A few years back I was researching about 17th Century Witch Trials in England when I came across the tale of Joan Peterson. She was known as the Witch Of Wapping & was condemned to be hanged at the triple tree of Tyburn on Monday 11th April 1652. It was claimed that she had bewitched a child & rocked the cradle in the form of a cat, that she had cast the evil eye on the baker & that the Devil appeared to her in the likeness of a black dog or of a squirrel. She lived on Spruce Island near Wapping & was a Cunning Woman. She was popular enough with the residents of Wapping when they needed a cure for the fever or something to help the cow milk better, less popular when she wanted some kind of payment for her troubles. When the baker refused to pay he swore she had overlooked him & he had a fit on the spot. This was all the evidence needed to condemn her.

I know enough of the history of Cunning Folk to see the trace of fingermen here. Joan did not deserve her fate, nor the Pendle Witches, nor those in the Eastern Association predated upon by Matthew Hopkins. The list goes on & every country has it’s share of witch-hunts.

Modern times aren’t so much different from back then when you bother to look & Cunning Folk are still around quietly getting on with stuff, helping out when needed.

I wrote a song for Joan Peterson & for all the others who have been & gone before & you can here it on the usual streaming services here

Making music is a team effort & I am very lucky to have some great friends who helped me make this song. Gemma Khawaja added some magical vocal harmonies. Sam Kelly drummed & sang harmonies too. Olly Parfitt played keyboards. I played acoustic guitars, bass guitars & sang on the song & produced it. Ian Carter mixed it. Phil Knox-Roberts released it.

Treasure! Who doesn’t want a little bit of treasure? It’s an evergreen request of the Cunning Folk to find that elusive hidden trove. In the past folk believed that hidden treasures were widespread & guarded by spirits. Maybe that’s true.

Correct use of astrology & ritual will not only show you the location but also neutralize the protector of the prize. Some mozaical, divining, rods may come in handy.

Most folk tended to keep their treasure hunting secret as it was specifically mentioned as illegal in the Witchcraft acts & also any treasure found automatically belonged to the crown!

Anyway if you want to find a hoard you could use a metal detector but that is surely cheating unless you indulge in some technomagery & take the batteries out.

A forked hazel wand is the divining rod of choice. You can steep it in nightshade for extra efficacy but be very careful The clue is in the name:Deadly Nightshade. It’s poisonous.

You might consider calling on the aid of Barbatos, Curson, Valac or Gomory. These spirits are very helpful but naturally their assistance comes at a price.

A scryer can come in handy, just check that their ears haven’t been clipped. A scryer with clipped ears is not to be trusted.

Written charms were historically stock in trade for the Cunning Folk. You could get a written charm for the detection of thieves or for finding love, or for protection of the person or livestock from bewitchment.

While preferably written on unborn parchment, paper will suffice .

Interestingly most cunning charms contain snippets of Christian liturgy.  Latin & Greek  may be used.

If the charm is to protect, you must keep it in a little bag on your person & never let it touch the ground. Sewing the charm into your clothes is a good way to go. The charm only works if you believe it works.

You can hide a charm on your land or in your house, but keep it’s existence secret for it to work.

Here is a charm from a 19th century Nottinghamshire cunning man. It should keep you from being overlooked.

Omnes Spiritus laudent Dominum

Misericordiam habe Deus

Desinetur Inimicus D.V.

Write it in your best handwriting, stick it in your wallet or sew it into your coat & you are all set.

Just remember never to tell anyone you have done it.

Everyone gets robbed from time to time & to find the thief may require a little magic. For this purpose I recommend either Book & Key or Turning the Loaf.

Book & Key

This method was commonly used from medieval up to the 19th century. Keys used to have hollow ends. You need one for this divination.

The names of suspects are written on slips of paper & inserted one at a time into the hollow end of the key which is held between the pages of a book. When the guilty person’s name is inserted into the key, the book will move or even fall out of the hands of the person holding it.

Turning the Loaf

Insert 4 knives into the sides of a loaf of bread. Then sink a peg into the middle of the loaf so it balances like a spinning top. Recite the names of the suspects & the loaf will turn at the name of the thief.

My new album “A Casual Invocation” is a magical working. It is a collection of spells, glamours & protective hexes set to music. It’s coming out in October & I am releasing tracks on streaming services in advance of this. This Friday just past I released Traveller Hide Your Soul.

‘Traveller Hide Your Soul’ is a musical protective spell to ward off predatory song collectors from traditional singers in the Irish Traveller community. Much in the same way as Lomax took from Leadbelly in the 20th century, song collectors still take from tradition keepers. I thought a protective hex was in order.

The image you see is of The Man. The Man comes in many forms & one needs to be wary. Often The Man is charming & charismatic, likeable, even. Be aware that The Man may be seeking to collect something from you. Some take songs, some take stories, some take mannerisms, techniques.

The Man collects for the service of self, for the service of ego. The Man wants to possess what should not belong to anyone.

If you want to hear the spell you can here. If you don’t that’s fine too. Just be aware that the spell is out there & it is doing it’s work.

Any tradition keepers who read this & feel that that they may need help with a witch bottle or a few wise words drop me a line. Cunning Folk is as Cunning Folk does.

