Icy Sedgwick's Blog, page 36
October 25, 2018
Halloween spells for Protection, Romance & Loved Ones
Plastic pumpkins and foam headstones fill the shops. Youtube groans under the weight of Halloween makeup tutorials. And the television stations pump their channels full of creaky old horror films. But for those in the know, this is the time for Halloween spells, honouring the dead, and preparing for winter. Don’t panic at the mention […]
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October 18, 2018
Witches’ Familiars: The Good, the Bad, and the Weird
We’ve all seen the images of witches with their loyal cat or toad by their side. These witches’ familiars help them cast spells, or in the case of Harry Potter, deliver the mail. But what are familiars and why are they so important to ideas around witchcraft? And what unusual familiars can we find in […]
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October 15, 2018
5 Ways to Use Where You Live to Generate Ideas
It was the 148th anniversary of the death of Charles Dickens this year. While much has been written about his life and work, we can still learn a lot from his methods! His depiction of a supposedly-fictional London was so realistic because he drew from how people lived and worked in Victorian society. Some of this he would […]
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October 11, 2018
The Surprising Truth about English Witch Trials
‘Witch hunt’ is a term currently being bandied around to relate to a whole raft of things. Yet in earlier centuries, the term referred to a very real danger. Rather than losing a reputation, its victims could lose their lives. Popular culture often implies a craze for witch trials swept Europe, with thousands of people […]
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October 4, 2018
What Charms Did Witches Use In Their Magic Spells?
Charms and rhymes characterise our memories of witchcraft from fairy tales and fantasy films. Do “Mirror, mirror, on the wall” or “Hubble bubble, boil and trouble” ring a bell? Many of these famous examples are invented for the purposes of fiction. But charms occupy a real place in the historical record, used as proof of […]
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September 7, 2018
Weaving – A Short Fiction about Fate
Flames blazed in the wall braziers around the stone courtyard. Ornate clocks lined the columns of the cloister, though the hands never moved around their faces. Time hung suspended over the citadel of the Fates, its momentous occasions twinkling like stars in a false firmament. The first sister sat on a stool, her eyes roving […]
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September 5, 2018
The Ghost Story – A Fowlis Westerby Tale
Twenty people gathered in the library of Cavill House. They sat on hard wooden chairs arranged near the fireplace, checking their watches and muttering amongst themselves. A tall wing-backed chair sat in front of the hearth, the small table beside it holding a candlestick and a glass of port. Books sat in the usually empty […]
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September 3, 2018
These 5 UK Castles Feature A Green Lady Ghost
Last week I introduced you to the Grey Lady of the Newcastle Assembly Rooms. I’d made the point on Twitter that ladies often appears as pink, white, or grey. Lots of people on Twitter told me that they’d also encountered green lady ghost stories as well, and one of my awesome subscribers sent me loads […]
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August 23, 2018
The Dark Side of Sheffield Folklore: Spectres and River Spirits
We’ve been moving around the north of England this month, in honour of the Great Exhibition of the North. After Newcastle, Manchester and York, we’re moving on to Sheffield folklore. Much like York, a plethora of ghost stories and sightings come up in a casual Google search. But let’s cast the net a little wider […]
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August 16, 2018
Devils, Cats, Tiny Streets & Witches: York Folklore At Its Best
York folklore can be a bit tough to search for on Google. It keeps trying to direct you to New York. As if the old one doesn’t exist. Which is idiotic. The Ghost Research Foundation International even labelled York the most haunted city in the world in 2002. Every pub boasts its own ghost. But […]
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