IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Because of the on-going problems with this Blog this will be the last post.  All future posts and book news can now be found at https://wordpress.com/view/melusine-draco.blog

THE STORY BEHIND

The Story Behind …

Every book has a story behind the story of how it came to be written. It may be about a life-long passion, a personal journey, the need to share an experience or knowledge. It may have been fermenting in the brain for years or sprung fully formed from a blinding epiphany.  Whether it be fact or fiction, sometimes the story behind the story is almost as important as the published book itself …

Traditional Witchcraft for the Seashore

Originally called Sea Witch and published under a pseudonym by ignotus press, it was later amended and extended before being added to the Traditional Witchcraft series.  Newcomers to the Arcanum witchcraft foundation course over the years had shown a depressing lack of awareness about the natural tides that affect us magically, emotionally and mentally, and as far as most were concerned there were only the monthly moon phases to worry about – with no mention of the daily atmospheric, oceanic and earth tides. There had to be a way to illustrate the importance of these magical energies without getting bogged down with science.

Like most people I love the sea but it is not until we actively engage with it that we realise just how much its power affects our lives, even if we live miles inland.  The sea is from where all life-forms come and the oceans that give the planet that remarkable image from outer space.  My own fascination came from a library book taken out over sixty years ago that showed the remarkable creatures that exist in the darkness of the Deep – and this reaction is reflected in two of the magical exercises included in the text.

Those of us who live inland should also be aware that much of the earth beneath our feet was, once upon a time, a sea-bed, for water covered a lot of the lowlands – the central Midlands of the British Isles, for example were covered by salt water, as were vast areas of the Great Plains of North America.  The limestone deposits left by the retreating sea-water are sedimentary rocks, composed mainly of skeletal fragments of marine organisms such as coral and molluscs that once lived in these ‘inland’ seas. We also know this from the fossils found embedded in mountain peaks that were pushed skyward as a result of the earth’s tectonic plate movements.

Traditional Witchcraft for the Seashore was aimed at the casual beachcomber who is happy to mooch along the beach alone or with just the dog for company, and enjoy the simple pleasure of discovering what has been brought in on the morning tide.  There are suggestions of how to utilise these items magically and for the more ambitious – how to create your own inland ‘sea garden’ for meditation purposes.

The sea is a magical place and there are all manner of strange energies that can be harnessed from the seashore. This title was intended to take us on a journey that explores the mystery of the sea from the rock pools on the beach to the great life-forming ‘smokers’ – hot water vents that are home to bizarre community of life-forms that exist in complete darkness on the ocean floor.  And we should not lose sight of that final journey we must all make over the sea to the Isles of the Blessed …

Melusine Draco

Traditional Witchcraft for the Seashore is published by Moon Books and available in paperback and e-book format.  For more information go to www.moon-books.net or Amazon.

A Change of Logo for CoS

We've decided to change the logo for Coven of the
Scales to something a little more dramatic while retaining the symbol of the three hares

HAVE A COOL YULE

Have a Cool Yule: How to Survive (and enjoy) the Mid-Winter Festival will now be published on 24th November 2017 ... a tongue in cheek but nevertheless pertinent guide to explaining why pagans CAN celebrate Christmas!!

For the entire Pagan community Christmas should be one of the most sacred times of the year, but the lack of any formal written liturgy has consigned the festival to a minor observance in the Pagan calendar. Have a Cool Yule demonstrates that history proves the festival to be a wholly Pagan event, worthy of being acknowledged as one of the Great Festivals along with Beltaine and Samhain. With all the different strands of Pagan custom brought to the hearth-fire of the Mid-Winter Festival, we all have something to celebrate in time-honoured fashion, whether our ancestors are Briton, Celt, Norse or Anglo-Saxon.

FAITH & BELIEF IN BRITISH OLD CRAFT: PART ONE

 In 2008 Daniel A. Schulke approached the late Michael Howard, editor of the British witchcraft and folklore journal The Cauldron, about co-editing and producing a witchcraft anthology for Three Hands Press. Given the quiet but potent renaissance that traditional and hereditary witchcraft underwent in the 1990s, they both felt that such a publication was long overdue. At the time, much written about traditional witchcraft was of poor quality, either crudely derivative of a few often-repeated sources, factually inaccurate, or simply plagiaristic. Though this situation persists, readership on this subject has grown increasingly sophisticated and discerning, and a few new voices have emerged from the collective hedge to articulate important and original perspectives on the Craft.

Aside from considerations of quality content, high-caliber writing and creative synthesis, they agreed that a crucial aspect of the work should be the unique voice of the actual practitioners, speaking directly to experience of the magical Art itself. Though still obscure to most, the variety and idiosyncrasy of old witchcraft lines is remarkable. The witches of Cornwall, with their corpora of folk charms and blessings, are one such phenotype. The Pickingill Craft as described by E.W. Liddell, remains despite its controversy one of the most unique and potent streams of Old Craft, as does Robert Cochrane’s Clan of Tubal Cain. The Manx Old Order covines, with their intense connection to angelic magic and the dark faery lore of Ellan Vannin (the Isle of Man), are another such clan, as is the Skull and Bones tradition of Pennsylvania with its ominous and rustic spirit-patrons. The Old Craft lineages of the Cultus Sabbati, with the medieval Witches' Sabbath as an important organizing principle, are yet another distinctive tradition – as was Bob and Meriem Clay-Egerton’s Coven of the Scales – which is where I entered the equation.

