has been linked to both good and evil in the history, as a vessel to ward off evil spirits but also as vessel for the Devil himself to communicate with his servants on Earth. A quote from ‘The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe, 7000-3500 BC’ by Marija Gimbutas illustrates the significance of the crapaud:
“Toad’s meat was eaten until recently to invoke labour pains, toad’s blood was used as an aphrodisiac and dry toads were hung up to protect the house from all evil. Such beliefs suggest a benevolent goddess, but the toad as a nocturnal and mysterious creature can cause madness, can take away the milk and suck the blood from humans while they sleep.”
I want to photograph a simple figure of a toad at the dolmen using a macro lens to get a clear close up image. I would also include the crapaud figurine throughout all of my photoshoots as a way of linking the series together, similar to Alfonso Calero’s ‘Remnants of Abandonment’ where a discarded stuffed toy is shown in every image of an abandoned orphanage.
Witches were imprisoned at Mont Orgueil where it is speculated that they were tortured and interrogated into confessions before trial. Therefore, this is a prominent location to photograph and research for this project.
In continuation with the key-line research, I also plan on going to La Hougue Bie, a neolithic area run by Jersey Heritage that houses a buried dolmen that we can enter and photograph.
Camera Settings
Understanding the works of witchcraft in the island begins by finding an understanding its ancient heritage – looking at evidence from nearly 4,000 years ago. In Jersey, we have a rich neolithic and megalithic past with ancient burial grounds (dolmens) and large standing stones (menhirs) possible used for to establish a spiritual connection.
When conducting research into this part of history, I read Chris Lake’s “These Haunted Islands” (Jersey, 1986); in which Lake displays a map of the island displaying ley-lines running across it. These spiritual passageways have been proven to connect all megalithic remains on the island, with the most prominent being at La Pouquelaye de Faldouet. Therefore, I want to make a series of images of this dolmen and others in the East of the island that are connected by these ley-lines.
La Mont Ube, Blanche Pierre, Highfield, La Pouquelaye de Faldouet
A young girl’s fiancé walked alone past the rock one night and witnessed a witches Sabbath. He was invited to join these beautiful maidens the following night, to dance and have fun. Out of fear, the young girl sought advice from the parish priest who gave a crucifix with instructions to follow her fiancé and use the crucifix against the forces of evil.
She did so and found him surrounded by haggard old witches that held her fiancé under a spell that forced him to regard them as beautiful young women. The young girl could see them for what they truly were because she held the crucifix. She threw at the witches and broke the spell on her fiancé who now saw the hags running away out of fear of God. The couple never saw them again.
It was believed that witches would conjure great storms from the rock as fisherman sailed by on their way home with their catch. The fisherman were forced to give the witches every 13th fish or else be swarmed by the storm and their ship wrecked and all on board drowned.
However, one man refused to comply and upon apporaching the rock and into the storm, where the witches began to sing. He held a five rayed starfish and cut off one of its rays. He threw this into the midst of the witches shouting, ” The cross is my passport”. The fish landed amongst the witches and they were never seen on the rock again.
“Neolithic monuments are spiritual generators linked to each other by psychic energy radiating across the countryside in a network of invisible rays … lines of kinetic force, emanating from the forgotten extra-sensory powers of a prehistoric people.”
Megalithic Remains connected by Ley-Lines
1981+82 – complaints to local clergyman around the area detailed feelings of something evil coming from the dolmen.
Clergyman was also the diocesian exorcist – performed two previous full-scale exorcisms at the dolmen that did not seem to work.
He found evidence of a witches black mass involving sacrifice and an inverted crucifix – there is the possibility that these witches harnessed the power of one of three ley-lines that run into the dolmen.
Proof that witches still work today and there is some kind of connection between them and the pagan history revolving around these ancient burial sites.
The toad was used in many ways as their shapes resmble that of a woman in labour. Small statues were carried by women as a form of protection from miscarriage or as a way for the beholder to remain fertile.
“Toad’s meat was eaten until recently to invoke labour pains, toad’s blood was used as an aphrodisiac and dry toads were hung up to protect the house from all evil. Such beliefs suggest a benevolent goddess, but the toad as a nocturnal and mysterious creature can cause madness, can take away the milk and suck the blood from humans while they sleep.” ~ Marija Gimbutas in: The Gods and Goddesses of Old Europe, 7000 – 3500 BC (1974)
Le P’tit Albaert + Le Grand Albaert
The content of these books themselves are not evil but it is how you try to use them. Information within them included ways of understanding human reproduction, and cures for plague or flu. But they also contained advice on conjuring spirits, and reaching out and using the dark powers of the Unknown.
