Tpc issue15 june'18

T he he P endle endle C raft raft June 2018 Issue 15

TPC D igial M agazine L td Â©

C ontents

Pg 02 M ental H ealth By Deniece Morgan Church

Pg 05 D isturbia By Leesha-Lou

Pg 06 I ndependent W itchcraft By Moira Hodgkinson

Pg 12 T he L eft H and P ath By Sophia Adlucem

Pg 16 M id S ummer By Elen Sentier

Pg 19 S leeping V illages By John Robinson

Pg 20 C rystals A round T he H ome By Cassandra Goode

Pg 24 A uthor O f T he M onth Moira Hodgkins

Pg 26 B ook R eview By Nimue Brown

Pg 30 T he M odern M inoan P agan P antheon By Laura Perry

Pg 36 A T aste O f L itha By Thora Dorn

Pg 44 H e ’ s N ot R ight ..... By Kathryn Critchley Fowler

Pg 46 S crying W ith T he

June 2018 Issue 15

Pg 62 O rganic L ove By Dawn F Ryan

Pg 66 A kie ’ s W orld O f S tones By Aaron & Tasha

Pg 68 R emember G renfell By Aaron Field

Pg 72 Glasgow School Of Art By Aaron Field

Pg 76 Q&A: M ysticalwinds O n C oulouring

H indu M agic M irror

T herapy

By Soror Seshat Aubi

By Monique Reichert

Pg 54 I nspirational N ature By Helen Libby Davidson

Pg 58 T he W itch I s N ot D ead By Sheena Cundy

C ontact D etails D isclaimer : The opinions expressed in this magazine by writers are not necessarily those of TPC or its staff. All articles and artwork remain the copyright © of the author or artist. We here at TPC retain typographical copyright © on all articles, photos and adverts typeset by TPC or its staff. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine can be reproduced, except for short passages for critisicm or review, without written permission from the Editors. Layout Design by Tasha Clark, Monique Reichert & Aaron Field

S ubmissions :

Original articles or artwork please send to:

tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com We reserve the right to abridge any content and edit for grammar, style, etc. The editor’s decision is final. We allow all differant styles of work from polytheism, philosophy, esoteric, folklore, political, religious, events and moots, book reviews, artwork, informative, fiction and non-fiction pieces. But within reason. We also aim to be a platform for writers, be it new and upcoming writers or those who write as a hobby wishing to publish their work in the public forum.

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F ront & B ack C over I mages : Photographer: John Robinson of Frameousfotos. Model: Pippa (front) , John Robinson (back cover) All Other Images By pixabay.com Unless Otherwise Stated

r e t t e L e h T m o r F s r o t i Ed Hello everyone and welcome to the June edition of TPC. We have had quite a few changes behind the scenes, new contributors, new models, many new connections for the current and up and coming stories. We have recently had the Grenfell one year on Remberence and then a historic location in Glasgow go up in flames. Many tragic events happening around the world, but then many happy events, such as the royal wedding. Summer has started for in the Northern Hemisphere and Winter has begun in the Southern Hemisphere. You may find in this issue a varying of topics from our contributors, some we do need to give a trigger warning to as we touch on sensative subjects such as; mental health issues, anxiety, the Grenfell Tower fire and the losses of many people and the suffering of those left behind and those that helped, different stages and levels of witchcraft and the occult from beginners of witchcraft to a womans view of the Left Hand Path. There is the mention of magickal properties of food and crystals, please take care to seek advice by professionals where needed. We hope you enjoy this issue our 15th one so far and if you have any questions or would like to submit an article please email us at:

tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com

Aaron & Tasha

Mental

health

By Deniece Morgan Church

This is a subject that scares people. Once again, it’s because they only know what they have seen on TV. The truth is, the chances that you know someone with a mental illness are at least 80 %.

ental illness is rampant in the united states. There is such a stigma attached to mental illness that when you tell someone you have a mental illness they instantly look at you differently. It’s like they think you are violent and will hurt them. Yes, there are those who are dangerous. There are a lot of different types of mental illnesses such as severe depression, anorexia nervosa, bipolar disorder, and many others.

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I myself have suffered several at one time. I am a case that has never existed before. I was diagnosed with a rare disorder called multiple personality disorder. Now this isn’t to be confused with dissociative disorders, schizophrenia, or any others. It is very rare. Then mine was complicated with a form of bipolar disorder and severe depression. I was a cutter for 15 years. People misunderstand cutting as well. People who cut are not trying to kill themselves. In fact, it’s the exact opposite we are doing it to see if we are still alive. Sometimes we get so lost in the pain and terror

that we live with every day that we wonder if we are alive so when we cut and once we see the blood flow then we know we are still alive. It also gives us a sense of release. For you to understand some of the terror that fills our minds and will never go away I would like to tell you a story. It’s just one instance of my life... When I was About 9 years old I had a dirt bike. I was pretty good at riding it too. One day I was coming around a corner and there were some other kids playing in the street and they didn’t see me or hear me coming. So, I laid the bike down but got my leg caught under it. I had shorts on and we lived on a gravel road. That gravel took the hide off me from my hip to ankle. My mother came and picked me up and took me home. She thought

bleach cleaned everything, so she filled the bathtub with bleach and put me in it. She held me down until I passed out from the pain. I remember looking up at her thinking why? There isn’t a word for the emotion or realization that this is the one person in the whole world that should be protecting you and trying to stop your pain not be the one to cause it. Try to see this from the mind of a small child. The doctors said that the trauma was so great that my small mind couldn’t handle it. So, my mind split into two. This isn’t Borderline Personality or Schizophrenia. Multiple means just that I had two extremely different personalities living inside me. One was bad, and one was good. Understand that I had no idea that was what was wrong with me. I only knew that I would “lose time” as I called it. Sometimes for as long as a month. When “I” came back My kids

would tell me all these things I had said and done but I had absolutely no memory of it. My case was so severe that I was nearly put in an institution twice by my doctor because he wasn’t sure if I could handle the trauma. Of reliving it to get well. You must understand that in therapy I had to take a memory that was so horrible that I became two but now I must take that memory and I must look at it, examine it, break it down,

and pick it apart. Then I must deal with it and then I could put it away. It took me 15 years to recover and let me tell you it was pure hell. It was the hardest thing I have ever done. But I was hell bent on getting well. My children and my husband told me that when “she” was out my voice would change completely they said my eyes even changed colour. They said she was mean. It is so hard to believe that the person people are talking about is you. My loss of time had gotten worse and I feared where I had been, what I had done, who I had seen because it was just a blank. There came a point when I was afraid of myself. Try to imagine being truly afraid of yourself. It is a terrifying thing to know with absolute certainty that you are losing your mind. Think about that for a minute. Your mind...that magnificent force that controls everything. To know that you are losing YOU. I’ve described before how I see insanity...It’s like standing on the edge of a cliff... your toes are curled over the edge. As you stand there all you can see is a black vast void. Nothingness. E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 3

And you know that if you fall you will disappear. The problem is finding proper treatment. It is nearly impossible to get proper care. Unless you have money or insurance you are at the mercy of the system. Do you know that if you have been diagnosed with a mental illness you cannot get life insurance or health insurance or burial insurance? We have no legal rights. We can be institutionalized indefinitely without any recourse. Even if we voluntarily admit ourselves when things get too

overwhelming. We can’t check ourselves out. We can be subjected to any test or treatment without the option to refuse. We must wait in rooms with bars on the windows until someone decides its ok to release us. And there is not one damn thing we get to say about it!

person and hate the whole world for what happened to me, but I’ve decided to use my experiences to give hope to others who think they are the only ones going through hell.

I was asked recently why I decided to be this way. I can’t believe that in today’s age that people still have that mind set. As for me, I’m recovered, but the truth is that it never really goes away. I learned to cope with the memories. They don’t haunt me anymore. I could be an angry

I counsel other women who have gone through similar experiences. If I can give some comfort to someone else, then I believe it was all worth it. If you feel you would like to talk to me, you can contact me through mooncasters.com or call me for an appointment 936 444 2575

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Disturbia By Leesha Lou My minds in disturbia Can’t get these thoughts out of my head, Anxiety running through my body, Like electricity, I’m hearing voices, Going crazy. My minds in disturbia, A toxic tornado A darkened, heavy feeling of low self esteem I can hear my inner self Screaming. My head is a pressure cooker, It’s about to explode, Please somebody help me I can’t take it anymore. My minds in disturbia.

Part of my ongoing mental health awareness project Image: Leesha Lou Photographer B Mills Editor Kenny Partington

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Independent Witchcraft “...there are thousands of solitary witches, eclectic covens and independents practicing all over the country who are also real and genuine and deserve the same respect as the ‘initiates’...”

By Moira Hodgkinson

Witchcraft in one form or another has been around for thousands of years and shows no signs of dying out as a living religion and way of life; if anything it’s on the increase, as shown by the some 50,000 people describing themselves as Pagan on the most recent UK census. Witchcraft has many diverse branches, traditions and practices but one of the most widely sought-out is that of the Wicca – initiatory practices like the Gardnerian and Alexandrian traditions, where every initiation can be traced right back to the founding members. But what if one does not want to be part of that tradition? Or if there are no covens in your area willing or able to take on a new initiate? Gardnerian and Alexandrian Wicca and other initiatory traditions are often talked about in witchy circles as being real, genuine, legitimate, authentic, the real-deal but really, it’s only one way of practicing witchcraft and there are thousands of solitary witches, eclectic covens and independents practicing all over the country who are also real and genuine and deserve the same respect as the ‘initiates’. These independent witches practice alone, with a partner or close friend, in a formal coven, as a larger group of witches gathering for open Sabbats, or any combination of these. The path to witch-hood, independent or otherwise, starts out by reading books and practicing spells at night when nobody else is in the house or through disappearing for hours to go on long walks in forests or on beaches, connecting with the wild, natural world and calling out to the Old Ones in silent prayer. Being a witch is something we are called to do, a stirring of nature in the soul, the call of the Lord and Lady to

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dance under the moonlight or feeling an innate connection to the seasons and cycles of the environment around us. It doesn’t mean we must look for and join a coven and covens do not have to be part of those initiatory traditions, or indeed, any tradition at all. Being an independent witch can sometimes mean we have no mentor or guide to shape our path, nobody to fall back on when things go wrong, nobody to turn to when we have questions about our practice. While some might see this as a huge draw-back, it does have its advantages too. We can choose to ignore the Kabbalah if we want to or dig deeply into magical herbalism and the tarot, we can navigate the stars with a study of astrology and we can focus on ancient Egyptian deities or dip our toes into the realms of Norse mythology if we wish, with nobody to tell us: ‘That’s not what we do in this coven!’. We can cherry-pick our sources to find what piques our interest the most and fits in with our outlook and life-style. We might wonder if a white candle will work as well as a blue one for a particular spell or if a bunch of marigold petals will do in place

“Being an independent witch can sometimes mean we have no mentor or guide to shape our path “

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two or three people to arrange a group ritual. Agree with your friends when and where to meet and what you will do as the focus for your celebration. Start out small to begin with or have a few social meetings to bash out the details and go over possibilities. Who is bringing wine and cakes, for example? A simple ritual for any Sabbat will normally start with opening the circle, calling the elements, prayers and blessings to the Lord and Lady, seasonal poems, dance or singing and the sharing of food and drink.

of rose for a love spell. When there isn’t anyone to tell us we’re doing it wrong, we go ahead and do it anyway and that is when we find out for ourselves that yes, a white candle or marigold petals will work just as well. Or maybe we will realise that what we are doing is not quite right – giving us the opportunity to build on those minor mistakes until we get it right. Building up your personal witchy practice by following the guidelines found in ancient and modern texts and through some degree of trial and error means we find out exactly what, why, when and how magic and ritual works best for us. It may take longer to learn without a mentor but being an independent witch does not mean we have to exist in a self-contained bubble with no other witches in our circles. Practicing solitary rituals for the Sabbats can be fun and self-indulgent and beautiful but it can also be a little deflating or lonely if you’re the sort of person who likes company. This is where we find out how useful it is to network with others through the pagan 8 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

pub moots, the conferences and festivals, pagan camps and organisations like the Pagan Federation or Children of Artemis. Networking and social events are a great way of meeting like-minded witches and once we’ve made those first, tentative connections, friendships start to form and there is the basis of group rituals for the Sabbats. While no two witches, of any path, will celebrate the Sabbats in exactly the same way, there is an underlying theme to each celebration on the wheel of the year that most witches will have in common. It doesn’t take much for

If you fancy the idea of a get-together for the Sabbats but don’t want to organise something yourself or aren’t sure how to go about it, there is a high probability that you can find a group already doing something in your area. Most towns and some rural areas have a loose pagan network across the different moots and conferences who organise open rituals you can go along to and they are normally very approachable and friendly. Organisers usually advertise through social media and pagan magazines and have a point of contact so you can get in touch in advance to check the details, find out what to expect and introduce yourself. If you are new the local pagan and witchy scene they will normally be happy to meet before the event so you at least know one other person when you get there. Open rituals are a brilliant way of making witchy friends and independent covens often arise out of these as new friendship groups start meeting for study sessions or to do rituals and training together. Apart from being a nice way of celebrating with other independent witches, there will most likely be cake – a good way of making witchy friends is to bring cake or some other offering to open rituals and events!

