Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Witches and the Pointy Hat Brigade.
Read More
Do You wear a Pointy Hat? Or, do you aspire to wear one? Do you know what Witches really do? Can you tell which witch is which?
Me? I’ve no idea!.... But I know a man who does…
There are many books written on witchcraft and/or how to be a witch. But the best ones, are, in my opinion, written by one of my clients. His name is Terry Pratchett; you may have heard of him?
Although he writes stories about characters in a science-fiction world he invented called DiscWorld, Terry has the most comprehensive understanding of Witches and Witchcraft, of anybody I’ve ever come across.
His latest book, ‘Wintersmith’ is the third in his Tiffany Aching series, and really ‘dishes the dirt’ on witches, if you care to read between the lines. ( nudge, nudge wink, wink )
The three books in the series, are The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith; and you can get them from your local library, if you’re short of cash.
I would suggest that you read them in order, enjoy the story, but be careful to read between the lines and discover what he is really saying about witches. Then think about it and see if you recognise anyone you know. It can be quite an eye-opener.
But don’t blame me… If the pointy hat fits… wear it!
In these books you’ll discover all sort of hidden secrets… Why witches who live on chalk are different to those who live on limestone or rock… Why some wear black and some don’t…. When magick is appropriate and when it is not… Why Boffo is never discussed…. For example :-))
These are all things you need to know and understand that the Witchcraft Textbooks never tell you.
So read them… Have fun… And learn by laughing.
New and Secondhand copies of Terry’s books can be Bought Here
Me? I’ve no idea!.... But I know a man who does…
There are many books written on witchcraft and/or how to be a witch. But the best ones, are, in my opinion, written by one of my clients. His name is Terry Pratchett; you may have heard of him?
Although he writes stories about characters in a science-fiction world he invented called DiscWorld, Terry has the most comprehensive understanding of Witches and Witchcraft, of anybody I’ve ever come across.
His latest book, ‘Wintersmith’ is the third in his Tiffany Aching series, and really ‘dishes the dirt’ on witches, if you care to read between the lines. ( nudge, nudge wink, wink )
The three books in the series, are The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky and Wintersmith; and you can get them from your local library, if you’re short of cash.
I would suggest that you read them in order, enjoy the story, but be careful to read between the lines and discover what he is really saying about witches. Then think about it and see if you recognise anyone you know. It can be quite an eye-opener.
But don’t blame me… If the pointy hat fits… wear it!
In these books you’ll discover all sort of hidden secrets… Why witches who live on chalk are different to those who live on limestone or rock… Why some wear black and some don’t…. When magick is appropriate and when it is not… Why Boffo is never discussed…. For example :-))
These are all things you need to know and understand that the Witchcraft Textbooks never tell you.
So read them… Have fun… And learn by laughing.
New and Secondhand copies of Terry’s books can be Bought Here
Sunday, January 28, 2007
The Secret Life of Trees…. Part 2
Read More
In Part 1 which I posted last November; I talked about the different levels of energy that I live within.
I also mentioned my ‘Eerie Eyrie’ where I have regular contact with the ‘higher’ or psychic level of the local Tree World. You could call it, my Quantum Consciousness Communications Centre.
Trees have a fascinating Higher-Self, like us, that I would like to tell you about; but we humans don’t have the right words to explain it.
It is something that we’ve never needed to talk about until now; so we’ve never invented the correct words to do the job.
So to make it easier to understand, I propose to talk about how we humans operate, first, to give us some common ground.
Then, I’ll go and try to explain how Tree-Spirits or Dryads operate; and how they and us can work together for our common good.
Words, however are the stumbling block. With the advent of the New Age, most words that are in common use in the so-called Occult, have acquired many spurious means that are quite out of context with their original dictionary meaning.
For example; people love the word Astral or Astra, as it rolls nicely of the tongue.
In Latin, it meant Star or Star like, so the motto, ‘Per Ardua Ad Astra’ meaning "Through Struggles to the Stars" actually conveyed something.
Over 100 years ago, the Theosophical Society used it to describe a star like level of being for the human psyche.
But now, chaos reigns… We have Astra Cars, Astral Tennis balls, Astral Clothing, Astral Pop Groups, and in London, there is even, an all night café, exclusively for Taxi-drivers, called The Astral Café. Come back Douglas Adams, all is forgiven!
So I can’t use words like this as everybody thinks they know them and are probably wrong.