Though these forms of the Old Craft are known through their exterior writings, there are other such groups who are content to remain out of the public eye, practicing their Art and training their own generation of adepts. All of these traditions share a common feature of extreme selectivity when it comes to prospective members, and the willingness to reject those proven unfit for the work. [my italics, MD] This unpopular and confrontational stance has often led to thorny relations between groups, but it has also engendered a sanctuary-like environment where creative magical collaboration can unfold according to the design of each tradition.

Thus was forged Hands of Apostasy: Essays on Witchcraft and Folk Magic, an anthology featuring eighteen writers on witchcraft topics as varied as the Devil, plant magic, necromancy, the Romantic movement, and the powers of moon and tide. Representing widely varying witchcraft traditions and perspectives, the book is a sound testament to the Craft’s diversity and strength. With Apostasy Daniel Schulke served as a co-editor with Michael Howard, whose work over the years with The Cauldron had been an immensely valuable resource to the at-large community of practitioners.

I’d known Michael Howard for many a long year but I must confess that the commission had me scratching my head for a long time.  We know what we believe but it’s another thing to explain to outsiders so that it makes sense and after several months ‘Faith and Belief in British Old Craft’ finally passed muster.  Over the next few weeks I’ll be posting the complete essay … 

The Story Behind Traditional Witchcraft for Urban Living

The Story Behind …

Every book has a story behind the story of how it came to be written. It may be about a life-long passion, a personal journey, the need to share an experience or knowledge. It may have been fermenting in the brain for years, or sprung fully formed from a blinding epiphany.  Whether it be fact or fiction, sometimes the story behind the story is almost as important as the published book itself …

Traditional Witchcraft for Urban Living

Originally called Mean Streets Witchcraft, this first title in the Traditional Witchcraft series came from a young witchlet’s comment to Meriem Clay-Egerton, that Meriem couldn’t possibly be a real witch because she lived in a town and was confined to a wheelchair.  Now Meriem loved the countryside and everything about it but a chain of circumstances had forced her and Bob to abandon rural life and to remain in a densely urbanised environment for the rest of their lives.

At the time I was also town-bound and having an awful difficulty with my magical practice since the area I was living in at the time was one of those economically depressed areas due to the mines closing two generations before, with no hope of recovery in sight.  True I had a large medieval holly wood to roam and a nearby granite out crop for energy raising, but the community feeling was that of wading through molasses.

Needless to say, many of our lengthy conversations related to the effect this type of urban environment had on psychic energies and the long-term problems it could cause.  In fact, Meriem thought ‘good’ town-bound witches were probably more proficient than their rural cousins, simply because in the countryside it is enough just to be!  The urban witch had to conduct guerrilla warfare against the constant attack of negative energies the town-dweller encounters at every turn at the office, in the supermarket, and even when walking along the street …

And since the majority of witches don’t have the luxury of the rural dream, there was obviously a niche for a book on urban witchcraft and the differences in perspective of which we all need to be aware.  There are no ‘Oh wow!’ moments in Traditional Witchcraft for Urban Living and most of the content is pure common sense, but sometimes we all need someone to point out the obvious … more like ‘Oh yeah!’

Melusine Draco

Traditional Witchcraft for Urban Living is published by Moon Books and available in paperback and e-book format.  For more information go to www.moon-books.net or Amazon.

Charms

There are several ways that a charm can be implemented.  It could be a spell to impress a prospective employer when going for a new job; or to charm your present boss into thinking that you’re the one for the job that’s just been created; or to attract a male/female that you wish to go out with; or to simply ‘charm’ people into liking you.  Some may see this as manipulation, but to a magical practitioner it is simply using your magical advantages.

    

There are those who refer to a charm as something they carry around or have around the home to attract good luck and protection.  For example people carry around a rabbit’s foot, or a special coin, or piece of jewellery because they believe that it brings them good luck or helps with gambling, for instance.   The carrier believes that good luck will come to them to them in some way, or inspiration to help with an exam, or pass a driving test.   Sometimes the ‘object’ is wearing what people believe to be their lucky colour

    

Technically these examples are amulets or talismans, depending on the nature of their empowerment (refer to Lesson Six). A charm (or spell) is the verbal or physical method of empowering an item, without which, the item itself would be useless.   Usually a charm or spell will be worked for a   specific purpose and over a period of time the magician may find that s/he will have acquired a number of them.   

   

Bear in mind when preparing to undertake a charm/spell working that, as with any magical process, you may get what you asked for - and it may not be what you wanted. For example: a house move sounds simple enough but there is a lot that can go wrong.  The roof may fall in and you could end up in some bed-sit somewhere, or a loss of a job may mean you lose your home.  These things are possible and do happen through the lack of attention to detail.   ‘Need not greed’ should be at the forefront of any working, whether for yourself or on behalf of someone else.  A colleague’s son asked his mother for help in obtaining a new job and gave her a list from which to work.   She duly carried out his instructions and made up a suitable charm-bag for him to take to the interview, tucked away in his briefcase.  The perfect job materialised and he would have thoroughly enjoyed it — but he had to leave after a month because he couldn’t stand the boss.  It was something he’d overlooked when making his list of ‘must haves’.

    

So whether the charm empowers an amulet or a talisman, all due care and consideration need to be taken at all times.