Any Witches Here ? Part 2

[speakout]

Or Wiccans. or Pagans? Or anyone who is interested in a magical path or feels some magical stirrings.

A place for support, learning, swapping ideas and magical inspiration

All welcome.

Fitz. Many of the best places have been mentioned already. The Tor, Abbey, Red Spring and White Spring are lovely.

Shopping wise Glastonbury is expensive. Lots of things you can get on line much much cheaper. The Cat and Cauldron is fun. They have lots of old and odd things and a good selection of books. No bargains though. The couple who run it are proper witches so if you buy a spell kit from them it’ll probably work!

Star child is good for oils and incenses. The owner is a perfumier by training so all the blends smell wonderful.

As for the rest you pay your money and take your choice! The witchy shops come and go on a regular basis. Many don’t last very long.

Glastonbury hosts a lot of events like the Frost Faire and the Zombie Walk. The big sabbat events are popular too. If that is your sort of thing then you may want to time your visit to coincide with one of them.

For food the Rainbow Cafe is very popular. I like Excalibur myself.

Good morning everyone

Am trying to read as much as possible before my new studies kick in. Not sure how much time I will have to fit it all in. At the moment, am reading a lot on chaos magick as well as Wicca. As an agnostic, I'm open to most belief systems... but get a little disappointed when I can't fully commit too one belief system in particular.

@Elphame if I get to visit Glastonbury will definitely check that shop out

Mmmmm stones, thank-you so much Elphame and Gee for the pics, apart from actually being there, seeing pics of different sites awakens in me the urge to go and visit.

Fitzs I echo all that's been said. It's awhile since I've been. If you get chance, nip into the Healing Courtyard and have a look at Starchild's door. I want one very similar to that as my front door.

Bellecose it's always great to pop in, but they've a website if you can't make it in person www.starchild.co.uk/

I've seen on the main boards that a lot of people have said they don't like the feel of Glastonbury. I guess it's like anywhere, if you feel welcome it's great, join in and have a good time but if you don't feel that welcome, it's better to find somewhere else that you do. Sympathetic Resonance and all that.

Yeah I'd been interested in visiting Glastonbury after seeing so many posts here that people find the town "off" - wondered if that was just, to nick the HP term from upthread, the "muggles" who were having a problem with it, or whether it was something common here too

I admit I'm not keen on it. I always end up with a migraine after visiting.

On the surface it looks great - busy, lots of tourists, quirky shops and colourful hippy types wandering about. It's certainly fun for a few days and a bit of pagan shopping. Even for the odd workshop or course - and I've done a few down there myself. There are some very knowledgable practitioners .

However it has a much darker underside.

It's quite a cruel place. It attracts the broken and vulnerable looking for spiritual solutions, any spiritual solution, and those who prey on them. Once their money is gone their new friends don't want to know. Drug taking and drunkenness are a real problem and you see plenty of people who are clearly mentally ill in the town.

As a town Glastonbury has quite a black history (the death of the last abbot makes horrific reading) and a lot of people will tell you moving into the town is not for the faint-hearted.

I'm told my tendency to migraine every time I set foot there is a very mild manifestation of the Glastonbury effect. Newcomers can be really put through the mill for the first couple of years after moving in - they can face serious health problems, marital problems, money problems and all manner of testing circumstances before the town ( as an entity - not the human community) "accepts" them.

All very fascinating. Will enjoy 'visiting' some of these places through you all.

Elphame it sounds like I have been 'living in Glastonbury' for years!

Perhaps my MIL really did put a spell on me?

I wasn't familiar with Glastonbury's history so very interesting.... In light of the references to high and low magic, where would chaos magick fall in your view?

Elphamee, the energy of a place affects me too.

When I was 3 years old my parents took the family for a picnic in Princes Street Gardens- a low lying park in the heart of the city, overlooked by Edinburgh castle on a huge rocky crag.

We had just settled down for a picnic when I became upset and pleaded to leave.
I remember the incident- I became hysterical, telling my parents that the women were drowning and dying, and we would drown too if we didn't leave.

My parents were confused and not entirely sympathetic.