In my parents day, they taught me using an age-old metaphor, that had stood the test-of-time, by being passed down by word-of-mouth for countless generations.
So I’m going to used this metaphor and leave it to you to put names ( that mean something to you ) on the various situations as they come up. This way we should all end up with the same ‘plot’ but described in your on individual words.
This way it will, also become your own private information that no one can take away from you. This, in our family, we define as true understanding, and a basis for developing wisdom.
So in Part 3 we will start with the Elfin Metaphor of ‘The Horse and Rider.’
Bookmark this site and stay tuned for the next exciting episode….
I also mentioned my ‘Eerie Eyrie’ where I have regular contact with the ‘higher’ or psychic level of the local Tree World. You could call it, my Quantum Consciousness Communications Centre.
Trees have a fascinating Higher-Self, like us, that I would like to tell you about; but we humans don’t have the right words to explain it.
It is something that we’ve never needed to talk about until now; so we’ve never invented the correct words to do the job.
So to make it easier to understand, I propose to talk about how we humans operate, first, to give us some common ground.
Then, I’ll go and try to explain how Tree-Spirits or Dryads operate; and how they and us can work together for our common good.
Words, however are the stumbling block. With the advent of the New Age, most words that are in common use in the so-called Occult, have acquired many spurious means that are quite out of context with their original dictionary meaning.
For example; people love the word Astral or Astra, as it rolls nicely of the tongue.
In Latin, it meant Star or Star like, so the motto, ‘Per Ardua Ad Astra’ meaning "Through Struggles to the Stars" actually conveyed something.
Over 100 years ago, the Theosophical Society used it to describe a star like level of being for the human psyche.
But now, chaos reigns… We have Astra Cars, Astral Tennis balls, Astral Clothing, Astral Pop Groups, and in London, there is even, an all night café, exclusively for Taxi-drivers, called The Astral Café. Come back Douglas Adams, all is forgiven!
So I can’t use words like this as everybody thinks they know them and are probably wrong.
In my parents day, they taught me using an age-old metaphor, that had stood the test-of-time, by being passed down by word-of-mouth for countless generations.
So I’m going to used this metaphor and leave it to you to put names ( that mean something to you ) on the various situations as they come up. This way we should all end up with the same ‘plot’ but described in your on individual words.
This way it will, also become your own private information that no one can take away from you. This, in our family, we define as true understanding, and a basis for developing wisdom.
So in Part 3 we will start with the Elfin Metaphor of ‘The Horse and Rider.’
Bookmark this site and stay tuned for the next exciting episode….
Friday, January 26, 2007
Some of the things I learnt from Robert Anton Wilson
Read More
My Mother and Father, were the first in our centuries old tribe, who learnt to read. Although many of my ancestors could recognise a few odd words by their shape, they didn’t have a knowledge of letters and the alphabet.
But, my father broke the mould by learning how to read books and understand them. He also learnt how to write..
From then on, ‘Reading & Writing’ has been very important to all tribe members. And now, my grandchildren are into Computers. Not only using them but building them too.
I started my ‘Tribal’ education at the age of nine, whilst I was still at school. Then, when I left school to start earning my living, my parents also started me on my ‘Lifelong’ education, of reading non-fiction books, in order to gain knowledge.
Unfortunately, our tribal knowledge, has never been, up to now, written down. But it is stored as a sort of mental, picture library in our OldBrain or BackBrain (Cerebellum).
So there I was, using my Elfin inheritance of a ‘TriCameral Mind’ to do three different forms of mental development at the same time.
I learnt how to access my BackBrain Library, whenever my Elfin Know-how was needed.
I also applied, hands-on exploration of the world about me, with my RightBrain, so that I could understand what was going on and earn a living for my wife and I.
And, at the same time, I was using my LeftBrain, to uncover and use, the secret knowledge hidden away in the world of books.
Because, I was a bit dyslexic, I tended to shy away from writing, so that other people wouldn’t know I couldn’t spell very well. However, when I was fifty, Alan Sugar, came along with his famous ‘Sugar Cube’ the Amstrad PCW Computer. On it I was able to type words that looked OK to me and by pressing a button, the spell-checker would correct them for me, and teach me how to spell at the same time.
Thank you Alan Sugar, you changed my life!
About that time, I discovered, the books of Robert Anton Wilson. Things were going on inside my mind, that I was unable to put descriptive words to; until I read his books. Suddenly, he made me aware of the quantum leaps my brains and sub-conscious minds were going through and for the first time I was able to describe my thoughts and feelings, in a meaningful way.
