A bad witch's blog

Rounding the Year: My Book is 3 Years Old This Month

2026-10-15T08:00:00.000+01:00

The wheel of the year turns, and my Pagan Portals title Rounding the Wheel of the Year is now three years old. The witchy month of October always seems like a good time to celebrate my book on the seasons. It goes into the history behind annual customs and modern pagan traditions as well as offering ideas for celebrating nature in all her changing forms. Here's the description:

"Every month is full of magic, each day has its own energy, and the seasons rotate as part of the cycles of nature. Pagan Portals - Rounding the Wheel of the Year looks at ways to honour each month with folkloric customs, herb and plant lore, traditional crafts, spells, visualisations, and pagan rites that go beyond the eight festivals of Imbolc, Spring Equinox, Beltane, Summer Solstice, Lammas, Autumn Equinox, Samhain, and Winter Solstice. The wheel of the year turns smoothly, it doesn’t bump over eight cogs, and that’s the meaning of the title of this book. Inside these pages you will find the history behind some much-loved folklore and modern pagan customs, as well as practical suggestions for ways to celebrate the turning of the year."

Share your seasonal photos

Since Rounding the Wheel of the Year came out I've been inviting people to share seasonal pictures, art, crafts, words and other creativity. I'd love to encourage readers to record what's happening in nature in various ways including photographs, as well as other seasonal journalling, musings, drawing, painting and crafting.

Here are ways to share the things you're doing or what you see out and about as the wheel turns:

Leave a comment on this post about what you're up to
Find my prompts to share on my Facebook Page: Lucya Starza Pagan Portals Author
Share on Instagram with the tag #RoundingtheYear

Where to find my book

My book offers more ways to acknowledge and celebrate the seasons in ritual, magic, folklore and nature. You can view Rounding the Wheel of the Year on Amazon, find it at esoteric bookshops or via my publisher Moon Books: https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/our-books/pagan-portals-rounding-wheel-year

(Please note: I earn commission from some links.)

Magical Online & London Events in the Next Weeks

2026-10-14T08:00:00.000+01:00

Here's a list of events for pagans, witches and those with similar interests over the next couple of weeks. I mainly include in-person things in or near London, because that's where I'm based, as well as online talks and workshops you can do anywhere (bolded) and a few conferences further afield.

October 1 to early November; London Month of the Dead organised by Curious Invitation and Antique Beat in conjunction with London cemeteries. Talks, walks, workshops, and performances, on the theme of death. For a full list of the events and to book tickets, visit the London Month of the Dead website: http://londonmonthofthedead.com/index.html

Throughout October: 31 days of Witchcraft Daily Practice with author Rachel Patterson. Free online event. No need to sign up. https://www.rachelpatterson.co.uk/single-post/31-days-of-witchcraft-daily-practice?

Now to 8 November; The Occult Temple of Agape - Exhibition. Venue: Viktor Wynd's Museum of Curiosities, 11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP. Time: 6pm. Tickets free. https://thelasttuesdaysociety.org/museum/

Now - 25 October; Richard Dadd - Beyond Bedlam exhibition. Venue: Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD Time: 10-6pm every day. Tickets £15. https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/

Now to Friday 23 October; The Soothsayer's Chorus. Art exhibition inspired by Cassandra, the mythological prophetess whose warnings went unheeded. Venue: 35 Britannia Row, London N1 8QH (nearest stations Angel and Essex Road). Time: Monday–Saturday 11am–6pm (closed Sundays). Free, no booking needed. https://thesoothsayerschorus.com/

Now to 9 January 2027; Anne Ryan’s Folkmoot art exhibition on London archaeology. Venue: London Mithraeum Bloomberg SPACE, 12 Walbrook, London, EC4N 8AA. Free entry during opening hours. https://www.londonmithraeum.com/bloomberg-space/

Now to 16 December. Visionary Landscapes. Exhibition. Venue: Swedenborg House, 20/21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH. Time: during opening hours. Tickets free. https://www.swedenborg.org.uk/

Most lunchtimes and some other times: Meditation - in-person or online. In-person venue: Inner Space, 36 Shorts Gardens, Covent Garden, London · WC2H 9AB. Time: 1pm (for lunchtime meditation). Free. https://www.meetup.com/inner-space-covent-garden/events/

Every Tuesday to Sunday except over bank holidays; College of Psychic Studies - pop in to have a look around the lovely building. Venue: College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time: 11am-4pm. Free entry. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk

https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Now – 29 November; The Coming of Age Exhibition - including displays on witches and crones. Venue: Wellcome Collection, 183 Euston Road, London NW1 2BE. Open daily 10am-6pm. Free. https://wellcomecollection.org/

Every lunchtime: Rainbow Spirit offers a shared vegetarian lunch from a flat in Soho, London, for all people LGBT+Allies. The foundation is British witchcraft. Each meal is followed by Ancestor Circle, passing the talking stick. Alcohol-free event. To attend join the Whatsapp chat group: https://chat.whatsapp.com/LhDxaCzGsmE2YI6AReyw3W

or email: rainbowawakening1@gmail.com

Wednesday 14 October (and other dates); Spirit Guide Mediumship Circle with Hannah Macintyre Spirit Medium. Time: 9am. Tickets £13.70. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/spirit-guide-mediumship-circle-tickets-1991970157363?

Wednesday 14 October; Spellbound: A History of Witchcraft, Magic and the Occult (live online). Start of 20 week course with Dr Tom Waters via Imperial. Fees: Standard £531, Associate £419. Internal £324. For course content enquiries: Contact t.waters@imperial.ac.uk, For booking enquiries contact Christian Jacobi at c.jacobi@imperial.ac.uk More information at https://www.imperial.ac.uk/evening-classes/winter-courses-list/spellbound-history-of-magic-online/

Wednesday 14 October; Psychic Mediumship for Beginners with Sarah-Jane Jay. Start of 6-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 5pm. Tickets: £200. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 14 October; Working with the Spirit Doctor Team with Susan Gash. Start of 6-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 6pm. Tickets: £200. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 14 October; An Evening With…Jake Morningstar. Venue: The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY. Time: 6.30pm Cost £20 https://theatlantisbookshop.com/

Wednesday 14 October; Sacred Gong Meditiation with Joe Summerfield. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 7pm. Tickets: £45. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 14 October (every Wednesday); Feeling Sound. Venue: She's Lost Control, 42 Valentine Road, London. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £18. https://sheslostcontrol.co.uk/collections/all-events

Wednesday 14 October; The Power of Psychic Reiki with Nicholas Pearson. Start of 6-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £200. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 14 October; Explore your Psychic Senses with Tyrone Cusack. Start of 6-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £200. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 14 October (2nd Wednesday each month); Power of Intention. Training group workshop by the Wytchery. Venue: Treadwells, 33 Store St, London WC1E 7BS, UK. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £10. https://www.meetup.com/the-wytchery/

Wednesday 14 October (tbc as the group is considering shifting to Tuesdays); Enfield Town Circle Moot. Venue: Crown and Horsehoes, Horseshoe Lane, Enfield, EN2 6PZ. Time: 7pm. https://www.facebook.com/groups/EnfieldTownCircle/

Wednesday 14 October; Connect With Your Witch Ancestors with Benjamin Stimpson, author of Of Toads and Hares. Start of 2-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets: £90. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 15 October; Intuitive Living with Sarah-Jane Jay. Start of 6-session course. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 1pm. Tickets: £165. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 15 October (every Thursday); Midweek Meditation with the College of Psychic Studies. Online event. Time: 3pm. Tickets: free for members/£7.50 non members. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk

Thursday 15 October; Love's Secret with Katie Abbott. Talk and signing, Venue: Watkins Bookshop, 19-21 Cecil Ct, London WC2N 4EZ. Time: 5pm. Free but reserve a place https://www.watkinsbooks.com/events

Thursday 15 October; Morris Dancing Workshop. Venue: The Victory Club, 227 Selhurst Rd, S Norwood. Time: 7pm. Free. https://www.facebook.com/oldpalaceclog

Thursday 15 October; Magic in Contemporary Art. Talk and Soirée with Dr Amy Hale . Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £10. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Thursday 15 October and 22 Oct; Phantom Femmes walk with Maria Beadell of Herstorical Tours. Meet: Cowcross St, Farrringdon, London EC1M 6BY. Time: 7.50pm. Tickets from £10. https://www.herstoricaltours.co.uk/book

Thursday 15 October (recurring event); Welcome Women's Circle. Venue: Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets: optional donation of £5 - £15. https://rsh.anth.org.uk/whats-on/

Thursday 15 October; Occult Music. Talk by Cunning Folk at South East London Folklore Society. Venue: The Electric Elephant Cafe, 186A Crampton Street, London, SE17 3AE. Time: 8pm, Free but £5/£8 donations welcome. Email cunningfolkmusic@gmail.com to book a space or visit https://www.eventbrite.com/o/cunning-folk-7829505560 or https://connectionwithwonder.com/events/

Thursday 15 October; The Mysteries of Easter Island with James Grant-Peterkin. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Friday 16 October (and other dates); Drum Birthing Workshop with Lynn Gosney. Venue: Shamanic Centre Caer Corhrain, Minster, Kent. Starts 8.45am. Tickets £225/£250. https://www.facebook.com/shamaniccentrecaercorhrain

Friday 16 October (every Friday); Live Chat hosted by Rachel Patterson, author of Gods and Goddesses of England and the Kitchen Witch series of books. Online event. Time: 9am. Free. https://www.facebook.com/RachelPattersonbooks/

Friday 16 to Sunday 18 October; The Mind Body Soul Experience and OM Yoga Show. Venue: Alexandra Palace, London N22 7AY. Tickets from £16.44 for one day. https://www.mindbodysoul.show/

Friday 16 October (and other dates); Shamanic Drumming, Healing and Journeying. Venue: Atlantis Spiritual Centre, Crews Hill, Enfield EN2 9DG. Time 10.30am. Tickets: £11.55. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/110820030781?

Friday 16 October - 3 May 2027; Exhibition: Folklore. Venue: The Museum of Cambridge, 2-3 Castle Street, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire CB3 0AQ. Entry: Adults: £7.70, Children: Free. https://www.museumofcambridge.org.uk/event/folklore/

Friday 16 October (tbc but usually 1st and 3rd Friday each month); Pagan Portal Podcast by Moon Books. Time: noon (or listen to recording later). Free event. https://open.spotify.com/show/11N4kNj65tTz9NFUcZTMa7?

Friday 16 October (and other dates); Thoth Tarot study group. Free online event. Time: 7pm. https://www.meetup.com/astrotarotkitchen/events/

Friday 16 October; Dreaming for Dreamers: Visionary Tools for Life and Creativity. Venue: Abney Park Cemetery, Harriet Delph Room, Stoke Newington High Street, London N16 0LH. Time: 7pm. Tickets £16.96. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/6361564401?

Friday 16 October (various dates); Hex and the City Walking Tour with Maria Beadell of Herstorical Tours. Meet: Cowcross St, Farrringdon, London EC1M 6BY. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets from: £25. https://www.herstoricaltours.co.uk/

Saturday 17 October; The Vampire's Tale Tarot with Sasha Graham. Talk and signing, Venue: Watkins Bookshop, 19-21 Cecil Ct, London WC2N 4EZ. Time: noon. Free but reserve a place https://www.watkinsbooks.com/events

Saturday 17 October; Shamanic Drumming. Venue: Flopsy Wood, Cock Lane, Hoddesdon EN11 8LS. Time noon. Tickets £20. https://www.facebook.com/HertsEvents

Saturday 17 October; Grounding Rituals, East and West – In-person workshop with Lucia Ring-Watkin. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 1pm. Tickets: Contact Treadwells for info. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Saturday 17 October; Astrology for Shadow Work with Tree Carr. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 1pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 17 October; Collective Storytelling with Tarot with Bel Senlle and James Jude. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 1pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 17 October; Egyptian Temple Rites with Pixie P Carney. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £90. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 17 October; Qigong. Venue: Flopsy Wood, Cock Lane, Hoddesdon EN11 8LS. Time 3pm. Tickets £10. https://www.facebook.com/HertsEvents

Saturday 17 October; Fairies and the Deqad. Talk on Folklore from the Edge of the Otherworld with Elizabeth Dearnley as part of London Month of the Dead. Venue: Brompton Cemetery, London.

Time: 3.30pm Tickets £13.50 http://londonmonthofthedead.com/index.html

Saturday 17 October; Sound Bath South East London - Samhain Special. Venue: Telegraph Hill Centre, Pepys Road, London SE14 5TY. Time: 4.45pm Tickets £22.38. https://www.eventbrite.com/o/121806657566?

Saturday 17 October; (usually 4th Friday or Saturday of the month); An Evening with Joanne Harris - Sleepers in the Snow. Online event via the Folklore Library and Archive. Time: 8pm. Tickets: £11.55. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-folklore-library-archive-68703440013?

Sunday 18 October; Reading Tea Leaves and Coffee Grounds with Kylie Holmes. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £130. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 18 October; The Witchcraft Summit. Part of the Seed Talks Online Summits collection. Starts 11am. Tickets from £29. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/seed-talks-online-summits-3977003/?

Sunday 18 October; Candle magic workshop based on my book Pagan Portals - Candle Magic. The venue is Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. It starts at 1pm and tickets are £25 per person. To find out more and reserve a place visit: https://www.treadwells-london.com/.

Sunday 18 October; Adults Forest Bathing in South Norwood Lake and Grounds. Meet at Sylvan Road, London SE25 4AN. Time: 1pm. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Sunday 18 October; Apple Day at the Tree Nursery. Venue: Hackney Community Tree Nursery, Homerton Road, London E9 5PF Time: 2pm. Tickets £0 - £5 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/33594237991?

Sunday 18 October; Autumn : An Aromayoga Journey. Venue: Beckenham Place Mansion, Place Park, The Mansion, Beckenham BR3 1SY. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £35. https://www.beckenhamplace.org/whatson/

Sunday 18 October (3rd Sunday each month); Dawn of the Oak Pagan moot. Venue: The Sir John Oldcastle, Farringdon Road/Greville Street, London EC1M 3JF. Time: 2.30pm. https://www.facebook.com/groups/dawnoftheoak/

Sunday 18 October; ‘Resting in a cemetery’ - Legends and Legacy of the Whittington Stone with Alessandra Curtis. Venue: Abney Park Cemetery Trust, Stoke Newington High Street, London N16 0LH. Time: 3.30pm. Tickets £10 - £16. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/6361564401?

Sunday 18 October; Heart and Soul Gathering. Venue: Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, 3 Pilgrim's Place, London NW3 1NG. Time: 7pm. Free, but donations welcome. https://www.rosslynhillchapel.org.uk

Sunday 18 October; In Season: Ghosts and Gargoyles. Online with Jason Buck Storyteller. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets From £3.50. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/5020006777?

Sunday 18 October; A Halloween Evening of Fear on Film with Dr Murray Leeder. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Monday 19 October; The Prometheus Code: A Traditional Horary Investigation into Super AI with Jason Hyams. Hybrid event via the Astrological Lodge of London. In-person venue: Steiner House 35 Park Road, London, United Kingdom. Starts 6.30pm. Tickets £9. https://astrolodge.co.uk/

Monday 19 October (usually every other Monday); MHA The Wilderness forest bathing walk (all mobilities welcome). Meet MHA The Wilderness, 17 Shirley Church Road, Croydon CR9 5AL. Time: 11am. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Monday 19 October; Death Masks: The Final Portrait with Nick Reynolds. Venue: Viktor Wynd's Museum of Curiosities, 11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets £16.14, includes a cocktail. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-last-tuesday-society-viktor-wynd-museum-33776720489

Monday 19 October; The Many Faces of Death. Online class with Rebecca Beattie author of Planetary Magic via Treadwells Online. Time: 7pm start, delayed viewing available. Tickets: £15. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Monday 19 October (every Monday); Welcome Men's Circle. Venue: Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets: optional donation of £5 - £15. https://rsh.anth.org.uk/whats-on/

Monday 19 October (tbc but usually every Monday); Tea With a Druid. Free online event by the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Time 8pm. https://druidry.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/druidry

Monday 19 October; The Same Mountain, Different Paths: A Cross-Cultural Investigation into Consciousness, Death, and the Nature of Reality with Chris McKinnell. Online presentation hosted by the Society for Psychical Research via Zoom. Time: 8pm. Tickets: Free for members/£5 non members. https://www.spr.ac.uk/

Monday 19 October; The Brompton Time Machine with Stephen Coates. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Tuesday 20 October; Writing and rewriting fairytales. Start of 2-session course via City Lit. Online event.. Time: 5.30pm. Fee: £79/£51. https://www.citylit.ac.uk/courses/writing-and-rewriting-fairytales

Tuesday 20 October; The Banshee in Irish Folklore: Folklore, history, gender and belief with Dr Gillian Kenny via Seed Talks. Hybrid event. In-person venue: 21 Soho, 3-5 Sutton Row, London W1D 4NR Time: 7pm. Tickets: from £13. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/seed-talks-in-london-1252979?