As I began my own witching path around thirty years ago, there were no other pagans in my area and I was stuck on my own, learning from books and self-motivated study, practicing spell-craft, ritual, pathworking and celebrations on my own to see what worked for me. I went on to meet with other witches and started going to moots and talks on esoteric subjects and from there, I was asked to lead workshops at a local pagan festival on spell craft and started running open rituals. As a result of this, several friends and I decided to form a coven and we worked together very well,

partly because we all good friends anyway and partly because we had all been practicing our individual paths for some years. None of us were starting totally from scratch and while it was very much a coven of equals, as any good coven should be, there nevertheless had to be a ‘leader’. We decided to hold annual elections for the post of presiding Priestess and we also had a dedication ceremony to confer membership of the

ways to the initiatory traditions, with three levels or degrees of initiations and while these covens are not part of a larger family or tradition, they are very good at what they do. It’s difficult to say how many covens operate in this way and what the rest of them do because they are so very independent and

coven, followed by initiations for those who a) wanted it and b) had shown a good level of personal, spiritual and magical development and learning. After seven years, I relocated to a different town and again, meeting several other witches and getting to know them well, I suggested we form a coven but this time it had a very different focus, as the others were quite new to the path so there was more of an emphasis on training. Independent covens are very often, but not always, run in similar individual. I’ve come across people who belong to a coven with absolutely no initiation or dedications at all and there are others with formal training programmes and ‘outer court’ meetings where newcomers and the coven can meet and do some informal work before initiation into the group. If you are interested in joining an established coven please do try, as far as you possibly can, to find out if the people running it are well known in the pagan community or have a good reputation. Finding a witchy mentor for the independent witch, either a solitary guide or a coven leader, should not be taken lightly – make sure you meet regularly to build trust and friendship, honesty and integrity, before making any commitment. Joining a coven can be a life-long journey and you need to know all of the other members well before asking for initiation. Some general guidelines for joining an independent coven (or any group, for that matter) are common sense: Can you trust these people? Do you like them? Do you work well together? Do they seem a bit too keen for you to join? Are they happy for you to ask questions and to question them? E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 9

Independent covens celebrate the Sabbats, work spell-craft, read oracles, do journey work or pathworkings together, some will work sky-clad and others clothed or robed, they laugh and cry together and with time, they will be as close to each other as family. There will be ups and downs in any coven, just as there are in any family, but the close bonds of a group who circle together in ritual, will also be supportive and help you through any difficulties or emotional issues in your whole life, not only in circle. While my own journey has taken on a new direction, after thirty years as an independent I’ve found a Wiccan coven to work with, I value deeply the time I worked on my own. I treasure and hold dear the years spent in solitary

learning and training, the close companionship of my independent covens, the open rituals I’ve been to or organised (and still organise) for the local pagan community.

‘you’re a real witch now!’ For the record, independent witches and covens DO have Priest/esses and DO have initiations! Be proud of your independent path.

Being independent, either as a solitary witch or as part of a coven, means that we can hold our heads high and be proud of what we have achieved. Being an independent witch has given me a depth of training, insight and understanding of myself and witchcraft and it has been an amazing experience. Still, there are people in the initiatory paths who would negate that experience and learning as not being real or genuine. It’s hurtful and upsetting when ‘genuine initiates’ negate independent witchcraft as being somehow sub-standard and I’ve even had one person say to me that

If you want to know more about the witchcraft rituals and events in your area, check into the Children of Artemis, the Pagan Federation and the many local pagan networks on social media or visit the pagan conferences and psychic fairs. You never who you will meet there or where it will lead to – it could be the start of your own incredible journey into witchcraft!

Moira has been a practicing witch for many years and regularly gives talks and workshops at conferences, camps and venues across the UK. She is the author of several books on witchcraft and writes horror novels and pagan fiction. Moira lives in the heart of Sherwood Forest with her family and is a self-confessed word-nerd, horror fan and knitting geek. Her debut pagan fiction novel, Wild Women was launched in October at Witchfest. Twitter @mrsappletreeman or visit www.moirahodgkinson.com for more.

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A layman’s Guide To...

The Left Hand Path One Woman’s Voyage Along The Left Hand Path By Sophia Adlucem

My name is Sophia Adlucem, those with a keen eye for Latin will surmise that I align myself with the Luciferian current. I am a traveller upon the left hand path. My wish as a delineative of the light bearer is for the greater mysteries to be understood by many, to free souls, (or at least create insights that make for deep and interesting thought or conversation.) I am eclectic and chaotic in practice and beliefs and I hope that through this I can bring a wide range of topics to the surface. I am a proponent of darkness to light. All power comes from, or is consumed and transmuted through myself and on this basis I

Image of Sophia Adlucem

identify as a sorceress, magic has colour indeed and my choice is black. I wish to dispel myths regarding black magic, sorcery, and the left hand path, and am grateful for this platform to do so. There is much information available today describing the left-hand path but we also have much disinformation from both the past and the present. Reading about the LHP from Right hand path perspective is much like

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reading about the Quoran from a English defence league perspective, further confusion is added when the dark aspect of the path attracts popular culture, movies and the media. I’m going to attempt to describe the LHP from where I stand upon it, but the reader must bare in mind that I stand upon it alone, I do not speak for all LHP practitioners (although most would agree with the main aspects that will follow,) and this leads us to the first point of discussion. The main difference between the paths of left and right is the will to unite or to isolate, and perhaps even the “will” itself. The RHP wishes to merge and connect with a higher source, to become more like a preconstructed and agreed upon ideal whether this be god, chosen as a singular or part of a pantheon, or a universe or nature. The idea is that if one behaves a certain way, or placates a certain energy then one will be rewarded, if one does not behave according to the rules however (and these vary according to religion or tradition,) then one may be punished. After death, if one believes in an afterlife, the RHP seeks to unite with many of their kind, to merge into a blissful and whole unit of the same kind, or to merge with an “absolute.” The left hand path seeks to isolate, to disconnect from the “absolute,” and become a whole and individual consciousness within it’s own right. There is no acceptance of an ultimate power that begets rules to follow, in fact rules, as a whole are frowned upon and tested. The ultimate of course is to become a god in accordance to ones preferred belief in what a god energy is within this life primarily, and if afterlife exists to retain control of self within in it. There are variations in LHP practice including theistic, atheist, and agnostic and they are as valid as the practitioners perspective on this matter. Personally I am spiritual, I believe in varying energies that have yet to be discovered by science and I believe that we can absorb them consciously from the external and also pull them up from deep within ourselves. I believe that if we name or use popular archetypal names for these energies then we can create personifications of these energies .. and I call these energies spirits. In my path, there is no worship, for if I worship I am stating that I depend on a higher source or that indeed there is a higher source. I may offer libation or respect, or I may offer some hard work as a tribute to that which I am entitled to as a

spirit myself, any external spirit is absorbed within so there is no difference between myself and it, and I enjoy every karmic aspect of this practice. There is much mistranslation of the karmic law itself and thank goodness it is mistranslated or we would all be in a lot of trouble! If karma worked as some kind of cosmic punishment then do you think we could pick and choose which pain we cause breaks a karmic law? If you believe this then maybe put down the bacon roll and stop driving that car, using plastic, and telling little white lies! (I won’t mention the law of three.) There is always consequence for action or inaction, and the lhp takes the true meaning of karma very seriously, there may not be a mythical judge or cosmic law bringer bouncing bad behaviour back to us but there is certainly consequence to action.. do 100 sit ups each day for a month and you will see what I mean. I use the law of karma to work smarter, live healthier, look better and become richer. Of course, this is my personal way of enjoying my time within this life, many within the LHP would see money as a chain within society, and of course it can be if one allows it. Personal desires are LHP if they are truly personal desires, however if one wished to be rich to impress a parent or a society then the desire may not be so personal, and in this sense, in some cases the rich can be RHP. Typically (but not always,) adversarial deities or archetypes are used within the LHP, this serves varying purposes including to destroy any residual fear from the basis of ones society, upbringing, or previous belief, to cross boundaries of the psyche and also to examine the beliefs between good and evil, what these beliefs mean, and to gain power or learn from those adversarial energies within self. Adversarial deities of course bring a rebellion against norms by the mere mention of their name and that which society fears must of course be examined adhering of course to a personal morality. What is morality? Typically you won’t find much of it within the left hand path, for it is typically agreed to be a standard of rules for that which is right, and that which is wrong, the left-hand path definitely does not adhere to rules. Does this mean that we are evil? What is evil? Well typically evil would be that which society or E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 13

culture agrees upon to be a bad behaviour, and in this sense, sometimes, we are very evil indeed. But one must remember, we are attempting godhood and with great power comes great responsibility. I personally find some of our societies laws ridiculous and I am not bound by them (so far as I can practically evade the consequence, because as mentioned, I adhere to the true meaning of karma) however even as a potential law breaker I see that some rules make for a much better life within society, for myself and for others. Laws against the murder of innocents, rape, abuse, are some examples of laws that I personally abide by and agree to and so these laws will find no quarrel nor rebellion from myself, rebellions for rebellions sake would be considered a rule for myself (and I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do rules!) Responsibility comes first to self, and then I may extend it towards others as is natural within a society and most living beings, it is extended however with consideration of consequence. Living without standard morals and questioning, maybe testing the rules can actually bring about a deeper sense of what is truly right and what is truly unacceptable, and any sane practitioner also keeps this part of the philosophy practical. Destruction and death features heavily on my path, the magical significance of death being change, and destruction making room for new birth of stronger, more powerful being, there are monsters indeed, and dark and dangerous spirits baying and challenging every step of the way, the path does not allow for any weakness and nightmare is abundant, the most beautiful aspect for me is to awaken sweating and gasping for air having gazed into the black crystal of dream and knowing every deep aspect of self and others, able to use this in the daylight to create a new world. I really want to get into the bones (literally in some magical ideas,) of this practice with those who read this, and expand greatly on my philosophy and practice within the LHP, to lift a veil that surrounds the dark ways, black magic, sorcery, demons, vampyrism, dark godâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s, blood magic, and sacrifice amongst others, to show these practises in alignment with the left path and not from the right, for all is not what it seems. We all have a personal choice in regards to our spirit, I respect those that choose to unite at the end of their journey, the left-hand path is certainly not the right way for all. I am honoured to be given a voice in this journal, I am happy to be here and I look forward to communicating further with you.

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BLOGS

MID-SUMMER By E l e n S e nt i e r

Going down, going down going down … At midsummer, the sun rises to his highest arc in the sky and then stands still, appearing to rise at the same point on the horizon for next three days, then his arc diminishes as he begins the journey down into the belly of the Earth. The Earth is bright, fecund, the trees wear their new dresses of translucent green, the flowers tumble blowzily over everything making us drunk with their scent every time we venture outside. She is ready, her body deep in season for the sun to begin to work the magic of bringing her to fruition.

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Light, the amount of light each day rules every cell in our bodies as it does with every atom of life on our lovely planet. When we work with the seasons, with the light, with the sun, then our bodies and our hearts and our minds function as they should and our cells are well. But we don’t, most of us. We live in cities in artificial light most of the time. Perhaps for two weeks every year we go on holiday but probably ninety-per-cent of that time will be at some “resort” where the night-life is good. We’ll spend the day overdoing soaking up the rays and the night under neon and strobe “enjoying” ourselves. And we go back home feeling we need a holiday to get over the holiday – and we do! – to pick up our

old lives which are so far from being seasonal that we might as well be troglodytes living underground. And we’re sick, and fat, and unhealthy, with children who are afraid of everything that doesn’t come in an X-Box. What have we done to ourselves? Midsummer is a moment to think about this, to consider if we truly want to live this way and to discern what the pressures are that are making us continue on this dreadful grind. We accept those pressures, we could say no, we really could although the difficulties might seem enormous and the peer pressure to stay the same huge. But every year, at midsummer, the sun rises to his peak and then begins to die, to go down the sky to be reborn at midwinter which we,

in the old ways of Britain, call Sun-Return. Our lives need this cycle too, we need to build up and let go, breathe in and then breathe out, but we’ve forgotten this. Midsummer solstice will be at 11.07 on Thursday, 21st June; that is when the standstill begins; it lasts from then until 11.07 on Sunday 24th June. This midsummer why not give yourself space-time to look at your life? On the 21st, begin making a two-column list; one column headed “how I live now”, the other headed “what makes my heart sing”. Leave it around over the following three days where you can add to it anytime you think of something else for each column. E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 17

