The Little Book of Ancient Charms

Author: T. F. Thisleton-Dyer

ISBN: 1901163067

This book is indeed little, being only 36 pages.  It was written in 1878 and is currently published by Oakleaf Books, in a very rough and ready manner.   The typeface is a little small for these tired eyes, but it was still an enjoyable little read.

The book covers charms for various medical conditions, as found across the British Isles.   There is a small selection of remedies given for each malady.  One particular favourite is the use of the actual hair of the dog to counteract intoxication which has been replaced, in modern times, with the imbibing of more of the alcohol that caused the complaint in the first instance.

There are footnotes should the reader wish to investigate further, but these lack detail and there is no bibliography.  

A charming read.

Rating: 3½/5. 

Magician's Law: Tales of the Bard

Author: Michael Scott
ISBN: 0722177755 / 9780722177754

I started reading this book on the flight to Australia a few months ago, and finally finished it last weekend, having read it piecemeal.

The book tells the tale of Paedur, who has risen to the status of legend, through the ages and his work to restore the "Old Faith" against an incomer which has grown in size rapidly. Mannam, the Lord of the Dead, assigns Paedur the task of keeping the Old Faith alive through his work as a bard, telling the myths and expanding the knowledge of the old gods. As they are want to do, the gods assign Paedur a further task ... a dangerous undertaking.

The author borrows from the myths of a few cultures, though the Irish seems most apparent, and creates his own world, peoples, cultures, myths, legends and religions. On reading the pantheon at the front of the book, the reader might feel overwhelmed, but as the tales unfold the names slip easily into place.

The book was written such that, although I picked it up and put it down often, the characters and the tale stuck in my mind. The action builds relatively quickly and there are several peaks, arriving at the last sequence with relative ease. You can feel yourself drift into the action and these other worlds. There was only one small quibble and that was my imagination was stifled (a smidge) by some overly descriptive passages, especially in the last few sequences, when it made the story feel a little stilted instead of racing (on a smooth track) to the end. I suspect, however, this won't bother most readers.

I hope to read the sequels, "Demon's Law" and "Death's Law" before the end of the year, that is if I can obtain them through one of the book swapping sites.

Rating: 4/5.

The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Author: J.K. Rowling

ISBN: 9780747599876

Have just read it tonight, having received in the post this evening. I liked it. It reminded me of the fairy tales of my childhood, of which I still have very fond memories and, occasionally, still read from time to time. “The Fountain of Fair Fortune” is currently my favourite, but that may change over the course of several readings.

I like the drawings Rowling has done to accompany the tales, as the remind me of those I had in my big book of fairy tales as a child; only one or two black and white pencil drawings for each tale - perfect. The writing is simple, easy to understand and lends itself well to reading out loud. Fantastic bed time stories, even the scary one.

I thought I recognised shades of other stories in the tales, but, overall, I believe they are original, given the main characters all work magic, rather than the magical characters acting as mere catalysts in conventional folk stories.

Unusually, I had only two problems with this wonderful, little, blue, hardback book: the notes from Dumbledore on the morals in each tale and the footnotes within those.

If you wanted to read fairy tales to a child, you would just read them to your child, who would absorb the lesson without realising it, and, though its possible with this book to do that, if you try to flick past the pages of notes, I’m sure a child will pipe up that your missing bits of the story. Whereas the tales are simply written, like all good fairty tales, the notes are not, as JK has given them the air of Dumbledore rendering them a bit academic in tone, which I think makes them uninteresting to the very young.

Still, its a well designed book and, if were I to win the lottery, I’d try to buy the leatherbound version as a family treasure; just as I have kept the large volume of fairy tales I was given in childhood.

One of the best things about the book is that £1.61 from every copy will go to the Children’s High Level Group - a charity. Even without that, its worth buying.

Rating: 4½/5.

Penelope

Saw this on DVD last week and was pleasantly surprised. All I knew about the movie was that it was about a young woman with a pig's face. I vaguely recalled seeing interviews (around the time it was released at the cinema) wherein Reese Witherspoon talked about its message as one of self-acceptance.

So, I sat down to watch it. The first thing I liked was there were no previews or adverts, the DVD going straight to the main menu. I selected play and an old-fashioned fairy tale started. Christina Ricci starts in voice over mode about her ancestors and the curse they brought upon themselves and their descendants, wherein the first born girl to the family would have the face of a pig and only the love of one of her own kind would set her free.

