See them dancing on the hiltops,
Whirling wildly in the dark of night.
Hear them chanting of the Goddess,
Tall, serene and full of light.
Hear them baying at the shadows,
Dressing trees with ebon robes.
Feel them calling to the hidden;
Children of the Ancient Gods...
"And ever, by the winter hearth,
Old tales I heard of woe or mirth,
Of lovers' sleights, or ladies' charms,
Of witches' spells, of warrior's arms..."
-Sir Walter Scott
“Witchcraft medicine is wild medicine. It is uncontrollable, it surpasses the ruling order, it is anarchy. It belongs to the wilderness. It scares people. It is one thing above all: heathen...”
-Christian Rätsch, Witchcraft Medicine
"O night, faithful friend of mysteries; and you, golden stars and moon, who follow the fiery star of day; and you, Hecate, goddess with threefold head, you know my designs and come to strengthen my spells and magic arts; and you, earth, who offer your potent herbs to magic; and airs, winds, mountains, streams, and lakes, and all you woodland gods, and all you gods of the night: Be present now...”
-Ovid, The Metamorphoses
I walk through a green forest,
There I find three wells, cool and cold;
The first is called courage,
The second is called good,
And the third is called stop the blood...
"The raven has like no other bird impressed me by her wisdom and stoical calmness at disturbance. This smart bird is my absolute favourite. She is a wonder of dignity and wisdom." Tage Wahlberg - Kunskapen om fåglar
"I serve the Faerie Queen,
To dew her orbs upon the green;
The cowslips tall her pensioners be;
In their gold coats spots you can see;
There be rubies, Faerie favours,
In those freckles live their savours:
I must go seek some dew-drops here
And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear"
“…in Britain, as far as I am aware – apart from clairvoyants, patent medicine mongers, palmists, and their like – only some fragments of what we may call operative witchcraft survive in certain families and coteries, like broken heirlooms from some fallen house.” R. Lowe Thompson
For you have strayed from the well-traveled way,
Down a tangled path no other sees,
And followed the sound of my plaintive song,
That sighs and whispers through the trees...