On midsummer’s day, sit with it for the half hour and read it through. Read what your life is like now and what would make your heart sing. Can you change? Can you make space in your life for those things you love that make your heart sing? Let your heart ache for what it knows will make it sing and, at the same time, say goodbye to the life you live now. Thank that life for all it has given you up to now and say it’s time for you to leave it, that you must go on into the life of the heart. And do cry, crying is good, it helps you release so much baggage so that your journey forward is lighter and easier. When you’ve done with sitting with your list, promise yourself you will begin to make the changes so you can live your life to make your heart sing. Bring your list out to your fire. Now build yourself a fire, a little one in a fire basket is fine. As the sun goes down, light the fire and look into the heart of the flame. Next, take a handful of soil and smooth it gently on your face, leave it there until the ritual is completed. Now, take glass of water and sip from it; keep the rest of the water for the ending of the ritual. Finally, light a small piece of incense in the fire and watch the smoke rising into the air. Now, fold your list and kiss it, then put it into the flames. As it burns and the smoke rises into the sky say, ‘Thank you! Thank you for bringing me here and enabling me to do this, to change and come towards what will make my heart sing. Please help me to walk this new path, to let go, to go down into the belly of the Earth as Father sun does, and be reborn again.’ As you watch it burn, remake your promise to yourself, and to the four elements. Now, sit with your fire, watch the flames. Don’t try to think of anything, just watch the flames. As your fire dies down, wash the earth from your face with the water from the bowl. Rub your hands dry in the smoke. Let the smoke carry your promise again, aloud, to fire, the earth, the water and the air. Life won’t be a bed of roses, never think it, but if you keep on walking the new way you will get there. Your heart will grow stronger because you are allowing it 18 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

to sing. And your life will change. One of my favourite teachers used to quote the Taoist saying – you can change nothing but yourself but in changing yourself you find the world changes around you. I’ve never forgotten that because it is so utterly true. Midsummer is a wonderful time to practice this. I do and redo this ceremony every year. We never finish changing, we are always in the cycle of rebirth. I cry as the sun begins to go down, down, down … but I know, my heart knows, that it is right and that following the seasons makes my heart sing. So why not use the standstill time this midsummer to meet yourself, look at yourself and your life? Elen Sentier writes magical realism mystery-novels and numerous books on British native shamanism, 3 of which are best-sellers. Originally from the wilds of Exmoor, she’s a wilderness woman, born into a family of British cunning folk. She worked as a systems analyst for the Ministry of Defence, is a transpersonal psychotherapist, danced for Arlene Philips, and was once kissed by Mick Jagger. She now lives, with husband, cats and a host of wildlife, in the wild Welsh Marches of Britain. When not writing you may find her walking mountains in Scotland or Wales, making frame-drums, listening to jazz and old rock music, spinning, weaving or knitting, watching Star Wars, LOTR or John le Carre, or reading, reading, reading. http://www.elensentier.co.uk @elensentier & https:// www.facebook.com/elensentier

Sleeping Villages & The Scarecrow Festival

As our country villages start to awake to summer, a long tradition starts to take place.......The scarecrow festival.

By John Robinson

More and more villages are getting involved as the popularity of them grows. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s early May and Worsthorne and Hurstwood are enjoying their second year promoting it. I spent a very pleasant couple of hours walking around the village, chatting with the locals who were more than happy to stop and have a chat to everyone as we passed by. Three days over the bank holiday weekend the village is transformed as these characters start to pop up all over the place. Each year is a different theme, with this year being music. Lots of gardens have scarecrow celebrity look a-likes in them. The best way to make the most of the festival is to purchase a guide from the local shop which highlights the tour. All the money raised goes back in to the local community.

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Crystals

Cassandra Goode

he Crystal Goddess

My love of crystals began at a very early age, and as you can appreciate over time I have acquired a vast collection. Most are collected and placed in crystal bowls, while others are place strategically in my space. Here are 10 crystals I work with around my home to get you started. In time, you will discover what works best for you.

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Black Tourmaline Place a piece of black tourmaline under your doormat, so that when you enter your space you leave the negativity outside.

Rose Quartz Place a piece of rose quartz on your table by your front entrance so that only love enters your space.

Shungite Pyramid Place a shungite pyramid next to your nightstand, it will help you sleep better and keep the nightmares away.

Moss Agate Every plant in my home has a moss agate stone in it, to keep my plants healthy and vibrant.

Citrine Place a citrine stone in your wealth corner to ensure the flow of abundance. When you walk in your front door the furthest left corner in your home is your wealth corner

Jade Place a jade stone in your mailbox, to bring in wealth and good news in your mail.

Selenite Place a selenite crystal in your living room to ensure a tranquil environment.

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Prehnite Place a prehnite stone in the water closet to enhance healing at the deepest level.

Flourite Fluoritie is a must have stone in your work space to keep you focused. I also combine it with lepidolite to keep the stress away.

Amethyst Grid the four corners of your home with amethyst to provide a strong core of protection. I combine amethyst with shungite, rose quartz, prehnite and apophyllite to ensure that only love, light and all that is of the highest good can enter my space. I charge and place them in a little cloth bag to keep them together.

i If you can’t wait until the next issue and have a question for the ‘Crystal Goddess‘ then email: tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com

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MOIRA HODGKINSON Author Of The Month

The Witching Path, 2008, Capall Bann Publishing £10.95

The Witch’s Journey, 2017, Thoth Publications, £12.99

Wild Women, Children of Artemis Publishing 2017, £9.99

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The Witching Path Finding your personal path within the sphere of Wicca and feeling at ease and content with it can take time, but once the right path has been found, we experience it with a sense of fulfilment and contentment. It is one of the beauties of the craft that we are free to practice as we see fit, free to fly and explore for ourselves and with the power to be our own Priest or Priestess. This book is a springboard to your creative and magical ability. Each chapter gives ideas to get you started with rituals for the seasons and there are sections on deity, elemental magic, sacred tools and sacred space, journey and spell craft, including a haberdashery of spells for you to adapt and tailor to your own needs. The Witching Path is a guide to witchcraft with an emphasis on creating a unique and individual practice.

Wild Women With a gran like Magda, village wise-woman and certified crone, life was never going to be easy for Sal Howard. When her estranged mother, Jasmine, turns up on the doorstep to escape an abusive relationship, there’s trouble on the cards. Sal comforts her mother with hugs and sympathy and Magda makes tea with soothing herbs – but it’s Jasmine who finds herself in the midnight garden, weaving spells under the silver moon. But this is real magic and real magic doesn’t always work out the way you want it to…

The Witch’s Journey Drawing on the experience and practice of over twenty-five years, the author celebrates the God and Goddess and the pagan ways of a living, everyday witchcraft. There are ceremonies, unique invocations and ideas for journey work to deepen your connection with the archetypal deities of witchcraft. The male and female mysteries and rites of passage are explored to honour the divine within and rituals are given as inspiration to mark different phases of life, such as coming of age and parenthood. The book gives information on useful healing techniques, with examples to try out for yourself and others. Learn how to make your own casting stones for divination and find meaningful symbols you can relate to easily for readings. There is an informative section on solar magic as well as looking at the moon in-depth and there are new ideas and tips to celebrate the Sabbats with friends, family or a group. Spell craft, pathworking and reverence combine in this valuable book to augment your skills and create genuine connections to the energies that are all around us. The Witch’s Journey is perfect for anyone who wants that little bit more from their magical world. ‘Enjoyable and very difficult to put down. I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone who wants to learn more about becoming a Witch or Wiccan.’ Merlyn Children of Artemis

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THE ENCHANTED LIFE A Book Review By Nimue Brown

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Sharon Blackie’s “The Enchanted Life” is a non-fiction book about enchantment and re-enchantment. It’s written for people who are suspicious that there are fundamental things wrong with life that they need to fix. The book offers stories, the author’s experiences and useful exercises to help you recognise your disenchantment and do something about it. It includes a solid analysis of how we collectively got into this mess in the first place – the beliefs, values and philosophy that brought us here – and how to rethink that. It’s a very readable book, it ambles round subjects with the leisurely grace of a wild river and it has a lot to offer by way of insight and inspiration. I think it would be a good book for anyone just starting out on the Druid path as well as for anyone feeling the first yearnings for re-enchantment in their life. For the person a bit further along this road, it offers affirmation, and ideas and may well prove useful.

something everyone could do.

Most of the time, the assumed reader seems to be middle aged, middle class and winning at life by conventional standards – they’ve got the house, the job, the busy life, the generally accepted signs of success. Many of the people whose work the author draws on seem to fall into this category. They have it all, and then they take a massive risk and jump into another, more authentic, simpler and happier way of being. There’s not much here about how you go the other way – from the pressures and miseries of abject poverty and insecurity towards this more liberated way of life. How do you do it if you don’t have personal resources, or skills? Going self employed calls for a massive skill set, you have to do all the things a company does – the legal and financial obligations, the marketing and building a client base as well as doing the work. It’s not, I think,

Sharon Blackie has a lot to say about the rise of stress, depression and anxiety in our culture and the relationship between that and our working lives. I’m very glad to see this getting properly explored and discussed. However, much of the book focuses on solitary, personal re-enchantment, and while that’s a good place to start, I wanted her to go further. I wanted more about how we enable re-enchantment in each other, how we build communities of mutual support. I think one of the big problems in our culture is that we make problems personal that should be seen as collective. How disability and mental health impact on us are fine cases in point. What can I do, as a person who has broken out to a fair degree, to help someone who is stuck in the consumerist machine still? What can I do to support the

There’s also an underlying assumption here that you are an able bodied person who can walk every day, and sit outside every day. Now, as disability goes, I’m at the not so afflicted end, and I cannot go for a walk every day, and sitting outside in cold weather would cause me considerable harm. I’d like to see re-enchantment work that doesn’t assume an able body.

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people who can’t easily get out and connect with nature? How can I be part of the solution for other people, not just myself ? My guess is that the cover and title will appeal to readers who are already exploring this path. Folk who are reading Robert Macfarlane, and slow movement books, people interested in the Transition movement, permaculture, people who are already looking at sustainable and low stress lifestyles. Probably the people who most need to read this book are actually the ones who don’t yet consciously know they are in trouble. So, here’s my suggestion. If you are the sort of person to be automatically attracted to this book, buy it, read it, figure out who you know who would most benefit from it, and press a copy into their hands. More about the book here – http://sharonblackie.net/the-enchanted-life/

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Photographer: John Robinson Model: Leesha-Lou

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The Modern Minoan Pagan Pantheon By Laura Perry

Most people have heard the story of Theseus and the Minotaur: the amazing Greek hero who outwits the monster in the labyrinth with the help of a girl, Ariadne, who is sometimes said to be King Minos’ daughter. What that tale really gives us, though, is fragments of the long-lost pantheon of ancient Minoan Crete. You see, Theseus is a Greek culture hero created by the Hellenes to glorify their society, centuries after the fall of the Minoan cities. But the Minotaur wasn’t originally a monster, Minos was probably never a mortal king, and Ariadne turns out to be far more than just a girl with a ball of string.

It’s a bit tricky, trying to piece together the Minoan pantheon. Why? Because we don’t have any written records from the Minoans themselves. Linear A, the script they used to write their native language, has never been deciphered. Either they or the Mycenaean Greeks adapted Linear A into a slightly different script, unimaginatively named Linear B, to write early Greek – and that we can read. The problem is, everything written in Linear B is from the Mycenaeans’ point of view, from a time when they were effectively taking over the island of Crete and Minoan culture. So, we can’t exactly trust those texts to be “really Minoan.” What’s a modern Pagan to do? Those of us who practice Modern Minoan Paganism ended up combining several techniques to create a collection of Minoan gods and goddesses we can relate to in the modern world, but who also reflect what we think is pretty close to the way the ancient Minoans saw their deities. We started with the Linear B tablets and the fragments of Minoan myth that have come down to us in garbled form via the Greeks. The Greeks borrowed many of the

Minoan deities into their own pantheon, but they changed their attributes along the way, so they would fit Greek cultural values (no, the Minoans weren’t Greek, even though Crete belongs to the modern nation of Greece – that’s a common point of confusion). Then we used shared gnosis to figure out what those deities might have been like originally and how we can relate to them as modern Pagans. That last part is especially important: how we relate to these gods and goddesses as modern Pagans. Digging up the past is fine and good – I’m a longtime fan of archaeology and comparative mythology – but it’s not enough. The world we live in is very different from Bronze Age Crete 4,000 years ago, and I’m not just talking about striped toothpaste and smartphones. There’s a lot of intervening time between the us and the ancient Minoans. The way we think about the world and relate to it has changed in that time. No matter how carefully we reconstruct the Minoan temples and towns, if we’re honest we have to acknowledge that we E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 31

is the island itself. Some of us call her Ida (pronounced eeDAH), another of her names that turns up in interesting places, such as one of her sacred mountains in Crete.