Tuesday 20 October; The Brothers Grimm: A Biography with Ann Schmiesing . Talk via the Folklore Society online. Time: 7pm. Tickets £6. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-folklore-society-32190494089

Tuesday 20 October (monthly); Melissa's Tarot Club. Monthly In-Person Workshop. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm. Cost: £15 per person. https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

Tuesday 20 October; Séances, Spectres and Ghost Stories with Dr Emily Vincent. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £22. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Tuesday 20 October; Applying Investigative Psychology with Dr Ciaran O’Keeffe. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Wednesday 21 October; Family Halloween: Cauldron Candle Making. Venue: Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HS. Time: 11am. Tickets: £20. https://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/visit/whats-on/

Wednesday 21 October to 17 Apr 2027; Night Maps exhibition. Venue: Warburg Institute, Woburn Square, London WC1H 0AB. Open Tuesday - Saturday from 11am. Free. https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/

Wednesday 21 October; Family: Witch’s Knots and Braiding Spells. Venue: Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HS. Time: 2pm. Tickets: from £10. https://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/visit/whats-on/

Wednesday 21 October (and other dates); Tea with a Medium. Venue: The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY. Time: 2.30pm Cost £60 https://theatlantisbookshop.com/

Wednesday 21 October Witchcraft, Necromancy, Politics - Eleanor Cobham's 1441 Trial. Talk by Dr Joanne Edge. Venue: The London Archive, 40 Northampton Rd, London EC1R 0HB. Time: 5.30pm. Tickets £10. https://www.thelondonarchives.org/

Wednesday 21 October; Writing Spells and Blessings. Online class with Bernadette Russell via Treadwells Online. Time: 7pm start, delayed viewing available. Tickets: £15. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Wednesday 21 October; Psychic Mediumship and Psychometry with Amanda Watson. Talk. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 7pm. Tickets: £30. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 21 October (tbc but usually 3rd Wednesday each month); The More Mead Moot. Venue: The Hope pub, Carshalton, Surrey. Time: 7pm. Free. https://www.facebook.com/Pagan-FutureFests-352385661439366/

Wednesday 21 October; The History of Witch Hunts in Ireland. Talk by Dr Gillian Kenny via Seed Talks. Hybrid event. In-persoon enue: The Blues Kitchen Brixton, 40 Acre Lane, London SW2 5SP. Time: 7pm. Tickets: from £13. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/seed-talks-in-london-1252979?5

Wednesday 21 October; Seasons of the Witch with Dr Alex Carabine. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Thursday 22 October; Ibn Arabi's Oneness of Being with Michael Cohen. Talk and signing, Venue: Watkins Bookshop, 19-21 Cecil Ct, London WC2N 4EZ. Time: 5pm. Free but reserve a place https://www.watkinsbooks.com/events

Thursday 22 October; Drum Circle. Venue: Wicca Moon, 50 Well Hall Road, Eltham SE9. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets £15. https://www.wiccamoonuk.com/shop/ or https://www.facebook.com/wiccamoonuk/

Thursday 22 October; Spoon Bending and Telekinesis with Kim Chestney. Start of 2-session course online via The College of Psychic Studies.. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 22 October; Telepathic Drawing: Creative Encounters in the Astral Plane. Venue: Abney Park Cemetery, Stoke Newington High Street, London N16 0LH. Time: 7pm. Tickets £16.96. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/6361564401?

Thursday 22 October; Psychic Plants with Bel Senlle. Start of 6-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £165. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 22 October; Victorian Death and Afterlife – In-Person Lecture by Paul Gambino. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £10. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Friday 23 October; Scotia: Lost sister of Tutankhamun with Luke Eastwood. Zoom webinar via Watkins Bookshop. Time: 5pm. Free but reserve a place https://www.watkinsbooks.com/events

Friday 23 October; Samhain Crossbones Vigil to Honour the Outcast Dead of Crossbones Graveyard, Southwark. Location: Redcross Way, London, SE1 1TA. Time: 6.45pm for 7pm. Free, just turn up You can also view the vigil online. http://crossbones.org.uk

Friday 23 October; Samhain Ceremony on a Canal Boat with Woodland Witches. Meet at The Pirate Castle, Oval Road, London NW1 7EA. Time: 6.45p. Tickets £46.21. More info https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/mani-woodland-witch-34325436803

Friday 23 October (and other dates); New Moon, Full Moon or Divine Union Cacao Ceremony, Heart Ritual and Gong Bath. Venue: Private Location near Wandsworth Town/Clapham Junction. Time: 7pm. Tickets from £36.17. https://www.eventbrite.com/o/7885666957?

Saturday 24 October; Messengers of Grace led by David Goddard. Venue: The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY. Time: 11am Cost £65 https://theatlantisbookshop.com/

Saturday 24 October; Connecting with Trees - A Call to Arms. Venue: Epping Forest Visitor Centre at Chingford, 6 Ranger's Road London E4 7QH. Time: 12.30pm. Free. https://www.facebook.com/groups/7046502195365834

Saturday 24 October; Weird Wessex 2026. Conference organised by Organiser: Dr. Sue Terry. Venue: The Croft Hall, Hungerford, RG17 0HY. Time: Doors open 9.30am finish 5.45pm. Earlybird tickets £28 until the end of August. https://www.weirdwessex.com/

Saturday 24 October; Forest Bathing at West Norwood Cemetery. Meet at West Norwood Cemetery and Crematorium, Norwood Road, London SE27 9JU. Time: 11am. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Saturday 24 October; Creating a Faerie Grotesque with Tia Price. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 1pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 24 October; Dowsing: How to Use a Pendulum with Pixie P Carney. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £90. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October; Freemasonry and the Hidden Goddess with Helena B. Scott 2-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 5pm. Tickets: £240. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 24 October; An Evening of Practical Magic. Venue: Crystal Wicca, West Wickham, BR4. Time: 6.45pm. Tickets: £45. https://www.facebook.com/TheCrystalWicca

Saturday 24 October (usually 4th Friday or Saturday of the month); The Wild Hunt in the Netherlands: Comradery, Hijinks, and Modern Mythology with Arjan Sterken Online event via the Folklore Library and Archive. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £6.13. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-folklore-library-archive-68703440013?

Sunday 25 October; Greenoaks Gathering Magickal Mystical Market, Food and drink available. Venue: Barking and Dagenham College, RM7 0XQ. Timings: 10am - 4pm Entry: £2 for 16+, kids free. Parking on site. https://www.facebook.com/events/993590610107738/

Sunday 25 October; Twisted Roots: Gathering - Creative Writing Day. Venue: Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HS. Time: 10am. Tickets: £35. https://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/visit/whats-on/

Sunday 25 October; Transformational Healing with Joan Osborne. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £130. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 25 October; Tarot Reflections for Samhain with Avril Price. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £130. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 25 October; Shamanic Group with Les Fuller. All welcome Venue: Woodford Church at 9 Grove Crescent, South Woodford, London E18 2JR. Time 11am-3pm. Tickets: £10. http://woodfordchurch.com/

Sunday 25 October; Storytelling Sunday: THE VIY (Gogol’s Vampire) by London Dreamtime. Venue: Love Shack 299 Cambridge Heath Road #Arch 298 London E2 9HA. Time: 2pm. Tickets £8.83 https://londondreamtime.com/calendar/

Sunday 25 October or 1 November (tbc, usually closest Sunday to the festival); Samhain Anderida Gorsedd open ritual. Venue: Long Man of Wilmington, Wilmington, near Eastbourne, East Sussex. Meet near the car park between 1.30pm and 2pm, walk up to the chalk hill figure at 2pm. Afterwards, the Giants Rest pub. https://www.facebook.com/groups/227609495203/

Sunday 25 October; Storytelling Sunday: Vampires, organised by Connection With Wonder. Venue: Love Shack, 299 Cambridge Heath Road, #Arch 298 London E2 9HA. Time: 2pm. Tickets from £6.13. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/3858279213?

Sunday 25 October; Deep Dive into the Air Signs and Houses with Carmen Turner-Schott. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 6pm. Tickets: £90. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 25 October; Full Moon Celebration with South East London Pagans. Venue: One Tree Hill, Honor Oak, South London. Time: 7pm. Free. https://www.facebook.com/groups/7046502195365834

Sunday 25 October (every full and new moon); Moon Space online event via She's Lost Control. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £15. https://sheslostcontrol.co.uk/collections/all-events

Sunday 25 October; Divination Customs in Early Halloween Postcards. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

For activities after these dates please visit my events page.

Please note that I am not responsible for the content of these events except my own talks, workshops and appearances. Contact organisers directly if you have questions or to check ticket availability. Where a practitioner is offering information about magical healing, this is *not* medical advice. If you're running an event you want included, please email me at badwitch1234@gmail.com Also please note I earn commission for some links.

Book Review: Thresholds - Spiritual Exploration of Edges

2026-10-13T08:00:00.000+01:00

Thresholds, by Nick Hanks, begins at Chalice Well in Glastonbury, examining the meaning and symbolism created in the space at the edge of the water. It's one of my favourite places, a beautiful garden where people following many religious and magical paths meet.

The book is philosophical as well as spiritual, and it's one of the best non-fiction books I've read this year. I happily wrote this endorsement for publisher Vox Clamanti:

"We are surrounded by transitory spaces. They can be physical or abstract, psychological or emotional, social or defined by rules. Our own minds and bodies exist in them and are even part of them.
"Thresholds by Nick Hanks explores the way we intersect with everything, everyone and every idea around us. Nick uses science and philosophy as part of a spiritual exploration of edges. He starts by taking the Vesica Piscis – the symbol of threshold found at the head of Glastonbury’s Chalice Well – and shows how this Venn diagram of intersecting circles exists in all aspects of life.
"This is a brilliant book, clearly and gently written, that takes the reader on a thought-provoking journey through edgelands, interzones and liminal spaces. Highly recommended!"

To give you a bit more information, here's part of the description from Vox Clamantis' website:

"This book is an antidote to the polarised thinking of our time. It is a journey along the threshold edge of things: thresholds of ideas, body, mind, mindfulness, environment, society, identity, belief, ritual, architecture, theatre, writing, landscape, life, death, and time. They are everywhere. This middle ground is not dull and indifferent, but the dynamic point of difference and exchange."

I cannot recommend this book enough.

You can view Thresholds on Amazon

(Please note: I earn commission from some links)

Review: The We'Moon Calendar and Datebook 2027

2026-10-12T08:00:00.000+01:00

I love getting a new We'Moon calendar and datebook each autumn, ready to fill with future events, and as an inspiration and guide.

Here's a photo of the covers of the 2027 We'Moon editions. As usual, they're full of beautiful art and words. The calendar obviously has larger pictures and is something I love to see on my kitchen wall to inspire me each day. The datebook is far more than just a diary. As well as illustrations, it has astrological and moonphase information for the coming year plus articles on topics including herb lore, holy days, tarot and women's spirituality.

It says on the We'Moon website:

"We’Moon is a lunar calendar, a handbook in natural rhythms, and a collaboration of international women's cultures. We'Moon is an astrological planner complete with moon signs and phases. A calendar filled with beautiful and inspiring art and writing. Art and writing by women from many lands... give a glimpse of the great diversity and uniqueness of a world we create in our own images. We’Moon is about womyn’s spirituality (spirit-reality). We share how we live our truths, what inspires us, and our connection with the whole Earth and all our relations."

Each month of the datebook offers astrological analysis of the year at a glance for a relevant star sign. Being born with the sun in Taurus, I was particularly glad 2027 could be a good year for me in terms of my creativity and being able to take pleasure in it rather than regarding it as a chore. Apparently I should also find success and a boost of confidence. I could do with that.

If you purchase something from the We'Moon website you can use the discount code Badwitch27 for 15% off site-wide.

Please feel free to share this post and, if you can, include the tag @wemoonofficial

You can follow We'Moon on social media: Instagram @wemoonofficial / Facebook We’Moon

Horrific Historic Customs: Dog-Whipping and Wife-Selling

2026-10-09T08:00:00.000+01:00

Are we guilty of over-romanticising customs of the past? There's been a huge resurgence of interest in folklore and seasonal festivities, with revivals of parades and festivals from bygone times. Mostly these are viewed as rebellious fun, something good from that past. But it's easy to overlook the horrific historic customs that happened too.

Old Michaelmas Day is on October 10 and was in the past a time for agricultural fairs in many parts of England. As well as being when animals were sold, it was a time when summer farming contracts ended and labourers would be looking for new employment over the winter months. They might even have been turned out of homes that were tied to that seasonal work. That in itself could mean hardship. But I'm going to mention two even worse customs.

Dog-Whipping

In Yorkshire, October 10 was Dog-Whipping Day. This began when a stray dog ate the consecrated wafers during a mass at York Minster. According to Steve Roud in The English Year, many churches all over Europe regularly employed people to keep stray animals - and apparently beggars - out of the services. They were sometimes called dog-whippers or dog-rappers. That job title explicitly shows these were not charitable concerns aiming to rehome the poor creatures. Thankfully the practice was stopped in the mid to late 19th century.

Wife-Selling

An even worse fate might await women with abusive husbands. Back in the 17th century, divorce wasn't possible for anyone unless they were really wealthy, but a form of unofficially ending for a marriage developed in which a husband brokered a contract to sell their spouse to another man, often for an exchange of money. It was never legal, but became a recognised folk practice with a set ritual. It continued until the 19th century.

The wife would be led by a halter to an inn or marketplace and sold in public like a horse or cow, sometimes by auction to the highest bidder. The central character in Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbridge sells his wife at the start of the novel, an act that leads to misery throughout the story.

In The English Year, Steve Roud places Wife-Selling as something that might happen at fairs around the time of Old Michaelmas Day. Perhaps this was more likely to happen at a time of seasonal change when hardship and poverty lay ahead. Whether or not that was the reason, no one should doubt that the women suffered far more than the men over being treated like cattle brought to market.

The picture at the top is called Selling a Wife (1812–1814), by Thomas Rowlandson. The painting is thought to try to give the impression that the sale was jolly - but it gives me the shivers just thinking about it.

Let's not over-romanticise the past

Both of the customs I've mentioned here seem far more horrific than any of the activities of Halloween, and I think it's important to remember the past wasn't all dressing up and dancing in a way that made everyone happy. Let's not over-romanticise the past.

You can view The English Year on Amazon.

(Please note: I earn commission from some links)

Previous related posts

https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/08/folklore-customs-londons-historic.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/09/folklore-abbots-bromley-horn-dance.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/05/folklore-customs-bromleys-broom-day.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/06/midsummer-lore-street-parties-and-st.html

Pagan Eye: Magical Herbs at Niffty Witchy Supplies

2026-10-08T08:00:00.000+01:00

These shelves full of herbs are among the magical things you can buy at Herbs at Niffty Witchy Supplies, an independent shop at 28 Park Parade, Havant, Hampshire, PO9 5AD. I was sent the photo by Kora Samways.

Kora said: "Niffty Witchy Supplies is an independent, woman-owned destination shop. We sell crystals, tarot cards, incense, candles, witchcraft supplies and gothic gifts, in the shop and online at https://witchy-supplies.co.uk/."

My Pagan Eye posts show photos that I find interesting - seasonal images, pagan sites, events, or just pretty pictures. If you want to send me a photo for a Pagan Eye post, please email it to badwitch1234@gmail.com Let me know what the photo shows and whether you want your name mentioned or not. For copyright reasons, the photo must be one you have taken yourself.

The photo is copyright Kora Samways of Niffty Witchy Supplies

Other previous related posts
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/09/pagan-eye-launch-of-magick-at-word-on.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/08/pagan-eye-one-of-few-apples-of-this.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/06/dowsing-ive-shopped-for-crystal.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/03/happy-birthday-to-3-magical-london.html

Magical Online & London Events in the Next Weeks

2026-10-07T08:00:00.000+01:00

Now - 25 October; Richard Dadd - Beyond Bedlam exhibition. Venue: Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD Time: 10-6pm every day. Tickets £15. https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/

Now to 16 December. Visionary Landscapes. Exhibition. Venue: Swedenborg House, 20/21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH. Time: during opening hours. Tickets free. https://www.swedenborg.org.uk/

https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

or email: rainbowawakening1@gmail.com

Wednesday 7 October (and 21 Oct and other dates); Tea with a Medium. Venue: The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY. Time: 2.30pm Cost £60 https://theatlantisbookshop.com/

Wednesday 7 and 14 October; I'm running a two-part online evening class on Scrying: Divination Using Crystals, Mirrors, Water and Fire via the College of Psychic Studies. Each class starts at 7pm. Tickets are £90. Find our more here: https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/workshops/psychic-training/scrying-with-crystals-mirrors-more/?

