And from that fatal moment, till this time The fairy king has never deign’d to show His native form, but wandering to and fro Now dwells upon the mountain peak sublime, Now hid beneath the forest’s gloomy shade… – Oberon, A Poem, from the German of Wieland, by William Sotheby, 1798. [1] Over the past few years, since the publication of The Book of Oberon, a sixteenth century manuscript grimoire, I have had a curious fascination with the folk magic custom... Read more
The universe that is created by means of the sefirot and letters is constituted according to the law of correspondences between the astral world, the seasons that mark the rhythm of time, and man in his psychosomatic structure. [1] Professor Georges Vajda (1908-1981) Within the Jewish heritage of mysticism that is the Merkabah Tradition, the Sefer Yetzirah holds an important position. This book is both a cosmogony and cosmology, defining how the macrocosm came into being through the metrics of geometry, sound,... Read more
Throughout conversations, one of the most frequent things to emerge is a regrettable reason that some people are drawn to magic and the occult. One of the greatest, and unspoken, attractions to people drawn to magic is deferred responsibility; that is, the postponing of ownership in favour of wish fulfilment. In these circumstances, we are guilty of pinning our hopes for overcoming difficult life situations upon a desired outcome through magic, when we wish for a thing to resolve itself... Read more
As cognitive beings, narrative coheres humankind, the mechanism of story bonding us in an associative way. Myth, that ‘other’ reality, is the language of the timeless world which surrounds and permeates us, and so imbues humanity, and the sorcerous individual particularly, with a common sense of the mystical and spiritual (as opposed to the material and physical, as well as rational). Through the mythic narrative, we find place, we find ourselves within the folds of the ineffable, and we find... Read more
To the Great Goddess, mother and Maker of all things, we call for a light to lead us, that light of promise held in our hopes when we waited in the shadowed lands, on the plains of ashes and in the places of darkness. Bring us, we pray, once more that light in our darkness to comfort us against cold death, to warm us with new life, new strength, and so to set the brilliance of the new day and... Read more
In previous posts, I have written with some concern about the climate crisis that’s threatening human, and other, life upon this beautiful planet. In a year that sidles it’s way poorly through a predictable and potentially manageable global pandemic (a New Zealand model as opposed to a U.K. or USA one), billionaires thrust their phallic selves to penetrate the highest strata of our atmosphere, the north-western area of the continent of America reaches alarming temperatures and fire, while parts... Read more
Many of the oldest, most iconic depictions of the witch feature the pronounced characteristics that have become instantly recognisable; a caricature that resides in all good fairy tales. Even today, many of us were made aware of what the stereotypical witch looks like, and where to find her on the edge of the dark forest. It is surprising, therefore, to learn that the large, hooked nose, protruding chin, hairy mole or wart, and stooped appearance, are in fact a rather... Read more
Within the milieu of neopaganism, and nature-based religious movements that lie at the heart of modern Wicca and Druidry, as well as the magical arts in a broader context, the ancestors holds high office. When we talk of ancestors, most frequently we are thinking purposefully and immediately of deceased familial groups, past family members and direct lineal predecessors who now occupy the space of spirit. Indeed, there is a persistent regard for such ancestral notions in the Western world, through... Read more
“South wind —heat and produce, North wind—cold and tempest, West wind—fish and milk, East wind—fruit on trees.” (Gregorson Campbell, 1902) [1] Celtic beliefs of the last century, as found in the Highlands and Islands of Scotland, testify to a belief in the faery folk, weather lore and the winds, or airts, intimately connected in a magical worldview. The Scottish folklorist, John Gregorson Campbell (1836-1891), recalls a faery belief that persisted in the Scottish Highlands of the nineteenth century. Indeed, memoirs pieced together from John’s... Read more
In terms of witchery, I firmly believe that the origins and persistent ethos of the witch is one that embraces the Punk attitude. Read more
