Dark Garret

Hello all!

I woke up today to find that I had had a new book delivered. It's called Backwoods Witchcraft by Jake Richards. I got my copy from Blackwells, but Amazon has it as well. Blackwells of Oxford is a curiosity in it which is almost next door to the Bodleian Museum and seems like a curiosity in itself and I'm impressed by its service and website. I even got a bookmark with my order, which is nice. But I was mainly going to talk briefly about Backwoods Witchcraft.

Backwoods Witchcraft mainly talks about the folk magic from the Appalachian Mountains, which seems to have preserved many old European practises as well as practises from Voodoo and Hoodoo because of its secluded settlements. The author, Jake Richards is very knowledgeable on the subject as he comes from one of those communities and has grown up with these practises. I'm still to delve into it properly, but there is a curious section about the use of the bible and the role of Christianity in the area - which the book is quite complimentary about so would accommodate any Christian Witches or any wanting to incorporate Christian entities into their craft.

Backwoods Witchcraft by Jake Richards

I picked this volume up for two main reasons. The first is that I wanted to look into some of the practises that had arrived in the Americas from Europe. As the communities were secluded, they seem to have been bypassed by some of the witch hunts that plagued Europe and much of New England or The South, so many practises and a mentality that was present at the time of the colonisation of America, before even the English Civil War could very well be present. It would be curious to explore some clues into it at least.

The second reason to get this book was because a friend of mine had received a copy as a gift and had recommended it. She is covering it chapter by chapter on her YouTube Channel called Jenn The Taxidermy Witch ifer. She has covered the introduction, and has, as of today, completed reading the second chapter of eleven.

Apart from this, today sort of feels like its been a bit of a none starter. I helped a bit with moderating a new tarot Youtuber page on facebook and also, a Viking Folklore channel I'm involved with called Northworthy Sagas and Stories uploaded an unboxing video and I had something to do with its promotion. Here it is:

The host of Northworthy Sagas and Stories also wanted to restart a gamer channel on a site called Mixer. He has a good concept - a Viking plays Viking games - which is curious and he would be able to tell historical anecdotes while playing and answer questions, as he is planning of playing the games while in period dress. I think its a cool concept. Unfortunately, I'm still a little unsure what I'm doing with the main site.

Other than that, I'm behind on writing up the article on the first Aicme of the Ogham Runes (batch of five). And that's somewhat irritated me, even though other things have been happening. I have also been planning a short story that I'm eager to start, but I have a feeling that it's going to be a little while before I start. I'd much prefer to have a fair stretch of time to devote to it and I think it could be roughly a week before that happens. I also think it could take a bit of time to organise the information about the Aicme of the Ogham Runes into something I would like to put up on here. I'm probably going to need to spread out properly as my Book of Shadows is quite large and I'm probably going to need other note taking things about me.

That also reminds me, could some pictures of my Book of Shadows be of interest? I made it by hand.

Anyway, let me know and until next time, may your sleep soothe your soul and may you wake refreshed.