And, so we go along several generations of boys until we reach Penelope. In her attempts to marry off Penelope, the mother (Catherin O'Hara) enlists the help of a matchmaker (Ronni Ancona) to find blue bloods to help lift the curse. Penelope stays behind a window and interviews them, showing herself at the last only to have the chaps run away screaming, wherein the Butler chases after them and gags them.

That is, until Edward escapes ...

The movie is very sweet, without being sickly. The costumes are amazing as are the sets, although everything is rather eclectic, including the accents with a mix of American and British casting and scenery. I have to give kudos to the prosthetics department, who disfigured Penelope so beautifully - she really is cute (in its original definition of ugly but attractive).

Overall, Penelope has a sumptuous feel and, despite the curse, the witch is not altogether berated for her actions, in fact, the witch comes of pretty justified in the end. So, not exactly bad PR for wtiches, which goes against the usual fairytale stories.

The technical aspects are rather good: cinemaphotography is beautiful, set and constume design luxurious, the lighting is soft complementing the harshnes of the storyline. The only exceptions were some very minor continuity issues, the odd accent slip and some sloppy voicing pick-ups in post-production.

Its an enjoyable movie and I have already watched it twice and its hard to find fault.

Rating: 5/5.

Explore Mythology

Author: Bob Trubshaw
ISBN: 1872833621

For anyone outside of academia who wishes to learn about myths and/or mythology this is an amazing introductory book with which to start. I am so glad I purchased this book and so upset that I didn't read it the moment it arrived. I could have saved myself an awful lot time, energy and misunderstanding.

The book should have been subtitled: "Explore and challenge your understanding of myth". I have never had to many of my personal ideas challenged and changed by one book! Like most people, I normally have an aversion to my beliefs and ideals being challenged; it can be disconcerting. Mr Trubshaw makes the whole experience enjoyable by allowing you to think. He doesn't say "this is how it is" or "this is how you do it", but, rather, have you considered looking at it from over here? In other words, he positively encourages you to step into the shoes of another, be they from the ancient past or living just across the border from you. I revelled in the experience, oft times speed-reading through the chapters as I immersed myself in Mr Trubshaws words, changing my thoughts as I went.

I did have to slow my reading down, though, as I felt I was missing some very important points. Never have I learned so much, so quickly from so little. As Mr Trubshaw explains, once or twice, this book could have been so much larger; the range of topics could have been so much broader. As it is, this is a lovely little taster that will have you begging for more. Luckily, Mr Trubshaw has provided an extensive bibliography so the reader can follow up any of the ideas explored in the book. He also has a wonderful website dedicated to folklore, mythology, cultural studies and related disciplines - foamy custard.

Having read all but the last chapter (will finish it tonight), I now understand why I was having so much difficulty reading various myths from other cultures - I forgot that my mind was shaped by the cultural myths of the westernised society in which I live. Thanks to Mr Trubshaw, I can approach matters of time, sacred places, mindscapes, liminal space and my own cultural bias from hitherto unknown angles. I actually have a way of gaining insight into the meaning behind the myths of Ireland, Wales and Britain, whereas I had previously been struggling to gain even a toe hold.

I would encourage everyone to read this book and explore the foamy custard website. Why? So much of what Bob Trubshaw writes is relevant to day-to-day living. Having an understanding of the nature of politics, religion, the media, and the society in which we live and how these shape our personal myths, regardless of whether we live in a secular society or not, can enrich our understanding of our own values and, I believe, improve our quality of life.

Take the time to read this book. Although it can be used as a reference for all sorts of studies, it is probably be best read cover-to-cover in the first instance. Its not a hard book to read - Mr Trubshaw having simplified complex ideas so the reader may gain a tentative footing before embarking on an intense exploration.

I will certainly be looking at other titles by Bob Trubshaw, including his Explore Folklore. Oh, and if you do find this book refreshingly different and exciting, check out other titles published by Heart of Albion Press.

The Kilmartin Sessions: The Sounds of Ancient Scotland

I bought this CD at the same time I purchased "Compositions of Stone" from The Megalithic Portal. At first, I hated it and, in fact, it has sat indoors not being played at all. I found it rather grating.

