PELLAR
A pellar is in English folk Magic and Witchcraft, a country practitioner of magical arts. Pellar is probably a corruption of expel, as in the repelling or expelling of Spells. A pellar was considered especially skillful in breaking Bewitchment, Curses, and other negative spells.
Pellars were believed to acquire their gifts through heredity or supernatural means, such as bestowal of power by a spirit or fantastical creature such as a mermaid. Traditionally, people undertook annual trips to see a pellar, usually in the spring, for it was believed that the pellar’s magical powers increased with the increasing rays of the SUN.
Pellars made Charms for their clients from herbs, powders, ointments, potions, stones, and perhaps teeth, bones, and dirt taken from graves. These were placed in little bags to be worn about the neck as an AMULET. Sometimes powders and earth from graves were to be thrown over children, cattle, or other livestock as a way of protecting them against bewitchment and the EVIL EYE, or the clients might be given bits of paper or parchment inscribed with mysterious words or astrological signs that were copied from magical texts such as BLACK BOOKS or Grimoires. All magical prescriptions were to be kept secret by the clients, lest they lose their magical potency.
SEE ALSO:
Further Reading:
- Bottrell, William. Cornish Witches & Cunning Men. Kelvin I. Jones, ed. Penzance, England: Oakmagic Publications, 1996.
The Encyclopedia of Magic and Alchemy Written by Rosemary Ellen Guiley Copyright © 2006 by Visionary Living, Inc.