Review

On Friday 30th September, 2016, the Atlantis Bookshop played host to an historic occasion when two traditions of witchcraft met in an upstairs London pub to discuss differences and similarities*.

With a superb turnout for the event, including some known and respected faces in Traditional Witchcraft and the occult scene, the room very gradually filled with a nice group of people gathered to partake of this unique opportunity.

During the evening, we were fortunate enough to enjoy hearing the experiences and philosophies which underpin the tradition of 1734 witchcraft, represented by the Virtue holder and Magister, Stuart Inman. In the opposite chair, Griffin Ced introduced his family tradition of Ced as its Virtue holder, Witch Father and teacher. Doing an excellent job of mediating this meeting of minds, Geraldine of Atlantis Bookshop played host. Ensuring that the conversation stayed lively, interesting and on course was not necessary, however, as the speakers were both excellent and experienced in public talking, while the audience was  equally keen and interested to learn without squandering the moment.

Stuart Inman was introduced to the 1734 tradition through its founder, Joseph “Bearwalker” Wilson. Joe Wilson had been a correspondent of famous traditional witch magister Robert Cochrane in the nineteen-sixties and, together with teaching from the enigmatic ‘Sean’, as well as Ruth Wynn Owen, he formulated and gave expression to the 1734 stream and method. Having received the Virtue of the tradition, along with two others, Stuart now enfleshes this through his working Clan of the Entangled Thicket. During the course of the evening, Stuart did a fantastic job of elucidating his tradition and sharing experiences garnered through praxis, treating the audience to a flavour of the work.

Griffin is a British expat to Los Angeles where he can be found at the Green Man Store in North Hollywood. Prior to leaving for the United States, Griffin received an old school traditional witchcraft initiation which opened up the stream and spirits that would accompany him ever after. In the USA, Griffin has found a home and family whereby the Ced stream has flourished. An accomplished and experienced teacher of the esoteric and magic, Griffin made for a fantastic speaker. Combined with the conversational style of Geraldine, this ensured a real pleasure of an evening which was informative, yet friendly and relaxed (despite the persistent alarm that insisted on making its presence known throughout the course of the night).

Talk turned to the fundamental presence of spirits within the work of much of Traditional Witchcraft which greatly engaged the audience in reference to the two streams represented. Amongst other things, the pair discussed their use of the Compass and its nature as opposed to the more common Circle of Arte used in Wicca and Ceremonial Magic. Working tools, philosophy and cosmology were all topics that arose for fascinating discussion.

Toward the end of the evening, Griffin introduced his coloured tarot deck as an inspired system rather than a re-inerpretation or themed version of familiar cards. Like the Thoth Tarot of Aleister Crowley, the Ced Tarot is an embodiment, a book, of a living current and an expression through specific symbolic language. In this manner, the deck powerfully conveys the essence of the Ced Tradition as a current of Traditional Witchcraft and utilises the body of the compass itself, expressed through and with the medium of the traditional tarot. In addition, Griffin acknowledged that the deck can easily be picked up and used by practitioners of the tarot. The deck is beautifully drawn by Arnett Taylor from imagery conceived and received by Griffin through gnostic transmission.

In all, it was a remarkable evening and a wonderful gathering of people who came together to enjoy this meeting of two streams, each individual and unique, yet sharing commonality perhaps more than divergence in a surprising number of ways. What was apparent and most enjoyable throughout the evening was that difference is healthy and discourse upon common ground good for all. Both of the speakers, and the host, provided an engaging evening with humour and intelligence. One can only hope that this is the start of something more…

The evening is followed up on Sunday 2nd October with a workshop at Atlantis Bookshop with Griffin that will make use of the Ced Tarot.

Stuart can be found over at the 1734 tradition of witchcraft website, as well as his blog for the Clan of the Entangled Thicket.

Check out Griffin at the Green Man Store in Los Angeles.

Atlantis Bookshop is a superb esoteric and occult supplier as well as an historic hub in London, hosting such incredible events as this. Atlantis is the UK stockist for the Ced Tarot.

*No fictional Sumerian deities were summoned or harmed in the crossing of these two streams and any allusion to the nineteen-eighties classic film Ghostbusters is purely a laboured pun by the writer without apology based upon the title of the evening, Where two streams meet…