Meseum of Witchcraft and Magic

http://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/

Troy Books

http://troybooks.co.uk

Troy Books
BM Box 8003 
London 
WC1N 3XX

Traditional Witchcraft a Cornish Book of Ways by Gemma Gary 224 pages

Traditional Witchcraft - A Cornish Book of Ways is a 21st century version of traditional Cornish witchcraft, of the kind recorded by Hunt, Bottrell and others. This is no neo-pagan or modern wiccan manual, but rather a deep drawing up into modern times of some of the ancient practices of lore and magic practiced by the white witches, charmers, conjurers and pellars of the Cornish villages. Their presence was still current when the 18th and 19th century antiquarians and collectors recorded them, and, although the 20th century largely put paid to their activities, nevertheless their lore never completely disappeared, and it continues to provide inspiration for practitioners today. Gemma draws on this knowledge, not only from published material, but also from the experiences and workings of ‘wise women’ and country witches living today. 

Topics include the Cunning Path, the Dead and the Underworld (Fairy Faith), the Bucca, Places of Power in the villages and landscape, the Tools used by Cunning Folk (working versions of what can be seen, for example, in the Museum of Witchcraft), Village cunning, substances and charms, and Rites of the Year’s Round. This book gathers much material together, some of which has not been seen in print before, and thus provides a sourcebook of magical workings in Cornwall today, which will be an invaluable reference.

The British Book of Spells and Charms, A Compilation of Traditional Folk Magic by
Graham King
Past curator of The Museum of Witchcraft

296 pages with full colour, Graham talks about his inspiration and reasons behind writing the book, and explores just some of the types of traditional magic contained within its pages.

Troy Books is delighted to be publishing Graham’s first book – ‘The British Book of Spells & Charms’ which explores the wealth of traditional spells and charms of Britain’s folk-magical tradition, including those for good fortune, love, the healing of people and animals, curses and their removal, and acts of magic contained within traditional folk songs.

In writing this book, Graham has been ideally placed to draw upon examples and parallels within The Museum of Witchcraft’s collection and archives.

The text of ‘The British Book of Spells & Charms’ is complemented by numerous illustrations and photographs, drawing mainly from the museum’s fascinating collection of magical artefacts, and is Troy Books’ first title to be printed in full colour throughout.

The Devil's Plantation 
East Anglian Lore, Witchcraft & Folk-Magic by
Nigel Pearson  272 pages, plus 16 pages of photographic plates plus line drawings and figures by Gemma Gary.

Taking its name from the lost ‘black book’ of a famed Cambridgeshire witch, as well as plots of land sacrificed unto the spirits and the Old One himself, Nigel Pearson’s ‘The Devil’s Plantation’ guides the reader through the traditional witchcraft, old magic and folklore of East Anglia.

This is an ancient landscape, and a melding pot for the beliefs, culture and magic of the various peoples who have inhabited it over its long history. And yet, until very recently, East Anglia has been a land ‘set apart’ and isolated amidst impassable marshes, Fens and uncleared Forests.

Thus East Anglia is a landscape in which ‘the good folk’, land drakes, land wights, meremaids, giants, spectral hounds, saintly miracles, wort Cunning, toad lore, folk magic and indeed witchcraft have been nurtured and continue to play a part in the lives of the people of what has aptly been named ‘Witch Country’.

The Devil's Dozen
Thirteen Craft Rites of The Old One 
Gemma Gary 160 pages with 8 black and white photo plates.

The operations of magic and witchcraft deal with the hidden worlds of spirit and the powers innate within the natural world; within plant, stone and magical loci. The ‘Old One’, who in folk tradition is often named ‘The Devil’ embodies both the ‘rend in the veil’ and the spanning bridge between the worlds of the material and spiritual, the revealed and the hidden. It is through union with this entity that witches and folk magicians gained access to the powers that reside within the hidden realms and the natural world, and could awaken the potent fire within.

In traditional folk belief, the Devil existed also as an embodiment of the chaotic forces of nature; a belief quite distinct and separate from that of the Church with its ‘Satan’ figure. To the witch, he might also represent the ‘darker’ aspects of the divine; the keeper and the revealer of the divine light, the psychopomp guide of souls, and the sentinel at the threshold unto the mysteries of death and the Otherworld.

Something, it would seem, of the ‘elder divinity’ and the old ‘spirit of the wild’ has lingered through to the present; permeating regional