Pagan Events

Now until 20 July; Solstice. Film installation with soundtrack marking the summer solstice by Neeta Madahar at PM Gallery and House, Walpole Park, Mattock Lane, London W5 5EQ. Tel: 020 8567 1227. www.ealing.gov.uk/services/leisure/museums_and_galleries/pm_gallery_and_house

Monday 30 June; The Woman Magus - A Woman's Adventures in the World of Modern Magick. Talk by Jaq Hawkins at Treadwells, 34 Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7PB. 7.15pm for 7.30pm start. Tickets £5 in advance, booking essential. Tel: 020 7240 8906 or email: info@treadwells-london.com.

Wednesday 2 July; The Shaman, the Vision and the Brain. Repeat of sold-out lecture by Dr David Luke, of the University of Northampton, at Treadwells, 34 Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7PB. 7.15pm for 7.30pm start. Tickets £5 in advance, booking essential. Tel: 020 7240 8906 or email: info@treadwells-london.com.

Wednesday 2 July; The Assassins and the End of Time. Talk by Boz Temple-Morris at The Moot With No Name, Devereux public house, 20 Devereux Court, off Essex Street, London WC2. Meet from 7.30pm, talk starts at 8.30pm. Admission £2.

If you know of any pagan events and want them listed on A Bad Witch's Blog, email me via my blog or leave a comment below.

In search of a sacred spring

Around the corner from where I work, in London EC2, is Holywell Lane. It is an ordinary city street, with office blocks and a few shops, but the name suggested a sacred well must have been there in the past, so I decided to ask some questions about it.

A woman I work with told me that in the Middle Ages, Holywell Lane, in Shoreditch, marked one edge of Holywell nunnery, which was founded by 1158. It covered eight acres and was the richest Augustinian nunnery in England.

However, this was slightly contradicted by something I found on a great website Sacred Sites, which said that Holy Well in EC2 is mentioned in John Noorthouck's History of London, published in 1773:

“In the parish are two prebends, and part of a third, belonging to St Paul’s cathedral, in the city of London: The first dominated by Eald-Street, or Old Street, received that appellation from the Saxons being part of the Roman military way: the second, which had been a separate village for many years, by the name of Hochestone, vulgarly Hoxton, likewise itself to be of a Saxon origin: the third called Haliwell, had its name from a vicinal fountain, which, for the salubrity of its water, had the epithet Holy conferred on it.

In King John’s Court, Holywell-lane, are to be found the ruins of the priory of St. John Baptist, of Benedictine nuns, founded by Robert the son of Gelranni, prependary of Haliwell, and confirmed by charter of Richard I in the year 1189. It was rebuilt in the reign of Henry VII by Sir Thomas Lovell, knight of the garter; who was there buried: and the following ditty was in consequence painted in most of the windows.

All the nuns of Holywell, Pray for the soul of Thomas Lovell.”

I couldn't find out for certain whether the nunnery was Augustinian or Benedictine, but both sources confirmed there had been a well in the area.

Many springs or wells were revered as sacred long before Christianity came to the British Isles and it is possible that the holy well in Shoreditch was one of these, as well as being respected for the "salubrity" of its water. I do not know if any archaeological finds have linked it to pre-Christian ritual practices.

There are more than 20 holy wells in and around the London area. Some still exist, although usually hidden beneath man-hole covers. The one in Holywell Lane has long been lost under roads and buildings.

I intend to spend more time visiting other sacred springs around London and will write about them on A Bad Witch's Blog.

If you have any more information about the history of Holywell Lane, or other sacred sites, email me or leave a comment on my blog.

Links:
http://www.google.co.uk/maps
http://www.hackney.gov.uk/ep-shoreditch-history.pdf
http://www.londononline.co.uk/streetorigins/H/
http://www.kch42.dial.pipex.com/holywellslond.htm

A Jack or Jill of All Trades

When I was a teenager, I went to a palmist who told me that I had a “mixed hand” – meaning that each of my fingers was a slightly different shape.

There are five different basic shapes: square meaning you have an orderly personality, spatulate meaning you are an active type of person, knotty meaning philosophic, conic meaning artistic and long, dainty hands that are supposed to indicate one is psychic.

The mixed hand, however, has bits of all of them. It shows, I was told, that I was destined to be a “Jack of all trades, but master of none”.

I was offended. For a start, I’m hardly a Jack. A Jill maybe, but the palmist must have been blind to get my gender wrong.

Then I read a bit more about palmistry. He was right in one thing. I do have a mixed hand – but that doesn’t mean I’m necessarily going to flit from one thing to another without ever having any success.

On the contrary, I prefer to call myself multi-talented and good at multi-tasking. These are all great qualities for a witch who has to balance her work, caring for her family and learning skills that are useful for her craft.

And you don’t have to be a master of anything. Being adequate is good enough.

The photo is not a picture of my own hand. It is entitled Mixed Hand by Artisan Henna. Visit: http://www.artisanhenna.com/.

Links:
http://www.paralumun.com/palmistry.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiromancy

Crossroads of the elements

That rather dull looking scene of a suburban railway station near where I live is, in fact, a crossroads of the elements.

