Occult London: Naming the Fourth Goddess

Here is a little goddess-related mystery.

This sculpture showing four mother goddesses is in the Museum of London and dates from Roman times.

A notice beside it at the museum says that it was found reused as building material in the wall of the river Thames near Blackfriars. The sculpture is a limestone relief of three women holding holding bread, fruit and a dog and also suckling a baby. The notice says: "They are probably portraying the three native mother goddesses although the fourth figure cannot be explained."

I was reminded of this plaque because of book that I contributed to, called Naming the Goddess,has just been launched. It made me wonder if anyone could think of a name for the fourth goddess.

If you think you might have any suggestions as to who the fourth goddess could possibly be, do leave a comment.

Previous related posts:
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/09/extract-naming-goddess-eris.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/07/occult-london-goddess-hygia-and-nine.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/09/pagan-eye-roman-goddess-luna-at-bath.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/07/meditation-from-goddess-calling.html

Review: The Earth Pathways Diary 2015

My diary seems to fill up so far in advance these days that I find myself buying my diary for the following year earlier and earlier. Mind you, having lots to look forward to is great. The problem is choosing which diary to buy as I have many favourites - including Llewellyns Witches Datebookand the Country Wisdom and Folklore Diary.

The one I've gone for this time is another of my favourites - the Earth Pathways 2015.

It's a diary that makes you feel good just looking through it and has lots of colour artwork, inspirational text, information about astrology and moon phases, pagan festivals and crafts to try throughout the season.

The Earth Pathways Diary 2015 also has a month-to-page desk calendar for the year and a notes at the back so it is very useful. The diary is produced every year by a co-operative of friends in the UK, which is part of a thriving community of artists, writers, environmentalists and those following an earth-based spirituality. That means you know that not only are you buying a beautiful diary, you are also supporting an ethical enterprise.

I picked up my copy at The Atlantis Bookshop, in London, but you can also order copies directly from Earth Pathways or via Amazon.

Competition Reminder: Mind Body Soul London

If you haven't yet entered the competition I'm running on my blog, here's a reminder.

The Mind Body Soul Experience organisers are offering prizes of two pairs of free three-day passes for the next month's Mind Body Soul Experience in London - normally priced at £54 - for readers of A Bad Witch's Blog. All you have to do for a chance to win a free pair of tickets is enter an easy competition.

The three-day event at London's Olympia Central runs from 24-26 October. It offers meditation, dance, palm reading, music and crystal singing bowls among other things. While there you can relax and unwind, experience new ideas from ancient wisdoms, learn skills and do a bit of shopping for lovely things.

The event aims to offer an experience like no other and there’s a big added benefit for all visitors – entry to the Mind Body Soul Experience allows you entrance into the OM Yoga show at no extra charge. You get two shows for the price of one.

There are many free workshops and free things to watch at the show, but here are the details of how you could also win free entrance tickets:

Competition
To be in with a chance to win two pairs of tickets just answer the following question.

Which of the following will you be able to find at the Mind Body Soul Experience?

a) Crystal singing bowls
b) Wooden singing spoons
c) Paper singing cups

Email your answer to me, the Bad Witch, at badwitch1234@gmail.com by the closing time of midnight, Sunday 12th October 2014. The two winners will be picked at random from the correct entries.

The Mind Body Soul Experience is at Olympia Central, London, on 24, 25 and 26 October, 2014.
Opening Times: Friday 11am - 6pm; Saturday 10am – 6pm; Sunday 10am – 5pm
Online admission costs per day: Adults £10; Concessions £8
On-the-door admission per day: Adults: £12; Concessions £10
Two and three-day tickets also available online.
You can find out more and register for a free show guide at: www.mbsevents.co.uk

Links and previous related posts
www.mbsevents.co.uk
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/09/mbs-experience-ten-healing-reasons-to.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/10/a-great-day-at-mind-body-soul-event-at.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/09/impressions-of-mind-body-soul-experience.html

Extract: Naming the Goddess - Eris

A book that I am very proud to have had a part in writing has been released today. It is called Naming the Goddessand is published by Moon Books.

Naming the Goddess was a collaborative project by more than 80 scholars and followers of goddess spirituality and is partly a series of essays about contemporary goddess issues and partly a gazetteer of goddesses. My contribution was a chapter about Eris, goddess of chaos. Here is an extract:

Eris
...in Greek mythology, the goddess of discord, the sister of Ares, and, according to Hesiod, daughter of Nyx (night). Not being invited to
the marriage of Peleus, she revenged herself by means of the Golden Apple of discord.
[Brockhampton Reference Dictionary of Classical Mythology]

In her mythological and historical context, that short description sums up Eris’s main claim to fame. According to the much-told heroic epic of the ancient world, Eris was the Goddess who started the whole Trojan War. In a fit of pique at not being invited to a party all the other Gods were going to, she decided to get her own back. She threw into the room a golden apple inscribed “kallisti”, which means “To the fairest one”, knowing the deities would row over who should have it.

Hera, Athena and Aphrodite all wanted the glittering trophy. To solve the argument, Zeus asked Paris, the King of Troy’s son, to judge the contest. The three Goddesses tried to bribe him. More lad-about-the-walled-city than good leadership material, Paris declined Hera’s offer of political power and Athena’s offer of battle skills in favor of Aphrodite’s proffered chance to have the most beautiful woman in the world.

That was Helen, Menelaus of Sparta’s trouble and strife. The rhyming slang for wife might not have been coined in Ancient Greece, but Strife was Eris’s other name and trouble was what she was all about causing. The Trojan War ensued.

Roll on several thousand years to the 1950s and an all-night bowling alley in America where two young Californians were drinking coffee and discussing how to put the world to rights. “Solve the problem of discord,” said one, “and all other problems will vanish.” “Indeed,” said the other, “chaos and strife are the roots of all confusion.”

So they later wrote in the Principia Discordia,the sacred text of the Discordian Society. The book has the subtitle “How I found the Goddess, and what I did to her when I found her...” The Goddess they found was Eris, who appeared to them in a dreamlike vision as “a splendid woman whose eyes were as soft as feather and as deep as eternity itself, and whose body was the spectacular dance of atoms and universes.” And here is the charge of that Goddess:

I have come to tell you that you are free. Many ages ago, My consciousness left man, that he might develop himself. I return to find this development approaching completion, but hindered by fear and by misunderstanding.
You have built for yourselves psychic suits of armor, and clad in them, your vision is restricted, your movements are clumsy and painful, your skin is bruised, and your spirit is broiled in the sun.
I am chaos. I am the substance from which your artists and scientists build rhythms. I am the spirit with which your children and clowns laugh in happy anarchy. I am chaos. I am alive, and I tell you that you are free.

