Mountain Witch Posted December 4, 2011 Share Posted December 4, 2011 He does. On page 150, "The most familiar and popular figure amongst the Basques is the sorguiña, the witch. (The word is found in Spanish, too.)" In the prior paragraph, he gives the construction of the word sorguin (which I presume is the male equivalent) ... sor is the equivalent of "fate" and guin is a suffix used to describe someone who does or makes something. So a sorguin would be someone who "makes fate". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anjeaunot Posted December 5, 2011 Share Posted December 5, 2011 He does. On page 150, "The most familiar and popular figure amongst the Basques is the sorguiña, the witch. (The word is found in Spanish, too.)" In the prior paragraph, he gives the construction of the word sorguin (which I presume is the male equivalent) ... sor is the equivalent of "fate" and guin is a suffix used to describe someone who does or makes something. So a sorguin would be someone who "makes fate". Thank you, Mountain Witch. The Spanish word jorguina was used for a witch. It is very close to the Basque word sorguina. Perhaps Robbins was correct when he said that the Basque tongue had no word for witch, and borrowed it from the Romance languages? It is certainly true that witches can "make fate". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melusine Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 Hi. I don't know much about basque witchcraft but I thought I could tell you about a book claimed to be about basque witchcraft or similar. The book is Sorgitzak, Old Forest Craft by Veronica Cummer. It's published by Pendraig Publishing that normally publish trad craft books, but it does seem to have wiccan influences. The author of the book claims that she has gotten the information in the book handed down to her from the gods. Now, I have an alarmklock ringing in my head right there, but i do have the book. I haven't read it all yet and I don't really think it's my style, but nevertheless it might contain some useful information. I don't know if somone has posted about this book before. I came across this thread while trying to find any links between the Sorginak, which is the Basque word for witch and also the word used for a priest or priestess of Mari, and The Sorgitzak . The book is said by the author to be information and knowledge channeled to the author as well as other members of her coven. It makes no claims to be related to any part of the Basque culture or its witchcraft or pre-Christian beliefs. Interestingly though i have found a few parallels between the two and came across an old post on the author's livejournal account in which she had started to find connections between what was passed to her from the spirits and gods of the Sorgitzak and the Sorginak. She claims that neither she nor the other witches who channeled this information had any prior knowledge of the Basque people or the practices and beliefs of the Sorginak. For her finding this information was one of those "whoa moments." I've just ordered both her books of Sorgitzak and have started to read the first. I like it very much. I'm reading with a healthy balance of an open mind as well as skepticism.I will say more on this later... my two year old has decided to start climbing on me now... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts