News: Mushrooms, Witches, Eclipse, Pagans, Occult

"Magic mushrooms and the roots of witchcraft" - story at Spectator.co.uk: https://www.spectator.co.uk/2017/08/magic-mushrooms-and-the-roots-of-witchcraft/

"Pagans and the eclipse: A time for spritual rebirth" - story at WVLT: http://www.local8now.com/content/news/Pagans-and-the-eclipse-a-time-for-spritual--440659943.html

"Witches prepare for solar eclipse with beach celebration and ritual" - story at WTVD-TV: http://abc11.com/weather/witches-prep-for-solar-eclipse-with-celebration-and-ritual/2293612/

"Hallett Cove artist Michelle Driver creates art to connect to her pagan religion" - story at The Advertiser: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/messenger/south/hallett-cove-artist-michelle-driver-creates-art-to-connect-to-her-pagan-religion/news-story/e548e3763ccf1f1ec5ebbd237a6b00d5

"North Lincolnshire couple tie knot with Pagan wedding ceremony" - story at Scunthorpe Telegraph: http://www.scunthorpetelegraph.co.uk/news/local-news/north-lincolnshire-couple-tie-knot-286380

"Andrew O'Neill's Black Magick Fun Hour" - details of an occult comedy show, at The List: https://edinburghfestival.list.co.uk/article/94282-andrew-oneills-black-magick-fun-hour/

Magic School: Online Course in Growing Herbs

Herbs expert and author, Rachel Petheram has launched an online herbs course with Learning with Experts.

The four-week course means you can learn in a private online classroom where a global community shares tips and gets access to herbs expert Rachel Petheram. The course costs £140 and you can book now and start when you want. A private classroom environment means you start at your convenience, wherever you are in the world. Rachel’s lectures include unique footage and she’s on hand to coach you personally for four weeks.

Dr Petheram said: “Unassuming herbs are pretty fabulous I think. As a scientist, they blow me away. As a gardener I am amazed at how easy they are to grow and how multifunctional they are. As someone who loves food they taste great. They are a true example of flower power in my opinion.

“I believe strongly in encouraging people to garden even in the smallest of spaces and in this context herbs are great, as not only can they thrive in the most unlikely containers, they are multi-functional – they are medicinal, ornamental, and culinary, attract wildlife and are great for flower arranging. The aim of this course is to consider the amazing properties of herbs, to talk about how to grow herbs in the garden whether that is in containers or in the ground and to introduce you to some lovely varieties to try”

The format of the course is that you watch video documentary lectures with Dr Rachel Petheram, who teaches the secrets and stories of her trade. You are within an interactive classroom online watching your videos, with your classmates of up to 20 people at a time. Rachel sets assignments, and critiques responses. She is also be on hand in the classroom to answer questions throughout the course.

Founder and head of Learningwithexperts.com Elspeth Briscoe said: “We have been planning this project for several years now, and are delighted to be able to bring enthusiasts and life long learners access to a true herb specialist wherever they are in the world. Our students love learning with someone they can tell their friends about, are people who enjoy continuing to understand our world more, and care deeply about growing things and the planet.”

Links
https://www.learningwithexperts.com/gardening/courses/herbs-how-and-where-to-grow-them
https://www.learningwithexperts.com/

This Week's Pagan Events In and Near London

Here are events in London plus a few in other parts of England over the next week or so that could be of interest to pagans. If you know of an event that you want listed, please email the details to me at badwitch1234@gmail.com.

Now to 30 September; Austin Osman Spare exhibition at the Last Tuesday Society. Venue: Viktor Wynd's Museum of Curiosities, 11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP. http://www.thelasttuesdaysociety.org/

Now to the end of 2017; Poppets, Pins and Power - an exhibition on the craft of cursing at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, Boscastle, Cornwall. http://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/

Now to 31 December; The London Stone on Display. Venue: Museum of London, 150 London Wall, London EC2Y 5HN. Free exhibition during museum opening ours. http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/museum-london

