Pointy Hats

Thread originally posted on the Aeclectic Tarot Forum on 14 Feb 2002, and now archived in the Forum Library.

blue	14 Feb 2002
O.K. students of the occult, Mr. History has a question. Not too very long ago I was looking at the cover of a deck of Gypsy Witch fortune telling cards and I noticed that the artist's conception of the witch wore the usual pointed hat. Then later, while looking at some Lord of the Rings promo shot I noticed that Wizard #1 also wore a pointy hat. Since that time I've seen a number of images portraying so called "magical persons" and they are all sporting hat of extreme pointitude. Where do these hats come from? I'm assuming that they have some root in the historic reality of our dim past or they would not have become associated with magic in the general public mind. Was it fashion, ritual, whimsy, or the imagination of a marketing wizard (like our image of Santa Claus starting with a Coca-Cola ad) that put the pointy hat on the magician's head?

Greenman	14 Feb 2002
(oooh, a chance to BS my way to alledged credibility!) i believe it is the result of a stereotype being heavily marketed. but there are some historical precedents i think. it may have been in 'The Meaning of Witchcraft' by G. Gardner where i read that at one time around the 14th century the pointy hat came into fashion in the large cosmopolitan areas. after a period, this fashion gave way to a new one (as fashion always does). but the people who lived in the country, the 'Heathens' or 'Pagans' weren't subjected to the immediate fashion changes, nor did they have the money to keep up. so once a style finally reached them out in the sticks it stayed around for awhile, long after the city-folk had moved on to something more trendy. now this would have been right around the time of the great witch scare, and since the country-folk were generally more inclined to the old ways, they were persecuted more, and anything that was associated with them was labelled as 'witchy'. so it was with the pointy hat. so, what do you think? anyone buying that? another thing i read regarding the pointy hat was that it represented the 'cone of power', but i'm not sure i can believe that one. did these witches, who were persecuted so horribly, go to their local Pagan store and buy the latest new age 'power hats'? probably not.

tarotbear	15 Feb 2002
Yes, I believe the 'pointy' hats represented a 'cone of power'; also- like the pyramids, the conical hat acts like a pyramid, bringing power to it's wearer. { Remember a few years back pyramids were all the rage and people were supposedly sharpening razors and keeping apples fresh in them?} Likewise, the stereotypical brim on a witch hat 'sends' the power out. Don't you remember the old 'dunce' cap? The one that stupid people wore while being forced to sit in the corner? The pointy hat was SUPPOSED TO MAKE THEM SMARTER. I think it's all a lot of folklore, myself.

Pollux	15 Feb 2002
I agree with tarotbear, even though I'm not such an expert and reader... :( The pointy hats have the same "function" of the pyramids: they gather and channel energies to the person wearing it. The one of the dunce cap is fun, but it makes me think also... Greenman: I didin't know the "story" was the one you have told. But, in honesty, it's really difficult to me to accept what you say! :) I think that cones and pyramids have always been associated to energy, channelling and the like, from Ancient Egypt onwards. You know, here in Italy the Carnival still oges on, and with all this speaking about pointy hats, you are making me feel like getting dressed as a Mage - I want a pointy hat!

Major Tom	15 Feb 2002
Didn't it start with the King Arthur stories? Merlin was always pictured with a pointy hat.

kayne	15 Feb 2002
I think greenman's story sounds pretty likely. Wouldn't the brim on the hat be for practical reasons - protection from the sun and snow etc? I am pleased no one has come up with a commercial reason like the Santa one. I was so dissappointed when I found that one out...

catlin	15 Feb 2002
Very interesting comments. The cone shape has certainly gone in the right direction but frankly speaking, when I think about the persecution of witches in Europe, I cannot imagine them running around and wearing pointy hats in public. Maybe ppl who were suspected of being a witch were forced to wear such hats in the same way Jews were forced to wear a mark like the yellow batch/star on their clothes.

