Hieronymus Bosch, The Temptation of St. Anthony, ca. 1501. Museu Nacional de Arte Antiga, Lisbon. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
The 2nd Symposium on Spiritual Technologies explores the history of witchcraft in Norway and Europe and the capitalization of health in the Middle Ages as well as its repercussions today. The symposium is curated by Invisibledrum Art Platform, an artistic research collective investigating holistic practices and spiritual technologies within the field of arts and new ecologies, founded by Amalia Fonfara and Nazaré Soares. All events are organized with Invisibledrum Art Platform in collaboration with Kunsthall Trondheim and the Norwegian Historical Association (HIFO).
This program explores how the history of humanity is interwoven with the history of poison and medicine. Though ergot has an old connection to sacred origins of medicine, in the Middle Ages, ergot was often connected to religion, the supernatural, or demonology. Evidence employed in the Norwegian witch trials stated that witchcraft was “learned” by consuming ergot, usually in the form of black objects in bread, beer, or other flour products. To explain the effects of the sacred fungus, one first needs to visit the world of Hades. This program establishes an ethnobotanical discourse on the history of ergotism and human relationships with plants, perception of poisons, and the understanding of medicine and vegetal allies. Participants discuss the origin of pharmakós and how the mystic golden key of poison conveys healing, magic, and science.
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Ergot and Ergotism in Norway and Beyond: A Dark History
Torbjørn Alm
Lecture and group discussion
Duration: 60 minutes
Place: Online and streamed at Kunsthall Trondheim
This lecture highlights ergotism—the disease or poisoning caused by ingesting ergot (Claviceps purpurea), a parasitic fungus infecting many grasses, including most grains. Poisoning of humans has a long history in Europe, killing and maiming thousands. Alm reviews the history of ergotism in Norway, from early evidence in the sagas through a veritable catalogue of the unpredictable, but also unmistakable, and often horrid symptoms in the witchcraft trials and beyond.
Torbjørn Alm is professor and botanist, and Head Curator of Programs at the University in Tromsø. He is also responsible for the vascular plant herbarium at the Tromsø Museum. Alm has researched the connection of ergot with cases from the historical archives of the witch trials of Finnmark. He is interested in the interaction between people and plants, including popular plant names and the use of plants for various purposes, from folk medicine to tools.
Ergot: A Forgotten Mask of the Mystic Poison
Júlia Carreras
Lecture and group discussion
Duration: 60 minutes
Place: Online and streamed at Kunsthall Trondheim
This lecture intends to provide an overview of the evolution and perception of poisons/medicines throughout the ages, taking ergot as the leitmotiv symbolizing such transformation. Carreras analyzes the mushroom’s initial role as an ancient medicine/poison, its presence in the Eleusinian Mysteries, the connection between witchcraft and medieval ergotism epidemics, and its implications in later modern and contemporary folk magic and folk religion in some communities, taking the Pyrenees as an example.
Júlia Carreras is a researcher, practitioner, and teacher of Pyrenean Metzineria (“Poison Making”) and Bruixeria (“Witchcraft/Hedgeriding”) who graduated in English studies and linguistics from the University of Barcelona. She is the co-founder and co-owner of Occvlta, an endeavor focused on crafting high-quality herbal products and artifacts since 2013, as well as on contributing to the divulgation of witchcraft and occult herbalism history and tradition among the general public through collaboration with museums and the like. She has lectured in two editions of the Viridis Genii Symposium in Oregon (2018 and 2019). She is one of the founding members of the Gremi de l’Art, an initiative whose goal is to spread the magical traditions and lore of the Iberian Peninsula through academic insight and both individual and collective practice. She currently resides in the Pyrenees of Spain, where she works with the local museum (Ecomuseu de les Valls d'Àneu) on organizing ethnobotany walks, workshops on folk magic, and guided tours. The focus of her work revolves around the awakening and remembrance of forgotten Witch and Plant Lore.