Water, in the form of a culverted stream, runs underneath the railway, the road and the rails represent earth, the bridge is air and fire powers the trains that run along it – well, electricity these days, but I do recall watching a few steam trains chuff their way through the station in my childhood.

Crossroads are enchanted places where different world’s might converge, as well as different roads. They are places where, in folklore, one might meet faery folk, vampires, wandering spirits or even the odd witch...

They are places where choices are made and the future is therefore not certain. They are a good place to do magic – although I realise you wouldn’t want to engage in some elaborate ritual on the bridge over the railway at rush hour.

And sometimes magic seems to break through even that dull little suburban crossway. The stream sometimes breaches the culvert and springs of water bubble up into the street. In spring, that hedge is always laden with blossom and it autumn it is rich with red berries. In both those seasons it is full of birds – nesting or feeding – and you can hear birdsong from right down the street. At times like those I can feel wild nature trying to break through, and the crossroads does seem magical.

Useful link: http://www.whitedragon.org.uk/articles/crossroad.htm

The Bath Mysteries

The town of Bath, in Avon, south west England, is a World Heritage Site that is famous for its Roman Baths and medieval abbey. However, the ancient town also has a secret history that links it to Celtic mythology, mystery cults and King Lud, who legends also associate with London, derived from Caer Lud, or Lud's Fortress..

A fellow blogger, Dan Tatman, is researching a book on the mythology of Bath and has put some of his research on his blog: The Bath Mysterys. He said:

"I live in Bath and am writing a book on Bath, it's various mystery schools, celtic origins, geomancy and much more, but anyway...
"I have identified over the last eight years that the founder of Bath -Bladud- IS King Lud and, coming from Wales, I know that Lud is the Latin of Lludd - the father of Gwyn (king of the fair folk). And that the Welsh lineage comes trickling through Ireland and that ''Lludd Llaw Eraint'' - Lud of the silver hand is actually LUGH - the inheritor of the kingship of the Tuatha de Danaan after the death of Nuada (silver hand).
"It is just one point that can be proven where the early church rewrote all the early legends - denigrating men, women, druids and gods as they went. My book is controversial but that's great. On my blog there is a recent interview that I have done. It's part of a series that will be continued over the coming weeks."

You can read Dan's blog at: http://www.thebathmysterys.blogspot.com/

Links:
http://www.thebathmysterys.blogspot.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Lud
http://www.visitbath.co.uk/

Pagan Events

Now until 20 July; Solstice. Film installation with soundtrack marking the summer solstice by Neeta Madahar at PM Gallery and House, Walpole Park, Mattock Lane, London W5 5EQ. Tel: 020 8567 1227. www.ealing.gov.uk/services/leisure/museums_and_galleries/pm_gallery_and_house

Wednesday 25 June; Healing Houses and Offices - ridding houses of negative energy. Talk by Philena Bruce at Secret Chiefs, Devereux public house, 20 Devereux Court, off Essex Street, London WC2. Meet from 7.30pm, talk starts at 8.30pm. Admission £2. http://www.philena.co.uk/

Thursday 26 June; PF London: Midsummer Open Ritual, by Pagan Pathfinders. Bring seasonal food and drinks to share. Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn. Entrance £5 (£4 for PF members). 7.30pm for pre-ritual socials. Ritual starts at 8pm. For details, email info@pflondon.org

If you know of any pagan events and want them listed on A Bad Witch's Blog, email me via my blog or leave a comment below.

Visualisation on the element of fire

Here is a guided visualisation. If you want to try it, sit down somewhere you will be undisturbed, take a few deep breaths and read through it, pausing where necessary to visualise your own journey.


Fire: A Guided Visualisation

You are in a safe and familiar place, but it is dark. You have woken before dawn because this is a special day. You have a journey ahead of you, towards something you feel passionate about. Although you know the path you will set out on, you do not know exactly where it will end, or what you will encounter along the way. You light a single candle to get ready by and, as you do so, think about what it is that you are passionate about.

Apart from the clothes you are wearing, you can take only one item with you on your journey. Spend a few moments thinking about how you prepare yourself for the day and the one item you will take.

When you are ready, you blow out your candle and leave your safe and familiar place. As you step out into the open, you see the first rays of the sun’s light on the horizon. You watch as the glow begins to spread into the sky in the east and you start your journey.

You are travelling along a pathway as the sun rises. You continue for a long while, the light and heat of the day increasing. Be aware of what is around you – the road, the landscape, the sights, the sounds and the smells.

The journey is long and you begin to feel hot and tired. Think about what it is that gives you the desire to continue your journey.

You travel on for many miles, as the sun rises higher in the sky until it is directly overhead. The air above the ground on the path ahead of you begins to shimmer from the heat. The heat haze forms what seems like a translucent and flickering curtain across your path that obscures the way ahead. It seems like a barrier of light and heat that you must pass through.

You have a moment’s trepidation before passing through this barrier, which seems like some gateway beyond which are things you are unsure of, but you know you must pass through it, so you do.

On the other side of the heat haze, the landscape has changed. It seems rocky and volcanic. It is very hot. Yet the pathway continues onwards and you continue your journey.

After a while you see a figure ahead of you, standing in the middle of the path. The figure waves at you, as though they wish to attract your attention, so you stop to talk to them.

