Here's a list of events for pagans, witches and those with similar interests over the next week or so. I generally include things in the UK, especially in or near London, as well as online talks and workshops, but some are further afield. If you know an event you want included, please email me at badwitch1234@gmail.com Now to Saturday 17 June, Two exhibitions: Animal Guising and the Kentish Hooden Horse; Discovering a Bronze Age Hoard. Both exhibitions are at Maidstone Museum, St. Faith's Street, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1LH. Free entry. https://museum.maidstone.gov.uk/ Now to 10 J ..read more

The City of London is more famous for its buildings than places where grass, flowers and trees grow, but it has some green spaces - or perhaps more pink spaces at the moment. The pictures top and middle show cherry trees in blossom at Aldgate Square and I took them on Saturday morning on my way to an event.  On one side are towering modern office blocks and on the other the church of St Botolph-without-Aldgate. The square also has a central lawn and raised plant beds. There are places to sit, a water feature and a drinking water fountain. It was redesigned in 2018 to be a more p ..read more

If someone was to ask me what book I'd recommend for anyone wanting a great introduction to paganism from ancient times to the present day, I'd say this book. Pagans: The Visual Culture of Pagan Myths, Legends and Rituals is officially published in April, but I was lucky to be sent an advance copy to review.  As soon as it arrived I started reading it. That's actually unusual - I have a big pile of books waiting to be read for review purposes - but this appealed to me. It's a beautiful hardcover with lots of illustrations throughout that made me want to delve inside. Pictures don't alway ..read more

My husband signed up for Google Bard, one of the AI text generating tools that's been made available for people to use. He tested it by asking it to write my biography. What it came up with was rather a poor effort. Here's what it said: "Lucya Starza is an eclectic witch living in London. She is the author of Pagan Portals - Candle Magic, Pagan Portals - Poppets and Magical Dolls and Pagan Portals - Guided Visualisations. She also edited the community book Every Day Magic - A Pagan Book of Days. "She was born in Poland in 1964 and grew up in a family where fortune telling and divination, as ..read more

These three plushy soft toys in the photo above might not be the classic witch's familiars, but they've all been my companions in my witchy room for some time. The little mouse in the middle has certainly helped me in my magic in the past.  She now has a new hat, made by me, as well as her broomstick and book of spells. I feel she deserved it. I found the witch mouse doll in a charity shop a few years ago, but she had nothing on her head except a patch where something once glued there had plainly fallen off (pictured right). Seeing as this year one of my resolutions is to do some ..read more

Here's a list of events for pagans, witches and those with similar interests over the next week or so. I generally include things in the UK, especially in or near London, as well as online talks and workshops, but some are further afield. If you know an event you want included, please email me at badwitch1234@gmail.com Now to Saturday 17 June, Two exhibitions: Animal Guising and the Kentish Hooden Horse; Discovering a Bronze Age Hoard. Both exhibitions are at Maidstone Museum, St. Faith's Street, Maidstone, Kent, ME14 1LH. Free entry. https://museum.maidstone.gov.uk/ Now to 23 Ma ..read more

I don't think I'm alone in feeling that London's Underground system is a mysterious realm full of occult significance as well as being a highly practical form of public transport. The Tube, as it's called, has inspired fantasy literature including Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman and Whispers Under Ground by Ben Aaronovitch. It has also prompted psychogeographical writing such as 'In Defence of the Underground' by Doris Lessing, and Jini Reddy's magical quest Wanderland. In fact, the labyrinth artwork at Warren Street Underground station, (pictured above and right) is where Jini's book started. I'v ..read more

Here's an excerpt from How to Become a Modern Magus by Don Webb, about attracting Wyrd things into one's life: Magic Versus Sorcery In modern occultism there are two approaches (just as there were in late antiquity). In late antiquity there was sorcery (goetēia) and magic (theurgia). The first is a procedure for power, such as “Sprinkle the leaves of this herb in your target’s footprints on the day of Venus at the time of the waxing moon and she will offer herself to you.” The procedure required nothing but exactitude from the sorcerer and could be taught to, or practiced by, anyone. No expla ..read more

The blackthorn is in blossom where I live and I photographed the little white flowers you can see above on a tree growing by the side of a south London street I was walking down. Blackthorn blossom is among the first to appear, before that of hawthorn, and does so before leaves can be seen. It provides early nectar and pollen for bees and other insects as well as being a sign that spring is on the way. The tree is strongly connected to witchcraft. Blackthorn wood is traditionally used to make wands and blasting rods for protection magic. The branches have long thorns on them. One example of ..read more

Here's an extract from the book Living In The Magical Mode by Phil Smith, published by Triarchy Press. When he offered me the extract, Phil said: "I’m trying to find things out about ways of living, by listening to and speaking in many voices, looking through many eyes, imagining multiple bodies.". This extract is about a strange experience during an archaeological investigation of a bomb shelter. Enjoy! Midsummer Night’s Report from the Chair (part two) For all the excitement around the upended yew under the department store, the implications of what was revealed in the second bomb shelter w ..read more