As a result of devouring his books, Robert Anton Wilson, enabled me to translate our ancient Elfin Know-How, into words, that made sense to other people. And, almost before I knew it, I’d become a teacher with a metaphysical bias. Since then, I’ve given hundreds of weekend seminars, in many countries, on the Magick of Elfin Lore and Ancient Trees.
If you really want to understand what life is all about, then I would suggest that you read Robert Anton Wilson’s ‘Prometheus Rising’; But… to get the best out of it… Don’t just Read it… Think about what he is saying… Study it… Read between the lines… and really devour it into your inner being.
Unfortunately, being of my generation, Bob passed on to the next world, on the January 11th 2007, but his books are still available through this link…
Why don’t you grab yourself a copy and discover the hidden secrets nobody is telling you about?
Goodbye Bob… I’ll be looking out for you next time we’re back!
To read more about Robert Anton Wilson click here.
But, my father broke the mould by learning how to read books and understand them. He also learnt how to write..
From then on, ‘Reading & Writing’ has been very important to all tribe members. And now, my grandchildren are into Computers. Not only using them but building them too.
I started my ‘Tribal’ education at the age of nine, whilst I was still at school. Then, when I left school to start earning my living, my parents also started me on my ‘Lifelong’ education, of reading non-fiction books, in order to gain knowledge.
Unfortunately, our tribal knowledge, has never been, up to now, written down. But it is stored as a sort of mental, picture library in our OldBrain or BackBrain (Cerebellum).
So there I was, using my Elfin inheritance of a ‘TriCameral Mind’ to do three different forms of mental development at the same time.
I learnt how to access my BackBrain Library, whenever my Elfin Know-how was needed.
I also applied, hands-on exploration of the world about me, with my RightBrain, so that I could understand what was going on and earn a living for my wife and I.
And, at the same time, I was using my LeftBrain, to uncover and use, the secret knowledge hidden away in the world of books.
Because, I was a bit dyslexic, I tended to shy away from writing, so that other people wouldn’t know I couldn’t spell very well. However, when I was fifty, Alan Sugar, came along with his famous ‘Sugar Cube’ the Amstrad PCW Computer. On it I was able to type words that looked OK to me and by pressing a button, the spell-checker would correct them for me, and teach me how to spell at the same time.
Thank you Alan Sugar, you changed my life!
About that time, I discovered, the books of Robert Anton Wilson. Things were going on inside my mind, that I was unable to put descriptive words to; until I read his books. Suddenly, he made me aware of the quantum leaps my brains and sub-conscious minds were going through and for the first time I was able to describe my thoughts and feelings, in a meaningful way.
As a result of devouring his books, Robert Anton Wilson, enabled me to translate our ancient Elfin Know-How, into words, that made sense to other people. And, almost before I knew it, I’d become a teacher with a metaphysical bias. Since then, I’ve given hundreds of weekend seminars, in many countries, on the Magick of Elfin Lore and Ancient Trees.
If you really want to understand what life is all about, then I would suggest that you read Robert Anton Wilson’s ‘Prometheus Rising’; But… to get the best out of it… Don’t just Read it… Think about what he is saying… Study it… Read between the lines… and really devour it into your inner being.
Unfortunately, being of my generation, Bob passed on to the next world, on the January 11th 2007, but his books are still available through this link…
Why don’t you grab yourself a copy and discover the hidden secrets nobody is telling you about?
Goodbye Bob… I’ll be looking out for you next time we’re back!
To read more about Robert Anton Wilson click here.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
The Truth About Trees… Part 15
Read More
The other magick tree in our forest was named by the ‘Boat-Folk’ who invaded us, after our homeland became an island, due to the rising sea-levels caused the melting Ice-Cap.
That was some time after Atland and Godwinston had sunk beneath the waves of the North Sea, and the Low Waters had been transformed into the English Channel. ( I’m using more modern names here to make it easier to identify the places concerned. )
The ‘Boat-Folk’ were the ‘Civilised’ Iron-Age people, known to science as ‘Proto-Celts.’ These people with their Iron Swords and Knives; brought warfare, death and destruction to our peaceful WildWood.