The figure tells you the road ahead, just out of sight, is broken by a fissure. They say there is a gap in the road that is impassable, and that you should turn back. They do their best to persuade you that you should not go any further. What do you say or do?

If you took their advice and turned back, then you return to your safe and familiar place. Perhaps you will try the journey again another time or in another way.

If you decided to continue your journey, you leave the figure behind you and continue on to the break in the road.

It seems as though some movement of the land or an earthquake has cracked the road. A long fissure lies across it. There does not appear to be a way around this fissure, which stretches in either direction across your path. There is nothing you can see to bridge the gap, as the land is rocky and bare.

The only way across is to jump – yet it is a long way, further than you have ever jumped before and you are unsure whether you can make it. You also realise that if you are to attempt the jump you must unburden yourself of everything unnecessary, yet the only thing you are carrying is something you chose to bring with you. Something important. Spend a few moments deciding what to do, then make the jump.

You have survived the leap and once again you can see a way forward, a path leading towards your destination. You travel on for a considerable distance and for much time.

The sun finally begins to set ahead of you. The sky darkens as the sun lowers towards the horizon.

As you crest a hill, you see below you a huge bonfire. In front of the fire, figures are dancing. It seems to be some sort of celebration and you know that you must be near your destination. The fire lies along your path, so you must approach it. As you do, the figures wave at you and beckon you over. You feel the urge to join the dancers and join in the fun. Approach the fire, talk to the dancers and decide what you will say to them and do.

Your decision was the right one. You spend as much time with the dancers as you need, but eventually you know you must continue and the dancers agree with you. They point out the way ahead, although you see that the path has an added hazard for it is covered in burning, glowing coals. You must walk over them to continue your journey.

Spend a moment preparing yourself.

You take that first brave step, putting your feet on the smouldering coals, yet you find that you are safe. You are unharmed by the fire, though you may feel its heat.

You walk on, seeing shapes and shadows in the glowing coals and flickering flames. These shapes and shadows may have significance for you, watch them and learn what they show you and discover if they have meaning.

You approach the end of the burning pathway and a curtain of fire rises before you. You have no option but to rush through it, feeling its flames flicker over you, burning away your fears and misgivings, but leaving you unharmed.

You are at the other side. You find that you are in a chamber in the heart of a fire. You are quite safe and comfortable, but fire and flames are all around the edges of this place. Your know your ordeal is behind you and you are close to your destination, although it may not be what you thought it would be at the start of your journey.

At the far side of the chamber you see a figure you know to be the guardian of fire. Taking a deep breath, you approach them, giving them the greeting that you feel is right.

And the guardian replies, speaking some words that are meant for you alone. Words that tell you something vital regarding the thing that you feel passionate about. Spend as much time as necessary listening to what the guardian has to say, and conversing with them as appropriate.

Your conversation draws to a close. You thank the guardian for what you have learnt and what you have seen.

The guardian beckons you again, and hands you a gift, for you to take with you – something that will help you achieve your heart’s desire.

You look to see what the gift is, as it is placed into your hand. And, as you look at the gift, you become aware of a change around you

When you look up you realise that you have returned to your familiar place. Any item that you lost along the way has been returned to you. You are safe.

Take time to re-acclimatise yourself with the normal world and, when you are ready, open your eyes.

You can find more guided visualisations in my book Pagan Portals - Guided Visualisations.

Hilly Fields Stone Circle

Stonehenge, the 5,000-year-old megalithic monument on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, is the most famous place in England to celebrate the summer solstice.

It consists of two concentric circles of stones, inside which is a horseshoe shape of five stones, with the axis aligned on the midsummer sunrise. The world heritage site, administered by English Heritage, is only fully open to the public at the winter and summer solstices and the spring and autumn equinoxes.

There is no doubt that watching druids celebrate the solstice sunrise is a fantastic experience.

However, Londoners do not have to travel all the way to Wiltshire to celebrate midsummer in this way. They have a stone circle all of their own, in Brockley, south-east London.

In 1997, a group of Brockley artists got the idea to create a new stone circle for the millennium in 2000. The local community got behind the project and they got permission to build it on Hilly Fields, Brockley - a public park which had been the site of an annual midsummer fair for a quarter of a century.

Boulders were transported from Scotland and set in place on the morning of the spring equinox, March 21, 2000. The stones are a giant sundial and you can use them to tell the time of day as well as marking the spring and autumn equinoxes and the winter and summer solstices.

Michael Perry, who watched the solstice sunrise at 4:45 am on June 21, 2000, said: "A visit to the stones gives you an opportunity to reflect on your life and how this is integral to time. Myths and legends surround stone circles. It is up to us to continue this process."

This year, the Hilly Fields Midsummer Fayre, run by the Brockley Society, takes place on Saturday, June 21, from noon until 5pm. It is a community event, with entertainment including a steel band, bird of prey displays and a karate demonstration. There will be stalls raising money for charity and community projects, Caribbean, Thai and English food, children's rides and a bouncy castle.