blue	15 Feb 2002
Greenman; Your BS has gained credibilty with me. I think your version might very likely be the case. I have to admit that Tarotbear and Pollux's version makes sense from a ritualistic point of view. However, although it may be a contributing factor, actual ritual practice seldom (at least in the past) makes it way as a stereotype into the public consciousness. Your version remined me of our shared image of the leprechaun. When the Irish headed to the New World during the Potato Famine, they were all desprately poor and their clothes out of fashion. No one in America was wearing buckled shoe, knee breeches, tail coasts or the tapered top hats. Some of the items they wore had literally been patched and handed down for two generations. The popular press had a field day, caricaturing them as simians in cast-off clothing, interested in little other than drinking and brawling. The persicution was brutal! Thank God the Irish were too drunk to notice! (Just kidding, it's only a joke.) Regardless, to this day we still think of those racist stereotypes when we picture leprechauns and a sometime the Irish as well. For this reason I think your version may have more than a grain of truth to it. Thanks for your input!

Malachite	15 Feb 2002
I'd always assumed it was derived from some medieval fashion/anti-fashion..... oh well!... malachite

Pollux	15 Feb 2002
This one is gaining importance. The posts made me think... My former post was jokish, however. It's really hard to do without fairy-tales images and all. :-) All the same, the pointy hat is traditionally associated to withces and wizards, and this can't be denied. Therefore any exaplanation based on fashionable clothing or similar, if related to post-17th century, sounds a bit weird... I believe the idea is much older than that. I'll try to look for evidence - will Literature do? ??? Anyhow, I remember a part of Renaissance Italian Literature - maybe Ariosto or Torquato Tasso - mentioning a pointy hat linked to a sorcerer...

Greenman	15 Feb 2002
i don't want to sound wishy-washy here (cause i know i'm right - ah haha!), but we seem to be talking about two different things. the country witch, or peasant practitioner of natural magick, probably had nothing to do with a 'cone of power' or any clothing that was directly related to their magick. why would they? how could they? the lack of funds and the danger of being observed and prosecuted for heresy would make it impractical. but the Wizard, or practitioner of high ceremonial magick, probably was of a richer class, allowing him the ability to purchase (or the time to make) anything he needed to do his thing. this freedom would also allow him to practice in relative anonymity. he may well have been aware of the need for functional 'power' clothes, and gone about obtaining them. but the point (no pun intended) is that the two practices are NOT the same, then or now, and any similarity is probably coincidental.

New River	15 Feb 2002
well, this has been fun! hey, we wear hats of magnified pointitude to celebrate birthdays too! the scorpio in me now wants to know the real truth as to why witches and wizards have always been portrayed as wearing these pointy hats! the answer has to be somewhere. magicians don't wear pointy hats, they have flat hats.... why is that? i support the cone of power theory because i like it. plus i am sitting here with no hat at all, but i am thinking that if i put on one of those pointy hats (i favor the wizardy ones with stars and moons), i would instantly Feel more wizardly. so, as with the dunce cap, maybe it is just a reminder. in this case a reminder to feel more magical. still, there has to be the first time a witch/wizard was portrayed this way and a reason for it. how to find this out? thanks so much blue for sticking this pointed question into my life. love, light and hope, New River

blue	15 Feb 2002
Greenman; Very good point! Although I don't feel that the "cone of power" theory is the most likely source of the pointed hats, I don't believe that it's use can be denied to the poor practicioners of magic. After all the most basic tool of the craft are those that are at hand. Take the broom for example. Even the poorest of households could make one. Wouldn't a cone of power be as easy to make as a school room dunce cap? Ritual needn't be expensive. All that my be required are rudementary symbols and intent. I think somewhere we will find an historical seed out of which grew the witch's hat. Somewhere there is evidence we haven't uncovered.

blue	15 Feb 2002
New River; You are making the jest! What will the neighbors think?

blue	15 Feb 2002
Pollux; Literature would do indeed! It's about all we have as a resource. Personally, I would love to join Sherman and Mr. Peabody in the Wayback machine to search for clues but I have to work for a living.

