Enchantment is where you find it. It can be a melody, a turn of phrase, a smell, a taste, a view, an encounter, a new piece of knowledge. Those in-between vignettes that turn an every day into a different place. A different perspective that turns the familiar into the strange, or maybe turns grief into comfort. Maybe an enchantment takes you away from the life you lead to show you what it might mean. I don’t know: I’m just imagining. Anyway here are a few things I find enchanting.

This is Knowlton, on Cranborne Chase. It is a ruined Norman Church inside a Neolithic Henge with an ancient Yew grove. I go there twice a year and tie a ribbon to a Yew.

I recently found out that Aleister Crowley gave Frieda Kahlo lessons in Tarot. I wish I could have been a fly on the wall.

When David Bowie seriously needed to clean up his act in the 1970s he chose as his de-tox partners Iggy Pop and Lou Reed and they lived in West Berlin. Just think about that.

Twice a year the sunsets and sunrises align with the east west streets of Manhatten main street grid. Some folk call it Manhatten Solstice. How wonderful.

I’m looking forward to this event in a few weeks time. A secret location, storytelling and singing about the sea.

This is Vanessa: she will be telling a tale. She is magical.

This is me. I’ll be singing, accompanied by Katherine. I’m magical too.

My new song is called Anything is Possible.

Anything is Possible is inspired by playing card divination. It’s out now. Here is the link to the electronic music streams.

I worked out how to divine using playing cards.

Below is a set of tables showing different interpretations of playing cards which diviners used over the 18th, 19th and 20th century to read the cards. You can download it if you like: you are very welcome!

How it works is like this. The person being read chooses a queen or king to represent them. They shuffle the deck and cut it into three piles. The fortune teller takes the piles and deals all the cards out in five rows of nine and one row of seven. You locate the queen that was chosen and count nine cards in any direction counting the queen as one. When you hit an edge you can choose to go up or down, left or right. The card you end up at is the one you make your interpretation of. That is pretty much how to do it. Below is a podcast all about it in more detail. Drop me a line if you need any more pointers.

Anything is Possible is also inspired by a coffee shop owner in St Andrews. I asked for a buttered scone and he responded ‘Anything is Possible’. We both laughed and talked about stuff. The line stayed with me. An affirmation, a statement of optimism, a game plan. When I was writing the lyrics.

I find the process of writing, arranging, producing, recording and performing my songs joyful. The creation takes me to an empty place which I occupy in delight. It’s a mystery I know and do not know.

I do know that I love sharing music, magic and folklore with you.