Wednesday 7 October; Talk: Witchcraft and Witch Trials in 16th and 17th Century Essex with Professor Alison Rowlands. Venue: Epping Forest District Museum CIO, Essex, EN9 1EL. 7pm to 8.30pm. Doors open 6.45pm. £7 per person. https://www.ticketsource.com/efdmuseum?

Wednesday 7 October. An Intuitive Evening with Colour. Talk by Daniel Pitt. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 7pm. Tickets: £30. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 7 October; Meet Your Guides, Helpers and Gatekeepers with Hernan Cotroneo. Start of 8-session course. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £255. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 7 October; Trees, Folklore and Spirituality. Talk by Dr Helen Cornish via Seed Talks. Hybrid event. In-persoon enue: The Blues Kitchen Brixton, 40 Acre Lane, London SW2 5SP. Time: 7pm. Tickets: from £13. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/seed-talks-in-london-1252979?

Wednesday 7 October (montlhly); Esoteric Book Club Hallowvn Special with Allan Johnson at Treadwell's. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £15. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Wednesday 7 October (first Wednesday of the month); Drumming and Meditation online with Taz Thornton. Time: 7pm. Free https://www.facebook.com/TazThorntonOfficial

Wednesday 7 October; Gong Bath. Venue: Akasa, Hackney Wick, London E9. Time: 7pm. Tickets: from £23.46. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/sunita-kaur-34415293427

Wednesday 7 October (every Wednesday); Feeling Sound. Venue: She's Lost Control, 42 Valentine Road, London. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £18. https://sheslostcontrol.co.uk/collections/all-events

Thursday 8 October. Calling in the Water Spirits: A Sangoma Ceremony with John Lockley. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time noon. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 8 October (every Thursday); Midweek Meditation with the College of Psychic Studies. Online event. Time: 3pm. Tickets: free for members/£7.50 non members. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk

Thursday 8 October; Time Clocks: A Novel of AI, Fate, and the Threads of the Present Moment with Yoav Avni. Talk and signing, Venue: Watkins Bookshop, 19-21 Cecil Ct, London WC2N 4EZ. Time: 5pm. Free but reserve a place https://www.watkinsbooks.com/events

Thursday 8 October (2nd Thursday each month); Trefor Wickens on the basics of Folk Magic at Magick Without Tears Moot. Venue: Fitzroy Tavern, 16 Charlotte St., London W1T 2LY. Time 6pm. https://www.facebook.com/groups/mwtpubmoot

Thursday 8 October (every full and new moon); Moon Space online event via She's Lost Control. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £15. https://sheslostcontrol.co.uk/collections/all-events

Thursday 8 October; Four Horizons book launch: John Christie and Ken Worpole in conversation. Venue: Swedenborg House, 20/21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH. Time: 7pm. Tickets free but you must reserve a place. https://www.swedenborg.org.uk/

Thursday 8 October (2nd Thursday each month); Way of the Witch monthly online circle with Samantha K. and Jacqui C. Time: 8pm. Tickets: £10. https://www.meetup.com/sammi-k-shamanic-practitioner-psychic-medium/events/

Thursday 8 October; Sea Alchemy, Seiðr and the Goddess Mysteries of the Deep with Helena Scott. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Friday 9 October (every Friday); Live Chat hosted by Rachel Patterson, author of Gods and Goddesses of England and the Kitchen Witch series of books. Online event. Time: 9am. Free. https://www.facebook.com/RachelPattersonbooks/

Friday 9 October (and other dates); Shamanic Drumming, Healing and Journeying. Venue: Atlantis Spiritual Centre, Crews Hill, Enfield EN2 9DG. Time 10.30am. Tickets: £11.55. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/110820030781?

Friday 9 to Saturday 10 October; UK Tarot Conference 2026. Venue: Copthorne Tara Hotel, Kensington, London. Full tickets including Thursday evening £380. Friday/Saturday £350, One Day: £175, Virtual £110. http://tarotconference.co.uk/

Friday 9 October; British Museum and the Magical Revival Walking Tour with Caroline Wise organised by Treadwell's. Time: 5pm. Meet outside the British Museum (North Entrance), Montague Place, London, WC1B 3DG. Tickets: contact Treadwells for details. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Friday 9 October; Autumn Magic – Drift into effortless relaxouron with Yoga Nidra, Reiki and Sound Healing. Venue: Beckenham Place Mansion, Place Park, The Mansion, Beckenham BR3 1SY. Time: 6.50pm. Tickets: £40. https://www.beckenhamplace.org/whatson/

Friday 9 October (and other dates); Tarot Practice group. Free online event. Time: 7pm. https://www.meetup.com/astrotarotkitchen/events/

Friday 9 October; The Witch's Apothecary. Spell Jar Workshop Inspired by Folk Magic with Mystic Primrose as part of London Month of the Dead. Venue: Kensal Green Cemetery, London.

Time: 7pm Tickets £35 http://londonmonthofthedead.com/index.html

Friday 9 October; New Moon Angelic Ritual for Protection and Healing with London Woodland Witches and Pagans. Meet at Bankside Beach by Millennium Bridge, 52 Hopton Street, London SE1 9JH. Time: 7pm. Tickets £6.13. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/mani-woodland-witch-34325436803 or https://mani.org.uk/ or https://www.facebook.com/PaganFrontiersOfLondon.

Friday 9 October (and Thursday 19 Nov); Cosy Candlelit Gong Bath by Claire The Soul Nurturer. Venue: Secret Soul Sanctuary, Sydenham Hill, London SE23 3PH. Time: 7.45pm. Tickets: £21.84. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/claire-the-soul-nurturer-35479207053

Saturday 10 or Sunday 11 October; Broomstick making workshop. Venue: Crystal Wicca, West Wickham, BR4. Time: tbc. Tickets: £55. https://www.facebook.com/TheCrystalWicca

Saturday 10 - Sunday 11 October; Inipi Sweatlodge Ceremony Weekend with Joseph Christlow . Venue: Berkeley farm, Berkeley Farm, Lambourne End, Manor Rd, Essex RM4 1NH , a few miles outside London. Tickets: £80. https://www.aho.community/

Saturday 10 October; Forest Bathing in Betts Park. Meet at Park Entrance in Anerley Road, London SE20 8TQ. Time: 11am. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Saturday 10 October; Mediumship Tools of the Trade with Claire Broad. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £130. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 10 October; Hearing Spirit: Clairaudience with Hernan Cotroneo. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 11am. Tickets: £120. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 10 October; Psychic Fayre and Witches Market organised by Herne and the Goddess Events. Venue: Wainscott Memorial Hall, Holly Road, Wainscott ME2 4LG. Time: noon. Free entry. https://www.facebook.com/events/1074295491663599/?

Saturday 10 October; The Taro as Deer: Major Arcana with Caroline Harris. Talk and signing, Venue: Watkins Bookshop, 19-21 Cecil Ct, London WC2N 4EZ. Time:noon. Free but reserve a place https://www.watkinsbooks.com/events

Saturday 10 October; Women's Voice and Drum Connection Workshop . Venue: Forest Hill, South East London, Time: 2–6pm. Tickets: £45. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/38061527643?

Saturday 10 October; The Crystal Skulls with Nicholas Pearson. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 10 October; Wild Moon Afternoon Hunters Moon. Venue: Heartwood Woodland Wellness, Featherbed Lane, Croydon CR0 9AA. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £12.50. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/39763045473?

Saturday 10 October (and other dates); New Moon, Full Moon or Divine Union Cacao Ceremony, Heart Ritual and Gong Bath. Venue: Private Location near Wandsworth Town/Clapham Junction. Time: 7pm. Tickets from £36.17. https://www.eventbrite.com/o/7885666957?

Saturday 10 October; The Language of the Hand. A Beginner’s Palmistry Workshop with Danny Nemu as part of London Month of the Dead. Venue: Kensal Green Cemetery, London.

Time: 7pm Tickets £40 http://londonmonthofthedead.com/index.html

Saturday 10 October; Magic, Mystics and Martyrs Walking Tour with Maria Beadell of Herstorical Tours. Meet: Fish St Hill, London EC3R 8AH. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £20. https://www.herstoricaltours.co.uk/book

Sunday 11 October; Forest Bathing in Cator Park. Meet at Cator Park, Aldersmead Road, Beckenham BR3 1NA. Time: 11am. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Sunday 11 October; Breath: Reset the Nervous System with Sven Carlson. Start of 6-session course. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 11am. Tickets: £200. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 11 October; Wicca Training Circles (1 /9) with WoodlandWitches. Meet at Wimbledon Commons outside Windmill Tea rooms, Windmill Road, London SW19 5NR. Time: 11am. Tickets £29.96. More info https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/mani-woodland-witch-34325436803

Sunday 11 October; Tarot as a Healing Modality with Avril Price. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 11am. Tickets: £120. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 11 October. Psychopomps and Soul Work with Tiffany Lazic. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £130. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 11 October; Talk on Druidism at North West Kent Pagans Moot. Organised by NWK Pagans for members of the group. Venue: Chislehurst Caves, NW Kent. Time: 11.30am. https://www.facebook.com/groups/445487428816887

Sunday 11 October; Satanic Flea Market - Samhain Sabbat. Venue: Multi Storey Peckham

95a Rye Lane, London, SE15. Starts noon. £5 Entry. https://www.facebook.com/events/2146846506712636/?

Sunday 11 October; Autumn Herbal Apothecary Workshop. Venue: Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HS. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £40. https://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/visit/whats-on/

Sunday 11 October (second Sunday of the month); Luna Iter (Ritual in the Tower). In-person ritual in Hackney, East London for members of the group, guests and seekers on the path. Venue: meet at the Pembury Tavern, 90 Amhurst Rd, London, from 4.30pm, moving on to a historic site to start the ritual at 6pm. Entry: £10. https://www.hildegardmaier.co.uk/luna-iter or https://www.facebook.com/groups/1230392930656154

Sunday 11 October; Labyrinth Meditation. Venue: Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, 3 Pilgrim's Place, London NW3 1NG. Time: 7pm. Free, but donations welcome. https://www.rosslynhillchapel.org.uk

Sunday 11 October; Ancient Attitudes toward Daimones with Debbie Felton . Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Monday 12 October (usually every other Monday); MHA The Wilderness forest bathing walk (all mobilities welcome). Meet MHA The Wilderness, 17 Shirley Church Road, Croydon CR9 5AL. Time: 11am. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Monday 12 October. Shadow Work with the Tarot with Sasha Graham. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £130. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Monday 12 October; The Planets part 2. Free online talk via the Astrological Lodge of London. Starts 5pm. Tickets free. https://astrolodge.co.uk/

Monday 12 October; What Now? with Robyn Ray via the Astrological Lodge of London. Online event. Starts 6.45pm. Tickets £6/£9. https://astrolodge.co.uk/

Monday 12 October; Animal Healing and Communication Level 1 with Elizabeth Whiter. Start of 2-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Monday 12 October; Theosophy. Venue: Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT. Time: 7pm. Tickets free https://www.meetup.com/rudolf-steiner-spiritual-science/events/

Monday 12 October; How to Become a Medium: First Steps with Jeremy Turner-Welch. Start of 6-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Times: 5pm or 7.15pm. Tickets: £200. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Monday 12 October; Witch Bells and Faerie Charms crafting workshop. Venue: Shrewsbury House

Bushmoor Crescent, London SE18 3EG. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets £40. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/107097685491?

Monday 12 October; An Exploration of Korean Mythology with Dr Melanie Hyo-In Han via Seed talks. Online event. Time: 7pm. Tickets from £15. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/seed-talks-online-1262239?

Monday 12 October; South East London Pagans Moot. Venue: The Ivy House, 55 Stuart Road, London, SE15 3BE. Time: 7.30pm. Free. https://www.facebook.com/groups/7046502195365834

Monday 12 October (every Monday); Welcome Men's Circle. Venue: Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets: optional donation of £5 - £15. https://rsh.anth.org.uk/whats-on/

Monday 12 October (tbc but usually every Monday); Tea With a Druid. Free online event by the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Time 8pm. https://druidry.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/druidry

Tuesday 13 October; Inspirational and Automatic Writing with Sarah Tyler-Walters. Start of 6-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 10.30am. Tickets: £200. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Tuesday 13 October; Reflections on Ethelwynne M. Quail. Talk by Jacqui McIntosh and Barrie Gasson. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 2pm. Tickets: £15. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Tuesday 13 October (fortnightly); Writing Group. Venue: Swedenborg House, 20/21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH. Time: 6pm. Tickets free. https://www.swedenborg.org.uk/

Tuesday 13 October; The Magical Qabalah. Start of 2-Part Workshop with Julian Vayne via Treadwells Online. Time: 7pm start, delayed viewing available. Tickets: £100. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Tuesday 13 October; Samhain, the Feast of Apples. Talk by Tia Price. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £22. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Tuesday 13 October; Learn Marseille Tarot (Major Cards). Start of 4-Part Course with Adrien Mastrosimone via Treadwells online. Time: 7pm start, delayed viewing available. Tickets: £150. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Tuesday 13 October; How to Become a Medium: Foundation with Jeremy Turner-Welch. Start of 8-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £255. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 14 October; An Evening With…Jake Morningstar. Venue: The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY. Time: 6.30pm Cost £20 https://theatlantisbookshop.com/

Wednesday 14 October (tbc); Cryptozoology: Hunting the Impossible with Richard Freeman. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Thursday 15 October; Morris Dancing Workshop. Venue: The Victory Club, 227 Selhurst Rd, S Norwood. Time: 7pm. Free. https://www.facebook.com/oldpalaceclog

Wednesday 14 October; How to Use Crystals for Psychic Mediumship with Sarah-Jane Jay. Start of 6-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7.15pm. Tickets: £200. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 14 October; Connect With Your Witch Ancestors with Benjamin Stimpson. Start of 2-session course. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets: £90. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 15 October and 22 Oct; Phantom Femmes walk with Maria Beadell of Herstorical Tours. Meet: Cowcross St, Farrringdon, London EC1M 6BY. Time: 7.50pmm. Tickets from £10. https://www.herstoricaltours.co.uk/book

Friday 16 to Sunday 18 October; The Mind Body Soul Experience and OM Yoga Show. Venue: Alexandra Palace, London N22 7AY. Tickets from £16.44 for one day. https://www.mindbodysoul.show/

Friday 16 October (and other dates); Thoth Tarot study group. Free online event. Time: 7pm. https://www.meetup.com/astrotarotkitchen/events/

Saturday 17 October; Shamanic Drumming. Venue: Flopsy Wood, Cock Lane, Hoddesdon EN11 8LS. Time noon. Tickets £20. https://www.facebook.com/HertsEvents

Saturday 17 October; The Vampire's Tale Tarot with Sasha Graham. Talk and signing, Venue: Watkins Bookshop, 19-21 Cecil Ct, London WC2N 4EZ. Time:noon. Free but reserve a place https://www.watkinsbooks.com/events

Saturday 17 October; Astrology for Shadow Work with Tree Carr. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 1pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 17 October; Egyptian Temple Rites with Pixie P Carney. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £90. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 17 October; Qigong. Venue: Flopsy Wood, Cock Lane, Hoddesdon EN11 8LS. Time 3pm. Tickets £10. https://www.facebook.com/HertsEvents

Saturday 17 October; Fairies and the Deqad. Talk on Folklore from the Edge of the Otherworld with Elizabeth Dearnley as part of London Month of the Dead. Venue: Brompton Cemetery, London.

Time: 3.30pm Tickets £13.50 http://londonmonthofthedead.com/index.html

Sunday 18 October; The Witchcraft Summit. Part of the Seed Talks Online Summits collection. Starts 11am. Tickets from £29. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/seed-talks-online-summits-3977003/?

Sunday 18 October; Practical Magic and Spellcraft workshop Outdoors with Woodland Witches. Windmill Tearooms, Windmill Road, London SW19 5NQ. Time: 1pm. Tickets from £24.54. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/mani-woodland-witch-34325436803 or https://www.facebook.com/PaganFrontiersOfLondon.

