THE BASILISK:The basilisk, or cockatrice, was not a large creature, but its glance and breath were considered deadly. Its name comes from the Greekand means "little king serpent", or King of Small Serpents. It had the head of a cock with a three-pointed crest, glittering yellow toad-eyes, the body of a snake, the talons of a cock, and a sting in its tail. Ancient writers said it hissed like a snake and could split rocks with its breath. To smell its breath, be touched by its tail, or look into its eyes was said to kill a person or at least drive them insane. Meievil writers said the basilisk came from a yolk-less egg laid by a cock and hatched by a toad in a pile of manure. They said that the only two ways to destroy a basilisk were to let it see itself in a mirror or to set a weasel (probably a mongoose) on it. Although one hears more about basilisks in Western lore, there is mention of them in the East. There the creature was said to be a mixture of cock, snake, and toad. Legends refer to the basilisk as a creator of wastelands, which it presumably causes by its deadly breath; there in the wastelands, it keeps and guards treasure. Magickal AttributesRevenge, retribution, protection.Setting up a reflective protection to return dark magick. ChantIn a mirror, bright not dark,An awesome figure reflects its form Into a barrier, protective, fierce. I stand behind it safe from harm. No threats can reach me, here behind. No magick reaches to my heart. The mirror sends evil back to source. O evil powers, now depart! |