Now - 3 September; Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono. Play about a young witch, for families and children, adapted for the stage by Jessica Siân. Venue: Southwark Playhouse, 77-85 Newington Causeway, London, SE1 6BD. Time 7.30pm (Matinee Starts 3pm). Price £20/£16, preview tickets £12, £64 family ticket (4 tickets: must include at least one adult and one under 16). http://southwarkplayhouse.co.uk/show/kikis-delivery-service-2/

Now - Friday 19 August; Broadstairs Folk Festival. Traditional folk festival with lots of free events and workshops. http://www.broadstairsfolkweek.org.uk/

Wednesday 16 August;  Summer of Art - Free Workshop - Gong Bath and Sound Scaping hosted by Mystery School of Sound and Tower Hamlets Events. Time: 6pm-9pm. Free event, but you must get a ticket in advance. http://exhibitions.weebly.com/summer-of-art-2017.html

Wednesday 16 August; Let's Meditate - group meditation. Venue: Buddha on a Bicycle, Covent Garden, London. Starts 6pm. Donations of £3 recommended. Details: http://www.meetup.com/meditation-trust-london/

Wednesday 16 August; More Mead Moot promoted by Pagan FutureFests. Venue: Hope Pub, 48 West Street, Carhsalton SM5 2PR. Time: from 7.30pm. Meets on the third Wednesday of each month. https://www.facebook.com/Pagan-FutureFests-352385661439366/ http://www.meetup.com/Londonpagancommunity/

Thursday 17 August; Meetup with Jacqueline Cripps and talk about '#WTF is happening with my life?' Venue: Watkins Books, 19-21 Cecil Court, London WC2N 4EZ. Time: 6.30pm. Free event. For more details Tel 020 7836 2182 or visit the website http://www.watkinsbooks.com/

Thursday 17 August; Folk Song in England. Conversation with Steve Roud and others. Venue: Knowledge Centre, The British Library, 96 Euston Road
London, NW1 2DB. Time 7pm. Full Price: £12. https://www.bl.uk/

Friday 18 August; Open Circle every Friday for anyone wishing to develop their psychic and mediumistic abilities. Venue: Woodford Church at 9 Grove Crescent, South Woodford, London E18 2JR. Time 7.30pm. Cost: £3. http://woodfordchurch.com/

Saturday 19 - Sunday 20 August; Lancaster Castle hosting Lancashire Witches Weekend. Ticketed event, prebooking advised. Basic entry £1, which includes some events. Additional charges for the optional Pendle Witches Walk (£8), broomstick training (£6) and visits to the Well Tower dungeon to meet Ol'Demdike (£3). Visit www.lancashirewitches.co.uk or call 01524 419486.

Saturday 19 August; Taboo Bazaar hosted by Satanic Mojo and others. Market with 40 traders featuring tarot readers, taxidermy, witchy clothing, demonic collectables, banned books, art, strange toys, comix, monster sculptures, spells and curses, oddities, leather, latex and lingerie. Venue: Old Spitalfields Market, 65 Brushfield St, London E1 6BG. Time: 11am - 6pm. https://www.facebook.com/events/737330756468059/

Saturday 19 August; Energy Awareness Workshop: Learning to Feel Energy Workshop with the Sensing Energy and Intuition Development Group. Venue: Latvian House, 72 Queensborough Terrace, London, W2 3SH. Time noon. Tickets £15 advance booking essential. https://www.meetup.com/Sensing-Energy-and-Intuition-Development/

Saturday 19 August; Hoodoo in your Kitchen Workshop. Afternoon workshop with Lisa Mead (Dr Beetle). Venue: Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time: 1pm-5.30pm. Tickets £40. Tel: 0207 419 8507 or email: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Sunday 20 August; Meditation at Russell Brands Trew Era Cafe, 30 Whitmore Road, London N1 5QA. Starts 10.15am. Free event. Details: https://www.meetup.com/meditation-trust-london/

Sunday 20 August; Shamanic workshop. Venue: Woodford Church at 9 Grove Crescent, South Woodford, London E18 2JR. Time 11am-4pm. Cost: £10. http://woodfordchurch.com/

Sunday 20 August; Pagan Pride South Free Summer Festival 2017 with Parade. Venue Southampton Palmerston Park, Southampton. Time: 11am-5pm. https://www.facebook.com/events/217705755320431/

Sunday 20 August; Woking Pagan Moot (every 3rd Sunday). Venue: Caffe Nero, Commercial Way, Woking, Surrey. Time: 2pm. Details on Facebook and meetup.

