Witchcraft And Secret Societies Of Rural England

A comprehensive account of the rich folk culture preserved in the rural secret societies of the British Isles • Describes the secret rites, ceremonies, and initiation rituals of guilds and rural fraternities such as the Shoemakers, Horsemen, Toadmen, Mummers, and Bonesmen • Explains their use of masks, black face, and other disguises to avoid persecution • Draws not only on scholarly research but also the author’s personal contacts within these still living traditions Centuries ago the remote, marshy plains of eastern England--the Fens--were drained to create agricultural land. The Fens remained isolated up until the nineteenth century, and it was this very isolation that helped preserve the ancient traditions of this area, traditions ruthlessly eradicated elsewhere in the British Isles. These magical folk traditions also owe their survival to secret rural societies, from craft guilds and trade unions to Morris dancers and village bands. Exploring the folk customs and magical traditions of guilds and rural fraternities such as the Shoemakers and Horsemen and the secrets guarded by the Free Gardeners, Witches, Toadmen, and Bonesmen, Nigel Pennick shows how the common working people of the Fens belonged to secret societies based on their specific trade. He details the hidden aspects of rural life that most historians ignore--the magical current that flowed through the lives of working people--and describes the secret rites, ceremonies, oaths, and initiation rituals of the guilds and fraternities to which the folk belonged. Drawing not only on scholarly research but also his personal contacts within these still living traditions, Pennick explains their use of masks, black face, and other disguises to avoid persecution and describes how wise woman healers and witches in rural villages were sought-after for their remedies. He shares the secrets of the toad-bone rite, which gave the Toadman control over animals and members of the opposite sex, and explores the guardian spirits thought to inhabit the Fens, including those of the Wild Hunt. Providing insight into a world that has largely disappeared, one whose magic still echoes in lore and legend, Pennick shows that the rites, customs, and ceremonies of guilds and rural fraternities connect individuals to a wider community and, through collective action, to the power of Nature and the Cosmos.

A comprehensive exploration of familiars and their many forms and powers • Explores witch’s familiars in folklore, shamanic, and magical traditions around the world, including Africa, India, Scandinavia, ancient Greece, and China • Explains how familiars are related to shamanic power animals and how the witch draws on her personal sexual energy to give this creature its power • Examines the familiar in alchemical, Hermetic, and Egyptian magical literature, including instructions for procuring a supernatural assistant Exploring the history and creation of a “witch’s familiar,” also known as a spirit double or guardian spirit, Maja D’Aoust shows how there is much more to these supernatural servant spirits and guardians than meets the eye. She reveals how witches are not the only ones to lay claim to this magician’s “assistant” and examines how the many forms of witch’s familiars are well known in folklore throughout Europe and America as well as in shamanic and magical traditions around the world, including Africa, India, and China. The author explains how familiars are connected with shapeshifting and how the classic familiars of medieval witchcraft tradition are related to the power animals and allies of shamanic practices worldwide, including animal guardian spirits of Native American traditions and the daimons of the ancient Greeks and Romans. She examines the fetch spirit, also known as the fylgia in Scandinavian tradition, and how the witch or sorcerer draws on their personal sexual energy to give this creature its power to magnetize and attract what it was sent to retrieve. She looks at incubus, succubus, doubles, doppelgangers, and soul mates, showing how familiars can also adopt human forms and sometimes form romantic or erotic attachments with the witch or shaman. Reviewing alchemical, Hermetic, and Egyptian magical literature, including the nearly forgotten alchemical works of Anna Kingsford, D’Aoust explores their instructions for procuring the attention of a supernatural assistant as well as an extensive description of the alchemical wedding and how this ritual joins the magician and familiar spirit into a single unified consciousness. Exploring fairy familiars, she reveals how a practitioner can establish a “marriage” with a totemic plant or tree spirit, who, in return, would offer teachings about its medicinal and visionary powers. Delving deeply into the intimate relations of humanity with the spirit world, D’Aoust shows how forming connections with living forces other than human enables us to move beyond the ego, expand our magical abilities, as well as evolve our conscious awareness.