Clavicula Salomonia (Key of Solomon)
Contains the formula for raising spirits with full detail and elaborate diagrams, as well as warnings as to what should happen if anything went wrong. If a single word or symbol was out of place, the conjuror will allow himself to be controlled. It is also likely that if this happens, their mind could be ripped to pieces by the untamed spirit.
A DIY guide to witch hunting written in 1484 by Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger. Backed up by an anti-heretic and anti-witch Bull issued by Pope Innocent VIII, and used by Martin Luther and John Calvin.
4 Essential Points of Witchcraft
Witches were believed to have the ability to change shape and fly across the skies – making them almost impossible to discover.
The book advocated the torture of accused witches until they confess. Forced confessions however did not stop the torture until the names of fellow satanists were revealed.
Letter written by Burgomaster Junius of Bamberg to his daughter dated July 24 1628
Extract from court records of the confession of Isabel Becquet who was burned as a witch on July 4 1617
QUESTIONS: all leading questions
The Devil’s Mark
The accused were pricked by a long pin all across there body until a point was found that did not bleed or seem to cause the victim any pain. The court was then told that the ‘mark’ had been found.
The Devil’s Pap
A third teat found on the accused’s body thought to be used to suck a Devil’s familiar (appearing commonly in the form of a cat, toad or crow)
Jean Morant and Pasquette Le Vesconte – both imprisoned in Mont Orgueil Castle and confessed to be witches
Si tais si maychante, j’enviethai cherche Marie Tourgis (If you’re such a bad girl, I’ll send for Marie Tourgis)
Phrase used by mother’s to scare their children into behaving
Objects made of hempen thread, twisted with feathers and bound together by clay. – the objects were cursed and placed close to the victim, often in the bed chambers and under their pillows/mattresses.
Reports of 44 spells being placed in a child’s room and found by his mother.
“I was born in Florianópolis, southern Brazil. I live in Paris and work between Brazil and France. After finishing my studies in Visual Arts, I completed a PhD in Visual Anthropology. Photography, the experience of the encounter, collaboration and participation are at the heart of my artistic practices and research.”
~ Andrea Eichenberger
Eichenberger’s series titled “Les Mille Briques” (The Thousand Bricks) is an attempt to show the inner workings of a prison, specifically Beauvais Penitentiary Centre in France. With my idea of revolving my project around witchcraft in Jersey, a key aspect of this topic is the prison of Mont Orgeuil Castle, in which many accused witches were imprisoned and tortured awaiting trial. Her exhibition on this prison allows to explore ideas of how to photograph the castel in such a way to encompass the stories of those held there. The information below was presented at her exhibition in 2016 as part of the Photaumnales festival.
The series displays a series of walls with no people within the images. This almost displays a story of solitary confinement and isolation from the outside world. Images that have people within never have more than one person photographed at a time and you never see their faces; hiding their identities. This is a concept that I believe would work perfectly with my project as a way of isolating the accused from the world, commenting on the actions of society at the time that witchcraft was widely feared. The fact that accused witches were held and hidden from the world then convictions could range from execution to banishment further enhances this them of seclusion that I want to use as part of my project.
This is the only colourised image that I have decided to analyse as it is interesting how the colours within a prison are so dull that they reflect the stereotypical life of a prisoner. In the centre of the image, a window with iron bars covering the outside, and in front of that a solitary prisoner smoking and looking out the window. You will notice that throughout the entire series, every time a human being is photographed there face is hidden from the camera; be it from the subject turning their back or having something cover their face. This is an interesting concept that could prove very useful within my project as it could suggest that many witches are unknown to the history books. The subject is looking out the window, suggesting a longing for freedom or a sense of boredom as there is not much else to do within the prison walls. The tungsten lighting that is used in prisons seems to be the only light used for this image, it’s obvious that there is only one light used as the image seems very flat which in itself represents the idea that this is a very linear image with no hidden meaning – it shows the loneliness and boredom that comes with being a prisoner.
