Games

L

Ludi

Games should be above board and full of fun. They should never be underhanded, covert, mean-spirited, or harmful in any way. If someone is playing a strategic game against you, understand it for what it is-indeed, a game-and change the rules to suit yourself. Seek the light-hearted company of others. A celebration will soon be announced.

A lighter heart is sometimes apt,

When a game between two is played.

One gets to know the other a little better,

And opinions may be changed or swayed.

But games too can be wild and dark,

Hiding what is and what will be.

Battered and bruised the way might go,

And winning bring no guarantee.

It was said that Dina’s witches and those who were devoted to Aradia gathered annually for games-running games, horseracing, and other sports, as well as games of chance-and the celebration of a Sabbath. This could be wishful thinking on behalf of storytellers-imagine how delightful, hundreds of naked women dancing and gaming!-or it could be marvelously true. However, women questioned independently described a setting where games were played and rites to Diana were performed, too.

And the place where they gathered? Well, it may have been an actual geographic location. Mention of the Italian city of Benevento recurs in the dispositions, and so it was believed that this was the center of the games of the witches. However, in many depositions it also say, “They flew there” (brooms were optional!), so they may have met in a realm to which they traveled in trance. But wherever it occurred, the Sabbath gatherings were repeated each year and looked forward to by all witches in the spirit of friendship and love.

We see the shadow side of game playing in those games in which someone gets hurt-not physically, but mentally or emotionally. Mind games that are played to belittle or bully someone else-or to make us feel better about ourselves at another’s expense-are not about enjoyment or even competition. Instead, they are about abuse of power. There is a deep-seated problem with bullying and negative game playing, both amongst young people in schools and between co-workers within corporate environments. We need to attend to this issue and learn why this abusive pattern persists.