can’t reconstruct the ancient Minoan mindset. We don’t see the world the way they did because we’re the product of all the history that came after them. So, we have to create our own path, our own way of connecting with these deities in the modern world. I think the gods understand that the world changes over time. They know that our experience of the divine is filtered through our 21st-century psyches. So it’s our responsibility, not to try to magically become just like the ancient Minoans, but to develop respect for these deities and create relationships with them in the best way we can as modern Pagans. We therefor combined all those techniques to tease out the Minoan gods and goddesses from all the background noise. Then we addressed ourselves to those deities in ritual and meditation, doing our best to listen to what they had to tell us. We ended up with a pantheon that’s still evolving as we become more 32 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

connected with the energies of these amazing gods and goddesses. I will warn you, it’s difficult to fit the Minoan gods and goddesses into a human-style family tree. Many of them appear to be aspects of each other, and some of their relationships with each other are kind of fuzzy simply because we’ve lost so much information over the many centuries since the Minoans did their thing. So who are these gods and goddesses I’m talking about? One of the basics in our spiritual practice of Modern Minoan Paganism is the threefold division of land, sea, and sky. To us, this triplicity is represented by three goddesses. Sometimes we call them the Mothers or the Three. The land portion of the triplicity is the Minoan Earth Mother goddess Rhea. Like the Earth Mother goddesses of many ancient cultures, she represents the land of the people who worshiped her. In this case, that’s the island of Crete. In other words, her body

The sea was incredibly important to the Minoans, who built a great deal of wealth by trading all over the Mediterranean. We call the Minoan sea goddess Posidaeja, a name that shows up in the Linear B tablets. Some of us also call her Thalassa, a goddess-name that comes down to us through the Greeks. Either way, she is the essence of that “wine-dark sea” Homer wrote those moving words about. Finally we have the sky, or more specifically, the Sun. To us, the Minoan sun goddess is Therasia, though some of us call her Kalliste, an epithet that means “most beautiful.” Her symbols include the date palm tree and that fabulous mythical creature, the griffin. Appropriately for a goddess who represents fire and heat, her sacred color is red, like those deep red palm trees that frame the central seat in the Throne Room at Knossos (which, not coincidentally, is also flanked by griffins). Beyond the three goddesses of land, sea, and sky, we have a pantheon full of a variety of deities with lots of different attributes. Ancient Minoan civilization was an interesting mixture of urban and rural – big cities that were very advanced for their time but also a countryside dotted with small farms and shepherds’ huts. So we have a blend of

both “civilized” and “wild” energies within our modern Minoan pantheon. If we start at the top – the starry sky – we have Ourania, a cosmic star goddess reminiscent of the Egyptian goddess Nut. She is the very fabric of the universe. Some of us experience her as a huge dark bird, perhaps a vulture, and we think she may go back as far as the Minoans’ ancestors who migrated down to Crete from Anatolia in Neolithic times. You’ve probably already heard of Ariadne. Her domain is not just the Labyrinth, but also the cycles of the seasons. She comes with the sprouting of the new growth as the rainy season begins. And she guides us through the spiraling path of the Labyrinth to our own inner darkness so we can claim it for healing and growth. You can’t actually get lost in the Labyrinth. It’s not that kind of maze. Instead, it has a single spiraling path that leads inexorably to the center and back out again. It’s a testament to the power and depth of this winding shape that it hasn’t been lost over all these millennia. Instead, down through the generations people have continued to create labyrinths for walking and for contemplation. This is a potent sacred symbol that touches something deep within us all. The Greeks may have seen the Minotaur as a monster trapped in a perilous maze, but he was originally a Minoan horned god, the Moon-Bull, who helps those who journey to the center of the Labyrinth. He

doesn’t eat people, I promise (except maybe the occasional shamanic type who needs to be dismembered and reborn, but that’s another story for another day). There are, in fact, quite a few horned deities in the Minoan pantheon, and half of them are female. Yes, you read that right. The Minotaur has his female counterpart in Europa, the great Moon-Cow whose milk spurted to create the Milky Way. (The tale about the milk spurting is also told about Rhea, so there may be some overlap between the two; in fact, there appears to be some overlap or twinning between Rhea and all three of the female Horned Ones.) Europa and Pashiphaë, another goddess with lunar and bovine associations, are often considered to be a doublet or twins, which suggests that they may originally have been the same goddess. Cattle aren’t the only horned animals we find in ancient Minoan art, and the Minotaur and Europa aren’t the only Horned Ones in the Minoan pantheon. Goats and deer also figure prominently in the art and mythology of ancient Crete. We have the Minocapros, a name that means simply Moon-Goat since we don’t know his original name. He’s associated with Dionysus and tends to have a somewhat mischievous nature, in our experience. His female counterpart is the goddess Amalthea, known for her Cornucopia from which all good things come. As for the deer, the male

Horned One’s name is lost in the mists of time. But the Victorian-era mythographers coined the term Minelathos, which has stuck. It’s a mishmash of word roots but it means Moon-Stag, which is appropriate. He is probably a fallow deer stag, since that’s the most commonly depicted type of deer in Minoan art. It’s possible the Minoans even had tame herds of the animals. His female counterpart is Britomartis, a deer goddess with huntress attributes very similar to Artemis. Another of her names is Diktynna, which connects her with Mt. Dikte, one of the mountain peaks on Crete that the Minoans held sacred. Some later confusion about the origin of her name Diktynna inspired some tales about her that connect her with the sea, but originally she was a goddess of the mountains and E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 33

the wild spaces on Crete. I mentioned Dionysus above; he’s a very important figure in Minoan mythology. He is Rhea’s son, born to her at Midwinter in her sacred cave. But he’s also the ecstatic and shamanic god of the vine who dies at the grape harvest every year. The Greeks, who liked to equate foreign gods with members of their own pantheon, called him Cretan Zeus. This has created some confusion since sometimes they simply shortened this to Zeus. But I promise you, it was the Minoan Dionysus, and not the Greek god Zeus, who was born in Rhea’s sacred cave on Crete. The Dionysus figure many people are familiar with from later classical times is a combination of the Minoan god with a similar ecstatic deity from Thrace. The bull-god Zagreus, whose name means ‘the dismembered one’ is probably an aspect of Dionysus, since dismemberment is a major factor in shamanic symbology. Wow, that’s a lot already! Bear with me and I’ll take you on a quick journey through the rest of the pantheon. The Melissae are ancestral bee-goddesses associated with the spirits of the dead and the Underworld, and probably also with shamanic ritual practices. The Minoans had a Fate goddess whose name comes down to us as Ananke (Necessity); Arachne may be another of her faces. Then there’s Eileithyia, the midwife-goddess who safeguards mother and child during labor and birth. Minos, whom I mentioned 34 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

early on, turns out to be a god rather than a king. He’s associated with the Underworld and the cycles of the Moon, and appears to have been something like a judge of the dead. Asterion is another god we find in the Minoan pantheon, though figuring out exactly who he might be is a little trickier. His name means ‘starry one’ and the garbled bits of his stories that have come down to us via the classical writers give us several options for his identity: Minos’ father or foster-father (if he’s Minos’ father, and the Hellenic Zeus isn’t, then Asterion may be another name for Dionysus); the Minotaur himself; or Europa’s consort, but apparently not the same as the Minotaur. Many of us who practice Modern Minoan Paganism associate him with the constellation Taurus.

evolving as we develop deeper relationships with these deities and discover more about them through direct spiritual practice. I hope you’ve enjoyed this journey through the Minoan pantheon, the way we experience it as modern Pagans. We can’t know exactly how the ancient Minoans saw their deities but we feel privileged and blessed to be able to connect with them, and with the memory of the culture of ancient Crete, in our world today. In the name of the bee, And of the butterfly, And of the breeze, amen.

Laura Perry is a Pagan artist and author with an abiding interest in the ancient Minoans. She walks the path of Modern Let’s not forget Daedalus, an Minoan Paganism every day inventor figure from mythology of her life. You can find her but many of us see him as a online at LauraPerryAuthor. combination smith/inventor com and leading the Facebook god. After all, he’s the one group Ariadne’s Tribe. who built the Labyrinth and Ariadne’s dancing floor. Last, we have a couple of goddesses whose names tell us their basic attributes but little else. Helice is a willow-tree goddess who may be yet another aspect of Rhea, and Aega is the divine embodiment, in goddess form, of the Aegean Sea. I feel like I’ve walked a twisting Labyrinth path just to make it through the list of gods and goddesses. The Minoan pantheon is quite an adventure; there’s definitely something for everyone. And it’s still

Photographer: John Robinson Model: Stacy

Food Magic

A Taste of Litha By Thora Dorn

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Greek-Style Chicken Souvlaki

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Serves 4 Prep 30 minutes to 3 hours Cook about 30 minutes Total 1 hour to 4 hours.

Ingredients »» 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast or 8 thighs, cut into uniform 1 1/2 to 2 inch cubes »» Zest and juice of 1 lemon »» 2 cloves garlic, grated »» 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh oregano (or 1 tablespoon dried)

»» 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil »» 1/4 cup plain yogurt »» 1 tsp. light coloured honey »» 1 tsp. salt »» 1/2 tsp. coarse black pepper

Directions Soak 5 wooden skewers in water, weighing them down to keep them submerged, for at least 30 minutes. Mix remaining ingredients into a marinade, reserving 3 T. of the mixture for basting. Marinate chicken in the remaining marinade, at least 3 hours in the fridge or 30 minutes at room temperature. I use a large freezer bag and squeeze all the air out, forcing the marinade into the chicken. Pat chicken dry and thread onto the skewers close together. Grill over high heat for about 30 minutes, turning frequently. Baste when the chicken looks dry. Chicken is cooked when juices run clear if poked with a fork (160 degrees F/71 degrees C). Remove to a platter. Drizzle with extra-virgin olive oil.

Magical Properties of Food Used in Souvlaki Chicken – grounding, healing, protection, strength, uncrossing, new growth, fertility, sacrifice, New beginnings, rebirth Lemon – faithfulness, friendship, happiness, longevity, love, marriage Garlic – anti-theft, banishing, cleansing and purification, healing, lust, prosperity, protection, repels negativity, Courage, Good weather, Exorcism, Relief from nightmares

Oregano – energy, joy, peace, strength, vitality Olive oil – Spirituality Yogurt – healing, spirituality Honey – happiness, healing, love, lust, purification, spirituality, sweet things in life, weight loss, and wisdom Salt – Purification Black Pepper – banishing, cleansing and purification, protection

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Rainbow Salad

Serves 4 or 5 as a side dish. Double the recipe if you want to use it as a main dish. Prep 15 minutes Cook 13 minutes or so Total about 30 minutes This is the best pasta salad I have ever tried. It takes a little work, but the results are worth it.

Ingredients 2 cups cooked pasta (fusilli is best, especially the coloured variety, but you can use penne, too) cup tossed with 2 T. olive oil 3 T. olive oil 1/4 red onion, cut in half and then cut into very thin slices; separate the pieces (Dice or slice and freeze the remainder of the onion for other recipes) 1 clove garlic, minced 1/2 cup each red and green pepper, cut into thin strips (or you pick the colours you like) 2 T sugar 2 T. balsamic vinegar (add more to taste, as you like it) 40 â&#x20AC;&#x192; T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

1-2 tsp. dried fennel seed, lightly crushed 2 T. fresh basil, slivered into ribbons 2 T. toasted slivered almonds or pine nuts (microwave in a single layer on a plate on high for 30 seconds at a time, repeating until they are lightly browned) 1 carrot, shaved with a veggie peeler into long strips and strips cut in half 10-25 black olives, unpitted and sliced (buy from the deli â&#x20AC;&#x201C; jarred olives donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t work well; pit olives by pressing with thumb; I love olives, so I added more) Sea salt (coarse) and freshly ground black pepper to taste. 1/2 cup Feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

Toss pasta with 2 T. of the olive oil. Set aside.

Magical Properties of Food used in Rainbow Salad

Heat 1 T. oil in a frying pan over medium high heat. Stir fry the peppers about 5 minutes and add to the pasta.

Pasta – long life Olive Oil – Spirituality Onion - anti-negativity, prophetic dreams, endurance, healing, health, lust, money, prosperity, protection, stability, weight loss Garlic – anti-theft, banishing, cleansing and purification, healing, lust, prosperity, protection, repels negativity, Courage, Good weather, Exorcism, Relief from nightmares Red pepper - energy, strength, vitality Green pepper - growth, prosperity Yellow pepper (if used) - ~ empowered creativity Sugar - love Balsamic vinegar - protection, purification Fennel seed - healing, protection, purification, money, strength, weight loss Basil - love, peace, prosperity, protection, understanding, Exorcism, Sympathy, Fidelity, Healing relationships, Courage Pine nuts - love, physical strength, prosperity Carrot - desire, dispel illusions, grounding, luck, fertility, healing, lust, sexuality, protection, visions Olives - fertility, healing, lust, peace, protection, spirituality Salt – Purification Black Pepper – banishing, cleansing and purification, protection Feta cheese - grounding, healing, joy, things coming to fruition

Add 1 T. oil to the pan, and stir fry the onions until they are soft and golden, about 5 minutes. Now add the garlic, sugar and vinegar to the onions and fry 1 or 2 minutes more. The sauce will go glossy and bubbly. Sprinkle in the fennel and cook for 30 seconds. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the contents of the pan (use a heat-proof spatula to get every last drop) to the pasta. Add a T. of Extra-virgin olive oil, the basil, carrot, olives, feta cheese and the nuts to the pasta. Toss well, taste for salt and pepper, toss again and refrigerate for at least 2 hours to let the flavours blend.