Sunday 18 October; Adults Forest Bathing in South Norwood Lake and Grounds. Meet at Sylvan Road, London SE25 4AN. Time: 1pm. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Sunday 18 October; Apple Day at the Tree Nursery. Venue: Hackney Community Tree Nursery, Homerton Road, London E9 5PF Time: 2pm. Tickets £0 - £5 https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/33594237991?

Sunday 18 October (date tbc but usually 3rd Sunday each month); Dawn of the Oak Pagan moot. Venue: The Sir John Oldcastle, Farringdon Road/Greville Street, London EC1M 3JF. Time: 2pm. https://www.facebook.com/groups/dawnoftheoak/

Sunday 18 October; Autumn : An Aromayoga Journey. Venue: Beckenham Place Mansion, Place Park, The Mansion, Beckenham BR3 1SY. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £35. https://www.beckenhamplace.org/whatson/

Sunday 18 October; In Season: Ghosts and Gargoyles. Online with Jason Buck Storyteller. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets From £3.50. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/5020006777?

For activities after these dates please visit my events page.

Please note that I am not responsible for the content of these events except my own talks and workshops. Contact organisers directly if you have questions or to check ticket availability. Where a practitioner is offering information about magical healing, this is *not* medical advice. If you're running an event you want included, please email me at badwitch1234@gmail.com Also please note I earn commission for some links.

Book News: Best Sellers and a Foreign Rights Deal

2026-10-06T08:00:00.000+01:00

I've got wonderful news from my publisher, Moon Books, that another of my witchcraft titles is now officially a best-seller. Pagan Portals: Poppets and Magical Dolls has now sold 5,000-plus copies, which is an industry criteria for best-seller status. It joins Pagan Portals: Candle Magic, which was the first of my magical books to get that accolade.

In the same week I was also told that another of my books - Pagan Portals: Scrying - has a foreign rights deal. It will be translated into Italian and published in Italy by Edizioni Mediterranee.

I want to thank everyone who has bought my books, attended my workshops and supported me by writing reviews. You can find out more about my writings on witchcraft at Moon Books and you can also view Pagan Portals - Poppets and Magical Dolls on Amazon.

(Please note I earn commission from some links)

Review: Magick - Decoding the Visual Culture of Spells

2026-10-05T08:00:00.000+01:00

Did I really need another book about the history and culture of magic? Yes. Yes, I did. But it's called "Magick", the way Aleister Crowley chose to spell it, to differentiate between genuine attempts to alter reality and stage tricks. Mind you, the book does have a really interesting chapter on stage-type illusions, as well as oodles of well-researched and brilliantly explained information on everything from folklore through ceremonial rituals to modern-day witchcraft.

The subtitle is Decoding the visual culture of spells, illusions and psychic powers and it's by Thomas Waters, who earlier wrote the excellent book Cursed Britain. It's part of a series that have relevant pictures with key aspects itemised and explained.

Here's the description from publisher Thames and Hudson's website:

Combining powerful imagery of artworks and ritual objects with insightful analysis and expertly written text, Magick tells the visual story of the magical arts, from personal and community-based folk magic to ceremonial magic, illusionists and psychics.
Since the Ice Age, humans have sought to bend reality with magic. Powerful wands, enchanted talismans, transformative spells and potent herbs have been used to conjure everything people desire: love, wealth, health, protection and knowledge of the future. Join historian of magic, Thomas Waters, as he presents and demystifies an astonishing array of magical artefacts and occult acts. Understand the symbolism of a spirit-summoning magic circle; discover how to harness the protective power of amulets; scrutinize psychic tools and techniques; and explore the methods of performance magicians, including how they have been used by the CIA.
The magical beliefs and traditions explored are illustrated with spellbinding images of elaborate grimoires, spirit beings and esoteric diagrams together with select magical artefacts, such as amulets, crystals and magic mirrors. Many are examined in close-up detail and their symbolism decoded. Key magicians, rituals and enchanted landscapes are also profiled.
This wide-ranging book reveals how magic has evolved from ancient times, through the ages of science and technology, to the present-day era of spiritual wellbeing trends and magical products that can be ordered on next-day delivery.

There's a section at the end on modern witchcraft, which I thought was very good. Mind you, I had to snigger a bit at the photo of Crowley doing yoga with just the corner of a leopard skin rug covering his privates. Poor leopard!

You can view Magick on Amazon

Please note: I earn commission from some links

Learn about the History of Magic Online with Tom Waters

Dr Tom Waters is teaching a 20-week university course called Spellbound: A History of Witchcraft, Magic and the Occult live online via Imperial. It starts on Wednesday 14 October. The standard fee is £531, but there are concessions. For course content enquiries contact t.waters@imperial.ac.uk, For booking enquiries contact Christian Jacobi at c.jacobi@imperial.ac.uk More information is at https://www.imperial.ac.uk/evening-classes/winter-courses-list/spellbound-history-of-magic-online/

Previous related posts

https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/09/pagan-eye-launch-of-magick-at-word-on.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2024/10/review-occult-decoding-visual-culture.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2019/02/excerpt-divination-ancient-magic-by.html

Charity Shop Find: Black Bowls for Samhain and Scrying

2026-10-02T08:00:00.000+01:00

I found these two black bowls in a charity shop for 50p each. What a bargain! They're vintage and made from Arcoroc, which is a type of toughened glass similar to Pyrex. I'm particularly delighted because they match an octagonal black tea set I found in a charity shop for £1 a few years ago. I bring that out each Halloween or Samhain - or when witchy friends come around at any time. You can find my post about that here.

These bowls will also be great to use for divination with water, and I need quite a few of that kind of thing when I teach in-person scrying workshops. I'm actually running some scrying classes on Wednesday 7 and 14 October, but they're online so people will have to find their own bowls - they don't have to be black - or use a crystal ball or black mirror if they own one.

Details of my online scrying workshop

The two-part online evening class is called Scrying: Divination Using Crystals, Mirrors, Water and Fire. It's being run via the College of Psychic Studies. Each class starts at 7pm. Tickets are £90, with discount for members. You can find out more here: https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/workshops/psychic-training/scrying-with-crystals-mirrors-more/?

Other prrevious related posts

https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/09/my-witchy-events-scrying-candles-poppets.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/07/question-would-you-buy-secondhand.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/06/dowsing-ive-shopped-for-crystal.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2024/11/charity-shop-find-two-tea-leaf-reading.html

Green London: A Park for War, Peace & Ice Age Trees

2026-10-01T08:00:00.000+01:00

This silver birch tree, along with oaks, willows and a wych elm, is in Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park. It's a large and rather lovely green space in south London, only marred, in my opinion, by the two whopping huge guns in the middle of it. They're standing outside the Imperial War Museum.

I went there to see an art exhibition last weekend, but in general I prefer the park to displays about conflict. In fact, the park is home to the Tibetan Peace Garden. His Holiness the Dalai Lama opened it as a tranquil spot for meditation in 1999. I've visited it and blogged about it before. You can read that post here.

Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park also contains an Ice Age tree trail of 34 species that grew when ice retreated, around 12,000 years ago. You can find a pdf of the guided walk here. There are also plaques with information under each of the trees. One of them is a wych elm, which you can see in the photo at the bottom of this post.

Elms are rare in London, due to Dutch elm disease, so this is a rare example. The name doesn't have anything to do with witches. The word means it has pliant branches. Wood from elms was once commonly used for coffins, because it's water-resistant. The tree is also associated with death in folklore, but is also reputed to inspire prophetic dreams.

Green London

I regularly write about Green London with posts about parks, woods, nature reserves and street trees. This is to show the city isn't all concrete. It has many places where nature thrives and people can sit on grass, relax and enjoy the sight of plants, trees and flowers.

Other Previous Related Posts

https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/06/green-london-bloomsburys-secret-gardens.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/07/green-london-strange-things-in-soho.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/07/green-london-st-jamess-park-ghost-and.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2023/06/green-london-great-plane-in-brunswick.html

Magical Online & London Events in the Next Weeks

2026-09-30T08:00:00.000+01:00

Here's a list of events for pagans, witches and those with similar interests over the next couple of weeks. There are online things you can do anywhere (bolded) plus in-person talks and workshops in or near London, and some festivals further afield.

Now - 25 October; Richard Dadd - Beyond Bedlam exhibition. Venue: Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD Time: 10-6pm every day. Tickets £15. https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/

https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

or email: rainbowawakening1@gmail.com

Wednesday 30 September; An Afternoon with…Benjamin Stimpson to talk about his book Of Toads and Hares. Venue: The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY. Time: 2.30pm Cost £20 https://theatlantisbookshop.com/

Wednesday 30 September; Spirit Circle: Intermediate with Nicoletta Stephens. Start of 8-session course. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 6pm. Tickets: £255. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 30 September; Hand Reading for Beginners with Robin Lown. Start of 10-session course. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £280. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 30 September (every Wednesday); Feeling Sound. Venue: She's Lost Control, 42 Valentine Road, London. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £18. https://sheslostcontrol.co.uk/collections/all-events

Wednesday 30 September; Bloomsbury Folklore Club – Baba Yaga. Venue: Gower Street Waterstones event space, 82 Gower Street, Lower Ground Floor, London WC1E 6EQ. Doors at 6.30pm.Tickets £10. https://connectionwithwonder.com/events/

Wednesday 30 Septembert; Ritual Writing for Solitary Practitioners. Online Class with Bernadette Russell via Treadwells Online. Time: 7pm start, delayed viewing available. Tickets: £15. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Wednesday 30 September (monthly); Melissa's Tarot Club. Monthly In-Person Workshop. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm. Cost: £15 per person. https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

Wednesday 30 September; Pathologizing Mediumship in the Victorian Era with Dr Kate Cherrellr. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Thursday 1 October; Medicinal Trees Tour in Chelsea History Festival. Venue: Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HS. Time: 11am. Tickets: £20. https://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/visit/whats-on/

Thursday 1 October - 16 December. Visionary Landscapes. Exhibition. Venue: Swedenborg House, 20/21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH. Time: during opening hours. Tickets free. https://www.swedenborg.org.uk/

Thursday 1 October (every Thursday); Midweek Meditation with the College of Psychic Studies. Online event. Time: 3pm. Tickets: free for members/£7.50 non members. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk

Thursday 1 October; Practical Ancient Necromancy. Start of 2-Part Online Workshop. Online Class with Jules McArthur via Treadwells. Time: 7pm start, delayed viewing available. Tickets: £50. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Thursday 1 October; Recognise and Clear Negative Energy. Start of 8-session online course with Martha Brett via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £255. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 1 October; Aleister Crowley and Frieda Harris's Thoth Tarot. Part of a series by Keith Broad, Kingfisher Coven. Venue: Lost Souls Pizza Camden, 245 Eversholt Street, London NW1 1BA. Time: 7pm. Tickets £6.13. https://www.eventbrite.com/o/88810783003?_

Thursday 1 October; Finding the Philosopher's Stone. Online talk by Eliza Swann via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £22. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 1 October; Ghost Lore with Three Ravens – Launch and Soirée. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £10. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Thursday 1 October (recurring event); Welcome Women's Circle. Venue: Rudolf Steiner House | 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets: optional donation of £5 - £15. https://rsh.anth.org.uk/whats-on/

Friday 2 October (every Friday); Live Chat hosted by Rachel Patterson, author of Gods and Goddesses of England and the Kitchen Witch series of books. Online event. Time: 9am. Free. https://www.facebook.com/RachelPattersonbooks/

Friday 2 - Saturday 3 October; Season of the Witch online conference. Free event. https://wisewomanwitchery.net/season-of-the-witch-7-virtual-conference

Friday 2 October. Radionics Board for Healing and Intention with Nishant Sharmaa. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £150. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Friday 2 October (tbc but usually 1st and 3rd Friday each month); Pagan Portal Podcast by Moon Books. Time: noon (or listen to recording later). Free event. https://open.spotify.com/show/11N4kNj65tTz9NFUcZTMa7?

Friday 2 October; The Magic of Obsidian, with Sarah-Jane Jay Venue: The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY. Time: 6.30pm Cost £25 https://theatlantisbookshop.com/

Friday 2 October; Moon Magic. A Workshop in Lunar Witchcraft with May Draper as part of London Month of the Dead. Venue: Kensal Green Cemetery, London. Time: 7pm Tickets £35 http://londonmonthofthedead.com/index.html

Friday 2 October; Sacred Geometry. Venue: Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £12. https://rsh.anth.org.uk/whats-on/

Friday 2 October (and other dates); Holistic Sound Bath Meditation - Summoning The Sacred. Venue: Training Points Fitness and Therapy, 5-6 Cooper's Yard, London SE19 1TN. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £25. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/20043657289?

Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October; Experience Braco's Gaze: Small Intimate Sessions. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Various times from 10am. Tickets: from £30. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 3 and Sunday 4 October; Empower Your Life: A Weekend of Connection, Insight, and Transformation. Online weekend by Hay House. Free. https://www.discover.hayhouse.com/empoweryourlife-live/?

Saturday, 3 and Sunday 4 October; Open Weekend. Venue: Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HS. Time: from 10am. Tickets: free. https://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/visit/whats-on/

Saturday 3 October; Intuito nella vita quotidiana. Class taught in Italian by Susanna Copelli. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 1pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 3 October; Sound Bath. Venue: Flopsy Wood, Cock Lane, Hoddesdon EN11 8LS. Time 3pm. Reading £15. https://www.facebook.com/HertsEvents

Saturday 3 October; Firewalk and ceremony to honour Tyr, Norse god of justice and courage, organised by Sheelagh Keddie and Anita Odin. Venue: The Clophill Centre, Shefford Road, Clophill, Beds, MK45 4BT. Time 3:30 pm to 9pm. Tickets £65 per person or £60 each for 2 or more booking together. To book email harmony@sheelaghkeddie.com or text on 07751828303 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063454031524 and https://www.facebook.com/AOdin73

Saturday, 3 October; Hex in the Garden - Healers, Harmers and the Witch Craze with Herstorical Tours. Venue: Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HS. Time: 6pm. Tickets: £25. https://www.herstoricaltours.co.uk/book

Saturday, 3 October; Arcana Awakened. A Tarot Workshop with May Draper as part of London Month of the Dead. Venue: Kensal Green Cemetery, London. Time: 7pm Tickets £40 including a tarot deck http://londonmonthofthedead.com/index.html

Saturday, 3 October (date tbc but usually first Saturday each month); Gong Bath. Venue: Upminster Sanctuary Pea Lane, Upminster, RM142XH. Time: 7pm. Tickets: tbc. https://upminstersanctuary.com/

Saturday, 3 October; In-person evening for anyone interested in learning about the Alexandrian Tradition from initiated witches. Venue: Northwest London (exact details given to attendees). Time: 8pm. Tickets free. RSVP by email alexandrianwitchcraft@gmail.com https://www.facebook.com/alexandrianwitchcraftsoiree

Sunday 4 October; Luck and Plenty workshop. Venue: Crystal Wicca, West Wickham, BR4. Time: 11am. Tickets: £33. https://www.facebook.com/TheCrystalWicca

Sunday 4 October; Macabre Makers Market at The Absinthe Parlour. Venue: Viktor Wynd's Museum of Curiosities, 11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP. Time: 11am. Tickets free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-last-tuesday-society-viktor-wynd-museum-33776720489

Sunday 4 October; Mythic London Walking Tour with with Caroline Wise, organised through Treadwells. Meet outside St Mary Le Strand Church, Strand, London WC2R 1ES. Time: 10.15am. Tickets: £35. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Sunday 4 October; Orpington Alternative Market. Venue: The Priory, Church Hill, Orpington. Time: 11am. Free entry. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1335736923852705/

Sunday 4 October. Neurographica: Clarity and Flow States with Carol Bosack. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 1pm. Tickets: £90. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 4 October; Forest Bathing in Crystal Palace Park. Meet at Sydenham Gate, CP Park, London SE20. Time: 2pm. Free, but parking is paid. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Sunday 4 October; Beginner Tarot (Major Cards). Start of 4-session In-Person Course with Delphine de la Mar. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 6pm. Tickets: £150. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Sunday 4 October (first Sunday each month); Release and Letting Go - Collective World Meditation with Pauline Flitton. Online event. Time: 7:30pm - 8:30pm. Free. Contact Pauline 07415 054280 or Email

contact@crystal-manifestations.co.uk for the free Zoom link. Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1514249646502331/?

Sunday 4 October (and other dates); Sister Circle. Venue: Atlantis Spiritual Centre, Crews Hill, Enfield EN2 9DG. Time 6pm. Tickets: £11.55. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/110820030781?