But, if you get there at dawn to celebrate the sunrise in a more spiritual fashion, I suspect you will not be alone.

news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2001/06/0620_Stonecircles.html
www.thehill.org.uk/eventdetails.asp?eventid=357&back=-2
www.brockley.com/brocsoc/
www.megalithic.co.uk/
http://stonehenge.mercurymoon.co.uk/links.html

Photo: Belly dancer Maisie performing during a ritual at Hilly Fields Stone Circle, by Mel Dymond Harper

Midsummer and the solstice

Midsummer is our favourite festival, according to a poll on A Bad Witch's Blog earlier this year.

For most pagans, midsummer takes place at the summer solstice, or the longest day of the year, on 21 June. The word solstice comes from the Latin sol sistere, which means "sun stand still". Afterwards, for the rest of the year, the days get shorter and the nights longer - although the warmest weather of the summer is still to come, with July and August often being the hottest months.

Midsummer's day is supposed to be highly magical, charged with the energy of the sun at its strongest. Folklore says that herbs gathered then for medicinal purposes are especially potent. It is also a time when fairy folk are said to visit this world, often playing pranks on mortals or luring them away to fairyland with their charms. If nothing else, it is an enchanting night to see Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream played under an open sky.

The summer solstice has been marked as a special occasion for thousands of years and by many cultures. Ancient Celts celebrated it with huge bonfires - although it seems lighting bonfires was something the Celts loved to do at almost any time to mark any special event. The Christian feast of St John the Baptist is also at the end of June, as is the festival of Li, the Chinese Goddess of light.

Wiccans sometimes call midsummer "Litha", which is one of the eight solar holidays in the Wheel of the Year. It is a festival to mark the marriage of the God and Goddess and is also a popular day for handfastings - pagan weddings, in which the couple to be married are symbolically joined by a chord around their hands.

Druids also celebrate eight key points of the cycle of the year. The sight of druids ritually celebrating the the sun dawning over the Heol Stone at Stonehenge, in Wiltshire, at the summer solstice is one of the best known images of modern paganism. Many would argue it is something that has gone on for thousands of years.

Links:
www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/paganism/holydays/summersolstice.shtml www.wyrdology.com/festivals/solstice/summer.html

www.wightdruids.co.uk/Eightyear.html

www.onestopenglish.com/section.asp?theme=mag&docid=145577

www.helium.com/knowledge/72026-astronomical-explanation-of-the-summer-solstice

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Midsummer_nights_dream

Medium skeptics

Yesterday evening I went to hear Steve Parsons and Ciaran O'Keeffe, from Living TV's Most Haunted, do a talk called How NOT to Investigate the Paranormal.

The event was hosted by The Skeptics in the Pub, a group that meets in the Penderel's Oak pub in High Holborn, London, to analyse topical subjects with a critical eye.

Let's face it, Most Haunted is hardly difficult to debunk. Even those of us who believe in ghosts - and I count myself in that number - can hardly accept that all the spooky stuff portrayed on the TV show is for real.

I didn't need the two parapsychologists to confirm that most of the so-called psychic impressions given by medium Derek Acorah were based on prior knowledge. I also didn't need to be told the noises, lights and gusts of wind that have Yvette Fielding screaming that there's a ghost in the room are really just normal phenomena. I knew that already.

Nevertheless, the behind-the-scenes anecdotes were fascinating, such as explanations of verbal techniques used by the show's psychics to pump people for information before filming starts and practical jokes played on team members to set them up with fake information.

Steve and Ciaran also talked about scientific equipment used for ghost hunting, debunking much of it. EMF meters, night vision goggles and laser thermometers might look great on TV, but apparently rarely find ghosts.

They also had a few cautionary tales. Since programmes such as Most Haunted have become popular, the number of people believing their homes are haunted has soared. Some get ripped off for vast sums of money by unscrupulous people who claim they can exorcise the property.

Ciaran said: "If you ever think you have a ghost, you don't want an exorcist, you want a skeptic. Nothing ever happens when a skeptic is around."

Links:
http://www.skeptic.org.uk/pub
http://www.livingtv.co.uk/shows/mosthaunted/
http://www.theparapsychologist.com/

Approaching midsummer

I have been attempting to write a guided visualisation on the element of fire to do at midsummer, June 21.

If you have been reading A Bad Witch's Blog for a while you'll know that I decided to write guided visualisations for each element - earth, air, fire and water - over the year, starting at the midwinter solstice.

For some reason, I have been finding each one progressively more difficult to write.

I wrote my earth meditation late one night last December. It took time, but I didn't really struggle with it. Maybe that was because, astrologically, I am an earth sign.

The air meditation, which I wrote before the spring equinox, took me longer. I came up with an early version quite easily, long before the date I wanted to work through it, but was unsatisfied with it. While soaking in a bath one Sunday morning, I suddenly got inspiration, rewrote it, and was happy with the result. Although I was, perhaps, immersed in the wrong element at the time - water rather than air - the final meditation was all about getting sudden inspiration.

But I have been struggling hard to write my fire meditation. I forced myself to write a first version, knowing that I could always rewrite it later. I went over it several times, without feeling happy with it - until I decided to take my mind off my work altogether and have a day off.

Shopping, a movie and going to watch a bizarre pantomime horse championship -run in aid of charity - was just what I needed. I realised that the very things my meditation were lacking were the things I was lacking too - energy and passion about the project. A day off was what I needed to recharge my batteries. I've now finished writing my fire meditation and I hope it runs better than a pantomime horse when I try it out on June 21!

