Whenever the word "witch" is uttered, we conjure up a memory of "the burning times" when people were being accused of witchcraft and tortured by feverish villagers of 16-17th century Europe. It was an era of heightened paranoia, religious persecution, intense misogyny, and colonisation. This was the dawn of capitalism, as the former system of feudalism was gradually replaced with something more "liberal". Power struggles between monarchs and politicians caused riots, massacres, and sieges. Witches were scapegoats for all of the turmoil, as the wealthy could point a finger "look over there!" and shift the blame. The witch represented an enemy of the state, a cause of mass terror, an invader from the infernal realm. Those accused were usually poor elderly single women. Socially discardable, having outlived their usefulness, the accused witches were easy targets of popular violence. The development of capitalism meant that former peasants became lan...

Swedish Easter Witches by Jenny Nyström (1854-1946) What is a witch? An old woman on a broomstick? There is a treasure trove of Renaissance folklore about witches, to tell us about these creatures. It was between the 14th and 17th centuries that a fear of Witchcraft gripped Europe. People had a lot of funny ideas about what witches did, and this caused a lot of men, women and children, to be tortured and executed for the suspected crime of Witchcraft. It was imagined that witches belonged to a demonic cult, worshipping pagan gods and goddesses. Of course, any Christian knew that the gods and goddesses of other religions were all devils, out to seduce the weak minded into handing over their souls to Satan. How could Satan convince someone to become a witch? He could promise them all sorts of supernatural abilities such as flying through the air, attaining wealth, fame, beauty, or anything they desired by performing magical spells. There would be nothing to stop a witch from using ...

Last year I posted an advert on witchvox calling for local people who would be interested in starting a new coven. Interest has been slowly and steadily growing. I currently have a potential coven of 10 ladies. I'm excited in a nervous kind of way. I am not the most socially confident person. The thought of meeting strangers is quite terrifying. I don't know how many of the potential witches are really up for trying this. I always assume that out of all who express an interest, only half will follow through. Since last year I had a good feeling about May, that this would be the time for new projects. I've proposed a coven meeting in May and so far three individuals have said they would like to meet up. What I worry about is being able to meet everyone's needs, because I want the coven to work for everyone. I want clear communication, this is the most important thing, that we are able to share our ideas. I don't like the idea of a coven where a select leadership...

Patricia Crowther and Gerald Gardner In 2010, Ethan Doyle White noted the existence of two separate definitions of the term "Wicca" that had been used in neopaganism since circa 1980. Commenting on the first definition, which developed in England during the 1960s, Doyle White remarked that it "uses the term in a broad, inclusive manner that covers most, if not all, forms of modern Pagan Witchcraft, particularly if they share sufficiently similar theological beliefs, dates of commemoration and magical praxes" to be recognised as denominations within the same religious movement. In contrast, he described the second definition, which developed in the United States during the late 1970s, as referring "specifically to the tradition of Gardnerian Witchcraft, along with those that are heavily based upon it with little variation, namely Alexandrian and Algard Witchcraft." So who has it right, the Americans or the British? Is Wicca a loose word fo...

 "To Know, to Will, to Dare and to Keep Silent" what does this mean and where does this phrase come from? The origins are obscure as practically nothing is written on the subject outside of the works of Eliphas Levi and Aleister Crowley. Levi introduces us to the Witches' Pyramid in his most popular work, Transcendental Magic : " To attain the SANCTUM REGNUM, in other words, the knowledge and power of the Magi, there are four indispensable conditions--an intelligence illuminated by study, an intrepidity which nothing can check, a will which cannot be broken, and a prudence which nothing can corrupt and nothing intoxicate. TO KNOW, TO DARE, TO WILL, TO KEEP SILENCE--such are the four words of the Magus, inscribed upon the four symbolical forms of the sphinx." Levi refers to the words of the Magus as  The Four Powers of the Sphinx and links them with the four Elements and the four Kerubic Signs of the zodiac: " You are ca...

The rain held off long enough for me to make this video at the beach: I consider myself very fortunate to live so close to this beautiful coast. The golden sands stretch out from the horizon in the East to the West. I have lived here for about 16 or 17 years. I remember my mum setting up her altar in the new house and explaining that she was "pagan" which meant that she worshipped "the earth and the moon and the sun". She bought me a big book called "mind, body, spirit" which was designed to introduce children to spirituality. I was fascinated and set about devouring any books I could get my hands on. Our new house had a "study" room with huge book shelves covering an entire wall and a massive desk for our home computer. Do you remember how the internet was back in the 90s? I would sit there patiently waiting for the dial-up. There was always a drawing pad to scribble on as you waited for websites to load. It was a beautiful green day in Ma...

I have been thinking about what I could do to improve my service to the online community. Be more supportive. I am subscribed to a lot of youtube channels and follow a lot of blogs, but I need to express my support more by leaving comments that help people feel appreciated. Don't get irritated. It's easy to get annoyed by things people say in comments or videos or other frustrating things they do. It's easy to get into arguments with people and start bickering over stupid things. I must not let anyone embroil me in their drama. Be copyright aware. I had a conversation with someone, well actually several conversations with several people, about copyright lately. I have used photos and artwork in my videos, with the belief that this constitutes "fair use" or "fair dealing" of copyrighted material for non-profit educational purposes. However I'm not entirely sure about the legalities and I want to promote copyright awareness as much as I can....