The Principia offers a very different view of Eris to that held by the Ancient Greeks. The modern-day Goddess honored by Erisians is a trickster deity of freedom and subversive humor rather than the cruel Goddess who loved warfare and battles.

Whether she is the same Goddess or whether there are actually two with the same name might bother theologians, but for Erisians inconsistencies like that are just part of the fun of working with Eris.
Another famous quote from the Principia covers potential flame war material of whether two incompatible things can both be true:

GP: Is Eris true?
M2: Everything is true.
GP: Even false things?
M2: Even false things are true.
GP: How can that be?
M2: I don’t know man, I didn’t do it.

There are many ways of interpreting the seeming impossibility of the idea that “Everything is true... Even the false things.” You can take it to mean that everyone has their own truth and we should respect each other’s ideas on religion or spirituality even if we don’t think their point of view makes sense. You can also take it as a koan – a paradox to be meditated on in an effort to escape intellectual reasoning and gain intuitive enlightenment. Or you can just take it as humor. The Principia Discordia is full of humor. It is quite likely the most humorous religious text ever written. Read it and have a good laugh. Eris gets the joke too.

This Week's Pagan Events In and Near London

Now to 2 October; Tales from the Autumn House art exhibition. Venue: The Belfry, St John on Bethnal Green, 200 Cambridge Heath Rd, London E2 9PA. Open Thursdays and Fridays from 6pm to 9pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm to 5pm. You can find out more here: www.facebook.com/talesfromtheautumnhouse. Twitter: @theautumnhouse. Artist website: http://www.haslandgraphica.com/

Now to 11 January 2015. Witches and Wicked Bodies - an exhibition about historic portrayals of witchcraft in art (this is an updated version of the exhibition that was on in Scotlands last year).  Venue: The British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG.  This is a free event, open during normal museum hours. For further information visit: https://www.britishmuseum.org

Friday 26 September, Hidden Energy Fields Revealed. Lecture by Harry Oldfield at Rilko (Research Into Lost Knowledge). Venue: 50 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8EA. Doors open 6.45pm, lectures starts 7.15pm. Entrance: £8/£6. http://www.rilko.net/EZ/rilko/rilko/home.php

Friday 26 September, A Skeptic's Guide to Ghost Hunting. Talk by Hayley Stevens at Greenwich Skeptics in the Pub. Venue: The Star and Garter, 60 Old Woolwich Road, Greenwich, London SE10 9NY. Time: 7.30pm. (Note, this is not the normal day of the month for this meeting) http://greenwich.skepticsinthepub.org/

Friday 26 September, Abraxas #6 Launch Party. Venue: Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm start. Free event but advance booking essential. Call 0207 419 8507. For further details: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Saturday 27 September; Way of the Leopard – An introduction to Sangoma Medicine. Workshop with John Lockley, organised by Alternatives. Venue: Colet House, The Study Society, 151 Talgarth Road, London, W14 9DA . Time: 10.30am - 5.30pm. Tickets £65/£55. For more details and to book tickets: http://www.alternatives.org.uk/

Saturday 27 September; Seriously Spooked - one-day convention about ghost investigations run by ASSAP. Venue: Conference Aston, Aston University, Birmingham city centre. Tickets £25. Details and tickets: http://www.assap.ac.uk/Spooked/

Saturday 27 September; Past Life Regression Workshop with Zena Wright. Venue: Spirit of Isis, Sun Street, Waltham Abbey, Essex. Time: 10.30am - 4pm. £15. Free parking in the Abbey Gardens car park. www.wendystokes.co.uk http://www.spiritofisis-healing.co.uk/circles-and-workshops.html

Saturday 27 September; Egyptian priests and priestesses of the last thousand years BC. Gallery Talk. Venue: Room 4, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. Time: 1.13pm-2pm. Free event, just drop in. For more details visit: https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/events_calendar.aspx

Saturday 27 September; Wicca Introduced. The Children of Artemis one-day introductory Wiccan course in London with an informal question and answer session at a local pub afterwards. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 11am until 6.30pm. Ticket Price: CoA Members £22, non members £27. To book a place and for more details, visit: http://www.witchfest.net/wiccaintro.htm

Saturday 27 September; The 3 Lucks: the keys to live an abundant life and find your true calling. A talk by Laurent Langlais on Destiny, Chinese astrology and Feng shui. Venue: The King and Queen Pub, 1 Foley St, London W1W 6DL. Time: 2.30pm. Tickets: £13; £11 early bird. Paypal for early bird: Laurent.langlais@spacessential.com or at the door. http://www.laurentlanglais.com/

Saturday 27 September; London Dreamtime present… the sleeping ones. Venue: A secret location near Nunhead. Price: £3. Time: 5.30pm. Early reservations essential. For more details visit http://londondreamtime.com/calendar/

Sunday 28 September; Healing the Mother Wound. Workshop with Bethany Webster, organised by Alternatives. Venue: Heythrop College, University of London, 23 Kensington Square, London, W8 5HN. Time: 10.30am - 5.30pm. Tickets £65/£55. For more details and to book tickets: http://www.alternatives.org.uk/

Sunday 28 September; Holistic and Mystic Fair. Venue: The Arc, Caterham on the Hill, Surrey CR3 5XY. Time: 10am – 5pm. Tickets: Adults £3 or two for £5 if bought online in advance, accompanied children free, concessions £2. Details: http://holisticandmystic.com/

Sunday 28 September; Michaelmas Festival at Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London NW1 6XT, Entrance is free. Time: 2.30pm – 8pm. http://www.rsh.anth.org.uk/

Monday September 29; Day of Silence for Michaelmas at Chalice Well World Peace Garden, in Glastonbury. Join in as you please, event runs from 11am - 4pm. Free admission, but advance booking essential. For more details and to book, visit the website http://www.chalicewell.org.uk/

Monday September 29; Her: A Storytelling Performance at Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm-9pm. Tickets £10, advance booking recommended. Call 0207 419 8507. For further details: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Monday September 29; Psychic Circle run by Shamanic Spirit at a venue in Croydon, South London. The circle is held on Mondays fortnightly starting at 7.30pm. Cost £5. For more details and to book places call 07952 041477. For more information, visit http://shamanicspirit.co.uk/.

