It was yet another wild, wet and windy evening as storm Kathleen is on its way. Cassandra, Lorna and I began setting up at the village hall.   Cassandra kindly volunteered for wine and chocolate truffle duty Lorna from The Healing Star is good at making her stall look inviting.  Then people began to arrive… Speaking about my time as an Apprentice of the Old Craft is easy, as there are so many aspects to this work, it is a subject one could speak about for hours. Many think about the magical aspect, but you are also tested in many ways, physically, mentally and emotionally. This ..read more

The twelfth of March was an auspicious day when the second part of my life journey was released. It takes a huge amount of time and effort from an author as well as their publishing company to produce a book. When the day of completion eventually arrives it feels rather surreal! I was delighted that Blake and Wycke Malliway from Crossed Crow Books were in the area from Chicago and arranged to join me for this event. Their excitable energy and infectious smiles lift the spirits of those around them. It is a pleasure to be in their company. Lorna who owns the Healing Star in Penzance has been ..read more

Image – Kresen Kernow Archive Centre Today Cassandra and I were invited by Alice Howard to attend a concert performed by children from four primary schools in Redruth. Attending school concerts was once a regular occurrence for me when my children were of school age. I attended ALL their school concerts and performances as I was extremely proud of their talents. The children of Pennoweth Primary School had visited the Kresen Kernow Women and Health Exhibition. Inspired by our Wisewomen display, they composed a song entitled We Are The Witches. There were other songs composed by three other sc ..read more

It’s been a week since the opening of our new exhibition ‘She Cares: Women and Health’ in Cornwall. Have you been to see it yet? Part of our exhibition explores witches and wise-women. Before modern medicine, healthcare was usually provided by wise-women as part of an ancient, spiritual culture. They continued to help people and animals until the 20th century, when the number of wise-women and witches practicing in Cornwall began to decrease. We have two modern-day witches featured in our exhibition – Cassandra and Laetitia Latham-Jones, who are village wise-women and witches in St Buryan. H ..read more

The last Mazey weekend I attended was in 2018. The reason for this is that my Wisewoman business has grown considerably and I have had requests to teach two-day Reiki courses over the festival weekend. The recent pandemic has also heightened awareness of how huge crowds of intoxicated people at an event can be unhealthy particularly when the ‘wildness’ and anarchy of Mazey seems to be escalating. Bearing this in mind, it was not a difficult decision for me to choose to work for a substantial financial sum over the past few years. The idea of struggling to make my way through crowds of rowdy at ..read more

2015 In 2015 Rhys moved away from the area to pursue his career. I took over the role as teacher for the Morris dances as well as Teazer dances, but was also needed as a dancer. I was unable to play music at this time, therefore most dances were done with percussion. Chepstow Wassail 2015 Boekka acquired another ‘Oss rider who was the shortest we ever had, so Penkevyll did not tower above the other ‘Osses at this event. The rider was also a founder member of a local Morris team, so I danced with them on a few occasions. St Pirans Day Redruth 2015 Trewellard Beer Festival Wreckers Day of Da ..read more

A client booked a Wisewoman Walk with Cassandra and I. It is one aspect of our work where we were able to see someone in person but still maintain a social distance. This current situation with Covid 19, the lockdown and social distancing has changed all of our lives, particularly within our work. We made some alterations, as we usually invite clients to Cassandra’s cottage and discuss their preferences for sites in the area. If not, we surprise them with our choices. As the cottage is so small, it is impossible to maintain the correct distance, so we met our client at the car park of the Merr ..read more

It has been a long winter with more than average rainfall along with flooding and storms within Cornwall and most of the U.K. We usually arrange our first workshops in the Spring, however we would not decline a request from Jason and Arkie, two lovely young men who travelled all the way from Chicago, so we agreed to provide an extra Folk/Cunning Craft workshop for them. They had attended a previous workshop and accompanied us on a Wisewoman walk to Zennor Hill. Their inquiring minds enthusiastically soak up new information and their cheerful boundless energy is good for the soul, making it a ..read more

At the start of 2017 I contemplated acquiring an ‘Obby ‘Oss of my own so that I could be a rider. I originally searched for the skull of a small horse asking the advice of David Pitt who owns and rides Coppertown Mari. I purchased the skull of an Icelandic foal with Viking heritage, a significant find as my place of birth was on the site of an ancient Viking settlement. Here is an article about horses in Anglo Saxon and ancient Viking history: “Hwær cwom mearg? Hwær cwom mago?” Where is the horse gone? Where the rider? (The Wanderer) Both Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian warriors, particularl ..read more

The full moon of 28th March 2021, marked 10 years since my initiation into the Old Craft by Cassandra Latham Jones. Image – John IsaacFor me, learning the Old Ways was more intensive than it is for others within a group situation, as I have lived with my teacher and we were rarely apart, so the tuition and discussions were constant. The last ten years may have had many challenges and hard lessons, however there were a multitude of wonderful moments that made it all worthwhile. To mark this special anniversary Cassandra decided it was time for me to receive my final initiation, an equivalent to ..read more