Book Review: Goblin Queens and Qualia Knights

I had to look up what the word "Qualia" meant when I read this curious new book by Phil Smith, author of earlier titles including On Walking and Living in the Mode Magical.

Qualia, I discovered, are qualitative properties of experiences - how it feels to hear a musical note or see a red rose, for example. Goblin Queens and Qualia Knights: A Guide to Xisting in a Time of Catastrophes is a delightful and imaginative call to get out and experience what the real world has to offer. See, touch, and smell those roses. Listen to the sounds of birds singing. It's a kind of magical quest to free ourselves from the wasteland of fake news, click-bait, and online AI.

The quest is framed in the manner of chivalric romances. It suggest  envisaging ourselves as goblin queens sending our knights in search of things magical, spiritual or personal, to save us from sloughs of despond. Phil states that goblin queens and knights are not gendered concepts, and we can find both within ourselves if we want to.

Publisher Triarchy Press says of Goblin Queens and Qualia Knights:

"Repurposing the codes of chivalry and courtly love in an existential crisis, Goblin Queens and Qualia Knights is a little book of comfort for people who are troubled by the way that life is being hollowed out by: social media, life on the phone, climate change, populist politics, banality, hyper-capitalism, AI and so on.

"It suggests clever and simple ways to remain true to yourself, even to be yourself, in the face of a thousand pressures to become someone else. It makes life into a pilgrimage of purpose, humour, awareness and compassion. It offers a contemporary myth and initiation and a range of simple somatic practices that could change your life."

I really enjoyed reading this book. It sent me on my own quest, or pilgrimage, to revisit a country park and feel in touch with the land and nature. You can read that post here. Triarchy Press suggests the book can be used by anyone who wants to lessen their digital dependence and deepen their connection with their surroundings, including therapists, artists, writers and anyone who enjoys getting out and about.

About the Author: 

Dr Phil Smith is a performance-maker, writer and academic researcher, specialising in work around walking, site-specificity, mythogeographies, web-walking, somatics and counter-tourism. With artist Helen Billinghurst, he is one half of Crab and Bee. He is also a member of site-based arts collective Wrights and Sites and an Associate Professor (Reader) at the University of Plymouth.

Where to find Goblin Queens and Qualia Knight

You can view the book on Amazon as well as find it on the Triarchy website. 

Please note I earn commission from some links.

Other previous related posts

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/06/walking-bodies-seeking-chaos-chance.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/07/psychogeography-full-circle-walking.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/09/green-london-riverview-walk-river-pool.html

My Events: Folklore, Witchcraft & Psychogeography

 
Here are details of the talks, workshops and other events I'm involved with from now until the end of June. There are talks and workshops on witchcraft, folklore, crafting and psychogeography.

May

In-Person Workshop on Amulets, Talismans and Charms

On Saturday 11 May I'm running an in-person workshop on Amulets, Talismans and Charms at Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 1pm. Cost: £22 per person.  https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.  https://www.treadwells-london.com/ 

Psychogeography in  Lewes

Saturday 18 May; I'll be giving a talk on Psychogeography for the Society of Leyhunters as part of a day of talks. My talk should be at 11.15am. Venue: Education Room, Lewes Castle Barbican, Lewes, Sussex. Tickets: £5. http://leyhunters.co.uk/

Sussex Faerie Festival Corn Dolly Workshop

The Faerie Festival runs from 17- 19 May at Great Betley Farmhouse, off Betley Lane, Stonepit Ln, Henfield BN5 9QT. I'll be running a crafting workshop to make a corn dolly on the Sunday. Tickets are £15-£95 for the festival from 1-day entry to weekend tickets. Find out more here: https://www.magicalfestivals.co.uk/

June

In-Person Candle Magic Workshop

On Saturday 15 June I'm running a workshop based on my book Pagan Portals - Candle Magic at Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. It starts at 1pm and tickets are £22 per person.  https://www.treadwells-london.com/ 

Witchcraft, Wisdom and Wellbeing

On Saturday 29 June I'll be talking about witchcraft at the Selhurst Park Wisdom and Wellbeing Fair. The fair runs from 11am to 5pm and at Crystal Palace FC Stadium, Selhurst Park, Whitehorse Lane, London, SE25 6XB. https://www.facebook.com/events/1498615594029584/

I'm Lucya Starza and as well as writing A Bad Witch's Blog I'm the author of books in the Pagan Portals series on Candle Magic, Guided Visualisations, Poppets and Magical Dolls, Scrying, and Rounding the Wheel of the Year. My novel Erosion is also published by Moon Books.

You can buy my books at Treadwell's Bookshop, via Amazon, at the College of Psychic Studies in London and at other bookshops. You can find more about me at my author page at publisher Moon Books, and on my Amazon author page. Please note I earn commission from advertisers for some links.

Art: Kelly Sweeney's Magical & Mystical Craft

Artist Kelly Sweeney kindly let me share photos of some of her stunning paintings. She also explained something of her thoughts and inspirattion behind them:

"My practice spawns a cosmology of supernatural entities, that manifest through painting, sculpture, drawing and film, with a dabble in live performance. 