Monday September 29; The Hidden Messages in Water. Talk by Dr. Yasuyuki Nemoto – International Secretary to Dr. Masaru Emoto, organised by Alternatives. Venue: St James's Church Piccadilly, 197 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LL. Time: 7pm - 8.30pm. Tickets £8/£12. For more details and to book tickets: http://www.alternatives.org.uk/

Tuesday 30 September; Chertsey Moot. A social moot held on the last Tuesday of the month at the Golden Grove pub, Ruxbury Road, St Annes Hill, Chertsey, Surrey, KT16 9EN. All welcome. From 8pm to 11pm. For more details, email: sian_ap_pysgotwr@yahoo.co.uk

Tuesday 30 September; The Yes Frequency - talk by Gary Quinn. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2EB. Time: 7pm-8.30pm. Cost: £10/£12 Advance booking advised. For details call: 020 7589 3292 or visit https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 1 October; Wheel of the Year talk with Cobwebs at Cauldrons at Romford Shopping Hall. Event for beginners. Cost is £25, deposit of £5. Time 10am-noon. http://www.cobwebsandcauldrons.co.uk/

Wednesday 1 October; Sacred Landscape Geometry: From Neolithic to Post-Roman - lecture by Robin Heath. Venue: The Prince's School of Traditional Arts, 19-22 Charlotte Road, London EC2A 3SG. Time: 7pm. Tickets £8/£6. Tel: 0207 613 8547. http://www.psta.org.uk/

Wednesday 1 October; The Witches' Inn. Pagan moot at The Feathers Hotel, 42 High St, Merstham, Redhill, Surrey RH1 3EA. Starts at 8pm. Moots are on the first Wednesday of each month. https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Witches-Inn/1568424150049437

Friday 3 October; Evil Hags and Mothers: Women and Witchcraft in Germany. Lecture at the BP Lecture Theatre, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. Time: 6.30pm-7.30pm. Tickets £5/£3 For more details and to book tickets visit: https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/events_calendar.aspx

Friday 3 October; Therion’s Teutons - Aleister Crowley’s Berlin and Beyond. Lecture by William Thirteen. Venue: Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time: 7.15pm for 7.30pm start. Tickets £7, advance booking recommended. Call 0207 419 8507. For further details: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Friday 3 October to Sunday 5 October; A Shamanic Experience - The Power Of The Drum. A full weekend of shamanic mysteries at Caer Corhain Shamamic Development Centre of the Isle of Sheppey, North Kent. £250 for the entire weekend, £180 for Drum Making, £40 each for Sat/Sunday. For more details and information on how to book, visit http://www.touchtheearthuk.com/

Saturday 4 October; Sigil Magick. Afternoon Workshop with Mark Vincent. Venue: Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time: 12.45pm for 1pm start. Finishes 5.30 pm. Tickets £30, advance booking essential. Call 0207 419 8507. For further details: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Saturday 4 October; Kensington Gardens Pagan Well Walk. A three-mile walk to sacred sites and wells with short pagan ritual. Meet at Bayswater Underground Station, 89 Queensway London W2 4QH at 11.30am. Organised by London Pagan and Heathen Circle. To book a place, visit: http://www.meetup.com/London-Pagan-Circle

Saturday 4 October; The Warrior's Call at Avebury - Earth Web 2014. Rite to protect the Earth from fracking. Main ritual at Avebury stone circle, in Wiltshire, but people are invited to do their own rituals wherever they are if they can't get to Avebury. Time: 2pm. Details of the Avebury rite: https://www.facebook.com/events/1543073425916337/ Details of what you can do on your own: http://www.warriorscall.org/archives/854

Saturday 4 October; Harvest Full Moon Rite with the London Wicca Meetup Group - a rite for all members of the group who have already attended a meet-up rite. Initial meeting at The Wheatsheaf, 2 Upper Tooting Road, Tooting Bec, SW17 7PG. Time: 7.15pm to move on to a private house later. For more details and to reserve a place, call 07581 198380 and 07848 448669. To going the meet-up group visit http://www.meetup.com/The-London-Wicca-Meetup-Group

Saturday 4 October; Hendon Heathens Moot, Venue: Greyhound Pub, Church End, Hendon, London, NW4 4JT. Time: 6pm. Hendon Heathens meets at this pub the first Saturday of every month.

Saturday 4 October - Sunday 5 October; Plant Consciousness two-day event at Regent's University Conference Centre, Tuke Hall, Inner Circle, Regent’s Park, London NW1 4NS. Tickets per workshop from £45. For more details and to book visit: http://www.plantconsciousness.com/

Sunday 5 October; Super Sense. Workshop with Andy Shipley, organised by Alternatives. Venue: Heythrop College, University of London, 23 Kensington Square, London, W8 5HN. Time: 10.30am - 5pm. Tickets £65/£55. For more details and to book tickets: http://www.alternatives.org.uk/

Sunday 5 October; Crystal Healing and Divination Workshop with Wanda Sellar. Venue: 50 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8EA. Starts at 2pm. Tickets: £15 (£10 concessions, £7 TS members). For full details: http://www.theosophicalsociety.org.uk/

Sunday 5 October; Ghouls' Night Out - Symposium of Sickness. An evening of comedy, film, live music and talks on the subject of splatterpunk and gore hosted by occult comedian Andrew O’Neill. Venue: The Lexington, 96-98 Pentonville Road, London N1 9JB. Time: 7pm. Tickets £7 plus booking fee. More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/518231474974938/.

If you want a pagan event listed on A Bad Witch's Blog please email the details to badwitch1234@gmail.com

Back To Magic School: Magical Astrology

An evening class course on magical astrology will be taking place at The Atlantis Bookshop over eight Monday evenings from 6 October, 2014.

This course is called The Seven Planets in Astrology and is taught by Cat Cox, who has run astrology workshops at The Atlantis Bookshop in the past.

Information about the course states:

We can view the seven planets as the astrological deities who inhabit the chart: Lord Sol the Sun who brings illumination and a sense of purpose, Luna the Moon who nourishes and calls us home, Mercury who rules communication and our interests, Venus who guides our relationships, Mars who rules will and enables us to assert ourselves, Jupiter who brings a sense of meaning into life and Saturn who guides us into wisdom.

In this eight week course we will explore the meaning and symbolism of these seven traditional planets and how we interpret them in our charts.

We will be using astrology, myth and experiential work and work with our own charts to develop our understanding of these fundamental symbols of astrology.