Links to my earlier guided visualisations:
www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4152532055090335650&postID=993714996383235084
www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4152532055090335650&postID=4583706393986136675

A full moon to meet under

On Wednesday, 18 June, there is a full moon.

According to www.pagancalendar.co.uk/, the medieval name for this month's full moon is the Dyad Moon. The word 'dyad' comes from the word 'duo' and means two people that are regarded as a pair, such as the mother-daughter dyad.

One explanation for the name is that this full moon falls in the same month as summer solstice. This is the time when the two halves of the year meet. In neopagan terms it is time when the God and Goddess meet for their union. It is also the time when the maiden year becomes the mother year. Duality is the focus.

The full moons have been given many different names by different cultures. A Celtic name is Moon of Horses, although I have no idea of the true origin of this. According to the Old Farmer's Almanac it is sometimes called the Strawberry or Rose Moon.

All of these are delightfully romantic. If any gorgeous man were offer me roses and strawberries then invite me for a wild horse ride under the full moon on a warm summer's night, I don't think I would refuse for a moment...

For more information about the magical significance of the full moon, follow these links:
www.pagancalendar.co.uk/
http://www.new-age.co.uk/moon-dates.htm
www.pagan-heart.co.uk/articles/moonnames/moonnames.html
witchcraze.moonfruit.com/lunarmonths/4526627125
pagan-magic.co.uk/shop/moon-phases-a-27.html?osCsid=db16cdf4e05cfc0e79990eca4af8f5e
www.farmersalmanac.com/full-moon-names

Pagan Events

Tuesday 17 June; How NOT to Investigate the Paranormal. Talk by Steve Parsons and Ciaran O'Keeffe from Living TV's Most Haunted at London Skeptics in the Pub. The Penderel's Oak, 283-288 High Holborn, London WC1V 7HP. 7pm start. Tel: 020 7242 5669.

Wednesday 18 June; Finding the Latter-Day Goddesses: Pangaea, Britannia, Lady Liberty and their Sisters. Talk by Fleur Shearman at Treadwells, 34 Tavistock St, Covent Garden, London. £5 in advance. 7.15pm for 7.30pm start. Tel: 02072408906. www.treadwells-london.com/lectures.asp

Thursday 19 June; Pop Culture Magic: A Practitioner’s Perspective. Talk by Elizabeth Maddison at Treadwells, 34 Tavistock St, Covent Garden, London. £5 in advance. 7.15pm for 7.30pm start. Tel: 02072408906. www.treadwells-london.com/lectures.asp

Friday 20 June to 20 July; Solstice. Film installation with soundtrack marking the summer solstice by Neeta Madahar at PM Gallery and House, Walpole Park, Mattock Lane, London W5 5EQ. Tel: 020 8567 1227. www.ealing.gov.uk/services/leisure/museums_and_galleries/pm_gallery_and_house

Saturday 21 June; Unplanned Afternoons Summer Solstice Party at Corbet Place, 15 Hanbury Street, London, E1 6QR. Noon to 11pm. Tel: 020 7770 6028.

Sunday 22 June; PF London & Tamesa London Circle joint social by the river at Richmond, to celebrate Midsummer. Noon until evening. Meet by Richmond tube at 11.30am. For details, email info@pflondon.org or phone Mani on 077689 41373.

Thursday 26 June'08. (8pm start). PF London: Midsummer Open Ritual, by Pagan Pathfinders. Bring seasonal food and drinks to share. Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn. Entrance £5 (£4 for PF members). 7.30pm for pre-ritual socials. Ritual starts at 8pm. For details, email info@pflondon.org


If you know of any pagan events and want them listed on A Bad Witch's Blog, email me via my blog or leave a comment below.

Fathers Day

Today, June 15, is Fathers Day. I’ve been avoiding it. I’ve been deliberately walking away from shops displaying cards and gifts designed for dads and I haven’t felt like researching the origins of this celebration and writing about it on A Bad Witch’s Blog.

My own father died a year and a half ago and I still miss him, especially on his birthday and today, which is the reason for my reluctance.

His death was not unexpected. It came at the end of an illness. He was elderly, disabled and forgetful. In many ways the end came as a relief, after weeks of visiting him in hospital and watching his decline. At least I got a chance to tell him I loved him before he died.

And, whatever existence people may or may not have go onto after their death, our loved ones do live on in our memories.

So, after a few tears this morning. I decided I would mention Fathers Day on my blog after all.

For me, it is now a day to remember my father and to celebrate happy times in years gone by. I know that I owe my father a great deal. I take after him in many ways. For example, he wrote freelance articles for newspapers and the radio on the paranormal and the unexplained and he encouraged my own interests in such subjects. Without him, I probably wouldn’t be writing this blog.

I love you, Dad.

Happy Fathers Day.

Happy birthday, Yeats!

Today, 13 June, is the birthday of poet, dramatist, folklorist and occultist William Butler Yeats (1865-1939).

Yeats had a lifelong interest in mysticism, spirituality and astrology and much of his poetry was influenced by this, particularly Irish mythology.

In March 1890 Yeats was initiated into the occult group the Golden Dawn. After it broke up he remained with its offshoot the Stella Matutina.