Sunday 4 October; Deep Dive into the Water Signs and Houses with Carmen Turner-Schott. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 6pm. Tickets: £90. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 4 October; Symbolism of Tibetan Rope Divination with Alexander Smith. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Monday 5 October; What is the Purpose of Yoga: Transcendence or Transformation? Lecture by Jim Mallinson via Gresham College. Hybrid event. Venue: Gresham College, Barnard's Inn Hall, Holborn, London EC1N 2HH. Time: 1pm. Tickets by donation. https://www.gresham.ac.uk/

Monday 5 October (and other dates); Ascending with Angels, led by David Goddard. Venue: The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY. Time: 6.30 pm. Tickets £40. https://theatlantisbookshop.com/

Monday 5 October; Geomancy and Astrology with Chris Mitchell. Hybrid event via the Astrological Lodge of London. In-person venue: Steiner House 35 Park Road, London, United Kingdom. Starts 6.30pm. Tickets £9. https://astrolodge.co.uk/

Monday 5 October; Witch bells and Faerie Charms crafting workshop. Venue: St Patricks Church Hall, Albany Road, Chislehurst BR7 6DB. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets £40. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/107097685491?

Monday 5 October; Dark Fairy Tales From Around The World with Viktor Wynd . Venue: Viktor Wynd's Museum of Curiosities, 11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets from £15, includes a cocktail. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-last-tuesday-society-viktor-wynd-museum-33776720489

Monday 5 October; Magical Circle Casting class with Rebecca Beattie author of Planetary Magic via Treadwells Online. Two Times: Noon and 7pm start, delayed viewing available. Tickets: £15. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Monday 5 October (recurring event); Welcome Men's Circle. Venue: Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets: optional donation of £5 - £15. https://rsh.anth.org.uk/whats-on/

Monday 5 October; The Nordic Legends of the Wild Ride with Terry Gunnell. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Monday 5 October (tbc but usually every Monday); Tea With a Druid. Free online event by the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Time 8pm. https://druidry.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/druidry

Tuesday 6 October (and other dates); Viktor Wynd Museum Guided Tour and a Devil's Botany Absinthe. Venue: Viktor Wynd's Museum of Curiosities, 11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP. Time: 45-min tours from 6pm. Tickets from £16. Price includes a cocktail with Devil’s Botany. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-last-tuesday-society-viktor-wynd-museum-33776720489

Tuesday 6 October (every Tuesday); Yoga for Mind, Breath and Body. Venue: Beckenham Place Mansion, Place Park, The Mansion, Beckenham BR3 1SY. Time: 6.15pm. Tickets: £12. https://www.beckenhamplace.org/whatson/

Tuesday 6 October; Witchcraft, Women and Power: The untold story of Irish magic with Dr Gillian Kenny via Seed talks. Online event. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets £17 - £26.50. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/seed-talks-online-1262239?

Tuesday 6 October; The Chaos Chambers. Start of 2-Part Workshop with Mark Vincent via Treadwells Online. Time: 7pm start, delayed viewing available. Tickets: £80. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Tuesday 6 October; 7 Essential Potions for Witches. Start of 2-Part Workshop with Hannah Sanders via Treadwells Online. Time: 7pm start, delayed viewing available. Tickets: £40. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Tuesday 6 October; 'The Seven Sages of Rome' Database talk by Jane Bonsall. Talk via the Folklore Society online. Time: 7pm. Tickets £6. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-folklore-society-32190494089

Tuesday 6 October; The Mindbenders of Mayfair. Talk on Satanic Swinging London of the 1960s with Gary Lachman as part of London Month of the Dead. Venue: Brompton Cemetery, London.

Time: 7pm Tickets £12.50 http://londonmonthofthedead.com/index.html

Tuesday 6 October. Grounding and Protection with Lucy Aumonier. Start of 5-session course. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 7pm. Tickets: £180. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Tuesday 6 October (first Tuesday each month); Ritual Tattoos talk at Romford Pagan Moot. Venue: The Golden Lion, 2 High Street, Romford, RM1 1HR. Time: 7.30pm. Entry £4: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100064489640955

Tuesday 6 October; Second part of monthly 3-part webinar series devoted to the Nine Maidens of Lyfjaberg with Imelda Almqvist. Online event. Time: 8pm. Tickets for the series: £92. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/surbitonshamaniccircle/2341175?

Wednesday 7 October (and other dates); Tea with a Medium. Venue: The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY. Time: 2.30pm Cost £60 https://theatlantisbookshop.com/

Wednesday 7 October; Trees, Folklore and Spirituality. Talk by Dr Helen Cornish via Seed Talks. Venue: The Blues Kitchen Brixton, 40 Acre Lane, London SW2 5SP. Time: 7pm. Tickets: from £13. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/seed-talks-in-london-1252979?

Wednesday 7 October (montlhly); Esoteric Book Club Halloween Special with Allan Johnson at Treadwell's. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £15. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Wednesday 7 October (first Wednesday of the month); Drumming and Meditation online with Taz Thornton. Time: 7pm. Free https://www.facebook.com/TazThorntonOfficial

Wednesday 7 October; Gong Bath. Venue: Akasa, Hackney Wick, London E9. Time: 7pm. Tickets: from £23.46. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/sunita-kaur-34415293427

Thursday 8 October (tbc but usually 2nd Thursday each month); Magick Without Tears Moot. Venue: Fitzroy Tavern, 16 Charlotte St., London W1T 2LY. Time 6pm. https://www.facebook.com/groups/mwtpubmoot

Thursday 8 October (every full and new moon); Moon Space online event via She's Lost Control. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £15. https://sheslostcontrol.co.uk/collections/all-events

Friday 9 October (and other dates); Tarot Practice group. Free online event. Time: 7pm. https://www.meetup.com/astrotarotkitchen/events/

Friday 9 October; The Witch's Apothecary. Spell Jar Workshop Inspired by Folk Magic with Mystic Primrose as part of London Month of the Dead. Venue: Kensal Green Cemetery, London.

Time: 7pm Tickets £35 http://londonmonthofthedead.com/index.html

Friday 9 October; Cosy Candlelit Gong Bath by Claire The Soul Nurturer. Venue: Secret Soul Sanctuary, Sydenham Hill, London SE23 3PH. Time: 7.45pm. Tickets: £21.84. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/claire-the-soul-nurturer-35479207053

Saturday 10 or Sunday 11 October; Broomstick making workshop. Venue: Crystal Wicca, West Wickham, BR4. Time: tbc. Tickets: £55. https://www.facebook.com/TheCrystalWicca

Saturday 10 October; Hearing Spirit: Clairaudience with Hernan Cotroneo. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 11am. Tickets: £120. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 10 October; Forest Bathing in Betts Park. Meet at Park Entrance in Anerley Road, London SE20 8TQ. Time: 11am. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Saturday 10 October; Women's Voice and Drum Connection Workshop . Venue: Forest Hill, South East London, Time: 2–6pm. Tickets: £45. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/38061527643?

Saturday 10 October; The Crystal Skulls with Nicholas Pearson. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 10 October (and other dates); New Moon, Full Moon or Divine Union Cacao Ceremony,Heart Ritual and Gong Bath. Venue: Private Location near Wandsworth Town/Clapham Junction. Time: 7pm. Tickets from £36.17. https://www.eventbrite.com/o/7885666957?

Saturday 10 October; The Language of the Hand. A Beginner’s Palmistry Workshop with Danny Nemu as part of London Month of the Dead. Venue: Kensal Green Cemetery, London.

Time: 7pm Tickets £40 http://londonmonthofthedead.com/index.html

Sunday 11 October; Tarot as a Healing Modality with Avril Price. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 11am. Tickets: £120. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 11 October; Satanic Flea Market - Samhain Sabbat. Venue: MULTI STORY Peckham

95a Rye Lane, London, SE15. Starts noon. £5 Entry. https://www.facebook.com/events/2146846506712636/?

Sunday 11 October (tbc but usually second Sunday of the month); Luna Iter (Ritual in the Tower). In-person ritual in Hackney, East London for members of the group, guests and seekers on the path. Meet at the Pembury Tavern, 90 Amhurst Rd, London, from 4.30pm, moving on to a historic site to start the ritual at 6pm. Entry: £10. https://www.hildegardmaier.co.uk/luna-iter or https://www.facebook.com/groups/1230392930656154

Sunday 11 October; Labyrinth Meditation. Venue: Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, 3 Pilgrim's Place, London NW3 1NG. Time: 7pm. Free, but donations welcome. https://www.rosslynhillchapel.org.uk

For activities after these dates please visit my events page.

Nature & Art: Beauty & Destruction in Wartime London

2026-09-29T08:00:00.000+01:00

This painting is called The Haberdashers' Hall 8th May 1945. That's the date WW2 hostilites ended in Europe. It's on display at Beauty and Destruction: Wartime London, a free exhibition that tells the story of London during the Second World War as seen by artists, and is at the Imperial War Museum until November 1st.

It's a really moving exhibition, showing the turmoil and devastation the city experienced during the war. Most of the pictures depict things like air raids, buildings on fire, people in shelters, and wounded being treated. I chose to focus on this one for my blog, because it's about nature thriving in the aftermath of destruction.

Artist Eliot Hidgkin wanted to capture plants growing on a bombsite "before post-war rebuilding sweeps them away forever." Although I wasn't alive during the war, I do remember there were still some bombsites covered in wildflowers when I was very young.

The flowers in the painting include "bombweed", or rosebay willowherb, known for being one of the first plants to emerge where buildings have been destroyed. It has pink flowers and long leaves. I can also see what looks like ox-eye daisies and possibly ragwort, but I'm not entirely sure. If you think you can identify the various wildflowers better, please leave a comment.

I'd never been inside the Imperial War Museum before, because I'm not someone who feels war should in any way be glorified, but I'm glad I saw this exhibition. I very much recommend it for anyone interested in London's history.

The museum is situated in a large park, which I'll be blogging about in a separate post as part of my Green London series, but I thought this picture was worth mentioning first. The park will be there for a long while (hopefully), but the exhibition ends in just a month.

Previous related posts
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/06/art-frida-kahlo-day-of-dead-imagery-tate.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/08/art-richard-dadd-beyond-bedlam-at-ra.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/04/pagan-eye-witch-at-coming-of-age.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/09/book-review-art-of-unknown-visual.html

My Witchy Events: Scrying, Candles & Poppets

2026-09-28T08:00:00.000+01:00

Here are details of the witchy events I'm involved with from now until the end of November. I'm teaching an online divination course and in-person candle magic and poppet workshops in London.

October

Scrying Online via the College of Psychic Studies
On Wednesday 7 and 14 October; I'm running a two-part online evening class on Scrying: Divination Using Crystals, Mirrors, Water and Fire via the College of Psychic Studies. Each class starts at 7pm. Tickets are £90, with discount for members. Find out more here: https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/workshops/psychic-training/scrying-with-crystals-mirrors-more/?

Candle Magic in London
On Sunday 18 October I'm teaching a candle magic workshop based on my book Pagan Portals - Candle Magic. The venue is Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. It starts at 1pm and tickets are £25 per person. To find out more and reserve a place visit: https://www.treadwells-london.com/.

November

Poppets and Magical Dolls

On Sunday 22 November I'm running an in-person workshop based on my book Pagan Portals - Poppets and Magical Dolls. Everyone will make and enchant an easy poppet for protection to take home with them.

The venue is Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. It starts at 1pm and tickets are £25.

Find out more at https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

About me

I'm Lucya Starza and as well as writing A Bad Witch's Blog I'm the author of books in the Pagan Portals series on Candle Magic, Guided Visualisations, Poppets and Magical Dolls, Scrying, and Rounding the Wheel of the Year. My Gothic novel Erosion is also published by Moon Books.

You can buy my books at Treadwell's Bookshop, via Amazon, at the College of Psychic Studies in London and at other bookshops as well as at my author page at publisher Moon Books. Please note I earn commission from advertisers for some links.

Book Review: The Art of the Unknown - A Visual Treasure

2026-09-25T08:00:00.000+01:00

Art has always been one of humanity's most effective ways of depicting the mysterious - of showing experiences and phenomena that cannot easily be defined. The Art of the Unknown - A Visual Treasury of the Esoteric, Uncanny, and Unexplained is a beautiful new book that explores the ways in which artists have done that over the centuries.

To me, art, spirituality, and magic all feel very closely connected and I loved this book, which brings out those themes in a way that's easy to read and gorgeously illustrated. It has the perfect mix of reproduced images and text about them.

The Art of the Unknown is published by Frances Lincoln, an imprint of The Quarto Group, and this is the official description:

Discover how artists across the centuries have explored the unexplainable, documented the impossible and illuminated the dark unknown. What lurks at the edges of human perception? Across time and cultures, artists have found themselves drawn to document encounters with forces and phenomena that defy comprehension, from ghostly manifestations and cosmic energies to twilight realms and parallel dimensions. While science seeks answers, artists illuminate the unknown through intuition, imagination and vision, creating visual records of the esoteric, the uncanny and the unexplainable. The Art of the Unknown brings together nearly 200 artworks that delve into the limits of perception and belief, for example:
• William Blake’s celestial visions

•Léon Spilliaert's mysterious paintings

•Penny Slinger's spectral photographs
•Daniel Martin Diaz’s symbolic diagrams
Uniting historical artists with contemporary creators who continue to push at the boundaries of reality, this book asks: what worlds exist alongside our own – and how do artists give form to what can’t be seen? The Art of the Unknown is an enthralling journey for anyone fascinated by mystery and the esoteric, inviting you to look again at the forces that persist just beyond the threshold of ordinary reality, and to discover how artists have long attempted to make the invisible visible.

Whether you read it from cover to cover, or just dip into it, this book really is a treasury. I know my copy will inspire me in both the art and the magic I create in the future.

You can view The Art of the Unknown on Amazon

(Please note: I earn commission from some links)

About the Author

S. Elizabeth (aka Mlle Ghoul) is a writer, curator, and frill-seeker. She is a columnist for Rue Morgue Magazine, her essays and interviews focusing on esoteric art have appeared in Haute Macabre, Coilhouse, Dirge Magazine, Death and The Maiden, and her occulture blog Unquiet Things, which intersects music, fashion, horror, perfume, and grief. She is the co-creator of The Occult Activity Book Vol 1 and 2. Her books include The Art Of The Occult: A Visual Sourcebook For The Modern Mystic (2020), The Art Of Darkness: A Treasury of the Morbid, Melancholic and Macabre (2022) and The Art of Fantasy: A Visual Sourcebook of all that is unreal (2023). Each work reflects her deep engagement with the weird and the wonderful, blending personal insight with artistic exploration.

Previous Related Posts

https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/08/art-richard-dadd-beyond-bedlam-at-ra.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/06/art-frida-kahlo-day-of-dead-imagery-tate.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/05/pagan-eye-austin-osman-spare-exhibition.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/04/pagan-eye-witch-at-coming-of-age.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/10/art-ronald-hutton-and-sara-hannant-on.html

A Bad Witch's Blog Named Among the Top Witch Sites

2026-09-24T08:00:00.000+01:00

A Bad Witch's Blog has once again been listed among the top 60 Witchcraft blogs worldwide according to Feedspot. This year I'm at number 13, which is lucky enough, but slightly lower than my placing last year. You can find the full list here: https://bloggers.feedspot.com/witchcraft_blogs/

Feedspot ranks the best Witchcraft blogs based on multiple factors, including content relevancy, subject expertise, posting frequency, and freshness of content.

I'm also on the list of top Pagan blogs, but a bit lower down. You can find that here: https://bloggers.feedspot.com/pagan_blogs/?

Feedspot is an RSS Reader that lets you subscribe to blogs, news sites, and any website you want to keep up with.

Manningtree, the Witch Trials, and Folk Stories

2026-09-23T08:00:00.000+01:00

A few days ago, I sat on the bench you can just see in the shadow of the large house and spent a few moments honouring Anne West, Helen Clark, Marian Hocket, and Anne Cooper, who were cruelly treated by Matthew Hopkins, the self-appointed Witchfinder General. The pleasant-looking little village green, high on a hill in South Street, Manningtree, is where the four women were hanged after being accused of witchcraft in 1645. At least, that was what I read on a pdf I downloaded called Walking With Witches.

I was also sititng there waiting for the opening time of Manningtree Museum, just along the high street, which I'd been told was full of information about the 17th Century East Anglian witch trials. When I got to the museum, I learnt that a lot of what I'd just read - and in fact much of what's online about the area's witch persecutions - is conjecture, overly romanticised folk stories, or just fake news.

While it's true those poor women were executed in Manningtree, the site of the gallows wasn't recorded. It might have been there, but more likely was in the old marketplace, which was larger. Nevertheless, South Street is one of the roads where Matthew Hopkins resided. The only other place he is recorded as having lived is the old rectory of Mistley Heath Church. But plenty of other places claim he once dwelt there, especially if they're tourist attractions. It's good for business even if it can't be proven.