"Recent concerns have included giving physicality to the energetically encountered inhabitants of place, combining the evidenced with the perceived. Taking the female personification of wilderness as departure point, I have begun to explore sites with a psychogeographical approach engaging both the material and non-physical.

"Interested in traditions and customs, I remain drawn to belief systems that cultivate relationships with the natural environment through magical and mystical craft. Recent research (supported by Jerwood Arts) considers the geographical, ecological and folkloric lineage of place as conscious feminine agency.

"This body of six paintings developed from experiential research on Hampstead Heath in London. These entities represent aspects of the divine feminine as fluid construct that resides in us all."

The pictures here are called Pollination, Venus, Wildling, Midsummer, Magician and Equinox. I hope to see more of Kelly's work in the future. 

Kelly Sweeney is a London-based artist who studied at Nottingham Trent and Chelsea School of Art. In the past she has exhibited work relating to witches and witchcraft. You can find out more about her on her website at www.kellysweeney.co.uk and follow her at @ksweeneyartist

I'm always happy to share art and photos that relate to anything witchy or esoteric on A Bad Witch's Blog. If you want to send me a photo, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what it shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself and if it shows art, then it should be your own work. 

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/07/college-of-psychic-studies-otherworldly.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/05/walking-art-of-tides-stones-god-of-sea.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/04/pagan-eye-renate-von-charlottenburgs.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/03/occult-london-maze-and-labyrinths-in.html

My Events: Psychogeography, Books and Witchcraft

Here are details of the talks, workshops and other events I'm involved with from now until the end of August. There's a mix of online and in-person events on psychogeography, poppets, candle magic and scrying. I'm also attending Beckenham Book Festival where I'll be talking about witchcraft .

This Coming Week

Psychogeography Talk via the College of Psychic Studies

On Tuesday 27th June I'm giving an illustrated online talk on Psychogeography: Mystical Alignments in the Land through The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £16.  https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/talks/energy-work/psychogeography-mystical-alignments-in-the-land/

July Events

Beckenham Book Festival 2023

On Sunday 2nd July I'll be at Beckenham Book Festival 2023. This annual event showcases local authors, of which I'm one. I'll have a stall at the festival where you can come and chat with me and see my books and I'll also be giving a short talk on witchcraft at 1.30pm. Other authors from Beckenham and the surrounding areas will also be there. There'll be short presentations throughout the event and a children’s story time.Beckenham Book Festival 2023 is at The Coach and Horses, Burnhill Rd, Beckenham BR3 3LA. Entry is completely free. It runs from 1pm until 6pm.

Poppets and Magical Dolls In-Person at Treadwells 

On Saturday 15 July I'm running an in-person workshop on Poppets and Magical Dolls at Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. It starts at 1pm and tickets are £22 per person. You can find out more and book online at https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

Candle Magic In-Person at Treadwells 

I'm running another session of my really popular in-person candle magic workshop at Treadwell's in London on Saturday 22 July. It's based on my book Pagan Portals - Candle Magic. Treadwell's Bookshop is at 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 1pm. Cost: £22 per person.  https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

Scrying Classes in August 

On Wednesday 2 and 9 August  I'm running a two-part online evening class on Scrying: Divination Using Crystals, Mirrors, Water and Fire via the College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £75. You can find more details and book here: https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

I'm teaching an in-person scrying class on Saturday 19 August at Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 1pm. Cost: £22 per person.  https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop. 

I'm Lucya Starza and as well as writing A Bad Witch's Blog I'm the author of books in the Pagan Portals series on Candle Magic, Guided Visualisations, Poppets and Magical Dolls, Scrying, and Rounding the Wheel of the Year. I also edited the community book Every Day Magic. 

You can buy my books at Treadwell's Bookshop, via Amazon, at the College of Psychic Studies in London and at other bookshops. You can find more about me at my author page at publisher Moon Books, and on my Amazon author page. (Note: I earn commission from advertisers for some links. This helps support my blog at no extra cost to those who read my posts.)

My Events: Candles, Psychogeography, Books, Poppets

Here are details of the talks, workshops and other events I'm involved with in June and July. There's a mix of online and in-person events on candle magic, psychogeography and poppets. I'm also attending a book fair where I'll be talking about witchcraft and the Wheel of the Year.

June Events

Candle Magic In-Person at Treadwells 

My next in-person in-person candle magic workshop is at Treadwell's in London on Saturday 3 June, and I'll be running it a second time on Saturday 22 July. It's based on my book Pagan Portals - Candle Magic. Treadwell's Bookshop is at 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 1pm. Cost: £22 per person.  https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

Psychogeography Online Talk via the College of Psychic Studies

On Tuesday 27th June I'm giving an illustrated online talk on Psychogeography: Mystical Alignments in the Land through The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £16.  https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/talks/energy-work/psychogeography-mystical-alignments-in-the-land/

July Events

Beckenham Book Festival 2023

On Sunday 2nd July I'll be at Beckenham Book Festival 2023. This annual event showcases local authors, of which I'm one. I'll have a stall at the festival where you can come and chat with me and see my books and I'll also be giving a short talk on witchcraft and the Wheel of the Year. Other authors from Beckenham and the surrounding areas will also be there. There'll be short presentations throughout the event and a children’s story time. Beckenham Book Festival 2023 is at The Coach and Horses, Burnhill Rd, Beckenham BR3 3LA. Entry is completely free. It runs from 1pm until 6pm.