This image makes me think of how witches would have felt, imprisoned in Mont Orgueil Castle, held in the darkness and tortured until they confessed their fabricated crimes and revealed the names of ‘other’ witches in their Coven. If they were truly witches or not didn’t matter as they would then be arrested and the process repeated. This image allows me to think about how to photograph this part of my project and use ares of the castle perhaps with windows or have the actors in chains.
“The question ‘is this a work of art or not?’ is not very interesting for us.”
~ Bernd and Hilla Becher
These German artists changed the course of late 20th Century photography. They explored the disappearing industrial infrastructure that shaped the modern world, describing their photographic approach as ‘typologies’. By photographing each structure in the same way (same camera settings, same lighting conditions, same angles) they established an interesting way of comparing these images when presented together.
The outcomes that the couple create often focus around abandoned industrial structures but the series that appealed to me was the one shown below titled ‘Framework House’. the shapes created within the walls are interesting and almost create a pattern that connects each image of a different house with the way that they were built. It links directly to my project as being a display of historical housing, perhaps similar to those found in Jersey during the centuries of the witch trials and therefore perhaps similar to what was lived in by convicted sorcerers.
Upon first sight, the lines within the image are a series of horizontal, vertical and diagonal beams that produce the framework of the house. There is a clear use of depth of field that blurs the areas behind the house but brings the house itself and what is in the foreground into focus; making the house the main part of the image and the first thing that the audience sees. The image displays a very monochrome colour palette but using fairly light tones so that the plain background is only separated from the house by the deeply contrasting beams framing the building. The building is centred in the image and the natural lighting used allows the dulling of the final outcome in post production.
Like I said earlier, the image has some historical importance and makes me imagine the complexity that it possibly took to build. These traditional buildings are scattered across Germany and are not as common as the used to be, allowing a beautiful contrast when looking upon a landscape. it is for this reasoning that I believe the Becher’s created this typology study of this type of building. An aspect of history that has not yet been lost and so they surely wanted to preserve these monuments to the past in their photographic images.
“Clearly I am searching for something . This is why I have been chasing light and all the visuals it creates with the help of its of opposite, the dark.”
~ Sesh Sareday
Sesh is a world explorer based in the San Francisco area. Having evolved with the photography industry, he experimented with various media including art, film, and animation, before settling on digital photography. From the young age of 14, Sesh has used his keen sense of observation to showcase spectacular moments in nature, capture exotic visuals from his native India, and uncover hidden mystique in emotions and people around him. As a passionate hobby Sesh believes that photography allows him to honestly showcase what he sees and the way he sees it, without any external influences.
“Fear is a primal instinct that exists in all of us … This photo series, “Body Snatchers”, explores the images of something between light and darkness. In other words, shadows. They exist for only moments of time but through them, myriad forms of art are created through the movement of light.”
~ Sesh Sareday
Sareday’s series of shadow imagery alludes to the idea of a hidden world and by using shaped shadows, dark and perhaps fearful messages can be conveyed. The names of each image not only describes what is being shown in the image but each of them alone has a profound spookiness about them. The names sound like things you might see or hear within a horror story or film: (floater, roamer, biter, lurker). It directly links to my photographic ideas in exploring Jersey’s connection with witchcraft; an exploration into the “dark” arts and the hidden world of magic and pagan history.
Sareday has framed the image with an obvious border surrounding harsh white areas, most likely created by daylight seeping through windows. There is an obvious distance between the actors and the light source as the shadows created are clear and sharp, whereas the framed light is blurred around the edges establishing a distance between the window frames and the surface that the light is being projected onto. Multiple shadows take the central focus of the image and draw an audience to a cross shape, making connotations of religion and perhaps the rise of evil. Coupled with the body shapes, this idea of ‘the undead’ is clearly shown and clarified by the title: ‘DEAD ONES’. An audience can immediately picture zombies or corpses within their mind, colourising this monochrome photograph and establish a deeper connection with what they are seeing.
In my own mind, this image forces me to think about demonic presences and present evils within modern society, be it mystical like paranormal activity or unhidden acts of cruelty like the war in Ukraine and the threat of Russian nuclear attacks on the Western World. The artist has used the very simple concept of shadows and created this horrifying effect that perhaps comments on humanity. The darkness that we as a society fabricate and how fear and speculation can affect the motives of the human mind.
