LILITH PUJA

(Recreational Sex Amongst Consenting Adults)

Blessed be Thy clawed feet, bound and fettered
With leaden chains as, dethroned,
Unveiled,stripped bare,
Thy lie in the dirt, oh! Queen of Zemargard!
Thy blind all-seeing eyes shredding bitter tears
Over Thy slain men, Thy defiled lions!
Since we have ceased to burn sweet incense
And pour libation unto your name,
Queen of heaven, by the sword we have been consumed,
By famine and plague oppressed...
May the astrologers, the sorcerers, the stargazers rise up
And save Thee from the power of the flame!

Blessed be Thy barren womb, host of unborn babes.
For he took vengeance, and swore
To withhold Thee congress,
Never again to meet Thee as a man,
To deny Thee his seed,
Never to pay the Whore!
Blessed be Thy Yoni, throbbing pomegranate,
raving, starving, burning ice,
Gapping lips of hell,
Oh! Mistress of wet dreams,
Virgin Harlot of holy defilement!

Blessed be thy breasts, divine yet unworshipped.
Thy sour milk, drip-fed nectar,
Resurrects the Legions of the destitutes.
Wanting, consumed, starved,
like an ox, you bellow, like a bear you growl,
Like a wolf you roam and kill!
Blessed be thy burnt lips,
Which once uttered the Name,
Now gagged with iron clamps!
Thy silent scream reverberates through the Aeons,
Screeching, like Tiamat, for Samael,
Thy passion, Thy Divine Consort,
Castrated, slain into oblivion...
Ah! The Dregs of the Wine!

Blessed be Thy bony bound hands
That command over all boners!
Thy Heart, slain by one hundred and one arrows,
Exhausted inexhaustible all-compassionate Chalice
To all the injustice of this world!
Blessed be Thy thorn-crowned brow,
Thy black blood, Thy smokey owl wings,
Terror of their nights, mantle of infinite love
Secretly enfolding
All outcasts, like a thief
At the heart of the night,
My Lady of Sorrow,
My Mistress of Storms,
Holy Ghost of the holocausts, the dungeons,the dusty famines,
In the castles of oppression, Thy scream echoes the wailing
Of those who have lost it all,
As Gaia quakes and ripples,
Raging at such defilement.

Blessed be Thy Shadow, terror of the false prophets,
Haunting graveyards and the killing fields,
Casting hateful delusions
Unto the children of isaah
As they oppress, pilfer, torture and gloat!
For Thou art to be found where no heart may venture,
In the greatest horror holding all compassion!

Thou shalt never be defeated!
They may well lay atop of you, the Dust-Devils,
Tie you to some seedy bedhead,
Straddle you, rip you wide open
For a spot of recreational sex...
Laugh! Triumph!
Thy lidless eyes stare right through
The panting shadow of their lust
And beyond, to the Evening Star!
Babalon!

© Brigitte Ariel

October 2005

Treadwells and Secret Chief Talks

Hello from Treadwells, Here's a selection of talks at Treadwells. Full descriptions of all events are to be found now on website, http:www.treadwells-london.com. Treadwells 34 Tavistock Street, Covent Garden, London Places booked on 0207 240 8906 or by email info@...

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Tuesday, 22 November Victorians and the Supernatural 7.15 for 7.30 pm start £5.00 Dr Rhodri Hayward, Wellcome Institute

Wednesday, Nov 28 Paganism in Edwardian Literature 7.15 for 7.30 start. £5.00 Lindsay River, Author and Researcher

27 November (Sunday) CUNNING HEDGEWITCH WORKSHOP VI: SIGILS AND TALISMANS Christina Oakley 1-6 pm £18.00

Wednesday, Nov 30 Paganism in Edwardian Literature 7.15 for 7.30 start. £5.00 Lindsay River, Author and Researcher

Wednesday 30th November - Odebitola
"Santeria: A Magical Perspective" Odebitola is a practical Qabalistic Adept with nearly 30 years experience who is also a priest in the Cuban religion of Lukumi. Tonight he will look at the Cuban Yoruba religion of Santeria from a magician's perspective, concentrating on the role of divination, dead, the role of the Orisha and the iwin, the stages in initiation and the grade structure and the differences between the practices of Nigeria, Miami and New York. He will also tell us why he dislikes Santeria!

