Witching Hour/Dead Time
Based upon my studies and knowledge with Wiccan religion, I came up with this information on the Witching Hour.
The Definition of witching hour is:
The
time that the supernatural such as witches, demons and ghosts are
thought to be at their most powerful, and black magic is most affective.
Witching hour is typically at midnight.
In Neopaganism, It is referred to midnights with a full moon, since that is when witches powers are the greatest.
Cultural Meanings:
In Magical thinking, midnight refers to solar midnight (opposite of solar noon).
This forms an axis linking the mundane world with the other worlds by being apogee of darkness and the perigee of light.
Traditional midnight is associated with chaos, death, underworld and mystery.
It
is seen as a moment when sacrum manifests itself and epiphanies were
most likely, So it was thought that at midnight visitation from
spirits, ghosts, demons and devils were common.
Midnight was
also the time to gather the ingredients used for magical acts done at
other times, so various herbs were thought to be most potent when
harvested at midnight.
As night’s attributes are chaos, all the acts
of summoning from other worlds were easiest to perform at the
culmination of the night.
All supernatural creatures of darkness
reminiscent of feared nocturnal predators were believed to haunt the
night, their potency greatest at its central point, Midnight.
Midnight
was the time when Strzygas (A kind of vampire) rose from graves to suck
the blood of mortals, and the devils came for sinners.
History of Witching Hour:
The
first time that I could find that the term “Witching Hour” was used was
back in 1817 in the introduction to Frankenstein "Night waned upon this
talk, and even the witching hour had gone by before we retired to rest."
In
the short story by Washington Irving in 1835 the last line was this:
"Two pairs of eyes are watching me now, from the couch and the ledge by
the window. Fairyland shines in those eyes. And I must leave you, for
it's the witching hour and a full moon is rising. . . ."
Variants of the phrase were in use earlier when Shakespeare refers to “the witching time of night” in Hamlet:
Tis now the very witching time of night,
When churchyards yawn and hell itself breathes out
Contagion to this world, now could I drink hot blood,
And do such bitter business as the day
Would quake to look on.
Where Did 3 a.m. Come From?
Often 3 a.m., has been reported to be a very active hour for paranormal activity.
In
Catholic belief, it’s the hour when the demons mock the Holy Trinity
for it is the opposite of the crucifixion of Christ, which happened at
3 in the afternoon.
Written by Kymm