Sunday 20 August; Dawn of the Oak. Pagan moot on the third Sunday of each month. Venue: Upstairs at The Castle, 34-35 Cowcross Road, Farringdon, London EC1M 6DB (near Farringdon tube). Time: 3pm-6pm.

Monday 21 August LDN Talks@Night - Manifestation and Angel Magic. Talk by Lynn Avis. Venue: City Road, London EC1V 2NR. Time: 7pm. Tickets £12, must be booked in advance. http://uk.funzing.com/funz/ldn-talks-night-a-skeptic-s-guide-to-reincarnation-9686?

Monday 21 August (date tbc); Pagan Pathfinders. Venue in Finchley, London N3. Time: 7.30pm. https://www.facebook.com/PaganPathfinders/

Tuesday 22 August; Evening Wildflower Walk. Venue: Tower Hamlets Cemetery Park, The Soanes Centre, Southern Grove, London E3 4PX. Time: 6pm. Tickets: £10/£12. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/evening-wildflower-walk-5-tickets-35206047235

Tuesday 22 August; Wicca New Moon: Gaia-Selene Healing Circle with London Woodland Witches Magicians and Outdoor Pagans. Venue: Queen's Woods, Near Highgate Station, London. Time: 7.30pm. Cost: £2. You must reserve a place in advance. Wear outdoor clothes and bring a blanket to sit on. Details and bookings: https://www.meetup.com/London-Woodland-Witches-Outdoor-Pagans/

Wednesday 23 August; Let's Meditate - group meditation. Venue: Buddha on a Bicycle, Covent Garden, London. Starts 6pm. Donations of £3 recommended. Details: http://www.meetup.com/meditation-trust-london/

Wednesday 23 August; Crossbones Vigil to honour The Goose and the outcast dead of Cross Bones Graveyard and the dead and wounded of the London Bridge attacks. Bring a flower, a ribbon, a totem or memento to tie to the shrine. Gather from 6.45pm for a 7pm start in Redcross Way outside the Memorial Gates, London SE1 1TA. For more details, visit  http://crossbones.org.uk/

Wednesday 23 August; Midweek Tarot. Event with the Tarot and Healing Group. Venue: The Plough 27 Museum Street, Bloomsbury, WC1A 1LH, London. Time: 7pm. Tickets £5, advance reservation necessary. https://www.meetup.com/Tarot-and-Healing-Group/

Thursday 24 August;  London Energy Share. Venue: The Skylight Centre, 49 Corsica Street, London N5 1JT. Time: 7pm. Tickets £10. https://www.meetup.com/londonhealingshare/

Thursday 24 August; House of Heron Drum Circle to Shamanic Journey. Venue: Caer Corhrain, 1 Southleas farm cottages, Lower Road, Minster, Sheppey, ME12 3SW. Time: 7.30pm. This takes place on the third Thursday each month. For more information visit http://www.touchtheearthuk.com/

Thursday 24 August; The Circle of Ankerwycke moot on the third Thursday in each month. Venue: Function room at the back of the Two Rivers Pub, 43 Church Street, Staines-upon-Thames, TW18 4EN. Time: 8pm.

Friday 25 August; Bronze Oak Grove. Storytelling from London Dreamtime with Royal Parks for children aged 4-10 and their families. Venue: North Flower Walk Kensington Gardens. Time: 3pm and 5pm. Price: £5. http://londondreamtime.com/calendar/  Tickets at http://www.supporttheroyalparks.org/events/events_in_hyde_park/1760_tree_tales_with_vanessa_woolf

Friday 25 August; Shamanic Journeying Circle run by Shamanic Spirit at a venue in New Addington, Croydon, South London. Time: 6.30pm. For details and to book places call 07952 041477 or visit http://shamanicspirit.co.uk/

Friday 25 August; Om Healing for body mind and soul. Venue: The Dhyana Centre, 50 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8EA. Time: 8pm. https://www.meetup.com/Light-in-London/

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 August: The Conference for Consciousness and Human Evolution. Venue: Millennium Gloucester Hotel, 4-18 Harrington Gardens, London SW7 4LH. Standard ticket £279 for all the talks for three days, day tickets £75/£149. https://tcche.org/conference/

Saturday 26 August; Goddess Frigga Workshop. Venue: Wicca Moon, 50 Well Hall Rd, London, SE9 6SH. Time: 11am-5pm. Tickets £20 in advance. For details or to book a place email shirlee@wiccamoon.org.uk or call 020 8850 7803.