The use of shadows can be used to convey a visual aspect of spirits of witches (both innocent and guilty of ‘diabolical crimes’) and demonic figures that haunt the world we live in. By establishing key areas of the island like places of torture, execution or sacrifice; these shadows have a story that might not be evident if simply photographed in a studio.
“The word Mayah ( ma-yah) is an ancient Indian concept which, in its simplest meaning, is illusions created by our minds through our five senses . Depending on what state of mind we are in these can be illusions or constructed reality and not necessarily what is there or what they really mean.”
~ Sesh Sareday
I chose to look at the series by Sareday as it links to a possible branch off point of paranormal and ghost photography. The images each convey an idea of solitude. By using photomontage techniques and experimenting with shutter speeds, these ghostly outcomes provide a dark and horrifying aspect to the different areas that were photographed.
Some of these images, make me think of traditional Jersey ghost stories that I have read or heard; for example the first image (below) of a single boat in the water with a murky backdrop is the perfect image to accompany “The Lake”. The fourth image shows a person moving across the frame while the camera uses a slow shutter speed to blur the figure on a relatively still background. This use of shutter speed creates the typical ghostly look of photographs that are said to be of a ghost or paranormal entity.
This monochrome image clearly shows two photographs layered on top of eachother. The base image has dull-white horizontal lines going across it, seemingly pipes or rods of some sort. The top image in my opinion contains the main story behind the outcome. Two silhouetted figure either sat or stood at a table with the camera seemingly looking upon the scene from outside a window suggests something dark and sinister, a theory complimented by the dark, monochrome colour palette. The image has the glassy effect that shows the photographer as being an outsider looking in so perhaps it is of an intimate moment in the two peoples lives and isn’t meant to be on camera. A part of the image that seems quite interesting to me, is a criss-crossed pattern (perhaps belonging to a garden fence) is shown above the predominant scene. If the photo was taken through a window, it could be a reflection in the overlaying image. However, it could be third image introduced in post-production; either way, there is a reason it is there as Sareday could have easily removed it from the final outcome. I could see it as a way of establishing where the photographer themself is taking the photo from; or perhaps it expresses an idea of isolation, the two figures being fenced in and hiding/being hidden from the world.
In my opinion, it is quite difficult to determine the true story behind the image, but it still appears to me as the dark and sinister connotations that I think of when looking at it can be used to express similar ideas when taking photos for my project.
Jersey has always been known for the extensive witch trials that occured from 1562-1748. However, this connection to the pagan world does not begin under the reign of the tudors but extends to a time before the birth of Christ, as far back as 7500 BC. The neolithic and paleolithic history of the island has been preserved through ancient burial sites (dolmens) and areas that can be considered to have been used as a way of establishing a spiritual connection with the Gods and ancestors. It is the connection with the paranormal and pagan mythology that I want to explore, understanding what occured around the island and the exploitation of 66 individuals accused of the ‘diabolical crime of witchcraft’.
I want to use works created by Andrea Eichenberg, Bernd and Hilla Becher, and Sesh Sareday to produce a photobook exploring this elaborate history so many know so little about. By exploring this hidden world, I can observe societal opinions, seek the meanings of the dark arts and challenge the theories that have been created to rationalise the unexplained. Extensive research into the methodology of convicting witches and rituals thought to have been conducted will provide an alternative view to what is typically known as fact within the official records that detail the persecution of so many islanders.
Key sites of interest include the prison that was Mont Orgueil Castle; dolmens and burial grounds uncovered across the island that can be used within a typology study; and La Rocqueberg, the supposed meeting ground of witches where minimal evidence was found to suggest that the Devil was danced with at this site. Chris Lake has presented a map of the island displaying pin-pointed positions of megalithic remains and sites considered to be haunted within Jersey Folk Lore, connecting each position with a series of ‘ley-lines’ – paths of spiritual connection that held the keys to ancient powers of the natural world. My project will use this as a way to establish key focal points that can be photographed and included in the study.
Words that come up after looking at these images linked to “OBSERVE”
Words that come up after looking at these images linked to “SEEK”
Words that come up after looking at these images linked to “CHALLENGE”
The difficulty of following a generic paranormal past for the island is that there is almost too much information to gather and the majority of that would be speculation. Therefore, I want to base my project around the islands connection to witchcraft and explore the relationship between christianity and paganism – the battle that began the darkest era of the island’s history.