Seth at Homebase

Kensington in West London is the location of Homebase Home and Garden Centre. The February edition of Ancient Egypt magazine has a feature on its 1988 makeover which includes large scale carvings based on Egyptian mythology. The brightly painted columns are not in quite the correct colours, not sure if Homebase does that one, you have to entrance under a winged sun to find that out. But all the major gods are there, included Seth complete with a power drill - which seems strangely appropriate. Seems like another stopover in the London Seth pilgrimage, of which there are now several important sites throughout the capital.

The current issue has the second part of an article entitled 'Tales from the Crypt' - which is about London's Georgian Valhalla at Kensal Green

The Grammar Of Witchcraft II

David w. Parry M.A.

Copyrights © 09/2005

Chapter 1

The same-sex service was to be held at St. Breeders: a third irony. As a guest from out of town, Caliban had been given a highly detailed map and advised to get a cab. He was meant to be looking for the only Methodist Church feeling magnanimous enough to "officially" celebrate this type of union. For f**k sake! This made no sense to him at all, since the idea behind every type of marriage seemed rather similar. Change necessitates choice. No matter what sexual orientation a person had, getting a partner meant that everything in life would be different and doubled. It was an undeserved blessing as well as a crippling curse. In some mystical sense the couple become parts of a single uncoordinated whole, which is inevitably more than the sum of its individual parts. Years previously he had read that as a man and woman make love they become an angel. No doubt. But, gay lovers in particular bond closely on a subtle, physical level. From experience Caliban knew when two tough male bodies held each other down, they form a clenched demi-god: a man greater than Hercules could ever be on his own. As men they locked themselves into a four armed, four legged miracle of flesh. Three girls therefore actively evolve into a twelve-limbed-Love-Goddess.

His cabby had never heard of the Church, or at least said he hadn't, so Caliban kept reading the map despite his directional sense always being shit under pressure. Anxiously, he looked out of a dirty window admiring the unexpectedly leafy suburbs as well as the opulent colours of the brickwork.

"I think we turn left at the next crossroads."

"What was that you said, mate?"

"Left at the crossroads and then up the hill"

"Sorted."

"Cool".

Caliban hated saying "cool", along with the entire kitsch vocabulary surrounding emphatic expletives.

A tired old Crow with obsidian eyes suddenly flew across the road and hid somewhere above a parked Ford Fiesta. Just out of sight, feathers then frantically flapped with all the semblance and the seeming of an omen. Turning a corner, the cab drove more closely towards the sound. Caliban saw a younger bird standing above the prostrate body of its older rival, plucking at the formers defeated plumage: an extremely bad correspondence. Now every Witch knows there are times when signs and portents bubble up from the depths of existence. During the Glorious Revolution, we were painfully aware that some auguries could testify against us. Certainly, Black Shuck the Demon Dog could speak Gospel Truth when it suited him, although consensus held Norfolk cats of every colour would hold their tongues. Witches such as Agnes Waterhouse also claimed that consorting with Toads proved equally reliable. She noted these creatures would often become Familiar Imps or in other words, forbidden bestial lovers. Indeed, before her hanging, the pleasure she received from these "love-pygmies" had become almost legendary.

Caliban's familiar was a Monkey. His name was Mike. The Almanacs warn Witches against Monkeys, but they had been instantly attracted to each other. Mike was a huge muscular boy, six foot three inches tall, hazel-eyed and really hairy. He wore tight Khaki shorts to show off his butt, complimented by a white tank top. There was a heated chemistry between them from the beginning, despite the obvious fact that the Monkey was afraid of him. Like every other Witch, Caliban suckled one of these Imps. He fed him through a supernumerary nipple marking the dwarf's genetic superiority over heterosexuals. In the past, our enemies would search for hidden teats all over our bodies with their prying, sensual hands. They tended to claim these unnatural protuberances were completely insensitive to pain and incapable of bleeding, shortly before torturing us. Perhaps nothing really changes.

As Caliban sat in the back seat looking for local landmarks, he noticed the shadow of Matthew Hopkins and the shade of Charles Fort sitting opposite him, arguing about Oracles and Imps. From beneath his wide-rimmed hat, the lean and looming Witchfinder General was horrified by these happenings. He stroked his long grey nose, and he muttered beneath his thin breath:

"Phenomenology or Witchcraft, I ,Sir, see not the difference. You like these bizarre and monstrous events because you be a limb of Satan yourself, Master Fort".

