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Narrated by Andrew Panebianco
Nigel PennickUnabridged — 5 hours, 28 minutes
Narrated by Andrew Panebianco
Nigel PennickUnabridged — 5 hours, 28 minutes
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"I was honestly not prepared for how amazing Witchcraft & Secret Societies of Rural England by Nigel Pennick turned out to be. I was expecting a scholarly text, or perhaps some fantastical legends, but what I ended up with was a perfect mix of both."
Nigel Pennick is a true initiate who can demonstrate to the reader how nature and cosmos correlate to each other. I regularly return to Nigel Pennick’s books . . .
"...a curious and enlightening book about an area of England which has boasts a deeply embedded culture of folk customs and magical traditions. As Pennick points out, ‘the magical view of the world, dismissed as superstition by the modern worldview, was a valid means of living under harsh and difficult circumstances.'"
"Well researched and wonderfully illustrated, Pennick’s telling of local history and mythology is written in an accessible, interesting and enthralling way and kept me engrossed from beginning to end. Very highly recommended!"
"This book reminds us that one need look no further than modern day secular cultural celebrations that survived because they are so sacred, they transcend religion. It is a reminder that magic and witchcraft need not be fraternal, hidden, or done in circle, although it certainly can be. It does not necessarily entail candles, incense, or even religion at all. Sometimes, it’s just the living communing with the dead by doing what they did, and remembering events past, as the Wheel of the Year turns. It’s not necessarily mysterious at all, and can be as simple as what celebrates earth, people, and nature. It can be just for fun, and fellowship, as there are times when bonding with community and family, celebrating who we are, where we have come from, and teaching the children, is the most magical practice of them all. Pennick has written not only this fascinating masterpiece, but various others. Highly recommended reading!"
"Well researched and wonderfully illustrated, Pennick’s telling of local history and mythology is written in an accessible, interesting and enthralling way and kept me engrossed from beginning to end. Very highly recommended!"
"I was honestly not prepared for how amazing Witchcraft & Secret Societies of Rural England by Nigel Pennick turned out to be. I was expecting a scholarly text, or perhaps some fantastical legends, but what I ended up with was a perfect mix of both."
Solidly referenced and carefully illustrated, The Book of Primal Signs seems to travel everywhere and touch everything . . .
The Book of Primal Signs is a veritable thesaurus of traditional symbolism, spanning from prehistory to today. This is a vital guidebook to a hidden world that is, most thankfully and wondrously, still in plain view.
Pagan Magic of the Northern Tradition offers a well-documented overview of everyday magic, the last recourse against all evils. It introduces us to a strange Pagan world haunted by spirits and supernatural owners of nature and rehabilitates the studies of magic as an important part of our common cultural heritage. Pennick’s book is well worth a read!
Nigel Pennick’s Pagan Magic of the Northern Tradition is a treasure trove of ancient folklore of magical rituals and charms for the protection of people and homes, of barns and livestock, of temples and churches, for good luck and healing as well as causing harm when the rituals are not followed.
In Runic Lore and Legend: Wyrdstaves of Old Northumbria, Pennick delivers the most thorough account of Anglo-Saxon history, mythology, and cosmology. His ability to weave their narrative into the use of the Northumbrian Runes and reveal their modern relevance is nothing less than magickal.
To have one of the leading authors on the wisdom of the runes pen this comprehensive manual [Runic Lore and Legend] on the Northumbrian wyrdstaves is a most valuable gift to all who follow the Northern Tradition. Pennick’s weaving of local history and lore around the runes illuminates his subject in a way that no other book has been able to achieve.
Whether we call it magic or folklore (or even superstition), the traditional, often pre-Christian knowledge described in Pagan Magic of the Northern Tradition is fascinating. I’ve been referring to Pennick’s books for years when I need a fact or an example of some interesting early magic to cite in my books and blogs. I learned something new on every page!
