42 SPECIAL EDITION | 2021

ALL ILLUSTRATIONS : SÉBASTIEN BAZOU COLLECTION ( EXCEPT SPECIAL MENTIONS )

1 . This article is not comprehensive . It is not intended to provide a complete list of female magicians practicing witchcraft , fortune telling , spiritualism and magic shows . It just recaps key moments by evoking great female figures across the centuries .

2 . Circe , Hecate ’ s daughter , goddess of magic and divination , transformed Odysseus ' s companions into swine with the help of a potion .

3 . Medea , Circe ' s niece , mastered the art of ointments , and aided Jason in his quest for the Golden Fleece before terrifying revenge for his infidelity .

4 . The first mention of the word “ witch ” in French appeared in the middle of the eleventh century , in the Roman d ' Éneas ( 1060 ). Before the year 1000 , under the Carolingians , one qualifies these women , who handle herbs and that one suspects to bewitch , herbariae , sortiariae , fascinators , enchantresses , stryges or evil women . The first witch to be burned in Europe was Adèle de Toulouse in 1275 .

The most famous witch in history is Jeanne d ’ Arc who , during her trial , is accused of being a witch , leader of spells , diviner , false prophetess , summoner and conjurer of evil spirits , superstitious , idolater , apostate of faith … She was burned twice in 1431 in Rouen .

We can also name : Agnès Sampson who died in 1591 in Edinburgh . Anne de Chantraine , tortured and burnt alive in 1622 in Waret . Marie Navart burned alive in 1656 in Templeuve after having undergone the ankle boots torture . Anna Goldin is the last witch to be condemned in Europe . She died beheaded in Switzerland in 1782 .

Over the centuries , the witch will evolve into a poisoner , an alienated , hysterical in the nineteenth century , then a militant and spiritual feminist in the twentieth century . The witch is " an intercessor ", she allows dialogue between the visible and the invisible , the living and the dead . She restores the balance between the two worlds through rituals and changes a state of consciousness when she wishes . The witch is a great figure of resistance and protest . For centuries , it has questioned society on its functioning and questioned its patriarchal , capitalist and anti-ecological system .

5 . We must mention the case of Mother Shipton ( Ursula Southeil , 1488-1561 ) who is a special figure because she made the link between witchcraft ( with her gifts of prophecy ) and the fortune telling ’ s practice to come .

6 . Telepathy is a branch of mentalism which needs a transmitter ( male ) and a receiver ( most often female ). From the 1940s , in France , a wave of duos appeared in cabarets and circus , whose headliners were Myr and Myroska . Will follow ( until today ): Carolus and Magdola , Robertson and Lucile , O ' Shan and Naga , Georges Farah and Li king Si , Monika and Don Lucry , Wilsonne and Wilson , Xavier Moriss and Véronika , Les Gilsons ( Claudy and Mylène ), Gilles and Blaise … then Van Yen and now Avril , Claude and Christine Jan , Pathy-Bad and Bettina , Philippe Warein and Laurence , Edouard and Sarah , Viktor and Malvina then Viktor and Wanda , Antoine and Val , Dan Taylor and Elisabeth , Claude de Piante and Aude Lebrun …

7 . Among the illusions intended for women : Cremation ( created by Professor Seeman around 1880 and taken over by Von Arx , Jansen , Fu Manchu …), Decapitation ( practiced by Flora Anderson , Maudeena Heller , Rubini , Adélaïde Herrmann …), The living target ( invented by Chung Lin Soo around 1908 and taken over by Thurston , Willard ...), The pierced woman ( by Edward Massey and Howard Thurston ), The Indian Basket trick adapted around 1864 by Colonel Stodare who is one of the first to present this effect in Europe where he pierced a young woman . The saber crate is a variant .

8 . Among the famous female mediums : Emma Hardinge Britten ( 1823-1899 ), Eileen J . Garrett ( 1893-1970 ), Helen Ducan ( 1897- 1956 ), Jeanne Dixon ( 1904-1997 ).

9 . Escapology is a new way to dramatically present escapes in " full light " or full view , as a physical challenge . Escape techniques have been used for centuries by magicians but in a different format for the effects of disappearance , transposition or spiritualist phenomena as with the Davenport brothers . They started their routine with a demonstration of freeing the ropes in plain sight before locking themselves in their famous wardrobe . The first woman to use this method was Lizzie Anderson ( one of J . H . Anderson ' s daughters ) with her partner Mr Sutton around 1867 .

10 . Magical Women with Connie Boyd is dedicated to documenting renowned female magicians and new upcoming talent for the future . It is the only channel in the world dedicated to documenting women in magic . https :// www . youtube . com / c / MagicalWomenwithConnieBoyd