Here is one of my favourite poems by Yeats:

Down by the Salley Gardens
Down by the salley gardens my love and I did meet;
She passed the salley gardens with little snow-white feet.
She bid me take love easy, as the leaves grow on the tree;
But I, being young and foolish, with her did not agree.

In a field by the river my love and I did stand,
And on my leaning shoulder she laid her snow-white hand.
She bid me take life easy, as the grass grows on the weirs;
But I was young and foolish, and now am full of tears.

Links:
http://www.love-poems.me.uk/biography_yeats_william_butler.htm
http://www.pgil-eirdata.org/html/pgil_datasets/authors/y/Yeats,WmB/life1.htm
http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~martinh/poems/yeats.html

Summer festivals

Summer is the time for festivals and there are some fantastic pagan events taking place over the next couple of months.

The Artemis Gathering
The Artemis Gathering is on the 8th, 9th and 10th of August and will be held in 40 acres of beautiful countryside in Oxfordshire.

The event features ecological and environmental charities, many of them bringing animals with them, including wolves, ferrets and birds of prey. There will also be a medieval encampment, a bar, cafe, fire pit and wandering performers. The main entertainment will be music by the Dolmen, Damh the Bard and Richie Hudson, with an alternative club featuring the Witching Hour DJ Swedish.

The event is selling out fast, so it is advisable to book quickly at http://www.witchfest.net/.

Goddess Parade & Festival
Canterbury's first Goddess Parade & Festival is on Sunday 17th August.

The parade will assemble at 10am at The Whitefriars Shopping Centre, which is seconds away from the Park & Ride drop-off point. It will process down the High Street alongside The Pentacle Drummers, giants, Morris dancers, faeries and musicians to The Westgate Hall, where the day will continue with The Goddess Festival. The parade is a free event.

For more information, visit http://www.goddessfestivals.co.uk/

Stolen blooms

Yesterday, I photographed this beautiful poppy in order to write about it on my blog. Today, someone has stolen it.

My partner was glancing out of the window when he saw a man walk into my garden with a pair of secateurs, cut off the flowering head of my poppy and then leave. It was all done too quickly for my partner to react. By the time he had got to the front door, the man was gone.
The fact that the man had a pair of secateurs proves it was a planned theft. If he had knocked on my front door and asked politely I might even have given the flower. He would have got what he wanted and I would have felt I had done something good. Instead, I am angry.
I am sure no one who reads my blog would ever steal plants from someone's garden, but it is worthwhile remembering that no one should ever take flowers, plants or seeds that do not belong to them without asking first. Even picking a few wildflowers from a hedgerow can mean there will be fewer plants the next year.
There are many acceptable ways of getting plants for free even if you do not not have your own garden.
You could knock on a front door and ask. You never know, you might make a useful friendship with the garden's owner. You could also ask on Freecycle, a network where people give old things away with the purpose of preventing waste going into landfill sites. There are also seed exchange sites, where people swap seeds and plants.
I've even known people to go dumpster-diving at the back of large garden centres. Retailers often throw plants away if they are a bit too wilted to be saleable, but they can sometimes be saved with a little effort and care. Technically, taking something from someone's rubbish bin is theft just as much as cutting a living bloom from their garden, but it doesn't seem quite so bad to me.
Links:
http://www.freecycle.org/group/UK/London
http://www.growsonyou.com/plant/exchanges

Mystery image

This photograph was sent to me by Mick, from Rochester, in Kent. He asked me to put it on A Bad Witch's Blog in the hope someone can solve the mystery of the shape in the middle of the picture.

The photo was taken with a film camera, not a digital camera, and my first thought was that it was caused by an imperfection on the film. However, Mick told me that the staff at the shop who developed the prints told him there was nothing faulty with the camera, the film or the paper it was printed on.

Mick said:

"This shape/object only shows up in one of the shots. In the before and after shots the shape is not there. The time was about 10.30am. I was walking towards the Admirals House, on the right. My dog Ben got agitated and wouldn't settle but I felt nothing untoward.

"The sun was not bright and was behind me over my right shoulder. If it was caused by a faulty camera, it would be in other frames or even all. I have seen a sun spot on a frame but it was nothing like this. What is it? Any ideas?"

If you have any ideas what might have caused the strange image in the picture, leave a comment below.

Wildlife garden grows

Back in April I wrote about one woman's attempts to create a wildlife garden on a patch of wasteland in a London suburb.

Jennifer, the woman behind the idea, has had to work hard to get support for the scheme, to acquire planning permission, raise funds and collect materials to make her dream a reality, but her plans are at last coming to fruition.

Jennifer has just emailed me to say:

"I've got the cheque! Yes, The Round Table came up trumps and have offered to pay 80% of the costs to start the garden off. They have given us a cheque for £335 for the planning permission and I'm in the process of getting a pre application meeting so hopefully we will know if it will go ahead before we hand over all the money.

"Once we get the permission granted, The Round Table will give us a bit more money for the licence. We have to find the shortfall, which is about £157. I've already raised £121.30 so I still have only a little way to go.

"I've also had a guy come down for a fencing quote and he's been trying to get hold of recycled fencing to use on our site too. He's gonna try and get as much of it from donations too.