In Runic Lore and Legend: Wyrdstaves of Old Northumbria, Pennick delivers the most thorough account of Anglo-Saxon history, mythology, and cosmology. His ability to weave their narrative into the use of the Northumbrian Runes and reveal their modern relevance is nothing less than magickal.
| BN ID: | 2940177017143 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Simon & Schuster |
| Publication date: | 01/07/2020 |
| Edition description: | Unabridged |
Chapter 5
Secrets of the Horsemen
The Horseman’s Initiation
The initiation of a man into The Society of the Horseman’s Grip and Word has been described by a number of authors who have received the information from oath breakers. First, the candidate for initiation is summoned. A horse hair in an envelope is one means. He is instructed to go to a particular place where he will be met. But nothing is what it seems. In one version the candidate was told to go to a graveyard on a particular night and look near a particular tombstone, where he would find a whip that would give him power over horses. When he arrived at the grave, he would be grabbed by men waiting for him, and taken to the barn where the initiation was to be conducted (Evans 1966, 222).
The candidate is bound and blindfolded and disoriented by being taken by crooks and straits, devious pathways called The Crooked Path, to the place where he will be initiated. This crooked path symbolizes the difficulties of life, but even though he is disorientated, he has nothing to fear because his would-be brothers are guiding him to the right place. It also symbolizes the early training of the young horse because the candidate for initiation is equally an untrained “colt.” Eventually he arrives at the destination. Here, in the barn, the bound candidate must submit to the ordeals, the harrowing experiences that will make him a member of Horsemanry.
After being manhandled around the four corners of the barn, and offered a drink of what appears to be horse urine, the candidate is brought to the center of the “horseman’s hall”; his blindfold is removed and he finds himself standing before a man personating a dangerous entity, identified variously as the Devil, Lucifer, Auld Clootie, Old Nick, Hercules (The Horseman’s Grip and Word 2009, 88). Here he is asked questions, being prompted to make the correct answers, which may begin with something like,
Officiant: “How came you hither?”
Candidate: “Through darkness, dangers and difficulties.”
Officiant: “What do you seek to obtain?”
Candidate: “The lost Word.”
After this symbolic question-and-answer session the candidate is made to take the Horseman’s Oath. It must be taken in a position “neither sitting, walking nor swinging, lying, flying, standing clothed nor unclothed, boots on or boots off or blind” (The Horseman’s Grip and Word 2009, 89). Here is a Cambridgeshire version of the Horseman’s Oath, dating from the early twentieth century.
I of my own free will and accord do solemnly vow and swear before God that I will always hele, conceal and never reveal any art or part of this secret of horsemanry which is to be revealed to me at this time, or any other time hereafter, except to a true and faithful brother after finding him so after due trial and strict examination. Furthermore I vow and I swear I will not give it or see it given to a fool nor to a madman nor to a drunkard nor to anyone in drink nor to anyone who would abuse or badly use his own or his master’s horses.
Furthermore I vow and I swear that I will not give it nor see it given to a tradesman excepting to a blacksmith or a farrier or to a worker of horses. Furthermore I vow and I swear that I will not give it or see it given to anyone under eighteen or above forty-five years of age nor without the sum of one pound sterling or anything of the same value being placed upon the table as I do at this time before three lawful sworn brethren after trial and examination finding them to be so. Furthermore I vow and I swear that I will not give it nor see it given to anyone after the sun sets on Saturday night nor before she rises on Monday morning nor in a public house. Furthermore I vow and I swear that I will always be at a brother’s call within the bounds of three miles except I can give lawful excuse such as my wife in childbed or my mares in foaling or myself in bad health or my master’s employment. Furthermore I vow and I swear that I will not give it to my father nor mother, sister nor brother, nor to a woman at all.
And if I fail in any of these obligations that I go under at this time or at any time hereafter, I ask to my heart’s wish and desire that my throat may be cut from ear to ear with a horseman’s knife, my body torn to pieces between two wild horses and blown by the four winds of heaven to the uttermost parts of the earth. So help me God to keep this solemn obligation. (Sid Smith, personal communication; cf. variant from A. A. Dent, quoted in Evans 1966, 230–31; The Horseman’s Grip and Word 2009, 89-91).
After the oath, the sworn brother is tested. The test is a trick, and of course he fails it. Then he is arraigned as an oath breaker and sentenced to hang. He is taken to the hayloft, shown a noose attached to a roof-beam, blindfolded again, and a noose is put around his neck. Then he is pushed off the beam and falls. But the noose is not the same one he was shown. It is not attached to the beam, and he falls onto a pile of hay, which breaks his fall. Then the Devil-man takes off the blindfold and welcomes him as a true and sworn horseman. After that, he is given a lecture, which describes the mythical origin of horsemanry, the rules of horsemanry, the horseman’s Word and the signs of recognition.