Glowing with genial light, Forts' plump spirit shone with a greater luminosity than usual. He responded by saying: "Oh come, come, what Witchcraft? Creative Nature serenades us men at every moment. I have heard that in the forests of England, there have been times when stones were known to give good counsel and brooks have babbled with satirical comments. Chaucer must have heard this on his travels, as well as Shakespeare when he trod the boards. Unlike the philosophers, these poets would let the planet speak to them personally, refusing to lecture the world about its essential processes. Far too few thinking men have ever had the genuine courage, or imaginative insight, to follow this lyrical path." Hopkins tightened his grip on the cane he carried, wrinkling a heavy brow:

"Lyricism and laxity. I was the youngest member of the Puritan Commission and their rational instrument against the forces of exotic Romanticism. The intellectual freedom you extol is but licence to grasp the ungodly. What does Truth need to know of Omens or humour? Devil's work, Sir!"

Fort sagaciously stroked his moustache and crooned, "How can the mystery of life be without laughter? We should delight in the flowering of Creativity while rejecting any possible interpretation. Whose Truth? First-hand experience is more valuable than third-hand explanation. The word "unnatural" makes no sense. If something can happen in nature, it is then, natural".

Caliban could contain himself no longer and grumbled:

"Neither of you understand Witchcraft".

They both looked at him with surprise.

"Neither of you".

Before his unwelcome travelling companions could speak Caliban continued: "We worship the All-Seeing Eye of Mother Energy burning in the Messianic activities of Her Triangular Son, who constantly ascends back to His Mother. For us, He becomes Incarnational Flesh and phenomena tasting the knowledge that flesh alone knows. But He is still only Her son. She is Sovereign: the Absolute "I" observing Herself in created things. Historically our energic religion once communicated in the secret Mystery-cults of Eleusis, Corinth and blessed Samothrace. When these centres of learning were suppressed our wisdom was taught in the poetic colleges of Ireland and Wales".

"Can't hear you mate". The cabby looked confused

"What?"

"I couldn't make out your new directions".

"Oh, sorry, just talking to myself. Keep going".

"Sorted".

Both the Witchfinder and the Phenomenalist disappeared in a thunderclap with an air of indignation.

"Bloody hell, strange weather. Good job you got this cab"

Caliban didn't say anything. He felt quiet and thoughtful, remembering that during the persecution, we told the likes of Hopkins that our Craft offered a magical perspective we would defend with our lives because it burned with the immediacy of Her Being. As a peculiar Gnosis, our understanding all but flickered out in the public domain at the end of the seventeenth century. We were tired of the turbulence, turning instead to indirect communication and Hollywood.

On balance however, Fort was closest to our faith, since he guessed nature's soul sent tokens to its lovers in weird, wonderful, ways. Caliban recalled as a child seeing spectral balls of light in the night sky. They were crystal white in colour and seemed to be following him like expectant eyes overseeing his journeys. One Lammas-tide, he silently challenged one of these spheres to prove it was objective. Within moments, he was answered as the globe streaked ahead of him, leaving a brilliant trail behind it. A courting couple kissing in nearby trees shrieked with surprise as the Vision Splendid vanished. Caliban felt excited and frustrated. Her ways were indeed very hard to fathom.

"Here we are mate". The cab stopped at the entrance to an imposing grey stone building.

"I've only got a tenner".

"Sorted, mate".

"Thanks".

Caliban wondered how many more times that guy would say "sorted" in the next few hours. He got out and walked up to the Church.

(. . . continued next time)

Helrunar III

Helrunar: a manual of rune magick
- 3rd enlarged edition ISBN 1869928903, £19.99 (including postage) 450pp, crown octavo, 200 illustrations

If you have been following the 'debate' rumbling in various publications concerning Jan's theories concerning the reconstruction of the Seething/Seidr technique - then this greatly expanded new edition has a revised chapter on Seidr that addressses some of these issues.

Preface to the new edition
'When I went to school, my history teacher told us about the old Germani. In her opinion, the Taunus mountains were populated by a bunch of brawny brawlers who wore horned helmets and small pieces of pelt. They lived in hilltop settlements which were fortified by ringwalls. Barely able to manage agriculture, they had to rely on hunting to fill their stomachs. They lived in shabby huts with mud-plastered walls and when the Romans came, they fought the invaders with crude swords, pointy sticks and by hurling rocks at them...

Nowadays, the ringwalls of the Taunus are known as the work of La Tène Celts, who lived on the heights in well organised cities. For this new edition much of the text has been rewritten and updated. A large section on the bronze ages, the Celts, Germani and the later Vikings added. The theme of Wodan and Helja has been elaborated with more detail on pagan Scandinavia. The chapter on magical rune inscriptions has been extended, on Seiðr/seething trances rewritten, the bibliography updated and twelve pages of new illustrations added.'