The cost is £15 per class and it runs over eight Monday evenings from 6 October, from 7.30pm-9.30pm. The venue is The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, London WC1A 1LY. To book, contact Bali at The Atlantis Bookshop by calling 020 7405 2120.

A Look at the New Issue of The Magical Times

I do love days when the post delivers magical things. Let's face it, the post is usually stuff like bills and letters from charities that make you feel guilty you can't afford to support every good cause. But yesterday I got a lovely surprise that brought a smile to my face - a copy of the latest Magical Times.

The Magical Times is probably my favourite British pagan magazine - it is beautiful to look at and has a great range of features. The new issue, number 17, covers goddesses, the Grail, how to develop intuition, hedge witchcraft and hedge riding, magical locations in Britain, sacred geometry, features on music, lots of faery art and, erm, how to count sheep and why doing so is connected to paganism. 

I've only skimmed over my copy so far - I'm looking forward to reading it and will pop it in my bag for the train journey to Seriously Spooked this weekend.

You can find out more about The Magical Times and order copies here: http://www.themagicaltimes.com/

Occult London: The Barbers' Physic Garden

I've labelled this post as Occult London in the sense of something secret and hidden rather than something arcane - although the Barbers' Physic Garden does seem a magical and enchanting place.

The little-known garden is tucked away and sheltered in the ruins of one of the bastions of the old London Wall, under the tower blocks and elevated walkways of The Barbican, not far from the Museum of London.

Full of plants related to medicine and surgery, it is one of the oldest physic gardens in London and is attached to the Worshipful Company of Barbers. No one even knows exactly when it was first planted, although records show it was being weeded and swept in 1555.

In 1666, when the Great Fire of London destroyed much of the capital, the open space of the garden prevented the flames from reaching the anatomical theatre on the site. It later fell into disuse, but was replanted in the 20th century.

Information on the Worshipful Company of Barbers website says:

"The current Physic Garden is on the site of the 13th bastion of the 21 bastions built by Emperor Hadrian in AD 122. It was constructed on a derelict bomb site in 1987, on the initiative of Past-Master Sir Francis Avery Jones, by the Parks and Garden Department of the Corporation of London, who manage the Garden, together with the Company’s Honorary Curator. The design of the garden aims to present a broad view of the way in which plants have been used, from the earliest times to the present day, in relation to both the practice of medicine and surgery and to the use of plants in domestic and civic environments."

The The Barbers' Physic Garden is free to visit and is a lovely, peaceful spot to sit and enjoy a rest from the bustle of the city. If you are in the area, why not have a look while the autumn weather is still mild and many of the plants are still flowering?

You can find it in Monkwell Square, Wood Street, London, EC2 5BLA and you can get further information here: http://barberscompany.org/physic-garden/

Links and previous related posts
http://barberscompany.org/physic-garden/
http://gardensoflondon.co.uk/london_gardens/pages/gardens_city/barber_surgeon.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/05/occult-london-jubilee-oracle-by-thames.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/03/temple-of-treasures-vintage-fashion.html

Are Some Tarot Decks More Genuine Than Others?

To get discussion going on my blog, here's a question about Tarot decks. Are some decks more genuine than others?

This question came up after Kevin, who reads my blog, commented on my review of the Sherlock Holmes Tarot Deck: "Love the artwork on these. But to me, all these alternative oracles and card decks, however fun they are, don't ring true.

"If the tarot is simply the user projecting their own thoughts and meanings onto the cards then I suppose one deck is no different to any other. However, if there is any true arcane power in the original symbols then it is lost here."

My reply at the time was that I'd question whether older decks are necessarily more powerful or magical than some more modern ones. I gave one example: "The Crowley/Thoth deck is full of arcane symbolism, but is rather different to the Visconti-Sforza tarot deck, which is I think the oldest known deck. There are some decks that look pretty and are sold to card collectors more than serious readers I suspect, but I wouldn't write off all modern decks with new symbolism just because they are modern."

Kevin replied: "My personal belief is that there are certain symbols and rituals which do inherently carry power and that the "anything goes" approach leads to placebo effects, self-delusions and ultimately disappointment with the practices when no results are achieved."

There are, of course, a huge variety of Tarot decks available these days. Probably the most commonly used is the Rider Waite.As I mentioned earlier, the Crowley Thoth Tarotis another classic, while among the oldest is the The Visconti-Sforza Tarot.

One of my favourites is the The Greenwood Tarot.Sadly I don't own a copy and it is very rare, but I do have the similar Wildwood deck. Some recent decks I've reviewed and which have widely different pictures include the new Guardian Angel set, the Animal Wisdom Tarot, the Victorian Steampunk Tarot and of course the Sherlock Holmes Tarot.

But what do you think? Are there certain symbols that inherently carry more power when it comes to Tarot decks? Are older decks more effective than modern ones? Are they more genuine?

What is your own favourite deck and which do you find the best Tarot set to use for effective readings?

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/10/review-quick-and-easy-tarot-by-lily-oak.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2007/12/birthday-cards.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/09/review-guardian-angel-tarot-cards.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/05/review-sherlock-holmes-tarot-book-and.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/03/review-victorian-steampunk-tarot.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/08/review-wildwood-tarot.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/05/review-animal-wisdom-tarot-boxed-set.html

News: Stonehenge, Druids, Equinox, Burials, Salem

"Stonehenge Mystery: Will Druid King Get a Parking Space for His Kawasaki?" Story at The Wall Street Journal: http://online.wsj.com/articles/stonehenge-mystery-will-druid-king-get-a-parking-space-for-his-kawasaki-1411353009

"Autumn Equinox 2014: Druid Celebrations and the Wheel of the Year" Story at Inernational Business Times: http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/autumn-equinox-2014-druid-celebrations-wheel-year-1466658

"Wiltshire's 'Neolithic' long barrow burial chamber opens" Story on BBC Wiltshire: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-wiltshire-29225327

"The Last of the Witch-Trial Hangings" Story about the history of Salem on Time: http://time.com/3398176/salem-witch-trials/

The Rollright Stones and Autumn Equinox Celebrations

Like many pagans I celebrated the Autumn Equinox at the weekend - and many pagan Wheel of the Year charts show the Autumn Equinox as falling between the 20th to 22nd September each year. However, this year the date when there is exactly 12 hours of day and 12 hour of night is today, 23 September, so if you haven't yet celebrated the Autumn Equinox you still have time,

Nevertheless, Sunday 21 September felt like a perfect day to be celebrating the season turning autumnal and I was at the Rollright Stones where the Cotswold Order of Druids put on a spectacular open ritual.