However, I grabbed it by accident on my way out the door on my way to work. It was all I had in the car, so I played it and I have to admit it wasn't how I remembered. Now, either the brownies have been moving things in my house again, or I was in a strange mood when I first heard it.

It is a mix of strange musical combinations, but this is because the musicians use original and/or reconstructed instrumentswhich, although odd to modern ears, our ancestors would have been familiar. Instruments such as the 2,000 year old Caprington horn, the carnyx (the Carnyx was a long Celtic drone instrument made of beaten bronze and held vertically so that the sound travels from more than four metres above the ground. It was known through much of Europe from about 200BC to 200AD and was widely depicted, notably on the Gundestrup bowl which shows three carnyxes being played simultaneously. The end of the instrument is in the form of a wild boar's head, and it has a movable tongue and lower jaw!), and bird-bone flutes.

The CD is divided into six sections: Bones and Stones, Skin and Bone, Horn and Bronze, the Bronze Age Orchestra, The Sound of Battle (which is where the carnyx is heard), Hearing Pictish Stones, and the Cry of Prayer. Its certainly not your usual compilation of music! Some of the tracks sounds very similar, but this does not detract from the allure of the CD. Listening to it, I find myself being transported to other places. For reasons of safety, I have had to remove it from my car to be replaced by more conventional music. ;)

The CD is a project of the Kilmartin House Museum, which is an award winning world-class centre for archaeology and landscape interpretation established to protect, investigage and interpret the more than 350 ancient monuments within a six-mile radius of the village of Kilmartin, Argyll: 150 of which are prehistoric. I am not sure if funds from the sale of this CD contribute towards their fund-raising, but I hope so.

If you have a chance, do go and get a copy of this CD - it amazing!

The Art and Practice of Creative Visualization

Author: Ophiel
ISBN-10: 1578630010
ISBN-13: 978-1578630011

This book is a great introduction to the techniques of creative visualization. It is set out in a workbook format, though the majority of the practical exercises are given in the last chapters. The author does repeat himself, though he does give a valid reason for so doing.

I would recommend starting the exercises in the earlier chapter as soon as you read it. If you have an aversion to ceremonial magic, you may find the exercises a little annoying, but, for the purposes of progressing, work through the practice visualizations as given. This is only a starting point and the author gives symbols which are quite easy to start with, regardless of their purpose.

I can highly recommend this book to anyone wishing to undertake basic work in the occult arts. The author helps to de-mystify what is an awkward, esoteric subject to teach.

Solstice at Stonewylde

I managed to get an advanced, autographed copy of this book from the author Kit Berry at last weekend's Halloween Festival (before I fell ill).

The story of Sylvie, Yul, the Magus and the community continues in this the third book of the Stonewylde series. This third book does wind up the major plot line involving the three main characters, but still leaves some questions which will allow for the next two books. I expect I will read these in one sitting, as I did with the first three novels.

Kit Berry is certainly a talented writer, allowing the reader to revel in the atmosphere of the Stonewylde community for a few blissful moments before taking up the narrative. The author also has the knack of being able to provide a backstory simply, and almost subtlely thus allowing the reader to understand the behaviour of certain characters without the need for long explanatory notes by the author. This allows the storyline to continue at a cracking pace.

There are some developments in this book that may leave a few readers disturbed, certainly I did a bit of skimming over the sections when Sylvie is in the rooms of the Magus - not because the writing was lacking, but because the situation was more than a little uncomfortable and given that I had guessed a certain "twist", it made it even harder to read. It might not affect all readers this way, but it did me.

I still have the same small personal quibbles I did when I read the first two books: I don't agree with the supposed "ancient" nature of the festivals used by the Stonewylde community, given they are based on wic(c)an beliefs, but this won't be a bother to 99% of the people who read these books; and there are some unanswered questions left, though this time the main plot has resolved itself and the reader is not left on a cliffhanger. Mind you, the latter is placated by a note from the author at the back of the paperback copy - there are more books in the series.

The books are aimed at the young adult market, but don't let that fool you. Adults of all ages will derive enjoyment from this book, just as the first two. Certainly, the Stonewylde community is pagan, but readers of all denominations will still revel in the community and characters that Kit has created.

Go out and read all three books: "The Magus of Stonewylde"; "Moondance at Stonewylde" and "Solstice at Stonewylde". You won't be disappointed.