 

So the music on this little trailer for my talk on Thursday about the Lore Of The Sun is a snippet of my upcoming release, Always The Sun. It’s out on Friday & you can click on this link to hook it up to your Spotify/Deezer/Apple Tunes.

It’s a song about Solstice. It’s a song about old associations with the sun. The recorded version you hear is different to how it sounded on it’s first performance.

This is me performing ‘Always The Sun’ at Rough Trade East on Winter Solstice 2018. I was lucky enough to be asked to perform on a bill with Stick In The Wheel to celebrate the Solstice. I felt like writing a song for the day. It was the first draft. I really liked the words & some of the melody & some of the chords.

When I set out to record an album of magical & ritual songs in the summer of 2019 this one cropped up in my memory.

I sampled a little bit of the strumming from the Rough Trade performance & put it into Logic. Logic is the digital audio software I use.

This is a screenshot of the multi-track recording. If you have eagle-eyes you may see that the first track is marked ‘Acoustic Loop.’ This is what remains of the original song arrangement.

Once I had the guitar loop I looked for musical element which fitted my dream of what the song could be. I wanted a sense of anticipation, a sense of ritual, a sense of pulse. I ended up not going with a percussive element to give the pulse, but with a string part.

I have always loved the Mellotron, the 60s tape-loop precursor to the sampler. I have a great virtual one which has amazing melodic patches if you hunt around for long enough.  (Producer tip: know your presets.) I found some beautiful strings & looped them.

I wrote a chorus guitar arrangement to lift it & a bass arrangement to help the vocal. Often when writing bass lines I concentrate on what supports the vocal.

I borrowed a Neumann U87 microphone from my friend Anu to record the lead vocal. It’s great to have friends!

The song needed voices which weren’t me on it so I asked Sam Kelly, who drums with me & who has a great voice, & Gemma Khawaja, who is a brilliant folk singer from Cromer. I recorded them in my living room, which is also my studio.

I love synthesizers & sound design. I’m good at making sonic textures but Olly Parfitt is a master at the Moog Synthesizer. I sat him down with a cup of tea & he recorded the synth lines live without ever having heard the track. I edited the best bits together from 2 takes!

Once I was happy with the production I got Ian Carter to mix it. Ian & Nicola Kearey are the driving force of Stick In The Wheel. If you haven’t heard them, click on this link to their website. They are one of the best creative forces in Britain right now.

This is the cover. Thanks to Andy Paciorek of Folk Horror Revival for the image.

I’m really proud of the song.

It takes me between both Solstices in a never-ending journey across the sky. It remembers the Roman religion of Sol Invictus, the everlasting Sun. Solstice means ‘Sun stands still’; the appearance of the point at which the Sun appears to stand still, the seasonal motion of the Sun appears to stop before reversing.

On Summer Solstice Eve I’m usually to be found bivouacking with friends on the Wessex Ridgeway, listening to music, eating, drinking & smoking. It’s a special time to fall asleep under the stars before rising to see the dawn of the longest day from a beautiful hill. I’m not going to be able to do that this year but I am going to be performing an online Solstice Eve Ritual at 10pm. If you want to find out more click here.

 

 

 

I love Solstice Eve in Summer.  I have slept out at Avebury Stone Circle, Weylands Smithy & Martin Down. I see the sun set & wait for the Sun to rise on the longest day.

For me it’s a time for friends to meet, listen to some music & eat & drink together in an old place. It’s a night to walk a ritual landscape to connect with paths that have been walked for a very long time.

Sun worship was practiced by our ancestors. It was a common belief that the Sun was drawn through the sky on a horse drawn chariot.

This Solstice Eve I can’t see my friends & go to a ritual site so I’m going to bring the ritual site home. You can join me if you like for a short ritual. I’ll talk about the traditions of midsummer & solstice, sing some songs about the Sun (which you can join in with if you like) & we will celebrate a lovely corner of our shared calendar.

It will be on Friday 19th June at 10-10.30pm on Zoom & Facebook Live & it’s free. Email me on cunningfolkmusic@gmail.com if you want to come to the Zoom or go to my Cunning Folk page on Facebook & watch it from there.

I put out a ritual Solstice song on Spotify/Deezer etc. too! Here is the link

 

 

Last night I gave a slideshow presentation on the Lore Of Cats. If you missed it; no problem, here it is!

It’s suitable for general viewing.

Folklore & magic can get dark so I thought it would be better to leave it up to you whether you want to watch the Dark Lore of Cats. You may find the content disturbing. It’s about 15 minutes long.

These talks are free & for your pleasure. If you feel like making a donation to help towards future ones here is my paypal ID: paypal.me/cunningfolkmusic

On Thursday 14th May at 8pm I am hosting an online event about the Folklore of Cats.

So if you love folklore & you love cats then this is the online presentation for you! Cats & humans have a very long shared history & this YouTube slideshow will look at some history & folklore of our feline friends.

If you want to attend email cunningfolkmusic@gmail.com & at 8pm on May 14th you will receive an email with links to the recorded presentation & a Zoom invite for the Q&A at 9pm.
This event is pay what you like.

This event is online & free!. Email cunningfolkmusic@gmail.com for a Zoom invite or go to the Cunning Folk Facebook page at 10pm where the ritual will be live-streamed also.