While I was at the museum I bought a booklet called Manningtree 'Witch-hunts' - The full facts. It isn't professionally produced, but it was painstakingly researched and put together by a local historian and the Manningtree Museum and Local History Group. The information inside, I was told, is reliably accurate. The group was also behind the plaque you can see in the photo in the middle of this post.

The picture at the bottom shows Old Knobbley, a huge hollow oak which is the second oldest tree in Essex, at around 900 years. I saw it on the Walking with Witches trail. According to legends it was a sanctuary for witches fleeing persecution. As amazing as the tree is, that's almost certainly another bit of romantic storytelling.

I should add that Manningtree is now a really delightful town. It's situated on the Stour and is also famous as part of Constable country. Flatford Mill is about 4 miles away - a pleasant walk along the riverbank.

Witchy Autumn Events Around London & Online

2026-09-22T08:00:00.000+01:00

While many pagans will have celebrated Autumn Equinox last weekend or on September 21, in 2026 it falls on Spetember 23rd astronomically. There are still ways to honour the time of balance from now until the end of the month. Here's a listing of pagan and witchy events in or near London over the next couple of weeks, but I also a few festivals further afield and plenty of things online (bolded) that you can enjoy anywhere.

Now - 25 October; Richard Dadd - Beyond Bedlam exhibition. Venue: Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD Time: 10-6pm every day. Tickets £15. https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/

https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

or email: rainbowawakening1@gmail.com

Tuesday 22 September (every Tuesday); Yoga for Mind, Breath and Body. Venue: Beckenham Place Mansion, Place Park, The Mansion, Beckenham BR3 1SY. Time: 6.15pm. Tickets: £12. https://www.beckenhamplace.org/whatson/

Tuesday 22 September; Learn Morris Dancing. Venue: Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regents Park Road, London, NW1 7AY. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets £10.50 per class, £77 for a term. https://www.efdss.org/

Tuesday 22 September; Beyond the Dream Gateway. Start of 10-session course with Tree Carr. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £290. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Tuesday 22 September; The Templars' Lost Sacred Feminine. Online talk by Helena B. Scott via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £22. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Tuesday 22 September; Meeting Ourselves in Film. Start of 5-session course with Mark Wentworth. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £180. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Tuesday 22 Septembert; 7 Essential Roots For Witches. Online Class with Hannah Sanders via Treadwells Online. Time: 7pm start, delayed viewing available. Tickets: £15. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Tuesday 22 Septembert; Sláine: The Horned God with professional storyteller Jason Buck. Venue: Canal Cafe Theatre, Delamere Terrace, Little Venice, London W2 6NG. Tel: 020 7289 6054. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £18.50. https://canalcafetheatre.com/our-shows/slaine/?

Tuesday 22 September; Scottish Peasants in the Magical Landscape with Julian Goodare. Talk via the Folklore Society online. Time: 7pm. Tickets £6. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-folklore-society-32190494089

Tuesday 22 September; Equinox Special Enfield Town Circle Moot. Venue: Crown and Horsehoes, Horseshoe Lane, Enfield, EN2 6PZ. Time: 7.30pm. https://www.facebook.com/groups/EnfieldTownCircle/

Wednesday 23 September; Autumn Equinox at Stonehenge. English Heritage allows managed free open access to the stones for the sunrise, although the car parking is charged. Access to stones from: 5.15am-8.30am. https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/stonehenge/things-to-do/autumn-equinox/

Wednesday 23 September; Unlock and Manifest Your Abundance. Online class by Abiola Abrams via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 23 September (and other dates); Tea with a Medium. Venue: The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY. Time: 2.30pm Cost £60 https://theatlantisbookshop.com/

Wednesday 23 September; Travel with the Sacred Drum with Heather McDonald. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 6.30pm. Tickets: £45. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 23 September; Autunm Equinox Crossbones Vigil to Honour the Outcast Dead of Crossbones Graveyard, Southwark. Location: Redcross Way, London, SE1 1TA. Time: 6.45pm for 7pm. Free, just turn up You can also view the vigil online. http://crossbones.org.uk

Wednesday 23 September; Tarot Intermediate. Start of 10-session course with Avril Price. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £290. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 23 September; Exploring the Dream Realms. Start of 10-session course with Tree Carr. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £280. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 23 September; Witch Choir with Nicole Bettencourt Coelho. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £15. https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

Wednesday 23 September (every Wednesday); Feeling Sound. Venue: She's Lost Control, 42 Valentine Road, London. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £18. https://sheslostcontrol.co.uk/collections/all-events

Wednesday 23 September (and other dates); Gong Bath. Venue: Akasa, Hackney Wick, London E9. Time: 7pm. Tickets: from £23.46. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/sunita-kaur-34415293427

Thursday 24 and Friday 25 September; Reiki 1 with The Reiki Academy - Claire Hall and Olivia Griesser. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 9.30am. Tickets: £247. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 24September (every Thursday); Midweek Meditation with the College of Psychic Studies. Online event. Time: 3pm. Tickets: free for members/£7.50 non members. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk

Thursday 24 September; Pantheon with Rachel Roberts. Talk and signing, Venue: Watkins Bookshop, 19-21 Cecil Ct, London WC2N 4EZ. Time: 5pm. Free but reserve a place https://www.watkinsbooks.com/events

Thursday 24 September; Drum Circle. Venue: Wicca Moon, 50 Well Hall Road, Eltham SE9. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets £15. https://www.wiccamoonuk.com/shop/ or https://www.facebook.com/wiccamoonuk/

Thursday 24 September; Witch Hunting in Blighty: Then and Now. Talk via Pints of Knowledge. Venue: The Alma, Wandsworth, SW18 1TF. Time: 7pm. Tickets £20.25. https://www.tickettailor.com/events/pintsofknowledge

Thursday 24 September; Develop the Intuitive Mind: Intermediate. Start of 10-session course with Maria Antoniou. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £290. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 24 September; Hookland with David Southwell – In-Person Lecture by David Southwell . Lecture and Soirée with Dr Anna Milon. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £tbc. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Thursday 24 September; Psychometry: Learn to Read Objects. Start of 10-session course with Tia Price. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets: £240. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 24 September; A Journey with Spirit. Start of 10-session course with Gary Wright. Hybrid event via The College of Psychic Studies. In-person Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time: 7.15pm. Tickets: £280. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 24 September (last Thursday every month); Autumn Equinox at Hertford Pagan Moot. Venue: The White Horse Pub, 33 Castle Street, Hertford, Herts SG14 1HH) (45 mins from central London). Time: 8pm. https://www.facebook.com/groups/104788436218047

Thursday 24 September; The Lost Mythology of Celtic Goddesses - Candlelight History with Kim Willis via Seed talks. Online event. Time: 8pm. Tickets from £15. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/seed-talks-online-1262239?

Friday 25 September (and other dates); Drum Birthing Workshop with Lynn Gosney. Venue: Shamanic Centre Caer Corhrain, Minster, Kent. Starts 8.45am. Tickets £225/£250. https://www.facebook.com/shamaniccentrecaercorhrain

Friday 25 September (every Friday); Live Chat hosted by Rachel Patterson, author of Gods and Goddesses of England and the Kitchen Witch series of books. Online event. Time: 9am. Free. https://www.facebook.com/RachelPattersonbooks/

Friday 25 September (and other dates); Shamanic Drumming, Healing and Journeying. Venue: Atlantis Spiritual Centre, Crews Hill, Enfield EN2 9DG. Time 10.30am. Tickets: £11.55. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/110820030781?

Friday 25 - Sunday 27 September; The Rainbow Tribe: Medicine Wheel Festival. Venue: Berkeley farm, Berkeley Farm, Lambourne End, Manor Rd, Essex RM4 1NH , a few miles outside London. Tickets: £75. https://www.aho.community/

Friday 25 September; Festival of Astronomical Ideas. Talk of talks including The Strange Story of Astroarcheology by Professor Ronald Hutton, author of Triumph of the Moon and Blood and Mistletoe, via Gresham College. Venue: Gresham College, Barnard's Inn Hall, Holborn, London EC1N 2HH. Time: 11am. Tickets from free. https://www.gresham.ac.uk/

Friday 25 September; Wild City with Steve Williams and Jon Davies. Talk and signing, Venue: Watkins Bookshop, 19-21 Cecil Ct, London WC2N 4EZ. Time: 5pm. Free but reserve a place https://www.watkinsbooks.com/events

Saturday 26 September; Coffee Morning. Venue: Flopsy Wood, Cock Lane, Hoddesdon EN11 8LS. Time 10am. Reading £10. https://www.facebook.com/HertsEvents

Saturday 26 September; Norfolk Witches and Pagans Autumn Equinox Fayre Hosted by Earth Spirit Events, Venue: Charles Burrell Centre, Thetford. Time: 10:30am - 4pm. Entrance £3 at the door, or purchase tickets at www.earthspiritevents.co.uk

Saturday 26 September; Forest Bathing at West Norwood Cemetery. Meet at West Norwood Cemetery and Crematorium, Norwood Road, London SE27 9JU. Time: 11am. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Saturday 26 September; The Sisterhood of the Rose workshop with Mel Collins. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £130. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 26 September; Inner Child Healing workshop with Giancarlo Serra. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £130. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 26 September; A Journey to Lemuria with Gemma Petherbridge. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £90. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 26 September (and other dates); Crowley Crawl 2026 with Marco Visconti, author of The Aleister Crowley Manual. Venue: London walk. Time: 2pm. Tickets £50, For £70 for walk plus visit to cocktail bar. https://www.marcovisconti.org/events

Saturday 26 September; Psychic Development Workshop. Venue: Wicca Moon, 50 Well Hall Road, Eltham SE9. Time: 2pm. Tickets £30. https://www.wiccamoonuk.com/shop/ or https://www.facebook.com/wiccamoonuk/

Saturday 26 September; Healing the Mother Wound (with Family Constellations) By Emma Hewitt. Venue: FKin Wellbeing Studio, 79 Church Road, London SE19 2TA. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £49.46. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/38061527643?

Saturday 26 September; Woodland Witches Full Moon Ritual with London Woodland Witches and Pagans. Meet at Richmond Park Terrace Gardens (by Holyhock Cafe), Petersham Road, Richmond TW10 6UX. Time: 5.30pm. Free entry, but donations welcome on the day. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/mani-woodland-witch-34325436803 or https://www.facebook.com/PaganFrontiersOfLondon.

Saturday 26 September; Full Moon Celebration with South East London Pagans. Venue: One Tree Hill, Honor Oak, South London. Time: 7pm. Free. https://www.facebook.com/groups/7046502195365834

Saturday 26 September (every full and new moon); Moon Space online event via She's Lost Control. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £15. https://sheslostcontrol.co.uk/collections/all-events

Sunday 27 September; Southwark Hysteries with Maria Beadell of Herstorical Tours. Meet: Green Dragon Court, London SE1. Time: 11am. Tickets: £22.50. https://www.herstoricaltours.co.uk/book

Sunday 27 September; Shamanic Group with Les Fuller. All welcome Venue: Woodford Church at 9 Grove Crescent, South Woodford, London E18 2JR. Time 11am-3pm. Tickets: £10. http://woodfordchurch.com/

Sunday 27 September; Automatic Art and Spirit Communication with Anji Main. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £130. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 27 September; Deep Listening with Blanc Sceol. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 1pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 27 September; Women's Forest Bathing in South Norwood Lake and Grounds. Meet at Sylvan Road, London SE25 4AN. Time: 1pm. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Sunday 27 September; Meeting of Heathen Kindred Blot (was Kith of the Tree and the Well). Venue: The Horseshoe Inn, 26 Melior Street, London SE1 3QP. Time: 1.30pm. Entry £3. https://www.facebook.com/groups/dawnoftheoak/events and https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/113978234531?

Sunday 27 September; Storytelling Sunday: Uncanny, organised by Connection With Wonder. Venue: Love Shack, 299 Cambridge Heath Road, #Arch 298 London E2 9HA. Time: 2pm. Tickets £6.66. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/3858279213?

Sunday 27 September; Live Music and Meditation. Venue: Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, 3 Pilgrim's Place, London NW3 1NG. Time: 7pm. Free, but donations welcome. https://www.rosslynhillchapel.org.uk

Sunday 27 September; Palmistry in Britain and the United States with Joan Navarre . Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Monday 28 September (every other Monday); MHA The Wilderness forest bathing walk (all mobilities welcome). Meet MHA The Wilderness, 17 Shirley Church Road, Croydon CR9 5AL. Time: 11am. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Monday 28 September; Austin Osman Spare: Artist and Visionary with Phil Baker. Venue: Viktor Wynd's Museum of Curiosities, 11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets from £15, includes a cocktail. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-last-tuesday-society-viktor-wynd-museum-33776720489

Monday 28 September; Harvest Full Moon Moon and Autumn Equinox: Moon Circle and Workshop. Venue: Millers Way Project, Miller's Way, London W6 7NH. Time: 7pm. Tickets From £17.50. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/95867879283?

Monday 28 September; Full Moon Gong Bath in the Mansion. Venue: Beckenham Place Mansion, Place Park, The Mansion, Beckenham BR3 1SY. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £35. https://www.beckenhamplace.org/whatson/

Monday 28 September; The History of Greek Mythology and Women with Dr Emily Hauser via Seed Talks. Hybrid event. In-person venue: 21 Soho, 3-5 Sutton Row, London W1D 4NR Time: 7pm. Tickets: from £15. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/seed-talks-in-london-1252979?

Monday 28 September (monthly); Melissa's Tarot Club. Online Workshop via Treadwell's Bookshop, . Time: 7pm. Cost: £15 per person. https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

Monday 28 September (recurring event); Welcome Men's Circle. Venue: Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets: optional donation of £5 - £15. https://rsh.anth.org.uk/whats-on/

Monday 28 September (4th Monday each month); Occult Pop by Jason Atomic. Talk at Nova Stella pagan moot. Hybrid event. In-person venue: The Angel, City Road, London EC1Y 18D. Time: 7.30pm. Entry £5/£6.13. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1472510443017948 or https://www.eventbrite.com/o/120712003251?

Monday 28 September; Rags, Bones, and Other Sacred Objects with Ed Simon. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Monday 28 September (tbc but usually every Monday); Tea With a Druid. Free online event by the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Time 8pm. https://druidry.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/druidry

Tuesday 29 September (every Tuesday); Yoga for Mind, Breath and Body. Venue: Beckenham Place Mansion, Place Park, The Mansion, Beckenham BR3 1SY. Time: 6.15pm. Tickets: £12. https://www.beckenhamplace.org/whatson/

Tuesday 29 September (fortnightly); Writing Group. Venue: Swedenborg House, 20/21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH. Time: 6pm. Tickets free. https://www.swedenborg.org.uk/

Tuesday 29 September; The Absinthe Parlour's 10th Birthday! Venue: Viktor Wynd's Museum of Curiosities, 11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-last-tuesday-society-viktor-wynd-museum-33776720489

Tuesday 29 September; Wisdom of the Mayan Tzolkin Calendar with Tiffany Lazic. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets: £90. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Tuesday 29 September; Hauntology, Lost Futures and Folk Horror via Seed talks. Online event. Time: 7pm. Tickets £15. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/seed-talks-online-1262239?

Tuesday 29 September; The Golden Dawn and the Arts. Talk by Dr Felix Taylor presented by London Fortean Society. Venue: The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street, London, E1 7EX. Door time: 7.30pm. Start time: 8pm Tickets £5.50/£3.30. http://forteanlondon.blogspot.com or https://www.facebook.com/LondonForteanSociety/

Tuesday 29 September; Carl Jung and finding meaning in a living world with Rob Faure Walker. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Thursday 1 October; Finding the Philosopher's Stone. Online talk by Eliza Swann via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £22. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Friday 2 October; The Magic of Obsidian, with Sarah-Jane Jay Venue: The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY. Time: 6.30pm Cost £25 https://theatlantisbookshop.com/

Sunday 4 October; Luck and Plenty workshop. Venue: Crystal Wicca, West Wickham, BR4. Time: 11am. Tickets: £33. https://www.facebook.com/TheCrystalWicca

Sunday 4 October; Mythic London Walking Tour with with Caroline Wise, organised through Treadwells. Meet outside St Mary Le Strand Church, Strand, London WC2R 1ES. Time: 11.20am. Tickets: £35. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Sunday 4 October; Orpington Alternative Market. Venue: The Priory, Church Hill, Orpington. Time: 11am. Free entry. https://www.facebook.com/groups/1335736923852705/

Sunday 4 October; Forest Bathing in Crystal Palace Park. Meet at Sydenham Gate, CP Park, London SE20. Time: 2pm. Free, but parking is paid. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

contact@crystal-manifestations.co.uk for the free Zoom link. Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1514249646502331/?