Poppets and Magical Dolls In-Person at Treadwells 

On Saturday 15 July I'm running an in-person workshop on Poppets and Magical Dolls at Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. It starts at 1pm and tickets are £22 per person. You can find out more and book online at https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

Candle Magic In-Person at Treadwells 

I'm running another session of my really popular in-person candle magic workshop at Treadwell's in London on Saturday 22 July. It's based on my book Pagan Portals - Candle Magic. Treadwell's Bookshop is at 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 1pm. Cost: £22 per person.  https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

I'm Lucya Starza and as well as writing A Bad Witch's Blog I'm the author of books in the Pagan Portals series on Candle Magic, Guided Visualisations, Poppets and Magical Dolls, Scrying, and Rounding the Wheel of the Year. I also edited Every Day Magic. You can buy my books at Treadwell's Bookshop, via Amazon, at the College of Psychic Studies in London and at other bookshops. You can find more about me at my author page at publisher Moon Books, and on my Amazon author page. 

(Note: I earn commission from advertisers for some links.)

My Events: Protection, May, Candles, Psychogeography

Here are details of the talks, workshops and other events I'm involved with in May and June. There's a mix of online and in-person events on cleansing and protection, seasonal folklore and witchcraft, candle magic, and psychogeography.

May Events

Cleansing and Protection Online Talk via The College of Psychic Studies

On Tuesday 16 May I'm giving an illustrated online talk on Cleansing and Protection Magic through The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £16 from https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/talks/myth-magic/cleansing-and-protection-magic/

Magic for May at the Sussex Faerie Festival

I'm running a workshop on folklore and magic for May at the Sussex Faerie Festival 2023. The festival runs from 19 to 21 May and is a camping event with entertainment, a market and workshops, but you can pop along for a single day. My workshop will be on the Saturday and is free for anyone who has a ticket for the festival. The site is at Pleasant Rise Farm, Alfriston, East Sussex. Tickets are priced from £10 for one day. https://www.magicalfestivals.co.uk/shop

June Events

Candle Magic at Treadwells 

My next in-person in-person candle magic workshop is at Treadwell's in London on Saturday 3 June. It's based on my book Pagan Portals - Candle Magic. Treadwell's Bookshop is at 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 1pm. Cost: £22 per person.  https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

Psychogeography Online Talk via the College of Psychic Studies

On Tuesday 27th June I'm giving an illustrated online talk on Psychogeography: Mystical Alignments in the Land through The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £16.   https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/talks/energy-work/psychogeography-mystical-alignments-in-the-land/

I'm Lucya Starza and as well as writing A Bad Witch's Blog I'm the author of books in the Pagan Portals series on Candle Magic, Guided Visualisations, Poppets and Magical Dolls, Scrying, and Rounding the Wheel of the Year.  

You can buy my books at Treadwell's Bookshop, via Amazon, at the College of Psychic Studies in London and at other bookshops. You can find more about me at my author page at publisher Moon Books, and on my Amazon author page. (Note: I earn commission from advertisers for some links. This helps support my blog at no extra cost to those who read my posts.)

Charity Shop Find: The Cult of Water - The Line & Circle

The Cult of Water is a delightfully weird little book which I picked up in a charity shop for just 50p. It's one of a series brought out by the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic. It seems I found a bargain as it's a lovely read with delightful illustrations by Pete Fowler. This is what it says on the back cover:

"Aided by a witch and the magician Alan Moore, David Bramwell takes an occult journey back in time up the river Don, in search of the supernatural secrets of our waterways and to solve the mystery of a drowned village which has long haunted his memories. Travelling through the industrial destruction of our landscape he arrives in a pre-Christian era when well and springs were worshipped as living deities, bringing him face to face with Danu, the goddess of primordial waters, who gave her name to the Don. Can Bramwell face his demons and unravel the symbolic mysteries of our ancient ancestors? Who is the mysterious Vulcan? And will there be a pie and a pint waiting for him at the end of it all?"

It's one of those visionary works of literature which leave you wondering how much is true, how much is personal gnossis and how much is just creative writing. Did the author really experience time-slips, rediscover an offering left as a child, and encounter the Goddess Danu?  I just don't know, and maybe it doesn't matter. Like other psychogeographical literature, such as Iain Sinclair's Lud Heat, it's probably more poetry than a factual account of anything that happened. After all, the MWM describes the series it's part of as "hallucinatory fiction".

However, I asked Morgan Daimler, an author of many books on Irish and British mythology, whether the river Don was associated with the Goddess Danu. Morgan said: "Most scholars accept a linguistic connection between Dôn and Danu, so it's possible they're cognates."

I'm planning a walk along the course of a London river soon. I doubt I'll encounter anything as mysterious as the events described in The Cult of Water, but I can hope. 

