“…And after the said Jane allighted and pulld the bridle of her head, and she and the rest had drawne their compasse nigh to a bridg end, and the devil placed a stone in the middle of the compasse; they sett themselves downe, and bending towards the stone, repeated the Lord’s prayer backwards.” Testimony of Anne Armstrong, 1673 [1] Anne Armstrong was likely just a teenager when she became swept up in a dark cloud following the Newcastle witch trials... Read more
Within modern witchcraft, two positions have made themselves apparent in recent years that is somewhat of a surprise — and is perhaps informed in some small way by the increased popularity of witchcraft and its emergence as a mainstream, and commercialised, endeavour. On the one hand are those who recognise, in historic notions of witchcraft and its power, that this practice and archetype has most often been the recourse of the disadvantaged against the abuses of those in some position... Read more
The figure of the devil, the Black Man of the Sabbat, the adversarial force that presides over all witchery, has become a popular topic for discussion of late. The following is an extract from my book, The Witch Compass: Working with the Winds in Traditional Witchcraft, published by Llewellyn. Signed copies are also available from the Surrey Cunning website. Within the folklore and custom of the common man, we must remember that the Devil manifests a force that challenges... Read more
A Defence of Witchcraft Belief: A Sixteenth-century Response to Reginald Scot’s Discoverie of Witchcraft, Edited by Eric Pudney, Manchester University Press 2023 In 1584, the would-be know-all, university dropout and so-called authority on the subject of early modern witchcraft, Reginald Scot published his now famous book The Discoverie of Witchcraft. This tome was dedicated to the intellectual, reasoned pursuit of the Protestant view of early modern witchcraft as naught but a relic of superstition and was contemporaneous with other less... Read more
veritas filia temporis The Midwinter, especially around the solstitial event of the sun’s apparent stasis (around the 21st/22nd December), has long held significance for mankind. As humanity developed narrative to bring order and meaning to life’s ever turning wheel, so myth developed around this dark time of the year — winter in the northern hemisphere. It is, therefore, little coincidence that codified within our current apprehension of custom and tradition at this time is a dark robed figure, with sickle... Read more
There has been much made in recent decades about the pagan origins of Christmas customs. It is important to note that this idea is not, strictly speaking, an accurate portrayal and is symptomatic of unhelpful reductionism. It does form, however, a broader sentiment in modern Neopaganism to reject anything that smacks of Christianity, and this often throws the baby out with the bathwater. Life, belief, perspective, traditions, customs and accompanying lore form a part of an unfolding spectrum and history... Read more
A long time ago, in my early teens, I had a secret and insatiable thirst for knowledge of the magical arts. Growing up in Aleister Crowley’s hometown, the Beast’s shadow loomed over the cultural landscape of the town. However, I instead used the cover of studying magic in Shakespeare’s play The Tempest to learn about renaissance sorcery. Of course, Elizabethan astrologer and polymath John Dee provided an evident influence for the play’s central character of Prospero, who banishes witches, works with... Read more
If you have been a student of witchcraft and Wicca for any length of time, by now you’ve heard a timeworn and banal tale that goes something like this: Witchcraft was illegal in Britain until 1951, when the Witchcraft Act of 1735 was repealed and replaced by the Fraudulent Mediums Act. This lifting of the law enabled Gerald Gardner and others –but mainly him — to be more open and birth modern pagan witchcraft into the public awareness. All of... Read more
Exploring local folklore and landscape can reveal many things, not least of which is an adventure into the enchantment of the world, touching history and local tradition. Often, we allow our everyday lives to govern our actions and thoughts and we become creatures of habit, following the same routes and patterns of behaviour. This inevitably means that we can move about our days and miss those opportunities for entering the mythic and enchanted world that lies just within a breath... Read more
Magic in the Modern World: Strategies of Repression and Legitimization, edited by Edward Bever and Randall Styers Magic in the Modern World is a collection of essays from leading figures and experts in the field of academic and practical study of magic, both its history and with particular reference to modernity. Brilliantly edited and collated by Edward Bever, Professor of History (State University of New York) and Randall Styers, Associated Professor of Religious Studies (University of North Carolina), these two... Read more
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