The Witch Garter

A garter is worn by a Witch Queen, or Queen of the Sabbat, as a symbol of rank. Her other accompanying symbol is a silver crown, normally a band of silver with a silver crescent moon in front. By tradition, the garter is prepared with green leather with a lining made of blue silk. There is one large, silver buckle on the garter, representing the Queen's own coven, with additional, smaller, silver buckles for each of the other covens under her authority. It is worn on the left leg, just above the knee.

Garters have always had a special significance. Cave art in eastern Spain that dates to the Paleolithic period shows a sorcerer performing in a ritual while wearing nothing but a pair of garters just below his knees. The traditional dress of Morris dancers consists of garters, usually red.

Red garters were traditionally worn by a witchcraft coven Messenger. At the time of the persecutions, he would be sent out by the Priestess to advise members on meeting days and times. The red garters signified to others that he was genuine.

Pennethorne Hughes states that when a tortured witch was likely to reveal others, he or she may be murdered in jail by the other witches to avoid further arrests and tortures. To prove that the murder had been done under those circumstances, a garter would be left tied loosely around the victim's throat. Such a potential informant would be known as a "warlock," meaning traitor. The case of John Stewart of Irving in 1618 is one such example. John Reid, of Renfrewshire in 1696, is another. Many legends and folk tales have a garter as the leitmotif.

The Witch Garter is found in English history as being linked to the creation of the Order of the Garter. This order is Great Britain's highest and most ancient order of knighthood. The most widespread story states that the countess of Salisbury was dancing with King Edward III at a court function. As they danced, the countess's garter fell to the ground. The king picked it up and, to save her embarrassment, put it on his own leg with the words, "Honi soit qui mal y pense" (Shame be to him who thinks evil of it.") He went on to found the Order of the Garter, with that phrase as its slogan. The precise date for the founding of the order is not known, since the records have been destroyed, but it is thought to be 1344 or 1350. The most likely date, however, appears to be 1348.

Margaret Alice Murray mentions that it took more than a dropped garter to embarrass a lady in the 14^th century, even a lady of the court. However, if the garter dropped was a ritual one, demonstrating that its owner was in fact a leader of the Old Religion, then there would be very real embarrassment, particularly since there were high personages of the Christian Church in attendance at the event. Edward's action, then, was incredibly smart thinking, for in placing the garter on his own leg, he not only saved face for the countess, but also proclaimed himself prepared to be a leader of the Pagan population as well as the Christian. This was a clever move taking into account that a large portion of his subjects were still Pagan at that point in time.

Murray is puzzled by Edward's words, but if deemed as referring to the Old Religion itself, rather than the action or the garter, then they make very good sense. Edward then went on to form the Order of the Garter with twenty-four knights, himself, and the Prince of Wales-a total of twenty-six, or the number of two traditional covens. As Chief of the Order, the king wore a blue velvet mantle powdered over with 168 tiny garters. Along with the one on his leg, that made 169, or 13 times 13.

Bibiography:
Buckland, Raymond: Witchcraft from the Inside. 1995.
Hughes, Pennethorne: Witchcraft. 1952.
Murray, Margaret Alice: The God of the Witches. 1931.