You can view The Cult of Water on Amazon.

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/03/book-extract-living-in-magical-mode-by.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/02/review-wanderland-search-for-magic-in.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/12/review-hauntology-ghosts-of-futures-past.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/06/psychogeography-transform-your-town-as.html

Occult London: Maze and Labyrinths in Underground Art

I don't think I'm alone in feeling that London's Underground system is a mysterious realm full of occult significance as well as being a highly practical form of public transport. The Tube, as it's called, has inspired fantasy literature including Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch. It has also prompted psychogeographical writing such as 'In Defence of the Underground' by Doris Lessing, and Jini Reddy's magical quest Wanderland. In fact, the labyrinth artwork at Warren Street Underground station, (pictured above and right) is where Jini's book started. I've long been fascinated by the same piece of art myself, as I often pass through Warren Street on my way to teach workshops in practical magic at Treadwell's Bookshop.

That picture is by Mark Wallinger as part of the Art on the Underground programme. It's part of a series called Labyrinth, Mark grew up near London and regularly used the Central Line to get from the countryside to the city. This is what is says on the TfL website:

"This personal relationship with the Underground has informed his interest in public transport and fuelled a fascination with the idea of being ‘transported’ in an imaginative or spiritual sense. This idea gave rise to the ancient symbol that lies at the heart of this commission: the labyrinth, which represents this idea of the spiritual journey in many different traditions across the globe."

There were, according to TfL, 270 different labyrinths designed by Mark, with one at each of the Underground stations that existed in 2013. Each was individually numbered. I'm not entirely sure if they are all visible to the public today, but there was a Guinness World Record Tube Challenge to visit them all in the shortest time. Maybe one day I'll have a go at finding each one myself.

However, Warren Street Station also has mosaics depicting a maze on the Victoria Line platforms. The art is by Alan Fletcher and is a play on the concept of the word "Warren" meaning underground tunnels. You can see that in the photo to the left. A maze has many different paths, some of which lead to dead ends, while a labyrinth has a single path that winds its way to the centre. 

It's supposed to take 3-4 minutes to solve the puzzle and find the right path, which is about the length of time between trains arriving.

(Note: I earn commission from advertisers for some links. This helps support my blog at no extra cost to those who read my posts.)

Other previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2022/10/book-review-labyrinth-walking-radiant.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/09/review-ariadnes-thread-ancient-minoan.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/07/occult-london-london-stone-myths-and.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/06/occult-london-viktor-wynds-museum-of.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/09/occult-london-barbers-physic-garden.html

Book Extract: Living In The Magical Mode by Phil Smith

Here's an extract from the book Living In The Magical Mode by Phil Smith, published by Triarchy Press. When he offered me the extract, Phil said: "I’m trying to find things out about ways of living, by listening to and speaking in many voices, looking through many eyes, imagining multiple bodies.". This extract is about a strange experience during an archaeological investigation of a bomb shelter. Enjoy!

Midsummer Night’s Report from the Chair (part two)

For all the excitement around the upended yew under the department store, the implications of what was revealed in the second bomb shelter were of a completely different order. It promised little. Once the way in had been forced, our head torches revealed what appeared to be an identical space to the first shelter. But no concrete floor this time, just rough earth (no roots); for a while the archaeologists were sorely exercised by the compacted ground. We were asked to stand around the edges of the room as the soil was tapped and scraped. Speeded-up archaeology, on the fly; the best guess was that there had been some kind of grave there, though the dimensions of the figure were far in excess of anything human. Then there was some discussion as to whether the remains might have been symbolic, like those cut in chalk on the sides of hills, to give the impression of a vast individual. The site administrator grew nervous and said that reburying the floor and the upturned tree were the best we could hope for.

As compensation for our disappointment, we were invited to study the remains in the soil more closely, but not to take souvenirs. It was hard to see what had excited the experts, but as our eyes adjusted to the gloom a pale outline was evident, twice the size of a normal person, approximately body shaped. A pall of melancholy was descending palpably, when one of the shovelbums called us back to look at the walls. There had been a strange odour of composting when the shelter was opened. Now some combination of our breathing and long years of preservation was catalysing something in the slaked lime in the wash. As if emerging through white clouds, figures stepped forward from whitewash; a colourful crowd dressed in green and red and holding garlands of flowers, swinging what looked like balloons on sticks; they were massed like the wilder parts of a hokey cokey. Then larger figures emerged, towering over the celebrants, as vague as the grave, giant sacks of mist. 

We watched these giants move out from behind the veil of lime, gathering power from the surging of the ordinary brighter folk who swarmed around their feet, mobbing them or perhaps to avoid being crushed. As the giants’ faces emerged they were not unpleasant looking, with full, generous features and wide thoughtful brows, eyes of icy blue and green thick-lipped grins. The giants were kneeling before smaller figures; their heads slightly bowed; what had seemed like threat was more like respect. 