The runes are a pan-European magical language. Its roots lie in the ancient pagan beliefs of our ancestors, who built many thousands of stones circles, long barrows and dolmens throughout ancient Europe. These same symbols and techniques were used by the pagan Celts and Germans. This book is a complete manual of magick based upon arcane symbolism and secret techniques.

Contents:
Meaning /Urda /Origins /Futhorc /Magical inscriptions / Memorial stones /Fascism / Titles / Cosmology / Nature / Qabala / Vision / Werdandi / Rune stance / Breathing/ Vowel song / Problems / Tune in / Health? / Divination / Alignments / Sigil sorcery / Seiðr and Seething / Energy /lda / Rune companion / Sources

Jan Fries lives in Frankfurt near the Taunus Mountains. He is a musician, artist and magician.

‘...eminently practical and certainly breaks new ground.’ - Ronald Hutton (author Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles)
Recommended by The Cauldron
’a very meaty read...’ PJ in Gippeswic

Omphalos (Bath alternative moot) Talks

All talks held at Batheaston Scout Hall, School Lane, Northend, Batheaston 7.30 til 9.00 p.m
Take the Bath turning from the M4 (jct 18) and follow A46 to Bath. At the Bath roundabout take the first left onto the A4 to Batheaston. This becomes Batheaston High St, look for a sharp left up Brow Hill. Continue for about 1/4 of a mile, until you find School Lane. Park at the top and walk down past the Gothic looking school - the Scout Hall is the large modern building straight ahead, although the entrance is up and around to the left. It's easy to find - map on request

Saturday 10th December: "Santeria: A Magical Perspective"
Odebitola is a practical Qabalistic Adept with nearly 30 years experience who is also a priest in the Cuban religion of Lukumi. Tonight he will look at the Cuban Yoruba religion of Santeria from a magician's perspective, concentrating on the role of divination, dead, the role of the Orisha and the iwin, the stages in initiation and the grade structure and the differences between the practices of Nigeria, Miami and New York. He will also tell us why he dislikes Santeria!

Occult Arts Website launch with Tantra Sadhana

This new site is dedicated to the Occult Arts, and is launched with two new ebooks, the authors' synopses of which follow. Also, the site includes international network pages for covens, moots and individuals. Signing up is free, and the site is easy use.

*/Astrology and Neo-Astrology/* - Frater Alius, 150pp A4.

The first book in a series on the Western Occult Arts, this volume explores astrology in its ancient form, and looks at the research that has produced the branch known as 'Neo-Astrology'. The book begins with an introduction to Western Occultism, moving swiftly on to the theory behind the astrology of the ancient Greeks, which has survived largely unchanged into the modern era. A large section follows on evidence, both of the cosmobiological kind (especially biological responsiveness to the lunar cycle), and of the form more directly related to traditional astrology. The conclusion is drawn in favour of Neo-Astrology, a branch of astrology that took form in the latter half of the twentieth century. Tables and instructions are given for casting charts by this method, and this is the first publication ever to give these tables in complete form. (Two books came close - one is in French, out of print, and utterly unobtainable - I tried - regardless, it's too old to have all of the zones as it predates some advances; the other is still in second hand circulation however, it only contains half of the significant zones.) 'Astrology and Neo-Astrology' concludes with a discussion of the relevance of natal astrology to the magickian's practice.

*/Tantra Sadhana/* - Mogg Morgan, 125pp A4.

A 'Sadhana' is an instrument that leads to a particular goal. In Tantra, it is a technical term denoting worship or spiritual practice. Tantra Sadhana is a collection of related instructional papers designed to aid the aspirant through a foundation practice. The work was originally conceived as leading to a practice to cover one lunar month. In addition, the author has added several useful appendices - including the previously unpublished Tantrik Knuckle Bone oracle.

Bats In Belfries and Bees In Bonnets:
A few thoughts at Halloween
By Akashanath

As Halloween approaches, our viewing schedules (for those of us not too proud to admit to having one) start to congeal with 'occult content'. While once limited to re-screenings of Hammer Horror classics and occasional worthy-but-boring local news stories about 'white' witches, recent broadcasts have been a little closer to the bone. A character in a cartoon I saw yesterday, on being offered the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of the Wicked Witch of the North, asked "Will I get to hurt people, or is it just dancing round a fire at the Equinox?". Ever since the re- birth of the modern craft, Wicca has been on a mission to 're-claim' the term 'witch', polishing off so many of the rough edges that it now has practically no shape left at all. Has it been a victim of its own success - after all, witchcraft is no-longer frightening, even for children? In an age when even Scooby Doo knows that Wicca means wise (and probably a bit pompous and self-righteous), has the rehabilitation of witchcraft gone too far?