Saturday 26 August; Magical Bloomsbury Walking Tour - guided walk with Christina Oakley Harrington. Starts at Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time: 1pm. Ticket price £15. Tel: 0207 419 8507 or email: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Sunday 27 August; Meditation at Russell Brands Trew Era Cafe, 30 Whitmore Road, London N1 5QA. Starts 10.15am. Free event. Details: https://www.meetup.com/meditation-trust-london/

Note: I do not organise any of these events. Although I try to make sure the details on my listing are accurate, I do not always know about late changes, cancellations or ticket availability etc. Please contact the organiser before attending any event.

Fitness Author on How to Kickstart a Habit

Health expert Brian Keane believes it is important to recognise which habits are supporting you and which ones are destructive to your life.

In his book, The Fitness Mindset, Brian explains how to create positive habits and break negative ones. The former London school teacher and fitness model takes influence from fellow author Charles Duhigg’s system of habits. He refers to the ‘routine - cue – reward’ system, which claims you can effectively change a habit by changing one of the components of this system.

Brian said: “For me, the routine of coming home from work was always going to be the same, so I changed the cue. Instead of automatically reaching for chocolate bars in the cupboard, I left a pre-packed gym bag beside the front door. I would come home (routine), pick up my gym bag (new cue) and the (reward) came via the serotonin release from exercise.”

Brian believes that becoming self-aware of your negative behaviour, patterns and habits isn’t always easy. He said: “It is essential to recognise which habits are supporting you and which ones are destructive to your life. Reading books, using podcasts and following the right people on social media is crucial to change as they can ‘point’ things out in a way that you have missed or failed to see.

“Deep-rooted habits are more difficult to change but it’s the small things every day that allow you to change these habits. By taking the right steps consistently, you could be rid of them forever.”

Aristotle wrote: “We are what we repeatedly do.” Brian maintains that with enough practice and repetition any behaviour, good or bad becomes automatic over time.

To make the right automatic choice, Brian said: “The key is educating yourself what are good choices for your body and mind and to create healthy habits accordingly. Over time your choices will become automatic.

“For example, if you eat healthily, those food choices become automatic and sticking to a good nutritional plan becomes habit. Finding or creating a plan that includes your preferences – food you enjoy and that works with your lifestyle and schedule becomes the way you eat and not a diet you are following.”

Brian’s advice is to reflect on how deeply your habits are rooted and then put a plan in place to create new positives ones.

Published by Rethink Press, The Fitness Mindset can be viewed on Amazon.

Links:
Brian Keane Fitness Website: https://briankeanefitness.com/
Brian Keane Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/briankeanefitness

Pagan Eye: Water Lily in Sunshine

Here is a photo I took of a water lily at Shinewater Park in East Sussex yesterday. The Latin name for the genus is nymphaea, which mean "water lily", but was inspired by the nymphs of Greek and Latin mythology.

The ancient Egyptians revered the Nile water lilies, which were known as lotuses. The flowers of the blue Egyptian water lily open in the morning, but sink beneath the water at dusk, while those of the white water lily open at night, but shut in the morning. Egyptians found this symbolic of death and the afterlife. A Syrian terracotta plaque from the 14th-13th centuries BC shows the Goddess Asherah holding two lotus blossoms. An ivory panel from the 9th-8th centuries BC shows the god Horus seated on a lotus blossom, flanked by two cherubs.

My Pagan Eye posts show photos that I find interesting - seasonal images, pagan sites, events, or just pretty pictures. If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself.

Links and previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/06/pagan-eye-elderflower-celtic-healing.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/03/pagan-eye-cherry-blossom-on-london-tree.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/06/pagan-eye-red-roses-in-my-garden.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nymphaea