The smaller figures were sharper now. Not a chaotic crowd, but parts of a narrative that circled round the walls, a story that was different depending on where you started reading it: there were the giants kneeling before a group of grey haired matriarchs, surrounded by a herd of white deer, antlers tangled, there was a sea voyage in a ship with a broken mast, then the passengers – women in long aristocratic garments, no sign of a crew – coming ashore in a wasteland, hunting scenes with the women carrying bows and spears, the tangle of woods, and the climax of the hunt with the women carrying home dead horses and mountain lions... it had the look of one of those municipal murals on vaguely relevant classical Greek themes. Hunters and fallen prey were bathed in blood; there were erotic scenes in which the sea-faring women indulged in orgies with spectral versions of the animals; the ingenuity of the artist was employed. The last scene showed women attending small children whose features and figures were like those of the giants.

The effect on our members and the archaeologists was remarkable. We found ourselves caught up in the excitement circulating around the room, speaking out in loud voices until we were almost at a run and the voices cohered into a single ecstatic sound more like animal noises than words. Our bodies raced round and round the space, yelling at the tops of our voices. And then the pictures were gone. In a matter of seconds the giants, the women, the animals had faded almost to nothing. “We’ve done enough damage here!” yelled an archaeologist and with that we were ushered to the surface. 

The city seemed strange. The lights brighter, the shadows darker....  

Here's a link for further information: https://www.triarchypress.net/magicalmode.html

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/07/review-on-walking-psychogeographical.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/06/review-walking-stumbling-limping-falling.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/06/walking-bodies-seeking-chaos-chance.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/01/book-extract-covert-30-movement.html

Review: Wanderland: Search for Magic in the Landscape

The book I've just finished reading is Wanderland - A Search for Magic in the Landscape. I loved it. It's a tale of one woman's quest to find places in England that seem, well, magical is the best term. It's a quest I've embarked on myself and many of the sites she visits are ones I also love including Cornwall, Sussex and Glastonbury. But, like me, author Jini Reddy lives in London. 

The city is the start and end point of her journeys as well as being a place full of woods, parks and an underground labyrinth that inspires her first pilgrimage. That London labyrinth is at Warren Street and is in a series of artworks by Mark Wallinger in tube stations. The name for the entire series is Labyrinth. I've seen examples myself, which have also filled me with a longing to explore others on foot. While I was led to Julian's Bower, Jini travels to one by the edge of the sea near Looe in Cornwall. I looked it up, and now want to go there too.

However, there's a difference between us. Jini was born in London to Indian parents from South Africa, grew up in Quebec, and has travelled the world. I'm a middle-aged white woman who was born in London and have lived here most of my life. I grew up learning the myths and legends of England. Jini was raised in a home where statues of Hindu deities were on display. When I travel to sites of spiritual tourism in England, I'm pretty much invisible among all the other middle-aged white women and familiar with the cultural references used there. Jini has to brace herself to face racist glances and the awkwardness of needing to ask questions, such as: what actually is the nave of a church? (It's the central bit, by the way.)

That cultural difference means Jini doesn't identify her quest as a search for the mythic landscape - the mythological tales of Arthur, Brigid, or the Green Man don't resonate with her. It's the landscape itself that calls. She writes that the word "magical" is more inclusive than the word "mythic". I can absolutely see that, and probably feel the same way. When I'm in a place that seems numinous - which can be sites in London as well as in the country - it resonates as a personal feeling inside me more than as a connection with ancient gods or figures from legend. I love the old stories these places have inspired, but I'm probably more happy to make my own stories inspired by my experiences there - a psychogeography of landscape more than devotion to the religions of my ancestors.

Reading Wanderland has inspired me to go on more of my own quests to find magic in the landscape. Although I've visited several of the places mentioned, the book taught me about some I'd never heard of before - including a secret spring near Hastings. And there are chapters on places I've always wanted to see, such as Lindisfarne. I really ought to get out my diary and set some dates for my own pilgrimages. I'll take my copy of Wanderland with me, and reread the pertinent chapters when I'm there.

You can view Wanderland - A Search for Magic in the Landscape  on Amazon . It is published by Bloomsbury. It came out in 2020. (Note: I earn commission from advertisers for some links. This helps support my blog at no extra cost to those who read my posts.)

Pictures: Book cover; Chalice Well in Glastonbury

Occult London: Place in Exhibition at Swedenborg House

Concerning an Idea About Place is the name of an exhibition currently on in the gallery at Swedenborg House in London. The objects displayed force us to question our ideas about place, space and distance - from how we look at the buildings we are in to how we experience being inside our own skulls. 

The objects range from photographs of corners of rooms in the building to a chair once sat in by a historical figure to a plaster cast of "the wrong skull". Cast in 1908, it was supposed to be a replica of Swedenborg's skull but the wrong skull was copied by mistake. On the walls around it are various writings which this unusual relic has inspired, including text by Iain Sinclair.

