The Starry Cave

A Review of: Graham King: The British Book of Spells and Charms . Troy Books (2016) This compilation of spells and charms is a treasure-trove in two senses. Firstly by being a compilation of spells and charms covering all possible areas, it be about curing animals, love charms, protective charms and spells or for healing.  In this way it serves as both preserving legacy and also invite in inspiration for how to deal with particular issues grounded in traditional folk magic. Secondly the treasure in this little book is found in the spread of spells and charms from the use of Solomonic elements and practical contemporary use exemplified in spells to bring misfortune to Hitler during the WWII there is also an impressive timeline here that embraces spells and charms dating back to the 9 th Century and up to WWII, this spread across this timeline is in itself something that makes the book impressive as it allows us to see consistency and difference across time and place a...

A Review of ‘ Cypriana: Old World ’ Edited by Alexander Cummins, Jesse Hathaway Diaz & Jennifer Zahrt,   Rubedo Press,2016 This anthology rests on two key texts, the first essay in the anthology which is a translation of Book 1 of the Acts of Saint Cyprian and Saint Justine dating to 450 CE. It is a remarkable text in many ways and as the translator, Matthew Barclay, comments: “(it is) giving us a glimpse into the marketplace of occult services that existed in the ancient world.” Not only this, in being the earliest account of St. Cyprian and his conversion, giving ample room to Saint Justina, it naturally served as an influence and inspiration for other hagiographic renderings through The Golden Legend and to the Faustbooks and Cyprians of Scandinavia and Iberia. The dynamic of interaction, the very inconsistency that has moved the ‘Cyprianic Tradition’ is well discussed in  Alexander Cummins key article, ’ In the Manner of Saint Cyprian’ that uses the litt...

My book about Ifá is finally out – and yes I say, finally. This book took around two years to compose and nearly the same amount of time with the wonderful Peter and Alkistis at Scarlet Imprint to manifest in the form of ink, paper and talismanic design. It could not have been in any other way. Ifá deems patience as a virtue that lies at the root of blessings and in this nearly 1500 day project patience have been the virtue of writer and publisher alike. And speaking of patience, I met the Araba Olayinka Babatunde Ogunsina Adewuyi for the first time in 2003 and shortly after I started study traditional Ifá with this sage and it was only a good decade later I felt I had some sort of idea of the complexities of Ifá sufficient to write a book about this traditional African philosophy.  Prior to this I went to Cuba and made Ifá there as well, but it was traditional Ifá that captivated me, because here I found philosophy and here I found tradition expressed in a timeless ...

Today on the feast day of St. Cyprian and Sta. Justina on the 26 th of September Sacred Alchemy Store is offering St. Cyprian of the Black Cat Bone as our offering in honor of this enigmatic and precious saint, patron of necromancy and one of many saints dressing well the garments of folk Catholicism.  The charge has been made in the course of the nine days of Cyprian, prayers to the left and to the right along with anointments and fumigations at midday and midnight hath been done to bring in the Sun at midday and the Sun at midnight to enforce the feline sorcerous juices resting within this icon balancing the Sun both white and black equally. And in truth the black cat bone is not a metaphor here, but the nail that serves as the axis for this sorcerous offering and carried within the saint.   St. Cyprian is amongst those powers that those of us from the old persuasion might deem a ‘witchcraft saint’, a terminology that tend to generate a great deal of resistance...

A review of Nigel G. Pearson: The Devil’s Plantation (Troy Books. 2015) “Traditional Witchcraft” is gradually being turned into a catch all phrase for any folk tradition believed to be non-wiccan witchcraft, a label adopted by anyone believing themselves to work in a traditional way or set out to create their own traditions. A part of me aches seeing this, another part of me just turn a blind eye to it all because after all I am not the keeper of my brother and certainly not the watchdog of tradition. Good books about what we understand as ‘traditional witchcraft’ are few and rare largely because those truly involved in the witching ways are rarely interested in speaking about their art and craft directly and even more so when we are speaking of publications like a book speaking about the art and craft. The lack of good books on the craft makes a book like Nigel’s The Devil’s Plantation a joy to behold and read. It is a book breaching this field between sharing and keep s...

The monkey skillfully climbing a tree and jumping from treetop to treetop using the environment to its advantage like a parkour artist is something we expect to witness. To see the very same monkey fall to the ground in its acrobatic mastery calls upon shock, laughter, bewilderment and what not. When I witnessed this a few days ago in my own wood clad backyard I didn’t knew what to think really except for a brief internal dialogue consisting in ‘how on earth was that possible’ and sitting there watching the monkey getting up on its feet and disappear in the foliage I stayed there puzzled wondering about this whole event, thoughts I wanted to share as this bizarre incident of a falling monkey triggered a bounty of reflections. Witnessing the monkey falling from the tree a judgment occurs, instinctively and reactionary where a form of certainty concerning the reasons of the monkeys fall is established in the matter of seconds, a judgment born from preexisting learning and the...

In this article I will try to answer some questions concerning Quimbanda that surfaces with frequency. Questions concerning how to work this cult solitary and somehow dislocated from the cultural climate of understanding here in Brazil are frequently asked as are questions concerning the magical tools, such as guias, patuás and statues, available to the general public. I want to be initiated in Quimbanda, how do I proceed with that? When we speak of initiation in the perspective of Quimbanda we are speaking of a true and intense merging with spirit that involves a pact/agreement, a spirit vessel (assentamento), ordeal and oath. There are elements used in this process that are common to every house/terreiro/cabula/lineage of Quimbanda that reveals a common origin. There are different varieties of Quimbanda in Brazil, and the expression of the common root, will always depend of the constellation of spirits we find in the tronco. In other words, a ‘Casa de Exu’ that is dominated...