New River	15 Feb 2002
As i hate a question hanging over my head i had to come back to this with another thought i had. maybe the pointy hat denoted the profession the wearer was in. i got to thinking, many occupations wear their own signature hats; chef hats, cowboy hats, baseball caps, you get the drift..... now that this has captured my attention, Everyone's Wearing Hats!!! could it be as simple as this? blue, i hope the neighbors like my pointy hat! love, light and hope, New River

kayne	16 Feb 2002
Perhaps witches and wizards had pointy heads in the past? What else would they use to cover them???

tarotbear	16 Feb 2002
***showing my age here*** "You don't have to have a point to have a point, Oblio." ***humming "Me and My Arrow" in the background***

Greenman	16 Feb 2002
"straighter than narrow"? damn TarotBear! i often do a mental exercise that involves thinking of 'the last thing on my mind'. but this may very well be the most deeply buried memory i've dragged out into the open air in a LONG time! Oblio? jeeeeez!

slinky_jo	16 Feb 2002
WELL THEN! I read in a history book that the pointy hats were placed on "witches" heads to make them look silly and foolish as they were being led to the gallows/stake/other method of execution for being "convicted" as a witch, a crime/heresy against the church (and so against the govt/villiage/crown/etc). But why then does the black pointy hat fondly represent a kitschy witchy? I don't know. Man, you guys talk about some heavy stuff! lol

blue	16 Feb 2002
S_J; Catlin memtioned the same possibility early in this thread and I think you both may have strong case! As to why witches would be remembered that way, I think it's the same psycological force at work that I referred to earlier in regards to the stereotyping of the Irish. People habitually degrade things they fear and don't understand. Imagine yourself as a child during a witch trial. The accused "witch" is mocked by having to wear a "dunce cap" (remember the Crown of Thorns?) and is led away to be punished. For the rest of your life this may be your only image of a witch. And when you've grown and have grandchildren of your own, how will you describe witches to them? I'm not saying that this is the answer to the pointy hat question, but you and Catlin may have hit on something! Now we're getting somewhere. "Come Watson! The game is afoot!"

blue	16 Feb 2002
New River; Perhaps. If your theory is correct, what profession would the pointy hat denote? Logically, that would suggest that all witches were of the same vocation. Does that sound right? PS. Damn the neighbors, full speed ahead!

blue	16 Feb 2002
Quote: New River (16 Feb, 2002 13:51): magicians don't wear pointy hats, they have flat hats.... why is that? Could it be because witches and wizard are practitioners of magic whereas magicians practice illusion?

Pollux	16 Feb 2002
Hm... I need focusing...

tarotbear	16 Feb 2002
Hehehe Greenman - where were you in 1972? :p Actually, it's "You don't have to have a point to have a point, dig?" I added 'Oblio' to see if anyone would remember the reference to "The Point" . In the land of points where the major industry was making points, Oblio was born with a round head, and was thus an outcast. He wore a pointed hat to blend in. During his adventures, he would discover that those with a point were sometimes pointless; that is when he made his point. (HEY - I saw this ONCE-- and over 30 years ago!)

Greenman	16 Feb 2002
i was a junior in High School, with a strange sense of what mattered most! and Blue... "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth!"

New River	16 Feb 2002
....."could it be because witches and wizards practice magic and magicians practice illusion?" well, gee, uh, it could be. i just thought it was because it would be too hard to pull a rabbit out of a pointy hat. and it wouldn't sit on the table nearly as nicely. the next thing i know the elves won't be baking my cookies in a hollow tree! jeez! right now i'm favoring kayne's suggestion that all witches and wizards had pointed heads. you know, my head really does come to a point. honest. any hat i wear just winds up twirling around up there! love, light and hope, New River

The Pointy Hats thread was originally posted on 14 Feb 2002 in the Spirituality board, and is now archived in the Forum Library. Read the active threads in Spirituality, or read more archived threads.