They were real killers and in their first decade, they massacred over 50% of both our tribe and the other aboriginal tribes who shared our forest. ( I’ll talk more about this later. )
We aboriginals, were all forced to retreat deep into the thickest parts of the forest and keep well away from them, in order to stay alive. From then on we were all exiles and out-laws in our own land; and by their law were could be killed on sight, as they classed us as human-like animals. In fact, this situation continued in the UK, until we got the Bill of Rights in 1951. ( Yes, you’ve guessed it… I was born an ‘Out-Law’ and didn’t go public about my background until 1980. )
Anyway, what I really wanted to tell you was, the ‘Boat-Folk' or Celts as most people now refer to them, had their own word for Magick. That word was Haazel or Häzel, and it is the name they gave to our native Hazel nut-tree. Haselnuss in German and Hazelaar in Dutch.
According to the experts, the Hazel is not a real tree, it is only a shrub, and is left out of many books on trees. How wrong can you get? They also said it didn’t have a trunk, so it couldn’t be a normal tree… How wrong can get?
The Celts, discovered that it is possible to ‘Coppice’ or ‘harvest it’ by cutting the Hazel down to ground level every 7 or so, years; and allowing it to re-grow as a mass of straight posts. These posts could be split and woven into very effective fencing, which was very useful to the Celtic Farmers. Because of this, it is rather difficult to find a Hazel tree with a natural trunk because it hasn’t been coppiced.
Don’t be fooled by the Hazel’s lack of height or a main trunk; it is still a very powerful and important tree in it’s own right, as I’ll tell you later.
Please stay tuned!... Bookmark this site, so that you can find it again!... There is much more to follow….
The other magick tree in our forest was named by the ‘Boat-Folk’ who invaded us, after our homeland became an island, due to the rising sea-levels caused the melting Ice-Cap. That was some time after Atland and Godwinston had sunk beneath the waves of the North Sea, and the Low Waters had been transformed into the English Channel. ( I’m using more modern names here to make it easier to identify the places concerned. )
The ‘Boat-Folk’ were the ‘Civilised’ Iron-Age people, known to science as ‘Proto-Celts.’ These people with their Iron Swords and Knives; brought warfare, death and destruction to our peaceful WildWood.
They were real killers and in their first decade, they massacred over 50% of both our tribe and the other aboriginal tribes who shared our forest. ( I’ll talk more about this later. )
We aboriginals, were all forced to retreat deep into the thickest parts of the forest and keep well away from them, in order to stay alive. From then on we were all exiles and out-laws in our own land; and by their law were could be killed on sight, as they classed us as human-like animals. In fact, this situation continued in the UK, until we got the Bill of Rights in 1951. ( Yes, you’ve guessed it… I was born an ‘Out-Law’ and didn’t go public about my background until 1980. )
Anyway, what I really wanted to tell you was, the ‘Boat-Folk' or Celts as most people now refer to them, had their own word for Magick. That word was Haazel or Häzel, and it is the name they gave to our native Hazel nut-tree. Haselnuss in German and Hazelaar in Dutch.
According to the experts, the Hazel is not a real tree, it is only a shrub, and is left out of many books on trees. How wrong can you get? They also said it didn’t have a trunk, so it couldn’t be a normal tree… How wrong can get?
The Celts, discovered that it is possible to ‘Coppice’ or ‘harvest it’ by cutting the Hazel down to ground level every 7 or so, years; and allowing it to re-grow as a mass of straight posts. These posts could be split and woven into very effective fencing, which was very useful to the Celtic Farmers. Because of this, it is rather difficult to find a Hazel tree with a natural trunk because it hasn’t been coppiced.
Don’t be fooled by the Hazel’s lack of height or a main trunk; it is still a very powerful and important tree in it’s own right, as I’ll tell you later.
Please stay tuned!... Bookmark this site, so that you can find it again!... There is much more to follow….
Monday, January 15, 2007
The Truth About Trees… Part 14
Read More
It was the Dwarves, passing through our local part of the WildWood, that re-named it, Andredsweald.
They could obviously feel the lovely benevolent, Goddess Energy of the area, and naturally assumed it was ‘their’ Goddess, Andred.
Being civilised, it never occurred to them that we, an un-civilised local people, could have an Earth Mother Goddess, who rejoiced in the primitive name of Mumm. Mumm was the first word our children made, and what better name could there be for a Goddess?
The Dwarves were a tribe of small Black haired people, who passed through our area, going to and from other parts of the huge forest that stretched from the Ice Fields to the North of us, right across Europe to what is now known as the Black Sea.
Of course, we didn’t know that at the time… we just knew that the forest went on for ever… or so it seemed, when viewed from the tops of hills.
