|
|
Past Talks Walks, Talks and Thee Events |
|
|
|
|
The records for SELFS moots gets patchy before 2003. Any help tracing the history of SELFS would be greatly appreciated so if you gave a talk at SELFS in the past or have an old flyer or email giving details of a SELFS moot not listed please do contact me via email. |
|
|
|
|
|
8th Oct: Jeremy Harte - Keep Death On The Road - Suicide Burials in Theory and Practice Silently at midnight they dragged the body out to a crossroads, threw it naked into the pit and hammered a stake into pale flesh. Why the cruelty, why the fear? This two-thousand-year survey of outcast burials traces the manipulation of personal tragedy into symbolic ritual. 10th Sept: Chris Roberts - Sacred turf and holy places: Football stadia and worship With the football season underway again what better time to explore the supernatural side of soccer as well as football's folkloric roots? Chris Roberts will discuss not only cursed and haunted London grounds but some of the superstitions around the beautiful game. |
|
|
|
|
|
STRAYCATION Saturday 1 August 7pm: Camberwell Myth and Magic
Join Scott Wood on a walk around the mythological sites of Camberwell. There'll be ghosts, folklore, saints and Aleister Crowley's father-in-law. Meet on Camberwell Green, junction of Camberwell Road & Camberwell Church Street. Lindsey of Londonist wrote up her thoughts and picture of the walk. I don't really look like that do I?
Map for Camberwell Green.
Sunday 2 August 3pm: Wonderful Weeds Cancelled! Sorry!
Roy Vickery of the South London Botanical Institute will lead a stroll around Burgess Park exploring the folklore and uses of our native plants. Meet at the Camberwell Road entrance to Burgess Park. I am afraid we have to cancel Roy Vickery's 'Wonderful Weeds' walk which was scheduled to happen tomorrow. I am sorry but the walk clashes with the Carnaval del Pueblo festival in Burgess Park. I shall try to reschedule this walk for later in the year.
The Carnaval del Pueblo and the pre-festival procession from the Elephant & Castle down the Walworth Road is a true secret spectacle of south London and I’m happy to be shunted out by it. I took some photos of last years procession and fortune-telling budgies. Wednesday 5 August 7pm: Brockwell Park is waiting in the dark!
Chris Roberts takes you on a tour of Wild West heroes, a cure for impotence, the devil's fruit and deadly mermaids are just part of the cast in this stroll around Brixton's magnificent Brockwell Park. Brockwell Park Gates Herne Hill entrance. Junction Dulwich Road and Norwood Road.
Map for Brockwell Park.
|
|
|
|
|
|
9th July: Christopher Hadley - The Riddle of Shonks’ Tomb Christopher Hadley will ask if the fabulous stories told about a Hertfordshire tomb remember a medieval ‘dragon slayer’ or are simply attempts to explain its strange carvings. The search for an answer begins with events separated by eight hundred years: a death under the Norman yoke, and a strange discovery beneath a yew tree on a 19th Century farm. 11th June: Roy Vickery - Trees, Weeds and Folklore
Most writings on plant-lore relate to the nineteenth century; current beliefs and practices are neglected. Tonight Roy, of the South London Botanical Institute, discusses current folklore associated with some common plants. 14th May: Alan Brooke and David Brandon: The Haunted London Underground: What Lies Beneath?
The London Underground late at night has a haunting atmosphere with its labyrinth of subterranean tunnels, passages, disturbed burial grounds and whatever might lurk down there. Workers on the Underground have often reported strange incidents such as unexplained noises and sightings of ‘people’ that had reputedly died years earlier.
This talk draws on material from The Haunted London Underground (published by The History Press, 2008) and explores the various stories and accounts of supernatural activity. |
|
 | |
|
|
|
|
25th April: SELFS & The Folklore Society presents: The London Lore conference. A one day conference on London folklore at the Bishopsgate Institute. Speakers: Sarah Crofts: The Deptford Jack-in-the-Green
Sonia Ritter: `The Lions Part' Bankside festivals: the old in the new
Doc Rowe: London seasonal celebrations
Paul Cowdell: Rats, redstarts, and ravens: animal-identified London
Noel Rooney: London fox lore
Richard Barnett: Folklore, medicine and the body in London's history
Scott Wood: The Helpful Terrorist: An Urban Legend
Ross MacFarlane: Edward Lovett and the Wellcome Historical Medical Museum
Neil Gordon Orr
& Steve Roud: Urban Magic: Edward Lovett and the Lovett Collection
Mark Pilkington: The Brompton Cemetery time machine
John Constable: The Southwark Mysteries and the Crossbones Shrine
Antony Clayton: Strange brew – the folklore of London pubs Reviews at the excellent Badwitch blog, the ever lovely Morbid Frog's guide to gothic london living, best London blog Londonist, south-east London's finest Transpontine and the new blog home of Magonia. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
9th April: Scott Wood & John Constable: London Seasonal Celebrations & St George's Day
A free prelude to London Lore Conference & St George's Day discussion.
Scott Wood, urban folklorist takes a whistle-stop, round-the-year look at the celebratory year, past, present and future, in "Some Seasonal Celebrations in London". Leading on to: Scott Wood, beer sodden peasant, and shamanic poet John Constable discuss St George and St George's Day. Who was our dragon bothering patron saint and, more importantly, who is he to us? Should St George's Day become an English St Patrick's Day? This isn't a debate, more a discussion about the ever-evolving ideas of saints, celebration and Englishness. It's free, to make up for the EDFSS not being able to make it. Come along for a, hopefully, fun and thought provoking night. 12th March: David Boyle - Fairy Superstition: Puck, Robin Goodfellow, the little people and other visitors.
