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Thorn Mooney

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I’m usually too overwhelmed to brave the British Museum (the sounds! the lights! the screaming children! the strangers touching me!) but we got lucky and went on a quiet day. These are John Dee’s magical tools! Dee was a member of the court of Queen Elizabeth I and was a famed astrologer, mathematician, and magician (and more, and back in a time and place when all of those things overlapped in ways we don’t usually expect now). Pictured here are an obsidian scrying mirror and several wax pentacles. This is mostly outside of my magical wheelhouse, but it was still so cool to see. Scotland and England are both gorgeous, and we’ve had the opportunity to visit a number of ancient sites that are spiritually significant to contemporary Pagans because of the beliefs we have about their connections to pagans from the past (some of which is rooted in scholarship and some of which is modern conjecture or pure fantasy). It’s led to lots of good conversation about the magic of place, ancestral connection, and what we might call “spiritual lineage.” A beautiful (and deeply disturbing) reminder of Edinburgh history. We stumbled upon a small water fountain erected in remembrance of the murder of people accused of witchcraft. It’s not prominent, and I would’ve missed it entirely had it not been for an empty street on an early morning wander with @the_witches_next_door A clootie tree at Avebury. People have hung strips of cloth, ribbon, necklaces, and other sorts of charms from the branches of these trees, hoping to bring healing or fulfill various sorts of wishes through the sacredness of this sight. We saw similar trees in Glastonbury, though not as large as this. People had also left notes and small objects around the tree roots. Good morning! I’m reading and making guides for my book club, drinking coffee, and enjoying the morning light. Shoutout to my “regular” shelves, which include lots of literary fiction, horror (my favorite genre), and folk and fairy tales. Both the late 19th/20th century occult revival and the development of contemporary witchcraft were heavily informed by the literature of the day (what we might today call “pop culture”), and it’s worth thinking about how literary and art worlds (and now film and television worlds) inform magical ones in any given historical moment. How do you know if the spells you’re casting are effective? Here are some of my thoughts. I’d love to hear yours! Here’s another video for beginners, this one about asking better questions when choosing what books to read. Enjoy! Is teaching a calling? In this video I chat about the impact of “callings” both in Witchcraft spaces and generally for people in teaching and leadership positions.
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