To us, forest dwellers, the horizon of our world, was only the distance we could see through the trees. In those days our world was very small, and we had no idea that the stars formed constellations in the sky, that we could barely see, through the tree canopy.
According to scientists, the Dwarves were the ‘Bronze Age People’ who came here, prospecting for metal ore, before our land became an Island. They must have walked here from Europe, like we did.
The Dwarves give one of the Tree Groups (see earlier Postings) in our forest, a name that is still in use today, some six thousand years later.
Like us, they realised it was a Magickal tree, and so they called after their word for magick; Rowan.
The Victorians tried to re-name it Mountain Ash, but luckily the old name of Rowan is still with us. The Germans call it Vogelbeere and the Dutch Lijsterbes; because of its berries.
The name Rowan is very popular for male witches in the UK, as it brings out their magickal qualities.
Rowan Atkinson, ( Mr Bean) is a very popular actor, a very good example of this quality; in fact his genius is obvious in his brilliant stagecraft.
There is more to come… please bookmark this page, so that you can find it again….
It was the Dwarves, passing through our local part of the WildWood, that re-named it, Andredsweald.
They could obviously feel the lovely benevolent, Goddess Energy of the area, and naturally assumed it was ‘their’ Goddess, Andred.
Being civilised, it never occurred to them that we, an un-civilised local people, could have an Earth Mother Goddess, who rejoiced in the primitive name of Mumm. Mumm was the first word our children made, and what better name could there be for a Goddess?
The Dwarves were a tribe of small Black haired people, who passed through our area, going to and from other parts of the huge forest that stretched from the Ice Fields to the North of us, right across Europe to what is now known as the Black Sea.
Of course, we didn’t know that at the time… we just knew that the forest went on for ever… or so it seemed, when viewed from the tops of hills.
To us, forest dwellers, the horizon of our world, was only the distance we could see through the trees. In those days our world was very small, and we had no idea that the stars formed constellations in the sky, that we could barely see, through the tree canopy.
According to scientists, the Dwarves were the ‘Bronze Age People’ who came here, prospecting for metal ore, before our land became an Island. They must have walked here from Europe, like we did.
The Dwarves give one of the Tree Groups (see earlier Postings) in our forest, a name that is still in use today, some six thousand years later.
Like us, they realised it was a Magickal tree, and so they called after their word for magick; Rowan.
The Victorians tried to re-name it Mountain Ash, but luckily the old name of Rowan is still with us. The Germans call it Vogelbeere and the Dutch Lijsterbes; because of its berries.
The name Rowan is very popular for male witches in the UK, as it brings out their magickal qualities.
Rowan Atkinson, ( Mr Bean) is a very popular actor, a very good example of this quality; in fact his genius is obvious in his brilliant stagecraft.
There is more to come… please bookmark this page, so that you can find it again….
Friday, January 12, 2007
The Magick of Folding Money
As I was walking through our local market yesterday, I noticed one of the traders busy counting the money he had taken on his stall.
In England, most market traders wear a special reinforced apron, with several zipped pockets to keep their money safe; called his ‘Apron’ ‘Pouch’ or ‘Moneybag.’ This keeps your cash and notes, in safe keeping, and out of sight to sneak-thieves and tax-men.
This particular trader, drew my attention, because his body-language indicated that he was having a bad day financially. The scowl on his face was probably a lot of the trouble. The Chinese have a saying that ‘a man without a smiling face, should not open a shop!’
His actions reminded me of how I used to cope with this depressing situation whenever it occurred, and that was pretty often in my early days as a trader. I used to ‘work the markets’ between jobs, in order to feed my children and keep the wolf from the door, during the 70’s depression.
Being an Elf I naturally used my family magick to improve my attitude and thereby my takings. This is something that could prove useful to you too.
Firstly, I would on count the notes; leaving the coins to accumulate in my pouch.
Then I would fold the wad of notes in half, thereby doubling it’s thickness. You need to do this with determination, squeezing the wad, into a solid lump.
At the same time you mentally tell yourself, with conviction, that you’re going to double this amount, before packing up for the night. You also signal your intention to both yourself and the money, by tensing the muscles in both arms, as you do so.
This way your whole body knows that, come what may, you are going to be so nice and helpful to your customers, that they like you enough to buy from you.
I found this worked, again and again. I remember, one occasion in 1983, when I was displaying my Magickal Items at a national New Age Fair. It was near the end of a long and very tiring day, competing with lots of other crafts-people. My son and I were worried that we wouldn’t be making any profit at all, due to the very high overheads of attending this exhibition.