"It's really happening now and really moving forward... I'm so excited."

To see my earlier blog entry, visit: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/04/lots-of-change-at-wildlife-garden.html

Midsummer party

Midsummer might be over a week away but celebrations are starting early.

Pentacle Media, which publishes Pentacle Magazine, is hosting A Midsummer Night Frolic on Saturday 14 June at The Mucky Pup, 39 Queens Head Street, London, N1 8NQ,

The evening of music and dancing is for all pagans, but entry is by ticket only. The party begins at 7pm and goes on until 1am.

To buy tickets or for more information, visit the website: www.pentaclemagazine.org/pn760/index.php?name=News&file=article&sid=2429

Pagan Events

Tuesday 10 June; Interview with a Witch. Mo Batchelor talks to Christina Oakley Harrington at Treadwells, 34 Tavistock St, Covent Garden, London. £5 in advance. 7.15pm for 7.30pm start. Tel: 02072408906. www.treadwells-london.com/lectures.asp

Wednesday 11 June; Tangential Tantrums of Diana, the Horned Goddess. Talk by Caroline Wise at Secret Chiefs, The Devereux pub, 20 Devereux Court, Off Essex St, London WC2. £2 on the door. 7.30pm for 8.30pm start.

Wednesday 11 June: Theatrical performance. This is the third part of three free theatre workshops by writer John Constable and director Sarah Davey at The Community Space, Bankside 3, Gt. Guildford St (corner of Zoar St) SE1. Free. 6.30pm for 7pm start.

Thursday 12 June; The Elf, the Witch, and the Devil: Northern Traditions. Talk by Dr Cyril Edwards of St Peters, Oxford, at Treadwells, 34 Tavistock St, Covent Garden, London. £5 in advance. 7.15pm for 7.30pm start. Tel: 02072408906. www.treadwells-london.com/lectures.asp

Sunday 15 June ; An introduction to Wicca & Witchcraft. Workshop by TLC (Tamesa London Circle). Central London. 10am-5pm. Contact Mani at hern3000@yahoo.co.uk for further details. For information on TLC visit http://www.tamesa.info./

The Screaming Cards

A rare set of divination cards has been brought to my attention by a friend who knows I love collecting such things.

Intriguingly called The Screaming Cards, they depict archetypes with unusual names such as The Upside Down Man (Ult), Long Armed Jack (Jaga), John O'Dreams (Asvapna) and The Joyous One (Kusa). Although there are only 13 cards in the set, they can be used for extremely powerful readings.

As with Tarot, the true origin of the cards is something of a mystery. But this is what the introduction that comes with the set states:

"This obscure cousin to the Tarot first came to prominence in England during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603), where for a brief period such noted mystics as the astrologer John Dee used their ability to divine the codified messages conveyed by the cards to win favour with the Queen. Elizabeth herself was said to be much taken with the Screaming Cards, privately consulting her own pack on several occasions on matters of state, and some say the heart.

"Though popular belief considers the cards to be a product of Elizabethan England, the true history of these remarkable devices is far older, and lies much further
east than many suppose.

"The first known appearance of the Screaming Cards in Europe was in the 15th century, arriving along the Silk Road from India. They were carried and no doubt traded by merchants via Constantinople, Venice and Genoa, finally reaching the court of the Holy Roman Empire in Linz, where the Emperor Frederick III (1452 - 1493) was intrigued by the cards' supernatural ability to reveal his past, present and future."

As to why they are called The Screaming Cards, the pack's introduction offers this explanation:

"Our modern English name for the pack comes from the old German
(Frühneuhochdeutsch) word Schreiendekarten – shouting or screaming cards. But this term for the Linz pack is itself nothing but a phonetic corruption of the Hindi 'Shri' (Master) – a word in common use by Indian traders in the 15th century - identified as an early title used to refer to the inhuman (some say demonic) figures as they appeared in an earlier version of the pack, originating somewhere in northern India. This honorific 'Shri' would have sounded to a German-speaking ear like 'schrie' or 'screamed', hence Schreiendekarten and eventually Screaming Cards."

The modern version of The Screaming Cards is available to buy in limited numbers for £9.99. To find out more, email elysia@ntlworld.com

For information on tarot and other divination cards:
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2007/12/bad-witchs-guide-to-fortune-telling.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2007/12/birthday-cards.html

Plant Folklore: Elder Lore

The elder tree in my garden is covered in delicate white flowers, which normally bloom at this time of year - the end of May and the start of June.

Elders are associated with witches in English folklore. According to some legends, witches can take the form of this tree and if one growing in the garden of a witch is cut, its owner will bleed.

Now, I know for a fact that isn't true, as I suffered no ill effects at all after I asked a fit young man to prune the elder growing by my back fence earlier this year. However, I strongly agree with suggestions that burning an elder tree without permission will bring bad luck on the wrongdoer.

In Russia, by contrast, elder trees are grown near houses in the belief that they ward off witches. This surprises me, because the flowers and fruit of the elder have plenty of medicinal and culinary uses. I would have thought they would have attracted any wiseman or woman who wanted to brew delicious elderflower or elderberry wine.