In the summer of 1604, in the village of North Moreton (which still exists just East of Didcot in modern Oxfordshire), a woman named Anne Gunter fell ill. Her symptoms consisted of fits, trances, rolling her eyes, walking on her ankles, and vomiting. She claimed she saw 'familiars', she produced pins from her orifices, and her clothes would fall off spontaneously when people visited her. Which may have helped to encourage the small army - from peasants to learned men of the University and Church - who made the journey to see for themselves. Three local women were charged with bewitching her. The events surrounding the trial in Abingdon have been drawn together in a fascinating book by James Sharpe , which I have drawn from heavily in order to make a point or two about our current predicament.

The story of Anne Gunter significant historically for a number of reasons. One is that the trial sits on the cusp of two centuries in which both popular and official attitudes to witchcraft shifted radically. Another is that one of the principal instruments of that shift, King James I of England and VI of Scotland, personally met Anne after the trial, through the machinations of her father (whom Anne later claimed had put her up to the whole charade).

The history of witchcraft in England is complex and hotly disputed. The history of the law on witchcraft, on the other hand, is relatively easy to trace, and contradicts a lot of modern rhetoric about the so-called 'burning times'. The 'witchcraft laws' of the late 16th century were, by the standards of the day and for a society that believed in magic, quite moderate. Most cases reaching Court concerned allegations of actual damage (i.e. when people or livestock had actually died) . And there was no implied link with 'devil worship'. Instead, witches were thought to be born with their powers, or inherit them from a (usually female) relative.

The archetypal vision of the witch as female and elderly probably has its roots in a social system in which single women were increasingly excluded. As the twin wealth-creating activities of warfare and agriculture began to be supplanted by trade, towns and cities began to grow. As they expanded they drew in peasants from the countryside: some were successful, others were not, and new class of urban and suburban poor was created. Whereas the old family structures would support widows and spinsters (named after the craft by which they had earned their bread), the new communities did not. Poor, single women had to fend for themselves. Elizabeth Gregory was the wife of a local farmer and of good standing in the community, and was probably the main target of the accusations of Anne Gunter. Her husband was an enemy of the bewitched woman's father, who had been tried for killing two of her sons. The two other accused were itinerant and poor. One (Agnes Pepwell) was the mother of the other (Mary Pepwell), whose father was a nameless vagrant with whom she had perhaps traded sex for scavenged food. It was this older, single woman who had the long-standing reputation for witchcraft. Perhaps mumbling a few words over a churn of butter or a sick calf would have earned her a crust, and maybe the threat of a curse would have saved her from a beating, or worse. For women in her position, being perceived as capable of "hurting people" was certainly better than being laughed at for "dancing round a fire at the Equinox". But it was a dangerous game. The fact that she was seen as being able to cause harm made her vulnerable to accusations. And while she and her daughter weren't big enough game to warrant a prosecution themselves, she could be used to add weight to a claim against a wealthier opponent. Which is exactly what seems to have happened.

James I was of course the son of Mary Queen of Scots, whose bloody reign perhaps symbolised the acme of religious intolerance in English history. As Protestant and Catholic fought for dominance of Europe, unconventional religious beliefs became seen as seditious. Perspectives that conflated doctrinal deviance with deliberate evil began to emerge, encouraged by clergymen keen to cast their opponents in the worst possible light. In Mary's reign John Dee was tried both in the Star Chamber and, when this was unsuccessful, in the ecclesiastical courts . By James' reign the European doctrines that linked all magic with the agency of Satan had become more widespread. James' own tome on the subject, Demonologie, was as critical of peasant magic as of the 'high magic' of Dee and his ilk. This was a growing trend in contemporary works on witchcraft, and one which paved the way for the near genocidal scale of the witchcraft trials over the next 200 years. Instead of isolated incidents of malice, witchcraft became identified with rebellion, and accusations of devil worship were used to persecute whole political classes as well as vulnerable, wealthy individuals. James himself introduced the necessary legislation in England in 1604, having already found a pre-existing Scottish law a useful excuse to execute seventy to a hundred of his political opponents north of the border.

