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Bicorn
Alternatively named Bicorne, and
during the 16th century it was also known as Bulchin. The label suggests a creature with two horns.
The Bicorn is a mythical creature with demonic undertones. In
Europe's medieval literature this fabulous beast is referenced as a plump female monster,
resembling a well-fed panther with a human face and a broad grin, which grows
fat through feasting on the flesh of 'hen-pecked', faithful, enduring husbands. In the chauvinist attitudes of the
period, such a diet was conjectured to have provided a great quantity of fodder
for the beast.
According to popular lore of the period, the powdered horn of a
Bicorn was a component in the making of magical potions. In the very popular
book 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets', when
Hermione brews a batch of Polyjuice potion, the horn of the Bicorn is used as
one of its ingredients.
The Bicorn malnourished counterpart, the Chichevache,
fed only on 'hen-pecked' wives! Both the Bicorn and the Chichevache were often
depicted in the church furniture of the period, especially on the misericords.
See Dragon, Basilisk,
Amulet, Talisman,
Casting Black Magic Spells,
Commanding Spirits,
The Tarot Store and
Divination & Scrying Tools and
Supplies.
Sources: (1) Rose, Carol,
Giants, Monsters, and Dragons: An Encyclopedia of Folklore, Legend, and Myth,
W. W. Norton & Company; (2)
Dictionary of the
Occult, Caxton
Publishing;
(3) Beahm, George W.,
Fact, Fiction, and Folklore in Harry Potter's World: An Unofficial Guide,
Hampton Roads Publishing Company.
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