And then, at the last minute, as we were busy packing all our items into boxes to take them home; a fellow in a t-shirt and shorts arrived.
He told us he was a computer programmer, and had had difficulty getting away from work to get to the show. In those days, computers were huge and housed in special rooms with air-conditioning and dust controls.
So we unpacked our handcrafted items and he looks at them and then pulled a fistful of notes out of his pocket. Each note represented a weeks earnings to me. They were fifty pound notes, ( about 75 euros or 100 US$) and in those days worth some four or five times their current value.
It was a win/win situation, he got the Magickal Items he wanted and we went home, late but with three notes profit. All our efforts had been repaid.
As you can see, magick is part of my life… I’ll be telling you more about later….
In England, most market traders wear a special reinforced apron, with several zipped pockets to keep their money safe; called his ‘Apron’ ‘Pouch’ or ‘Moneybag.’ This keeps your cash and notes, in safe keeping, and out of sight to sneak-thieves and tax-men.
This particular trader, drew my attention, because his body-language indicated that he was having a bad day financially. The scowl on his face was probably a lot of the trouble. The Chinese have a saying that ‘a man without a smiling face, should not open a shop!’
His actions reminded me of how I used to cope with this depressing situation whenever it occurred, and that was pretty often in my early days as a trader. I used to ‘work the markets’ between jobs, in order to feed my children and keep the wolf from the door, during the 70’s depression.
Being an Elf I naturally used my family magick to improve my attitude and thereby my takings. This is something that could prove useful to you too.
Firstly, I would on count the notes; leaving the coins to accumulate in my pouch.
Then I would fold the wad of notes in half, thereby doubling it’s thickness. You need to do this with determination, squeezing the wad, into a solid lump.
At the same time you mentally tell yourself, with conviction, that you’re going to double this amount, before packing up for the night. You also signal your intention to both yourself and the money, by tensing the muscles in both arms, as you do so.
This way your whole body knows that, come what may, you are going to be so nice and helpful to your customers, that they like you enough to buy from you.
I found this worked, again and again. I remember, one occasion in 1983, when I was displaying my Magickal Items at a national New Age Fair. It was near the end of a long and very tiring day, competing with lots of other crafts-people. My son and I were worried that we wouldn’t be making any profit at all, due to the very high overheads of attending this exhibition.
And then, at the last minute, as we were busy packing all our items into boxes to take them home; a fellow in a t-shirt and shorts arrived.
He told us he was a computer programmer, and had had difficulty getting away from work to get to the show. In those days, computers were huge and housed in special rooms with air-conditioning and dust controls.
So we unpacked our handcrafted items and he looks at them and then pulled a fistful of notes out of his pocket. Each note represented a weeks earnings to me. They were fifty pound notes, ( about 75 euros or 100 US$) and in those days worth some four or five times their current value.
It was a win/win situation, he got the Magickal Items he wanted and we went home, late but with three notes profit. All our efforts had been repaid.
As you can see, magick is part of my life… I’ll be telling you more about later….
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Little known Words from our Pagan past… Part 4
Read More
Over the centuries, the ancient forests of England have been cleared away for farming and living space; but odd bits of woodland got left behind for a wide variety of reasons.
The words used to describe these are still in use today, although most people don't know what the words mean.
Over the years, a lot of these descriptive woodland names have been adopted as surnames, or family names by country people.
'Shaw', for instance, was a 'Wood' hanging onto the side of a steep hill; rather like a Ladies Shawl.
If it was a very dense wood with a lot of undergrowth, it was called a 'Greenshaw' and if it contained a lot of 'Stag-headed Oaks' it was referred to as an 'Oldshaw'. (Some oaks go bald in their old age, with lots of bare branches sticking out of their crown, like Deer Antlers).
A shaw full of big trees but little or no undergrowth, was called a 'Bradshaw'.
Large areas of forest were still called 'Forest' but the surname was altered slightly to 'Forrest' so that people didn't mumble it.
Small areas of woodland became a 'Wood' and a very popular surname.
'The Chippys', (survivors of the outlawed 'Elfin' tribes like us) took the name 'Wood' when surnames were forced upon us in 1742.
Like our name, it was a good way to disguise an old 'Pagan' name in a Christian society, and now, (like us), anybody with the name Wood, gets the nickname (nick=devil) of Chippy, whether or not they carry on the old woodworking skills of the original Chippys; who used to build our Elfin, ‘Hollow Hill’ Homes.