The weather was warm and the sun was shining, but the leaves on the trees were starting to take on shades of gold and mushrooms were thriving in the fields and woodlands. I photographed that lovely ring of toadstools on a rotten tree stump by the stone circle earlier in the afternoon before the crowds turned up for the ritual.

It is the first time I have been to the Rollright Stones, but I fell in love with them immediately. They seem different from most other stone circles I have visited - possibly unique. It is the shapes and textures of the stones that makes them seem so full of individual character - in places they are jagged and in other places worn, they are pitted and lichen encrusted, and many have holes right through them. I'll be writing more about the history and details of the stones at a later date, but I will say the circle is a great size for a modern pagan ritual.

The Autumn Equinox rite that I took part in on Sunday was longer and more elaborate than many other pagan open events I've been too. After everyone had entered the circle and the quarters had been welcomed there was a talk about the meaning of the equionox, a play enacting the story of Persephone, storytelling about the legend of the Rollright Stones, drumming, poems, walking a labyrinth and plenty of yummy cake passed around with a chalice of wine.

The Cotswold Order of Druids puts on public rituals at the Rollrights celebrating all the seasonal festivals - the next being at Samhain.

The Rollright Stones are near Chipping Norton, in Oxfordshire, and you can visit them any day. Entry is £1 and there is an honesty box when no warden is present at the site.

Links
http://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/
http://www.timeanddate.com/calendar/september-equinox.html
http://www.twistedtree.org.uk/Cotswold%20Order%20of%20Druids%20events.htm

Review: Guardian Angel Tarot Cards

Before my new Guardian Angel Tarot Cardsarrived, I wasn't sure what to expect it would be like.

The new boxed divination set is by Doreen Virtue and Radleigh Valentine, whose earlier Angel Tarot was designed to be a gentle, “safe” deck for those who find traditional tarot imagery a bit scary. I thought it hit the mark in that respect.

However, the Guardian Angel Tarot is designed to be even more benign. Publisher Hay House describes the set as: "The world's gentlest and sweetest tarot cards."

The description on the Hay House website gives the reason behind the deck's creation: "After the successful launch of their bestselling Angel Tarot Cards, Doreen Virtue and Radleigh Valentine knew that some people were still wary of tarot. So they created this 78-card deck and accompanying guidebook for highly sensitive people who desire the accurate and detailed answers of tarot cards, along with gentle words and images. Even sweeter than their other decks, you'll find the Guardian Angel Tarot Cards a comforting and safe way to get clear answers for yourself and others."

I had a concern that the Guardian Angel cards could be a bit a too sugar-watered down, but as soon as I opened the box I was absolutely enchanted by them. Yes, the box is pink and sparkly and the images on them look like the scenes on old-fashioned sweet tins and Christmas cards, but they are truly delightful. That nostalgic, vintage look is perfect in my opinion. The cards are high quality too - and with gold edging that is the sprinkles on the icing on the birthday cake.

The Victorian style of the pictures reminds me of the famous Lenormande fortune-telling cards,created in the 19th century and popular back then with ladies at tea-time in the parlour. The scenes on The Guardian Angel Tarot Cards are set in the near past and show people engaged in everyday activities - although somewhat idealised. They show children playing, lovers courting, country life and families at home. There are, of course, plenty of white-robed guardian angels too.

I like the way in which cards that are traditionally a bit frightening have been re-interpreted - they are gentle, but still make the right point. The Hanged Man is now a little dog standing on his head doing a trick, Death is called "Letting Go" and shows the kind of image you might find on a sympathy card while the Tower is redefined as a little girl walking a narrow bridge across a dark gulf with her guardian angel hovering just behind her.

If you are going through troubled times, it can help to think some guiding force is there to support you and help you through - whether you see that as an actual guardian angel or your own higher self. That is one of the things that makes this deck gentle, but still effective.

The court cards have also been given a make-over and are now friends: messengers, helpers, healers and guardians. They are less removed from ordinary people and show ladies in their Sunday best, military gentlemen and that maid holding a candle in the card to the left.

Since getting this deck I've been using it a lot - not just because I wanted to review it, but because I love it. I've found the readings I've been getting are just as accurate as those I normally get with my other favourite decks. I'll continue using it too, both for readings for myself and for others - particularly for those who have never had a tarot reading before and are a bit wary.

Links and previous related posts
Guardian Angel Tarot Cards: A 78-Card Deck and Guidebook
http://www.hayhouse.co.uk/
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/05/review-angel-tarot-cards-by-doreen.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/08/review-big-book-of-angel-tarot.html

Autumn Equinox: Balancing the Sun and Moon

This weekend is the Autumn Equinox, when the hours of day and night are of equal length. It is a time in pagan Wheel of the Year to honour balance.

Pagan rites will often call to the God of the Sun and the Goddess of the Moon, with a commonly held view that the divine masculine corresponds with solar energy and the divine feminine corresponds with lunar energy. But, of course, in reality that isn't always the case and there are plenty of sun goddesses and moon gods.

Sun goddesses include Japan's Ama-Terasu; the Hesperides who are called "The Sunset Goddesses" in Greek mythology; Australian Gnowee, who holds the sun up as a torch in the sky each day to find her lost child; Catha, Etruscan goddess of the dawn and new beginnings; and Sulis, who was worshipped in England at Bath.

There are even more moon gods than there are sun goddesses. They include Sin, from Mesopotamian mythology (who I named a cat after), Tsukiyomi, a Japanese moon god and brother to Ama-Terasu; Mani, the Norse moon god; Kidili, an Australian moon god; and Chandra, the Hindu god of the moon.

I saw the wooden plaque in the photo above in a charity shop a couple of weeks ago and felt that it was perfect to hang above my altar for this Autumn Equinox - the God of the Moon embracing the Goddess of the Sun, in balance, in harmony and in love.

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/09/words-for-autumn-equinox.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/01/cat-by-any-other-name.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/12/ama-terasu-goddess-of-week.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/09/an-alchemical-marriage-at-rosslyn-hill.html

Back to Magic School: Hedgewitchery

Hedgewitchcraft is a form of witchcraft inspired by the magic of cunning folk, wise women and traditional witches. As well as being knowledgeable about divination, herb lore and magic spells and rituals, the hedgewitch gets her name from a form of shamanic journeying known as "crossing the hedge".

The hedge that the witch crosses represents the barrier between this world and the Otherworld. The art of journeying is often a quest for information from ancestors, faeries or spirits.

