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The Sword of Orley
A psychic research team go to Orley Grange to investigate a ghost, but Jane raises conflict in the team when she reacts to the Grange's sinister chapel by going into involuntary trance. She witnesses a Black Mass of four centuries past—and is terrifyingly in tune with Katherine, the Mass's unwilling altar. Jane's allies include Bridget and George Blake, white witches whom readers first met in The Twelve Maidens.
234 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1977
28 people want to read
About the author
Stewart Farrar
43 books38 followersStewart Farrar, along with Janet, wrote many books on witchcraft and was a well known witch appearing frequently in the media. He lived in Ireland and regularly toured the U.S.A. giveing lectures and workshops.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 9, 2025
I can get down with witches in my horror, but when they’re the new age crystal-wearing hippie sort, my eyes tend to glaze over (no offense to any practitioners out there; I just prefer to read about creepy evil crone hermits and such). Good thing that despite all that, the underlying ghostly mystery was intriguing enough to carry me through.
It concerns a small group of “scientific” ghost hunters — or psychic researchers — investigating a several hundred year-old English estate that’s supposedly haunted by a specter known as “The Battle Maid”, due to her chainmail-looking getup and sword. Team member Jane Blair soon discovers from first-hand witnesses that she herself bears an uncanny resemblance to the apparition. Spooky timey wimey shenanigans ensue, and the story periodically shifts back and forth between the present day (circa 1977) and the 1500s. As Jane fights for her sanity, and possibly her soul, the others enlist the help of two white witches — a married couple that are like the Pagan version of Ed & Lorraine Warren — and the resulting mix of science and magic was interesting and somewhat unique.
Author Stewart Farrar himself was a practicing witch, and I could tell that he was espousing his own beliefs throughout this, as at times it went into excruciating detail on various Wiccan spells and ideologies and whatnot. Still, I found it to be cheesy good fun once I got into the right mindset, with some decent characterization for a ‘70s occult thriller, and even a couple pretty chilling scenes. It probably should have been even shorter than its 235 pages, but I was never bored — okay maybe a little bit during the massive infodumps/lessons on white magic.
It concerns a small group of “scientific” ghost hunters — or psychic researchers — investigating a several hundred year-old English estate that’s supposedly haunted by a specter known as “The Battle Maid”, due to her chainmail-looking getup and sword. Team member Jane Blair soon discovers from first-hand witnesses that she herself bears an uncanny resemblance to the apparition. Spooky timey wimey shenanigans ensue, and the story periodically shifts back and forth between the present day (circa 1977) and the 1500s. As Jane fights for her sanity, and possibly her soul, the others enlist the help of two white witches — a married couple that are like the Pagan version of Ed & Lorraine Warren — and the resulting mix of science and magic was interesting and somewhat unique.
Author Stewart Farrar himself was a practicing witch, and I could tell that he was espousing his own beliefs throughout this, as at times it went into excruciating detail on various Wiccan spells and ideologies and whatnot. Still, I found it to be cheesy good fun once I got into the right mindset, with some decent characterization for a ‘70s occult thriller, and even a couple pretty chilling scenes. It probably should have been even shorter than its 235 pages, but I was never bored — okay maybe a little bit during the massive infodumps/lessons on white magic.
Displaying 1 of 1 review