The exhibition description on the Swedenborg Society website says

"In a now famous passage from his Arcana Caelestia, printed in London between 1749-56, Emanuel Swedenborg wrote that our ‘ideas of place and distance’ are not anything real but ‘states of thought and affection’. (§1376) Since then, this idea has had a profound influence on philosophers, writers and artists alike, and has had a direct impact on Romanticism, Symbolism, Surrealism and Psychogeography. Curated by the Society’s Museum Director, Stephen McNeilly, this intimate exhibition draws together miscellaneous items from the Swedenborg Collection that explore this theme and confirm our experience of place as an ‘inner sense’, linking the external world of things to our internal world of ideas and feelings."

I popped along to see the exhibition yesterday and found it thought-provoking. I took some photos including the ones on this post. Concerning an Idea About Place is free to enter although reserving a ticket is recommended, which you can do here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-swedenborg-society-8460713300 It runs until the end of February.

Emanuel Swedenborg (1688-1772) was a London-based philosopher and visionary. The Swedenborg Society is a registered charity that publishes his works as well as hosting events and exhibitions. Swedenborg House and Gallery is at 20-21 Bloomsbury Way, London, WC1A 2TH. 

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/11/occult-london-hawksmoors-coffin-shaped.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2018/11/occult-london-greenwich-witch-bottle.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2022/11/ithell-colquhouns-taro-at-college-of.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2016/06/occult-london-viktor-wynds-museum-of.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/05/occult-london-jubilee-oracle-by-thames.html

My Talks on Scrying, Psychogeography & Witchcraft

Here's the list of the talks, workshops and other events I'm running from this evening until the end of April. There's a mixture of online and in-person events. Some are free.

Thursday 31 March; Walking in the Weird City. I will be giving an online talk on psychogeography for ASSAP members. Time: 7pm. Free event, with Zoom link details emailed out to members. To join ASSAP, for £5 per year, visit http://www.assap.ac.uk/.

Saturday 2 April; Scrying: Crystals Balls, Dark Mirrors and Vessels of Water. Zoom lecture through The Last Tuesday Society and The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets · from £5.82. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Tuesday 5 April; I will be talking about my background in witchcraft, a bit about Doreen Valiente who lived in Sussex and is considered the grandmother of modern witchcraft, plus a bit about poppet magic at Decoy Ducks - Hampden Park Women's Institute. All women welcome as guests. Venue: St Mary's Church Hall, Decoy Drive, BN22 9PP.  Time: 7.30pm. https://www.facebook.com/groups/358462201739598

Saturday 23 April; I will be giving a talk on scrying plus conversation. Venue: Dragon Fly Yoga Studio, 24 Sydenham Road, London SE26 5QW. Time: 4pm. Entry by donation (£3 suggested).  https://www.dragonfly-yoga.org/

Thursday 28 April; The Magic Mirror: The History and Practice of Skrying. Online lecture by me, Lucya Starza, via the Magickal Women Conference. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £10. https://www.magickalwomenconference.com/events

I'm Lucya Starza and as well as writing A Bad Witch's Blog I'm the author of  books in the Pagan Portals series on Candle Magic, Guided Visualisations, Poppets and Magical Dolls, and Scrying. I also edited Every Day Magic. You can buy my books at Treadwell's Bookshop, via Amazon, and at other bookshops. You can find more about me at my author page at publisher Moon Books, and on my Amazon author page.

Walking Bodies: Seeking Chaos, Chance & Inspiration

I love walking as a way to get inspiration, and I don't have to visit beautiful unspoilt countryside either. Just a stroll around my own town can give me ideas for what to write about. 

On Wednesday evening I went to the online launch event for the new book Walking Bodies, which is about walking as art and walking to inspire art. It's part of a new movement using techniques from psychogeography, guided tours, perambulatory theatre and other forms of performance art. The subtitle of the event was Scores and Exchanges. Scores are basically brief ideas for themes and topics when going for a walk. 

The organisers sent out seven different scores beforehand and invited participants to do one or two, and then write something short. The image to the right shows the score I decided to do. The collage at the top shows photographs I took when I was out, and the poem below is my creative offering inspired by it:

 On Straight Streets

Worms and wildflowers,

Snowflake symbols,

Fallen fence and child's spinner,
Shops for bets and Lucky booze 

Art and writing on the walls - 

All of these things I saw

Winding my way

On straight streets

Walking Bodies: Papers, Provocations, Actions from Walking’s New Movements, the Conference is ​edited by Helen Billinghurst, Claire Hind and Phil Smith. It is published by Triarchy Press. I've ordered a copy of the book and am looking forward to trying out more of the ideas within it.

You can also view Walking Bodies on Amazon. Please note I earn commission from some links.

Previous related posts
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/07/review-on-walking-psychogeographical.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2017/06/review-walking-stumbling-limping-falling.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2014/07/psychogeography-full-circle-walking.html

Review: Hauntology - Ghosts of Futures Past

Christmas Eve is a time for ghost stories, so here's a review of a book about them. Mind you, Hauntology - Ghosts of Futures Past by Merlin Coverley is about more than tales of spirits coming back from the dead. Hauntology is the concept that pretty much anything virtual - as in not physically existing - can become a spectral visitation. That includes ghost stories, of course. The book starts with a look at Dickens, and goes on to cover MR James, Arthur Machen and several other authors of classic spooky fiction. But there's a lot more.