A comprehensive look at the history and practices of rural English witchcraft • Explores witch’s familiars and fetches, animal magic, and the forms of witchcraft practiced by rural tradespeople, such as blacksmiths, herbalists, and artisans • Offers practical insight into spells, charms, folk incantations, herbal medicine practices, amulets, sigils, and tools of the craft • Details the evolution of public perception of witchcraft throughout England’s history, including the laws against witchcraft in place until the 1950s and witchcraft’s contentious relationship with the Christian church In this practical guide, Nigel Pennick takes the reader on a journey through the practice of operative witchcraft in the British Isles from the Middle Ages and the Elizabethan era to the decriminalization of witchcraft in the 1950s and its practice today. Highlighting uniquely English traditions, Pennick explores fetches and witch’s familiars, animal magic, and the forms of witchcraft practiced by rural tradespeople, such as blacksmiths, herbalists, and artisans, to enhance their professional work and compel others to do their bidding, both man and beast. He provides actual spells, charms, and folk incantations, along with details about the magical use of a variety of herbs, including nightshades, the creation of amulets and sigils, protection against the Evil Eye, and the use of aromatic oils. Pennick explains the best times of day for different types of magic, how to identify places of power, and the use of the paraphernalia of operative witchcraft, such as the broom, the witches’ dial, and pins, nails and thorns. He explores the belief in three different types of witches: white witches, who offer help and healing for a fee; black witches, who harm others; and gray witches, who practice both white and black magic. Examining witchcraft’s contentious relationship with the Christian church, he investigates the persecution of witches throughout the UK and the British West Indies up until the mid-20th century. He offers a look into the changing public perceptions of witchcraft and the treatment of its followers as well as revealing how English churchmen would offer magical solutions to the perceived threat of black witchcraft. Painting an in-depth picture of English witchcraft, including how it relates to and differs from modern Wicca, Pennick reveals the foundation from which modern witchcraft arose. He shows how this context is necessary to effectively use these ancient skills and techniques and how the evolution of witchcraft will continue harmonizing the old ways with the new.

An illustrated guide to the occult history, serpent magic, and practical application of the I Ching • Reveals how the sacred language of the original eight trigrams of the I Ching was discovered by a wisdom serpent known as Fu Xi • Explores how the I Ching formed the basis of the earliest Taoist philosophies, its complex correlation with human DNA, and its relationship with artificial intelligence • Provides new contemporary analysis of each of the 64 hexagrams, their changing lines, and archetypes of the I Ching • Includes original artwork highlighting the serpent magic within the system and tools to help you interpret the I Ching based on your own individual experience One of the oldest books in the world, the I Ching has been used in China for millennia to open a dialogue with divinity, gain insight and wisdom, and pull aside the curtain of reality to reveal the light of the heavens. Yet, despite its popularity over thousands of years, few understand its mysterious origins, symbolism, or occult connections. In this illustrated guide, Maja D’Aoust applies her significant experience as a professional practitioner and scholar of the I Ching to provide a history of the oracle, explain the mechanisms at work behind it, and offer a new experiential approach to its interpretation. The author begins by examining the discovery of the I Ching by the first mythical emperor of China, Fu Xi, a divine being with the body of a serpent. She reveals how Fu Xi’s eight original trigrams, also called the Ba Gua, provided a sacred language of symbols that allowed for communication between the diviner and the spirit world. Using the I Ching’s principles of cosmology as a basis, the shamans of ancient China developed the earliest Taoist philosophies of nature, medicine, martial arts, and mathematics as well as ecstatic practices, war strategies, birth and death rituals, agricultural systems, and alchemical studies. D’Aoust further shows how the I Ching relates to the mathematical sequences of biology and human DNA, examining the correlation between the serpent’s tail and the double helix. She reveals how the ways the oracle connects with your own inner knowing parallel the ways in which DNA repairs itself. Providing a new analysis of each of the 64 hexagrams and their changing lines and archetypes, the author explores each hexagram’s meanings in depth, alongside original artwork highlighting the serpent magic within the system and tools to help you interpret the I Ching based on your own individual experience. Revealing how the oracle holds complex networks of meaning that language alone fails to capture, D’Aoust offers a new understanding of the Book of Changes and its many hidden lessons.

• Looks at the age-old spiritual principles, folklore, and esoteric traditions behind the creation of magical objects as well as the use of numbers, colors, sigils, geometric emblems, knots, crosses, pentagrams, and other symbols • Explores hundreds of artifacts, such as hagstones, Norse directional amulets, car hood mascots, objects made from bones and teeth, those connected with plants and animals, charms associated with gambling, and religious relics • Includes photos of artifacts from the author’s extensive collection Offering an illustrated exploration of the origins and history of amulets, lucky charms, talismans, and mascots, including photos of unique and original artifacts from his extensive collection, Nigel Pennick examines these objects from a magical perspective, from ancient Egypt to the present. He looks at the age-old spiritual principles, folklore, and esoteric traditions behind their creation as well as the use of numbers, colors, sigils, geometric emblems, knots, crosses, pentagrams, and other symbols. Pennick explores magical charms and objects manufactured from bones, teeth, claws, and horns and those that include symbols of the human body. He also discusses religious relics as well as the combining of charms to make more powerful objects, from the bind runes of the Norse and the crowns of ancient Egypt to the Mojo hand and the medicine pouch. Revealing the lasting power of amulets, talismans, charms, and mascots, Pennick shows that these objects and symbols have retained their magic across the centuries.