It wasn't until a few years later that we found out that the park used to be a loch, or lake called the Nor Loch, and was used during the burning times to try witches. The water was drained and the loch filled in then landscaped in the 18th Century.

We knew nothing of that at the time.

Recently I did some investigation about another park called Leith Links in the city, I pass it regularly and although is a well use park with trees, sports fields etc my spine would tingle with dread every time I passed- just a few months ago I found out the whole area was used as an open grave for 4000 souls during the time of the plague.

And again recently I have taken to wandering around very old buildings, back streets, I can hear voices- echos, shouts from old empty buildings, people who have lived there I feel.

Hi, everyone; just popping back in to say hello and hold my feet to the warmth of the Aga.

I'm busy doing some tidying up and stitching. I've also been looking out some decorations and buying new ones for Autumn Equinox (no thanks to Aidan Kelly for inventing "Mabon" in this house) and Samhain. I'm keeping an eye on my rowans for when the birds decide they are ripe enough 😂 for picking for jelly for Yule gifts. As for studying, I'm moving out of my comfort zone in reading up on ritual magic. My studies are being directed so that's an interesting experience.

Yes, the Late Great Sir Terry knew a lot about witchcraft and you can learn a lot from his books. I dare say we all have opinions on whether we're Granny, Nanny, Magrat, Agnes or Tiffany though. 😉😃

By the way, what's brought this sudden influx of interest and disapproval from the god botherers (to use a telling Naval phrase)?

Oh, Glastonbury. I love it but am picky about where I tap into. Yes to the Chalice Well and the White Spring, to the Goddess and Green Man, the Witchcraft Shop, Starchild, and the jewellery shop in the back courtyard by there is where I got my moonstone pentagram, triple moon and goddess, which I wear around my neck 23/7.

The book shops though! I usually return burdened with bags of books from secondhand shops and the Speaking Tree.

@speakout... it was only recently I sat in that park...the one with the golden statue? I found Edinburgh particularly spiritual /gothic/mystical. However, I am often uneasy in many places in the UK . Must be all the hidden histories of by gone times. I still seek these places out however.

Hello everyone :)

I've not been around for a couple of weeks. I was on holiday and off Social Media, then it was back-to-school madness, and now I've just had chemo.

I can see I've got a lot of catching up to do, but I wanted to tell you all that I went to the Witchcraft Museum in Boscastle (again) and looked at it through fresh eyes, given everything I've learned through this thread and beyond.

Two titbits I enjoyed in there:

Women used to leave sheets out overnight to collect morning dew, to wash their faces or to use in spells.

If you look through a hagstone, you may see a fairy!

The woman working behind the counter there was lovely, and gave my DD a candle to light at the altar. (DD wanted to light a candle for our dearly-departed dog).

I didn't find any hagstones on the beach, much to my disappointment, but I found lots of beautiful shells, and sea glass.

Look forward to catching up with you all.

I’ve been wondering about @ARoomSomewhere and her dissertation/job crisis. Hope it all worked out ok.

Hello all. Happy weekend. I love how much I learn from reading this thread. Fascinating to read about Glastonbury.

I live fairly close to Avebury so I was thinking I’d quite like to visit there at some point soon.

There are often public rituals at Avebury to join in, if you want. The witches and the druids used to work together in the circle behind the antique shop.

Evening sisters
Just checking in to say hi too. I've missed the warmth of the aga this week.

Thought provoking discussion as always. Interesting about Glastonbury- it gave me a migraine too 😬 Although I love my goddess statue from Starchild and agree that the blended oils from there are divine.. I seem to remember a Fay Weldon novel in which newcomers to the area had a similar experience to that described by Elphame

What a powerful story about your reaction to place as a child speakout that must have been absolutely terrifying. What a gift of 'clear sight' you have. No wonder your tarot picks are always so on point.

Loving the stone pictures and 😍 Elphame is that your dog? Beautiful!
I have some somewhere that I love from the eclipse of 1999 at the 9 maidens in Cornwall- full of orbs and magic- happy memories.