The idea of hauntology is that we are all haunted by our memories of the past and nostalgia for bygone times, and by our hopes that died yet refused to rest quiet. Oh and yes, the book does look at beliefs in the esoteric and paranormal too - as well as psychology and theories of post-modern social disconnectedness. Publisher Oldcastle says on its website:

"Ghosts and spectres, the eerie and the occult. Why is contemporary culture so preoccupied by the supernatural, so captivated by the revenants of an earlier age, so haunted? The concept of Hauntology has evolved since first emerging in the 1990s, and has now entered the cultural mainstream as a shorthand for our new-found obsession with the recent past. But where does this term come from and what exactly does it mean?

"This book seeks to answer these questions by examining the history of our fascination with the uncanny from the golden age of the Victorian ghost story to the present day. From Dickens to Derrida, MR James to Mark Fisher; from the rise of Spiritualism to the folk horror revival, Hauntology traces our continuing engagement with these esoteric ideas. Moving between the literary and the theoretical, the visual and the political, Hauntology explores our nostalgia for the cultural artefacts of a past from which we seem unable to break free."

The term hauntology was apparently coined by French philosopher Jacques Derrida in the 1990s, when he wrote about the "spectre" of Marxism and its legacy. The term got taken up by Mark Fisher, a cultural theorist, first to describe the work of artists and musicians then to describe the effect of pretty much anything unreal that impinges on reality. He wrote: "think of hauntology as the agency of the virtual." 

Coverley also describes techniques of hauntology as being a way to explore our perceptions of time - past, present and future - in a similar way to how psychogeography is a way of exploring our perceptions of place. They are connected through concepts like ley line theory and deep history. I was very much inspired by his earlier book called Psychogeography, and I'm pretty sure I'll be inspired by Hauntology too. I look forward to hunting out the ghosts of futures past in whatever strange new world we will find in a hopefully post-plague-year London of 2021.

You can view Hauntology on Amzon and on uk.bookshop.com.

Monster Hunt: Searching for Strange Creatures in SE20

When you were young, did you play the game of not stepping on the pavement cracks, or the bear would get you? Here's a version of that game I played with a bunch of adult friends back in the summer of 2016.

Shortly after the launch of Pokemon Go, I decided to go on a monster hunt without the tech, using imagination and a spot of of psychogeography to look for signs of strange creatures - making up stories and taking photos along the way. Last week, I came across those photos again, and thought I'd share them in this blog post. The bear sign above was one of the first things I saw. There were several of them along the way. A warning perhaps, or just a creative expression by one of Penge's talented designers and street artists? I stood on a crack, just to see what would happen...

A row of bare-breasted caryatids appears to hold up the top floor flats of a building in Penge High Street, above a row of shops. You can see one in a photo above right. I don't know what they are doing in south London, but a caryatid is a statue that acts as a pillar or other support in a building. The name comes from an Ancient Greek term meaning "maidens of Karyai", which was an ancient town with a temple to the goddess Artemis Karyatis. She was said to dance among the groves of nut trees with her maiden worshippers, all carrying baskets of reeds and grasses on their heads, as if to mimic the trees themselves.

When you see faces in ink blots it is called pareidolia. What you think you see, isn't really there. It is just your mind playing tricks on you, translating random shapes into familiar objects - and perhaps giving a clue as to what is going on in your mind. Of course, that dark shape on the wall is just as random. Of course it is a paint splatter, interpreted by my imagination. It could not possibly be the shadow of a creature with the head of a lizard and outstretched wings, cast on a bare brick wall in an alley behind a supermarket.

And a bricked up doorway could be nothing sinister, could it? As I was photographing the shape on the wall, a group of children approached me and the people I was with.

"Are you looking for weird things?" one asked.

"Yes," I said. We were. The children looked at each other, as if deciding whether to tell us a secret. One of them took the lead. If we listened to the wall by the bricked up door, we might "hear a scary voice", they said, in a whisper.

"What does the voice say?" I asked.

"I can't tell you," they said, "but I can write it down."  And they did, on the back of a shopping receipt. To me, it looks like "I will kill you."

Leaving death threats behind, we returned to the high street. There was something odd there I was already aware of - a maze on the pavement next to a set of monstrous feet. Naturally, I walked the maze, but nothing happened. I don't think the maze is there now, and I believe the feet are gone too. I don't know where.

Other statues of mythological monsters can be seen in Penge. Some stand guard by Waterman's Square. These Victorian alms houses are now luxury homes, and the gargoyles that stand on pillars by the gateways inspired the logo for the Penge Heritage Trail. But, while they might have been intended as guardians, they looked mildly menacing as the evening shadows lengthened.

Along the road from Waterman's Square is St John's Church, and I think I spotted a small foliate head - or a Green Man - by the church door. These are often found in churches. Some are famous for them, including Salisbury Cathedral and Rosslyn Chapel.

There are many theories as to what they mean. Many pagans like to believe they represent the cycles of nature or even a nature spirit. Christians have variously interpreted them as showing the sins of the flesh leading to corruption or as Christ breathing life into the world. For others, they are just monstrous gargoyles, but no one really knows for sure.