Sunday 4 October (and other dates); Sister Circle. Venue: Atlantis Spiritual Centre, Crews Hill, Enfield EN2 9DG. Time 6pm. Tickets: £11.55. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/110820030781?

For activities after these dates please visit my events page.

An Equinox Tarot Card for the World: Five of Wands

2026-09-21T08:00:00.000+01:00

As we approach the equinox I drew a card as a reading for the world using the Greenwood Tarot. The Five of Wands revealed itself. The word on it is "Power" and the book that comes with the set gives this definition:

"A fertile or concentrated male energy or drive that needs to be grounded in intent. Raw spiritual power or life force that can be built up or focused for good intent."

But what does that mean at this time of year? The suit of wands is generally associated more with spring than autumn, but of course the southern hemisphere is experiencing the spring equinox, and this is a reading for the entire world.

I live in England, and am sensing autumnal Green Man energy around at the moment. Rain has made the grass grow green again after the summer drought, so there is a feeling of renewal in nature even though we are heading towards the dark time of the year. I was also reminded of a dream I had in autumn many years ago. You can read the entire post here, or this quote from it:

"I dreamt I met the King of the Trees. At first I thought he was wearing a billowing cloak of autumn leaves, but then I realised he was entirely made of leaves. Not a Green Man but a man all gold and brown and crimson, from his face to his feet.
When he spoke, his voice was like the rustling of the leaves in the autumn winds, and this is what he said: 'You call the Oak King and the Holly King two, and set them at war, but I am both and all the changing seasons. There is no conflict.'
Then the wind gusted and the leaves swirled and he was gone, while I drifted further into slumber."

The image on the Five of Wands in the Greenwood Tarot is Cerne Giant, an English chalk hill figure that is thought to date from late Saxon era. The figure possibly represents the earlier Saxon god Heil or Helith, as the nearby abbey was founded at least partly to draw people away from pagan worship of that deity.

How does that reflect on my interpretation of this card? Well, the Christians didn't destroy the hill figure so perhaps this represents religious tolerance, and the focus of male energy towards environmental renewal and preserving all heritage rather than fighting over religious differences.

You can read my earlier post on the new edition of the Greenwood Tarot here.

Other previous related posts
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2020/10/wind-harp-ace-of-air-from-witches.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2022/03/tarot-ace-of-cups-signs-of-new.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/05/a-tarot-reading-for-world-ace-of-wands.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2021/10/wheel-of-year-crafts-preserving-autumn.html

Author Interview: Robin Corak on Goddesses & Writing

2026-09-17T08:00:00.000+01:00

In this post I've chatted to Pagan priestess Robin Corak, continuing my interview series Authors on Their Own Writing:

Q: Out of all that you've written, which is your favorite published work?

A: I have a special relationship with all of the books I have published, but out of the Moon Books publications I've authored I would have to say that Persephone: Practicing the Art of Personal Power is my favourite.

Q: What’s it about?

A: Persephone explores the various versions of the myth of Persephone and how we can learn from her lessons. The book also identifies ways we can work with Persephone on shadow work, communicating with our beloved dead, discernment and self sovereignty. There are guided meditations and hands on activities to assist with this.

Q: Why is it your favourite?

A: I think Persephone holds a special place in my heart because she was my first full book that I wrote but also because I have loved her myth for as long as I can remember. For reasons described in the book, Persephone is one of the first goddesses that I felt a strong connection with and I continue to resonate with her story, particularly as I continue to go deeper and deeper in my work with her as time goes on. In addition, I have had multiple readers tell me this book helped them in various aspects of their lives, which is so meaningful to me as I see my writing, in part, as a service to the deities I work with and to others.

Q: Tell me a bit more about yourself and anything else you’ve written.

A: I've always loved to write but never thought of doing it as a profession until eight years ago. I have a background in non-profit management and was for many years a CEO of a large, social services non-profit organization. Currently, I am retired but still do consulting, training, and coaching on topics such as leadership development diversity, equity and inclusivity, and non-profit management. I am also a certified life and business coach, end-of-life doula, and I present at various pagan conferences nationally and internationally. I live in the San Juan Islands in Washington state with my husband and a cat who thinks she is royalty.

In addition to Persephone, I've written Demeter (Moon Books), Dream Magick (Llewellyn), and Medusa Rising (Llewellyn) the latter of which will be out in December this year. I also recently had an essay and a song published in a new devotional Arianrhod anthology entitled "Silver Wheel", published by Ninth Wave Press.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I am currently working on a book about the nine Muses of Greek mythology which is scheduled to be released in late 2027 or early 2028.

Robin's website can be found here: www.phoenixawenrising.com

You can also reach Robin on social media via Facebook at facebook.com/robincorak or on Instagram at instagram.com/robincorak/

Links to books:

Persphone: Pagan Portals - Persephone from Moon Books
Demeter: Pagan Portals - Demeter from Moon Books
Dream Magick: Dream Magick | Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.
Medusa Rising: Medusa Rising | Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.
Silver Wheel: Silver Wheel: A Devotional Anthology Honor of Arianrhod | Barnes & Noble®

(Please note: I earn commission from some links)

Autumn Equinox Events in & Near London & Online

2026-09-16T08:24:30.179+01:00

The Autumn Equinox, when the day and night are in balance is often celebrated on September 21 in the Pagan Wheel of the Year, although in 2026 it falls on September 23rd astronomically. Whichever date you prefer, there are celebrations from now until the end of the month. Here's a listing of pagan and witchy events in or near London, because that's where I live, but I also a few festivals further afield and plenty of things online (bolded) that you can enjoy anywhere.

Now - 25 October; Richard Dadd - Beyond Bedlam exhibition. Venue: Royal Academy, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London, W1J 0BD Time: 10-6pm every day. Tickets £15. https://www.royalacademy.org.uk/

https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

or email: rainbowawakening1@gmail.com`

Saturday 12 - 16 September. Open House Days. Venue: Swedenborg House, 20/21 Bloomsbury Way, London WC1A 2TH. Time: during opening hours. Tickets free. https://www.swedenborg.org.uk/

Wednesday 16 September; Ganesh Chaturthi Festival. Venue: Wicca Moon, 50 Well Hall Road, Eltham SE9. Time: from 11am. Free, just pop in any time during opening hours. https://www.wiccamoonuk.com/shop/ or https://www.facebook.com/wiccamoonuk/

Wednesday 16 September; Academy of Witchcraft Advanced Course. Start of a Year of Study. Venue: Wicca Moon, 50 Well Hall Road, Eltham SE9. Time: Contact the shop for details. Total cost of the course is £700, or monthly payments of £65 https://www.facebook.com/wiccamoonuk/

Wednesday 16 September; Sacred Gong Meditation with Joe Summerfield Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 7pm. Tickets: £45. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 16 September (every Wednesday); Feeling Sound. Venue: She's Lost Control, 42 Valentine Road, London. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £18. https://sheslostcontrol.co.uk/collections/all-events

Wednesday 16 September; Work with the Ancient Neters of Egypt. Start of 6-session course with Pixie P Carney. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £200. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 16 September; The Aura: Energy, Intuition and Spirit. Start of 2-session course with Sarah-Jane Jay. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 16 September (tbc but usually 3rd Wednesday each month); The More Mead Moot. Venue: The Hope pub, Carshalton, Surrey. Time: 7pm. Free. https://www.facebook.com/Pagan-FutureFests-352385661439366/

Wednesday 16 September; Sister Wounds HERstory Part 1 with Bibi's Circle . Venue: Outdoors if the weather is good, otherwise indoors at Rons Coffee House, Holdrons Arcade 135a, Rye Lane London SE15 4ST. Time: 7pm. Tickets £9.92. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/bibis-circle-56277271483

Wednesday 16 September; Astrological Sound Bath with Nicole Bettencourt Coelho. Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm. Cost: £30 per person. https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

Wednesday 16 September; Mushrooms and the Occult Imagination. Talk by Julian Vayne via Treadwells Online. Time: 7pm start, delayed viewing available. Tickets: £15. https://www.treadwells-london.com/events

Wednesday 16 September; Vampire Epidemics from Mesopotamia to the New World with John Blair. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Thursday 17 September; Old Ways, New Sounds: Folklore, Hauntology and Identity in British Music

By ResearchWorks - Guildhall School of Music and Drama. One-day conference. Venue: Lecture Recital Room, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Silk Street, Barbican, London EC2Y 8DT. Starts 9.30am. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/7588084359?

Thursday 17 September (every Thursday); Midweek Meditation with the College of Psychic Studies. Online event. Time: 3pm. Tickets: free for members/£7.50 non members. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk

Thursday 17 September; The Magical Influence of Roman Egypt. In-Person Talk by Jules McArthur . Venue: Treadwell's Bookshop, 33 Store Street, Bloomsbury London, WC1E 7BS. Time: 7pm. Cost: £10. https://www.treadwells-london.com/ or reserve a place by visiting the shop.

Thursdays 17 September; Your Soul’s Journey: Past and Future Lives. Start of 2-session course with Kim Chestney. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Thursday 17 September; PF London Autum Equinox Open Ritual via Pagan Federation London. Venue: Pirate Castle, Gilbey's Wharf Oval Road NW1 7EA London, UK Time: 7.15pm. Entry £8 for PF members, £10 for non-members (cash only). https://www.facebook.com/groups/pflondon

Friday 18 September (every Friday); Live Chat hosted by Rachel Patterson, author of Gods and Goddesses of England and the Kitchen Witch series of books. Online event. Time: 9am. Free. https://www.facebook.com/RachelPattersonbooks/

Friday 18 September (tbc but usually 1st and 3rd Friday each month); Pagan Portal Podcast by Moon Books. Time: noon (or listen to recording later). Free event. https://open.spotify.com/show/11N4kNj65tTz9NFUcZTMa7?

Friday 18 September; The Alchymical Garden of Michael Foy with Sean Jefferson. Talk and signing, Venue: Watkins Bookshop, 19-21 Cecil Ct, London WC2N 4EZ. Time: 5pm. Free but reserve a place https://www.watkinsbooks.com/events

Friday 18 September (and other dates); Thoth Tarot study group. Free online event. Time: 7pm. https://www.meetup.com/astrotarotkitchen/events/

Friday 18 September; Autumn Equinox Womens Circle Venue: 105 Northumberland Road,

Harrow HA2 7RB. Time 7pm. Tickets: £27.80. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/65070727793?

Friday 18 September (recurring event); Welcome Women's Circle. Venue: Rudolf Steiner House | 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT. Time: 7pm - 9pm. Tickets: optional donation of £5 - £15. https://rsh.anth.org.uk/whats-on/

Friday 18 September; An Evening of Tarot Insights with Avril Price. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 7pm. Tickets: £30. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Friday 18 September (and other dates); Hex and the City Walking Tour with Maria Beadell of Herstorical Tours. Meet: Cowcross St, Farrringdon, London EC1M 6BY. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets: £25. https://www.herstoricaltours.co.uk/

Saturday 19 September Arcadia Festival: Arcadia Full Bloom. Family friendly event. Venue: Stanley Arts, 12 South Norwood Hill, London SE25 6AB. Time 10:30am till 5:30pm. Tickets £20. https://stanleyarts.org/event/arcadia-festival-arcadia-full-bloom/?

Saturday 19 September; Hedge Witches Herbal Kitchen. Venue: Atlantis Spiritual Centre, Crews Hill,

Enfield EN2 9DG. Time 11am. Tickets: £27.80. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/110820030781?

Saturday 19 September; Magical Mediumship workshop with Tony Stockwell. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £130. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 19 September; Autumn Equinox Day Retreat with Cacao and Fire Ceremony plus Gong Bath.nVenue: Private Location near Wandsworth Town/Clapham Junction. Time: 11,45am. Tickets from £48.43. https://www.eventbrite.com/o/7885666957?

Saturday 19 September; Sacred Sweat Lodge Ceremony Celebrating Autumn Equinox. Venue: Shamanic Centre Caer Corhrain Kent. Run by Lynn Gosney. Time: noon start Tickets £30 min donation, email lynn.gosney@hotmail.com for info and to book. https://www.facebook.com/shamaniccentrecaercorhrain/

Saturday 19 September (Saturday closest to the festival); Autumn Equinox at Coldrum Stones with Kent Gorsed. Venue: Coldrum Long Barrow, West Maling, Kent. Time: noon. Free. https://www.facebook.com/kentgorsedd/

Saturday 19 September; The Second Harvest - An Autumn Equinox Gathering. Venue: Cultivate Colindale, Quakers Course, Edgware NW9 5YT. Time: noon start Tickets free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/45400815533?

Saturday 19 September; Shamanic Drumming. Venue: Flopsy Wood, Cock Lane, Hoddesdon EN11 8LS. Time noon. Tickets £20. https://www.facebook.com/HertsEvents

Saturday 19 September;; Practical Magic Tea Party. Venue: Wicca Moon, 50 Well Hall Road, Eltham SE9. Time: from noon. Tickets £30. https://www.wiccamoonuk.com/shop/ or https://www.facebook.com/wiccamoonuk/

Saturday 19 September;; The Second Harvest - An Autumn Equinox Gathering by Wayward as Part of London Design Festival. Venue: Cultivate Colindale, Quakers Course, Edgware NW9 5YT. Time: from noon. Tickets free. https://www.waywardplants.org/events

Saturday 19 September; Connecting the Trees - A Call to Arms. Ritual with South East London Pagans. Venue: Brockwell Park, South London. Time: 12.30pm. Free. https://www.facebook.com/events/998302583233584/?

Saturday 19 September (Saturday closest to the festival); Autumn Equinox free and open Gorsed of Caer Abiri ritual at Avebury stone circle in Wiltshire. Meet at the Red Lion pub from noon for druidic ceremony at 1.30pm. Offering of bread, mead, or Bardic performance always welcomed. Free event, just turn up. https://www.facebook.com/groups/49080749624/

Saturday 19 September; "Rough Magic" fireside story telling for adults for the Autumn Equinox. Venue: Lesnes Abbey Lodge, Abbey, New Rd, London SE2 0AX. Tickets £13.70. Time: 6.30pm. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/10715162746?

Sunday 20 September (closest Sunday to the festival); Pagan Federation Online Autumn Equinox Festival. Starts 10am. Free. https://www.facebook.com/paganfederation/events

Sunday 20 September; TKT Autumn Equinox Nature Connections Walk. Meet at Parliament Hill Bandstand, Hampstead Heath, London NW5 1QR. Time 10:30. Tickets free. https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tkt-autumn-equinox-nature-connections-walk-tickets-2000602273254?

Sunday 20 September; The Violet Light workshop with Joan Osbornel. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £130. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 20 September; Systemic Constellations and Yoga Nidra with Gráinne McAnallen and Andrea Langlois. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 11am. Tickets: £130. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 20 September; Celebrate Autumn Equinox. Venue: Flopsy Wood, Cock Lane, Hoddesdon EN11 8LS. Time: noon. Tickets £20. https://www.facebook.com/HertsEvents

Sunday 20 September (closest Sunday to the festival); Druidic Ritual to celebrate the Autumn Equinox on Primrose Hill with the Loose Association of Druids. Gather in the Hawthorne Grove at Primrose Hill, London, NW1 8YH, at 12.30pm to prepare the site for the ritual at 1pm. Nearest tube: Chalk Farm. Bring a small contribution of food and drink to share. https://www.facebook.com/LooseAssociationOfDruidsOfPrimroseHill

Sunday 20 September; NW Kent Pagans Equinox Ritual. Venue: Coldrum Long Barrow, West Maling, Kent. Time: 1pm. Free. https://www.facebook.com/events/1110371714996877/?

