Awesome post! Thank you, Sarah.

Slainte!

Thank you for laying that out. I’m sure it’s no surprise that I agree on the balance aspect. I just had to say that your introduction missed my favourite response to the “good witch or bad wtich?” question: “ohhh, I’m very, very good at what I do.” Sometimes with a sinister undertone for fun. I like removing the assumption of good vs evil from the question and answer as if it was asked from a completely different perspective.

Sineaters also ate the sins of the living too though and were essentially fairy doctors or folk medicine practitioners. What we call sin today they thought of as the evil eye (sin is a relatively new word). Excluded from society much as the Bokor of Haitian Vodou, they worked with both the light and dark aspects of magic and healing – life and death.

The whole reason I ask is mostly I find it interesting you choose that word. I popped into my head a few days ago after I visited a ghost in the UK from WWII. Raphael told me, “Find her,” as a test of my fortitude in following this endeavour. Anyway, if any word would catch my attention it was that one, Sineater.

I was wondering if it was purely coincidental or a deus ex machina of some sort?

Exactly! Balance is not a new idea, it’s found in almost every ancient culture. I plan to write an article about it specifically including it’s place in gender, social structure, as well as magic and religion.

The Necromancer description started off much shorter but I had to elaborate as I had people emailing thinking they were Necromancers, when really they just cared deeply about how the dead were treated by the living. I think it can be dangerous to write about their actual practices as those without the ability, not believing you have to be born with it, will try anyway and end up hurting themselves, their families, or worse. Witchcraft is dangerous! I think this is plain to see through the amount of mental illness that runs rampant within the modern witchcraft communities.

Slainte!
Sarah

I noticed you went I little light on Necromancers, though I’d like to think it’s because you understand where our duties are supposed to lie.

“Sineaters”, I remember them. The church went a long way to murder them from history. I’m always astounded at how novel your intelligence is. Reading your thoughts, their inherent elegance and grace, are always a vigor to me.

Thank you, eternally.