Hedge-Witchery, an online witchcraft training provider run by hedgewitch and author Lily Oak, has just announced that its first three online courses are complete and ready to study on its website, www.hedge-witchery.co . The course titles are Tarot Part 1: The Major Arcana, Introduction to Journeying, and Introduction to Magical Ritual.

Lily said: "There will be many more courses added as we build membership numbers."

These courses are all available to full members, and full membership starts at just £2.50 per month (based on a year's membership). There is no extra cost. You sign up and you can start as soon as you have access to the site. All the courses include;

• More than an hour of bite-sized video tutorials.
• Written resources.
• Three assignments, with feedback.

Lily added: "There will be some other courses offered in the future, which have additional costs, but as you can see from the membership price, we are committed to keeping these costs as low as possible."

Below is a link to a short video about Hedge-Witchery and you can find out more information about membership here: http://hedge-witchery.co/page/membership-information

The photo at the top shows Lily Oak at the Hedge-Witchery stand at the Mind Body Soul Experience in London. You can win tickets to this years MBS event here: http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/09/competition-win-mind-body-soul-london.html

Links and previous related posts
http://hedge-witchery.co/
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/10/review-quick-and-easy-tarot-by-lily-oak.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/07/review-hedge-witchcraft-pagan-portals.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/08/review-hedge-riding-pagan-portals.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/09/competition-win-mind-body-soul-london.html

Pagan Eye: The Watchstone on Orkney, Scotland

As Scottish people vote today on whether they want Scotland to become independent or stay part of the United Kingdom, I thought I would post this picture I took when I was in Orkney earlier this year.

The picture shows an impressive monolith known as the Watchstone, which is on the bank where the Stenness and Harray lochs meet, close to the Standing Stones of Stenness. It is a beautiful place, full of amazing archaeological sites.

As much as I love Scotland, I'm not going to give my opinion on how the people of that country should vote today. That is up to them. Whatever is decided, I certainly plan to visit Scotland again in the future.

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.orkneyjar.com/history/monoliths/watchst.htm
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/06/scotland-holiday-standing-stones-of.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/06/scotland-holiday-barnhouse-neolithic.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/07/pagan-eye-hidden-stone-circle-in.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/09/pagan-eye-last-witch-burnt-in-scotland.html

Competition: Win Mind Body Soul London Tickets

The Mind Body Soul Experience organisers are kindly offering readers of A Bad Witch's Blog two pairs of free three-day passes for the next month's Mind Body Soul Experience in London - normally priced at £54 . All you have to do for a chance to win a free pair of tickets is enter a simple competition - the details of which are further down in this post.

This great prize gives you the chance to attend the Mind Body Soul Experience at London's Olympia Central absolutely free of charge - and have a great time while you are there.

You can engage your mind, indulge your body and nurture your soul at the three-day event from 24-26 October. With meditation, Bollywood dance and palm reading among many other activities, you’ll have a weekend to remember. Musical performances and crystal singing bowls will delight you as you soak up the multi-cultural atmosphere. Visitors come to the Mind Body Soul Experience to relax and unwind, and experience new ideas from ancient wisdoms.

This event aims to offer an experience like no other, and what’s more, this year there’s a big added benefit for all visitors – entry to the Mind Body Soul Experience allows you entrance into the OM Yoga show at no extra charge. Two shows for the price of one.

There are many free workshops at the show, but here are the details of how you could also win free entrance tickets:

Competition
To be in with a chance to win two pairs of tickets just answer the following question.

Which of the following will you be able to find at the Mind Body Soul Experience?

a) Crystal singing bowls
b) Wooden singing spoons
c) Paper singing cups

Email your answer to me, the Bad Witch, at badwitch1234@gmail.com by the closing time of midnight, Sunday 12th October 2014, to be in with a chance of winning. The two winners will be picked at random from the correct entries.

The Mind Body Soul Experience is at Olympia Central, London, on 24, 25 and 26 October, 2014.
Opening Times: Friday 11am - 6pm; Saturday 10am – 6pm; Sunday 10am – 5pm
Online admission costs per day: Adults £10; Concessions £8
On-the-door admission per day: Adults: £12; Concessions £10
Two and three-day tickets also available online.
You can find out more and register for a free show guide at: www.mbsevents.co.uk

Links and previous related posts
www.mbsevents.co.uk
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/09/mbs-experience-ten-healing-reasons-to.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/10/a-great-day-at-mind-body-soul-event-at.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/09/impressions-of-mind-body-soul-experience.html

Autumn Equinox Pagan Events in London and Nearby

Now to 2 October; Tales from the Autumn House art exhibition. Venue: The Belfry, St John on Bethnal Green, 200 Cambridge Heath Rd, London E2 9PA. Open Thursdays and Fridays from 6pm to 9pm and Saturdays and Sundays from 12pm to 5pm. You can find out more here: www.facebook.com/talesfromtheautumnhouse. Twitter: @theautumnhouse. Artist website: http://www.haslandgraphica.com/

Thursday 18 September; Sacred Walks and The Kingston ZodiacAdventure - walking the Virgo sign in Beddington. Meet at St Marys Church Beddington Church Road, Beddington SM6 7NJ at noon. Walk takes about 2 hours. Cost £10, advance booking required: http://www.meetup.com/Sacred-Walks-Kingston-Zodiac-Adventure/

Thursday 18 September; The Key Lessons to Spiritual Intelligence in Leadership. Talk and book signing by Sarah Alexander at 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 18 September; Book launch event for The Monster's Wife by Kate Horsley. Venue The Atlantis Bookshop, Museum Street WC1. Time: 7.30pm. To attend this event you must reserve a place in advance. Contact the Atlantis Bookshop on 020 7405 2120.

