Today I stopped to grab replacement frames for my daughter’s glasses. The lady asked about my daughter’s name (Hermione).
Me: Like the girl from Harry Potter.
Clerk: Oh I’ve never seen those movies, I don’t believe in the witches and warlocks and such.
Me, jokingly: Well it’s all make believe, nobody actually thinks that witches or warlocks are real.
She then informed me that they are indeed real and she’s a member of a missionary group who “casts them out” all the time…
This is a fully grown (looked to be 45-50ish) adult woman, who is allowed to vote and reproduce, who straight up believes that magic, witches and warlocks are real, and not only that, she is a member of a larger organization of people who go out on “missions” to “cast out” these evildoers. And she works in a business where she holds at least some authority over an aspect of peoples’ health and well being.
The crazier thing is, she’s not the first person in this area I’ve met who thinks witches and warlocks are real life people out there casting spells and shit.
And that is why Trump won re-election.
Edit for clarification: Around here when somebody says they “don’t believe” in a thing, specifically in this context, what they mean is they “don’t support” that thing. I’ve also heard people say they “don’t believe” in guns, despite them being very real. What they mean is, they don’t “support” a thing, not that they literally don’t believe it’s real.
Why the needle? Was it a form of evil eye or something? I don’t get the thinking.
I have no idea. The old folks also used to think witches were scheming against them and casting spells because out here in the woods sometimes if you’re deep in the woods after dark you’ll hear something that sounds eerily like unintelligible voices babbling together in the distance. Guess what screech owls sound like, especially if there’s a group of them? 🤣
Needles, quills, pins etc are often used in defensive magic (yeah, thinking a witch can’t cross a needle is magical thinking, which is funny). One of the slightly less obscure examples is in Witch bottles, a sort of gross protective charm against witches.
Needles and thorns protect animals and plants, so obviously knitting needles can also protect us, is what magical thinkers would say. Magical thinking is all about symbolism
I mean, anyone with enough skill at using chopsticks can probably wield a set of 8 gauge knitting needles with a high degree of efficacy