E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 41

Strawberry Banana Sorbet Prep 5 minutes

Freeze 6 to 8 hours

Serves 4-5

Ingredients

Directions

1 1/2 cups frozen sliced strawberries or your favourite berry 1 1/2 cups bananas (fresh, sliced) 1/4 cup lemon juice 1/4 cup light coloured honey 1/4 tsp. vanilla 1/3 cup coconut cream 1 T. coconut oil

In a blender, puree ingredients until smooth, but not totally liquid. You want it to remain frosty. Pour into a freezer-friendly container. Freeze several hours until firm. Serve in goblets with a fresh mint leaf on top. This is a lovely, creamy concoction. If you don’t like strawberries, try raspberries. NOTE: The coconut oil prevents larger crystals from forming, resulting in a smoother sorbet. Without the honey, this sorbet is relatively sour, but still refreshing.

Magical Properties of Food used in the Sorbet: Strawberry – intensity, love, luck, romance, success Banana – fertility, love, luck, potency, prosperity, spirituality 42 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

Lemon Juice – faithfulness, friendship, happiness, longevity, love, marriage Coconut – allure and confidence, chastity, diversity, flexibility, protection, psychic awareness, purification, spirituality Vanilla – love

Honey - happiness, healing, love, lust, purification, spirituality, sweet things in life, weight loss, and wisdom

Image: Tuscany Phogorapher: John Robinson

“He’s Not Right...” By Kathryn Critchley Fowler

The following story is true, but the names have been changed. During my marriage, I lived in a town in the West Midlands. It was a change for me, having been born and brought up in a Cambridgeshire Village - I missed the open fields and I missed the smell of wet earth after a rain storm, I was in a totally unfamiliar area, and the only person I knew was my (now thankfully ex) husband. I joined the church that he was already a member of. I am an Anglican, and it was strange for me to join the Ecumenical United Reformed/Methodist Church, but I was welcomed and was soon a member of the choir. It was through this church, that I was befriended by an elderly lady, whom I shall refer to here as Lucy. She had been born over 80 years previously in Hong Kong to English parents who were Missionaries. She was a local preacher, and she asked me if I could help her. Every Wednesday she ran a Christian service in a local residential home for the elderly. There was no piano, and she asked me if I could sing the hymns to the residents, so they could follow as best as they could. At that time, I was a member of 3 choirs and a folk club, and so I was more than happy to help. I used to chat to the residents both before and after the service, and Lucy would preach a small sermon, which began and ended with a hymn from a small selection that the residents knew and always asked for.

And it was at this service that I was introduced to “Doris”. Almost 90 years old, she was a new resident at around the same time that I began to help. She informed me, proudly that: “I have two daughters. One, Margaret, lives in America, and she writes to me sometimes, and the other, Sandra, lives in this town, and she is an actor. She is very beautiful and talented, she comes to see me once or twice a month. And I have a son. Arthur. He’s not right” Arthur came to visit his mother every day “Once I had worked out which busses to get and where from, it was easy. It takes me a while, but I like to come and see Mum, don’t I, Mum “? 44 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

“Yes dear, you do” At first, it was once or twice a week, then every day, then all day every day “I like to get here nice and early, then I can watch over Mum, can’t I Mum? Oh, I’ve always lived with Mum, I couldn’t leave her, not after dad died, could I mum?” “No dear, if you say so” Soon Arthur became a regular fixture, he was there all day, every day, as early as he was allowed in until there was barely enough time for him to get to the bus that would take him home again, where ever “home” was.

“He’s not right” Doris told anyone who would listen “He was very poorly when he was a baby, and he’s never been right since. He was normal when he was born, but when he was about 2 or 3, he was poorly. He’s not been right since. I had hoped he would meet someone and get married, but it was never to be. I knew, after he had been poorly, that he would never make anything of himself. So, I always had to look after him. My daughters they made something of themselves, but not him. Not Arthur” And then one week, Doris had another visitor. A lady aged about 60, with her hair set so well that she could have stood in the garden on a windy day

and not a hair would have shifted its position. She was dressed in flowing floaty clothes and was wearing a lot of gold chains round her neck; her fingers were covered with gold rings with large sparkly stones and from her ears hung gold dangly earrings. Her face was very overly made up, and her teeth whiter than a toothpaste advert. Her high heels made dents in the parquet floor.

“I’ve had a letter from Margaret” she said “Look” A white envelope covered in American stamps was produced from an ancient handbag, and inside it was 2 sheets of thin air-mail paper, covered in a scrawly hand. “Oh, I was so pleased to receive it. I was that happy when Mrs Davidson bought it to me” Mrs Davidson was the duty manager.

“this” said Doris proudly “Is my daughter Sandra, the actress”.

“Arthur wants me to read it to him, he can’t read you see, not joined up writing. Anyway, it’s my letter. Margaret doesn’t write to Arthur because she knows he can’t read, well, she sends a card at Christmas, or on his birthday if she remembers. She’s a very busy woman, out there in America”

Although I was new to the area, I had a feeling that I had seen Sandra somewhere before - and it was much later that the penny dropped - she had had a minor role in a recent amateur operatic society’s production of Orpheus in the Underworld (Offenbach). “I am so proud of her” Doris said, after Sandra had vanished in a waft of strong perfume, leaving chocolates and flowers in her wake. “She is an actress, she is famous, she told me she is famous. She would visit me more often and stay for longer, but her acting commitments prevent this. She is a very busy woman” Arthur appeared from the kitchen where he had been helping wash up the lunch things. “Where’s our Sandra, Mum” he asked “Gone, love, but she sends you her love” “I haven’t seen our Sandra for ever such a long time” Arthur said, before returning to his sink. The next Wednesday came around, and Doris was very excited!

“Are you alright Mum?” asked Arthur, appearing from somewhere “I see you’ve had a letter. Anything interesting?” “Nothing for you to worry about” said his Mother “Now be a good boy, and make yourself useful” Arthur must have been well over 60, so the bit about “you be a good boy” somewhat perturbed me, but Arthur didn’t seem to mind, and the next time I saw him, he was pushing the tea trolley round for one of the care assistants.

from Lucy, still spending his days in the Care Home, looking after his Mum and making himself useful. I didn’t hear from Lucy for some time, then I had a letter to say she had passed away, so my contact with Arthur and Doris was lost for ever. I often think of them, though. Doris must be long gone, she was very frail when I knew her. What had happened to Arthur, I wondered? I somehow doubted that either of his sisters would have helped him, and, without his beloved Mum, what had become of him? Perhaps he was now a resident in the home where he had volunteered so cheerfully. You see, that was the thing with Arthur, he was always cheerful, he always had a smile on his face. He just wanted to “be a good boy and make himself useful” as his Mum had taught him to be. “He’s not right” Doris had said, repeatedly, but, thinking back, in my opinion, nothing was ever further from the truth.

“Would you like a cuppa tea, Mum?” he asked “There’s some pink wafers today, Mum likes a pink wafer, don’t you Mum?” I don’t know what happened to Arthur. When I left my husband due to domestic violence he was, according to a letter I had E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 45

Scrying With The Hindu Magic Mirror

By Soror Seshat Aubi owner of ROTA Magic Wands 46 â&#x20AC;&#x192; T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

When a person begins their Initiation into the world of magic and the Occult, they find that there are a lot of new terms for things that are very new to them. Terms that you can’t Google fast enough. Words like Azoth, Invocation, Adept, Magnesia, Golden Dawn, Alchemy, Esoteric, Hermetics, Transfiguration, Clairvoyance, Psionics, Oracles, Seers, and of course dowsing and Scrying. When I verbalize what this talent is to folks that are not well versed on the subject, I try to avoid the imagery of a gypsy woman, hair wrapped in brightly covered scarves, leaning over a huge Crystal sphere. As she moves her ring covered hands over it, a mist is forming inside and colors are swirling in an ethereal dance to the Music of the Spheres. Such insulting stereotypes right? By the way have you ever priced the cost of a large Crystal Ball? But this vision is what many people imagine, they also imagine that Witches fly on scrappy handmade brooms and hang out with black cats. Everyone knows that our brooms are made in China like every one else.

Dowsing and Scrying is much more than just staring at a crystal ball or holding a twig to try and seek out a water reservoir in the ground. In this article I will share with you what I learned about the ‘Hindu Magic Mirror’ and why I believe it is a very effective cost effective tool for communicating with Angels, Celestials and Spirits. You are probably wondering what is the ‘Hindu Magic Mirror’? And why is it any different from any old black painted mirror. The difference here is that the Hindu Magic Mirror has a specific construction process and the Initiate impresses upon it energetically The ‘Hindu Magic Mirror’ is a term coined by The de Laurence & Scott Company in the early 1900’s. The Messrs. de Laurence, Scott & Co was the largest occult book publisher in the world at that time. Based in Chicago, IL. Mr. de Laurence & Scott’s books were so popular and spells so effective that his books are banned in Jamaica to this day

for causing civil unrest! That is an amusing story to Google later.

intrigued with The De Laurence & Scott Co recipe and promises of results.

It was 1913, when Mr. L.W. de Laurence offered his clients the formula for the Hindu Magic Mirror, and for a mere $3.50 you could buy a specially designed kit consisting of a 5x7” convex concave piece of square glass, a paint brush, and Mr. De Laurence’s very own special magical lacquer!

Occult writer Benjamin Rowe tells us in, “A Short Course in Scrying” that Scrying is “as much a learned skill as is reading or ice-skating”. He continues by adding, “Persistent practice is necessary to teach the nervous system how to do it, even where the person has some innate talent. And as with other learned skills, there is a learning curve”.

Now I came across this information when I was researching Scrying. I was

This is true, unlike Dowsing which you have a copper rod or forked branch that will point down when it ‘senses’ water, Scrying is the ability to glean information or communicate with an Angel or entity no longer focused in our physical reality using a black mirror, crystal ball or other shiny surface and the subtle energies of the super sensitive mind. You can also use Scrying techniques to kick start your Astral travel, Remote Viewing, Trance channeling, or to open your third eye, balance your chakras or activate your Kundalini energy. E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 47

The process of training the mind to open its awareness to the super sensitive, subtle world is truly a process, a training. Unlike a more quickly executed experiment like spell casting or path working, it is a like a marathon that takes time, patience, virtue, and an effective tool. The magic mirror acts as an extension of your 3rd eye’s vision. It is a window into the alternate realities that exist outside of our space and time. When we train the mind we have to focus and project our desire and will this is what makes it all work. This is also what takes to time and patience to obtain results. With sufficient practice and training you learn to quickly go into a frame of mind that enables you to tune in. there’s another funny term “I am in a frame of mind” indeed magic mirrors are framed too. With all of these divining activities communicating with Angels, Spirits etc. who couldn’t get excited about this proposition? Back to the Hindu Magic Mirror, so I come across Mr. De Laurence’s ‘THE FAMOUS MESSAGES TO ALL MYSTICS,” while I was researching Scrying techniques. It is a good ole fashioned open letter to all who seek to explore the occult world. After reading this I get to the invitation to create a Hindu Magic Mirror! The pitch reads so exciting and daring, meet the White Brotherhood, talk to your Holy Guardian Angel (HGA), discover your path and destiny in life. Wow! But then I get to the recipe and it turns out that I have to snail mail a letter to a company that no longer exists, to order a kit that is woebegone into the annals of history! OH no you don’t! I don’t give up so easily. So Ladies and Gentlemen, I have discovered and recreated the Hindu Magic Mirror and I will share the recipe with you. Founding ROTA Magic Wands has made me excited to develop my own magical arsenal of tools. I love building my own tools and weapons, seeing the idea manifest into a working object, and part of the fun is getting everything on a shoestring budget! So without further adieu I present De Laurence & Scott’s Hindu Magic Mirror recipe, in its original 48 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

vernacular. I will translate for you with my instructions in bold italics. HOW TO OBTAIN THE MATERIAL FOR MAKING A MAGIC MIRROR. If you wish to own a real, genuine Opaque Magic Mirror and be able to make it exactly as it was made by famous ancient `307 Mystics so that it will possess Occult Virtue and become infused with Astral Auras, then proceed as hereinafter instructed. (Sounds super cool right?) Foremost, procure unto thyself the following materials from de Laurence, Scott & Co., with which to make your own Opaque Magic Mirror: (This is no longer possible, as they no longer exist. Keep reading) One Convexo-Concave superior transparent glass which has a perfect and complete sphericity of form on the properly indicated side; manufactured by a certain secret process and formed by infusing silicious matter with fixed alkalis; but so constructed that it possesses none of the qualities of the lens, so that rays of Astral Light passing through it are not made to change their direction or to magnify or diminish objects at a certain distance, as does the crystalline humor of the human eye. (OK, I had to look this up myself not knowing what a Convexo-Concave glass was. I then realized he was referring to antique “Bubble glass”! This was used in old photo frames and was often made of smelted Lead crystal. Lead crystal is a kind of glass that is made with

Next obtain a sufficient amount of a secret bituminiferous substance like that used by the ancient mystics and old philosophers for this very purpose. (Here was another strange term that I had to really think about and research. A “bituminiferous” substance, what the heck is that? Bitumen is tar! Renaissance painters used tar in their paintings to get the blackest of black, hence the term “Pitch Black”, pitch being tar. Also ancient mystics lived in or near areas that had natural tar in the ground and they would smear the tar on a rock slab and gaze into the shiny tar. lead instead of calcium or lime, which is used to make most common drinking glasses. The advantage of leaded glass is that it refracts light more brilliantly because lead changes the molecular structure of the material itself. Lead glass contains typically 18–40% (by weight) lead (II) oxide (PbO), while modern lead crystal, historically also known as flint glass due to the original silica source, contains a minimum of 24% PbO) In other words, this exclusive Convexo-Concave superior transparent glass must be made by a special process, one that it has no mitigating, assuasive, or lenitive qualities whatsoever. It’s exact size must be 5 12-16 × 7 12-16 inches. (Bubble Glass has a doming arch outward (Convex) and an interior arc (Concave), but without the optical distortions normally associated with domed glass, or round glass paperweights etc. You can find this type of glass today but it is expensive it is difficult to find in the odd measurements suggested. Fortunately I found a readily available substitute my Dears so no worries. Hallmark, Promises, and others make a “Curved” picture frame that is actually a convex/concave glass of optical quality! They are all made the same with a paper picture holder, and the plastic metal colored border glued on, get an exacto knife and presto! Superior transparent convexo-concave crystal glass of optical quality! You can find these frames in craft stores, eBay, thrift and specialty stores.)