More to follow…
Over the centuries, the ancient forests of England have been cleared away for farming and living space; but odd bits of woodland got left behind for a wide variety of reasons.
The words used to describe these are still in use today, although most people don't know what the words mean.
Over the years, a lot of these descriptive woodland names have been adopted as surnames, or family names by country people.
'Shaw', for instance, was a 'Wood' hanging onto the side of a steep hill; rather like a Ladies Shawl.
If it was a very dense wood with a lot of undergrowth, it was called a 'Greenshaw' and if it contained a lot of 'Stag-headed Oaks' it was referred to as an 'Oldshaw'. (Some oaks go bald in their old age, with lots of bare branches sticking out of their crown, like Deer Antlers).
A shaw full of big trees but little or no undergrowth, was called a 'Bradshaw'.
Large areas of forest were still called 'Forest' but the surname was altered slightly to 'Forrest' so that people didn't mumble it.
Small areas of woodland became a 'Wood' and a very popular surname.
'The Chippys', (survivors of the outlawed 'Elfin' tribes like us) took the name 'Wood' when surnames were forced upon us in 1742.
Like our name, it was a good way to disguise an old 'Pagan' name in a Christian society, and now, (like us), anybody with the name Wood, gets the nickname (nick=devil) of Chippy, whether or not they carry on the old woodworking skills of the original Chippys; who used to build our Elfin, ‘Hollow Hill’ Homes.
More to follow…
Tuesday, January 02, 2007
Several people have asked me lately… Are you a Witch?
Read More
So to save lots of other people saying it…. I’d better explain….
I was born into an ancient family of English Witches. So I am an Hereditary Witch, or Village Wise Man, because I have a lot of ancestral knowledge stored in the back of my funny shaped skull; that enables me to help people. I've also done all the necessary training.
When I was young the Second World War was raging and a lot of non-physical work was needed to help the War Effort.
Being an ‘Outsider or Outlaw’ and a bit of ‘Problem Child’ I was sent to a ‘Special’ school in Ashdown Forest. It was there, on my ninth birthday; I was Initiated into Tree Magick and started my 25 year apprenticeship.
A local Witch heard about it and told her Coven, about me… and the next thing I knew, they ‘Recognised’ me and I was Initiated into the Ashdown Coven, by the Priestess, Gladys Langridge.
My Wiccan friends, might be interested to know that later Gladys married Bobbie Clutterbuck and was the High Priestess who later Initiated Gerald Gardener into the craft.
Anyway, the reason the local coven needed me, plus mom and dad, and my grandfather; was because, a very special event was coming up and a lot of Weather Magick would be required.
For some unknown reason, attempting to control the weather, was a craft-idea, peculiar to us ‘On-the-Chalk’ Witches.
In May and June of 1944, the weather was much, much wetter than normal, and the ‘hush, hush’ D-Day Landing was unable to proceed, unless the weather changed. In fact thousands of troops were hidden out of sight, in all the local forests, awaiting the rain to ease-up and the invasion to start.
At the beginning of June, Witches came from far and wide to a sacred high-place in Ashdown Forest.
Here we all crowded into the ‘Power-Vortex’ and did a very special circle dance, for hour after hour, in the rain and mud, until at last, the Rain Gods realised we were serious, started to form the ‘Window in the Weather’ that enabled the D-Day landing to go ahead.
Soon there were military vehicles wverywhere, rushing the troops to the sea, whilst we trudged home soaked to the skin.
For the next 24 hours the skies were full of wave after wave, of aircraft heading for Europe; and by the end of the day, half of our ‘boys’ were dead in France; but the tide of war had changed.
Since then, I’ve tried to use my witchcraft talents for helping people, as the Village Witches in my family have always done.
I know that a lot of my readers are witches of one sort or another; and I hope they too are using their talents to help people.
I would also like to assure all my hundreds of German Friends that we bear you no ill-will, you were brainwashed by your government just as we were. We really are cousins you know!
More about Witches to come…. So stay tuned for the next item.
So to save lots of other people saying it…. I’d better explain….I was born into an ancient family of English Witches. So I am an Hereditary Witch, or Village Wise Man, because I have a lot of ancestral knowledge stored in the back of my funny shaped skull; that enables me to help people. I've also done all the necessary training.
When I was young the Second World War was raging and a lot of non-physical work was needed to help the War Effort.