Thursday 18 September; Seidr and Sacred Sites In Sweden. A presentation by Imelda Almqvist. Venue: Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London NW1 6XT, Entrance is £10 Concessions and donations possible, pay at the door. Doors open at 7pm – all welcome. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sacred-Space-at-Steiner-House/104790729559515

Thursday 18 September; PFL Autumn Equinox Open Ritual facilitated by Hendon Heathens. Venue: Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, Holborn London. Time: 7.30pm for 8pm start. Ritual ends around 9pm followed by feasting until 10pm. Entrance: £6/£5 PF members. Please bring seasonal food and drinks to share at feast after ritual. For more details, visit http://london.paganfed.org/

Thursday 18 September; Croydon CoA Witches Gathering with talks and social activities at 1 Matthews Yard, off Surrey Street, Croydon. 8pm start. Entry: £1/£2. Event held on the third Thursday each month. For more details visit: http://www.witchfest.net/

Friday 19 September; The Path: Find, Forge and Following your Calling. Talk by Kathleen O’Hara and Rasheed Ogunlaru, organised by the London College of Spirituality. Venue: Westminster Quakers Meeting House, 8 Hop Gardens, off St Martins Lane, London WC2N 4EA, London. Time: 7pm. Cost: £10, booking essential. Details: http://www.meetup.com/londonspirituality/

Friday 19 September; Traditional Tibetan Medicine. Talk by Dr Nida Chenagtsang. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2EB. Time: 7pm-9pm. Cost: £14/£16 Advance booking advised. For details call: 020 7589 3292 or visit https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday, 20 September - 21 September; International Conference On Theosophical History. Venue: 50 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8EA. Tickets: £30 per day (£25 concessions, £20 TS members) or £50 for both days (£40 concessions, £30 TS members). For full details: http://www.theosophicalsociety.org.uk/index.php/events/international-conference-on-theosophical-history

Saturday, 20 September; Goddess Workshop with Wendy Stokes, author of The Lightworkers' Circle Guide.Venue: Spirit of Isis, Sun Street, Waltham Abbey, Essex. Time: 11am - 3pm. £15. Free parking in the Abbey Gardens car park. www.wendystokes.co.uk http://www.spiritofisis-healing.co.uk/circles-and-workshops.html

Saturday, 20 September; Autumn Equinox: Lore and Magic workshop with Suzanne Corbie. Venue: Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time: 10.45am arrival for 11am start. Finishes 5.30pm. Tickets £45 (£25 deposit, balance on the day). Call 0207 419 8507. For further details: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Saturday, 20 September; Autumn Equinox Open Ritual at Avebury stone circle in Wiltshire. Celebration of the second harvest organised by Sue Dorney. Everyone welcome, please bring with you an apple, or any piece of seasonal fruit or veg. Starts at noon. https://www.facebook.com/events/1466597300280875/

Saturday, 20 September; Free and Open Gorsedd of Caer Abiri Autumn Equinox Celebraton. Druidic ceremony to celebrate the Autumn Equinox at Avebury stone circle in Wiltshire. Meet at the Red Lion pub from noon for ceremony around 1.30pm. The ritual should end at 3pm, then back to the pub. Offerings of bread, mead and song or poetry welcome. Overnight camping is allowed in the overflow car park.

Saturday, 20 September; Woodland Autumn Equinox Ritual and Celebrations with Hern’s Tribe 2014. Location: Woods behind Coombe Lane, Croydon. Meet at Coombe Lane tram stop for 4pm. Event goes on until 8pm. Free event but bring food and drink to share. To reserve a place contact Mani on 077689 41373. http://www.paganfrontiers.com/

Saturday, 20 September; Masterclass - Bardo with Dr Nida Chenagtsang. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2EB. Time: 6pm-8.30pm. Cost: £14/£16 Advance booking advised. For details call: 020 7589 3292 or visit https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 21 September; The Celtic Medicine Wheel with Lynn Gosney and Bruce Scott at Caer Corhain Shamamic Development Centre of the Isle of Sheppey, North Kent. For more details and information on how to book, visit http://www.touchtheearthuk.com/

Sunday 21 September; People’s Climate Multi-faith Gathering in London. A short period of prayer, reflection, meditation, contemplation before the People's Climate March and coinciding with International Peace Day. Location: Victoria Embankment Gardens, Temple Section (the little park next to Embankment tube). Time: 12.15pm - 1pm. More details: https://www.facebook.com/events/776690835721794/

Sunday 21 September; Myths and Mysteries of the Thames. Talks by City of London guide Robert Stephenson and Scott Wood, author of London Urban Legends.Venue: HMS President, Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0HJ. Time: 11am. Duration: 1 hour 30 minutes. Tickets: £7.50 Adults - £5 Concessions. For more details and tickets: http://totallythames.org/events/info/londonist-afloat-terrific-tales-of-the-thames

Sunday 21 September; Southwark Mysteries - a walk with John Constable. Meet: Tabard Street Piazza, off Borough High Street, London SE1 1JA (Borough tube). Time: meet 1.45pm – depart 2pm. Walk lasts 90 mins. Tickets: £8 advance, £10 on day subject to availability. For more details and to book tickets, visit: http://www.southwarkmysteries.co.uk/#/walks-and-performances/4557067289.

Sunday 21 September; Painting your Sacred Space art meditation workshop. Venue: Islington Arts Factory, 2 Parkhurst Road, Holloway, London N7 0SF. Time: 11.30am – 4.30pm. Tickets £25, advance booking essential. For more details and to book tickets visit: http://www.cosmiclogic.co.uk/

Sunday 21 September; International Peace Day Picnic with Pagan Frontiers of London. Meet at the Italian Gardens in Hyde Park for a walk to the Peter Pan statue and the picnic. Time: Noon - 4pm. Free family friendly social event. For more details: http://www.paganfrontiers.com/

Sunday 21 September; Alban Elued / Autumn Equinox on Primrose Hill with the Loose Association of Druids. Open ritual hosted by Jeremy Morgan, the Druid of Wormwood Scrubbs. Venue: The Hawthorne Grove, Primrose Hill, Regents Park, London NW1. Starts at 12.45pm, ends at around 2.30pm. Nearest tube: Chalk Farm.

Sunday 21 September; Meetup for the Autumn Equinox with the London Wicca Meetup Group - a chance to meet the group and plan events for later in the year. Venue: Anchor pub, Bankside, 34 Park St, Southwark, London SE1 9EF. Time: 2pm - 5pm. For more details and to reserve a place, call The 07581 198380 or 07848 448669 or visit http://www.meetup.com/The-London-Wicca-Meetup-Group

Sunday 21 September; Londonist Afloat with London Dreamtime. Venue: HMS President Victoria Embankment, London EC4Y 0HJ. Price: £7.50/£5 concsTime: 3.30pm. For more details visit http://londondreamtime.com/calendar/

Sunday 21 September; Autumn Equinox Rite with The Cotswold Order of Druids at the Rollright Stones, Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. Time: 3pm. Free event but donations welcome to cover site hire. http://www.rollrightstones.co.uk/

Sunday 21 September; 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.