Again no worries my Dears I have figured this substitute out as well. There are still companies in Europe that make Bitumen paint, it’s a little expensive so I created one that I feel works better than ever. “Asphalt patch” roofing products are Bitumen based and mixes very well with Acrylic and enamel paint. I have tested it with oils but it never quite dries. It smells like tar so be prepared. You can find Asphalt Roof patch in quart containers in most hardware stores) Also one small brush very fine. (I think you got a handle on this one, please use a new brush specifically for this purpose. You would not want to mix intentions on something so important like communicating with your Holy Guardian Angel or the White Brotherhood!) Messrs. de Laurence, Scott & Co. will, upon order, supply the materials hereinbefore mentioned, consisting of one specially made Convexo-Concave superior transparent glass, 5 12-16x7 12-16 inches (5.75”x7.75”), a sufficient amount of a secret bituminiferous substance to give the glass three coats and make it Opaque; also a brush to apply the substance on the glass. _______________________________________ ________________________________ Now here is where the instructions end, with ordering instructions. But I managed to locate the preparatory instructions online. Once you have your materials collected also put aside a shoebox or some other box that will store the mirror. E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 49

This is a 3day process so you want to put the mirror in the box and set it aside to dry undisturbed. I found a nice mahogany Bigalow wooden tea box to keep my Hindu Magic Mirror glass in. A wooden cigar box will also fit the 5.75”x7.75” convex-concave glass. Now take your glass and clear it thoroughly with alcohol, being mindful to remove all fingerprints from the glass especially the concave side as that is where you will apply the paint. Next mix your Asphalt Patch compound with your black Acrylic paint till you have a nice smooth consistency. At this point is where you can add your ‘fluid condensate’ ingredients; the condensate creates a bond between you and the mirror. This could be a few drops of your favorite essential oil, or dry ground herbs. I used representations of each of the four elements, ash, water, salt, feather, and gold, silver, copper, tin, and sulfur for the alchemical blend. You will know what to add to make to make it special for you, just make sure it is pulverized so that it will not clump your already lumpy bitumen lacquer. Now begin your project in a quiet room where you will have no distractions. When you begin you will not stop until you finish the first coat. Start your coat over the concave or inside of the glass, not the exterior convex outer side of the glass. Swipe your brush in smooth even strokes and in the same direction, away from you. Do not bother to go over your strokes you can fill in any open spaces with your next application. While applying the lacquer stay focused on the mirror, think about what it will do, think love, meeting spirits and your guardian angel, how much enjoyment it will bring, etc. After you have completed the first coat, clean your brush and hands in turpentine or nail polish remover. Now go to the drying mirror and with your palms ½” from the surface, impress and energize your mirror. Feel the energy leaving your hands and going into the mirror, move your hands over it rather quickly, and stay focused. 50 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

Visualize your powers, personality, joy, love, and life force, moving into the mirror. Keep working your hands and energy over the surface until you feel that the mirror cannot take anymore. Then place your mirror into the designated box and leave it undisturbed to dry until the following day. DAY TWO: Repeat the painting steps, apply coat one stroke at a time, clean up, and imprint your powers into the mirror. Set the mirror aside in its box until the following day. DAY THREE: Repeat the painting steps, apply coat one stroke at a time, clean up, and imprint your powers into the mirror. Set the mirror aside in its box until the following day. DAY FOUR: Your mirror is ready to be consecrated. I consecrated my mirror during the full moon, so it is a good time to start during the waxing moon. Ask the great Goddess to fill the mirror with her insight, wisdom and give access to the higher intelligences. I let the moonlight shine upon the painted surface and empower it as I had done with my hands the days before. Imagine the moonbeams penetrating and empowering the mirror. Now we are ready to start Scrying! WORKING WITH THE HINDU MAGIC MIRROR For the best results set aside a specific time, several times the first week or two to sit with your mirror. Look forward to your appointed time, as it is your time with the Spirits, don’t keep them waiting. I used the hours of the Angels and Planets from Barrett’s The Magus as my guide. On your chosen day eat light, and at the appointed hour be ready to begin. Place your Hindu Magic Mirror upon a table where you can comfortably view it without strain. Place a small notebook or piece of paper and pen on the table where you can take a note if necessary. Place two candles behind the mirror so that the light is not shining in your eyes, or behind where you are seated but not so the light shines directly into the mirror. I always work in a protective circle, so you may want to perform the Lesser Banishing Rituals of the Pentagram and the Hexagram, to create an

influence free space. Now take a deep breath, and relax. Gaze upon the mirror with a clear mind. Breathe normally and it is ok to blink but stay focused. Do not let your thoughts wander. Now ask the mirror to speak with (__________), I like to open with an Incantation for example… (And you can modify it as you wish for your faith) ”Oh Lord God/Goddess, creator of all things wonderful in this universe. I (Your name here) humbly thank you Creator, for my life, and I am grateful for all of the wonderful blessings that I have received. I ask dear Lord, all Father if it is in your will to grant me the eyes to see, and the ears to hear the higher intellect, that Genius which can impart to me your knowledge and wisdom. Allow this magic mirror to be the tool used as a bridge between you and I. Allow it to act as a means of communication between me and my Holy Guardian Angel, your emissaries, and the higher intelligences, (insert personage here). Let only their fair nature reflect in this mirror; allow only their gentle and soft voices to be E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 51

heard. I humbly ask this is your name Creator, to help me complete the great work for the greater good. I ask in the name of YHWH, Jehovah, God, Agla, Allah, Adonai, Tetregrammaton, and Elohim and by all of the names by which you are known. I ask that (_____________) appears now in this mirror that I may ask my question. Thank you.” Now pick a spot in the mirror’s dark recesses to focus on and at the same time use your greater peripheral vision to open up in that darkness. Breathe, calm. Sit quietly and only focus on your request, do not let your thoughts wander. If after 20mins you have not made contact. Bless the mirror, ask God for closure and cover the mirror with a black cloth. It is OK to use a purple, blue or even white cloth, but do not use red to cover the mirror. Place it back in its box or in the space you assigned for it out of reach of prying eyes or meddling hands until your next scheduled time. Some people will see swirling mist or sparkles in the mirror the first or second time they use it even without any formal experience or practice, but do not be discouraged if you do not. Everyone is different and some are blessed with vision at birth. Also this is not a race to a finish, this is a process designed to develop your inner faculties and it takes time. It can be an enjoyable time as well. During down time you can practice various exercises to improve your results, you can practice meditation, third eye exercises, practice focusing on a single thought for 5 min increments. Divining is a means of enlightenment and once you open your eyes you cannot go back. It is a commitment to yourself and to the Azoth (The force behind all creation) Always keep in mind and tell yourself that at some point in time you will be successful, remind yourself that you can do this, fearlessly approach the mirror during your appointments and ask to speak with your Guardian, higher self or as the Buddhist call it, your Atman. Remember to log your journal or Book of Shadows so that you can see your improvement over time, and track your encounters. For me it was gradual, steady progression. 52 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

The first time I sat with my mirror I saw the swirling mist and sparkles in the glass, the second time I could make out figures, and movement. (Kind of surprised me), so expect this and stay calm, it’s just you in a dark room remember? My third attempt was when I encountered a Celestial guard, after that initial breakthrough you will be able to connect more freely. I see this tool as a deeper more meaningful means of contact and exchange, where I see the Crystal ball as a viewing type of tool. Now I do not suggest going into a full trance or releasing your control over yourself in the first couple of weeks until you feel very comfortable with the mirror and going into it and out of it. So if you feel like you are losing control and you are uncomfortable bring the session to a halt. Do the banishing of the pentagram over the mirror and cover it. Now I only say this as a precaution, the likelihood is that you will enjoy the ritual, especially if your faith in yourself and virtues are strong. I do not want to scare you but there are concerns that arise in any kind of channeling, dowsing or Scrying, take a moment to read more on this subject to reap the full benefits. Working with the mirror and divining has been the most enjoyable enlightening practice for me and I know you will enjoy it as well. There is so much more information on Dowsing and Scrying on the Internet to help you get the most of your new tool. Thank you for reading and I look forward to giving you another report of my adventures in magic next issue!

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I nspirational By Helen Libby Davidson

54 â&#x20AC;&#x192; T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

nature

ilst walking through any wooded area keep an eye open for dead fall its especially good time of year, so many twigs and small pieces of tree fall off during the winter months. When out collecting like this I will take something with me, traditionally where I am from it was either milk or honey, given as an offering when you take something from nature, but I like to take little stones that have a small energy feel to them, so I am not just taking I am giving something in return too. So, I will walk slowly and pick up twigs that catch my attention I will try my best to find ones of similar length to each other, once home I will put them on my mantlepiece to dry out for a few days. Once they are dried you can begin working with them. For instance, a pentagram that can be used on an al-tar or simply a decorative piece for your home. You can lay the twigs out until you feel you have the design just the way you want it. now I use embroidery floss, but you can really use anything you have to hand, natural hemp string and old ribbon can work well. Start to weave (I will say floss, since it’s what I use) around the twigs so that they firmly connect, it can be a bit fiddly, but it’s all good practice. Since it is Spring

I would use Green floss, a nice bright green. If you need to you can cut the ends with a good strong pair of scissors if it needs a little tidying. Your finished piece would look amazing any-where in your home. Later through the year you can make others for specific purposes, changing the colours with the seasons, or learning about the trees it has come from and what magickal properties they have, so you can make them to enhance any magick you do. Never fear that you are no good at arts or crafts, chances are you most certainly are, it’s just you need to find something that inspires you to create. Fancy a walk down by a river? You could collect little pebbles and make yourself some witch runes, they don’t have to be collected at the same time choose the ones that catch your attention. Now, for witch runes I have found that creating your own personal system and sigils work far better than ones you are not so familiar with; get yourself a small tin of modelling paint, the enamel ones are quite hardwearing. Grab yourself a little notebook E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 55

and have a think what is important to you in your life - happiness, health, success, luck, love, knowledge? I am sure you can think of plenty, so jot them down and have a think what sigil could represent them. Once you are happy with your choices get to work with your paint, you may find certain sigils feel better on stones... go with it, your instincts will be right for you. When they are all finished keep them in a little pouch or bag which you could also make. Personally, I would keep them on a windowsill under the full Moon as well as charge them on my altar before I used them but do what is right by you. take them out of the bag and hold them in your hands when you are ready to use them, if you have a question you wish answered just hold that in your thoughts as you cast them. Throw them gently on the floor, the stones that are closest to you are the ones that will be most prominent in your life, the ones further away may come into your life should you take a certain path. those that are upside down (so you see no sigil) will not be in your immediate future. Take note of any feeling that you have whilst casting the stones,

these may prove important too. Once you are happy with your reading put the stones back in your bag and put them away in a place that is neutral and away from electrical appliances. You donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want your stones to pick up anything other than your touch and energy. On a side note - its quite good to keep stones, runes, tarot cards etc close to Orgonite if you have any as this will soak up any negative energy in your home. I could go on and tell you so many things you can make out of what you can find in nature but instead will say this, let your imagination flow, let your intuition guide you. A Natural witch or hedge-witch makes use of the things she finds in nature, that is the basics of an ever-evolving path. We never stop learning, we never stop yearning for more knowledge so why should we limit our imaginations, anything that you make yourself will have your will and intent within it, so use your gifts as a witch and create something amazing. You may surprise yourself. Truly explore your path and you will be rewarded... Happy Craft-ing!

