Exploring The Existential Witch With Peter Hamilton-Giles

Last updated on: May 4, 2019 at 7:09 am By Ian Chambers

An Interview with Peter Hamilton-Giles of Atramentous Press I do believe it is important for practitioners to question their own narrative, their own beliefs, if nothing else to ensure they are not slavishly following the doctrine of another. Peter, together with his partner and talented artist Carolyn, is the founder of Atramentous Press, an imprint producing beautiful works of serious exploration into the relationship with the Witch. He is a scholar of Anthropology and Religious Studies, with a background in... Read more

Where Witchcraft Really Lives

Last updated on: July 9, 2019 at 3:44 pm By Ian Chambers

The working witch experiences, indeed cultivates, a deliberate stepping out of the accepted and everyday worldview and seeks the patterns of the subconscious, the underworld, traversing the layers within which it operates through intuitive belief. Read more

Experiencing Lucifer: Rebel Without a Cause!

Last updated on: April 10, 2019 at 7:14 am By Ian Chambers

“…the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom – Lucifer.” Rules for the Radicals, Saul Alinsky 1971 Full Disclosure, the ideas presented here are not original to the author but have a long history of use by the subversive, the romantic, libertarians, rebellious and disruptive, even anarchistic, as well as occult and Gnostic philosophies both historic and modern. Indeed, a host... Read more

The Wu Way…Going With The Flow

Last updated on: March 10, 2019 at 11:51 pm By Ian Chambers

無 Wu – emptiness, the pregnant void Thirty spokes share the wheel’s hub; It is the center hole that makes it useful. Shape clay into a vessel; It is the space within that makes it useful. Cut doors and windows for a room; It is the holes which make it useful. Therefore profit comes from what is there; Usefulness from what is not there. Tao Te Ching, Lao-Tzu, Ch 11 For many years, I have harboured a secret and sincere... Read more

Wyrd Witchcraft

Last updated on: January 14, 2019 at 8:43 pm By Ian Chambers

“Wyrd”, says one scholar, “is the compelling power and final destiny which no man and no thing may escape”. We can’t escape time: it is. We can’t escape our fate, our wyrd: it is… But there’s always a choice, there’s always a twist… [Graves, 1995] Witchcraft and magic is a funny thing. There are multiple theories, from ancient to modern, and techniques to work, not all necessarily in agreement. Many require the use of tools, props or equipment, while other techniques call... Read more

Considering An Historic Witchcraft

Last updated on: September 2, 2018 at 10:47 am By Ian Chambers

A lot has changed with witchcraft, both socially and individually. Historic witchcraft may, in fact, be sufficiently removed from its modern counterpart as to be unrecognisable in a time when there has never been more positive media exposure as with the rise of the aesthetic, social and lifestyle witchcrafts which affirm individuality and “…empower us to grow, change and heal.”[1] There are some common and easily identified mistakes with this vogue understanding of witchcraft, which is little helped by some... Read more

Flags, Flax and Fodder – A Benediction Explored

Last updated on: August 20, 2018 at 6:44 pm By Ian Chambers

Fýr, fleax, fódder, frið (Fire, Flax, Fodder & Frith) Since the private letters of Robert Cochrane became discretely distributed throughout the witchcraft communities, and amongst those pagans who picked up titbits here and there, there has been a saying that has flourished. Described as an Anglo-Saxon blessing, Cochrane signed his letters to American founder of the 1734 Tradition, Joe Wilson, in the 1960s with the letters fff, signifying, he says, ‘flags, flax and fodder’, or a home, clothing and food:... Read more

Warlock – Breaker of God’s Covenant

Last updated on: August 7, 2018 at 6:39 pm By Ian Chambers

“Lo, I have not been mindful of the sons of men, but the tribe of Cain hath sorely angered me.” Genesis A & B Book 20. Line 1255 Warlock = from OE wærloga, one who is false to his covenant The AS Genesis B Text (part of the Caedmon MS) recounts the story of Cain and Abel and attributes earthly sin to Cain for the slaying of his brother. This is a remarkable rendition of the Biblical story in that... Read more

Blood Moon: The Lunar Eclipse At Lammas

Last updated on: July 27, 2018 at 7:09 am By Ian Chambers

Friday 27th July, 2018, marks a phenomenal lunar phase, whereby circumstances conspire, combine and coalesce as Selene rises in the night sky in two most magical conditions: full and totally eclipsed. Described as a ‘Blood Moon’, due to its reddish hue, the lunar sphere will appear in the night sky (UK) at 20.50pm in the evening, already in total eclipse. During this phenomenon, the earth is perfectly between the solar and lunar orbs, fixed in that liminal space betwixt the... Read more

Meditation – Something To Think About

Last updated on: July 15, 2018 at 10:38 am By Ian Chambers

Being able to meditate in solitude is fine. Being able to meditate in a crowd is bliss. One of the fundamental practices which constitutes a foundation of any successful magician’s toolkit is meditation. In his seminal work, Sorcerer’s Secrets, professional sorcerer Jason Miller advocates the incorporation of meditation techniques within basic daily routines. Similarly, the topic of meditation is one that arises quite frequently among pagans, witches, druids, Thelemites and those who practice magic, and with good reason. In our interview... Read more