Good to see you Sproutina I've been wondering how you are. wishing peace and comfort for you following your chemo.
I love those titbits from the museum of witchcraft I'll have to put a sheet out!

TooManyPaws
By the way, what's brought this sudden influx of interest and disapproval from the god botherers

We're being 'watched with interest' and there was another thread about 'myscital' experiences from Christian and other perspectives. Reading it, it's my opinion that it was never about open debate but what seems to be a Christian compulsion to make sure all non christians know they're at best in the wrong, at worst in grave danger. Unfortunately it spilled over here. Bit disrespectful IMO. I wouldn't dream of hopping onto the Christian support threads with my views ,opinions or inferences about the dangers of Christianity. But there we are. I'm prepared to accept that's a bit unreasonable of me given this is a public forum..

Anyway, my witching has been hands on/nurturing this week. Incorporating oils into my workplace to promote feelings of comfort and safety, trying to create a 'spa shower' type experience for my DM who is disabled so can't get in the shower, stirring loving wishes into food to share... Feeling 'earthy' and enjoying the season.

Wishing everyone a magical weekend

Those who feel the dark side of Glastonbury, have you read "The Chalice" by Phil Rickman, author of the Merrily Watkins books? If there is a Grail, then should there not also be an Anti-Grail?....

Hello Kizzy (i remember a book i read as a child with a character called Kizzy, i think it was by Rumer Godden and was about an orphaned travelling child?)

Something wonderful must have happened as i found enough paperwork, then wrote an essay, and got the place on the course and the job. I start Monday! I am utterly terrified of course (not studied or worked for 15 years due to disability) so now need to find some rituals to help me stay calm and focussed (and remember stuff!) and be confident and positive. Thank you for asking, very kind of you.!

Thank you all for your advice about Glastonbury. Elphame I think you’ve hit the nail on the head, with it being a draw for lost souls and thus ripe with drink and drugs and damaged hearts and minds. That’s why I didn’t want to be completely sucked in by the Disneyland for the occult image, although there certainly seems to be much there worthy of exploring, for a short while anyway.

ThatsNotEvenAWord Avebury is next on my list!

Bellecose I too find the vibe in Edinburgh wonderful. Scotland just does it for me.

ARoom I’m so glad it worked out!! Massive good luck for Monday. Remember there’s a reason you got the job - it’s because you can do it

ARoomSomewhere that’s great news! You got the job because you can do it. I’m sure some people on here can give good advice to help keep the nerves under control but also remember no one will expect you to know how everything is done there on the first day, you’ll pick it up quickly.

Oh and my user name is from another book actually, ‘The long way to a small angry planet’

@Fitz Avebury is amazing!

@ARoom - I also read that book at school. I think it was called Diddicoi (meaning of mixed Romany / non Romany parentage) and used by the village children as an insult to Kizzy. I also think they called Kizzy’s grandmother who was a Romany a witch!

The only book I've read about Glastonbury is the Mists of Avalon

ARoom fabulous to hear you're starting your new Path away from all that negativity in the other place.
Keep working on grounding and centering, Loads of how-to's on google and youTube, pick whichever ones resonate with you and whenever you wake up, feel yourself getting into a tizz, or go to bed, ground and centre. The more you do it the easier and quicker it will become and the more your new job will flow.

That'sNot and Fitz Avebury is a wonderful place, do read up a little before you go. The physical size of some of the stones is breathtaking. It's not just the circles, it's the whole landscape and its interaction with all of the ancient places it encompasses like Silbury, WKLB, the Sanctuary, the Avenues, Swallowhead Spring and more.

Stone pics and a cloutie tree. Long Meg and Castlerigg.

Fabulous news aRoom! I agree about the grounding and centering. I also love rosemary for helping with mental alertness and memory if I'm nervous but need to 'perform' well for work I'll put a couple of drops of rosemary oil with some rose geranium oil for comfort on a tissue and carry it in my bra where I get wafts of the lovely scent throughout the day.

I'm wondering, wise women- those of you who work with ancestors- do you do something different to honour your ancestors on special days like birthdays (theirs)?

Love the pictures