In October 2014 I travelled once again to the wonderfully
vibrant and ever friendly city of Leeds. This was a weekend away to take in the
Royal Armouries as an extra treat, complimenting the main reason for the
journey, the second Day of Mysteries and Magic.
The event was organised by the West Yorkshire Pagan Meet-up
Group, whose representatives Steve Jones and Gordon Mewse were in attendance to
oversee the day. It was held at the Swarthmore Education Centre, a small but
friendly venue just on the edge of the city centre proper and easy enough to
find.
The event ran from twelve noon with an official end time of
six in the evening, featured five talks or presentations covering a surprising
variety with regard content and aimed at varying levels of knowledge. The event
also incorporated a small but interesting Pagan themed market at the back of
the hall.
The day began with a brief welcome from the organiser Steve
Jones, who also made a presentation to his co-organiser Gordon Mewse. Mr Jones
is the organiser and founder of a moot in Wakefield, which the longest running
moot in the UK, he is also organiser of the West Yorkshire Meetup and a founder
of the Oak Leaf Camp. So in organising events such as Day of Mysteries and
Magic I and II, he is able to call upon a significant amount of previous
experience.
With only a brief pause after the welcome address, Mr Jones
deftly began his own presentation entitled ‘Masonic
Wicca.’ In his presentation he expertly examined the historical links
between Freemasonry and Gardnerian Witchcraft. Noting that Gardner was a Mason,
that the three degree system and elements of the Wiccan initiation ceremonies,
all have their counterparts in Freemasonry.
Equally Mr Jones was able to show that the term Blessed Be
and the Five Fold Kiss, are derived from Freemasonry. In the last instance, the
five points of the ‘Masonic Hug.’ It was also noted that the well-known ‘So
mote it be’ of Wicca, is also found in Masonry being derived from a Jewish form
of Amen.
The presentation was enlightening, educational and
significant. Mr Jones had delivered this particular presentation only once
before and that was at the Pagan Federation National Conference in 1999. His
research at the time was considered pioneering and inspired several other
authors to investigate further.
Steve Jones will reprise his presentation at Pagan Pride in Nottingham
(UK) on the 2nd August 2015. Please see the link below.
The second presentation was by Tony Chapman who together
with his wife Sue, runs the temple of Athame in Humberside. Mr Chapman is both
a professional paranormal investigator of thirty years’ experience and a
professional photographer. His presentation ‘Further in to the Paranormal World’ was wide ranging and
informative. Starting with ghost sightings such as the Roman Legion of York, he
covered apotropaic items such as animals and others, often found buried in
older buildings.
Briefly mentioning saintly monks manifesting stigmatas, out
of body experiences, divination and the Curse of Tutankhamun. He moved on to
discuss the levitation of Daniel Douglas-Hume, cases of possession, the Witch
Finder General and the famous medium Helen Duncan. Mr Chapman’s talk was
essentially an exciting whistle stop tour of the weird and wonderful, peppered
with anecdotes and observations from his varied career.
The third presentation was by Kai Roberts, a gentleman with
several folklore works to his name and his presentation ‘Grave Concerns’ examined the history, significance and media hype
of the alleged grave of Robin Hood at Mirfield Farm on the on Kirklees Priory
Estate in Yorkshire. This presentation was of particular interest to me having
written on the esoteric but not the historical significance of the Hood legend.
That I leave to learned historians such as Mr Roberts.
Mr Roberts talk was highly in-depth and covered the history
of the site from the earliest Hood associations that predate the introduction
of Tuck and Marion, to the later and rather fanciful appearance of the Kirklees
Vampire. This was a journey liberally mixed with historical references
regarding the history of the Priory, its importance and influence before the
final dissolution and the legendary associations.
In doing this Mr Roberts was able to provide an extensive
range of citations from the Sloane manuscript, the writings of John Leeland and
the letters of John Saville. Noting such important details as the 18th
century introduction of the final arrow, that is not found in earlier sources,
that the grave may have once born a cross of 13th century origin and
that the epitaph itself, is very late and not at all original to the older
parts of the structure.
The presentation ended with a discussion regarding two
paranormal investigators, who each having their own theory relating to the
Vampire, have engaged in energetic if completely pointless arguments on their
respective BLOG sites. The audience could observe that rather than conduct
research, each appeared far more interested in conducting themselves in a manner
which would unavoidably damage their credibility.
The final conclusion was that although the historical Robin
Hood is unlikely to be buried at Kirklees, the legendary and historical
significance of the site sets it apart and that it therefore deserves
preservation.
Kai Roberts has written a book looking at the Kirklees Grave
in detail.
The penultimate presentation was from Mr Alan Millar, the
Magister of the Milesian Order of Clanna Gadelus; a Traditional Craft cuveen sharing
both Scottish and English roots. A professional music manager, publisher and
author, Mr Millar is a well-known name in Craft circles and currently resides
in Sheffield.
His talk ‘Forefathers
of Modern Witchcraft’ provided us with an extensive catalogue of names from
the early days of the Craft revival, covering Gardnerian, Alexandrian and
Traditional Witchcraft. All the expected well-known names were all included
but enough less public influences were provided, to keep the subject matter
fresh and lively.
Mr Millar’s presentation is actually in two parts,
reflecting the detail of the subject matter and due to obvious time
constraints, we heard only the first section. This led to a post talk
discussion that would most likely have contained elements of part two, as some
of the questioning explored the more contemporary influences at play within
Paganism and Witchcraft.
Mr Millar may
be contact via the Witchcraft Research Network of which he is the founder: http://the-wren.webs.com/
The final presentation was by Mr Paul Bennett, author and
Earth Mysteries Researcher, who with a highly extensive slide show titled ‘Standing Stones and Earth Mysteries, explored
the Neolithic rock art of Yorkshire, the North of England and Southern Scotland.
Here Mr Bennett drew cultural comparisons between cup and ring markings, rock
carvings and various ancient monuments to illustrate the potential spread of
ideas and even belief.
The slide show was wide ranging, covering the geographical
areas mentioned discussing some officially undiscovered sites, while presenting
a hypothesis for origin and context. The enormity of the research necessary to
present the visual material was breath-taking.
Thrown into this heady mix were such observations as the
near global occurrence of the Swastika, with examples in Europe dating from
18,000 BC. That there are 3000 petroglyphs in Yorkshire alone and that
similarities in rock art found at Kilmartin in Scotland and |Newgrange in Eire,
suggests both trade and communication.
The second Day of Mysteries and Magic II was a highly
enjoyable and informative event, a specialist and pleasant change from the more
common MBS events that take place. I sincerely hope that one day, there will be
a DM&M III.