Being an ‘Outsider or Outlaw’ and a bit of ‘Problem Child’ I was sent to a ‘Special’ school in Ashdown Forest. It was there, on my ninth birthday; I was Initiated into Tree Magick and started my 25 year apprenticeship.
A local Witch heard about it and told her Coven, about me… and the next thing I knew, they ‘Recognised’ me and I was Initiated into the Ashdown Coven, by the Priestess, Gladys Langridge.
My Wiccan friends, might be interested to know that later Gladys married Bobbie Clutterbuck and was the High Priestess who later Initiated Gerald Gardener into the craft.
Anyway, the reason the local coven needed me, plus mom and dad, and my grandfather; was because, a very special event was coming up and a lot of Weather Magick would be required.
For some unknown reason, attempting to control the weather, was a craft-idea, peculiar to us ‘On-the-Chalk’ Witches.
In May and June of 1944, the weather was much, much wetter than normal, and the ‘hush, hush’ D-Day Landing was unable to proceed, unless the weather changed. In fact thousands of troops were hidden out of sight, in all the local forests, awaiting the rain to ease-up and the invasion to start.
At the beginning of June, Witches came from far and wide to a sacred high-place in Ashdown Forest.
Here we all crowded into the ‘Power-Vortex’ and did a very special circle dance, for hour after hour, in the rain and mud, until at last, the Rain Gods realised we were serious, started to form the ‘Window in the Weather’ that enabled the D-Day landing to go ahead.
Soon there were military vehicles wverywhere, rushing the troops to the sea, whilst we trudged home soaked to the skin.
For the next 24 hours the skies were full of wave after wave, of aircraft heading for Europe; and by the end of the day, half of our ‘boys’ were dead in France; but the tide of war had changed.
Since then, I’ve tried to use my witchcraft talents for helping people, as the Village Witches in my family have always done.
I know that a lot of my readers are witches of one sort or another; and I hope they too are using their talents to help people.
I would also like to assure all my hundreds of German Friends that we bear you no ill-will, you were brainwashed by your government just as we were. We really are cousins you know!
More about Witches to come…. So stay tuned for the next item.
Monday, January 01, 2007
More about our Yuletide Celebrations...
One of the highlights of our Yuletide Celebrations occurred for my wife and I today.
It was watching the New Year Concert in Vienna ( Austria ), on television.
Unfortunately, we were not amongst the 2,000 people crammed into the fabulous Concert Hall, in the Austrian capital; but, as usual, we were amongst the 30,000+ people, who lost out, in the draw for tickets.
As always, the elegant hall was bedecked with a superb display of flowers; but what I find so fascinating, is the obvious pleasure all the musicians are getting from being totally enraptured in the music.
When my wife and I were younger, we really enjoyed ballroom dancing, especially Polkas and the Viennese Waltz. The music of the Strauss family had us remembering the delights of our youth, as we listened, tapping our the rhythm with our feet.
There is a magick in dance music that occurs when you are dancing, in step with your partner, the tune, and with everybody else on the floor, at the same time. When the whole room is doing the same steps at the same moment in time, something happens inside you and suddenly everything is right with the world.
You've raised your mind to a higher level than normal, and it is wonderful. Ask any dancer.
It is one of the most special feelings I ever enjoyed. If you’ve never experienced it, you’ve never lived.
It was watching the New Year Concert in Vienna ( Austria ), on television.
Unfortunately, we were not amongst the 2,000 people crammed into the fabulous Concert Hall, in the Austrian capital; but, as usual, we were amongst the 30,000+ people, who lost out, in the draw for tickets.
As always, the elegant hall was bedecked with a superb display of flowers; but what I find so fascinating, is the obvious pleasure all the musicians are getting from being totally enraptured in the music.
When my wife and I were younger, we really enjoyed ballroom dancing, especially Polkas and the Viennese Waltz. The music of the Strauss family had us remembering the delights of our youth, as we listened, tapping our the rhythm with our feet.
There is a magick in dance music that occurs when you are dancing, in step with your partner, the tune, and with everybody else on the floor, at the same time. When the whole room is doing the same steps at the same moment in time, something happens inside you and suddenly everything is right with the world.
You've raised your mind to a higher level than normal, and it is wonderful. Ask any dancer.
It is one of the most special feelings I ever enjoyed. If you’ve never experienced it, you’ve never lived.
Please Note: All previous posts have been archived, but you can see them by clicking the Archives buttons.