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The Witch Is Not Dead! By Sheena Cundy

“I feel now is the time to acknowledge the Witch more than ever and with the growing number of teachers and writers on the subject, there is help for everyone...“

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Witches know that the Craft is a way and means of expressing who we really are. It is a path which leads us to our true and magical nature - a road map for our Soul. With so many different traditions, attitudes and beliefs in the Craft, it’s easy to get confused about which path is the right one for you. Should you have studied to the ‘nth degree, joined secret societies or sworn fearful oaths to be accepted into the Craft, to call yourself Witch? No! The magic of nature is for all. Be wary of anything that seeks to separate - the lofty sounding status is the territory of the ego. Of course, there will always be teachers who can guide us, but ultimately we must learn from our own personal experiences of life itself - earthly and unearthly – and the magical path is no exception.

Creative Potential To create - we need good, solid foundations and a structured framework to build on and with the right conditions, we will grow. In the Craft, we have the great female trinity of Maiden, Mother and Crone to guide us and we are fortunate that this celestial body of energies associates itself so well with our own earthly body. We identify easily with this connection as we ourselves change and wax and wane, just like the moon. And it is not difficult to see how and why our ancestors looked upon the female form as sacred, for she was the giver of life, just like the earth, and was revered and honoured as such. It is no wonder the Witch has been vilified and demeaned over time… a woman’s power is great and now more than ever we need to remember that. We need to nurture and guide our maidens and tell them how gorgeous they are on the inside instead of placing so much emphasis on outer appearances. So many young girls now are suffering needlessly and growing up with little or no confidence in themselves because they have been brain-washed in the mainstream by a society that relies on the image conscious to fuel its flames. But it will not last. Just as a fire dies without air so will it choke the glutinous and unethical. They will not get away with it forever while the universe extends her law of return to all. What goes around comes around.

Choice Choosing to walk a magical path can really help to inspire and empower women of all ages. Once a woman names herself Witch and understands 60 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

truly its meaning, she has called upon the powers of the celestial bodies, the earth, the ancestors and indeed all of nature to guide her on her magical journey in life. And with so much support all around her how can she not be brave and adventurous? How can she not move towards wholeness and balance and learn to protect and heal herself ? And with this help - the guiding hand of Mother Nature – she will work on her own development, digging deep within and observe and participate fully in the ways of the Craft... traveling well and creating a magical life. She chooses well.

Out of the Woodwork I find it interesting that there are many women in their middle years and onwards who are discovering the Witch inside. Her presence does not go unheeded. I have come across a number of these women who have resisted naming themselves until now because of fear or shame. Fear of being ridiculed, misunderstood - punished even! It both saddens and inspires me because these are the women who have waited, for whatever reason, and they are stronger than they have ever been and are ready now more than ever to wear the mantle of Witch. It doesn’t matter one bit if they don’t know all the names of the Gods and Goddesses, what order the sabbats are in or if they possess a long velvet cloak or not; they will learn quickly enough and anyway, they have more than likely been practicing magic quite naturally for most of their lives!

Chances are they are involved in some way, with the timeless arts of the Craft. Be it in a healing capacity (many Witches are carers, nurses, counsellors and mid-wives to name but a few), animal husbandry, earth centred (gardening, farming, herbalism) or maybe they are feeling the pull towards learning some kind of divination. You can bet your broomstick, some aspect of the Craft has been calling them and slowly but surely these women are coming out of the woodwork.

Naming I feel now is the time to acknowledge the Witch more than ever and with the growing number of teachers and writers on the subject, there is help for everyone. And the good thing is, everyone is different and brings their own unique individuality to the magical table. No two Pagans are the same and it’s such a huge umbrella of various traditions, practices and beliefs that anyone venturing into the territory for the first time will be spoilt for choice. As long as people are aware of what inspires them, they will gravitate towards what resonates. Social media is a fantastic tool for advertising and more and more groups are forming and building networks and communities as a result of this ever growing platform. Moots, groups and covens are much more public now and this is a good thing for the Witch.

Who. We. Are. This is the magic which spurs us on when we think we are done, the vision that gives purpose to our lives. It’s the muse that can always be called upon to tease the imagination and express our creativity. It is the reminder of all the gifts bestowed upon us, urging us to develop those skills and share our unique talents. We can dream ourselves into being whatever we want to be and as long as we focus on that inner belief and work to ground it in our everyday life we will continue to be guided by its influence. Magical festivals are popping up all over and the Craft is filtering through any creative channel it can find expression in. In the arts, through song and story – magic continues to seek out all those who will create new ways of connecting to the earth and her wisdom. Symbolism does not need to be fixed and indeed new traditions are evolving and pathways are being forged. We live in exciting times, with so much going on, to explore and discover… Modern Witchcraft is thriving and will continue to do so. The Witch lives.

The Magic Within The Witch is a creative soul and once aligned with her true path of service will naturally make her way to express her creativity. With her feet firmly grounded to the roots of the old ways, she will tread carefully, led by an ever growing awareness along the twists and turns of a path well worn by the Witches of the past. She will stumble and sometimes fall, but with an abiding faith in the Old Ones - the magical and divine source of all power - she will learn how to rise and keep going and more importantly; know why she needs to. If we are open to the magic of our own spirit - the soul in essence – then it will guide us to believe in ourselves and to know that whatever our pathway, religion or spiritual practise, we are where we need to be. It will not let us down as long as we are able to trust in what we cannot always see and develop faith in: E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 61

Organic Love

By Dawn F Ryan

We’re Born, We Live, We Die...

F things

rom the moment of birth, we start dying. We grow and set goals to accomplish many

I never gave a thought about old age or myself being old in the future. As humans we get stuck in our own self-absorbed ego. As kids our parents nurture and protect and keep us safe every step of the journey. Our only focus is playing with our favourite toys, then as teens we grow and become independent of our parents, the most important thing now is the “me, me, me” stage along with our friends and experiences. These years prepare us for the future adult metamorphosis that will take place. Even then we give no thought to our bodies, we take it for granted, we are invincible.

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Better yet we reach our adult stage and it’s here where we experience most of life altering phases like college, jobs, marriage, birth of our children. Still we forget our bodies are growing old we each day, a natural progression that we ignored completely. Our brains don’t come with a manual for growing and it certainly doesn’t intercede and say to us “Yo! slow down, enjoy your body it’s been dying since the day you were born” I don’t know when we start to realize when our bodies start to slow down. It just sort of hits you, one day your young and care free and the next you wake up and your joints are aching, or you are looking in the mirror and see a few strands of grey hairs sprouting that was not there last night. You realize your body is still forging ahead into

middle age years. It’s the time for “ahh, this is the time for reflection, your mind looks back at your life “

move as fast as when we once did, our skin more wrinkled and fragile. Our minds are dull, calcium-built bones more brittle and frail. Our moral bodies have What no one told me was that reached the highest plateau, old during middle age, you start age and we are coming to the realizing how long you lived on end of this trip. Soon our souls this planet and how amazing it will shed this organic shell and was. All the things accomplished move onto another place. and did not finish. All the regrets, sorrows, pain, hurt and It makes me sad to think happiness you been through. All that one day “I” too will be the love and passion you felt, separated from my oldest and gave and received, your body dearest friend, we’ve been with travelled with you. Amazing. each other for a long time, it has carried on like a trooper Then in the winter of our lives, through all of life’s trials. Who little by little our bodies start knows all my inner workings and to slowly dissipate, like an old has never let me down. It has comfy blanket that gets a hole healed me, carried me, loved me in it, here and there, our bodies unconditionally. act similar, it gives us signs of to recognize that it’s growing For some it will be the golden old. Our brains start to forget; years, where they gracefully people, places, things, events. age and are happy healthy and We start slowing down, we can’t surrounded by love and loved

“I never gave a thought about old age or myself being old in the future. As humans we get stuck in our own selfabsorbed ego.”

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ones and are thankful for everything in their life.

As the body grows weaker so does the will to live.

For others, it can and will be the lonely years, some are alone with no one, they battle illnesses and diseases like dementia, Parkinson’s and the like.

I’ve been questioning myself more these days, how does the body and mind know how to do this.

Living in a world not of their choosing, these horrible diseases get a grip on you and don’t let go until the very end. Generations of people with different circumstances are now living similar situations across the world in hospitals, institutions and nursing homes. Working in a nursing home myself I see it all around me. I think all these people who are my charges, all who once had fulfilling lives are now living in bodies that have betrayed them. I undoubtably too will be in their place, that’s a reality. I take care of their needs physically, mentally and emotionally. I engage them and listen to them as they look for a person to show kindness, compassion but mostly just validate them as a person. You don’t realize until you listen to them, that they are walking, wheelchair rolling history books.

Is their one single cell that remains dormant until old age. Does it wait until a certain moment and time, then switch on and decide, okay it’s the final count down, now we will start the process of extinguishing our soul light. This is final phase of our life; our bodies start preparing the moment of death. Our eyes get dim, our breathing laboured, automatically this vessel, we call our body, starts preparing itself by slowing down of our organs, our skin gets cold, there’s no need for sustenance, the body lingers and then it happens, just like that spark that explodes to make our heart start pumping at conception is suddenly silenced. Full circle comes. We come into the world quiet and we leave the same way. Have we treated our bodies with respect, that it has provide us unconditionally, did we ignored it or treat it with respect while living this exceptionally beautiful life? It makes me think how grateful I have come this far, and my best friend will leave together, she’s still here surrounded and encasing me with her strength, love, protectiveness and that alone makes me grateful. Blessed be my lovelies

When they talk I listen to their stories and smile and with some I just sit with quietly, holding their hands, hoping they understand they are not alone and they are still important and loved. Moments like this makes me realize how important it is to be kind, it’s all life is about. I never want any of my residents to alone they must feel. I bet they never had any inkling this would be how they would live out the end of their days, once upon a time they too were living life to the fullest with strong healthy bodies. They were import in one way or another. They had love, families, careers, friends, passion, hobbies and now it was all gone. The only important thing these days is waking up pain free or hoping to remember what their name is. 64 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

“Living in a world not of their choosing, these horrible diseases get a grip on you and don’t let go until the very end.”

Akieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s World of

STONES

Stone-Artist Akie Nakata shares her love of finding just the right stone to bring to life.

hen Tasha came to me to back in March with pictures she had found of a wonderful Japanese artist, Akie Nakata, I was stunned. You see, Mrs Nakata creates magnificent designs out of stones and they seem so life-like that it is as if you are holding a miniature owl or puppy in your hand and are alive looking back at you. We contacted Mrs Nakata over Facebook and asked her if we could do an interview for our June edition and this was her reply: To me, stones are not simply materials or canvases for painting pictures on. Among all those numerous stones on a river bank, one stone, looking like an animal, catches my eye. When I find a stone, I feel that stone, too, has found me. Stones have their own intentions, and I consider my encounters with them as cues they give me itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s OK to go ahead and paint what I see on them.

Stones may fall outside our usual definition of living organisms, but when I think of the long time it takes for a stone to change from a huge boulder in the mountains to the size and shape it has, as rests in my palm, I feel the history of the earth that the stone has silently witnessed over the millennia, and I feel the story inside it. I feel the breath of a life inside each stone, so sometimes I paint while I talk to the stone as I hold it in my hand.

So, the stones I decide to paint on are not arbitrary, but my significant opposites with whom I have established a connection, who inspire me to work with them. In my encounters with the stones and in my art, I respect my opposites in toto, so I never process stones, and would never cut off an edge to alter the shape.

In order to bring out the living being that I feel in the stone again to its surface, I proceed very carefully. I consider step by step, for example, whether I am positioning the backbone in the right place. Does it feel right? Am I forcing something that disagrees with the natural shape of the stone? I tread carefully. I put my paintbrush to the stone

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when I truly feel that it is the right brushstroke. In this sense, my painting is a dialogue with the stone. It is the stone that determines what I paint on it, not me. The art I want to create is a life newly born in my hands through my dialogue with the stone. I want to paint the life, the living spirit of the being I feel inside the stone. I paint the eyes at the very end, and I consider my work completed only when I see that the eyes are now alive and looking back straight at me. To me, completing a piece of work is not about how much detail I draw, but whether I feel the life in the stone. In closing: The stones and I are parts of the same earth. My stone art is collaborative work between two pieces of one sphere.

the life in the stone. Because we all stand on the same earth, and we come from the same earth. How my stone art started: It started when I was taking a walk on a river bank and encountered a stone that by its looks was a rabbit and nothing else. Since I was small, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve always liked collecting stones (natural rocks, not jewels or gemstones) and drawing animals, and I felt that those interests converged in the stone in my palm. It is since around 2011 that I began working as a stone artist. As to techniques, I value leaving the original shape of the stone untouched, so I neither grind the stone nor apply smoothing agents. I mainly use acrylic paint and adjust the viscosity of the paint for each stone. My drawing skills are selftaught.