The 'witchcraft law' repealed in the early 1950s, which is commonly supposed to have given Gerald Gardner the freedom to talk about ' ' for the first time, was itself a liberal act aimed at ending religious persecution. The Conjuration and Witchcraft Act of 1735 stated bluntly that witchcraft did not exist, and the punishments it dictated were designed not for witches but confidence tricksters who tried to profit from the gullible. Not a bad characterisation of Gardner, some might say! Irrespective of whether it took place in the 18th or 20th century, process that underpinned the change in the law was not growth in liberalism but in scepticism - people no longer believed in the capacity of magic to cause harm, so it no longer needed to be illegal. These days we are protected, not by a regime that believes in religious tolerance, but by a common acceptance of scientific materialism.

So, to revisit my initial question, has the rehabilitation of witchcraft gone too far? By no means! I have no need, as Agnes Popwell did, to inspire fear. Although I find the umbrella term of 'Pagan' irritating, by accepting it I am putting people at ease. I am quite happy to be stereotyped as a tree-hugging, sandal-wearing vegetarian, as long as no-one tries to torture me to death. I'm sure there were many witches hanged or pilloried in the stocks who would have gladly traded places, and put up with the laugher of a few school-children. And to those of you who want to re-claim the radical edge of witchcraft from the Wiccans I say, beware! We have far more to fear from being taken seriously than we have from ridicule.

www.spiritual-freedom.org

Notes
(1) Sharpe, James (1999) The Bewitching of Anne Gunter, Profile, Cambridge U.K.
(2) Op. Cit p.67
(3) French, Peter J. (1972) John Dee: The World of an Elizabethan Magus, RKP, London p.35

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Groups

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Conferences

5th Annual Witchcraft Seminar 2005 (review)

Last year it was 'Faulty Towers' this time 'Little Chef'. The Witchcraft Seminar brought to you in this, its fifth year, (from Jerry Cottle's Wookey Hole.) Even without the glittering cast of speakers, to be able to perform a Hekate fire ritual in the caves, was in itself a bit of a breakthrough. The new owners, well known circus impresarios, with brands such as The Circus of Horrors (soon to be seen at Witchfest), are keen to open the place up and indeed develop it as the spooky/wookey theme park.

First up was Cassandra Eason, her topic, the power of nature, may not have been rocket science (for that you need Jack Parsons), but she was a good sport, warming the audience with a homely style. She finished with an invitation for members of the audience to charge her crystal ball!

Things really begin to loosen up when cunning and mild man of the woods 'Jack Daw' treated us to an urbane journey through the ins and outs of traditional witchcraft - question: 'does a spell return on the sender'; answer: 'only if you regret it'.

More musick to end that days formal session. Evocative lirics drifting our way, glimpsed through the door, as a 'Robert Plant' lookalike, Damn the Bard, strutted his stuff on the mandolin. The musick followed us into the cave. Mesmorised by the cave's resonance, I sang and chanted - only pausing to wind my horn, when as Nemty, the ferryman, I summoned those hardy souls to the invocation of Hekate.

That nite the ritual - 'nuff said - see the pictures, then fish chip supper, and a New Orleans blues band (Hollow Bones) - well Glastonbury actually - but really good - especially the PVC clad gogo dancers. Some were less than impressed by the missmatch between the Legba veve and the Ghede cabaret - others said that it was the spirit that mattered - and there was plenty of that.

I had to drag myself away from the breakfast table gossip just in time to see my old friend, Chaoist and now born ag'in runester Ian Read - looking as dapper as ever - he apologised to me before laying into one of our published theories on Seidr and Seething. His highly engaging talk was on Galdr - (spell casting) - although he admited Seething (Seidr) was a dynamite technique - although some of the 'old guard' have still to bite the bullet, swallow their pride and admit, despite what some supposed 'academics' say, that Jan Fries is right about it afterall. It's a recurring theme these last few years - kind of special pleading some feel they need to make before the altar of academe. Goes like this - 'RH might not agree with this, but I'm going to say it anyway.'

And now the end is near - and to round off, is Cornish wise woman Cassandra Latham. I'd never heard her before and although she might not make it to the cover of the latest Witches and Witchcraft (come to think of it neither would I) - what she said would knock most of those teen witches into the top hat she happened to be wearing. She certainly won me over.

All in all, a fantastic weekend. And that even without that ritual - but there again - you had to be there. Well done to Adrian and Ann (www.witchcraftseminar.com) for another roaring success. Next year it's Waterloo - I mean The Wellington in Boscastle - be there - or else I'll review your event! - mogg