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New Book Alert
Admired and respected by some, feared and reviled by others, witches throughout history have been both provocative and intriguing in equal measure. In this authoritative guide to witchcraft, Jason Karl describes the practices, uncovers the facts and reveals the secrets behind this age-old craft. Beginning with the Witchcraft Act of 1401, the book moves beyond the horrors of the ‘witch hunts’ to examine the relevance of The Craft in today’s society, discussing the practical functions within the coven, the various types of Magick, the Pagan holidays and the ancient lore behind the gods and goddesses venerated by many witches and Pagans. The book also includes details of important spells and charms and the required wardrobe for any practising witch, along with fascinating interviews with some of today’s best-known practitioners of the arts magickal. The Secret World of Witchcraft brings The Craft into the 21st century and provides an illuminating overview of the witching world.
This book, by Jason Karl, is out in September 2008. Jason is a supernatural explorer & founder of Ghost Research Foundation International. He regularly appears on television & radio & is the author of seven books on ghosts & the paranormal.
ISBN: 978 184773 069 5
Price: £14.99
Publisher: New Holland
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Churches in Legend & Tradition
Saturday 20th & Sunday 21st September 2008
Bishop's Palace
Wells
Somerset
Organised by the Folklore Society
speakers to include: Valerie Dean, David Phelps, Mark Lewis, Rosemary Power, Deborah Crawford, David Hunt
Topics included: The Martyrdom of St Ethelbert; Symbolism of Doors; Moravian Tradition; Holy Wells; St patrick on Anglesey; Haunted Churches
Tickets £30.00 from Folklore Society 020 7682 8562
http://www.folklore-society.com/
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ARTS OF NATURAL MAGIC
with Marion Green (Author of 'A Witch Alone')
8th November 2008 10am - 5 pm
One Day Workshop
Littlehampton, West Sussex
£20.00 including light refreshments (please bring lunch)
For details/booking/B & B etcContact: Marie on
mariedragon@hotmail.co.uk
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Double double, toil and trouble
Horsham Museum 8 July to 30 August
Where did Harry Potter get his spells from? Britain has a rich store of charms and folk magic, and in the not so long ago most likely you would have gone to see a local folk-healer rather than a doctor if you had some problem that troubled you. Some healers could cure simple things from warts and cuts to skin diseases, while others offered charms against witchcraft and could find lost or stolen goods. Fortune tellers are still with us, of course, but the art of reading tea leaves or the cards is an old one.
‘Double double, toil and trouble’ is a new exhibition at Horsham Museum that explores the intriguing world of folk-magic and witchcraft, a world that was still familiar in our great-grandparents’ day though today is much less well known. The exhibition explores belief in witchcraft from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries – the period of the witch trials, through to the present day, uncovering the continued use of magic in everyday life.
Belief in witchcraft was once widely held, and almost every town or village had its ‘cunning-man’ or ‘conjuror,’ who could detect witchcraft where its influence was felt and suggest who might lie behind it. Cunning-folk supplied charms to break the power of witchcraft, often papers written with mystic signs or powders to sprinkle over the afflicted, and could also find lost or stolen goods, tell fortunes and dispense herbs. The exhibition includes various charms used by such people, gathered together from as far afield as Cornwall and East Anglia, including a ‘kenning’ stone, used to cure eye complaints; examples of witch-bottles, used to break the power of witches; a magic mirror, with the moon’s face etched upon it, used for scrying; and parchment talismans, used to ward off evil influences. There are also samples of ‘Dragon’s Blood,’ offered to the lovesick, used along with the following verse:
“Oh, Dragon’s Blood, Oh, Dragon’s Blood,
It is not your blood I wish to burn,
But my true loves heart I wish to turn,
May he/she no rest or pleasures see,
’
till he/she returns to me.”
Like most places in England, Sussex had its share of witches and cunning-folk, and its folklore tells of the use of magic in the lives of Sussex men and women. For example, did you know that Horsham had its own cunning-woman in the seventeenth century?
Sussex is still a home to witchcraft, and modern paganism embraces many practices of folk-magic and ritual now centuries old. The exhibition features items from a modern witch’s altar as well as robes used in rituals. All this and more from the world of witchcraft and folk-magic is featured in this magical exhibition.
‘Double double, toil and trouble’ opens on 8th July and closes on 30th August 2008.
For further information please contact Jason Semmens, Assistant Curator.
9 Causeway, Horsham, West Sussex RH12 1HE Phone: 01403 254959 Email: museum@horsham.gov.uk
website: horshammuseum.org
23 June 2008
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