Mast Beast graphic, a horse skull on a pole with flowing mane of orange and black ribbons, in front of full moon Mast Beast graphic, a horse skull on a pole with flowing mane of orange and black ribbons, in front of full moon

Asheville's 16th Annual
Free Public Samhain Witch Ritual

The Mast Beast The Mast Beast

The Mast Beast

was celebrated Saturday, Oct. 30, 2010, 8-10 pm

Witch flying broom in front of blue moon Witch flying broom in front of full moon

II. Ol' Charmer

Coven Oldenwilde's Mast Beast rearing up at Asheville's Free Public Witch Ritual
This year's ritual theme was The Mast Beast — an olde European magical custom of an animated Spirit horse often accompanied by mummers or Morris dancers, and led throughout a Sabbat by a designated "gulliver".
Coven Oldenwilde's version is at left and below; the English "Antrobus"Named for the Cheshire village where a similar Mast Beast makes his appearance every Yule. model we patterned him after, at right.
Decorated horse skull atop a cloth shrouding the operator.

The Mast Beast (a.k.a. Wild Oss, Obby Oss, Hobby Horse) appears in many a British village at certain magical times of the year, summoning the untamed animal Spirit in the ancient tradition of "guising" that continues today in the masks and costumes of Halloween. (Pictured above is Knobbin, the Wild Oss of the Dorset Knobs Mummers.)

To learn more about the history and construction of the mystical Mast Beast, read this excellent articleExcerpt from "The Mast Beast":
The head of the beast, most commonly an actual animal skull but sometimes a wooden replica, is mounted on a pole (the "mast"). A cloth attached to the head covers both the usually bent over body of the operator and the stick which supports the head, concealing the operator and suggesting the shape of the animal. There are surviving intact Mast Beast traditions from Cheshire and Kent in England, and from South Wales. Interesting parallel traditions exist in the Nordic countries, in the form of the Yule Goat, and further afield in South Eastern Europe. by English mummer Corwen ap Broch.

The Mast Beast surrounded by torches and orbs at Asheville's Free Public Witch Ritual
Spiral dancers (and an orb) by the Mast Beast at Asheville's Free Public Witch Ritual
The Mast Beast's left martingale with row of horse brasses
Click on any photo to view full size.
The Mast Beast's right martingale with row of horse brasses
Coven Oldenwilde’s Mast Beast was made from a museum-quality replica of the skull of the last known species of wild horse, "Przewalski's horse", obtained from Skulls Unlimited. The antique horse brasses dangling on the Mast Beast's left martingale
  • Crescent
  • Stag
  • Elephant
  • Chinese coin
 and right martingale
  • "Oxfordshire/1712/Crown and Cushion"
  • Thistle in wreath
  • "York Minster"
  • "London/1521/Red Lion" (cf. show brass, below)
  • "The Victorian Record/*1837 1897*"
 are traditional magical amulets; below is the "show brass" *Diuvei dons to become the Mast Beast.
The Mast Beast's left martingale with row of horse brasses
The Mast Beast Ol Charmer's profile
Traditionally, each Mast Beast has its own charismatic name. We named ours "Ol' Charmer", as each Beast is renowned for cutting capers and bestowing fertile abundance upon rite participants — not to mention that roguish grin ;-) Lady Passion made most of his components from organic ingredients — mane and tail from antique yarn, deer lashing, and brass bells; reins from braided black leather; moving eye balls from green glass; and other accoutrements from bone and copper. *Diuvei devised a cantilevered wood-and-leather pullcordClick to view photo of pullcord in separate window.
HOW TO MAKE PULLCORD: A dowel is fitted as far as possible into the spinal cavity at the back of the skull, and secured by a wire passed through the skull's ear cavities and a hole marked and then drilled through the dowel (the wire can optionally then be wrapped round the back of the skull and passed through a second hole for extra security). The dowel is cut to extend a few inches out the back of the skull — enough to give good leverage, but not so far as to make an obvious hump in the Beast's neck. At the outer end of the dowel, a long leather thong is passed through another hole drilled there, and knotted a little below the dowel; then the thong's two segments are each passed through a hole drilled at either end of a spacer (made from two tongue depressors epoxied together, viewed edge-on in the photo) and each thong segment is knotted below the holes to keep the spacer in place. The thong's ends are knotted together far enough down that the Beast operator can slip his head between the thong segments, and keep a thumb hooked over this knot while holding the mast (the pole supporting the Beast's skull) with both hands. A jerk of his thumb snaps the Beast's jaws by raising and dropping its upper skull. that enables Ol' Charmer's jaws to snap readily.
In true custom style, Lady Passion wrote a couplet to sing whenever Ol' Charmer appears in public:
Hear Ol' Charmer's song
"Snap! Snap! Ol' Charmer is here —
to bring us a boon, and give us good cheer!"
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