(WARNING: Horrendously self indulgent autobiographical post follows - feel free to skip and just watch the video clip further on if you like!)
Don't ask me where my
initial interest in monsters, witches, ghosts and general occult
subjects came from as I have no idea – it was just something that
was always there! As a child I dreamt of being a professional
exorcist, and aged four my headteacher had to call my parents as
several pupils had gone home crying due to my persuading them to call
up Bloody Mary in the school toilets – my dad's reaction? He just
laughed! This was pretty normal behaviour for me and although my
parents tutted and rolled their eyes, that didn't stop them from
agreeing to buy me the Fortean Times and letting me watch black and
white horror films on late night TV.
The very first book on
magic I purchased was Doreen Valiente's "Natural Magic" – this is a book filled with
folk magic and customs of the British Isles. Of course I already
knew various bits of folk magic, such as rubbing raw beef on warts to
charm them, knocking on wood for luck, and candle spells to see your future husband – these and
other things were just common knowledge among my friends and family
growing up. But this book had so much more information such as the
lore of plants, weather omens and even (titter titter!) some sex
magic – which me and my pre-teen friends found hilarious of course.
It is interesting that in practising the Cunning Craft of my
ancestors as I do now I have pretty much come full circle back to the
first book I bought! Why did I choose this as my first book of
magic though? Simply – I liked the cover!
My next purchase was also a big influence – again, I liked the cover, but also the lengthy and detailed rituals it contained – "Green Witchcraft" by Ann Moura (Aoumiel). This had a big influence on my path as it instilled my love of working with herbs which is central to my practise today.
My next purchase was also a big influence – again, I liked the cover, but also the lengthy and detailed rituals it contained – "Green Witchcraft" by Ann Moura (Aoumiel). This had a big influence on my path as it instilled my love of working with herbs which is central to my practise today.
 |
| Turns out I was a sucker for a picture of a forest! |
From there I moved onto 'fluffy' Wicca books such as those by Kate West, Silver RavenWolf and their ilk for a while, but felt them somewhat lacking. I felt the spells were too stripped down to work, the rituals were too casual for my High Anglican mind, and the constant moralising irritated me. A magazine article led me to discover American Hoodoo and, being that my family is partly American, I lapped up all the (barely any) books out there on the subject at the time. I contacted some of the authors of those books as well as family members and gained more information that way too. I moved from working as a Wiccan to working as a Christian Hoodoo and felt much more at home, but still something was lacking – why was there not a British equivalent of modern American Hoodoo? What happened to make all our folk magicians disappear? Were they really stamped out for being 'pagan'?
At this time I was also
immersing myself in the classical grimoires. Being a lifelong fan of
Dennis Wheatley and Hammer Horror films naturally led me to seek out
these forbidden tomes and I pored over texts such as the Greater Key
of Solomon, the Black Pullet, and the Grimorium Verum, dreaming of
performing their rites in some lavish wizard's chamber, but fully
lacking the funds and opportunity to make any of it a reality. If
only there was a way to use these texts without having to locate lion
skin belts and ambergris – sigh. I gave up and the grimoires were
gradually left to gather dust on the bookshelf.
ONLY THE END OF THE BEGINNING
So how did I eventually
discover British Cunning Craft – well oddly, it was through a scene
in the classic Danish silent film "Haxan" (aka "Witchcraft Through the Ages") from 1922. I urge you to
watch the full movie if you haven't already as you are in for a treat.
It is a masterpiece detailing popular beliefs on Witchcraft in the
Middle Ages and contains some eye popping and disturbing scenes which
were pretty controversial back in the day. This, however, was the
scene which captivated me and left me scratching my head for days:
I just couldn't
understand it – the distraught women are clearly Christians and yet
they are employing someone who is calling upon Saturn – a pagan god
– and using a magical ritual in order to seek out the witch who has
hexed their relative. Why would Christians employ someone who was
using what, in my eyes at that time, was a witchcraft rite, to seek
out a witch? Why was one witch good and the other witch evil? Why
would a witch be seeking out another witch in the first place?
Wouldn't he be accused of witchcraft himself for performing such a
rite? So many questions. I had to find out. I researched the
background of the movie and the topics it focused on. Finally I
found the answer – the man who I had assumed was a pagan witch was
a Christian Cunning Man! I had never even heard of this before and
read everything I could find on the topic, and pretty quickly I
stumbled on British Cunning Craft. The more I read the more I
realised this was what I had been looking for all these years. A
system equivalent to American Hoodoo with a Christian, not pagan,
focus. One that dealt with the folk magic and herbal practices I had
started out with and loved. And – the icing on the cake – one
that incorporated elements of the classical grimoires in an easy to
use, effective way!
There are several
differences however between American Hoodoo and British Cunning
Craft. And perhaps the biggest one is the saddest: British Cunning
Craft has all but disappeared as a living tradition. Far from being
stamped out for being pagan, it has been swept under the carpet by
'progress' and corrupted by New Age Wiccans who have taken the bits
they wanted to suit them and discarded the rest. But true British
Cunning Craft is not quite dead – I have been practising it now, on
my own, for twenty years and recently there has been a renewed
interest in the subject with the publication of some well researched
and scholarly books. This is the system of my ancestors and if you
are of British descent, it is the system of your ancestors too. It
is our heritage. It is my passion and it is in my heart and my soul.
I am not sure how many others out there are practising real,
authentic Cunning Craft but I do know this – as long as I live the
tradition will never die.
Normal service will resume in the next post
Q et I
Normal service will resume in the next post
Q et I