Sunday 20 September (date tbc but usually 3rd Sunday each month); Dawn of the Oak Pagan moot. Venue: Walham Green - JD Wetherspoon, 472 Fulham Rd., London SW6 1BY. Time: 2pm. https://www.facebook.com/groups/dawnoftheoak/

Sunday 20 September (usually closest Sunday to the festival); Autumn Equinox ritual for members of the Woodspirits group. Venue: Highgate, London. Time: 2pm. https://www.facebook.com/groups/4032235040150960

Sunday 20 September; Forest Bathing in South Norwood Lake and Grounds. Meet at Sylvan Road, London SE25 4AN. Time: 1pm. Free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/parkbathe-34393467709

Sunday 20 September (closest Sunday to the festival); Anderida Gorsedd Autumn Equinox open ritual. Venue: Long Man of Wilmington, Wilmington, near Eastbourne, East Sussex. Meet near the car park between 1.30pm and 2pm, walk up to the chalk hill figure at 2pm. Afterwards, the Giants Rest pub. https://www.facebook.com/groups/227609495203/

Sunday 20 September (closest Sunday to the festival); Autumn Equinox Festival. Venue: Flopsy Wood, Cock Lane, Hoddesdon EN11 8LS. Time noon. Entry £20. https://www.facebook.com/HertsEvents

Sunday 20 September; Southwark Hysteries with Maria Beadell of Herstorical Tours. Meet: Green Dragon Court, London SE1 . Time: 3pm. Tickets: £22.50. https://www.herstoricaltours.co.uk/book

Sunday 20 September; Envisioning a Better World - guided meditation outdoors. Venue: Plot 9, Restell Close, London, community. Venue: Plot 9, Restell Close, 143 Maze Hill, London, SE3 7UB. Time: , 3pm – 5pm. https://dandelion.events/o/the-envisioning-community/events?

Sunday 20 September; Equinox Ritual 2026 with London Woodland Witches and Pagans. Meet at Queens woods cafe', 42 Muswell Hill Rd, London N10 3JP, to be led into woods to the ritual spot. Time: 5pm. Tickets £8.30. More info: https://mani.org.uk/ or visit https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/mani-woodland-witch-34325436803

Sunday 20 September (closest Sunday to the festival); Autumn Equinox Wheel of the Year: Pagan Ceremony. Venue: Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, 3 Pilgrim's Place, London NW3 1NG. Time: 7pm. Free, but donations welcome. https://www.rosslynhillchapel.org.uk

Sunday 20 September; Divining the Past, Present, and Future: Oracles Series 2. Start of 4 part series with Marguerite Johnson. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £24.96. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Sunday 20 September; Astrology in Renaissance with Michelle Pfeffer. Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6,59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Monday 21 September; Remote Viewing in Action. Start of 6-session course with Ann Théato. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 8am. Tickets: £200. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Monday 21 September; Bibi's Circle Autunm Equinox. Venue: Outdoors if the weather is good, otherwise indoors at Rons Coffee House, Holdrons Arcade 135a, Rye Lane London SE15 4ST. Time: 6pm. Tickets free. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/bibis-circle-56277271483

Monday 21 September; Autumn Equinox Sound Bath. Venue: Chelsea Physic Garden, 66 Royal Hospital Road, Chelsea, London SW3 4HS. Time: 6pm. Tickets: £25. https://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/visit/whats-on/

Monday 21 September (recurring event); Welcome Men's Circle. Venue: Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets: optional donation of £5 - £15. https://rsh.anth.org.uk/whats-on/

Monday 21 September; Introduction to Horary Astrology: Aspects, Dignities and Debilities with Jadranka Coic via the Astrological Lodge of London. Online event. Starts 6.45pm. Tickets £6/£9. https://astrolodge.co.uk/

Monday 21 September; RIntuition, Decision-Making and Business class with Aude Firmin. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £90. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Monday 21 September; Theosophy. Venue: Rudolf Steiner House, 35 Park Road, London, NW1 6XT. Time: 7pm. Tickets free https://www.meetup.com/rudolf-steiner-spiritual-science/events/

Monday 21 September; The History of Witch Hunts in Europe with Diane Purkiss via Seed talks. Online event. Time: 7pm. Tickets £17 - £26.50. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/cc/seed-talks-online-1262239?

Monday 21 September; Develop the Intuitive Mind: Foundation. Start of 6-session course with Maria Antoniou. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £200. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Monday 21 September; The Healing Power of Colour. Start of 5-session course with Mark Wentworth. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £180. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Monday 21 September; Tarot Foundation. Start of 10-session course with Avril Price. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £280. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Monday 21 September; The Medium's Journey. Start of 10-session course with Gary Wright. Hybrid event via The College of Psychic Studies. In-person Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time: 7.15pm. Tickets: £290. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Monday 21 September; Space and Aura-Cleansing for Spirit Work. Start of 6-session course with Tia Price. Online event via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7.30pm. Tickets: £165. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Monday 21 September; Autism and Past-Life Memory: What We're Learning with James Matlock. Online presentation hosted by the Society for Psychical Research via Zoom. Time: 8pm. Tickets: Free for members/£5 non members. https://www.spr.ac.uk/

Monday 21 September; Freyja: Norse Goddess of Sexuality with Olof Ormika Lindqvist . Talk online via The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities and Last Tuesday Society. Time: 8pm. Tickets ·from £6.59. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-viktor-wynd-museum-amp-the-last-tuesday-society-12203346619

Monday 21 September (tbc but usually every Monday); Tea With a Druid. Free online event by the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids. Time 8pm. https://druidry.org/ or https://www.facebook.com/druidry

Tuesday 22 September; Learn Morris Dancing. Venue: Cecil Sharp House, 2 Regents Park Road, London, NW1 7AY. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets £10.50 per class, £77 for a term. https://www.efdss.org/

Tuesday 22 September; The Templars' Lost Sacred Feminine. Online talk by Helena B. Scott via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £22. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Tuesday 22 Septembert; Sláine: The Horned God with professional storyteller Jason Buck. Venue: Canal Cafe Theatre, Delamere Terrace, Little Venice, London W2 6NG, UK

020 7289 6054. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £18.50. https://canalcafetheatre.com/our-shows/slaine/?

Tuesday 22 September (and other dates); Trippy Tuesdays: Surreal Still Life Drink and Draw with Devil’s Botany. Venue: Viktor Wynd's Museum of Curiosities, 11 Mare Street, London E8 4RP. Time: 7pm. Tickets from £26.20, includes a cocktail. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-last-tuesday-society-viktor-wynd-museum-33776720489

Tuesday 22 September; Equinox Special Enfield Town Circle Moot. Venue: Crown and Horsehoes, Horseshoe Lane, Enfield, EN2 6PZ. Time: 7.30pm. https://www.facebook.com/groups/EnfieldTownCircle/

Wednesday 23 September; Unlock and Manifest Your Abundance. Online class by Abiola Abrams via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Wednesday 23 September (and other dates); Tea with a Medium. Venue: The Atlantis Bookshop, 49a Museum Street, Bloomsbury, London, WC1A 1LY. Time: 2.30pm Cost £60 https://theatlantisbookshop.com/

Wednesday 23 September (and other dates); Gong Bath. Venue: Akasa, Hackney Wick, London E9. Time: 7pm. Tickets: from £23.46. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/sunita-kaur-34415293427

Thursday 24 September; Drum Circle. Venue: Wicca Moon, 50 Well Hall Road, Eltham SE9. Time: 6.30pm. Tickets £15. https://www.wiccamoonuk.com/shop/ or https://www.facebook.com/wiccamoonuk/

Thursday 24 September (tbc but usually last Thursday every month); Hertford Pagan Moot. Venue: The White Horse Pub, 33 Castle Street, Hertford, Herts SG14 1HH) (45 mins from central London). Time: 8pm. https://www.facebook.com/groups/104788436218047

Saturday 26 September; A Journey to Lemuria with Gemma Petherbridge. Online via The College of Psychic Studies. Time: 2pm. Tickets: £90. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Saturday 26 September; Full Moon Celebration with South East London Pagans. Venue: One Tree Hill, Honor Oak, South London. Time: 7pm. Free. https://www.facebook.com/groups/7046502195365834

Saturday 26 September (every full and new moon); Moon Space online event via She's Lost Control. Time: 7pm. Tickets: £15. https://sheslostcontrol.co.uk/collections/all-events

Saturday 26 September (usually 4th Friday or Saturday of the month); Online event via the Folklore Library and Archive. Time: 8pm. Tickets: £tbc. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/o/the-folklore-library-archive-68703440013?

Sunday 27 September; Shamanic Group with Les Fuller. All welcome Venue: Woodford Church at 9 Grove Crescent, South Woodford, London E18 2JR. Time 11am-3pm. Tickets: £10. http://woodfordchurch.com/

Sunday 27 September; Deep Listening with Blanc Sceol. Venue: The College of Psychic Studies, 16 Queensberry Place, London, SW7 2EB. Time 1pm. Tickets: £95. https://www.collegeofpsychicstudies.co.uk/

Sunday 27 September; Live Music and Meditation. Venue: Rosslyn Hill Unitarian Chapel, 3 Pilgrim's Place, London NW3 1NG. Time: 7pm. Free, but donations welcome. https://www.rosslynhillchapel.org.uk

For activities after these dates please visit my events page.

Crafting Dilemma: Was I Wrong to Rip Up a Book?

2026-09-15T08:00:00.000+01:00

I so enjoyed making a junk journal last month that I signed up for an online course to learn more about collaging with scrap paper. The photo at the top shows one I made. The course was with Catherine Rains. It consisted of 5 video classes over 10 days showing how to turn scraps of paper into material suitable for a work of art, then how to put them together into pictures.

The paper includes things you might have around the house like magazines, tissue paper, and regular white paper, but also old books. I admit to having a twinge of conscience over using that last thing as part of the project. Going through my shelves I found a very tatty book of psalms and common prayers from my school days. It was decades old and falling apart, I have no personal attachment to it as I've never been a member of the Church of England and I'm now Pagan.

But, despite all that and the fact that the book isn't rare and no charity shop would want it, it still felt sacrilegious to destroy any book, let alone one connected to any spiritial path. I got over my qualms and tore out pages, painted them, ripped them up, and glued patches as part of the collage.

What do you think? Should I have tried to find a different book? Is it wrong to destroy any book just for the sake of art?

Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts.

Other previous related posts

https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/07/upcycling-crafts-pretty-paper-hand-fan.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/03/upcycling-crafts-paper-flowers-from.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/04/craft-slow-stitch-scraps-and-scents-egg.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2025/01/rounding-year-time-to-start-new-journal.html

Pagan Eye: Launch of Magick at Word on the Water

2026-09-14T08:00:00.000+01:00

Here's a photo of Dr Thomas Waters at the launch of his new book Magick: Decoding the Visual Culture of Spells, Illusions and Psychic Powers. The event took place last week at the lovely bookshop on a boat, Word on the Water, moored at Regent's Canal Towpath, London N1C 4LW.

The photo was kindly sent to me by Cathy O'Sullivan, who works at publisher Thames and Hudson. I'd hoped to be at the launch myself, but when I got to my local station I discovered all trains into the city were cancelled due to animals on the track - something a little unusual in London. I'm nevertheless hoping to read a copy of Magick sometimes soon and post a review.

The book is available via publisher Thames and Hudson's website

You can also view Magick on Amazon.

(Please note I earn commission from some links)

Other previous related posts
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2019/10/review-cursed-britain-history-of.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/08/pagan-eye-one-of-few-apples-of-this.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/06/pagan-eye-river-god-father-thames-in.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/05/pagan-eye-austin-osman-spare-exhibition.html
https://www.badwitch.co.uk/2026/04/pagan-eye-witch-at-coming-of-age.html

Author Interview: Kim Gardner & the Autumn Goddess

2026-09-11T08:00:00.000+01:00

I've chatted to High Priestess Kim Gardner, continuing my interview series Authors on Their Own Writing. Kim talks about her new book, Carpo, and her personal journey of healing trauma through working with the goddess of autumn, ripening, and empowerment:

Q: Out of all that you've written, which is your favorite published work?

A: Without hesitation, it’s my work on Carpo.

Every writer has pieces they are proud of intellectually, frameworks that are airtight, arguments that are sharp, prose that does its job. But Carpo is different. It’s the work where I stopped writing from behind a professional shield and put my actual heartbeat onto the page. It wasn't built from detached analysis. It was pulled straight out of lived survival, meaning it asked far more of me than anything else I've ever put into print.

Q: What’s it about?

A: On the surface, the book traces the mythic footprint of Carpo, one of the ancient Greek Horae who presided over autumn, the harvest, and the quiet ripening of the earth. In mythology, autumn isn’t merely about abundance, it is the season of descent, of turning inward, of shedding what cannot survive the coming winter.

Beneath that archetypal frame, however, the book is a deeply intimate chronicle of walking through the terrain of Complex PTSD and ADHD.

Trauma fragments our relationship with time and safety. Neurodivergence often makes a rigid world feel like a constant friction burn. For years, living at that intersection felt like carrying an invisible storm. Carpo became my way of making sense of that storm. The book explores what happens when we stop treating our wounds and neurodivergent brains as deficits to outrun, and instead approach them through the lens of ripening, recognizing that true healing isn't linear, that gathering our fragmented pieces takes its own season, and that genuine self-reclamation only happens when we learn to sit with our hardest truths without turning away.

Q: Why is it your favourite?

A: Because there was nowhere left to hide, and that terrifying exposure became my greatest source of freedom.

In my professional life, competence is often measured by control, poise, and having the answers. Writing Carpo demanded the exact opposite. It forced me to strip away every polished layer of defense and speak candidly about dissociation, emotional dysregulation, hypervigilance, and the profound exhaustion of masking just to get through a day.

It is my favourite because it turned private grief and internal chaos into tangible medicine. When you take the experiences that made you feel most isolated and broken, lay them bare, and discover they resonate as a roadmap for someone else’s healing, the pain transforms. It gave purpose to every dark corridor I had to walk through.

Q: Tell me a bit more about yourself and anything else you’ve written.

A: My life and craft exist at a crossroads where organizational discipline meets deep, unvarnished human truth.

Professionally, I’ve spent over two decades in human resources and strategic leadership, stepping into complex, high stakes environments to untangle organisational knots. My work focuses on building cultures rooted in psychological safety, operational clarity, and accountability. I help leaders bridge the painful divides between field reality and executive intention. Much of my writing in that space explores the hidden drag on human potential: the silent friction, unaddressed conflict, and organizational latency that stall execution.

Yet the older I get, the clearer it becomes that we never leave our humanity at the office door. I recently published a book exploring precisely this dynamic: the quiet, pervasive ways our unexamined life experiences, developmental wounds, and survival strategies follow us straight into boardrooms, project sites, and team dynamics. We often disguise our trauma responses as perfectionism, hyper-independence, or conflict avoidance, wondering why our work environments burn us out. My writing aims to give people the language to see those mirrors clearly, bridging the gap between internal self-awareness and how we actually lead and collaborate in the real world.

Q: What are you working on now?

A: I’m currently writing the natural continuation of this seasonal journey: a book centered on Thallo, the goddess of spring, blossoming, and Carpo’s mythic sister.

If Carpo represents the autumn work, the descent into the soil, facing the shadows, gathering the harvest, and learning how to endure the pruning, Thallo is about what happens when life insists on returning. It explores the vulnerability of breaking through the frozen ground, navigating the tender uncertainty of renewal, and stepping boldly into bloom after trauma. It’s an exploration of emergent potential. It is about what it takes to stop merely surviving the winter, and instead learn how to inhabit your full, vibrant expansion.

Carpo is published by Moon Books in the Pagan Portals series, and you can find the details here. It's due to reach shops in November but can be pre-ordered now.

You can also view Carpo on Amazon.

(Please note: I earn commission from some links)

Book Review: Dragons of The Deep, Origins & Lore

2026-09-10T08:00:00.000+01:00

Dragons are the most iconic of fantastic creatures, found in mythology and folktales all over the world. A new book, Dragons of The Deep, takes a dive into these stories. It examines the ways in which these giant reptiles have symbolised everything from danger to protection, from harm to healing, and of course magic and power.

Author Dave Stone explores various theories about why dragons are so ubiquitous in legends and lore, despite never having existed except in human imagination and mysticism.

Here's the synopsis from publisher Moon Books' website:

"Dragons of The Deep investigates dragon myths and legends from Ireland, Scotland and across the globe, seeking to untangle their mythological threads. Seeding folkloric tales and ancient myths with a wealth of information, this book details various dragon cults, revealing that serpent and dragon worship were indistinguishable but follow similar tropes wherever they're found, proposing that the dragon is, perhaps, most iconically linked to the worship of water and, in turn with ancient animist worldviews. Dragons of The Deep addresses the reasons the dragon motif, as a uniting motif, speaks to us - not only as people borne by different tribal movements but also as a common humanity - exploring its relevance in today’s fast-paced, changing world."

This is a well researched and thought-provoking book about ancient mysteries and the wisdom. Dave Stone ends by pointing out that nowadays the dragon has become a symbol of the Earth and the environment. We can tap into that power to bring about magical change.

About the Author

Dave Stone runs a small craft business carving stone and has researched the historical and mythological subject matter from which he takes inspiration. You can find him on Instagram @stonemadcrafts. He also self-published a books titled Celtic Gods and Goddesses and Faeries of the Celtic Realms.

You can view Dragons of The Deep on Amazon.

(Please note: I earn commission from some links)