As the walk went on, and dusk turned to night, the streets and alleys and deserted stretches of ground we crossed got distinctly spookier. The back of a disused pub next to Penge East Station is covered in murals showing the area in bygone times. It is meant to be a happy, nostalgic scene, but graffiti on the wall appeared to have added ghost-like images to the painted windows that gave a more haunted impression. We decided to end the walk there, and made our way to a pub that was still open for the kind of spirits that get poured into a glass.

I hope you have enjoyed my little tour through a small part of south east London, and photographs of monsters from ancient mythology and pure imagination. If you see signs of strange creatures in the streets you pass, do take a picture.

Psychogeography: Transform Your Town As You Walk

Psychogeography means walking around a town or city and picking up the atmosphere or energy of the urban environment. It is about sensing its psychological effects, and working with that in unconventional ways.

The most quoted definition comes from Guy Debord, in Paris in the 1950s, who described it as "the study of the precise laws and specific effects of the geographical environment, consciously organized or not, on the emotions and behavior of individuals." That does sound like something out of a sociology textbook, and plenty of psychogeographers have thought of it in those terms, but these days it is more about thinking creatively and learning to see our city with fresh eyes.

The back cover blurb on a book Psychogeography by Merlin Coverley says: “Psychogeography provides us with new ways of apprehending our surroundings, transforming the familiar streets of our everyday experience into something new and unexpected.”

Another, vaguer, but perhaps more apt definition comes from Joseph Hart who did a write-up about a psychogeographers’ convention in New York in 2004. In an article, A New Way of Walking, he wrote: “'psychogeography,' a slightly stuffy term that's been applied to a whole toy box full of playful, inventive strategies for exploring cities. Psychogeography includes just about anything that takes pedestrians off their predictable paths and jolts them into a new awareness of the urban landscape.”

The term was first coined by the French movement Lettrist International, a group of radical artists and theorists, in the early 1950s. The idea was that wandering around the city was not only the best way to apprehend the urban environment, it also let you envisage a new environment that would overcome the world's banality. It was a method of creating change. This was taken up by Guy Debord and the left wing group Situationist International in France, in the 1950s and 1960s.

In its early days, the Situationists saw psychogeography as a tool for assessing the emotional impact of cities on their inhabitants. They saw it as being a revolutionary activity, but later they gave it up and moved on to more standard revolutionary activities, like rioting.

Although the term was first coined in 1950s' Paris, Merlin Coverley describes its origins as being in London a few centuries earlier, with  Daniel Defoe's A Journal of the Plague Year - a fictionalised account of one man's wanderings around London during the Great Plague. William Blake has been described as the Godfather of Psychogeography because of his imaginary reconstruction of London as the New Jerusalem. Other visionary writers seen as precursors of psychogeography include Thomas de Quincy, who described his drug-fuelled journeys around London in his book Confessions of an English Opium Eater; Robert Louis Stevenson, the author of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde; and Arthur Machen, who wrote The London Adventure or the Art of Wandering. Arthur Watkins, who came up with the idea of ley lines, is also seen as highly influential.

Jumping forward, towards the end of the 20th century, Iain Sinclair’s 1975 book Lud Heat is set in London – the city of King Lud - during a hot summer, and was influenced by the ideas of ley lines, Egyptian funerary rites and magical symbolism in Hawksmoor’s churches to envision occult forces at work in the city. He went on to use walking and writing for social comment in books including London Orbital. Along with Iain Sinclair, Will Self, John Rogers and Nick Papadimitriou have produced creative works of psychogeography – although Iain and Nick often prefer the term “deep topography” to describe their walks of urban discovery. The documentary The London Perambulator is the work of all four, along with comedian Russell Brand, on that topic.

Another term, coined by Phil Smith, author of On Walking, is "mythogeography". He writes:

"Mythogeography is an experimental approach to places as if they were sites for performances, crime scenes or amateur excavations (let’s say, grave robbing) of multiple layers of treasure. To get at these different aspects of place and space, mythogeography draws on all kinds of ‘low theory’; amateur and poetic assembling into manifestos of things I have learned ... while out on the road. Mythogeography is a hybrid of ideas, tactics and strategies. It embraces both respectable (academic, scientific, culturally validated) and non-respectable (Fortean, antiquarian, mystical, fictional) knowledges..."

The technique he suggests using when you want to turn a walk into something more mythogeographical, he calls“Crab Man’s Razor”. He writes:

"A common research protocol is Occam’s Razor: the idea that the simplest explanation is the likeliest. Turn this around and adopt, no matter how fragmentary and partial your evidence, the most complex, sinister and portentous explanations possible until disproved by further evidence. Check out the secret codes on manhole covers. You might also adopt a complementary Fortean approach: assuming that the greatest significance is to be found among anomalies and minorities."

If you are wanting to turn a daily walk around your town into something a bit different. Why not give those techniques a go?  Here's a link to a psychogeographical walk I did around my own home town a few years ago. The picture at the top is one I took on that walk.

Please note I earn commission from some links.