Elderflower wine is a traditional English drink, but you can also make a refreshing cordial from elderflowers. Here is a good recipe: http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/516164 Alternatively, you can make elderflower tea by steeping washed petals in boiling water.

Elderflowers also have a reputation for their antiseptic and an anti-inflammatory properties, useful on cuts, grazes and sprains. In a tea, they are drunk against colds and allergies such as hayfever. Larger amounts can cause sweating, which could be useful to treat some conditions. Elderberries are more widely used than the flowers, but both are used by herbalists for a variety of conditions.

The King's 1898 Dispensatory states:

"In warm infusion, elder flowers are diaphoretic and gently stimulant; in cold infusion, they are diuretic, alternative, and cooling, and may be used in all diseases requiring such action, as in hepatic derangements of children, erysipelas, erysipelatous diseases, etc. In infusion,with maidenhair and beech-drops, they will be found very valuable in all erysipelatous [febrile skin inflammation] diseases."

Bruised elder leaves can also be used as an insect repellent. You could place bowls of bruised leaves around the home, particularly at open windows, or make a spray by boiling the leaves in water and putting the liquid into a suitable container.

According to some accounts, elder flowers and berries are mildly poisonous unless heated and can cause stomach upsets, so cook them or make an infusion using boiling water before using them.

Note: This is not medical advice. Always consult a qualified medical herbalist before taking any herbal remedy.
For more information:
www.selfsufficientish.com/elder.htm
www.electroherbalism.com/Naturopathy/Therapies/Supplements/Herbs/FavoriteHerbs.htm
www.sussexherbalist.co.uk/content/view/11/21/
www.traditionalherbalist.com/Articles/elder.html
www.greenchronicle.com/recipes/elderflower_sparkle.htm
www.gaias-garden.co.uk/Herbs/HerbalTeas.html
www.cottagesmallholder.com/?p=340
www.celtnet.org.uk/recipes/brewing/fetch-recipe.php?rid=elderflower-wine
www.burfordhopsandvines.co.uk/index.php?contentkey=38

Charity shop bargains

Whenever I'm passing a charity shop I can't resist the urge to pop in to see if any unusual occult books are lurking on the shelves, hopefully at a bargain price. Well, I certainly found an unusual book today.

Surfers of the Zuvuya: Tales of Interdimensional Travel by Jose A Arguelles claims to be a guide to interdimensional travel using Zuvuya - the Mayan memory circuit. According to the introduction:

"Zuvuya is the Mayan term for term for the big memory circuit... the memory hotline. It works individually and collectively. Most importantly, it connects equally to the future as well as the past. Why? Because Zuvuya is the interdimensional thread. And we are all interdimensional."

How weird and wonderful! I am not only looking forward to reading it, I am also delighted at getting a bargain. I paid 75p for this book, which would cost £7.99 new or £3.10 secondhand through Amazon.

Books I've picked up in a similar way in the past include a hardback copy of
Culpeper's Complete Herbal, which is useful for learning what the plants in my garden are good for, and Scottish Myths and Legends, which isn't valuable but I enjoyed reading. I would definitely recommend charity shops to any witch wanting to build up a useful library for very little money.

A Bad Blogging Witch on Islay

Someone has pointed out to me that my blogs from Islay in Scotland last week have been noticed by the Islay Weblog. In a post called A Bad Blogging Witch on Islay last week the blog said:

"In disguise or not but there seems to be a bad witch on Islay and she writes about her Islay whereabouts on the Bad Witches Blog. I don't know how long she will stay on Islay but it's interesting to read some live blogging, especially during the festival and even more from a witch ;-)"

The Islay Weblog has lots more information about the Malt and Music festival that has just finished, the plant and wildlife on the island and its history, myths and legends. It is well worth having a look at if you want to find out more about the beautiful Isle of Islay.

Links:
http://blog.islayinfo.com/article.php?story=witch-on-islay
http://blog.islayinfo.com/

Pagan Events

Tuesday 3 June; East London Pagan Moot. This is the first meeting of a new moot, which will take place on the first Tuesday each month. No entry fee. 7.30pm for 8pm upstairs at the Denmark Arms, 381 Barking Road, East Ham, London, E6 1LA.

Wednesday 4 June; The Call of Cthulhu: Tales from Lovecraft. Talk by actor Mike David at Treadwells, 34 Tavistock St, Covent Garden, London. £5 in advance. 7.15pm for 7.30pm start. Tel: 02072408906. www.treadwells-london.com/lectures.asp

Wednesday 4 June; The Extended Mind: Recent Experimental Evidence. Talk by Dr Rupert Sheldrake at The Moot With No Name, The Devereux pub, 20 Devereux Court, Off Essex St, London WC2. £2 on the door. 7.30pm for 8pm start.

Wednesday 4 June. Tour of Bankside: a guided walk. Second part of three free theatre workshops by writer John Constable and director Sarah Davey at The Community Space, Bankside 3, Gt. Guildford St (corner of Zoar St) SE1. Free. 6.30pm for 7pm start.

11 June: Theatrical performance. This is the third part of three free theatre workshops by writer John Constable and director Sarah Davey at The Community Space, Bankside 3, Gt. Guildford St (corner of Zoar St) SE1. Free. 6.30pm for 7pm start.