Sunday 21 September; Masterclass - Phowa with Dr Nida Chenagtsang. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2EB. Time: 6pm-8.30pm. Cost: £14/£16 Advance booking advised. For details call: 020 7589 3292 or visit https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 21 September; Celebration of the Autumn Equinox. Wheel of the Year ritual drawing from Celtic earth/pagan traditions at Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, 3 Pilgrim's Place, London NW3 1NG. Time: 7pm. Tel: 020 7433 3267. http://www.rosslynhillchapel.com/

Monday 22 September; The Southwark Mysteries- a walk with author John Constable. Meet: Tabard Street Piazza, off Borough High Street, London SE1 1JA (Borough tube). Time: meet 6.45pm - depart 7pm. Walk lasts 90 mins. Tickets: £8 advance, £10 on day subject to availability. For more details and to book tickets, visit: http://www.southwarkmysteries.co.uk/#/walks-and-performances/4557067289

Monday 22 September; African Shamanism, Spirit Dreams and Indigenous Medicine. Talk by John Lockley, organised by Alternatives. Venue: St James's Church Piccadilly, 197 Piccadilly, London, W1J 9LL. Time: 7pm - 8.30pm. Tickets £8/£12. For more details and to book tickets: http://www.alternatives.org.uk/

Monday 22 September; Conversations with Martians. Talk at The Salon of the Third Eye with Steve Wilson. Venue: The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street, London. E1 7EX. Time: 7.30pm. Entry £2.

Tuesday 23 September; Wheel of the Year Festival, Autumn Equinox at Chalice Well World Peace Garden, in Glastonbury. Gathering at the Well Head at 12pm for celebration and meditation until 12.30pm, then gather on the lower lawn for quiet conversation. Free admission from 10am until noon, then normal price admission. For more details about Chalice Well, visit the website http://www.chalicewell.org.uk/

Tuesday 23 September; Informal meeting of the London Hell Fire Club. Venue: The Fitzroy Tavern, Charlotte St, London. Time: from 6pm. Details about the HFC are in the ebook Secret Symbols of the Hell Fire Cluband basic information can be found at: http://www.hellfireclubbooks.co.uk/

Tuesday 23 September; Communicating with Animals - Interspecies Telepathic Communication. Lecture with Jane Summers. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London SW7 2EB. Time: 7pm-8.30pm. Cost: £10/£12 Advance booking advised. For details call: 020 7589 3292 or visit https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Tuesday 23 September; Crossbones Vigil to honour The Goose and the outcast dead of Cross Bones Graveyard. 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, SE1 1TA, opposite the Boot and Flogger pub, just north of the junction with Union Street. Nearest tubes Borough or London Bridge. The event is free, but donations are welcome. For more details, visit http://www.crossbones.org.uk/

Wednesday 24 September; Energy Workshop with Cobwebs at Cauldrons at Romford Shopping Hall. Cost is £20, deposit of £5. Time 10am-noon. http://www.cobwebsandcauldrons.co.uk/

Thursday 25 September - 11 January 2015. Witches and Wicked Bodies - an updated version of the exhibition about historic portrayals of witchcraft that was on in Scotland last year. Venue: the British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. Free event. For more details visit: https://www.britishmuseum.org/

Thursday 25 September; Paolo Viscardi of the Horniman Musuem: Interpreting the Unusual - explore examples and explanations of the weird and wonderful that may say more about us than the paranormal. Talk at the London Fortean Society. Venue: The Vaults Bar, Dirty Dicks, 202 Bishopsgate, City of London EC2M 4NR. Time: 7.30pm - 10.30pm. Entry: £3/£2 concessions. For more details, visit http://forteanlondon.blogspot.co.uk/

Friday 26 September, William Burroughs Walk with Antony Clayton and William Redwood. The walk starts at 6pm from Westminster Reference Library. This event is free but booking is essential. Please book at the library, ring 020 7641 6200 (ext.2) or email referencelibrarywc2@westminster.gov.uk

Friday 26 September, Hidden Energy Fields Revealed. Lecture by Harry Oldfield at Rilko (Research Into Lost Knowledge). Venue: 50 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8EA. Doors open 6.45pm, lectures starts 7.15pm. Entrance: £8/£6. http://www.rilko.net/EZ/rilko/rilko/home.php

Friday 26 September, A Skeptic's Guide to Ghost Hunting. Talk by Hayley Stevens at Greenwich Skeptics in the Pub. Venue: The Star and Garter, 60 Old Woolwich Road, Greenwich, London SE10 9NY. Time: 7.30pm. (Note, this is not the normal day of the month for this meeting) http://greenwich.skepticsinthepub.org/

Friday 26 September, Abraxas #6 Launch Party. Venue: Treadwells, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm start. Free event but advance booking essential. Call 0207 419 8507. For further details: info@treadwells-london.com http://www.treadwells-london.com/

Saturday 27 September; Seriously Spooked - one-day convention about ghost investigations run by ASSAP. Venue: Conference Aston, Aston University, Birmingham city centre. Tickets £25. Details and tickets: http://www.assap.ac.uk/Spooked/

Saturday 27 September; Egyptian priests and priestesses of the last thousand years BC. Gallery Talk. Venue: Room 4, British Museum, Great Russell Street, London WC1B 3DG. Time: 1.13pm-2pm. Free event, just drop in. For more details visit: https://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/events_calendar.aspx

Saturday 27 September; Wicca Introduced. The Children of Artemis one-day introductory Wiccan course in London with an informal question and answer session at a local pub afterwards. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 11am until 6.30pm. Ticket Price: CoA Members £22, non members £27. To book a place and for more details, visit: http://www.witchfest.net/wiccaintro.htm

Saturday 27 September; The 3 Lucks: the keys to live an abundant life and find your true calling. A talk by Laurent Langlais on Destiny, Chinese astrology and Feng shui. Venue: The King and Queen Pub, 1 Foley St, London W1W 6DL. Time: 2.30pm. Tickets: £13; £11 early bird. Paypal for early bird: Laurent.langlais@spacessential.com or at the door. http://www.laurentlanglais.com/

Saturday 27 September; London Dreamtime present… the sleeping ones. Venue: A secret location near Nunhead,. Price: £3. Time: 5.30pm. Early reservations essential. For more details visit http://londondreamtime.com/calendar/

Sunday 28 September; Holistic and Mystic Fair. Venue: The Arc, Caterham on the Hill, Surrey CR3 5XY. Time: 10am – 5pm. Tickets: Adults £3 or two for £5 if bought online in advance, accompanied children free, concessions £2. Details: http://holisticandmystic.com/