Webb Deane Stevens Museum

Potions, Divination, and Protection Practices Through the Ages
2023-10-12 18:30 - 20:30 (America/New_York) | WDS Museum, 211 Main Street, Wethersfield, CT, 06109
Did you know that Eye of Newt refers to the humble mustard seed? Have you ever worn jewelry you believed would protect you or displayed a cinnamon broom in your home? Maybe placed a horseshoe above your front door. Or that a popular form of countermagic in Colonial New England entailed heating a victim’s urine in a bottle, sometimes with nails and pins to counteract a negative spell?
Learn how ‘potions,” divination, and cleansing/protection practices have evolved through the ages and how they are still being used today. Discover how plants such as those found in the Webb Deane Stevens Colonial Revival Garden could be made into healing elixirs, how the role of folk magic, divination through celestial and earthly events, dream interpretation, and indigenous influences shaped Colonial New England, and the importance of balancing, cleansing and protecting your energy and light essence.
This program is presented by Mystic Reiki Healing, Moonlit Path Healing, and The Replanted Witch in collaboration with The Blackbird House.
Reception: 6 pm / Program: 6:30 – 8:30 pm. Tickets available HERE.
Potions: Rachel Star Koladis, The Replanted Witch
As early as the 15th century, the word “potion” was understood to be a magical consumable liquid. They might be concoctions used to heal, bewitch, or poison people, made by a witch or other magical practitioner. Popular examples included preparations for attracting love or inducing a deep sleep. Witches and potions have become intertwined within the popular imagination, but why did the two become associated? There are hints in historical images of women wearing pointy hats, over a bubbling cauldron dating back to Medieval times, and in Greek mythology we find the story of Circe teaching herself how to use powerful herbs prepared as drinks or stews. Women have enjoyed a long association with potion making through the ages, as healers, alewives, and witches. Learn more about this fascinating history, as well as some of the plants found in the Webb Deane Stevens gardens that could have been used now and then for traditional healing and potions.
The Role of Folk Magic and Divination in Colonial New England: Erin Touponse, Mystic Reiki Healing
In Colonial New England, nothing was certain; at any given time, death could strike, the earth could tremble, and crops could fail. Early settlers depended on ancient folk magic, astrology, divination, and dreams/visions to assist in bringing order and sense to a time when personal and collective security was not prevalent. Learn how the role of folk magic, divination through celestial and earthly events, dream interpretation, and indigenous influences shaped Colonial New England.
Cleansing & Protection Practices: Victoria Selden Moonlit Path Healing
No matter the walk of life you come from, magick can be found in even the smallest mundane aspects of life. Throughout the ages, we have found a variety of ways to relish the magick in our lives, but not without polarity. Light and dark, positive and negative, yin and yang. Learn the importance of balancing, cleansing and protecting your energy and light essence.
THE PRESENTERS
About Rachel Star Koladis
Witchcraft and magic have been dominant forces from an early age and Rachel’s free time was spent practicing spells with her best friends. A natural offshoot of this interest is her passion for history, which was fostered as a homeschooler and attending every available program at the Webb Deane Stevens Museum – including colonial summer camp. During her college years, Rachel haunted the campus shrouded in her handmade woolen cape and took the only class she could find in witchcraft at The University of Hartford. At Trinity College, she worked to research and prepare a working bibliography on witchcraft-related holdings at the Watkinson Library on campus. After getting her certification as a vegan chef at The Natural Gourmet and studying herbalism with Rosemary Gladstar, her path became clearer. She started offering Witchcraft 101 workshops and hosting a book group called Witchy Reads at The Blackbird House in Wethersfield. In the future, she plans to offer a moveable supper club in celebration of The Wheel of the Year. In her free time, you can find Rachel foraging, researching plants and remedies, visiting historic sites, whipping up kitchen magic, and practicing her needlework.
About Erin Touponse
Erin Touponse owns The Blackbird House in Old Wethersfield. She is a Reiki Master/Teacher, Pranic healer, Certified End of Life Specialist, Tarot Scholar, Student of Shamanic Studies, author, and poet. Her book, Soul’s Journey – A Practical Guide to Reading the Tarot, was published in early 2023. Erin teaches Usui Reiki, Tarot, and Intuitive Development classes, and offers guided meditation and sound healing group classes with her husband, Marcel Touponse.
About Victoria Selden
Victoria Selden is a Reiki Master, Oracle Reader, and Intuitive Guide with Moonlit Path Healing. She leads workshops on Spiritual Cleansing & Protection and Moon Magick at The Blackbird House. Victoria is a long-standing student of esoteric and magickal works and loves learning and teaching to help others on their healing path.