• Reveals how mask rituals are akin to shamanic journeying and allow the mask wearer to personify an ancestral presence, spirit, deity, or power • Examines animal guising and shows how mask customs are tied to creation myths and the ancestral founders of a people, tribe, city, or nation • Looks at morris dancers and mummers in the UK, Krampuslauf and Perchtenlauf in Germanic areas, the Gorgon myths of Greece, Norse Berserker rituals, and the annual Black Forest rite to awaken ensouled masks every spring There is a spiritual power in masks that transports one into realms unseen and gives voice to things unspoken. Within the context of ritual, putting on a mask places the wearer at the intersection between the present and the past, the living and the dead, this world and the Otherworld. Masks make it possible to activate ancient archetypes, with the mask wearer reanimating or personifying an ancestral presence or spirit, a deity or power, an animal or a being of the eldritch world. In this illustrated study, Nigel Pennick explores the magical and spiritual aspects of mask wearing from ancient times to the present. He examines the many mask traditions around Europe and shows how mask rituals are similar to shamanic journeying and near-death experiences and can induce ecstatic states that allow the power signified by the mask to take possession of the individual wearing it. He also looks at the practice of dressing up as sacred animals and mask wearing as it relates to ostenta, events that occur suddenly and without warning that are considered a token or sign from the Otherworld. Unveiling the sacred power of masks, the author shows how masks allow us to transport into realms unseen, embody ancestors and otherworldly entities, and connect with traditions that stretch back to time immemorial.

Claims and counter-claims. Accusations and allegations. NSA spying and suppressed evidence. Cover-ups and threats. Documented connections and intrigue. Suggestions of a New World Order. Are we to believe the coincidences are mere chance? Might the paranoid be on to something? Who really holds the levers of power? History admonishes us to be vigilant of hidden plots and nefarious agendas of governments and the powerful. Shedding light onto sometimes sinister and coercive groups, Secret Societies: The Complete Guide to Histories, Rites, and Rituals is packed with details on nearly 200 organizations, their histories, found members, backgrounds, and suspected conspiracies. It uncovers and examines the hidden, overlooked, and buried history of some of the most notorious groups, including the Illuminati, the Freemasons, Skull and Bones, World Bankers, the Secret Government, and extraterrestrial invaders, to name a few. Tracing the chilling and corrosive affects of powerful cliques and their plots, it exposes their deep reach into the operations of today's world. Providing gripping details, presenting the facts, and letting the reader decide, this revealing work probes the hidden agendas and agreements of secret cabals and associations. Along the way, it debunks myths and presents the evidence on an invisible world of influence and power.

An exploration of the traditional rites of auspicious building and crafting • Explains the ceremonial beginnings and Hermetic principles in the laying out of foundations not only for sacred buildings like temples but also for homes and barns • Examines the principles and ceremonies of electional astrology and details how to compute natural time, as opposed to clock time • Shares examples from ancient Egypt, Iran, India, and Europe that range from the Stone Age to the Renaissance and include secret societies When we make things--whether a building, a sacred space, or a magical object--there is a precise moment when the artifact comes into being as a separate entity. That moment in time possesses its own unique quality, and because of this, there is a right time to do something and a wrong time. And, as Nigel Pennick reveals, we have the power to select favorable moments for our creations, just as our ancestors did. Illustrating ancient principles of divination, chronomancy, and electional astrology, Pennick examines all the factors behind the ancestral art of geomancy: the auspicious creation and alignment of sacred buildings as places of power. Sharing examples from ancient Egypt, Iran, India, and Europe that range from the Stone Age to the modern day, including secret societies like the Rosicrucians and the Freemasons, he explains how many cities were constructed on specially selected sites and founded ritually at precise, predetermined moments. Looking at the traditional rites of creating places of power, Pennick explains the ceremonial beginnings and Hermetic principles in the laying out of foundations as well as the use of sacrifice in the building of many notable structures. Examining the role of sacred geometry in geomancy, Pennick explains the Hermetic meaning assigned to each direction in traditional European cultures as well as the principles of natural measures and the science of understanding lucky and unlucky days. Revealing how geomantic principles are rooted in the structure of the world and the cosmic patterns of space and time, the author shows how they transcend the ages and are just as meaningful today as they were to our ancestors.