I hope that each of my works will pass into the hands of someone who values being a companion in the stoneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey as much as I enjoy painting E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.comâ&#x20AC;&#x192; 67

The 2nd Great Fire Of London, 14th June 2017

REMEMBERING

Whereas the first “Great Fire of London”, in 1666, burnt through a vast area of land in south London, this second fire was in just one area, consisting of just one building…Grenfell Tower. Designed in 1967 in the Brutalist style of the era by architectural firm, Clifford Weardon and Associates, with Kensington and Chelsea Council agreeing to its construction in 1970 and completed in 1974. Grenfell consisted of a 221 ft. tower built over twenty-four storeys; the first two floors contained commercial properties while the next 20 floors consisted of 120 flats, six per floor…made up of a mix of 1 and 2 bed flats. Each floor was built to the square standard of Parker Morris – being 22 m2 with a central core in the middle, which housed the lift, and then a two-bedroom flat in each corner and a one bed-room property on the East and West facings. In 1984, ten years after the completion of Grenfell Tower, BBC Documentary “inquiry: The Greatest British Housing Disaster”, predicted that with modern, yet untested, cladding to protect Grenfell and other tower-blocks from the weather, there was a huge risk of fire and loss of life. 68 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

Having been born in West London, it was a sight that I remember very well as I took the tube on the way to my grandparents. And yet now, as I try to write this, I find it so heart-breaking the tragedy that befell the tower and those who lost their lives.

the fire-service control-room; initially it was reported only as a fridge fire in flat 16 of Grenfell tower and because it was a high-rise, four pumps - 2 pumps from Kensington, a pump from North Kensington, and a pump from Hammersmith - attended the scene.

What Happened

Having got on top of the fridge fire, something strange happened…over the radio crews heard “make pumps four”, something is wrong. Then came “make pumps ten”, that’s a disaster, and finally, “make pumps twenty”. Twenty, that’s a catastrophe unfolding and upon going outside to see what was going on, firefighters saw flames licking up the outside of the tower-block.

On the night of 14th June 2017, reports of a fire came into

Immediately a bridge-head was established on the second-floor,

It took four years to build, yet one night for a major tragedy to turn it into a burnt-out shell. TPC Digital Magazine proudly stand behind the Grenfell survivors in demanding answers and we also stand behind every firemen and women who attended Grenfell.

two floors below the fire. Fire-fighters began evacuating residents while others took on the fire as best they could, often being beaten back because of the heat and ferocity of the inferno. . As the fire took hold, neighbours watched victims waving whitesheets and screaming for help, but there was nothing they could do. The fire raged out of control for almost twenty-four hours before finally being extinguished; Through the early stages of the fire, firefighters threw the rule book out of the window in order to help as many as they could, often working blind and deaf. Radio traffic was bad and vital messages were not getting through, many of the radios E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 69

could not penetrate the concrete walls so were switched off. Many firefighters took off their breathing apparatus either to give to victims or when they had run out, they did not want to leave without saving who they could. Other firefighters went above the fire-floor without hose-reels in order to check flats and grab victimsâ&#x20AC;Ś Those firefighters who collapsed exhausted outside were back on their feet within a number of minutes begging to go back in. Others disobeyed orders and went back in anyway. London Ambulance Service sent twenty crews of 100 medics to the scene, working flat out beside their emergency colleagues. The Metropolitan Police, to protect survivors and firefighters, donned riot protective clothing and shields to use as protection against raining, burning debris. As the fire raged, nearby community centres and churches opened their doors for survivors, providing shelter for those evacuated, all the while firefighters began the grim task of removing bodies from the gutted tower. But why did it happen? Why did it burn so out of control? Why did so many people lose their lives that night? In order for questions to be answered and many others, a public inquiry into the cause of 70 â&#x20AC;&#x192; T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

the fire is still ongoing. And TPC Digital Magazine is proud to announce that we stand in support of every firefighter who attended Grenfell Tower, and we proudly support the Grenfell survivors in demanding not only justice but also answers.

In memory of those who died on 14th June 2017. As you read this list, please do so in silence as a tribut to those who lost their lives that night. This is done in honour of their memory and of the silent march that takes place on the 14th of every month since the disaster. Fathia Ali Ahmed Alsanousi • Esra Ibrahim • Fethia Hassan • Hania Hassan • Mohamed Amied Neda • Raymond Bernard • Rania Ibrahim • Hesham Rahman • Gloria Trevisan • Marco Gottardi • Anthony Disson • Mariem Elgwahry • Yaqub Hashim • Hashim Kedir • Nura Jamal • Eslah Elgwahry • Sirria Choucair • Yahya Hashim • Nadia Choucair • Bassem Choukair • Fatima Choucair • Mierna Choucair • Zainab Choucair (3-years old) • Firdaws Hashim • Mehdi El Wahabi • Yasin El Wahabi • Logan Gomes (born stillborn while mother was in an induced coma) • Faouzia El Wahabi • Abdulaziz El Wahabi • Ligaya Moore • Nur Huda El Wahabi • Leena Belkadi (6-months old) • Jessica Urbano Ramirez • Farah Hamdan • Omar Belkadi • Alexandra Atala •

• • • • • •

Mary Mendy Malak Belkadi Victoria King Khadija Saye Amal Ahmedin Maria del Pilar Burton • Amaya TuccuAhmedin • Sakineh Afrasiabi • Vincent Chiejina • Isaac Paulos • Hamid Kani • Berkti Haftom • Biruk Haftom • Komru Miah • Mohammed Hamid • Rabia Begum • Husna Begum • Mohammed Hanif • Khadija Khalloufi • Deborah Lamprell • Marjorie Vital • Ernie Vital • Sheila • Joseph Daniels • Steven Power • Denis Murphy • Zainab Deen • Mohammed al-Haj Ali • Jeremiah Deen • Abdeslam Sebbar • Ali Yawar Jafari • Gary Maunders • Abufras Ibrahim • Mohamednur “Mo” Tuccu • Fatemeh Afrasiabi • Amna Mahmud Idris Gone but never forgotten.

Fire! I nferno A t T he G lasgow S chool O f A rt

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To some it could have been the start of a disaster movie. To those actually sitting listening to it on the BBC thought it was a news report from the previous fire of 2014, little realising that once again the iconic Glasgow School of Art’s Rennie Charles MackIntosh building had actually gone back up. Founded in 1845 as the Glasgow Government School of Design, the school changed its name to the Glasgow School of Art in 1853. It was first located at 12 Ingram Street and moved to the McLellan Galleries in 1869, twenty-eight years later, in 1897, work began on a new building to house the school on Refrew Street. The building was designed by renowned artist, Charles Rennie MackIntosh, chosen for the commission by the school’s director, Francis Newbury, who oversaw a period of expansion and fast-growing reputation. The first half of the building was complete in 1899, while the second half took another ten-years to come into fruition, in 1909. It is a school that has produced most of Scotland’s leading contemporary artists, including Mary Armour (1902 – 2000), Steven Campbell, Robbie Coltrane. Andrew Lauder, and many more. On May 23rd 2014, a fire sparked by a student’s art project tragically ripped through the iconic Glasgow building, going through the vertical shafts and destroying huge parts of the interior. All 259 rooms were affected, mainly by smoke damage. Firefighters at the time worked tirelessly to save as much of the famous MackIntosh building as they could, and after months of preparation, fund-raising, and research, work began to rebuild the library and the west wing. Over a million pounds had been raised worldwide, with support from the UK and Scottish government to restore it. It was due to reopen its doors in February 2019 after an extensive £32-millon renovation. E mail : tpcsubmissions@hotmail.com 73

“Once again, we are indebted to the bravery of our firefighters and other emergency services. “The fire, as I think everybody can see from the pictures last night, has been devastating.” She said it was “much, much worse” than the 2014 fire and added “the damage is severe and extensive.” The Scottish First Minister said it was too early to say whether the remainder of the building can be saved. But Ms Sturgeon emphasised the most important thing was there had no loss of life and praised the speed of response and skill of the fire service.

On Friday, 15th June 2018, one day after remembering the Grenfell disaster - a tower-block fire that had cost the lives of over 70 residents on 14th June 2017 – smoke and flames could be seen coming from the MackIntosh building just after 11 pm local time. Revellers in neighboring bars and clubs were quickly evacuated, and hearts sank as realization hit as to which building it was that had once more gone up. Glasgow Central MP, Alison Thewliss, said: “It’s a terrible blow, especially on the 150th anniversary of MackIntosh’s birth. “Having suffered with fire in 2014 and after all the effort that went into the rebuild, this is just aweful. “it’s a treasure of a building that many people hold dear. It’s one of the architectural jewels not just of Glasgow but globally it’s a very special place.” At the height of the blaze more than 120-firefighters battled the “significant” fire throughout the night and most of the next day, after being called to the scene at 11.19pm. Earlier in the day, graduation ceremonies had taken place, while the May 2014 fire came in the run-up to student’s degree show. At a press-conference held at the site of the fire, Scotland’s First Minister said her “heart breaks” over the extensive damage to the city’s beloved building, adding

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Our hearts go out to all the students and staff at the Glasgow School of Art for this loss of such an iconic building. But it wasn’t just the MackIntosh building that was affected that night. A building only a few years older than the Glasgow School of Arts’ Renfrew Street building, the O2 ABC, built in 1875 Over the course of its history, the O2 ABC has been a diarama, a cinema, a dance-hall. It seems a harsh blow for Glaswegians to have two historical buildings destroyed by fire in one night. Whereas the O2 could be renovated, what lies in store for the renowned MackIntosh building? Reading many of the tweets on the fire, conclusions are being drawn already on its cause, many saying “arson” while others say “insurance job” but at the time of writing this, the Scottish Sun Newspaper revealed that the contractors had a history of failure in fire protection. Is it too early to call for a public inquiry? Let’s wait and see what answers the Scottish Fire and Rescue service comes up with before jumping to conclusions. Well done to everyone of the firefighters that attended the scene and fought to extinguish such a savage fire.

TPC 4 M igraine A ction H elp

us raise awareness and fund

research into this crippling and often life - changing form of migraine .

D onate

at : https :// www . gofundme .

com / manage / ilrfunds / team

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Q&A M ystical W inds

ADULT COLOURING: THE TECHNIQUES I USE AND HOW COLOURING HELPS ME DE-STRESS

B y M onique R eichert

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According to the “world wide web”, Art Therapy is defined as a “form of psychotherapy involving the encouragement of free self-expression through painting, drawing, or modeling, used as a remedial activity or an aid to diagnosis.” Adult coloring books has become hugely popular. But why? Adult coloring, finds it’s “niche” or fit, better into the trend of meditation and mindfulness that’s been going for some time now, just one response among many, to the high levels of stress many adults are living with. There is a connection, like no other between fellow “colorist”. Creating a link for many that live alone, or suffer with depression and isolation. They have found a place of positivity among random facebook group members. Encouraging, critiquing, and sharing images; blank and finished master pieces. Tools, tricks, tips.. friendship among a seemingly simple, yet cathartic task. I was surprised at how popular adult coloring had become and the seemingly random tools used to create some amazing works of art. A friend was generous enough to share some of the pages she had colored. I was not prepared for just how incredibly life like, these images had be transformed. The real shock was her tools... crayons? Nahhh- to easy.. pens? markers? colored pencils? NOPE! Eyeshadow— YES.. eye shadow, blush; cosmetics... I was stunned. Had I been living under a creative rock? Digging a little more into her “process”, she was kind enough to open up about her love if coloring, some tips, and how this little practice keeps her connected to the outside world... A special thank you to Dover Publishing for permission to share the images in the final stage; beautifully colored by our own staff contributor, Mystical Winds.

Q: How did you get started and why coloring books? A: I have been coloring since I was a child ...my coloring continued down through the years...I use to buy a lot of childrens coloring books to color, some of my favorites were Raggedy Ann and Andy, Strawberry Shortcake, Lisa Frank and the Holly Hobby books.

Q: What influences the photos you choose to color? A:The detailing and a picture in my mind of the hidden beauty the picture holds once it has color added..

Q: What are your favorite tools to color with? A: my pencils and eyeshadow. I prefer using crayola pencils over any; using both techniques in the same picture can bring its beauty out. I also go according to the grains of the paper on what I use. Some do better in eyeshadow because it is a 78 T he P endle C raft - I ssue 15

smooth texture to use on grainy paper.

Q: How do you feel coloring has helped you? A: Coloring helps me in many ways. It helps me to relieve stress. Being disabled keeps me from doing a lot of things including walking. I find that as long as I have my coloring, I dont think of my disability and how it affects my daily life. A lot of times when I want to be outdoors but I’m not able to, I can bring nature into me, by coloring nature pictures.

Q: Do you believe it helps you connect to your witch/Pagan path? A:Yes it can. There’s a lot of nature out there to color. While coloring pictures of paganisim and witchy things, you can draw energies from the pictures you color. The pictures you color can be used in some rituals. For instance, I use the candles I color in pictures to help others. I connect with my goddess through pictures, each color that you add to the picture, represents something; just as if it were a candle color.

Q: How many images do you think you have colored and what are your favorite subjects to color and why. A: Well, I estimate around 5 or 600. I have boxes and envelopes full of colored pictures I have completed. I have a few subjects that are my favorite. I like doing mandalas a lot because they connect spirit...body...and soul to the universe...I also like nature because it connects me to the goddess in all her beauty; connecting me to the animals it lets me lay down and rest beside a running body of water while soaking in its energies or sit up under a beautiful tree as i lean against it and feel its energies starting in my back and running through my body. Nature is my church in many ways. I like doing mythology pictures because they take you back in time...

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