David Boyle will talk about the folklore and myths which surround fairies. David is the author of several successful books about history and the future
(including Blondel's song and the Tyranny of Numbers) and after a lifelong study of them is open minded about the existence of fairies. 12th February: Chris Roberts - Too Many Broken Hearts Have Fallen in the River This is a walk, not a talk, starting at 7.30pm at Hayes Galleria
The by now traditional love stories in reverse walk featuring headless queens, golden castration devices, deceased lovers and phantom ex-wives. All these as well as voodoo, why life is cheaper on the surrey shore, sex, suicide and showmen on Tower Bridge and the usual medley of monsters, myth and folkloric fun and games you’d expect from SELFS opener for 2009.
Start 7.30pm at Hayes Galleria London Bridge and ends witha chat about south east London folklore and mysteries at the Old Kings Head Borough High Street.
Walk is about ninety minutes and cunning weaves it’s way along from London Bridge over Tower Bridge. |
|
|
|
|
|
2008 11th December: David V Barrett – Secret Societies. Why do secret societies have such an appeal? What do they believe, and where do their beliefs come from? Freemasonry, Rosicrucian and Neo-Templar organisations, the various offshoots of the Golden Dawn and the OTO -- do any of them have any genuine claim to be the true successors to historical movements? Does it matter if they make up their own histories, as well as their myths and rituals? What are the connections, if any, between John Dee, the Royal Society, Aleister Crowley and Wicca? And does the Priory of Sion, star of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail and a certain third-rate thriller, actually exist? Can David Barrett possibly answer all these questions and more in just an hour? Probably not, but he'll have a damn good try. David V Barrett is the author of, amongst others, The New Believers: A Survey of Sects, "Cults" & Alternative Religions, A Brief History of Secret Societies, and the forthcoming Atlas of Secret Societies. He is a frequent contributor to Fortean Times magazine, and has written for many other newspapers and magazines, mainly on esoteric religion and history. He has just stepped down after organising the fortnightly esoteric pub meeting the Moot With No Name for the last five years. He also plays bass in the band Midnight. 13th November: David Allen Green - Lore and the Law: Legal Folklore and Urban Legends
Stories accumulate around legal processes, from dramatic incidents in trials to "strange laws" and misconceived law suits (usually American and often urban legends).
David Allen Green is a practising lawyer. He will lead a discussion about the role in the law of folklore and urban legends.
30th October: Scott Wood - The Dark Arts Walk Free event: Join Scott Wood outside The Hobgoblin Pub, opposite New Cross Gate Station, at 7pm for a walk taking in New Cross and Deptford's strange and ghostly folklore and history. Ghosts and ghost hunters, witchcraft and the devil, an exploding chip shop and boozers from beyond the grave. The walk will take approximately an hour and a half and will end with a pint at the Dog & Bell, Prince Street. 9th October – Antony Clayton - Legendary Londoners
The author of `The Folklore of London' and popular SELFS speaker discusses the problems of separating fact from folklore in the lives and exploit of Dick Turpin, Nell Gwyn and other famous historical
figures. 11th September: Paul Cowdell - Rats, London, and Folklore: 'You're *how* far from a rat? [Cecile Dublis couldn't make it – sorry everyone. Her 'Librarys and the Occult' site is here.] "I’ll talk about my research into urban beliefs about rats and previously-recorded folklore about rats as well as the natural history of rats and their environments. I’ll look at how rats are used to represent the Other, and how beliefs about rats change from rural to urban settings. What distinguishes London’s ratlore from that of other cities, and what it might tell us about Londoners’ attitude to their home." "This research is ongoing, and I'd welcome participation in my short questionnaire." 12th June: Scott Wood – Adventures in Urban Folklore
SELFS host Scott goes through the contemporary ritual year in London, stopping off at twentieth and twenty-first century folklore. Meet the Deptford Jack-in-the-Green. Hear of how Bridget and Imbolc scared the horses in Wimbledon. Remember Solstices in south London, Goddess worship in Southwark and Greenwich, recoil at accounts of young men being "banged out" on Clerkenwell streets, discover the truth about the friendly terrorists warning in Harrods and much more.
This is an introduction to a huge, exhilarating and very much living world of London folklore today. 8th May: Janet Dowling - Naming the Green Man of the Medieval Church. Janet Dowling uses story-telling and folklore research to reveal the identity of the Green Man in medieval stone carvings. 10th April: Neil Arnold - Big Cats Around The Capital
Neil, the author of Monster! - The A-Z of Zooform Phenomena, will be giving the first ever talk on exotic felids and mystery cats roaming London and the outskirts, proving that such sightings are no mystery at all, but in fact evidence that such animals have been with us centuries. 13th March: John Callow - Familiar Things: Witchcraft, Royals & The Witch Dog
Familiar spirits were a particularly British aspect of Witchcraft. Perhaps none was so famous as 'Boye': the enormous white dog who accompanied Prince Rupert on his campaigns from 1642-44. Seen as a
talisman, mascot, & victory bringer by the Royalists; and as an agent of the Devil, a shape-changing, Lappish witch by their Parliamentary foes: 'Boye' was equally celebrated and derided in print, painting, & pamphlet over the course of his short life 14th February: The Bleeding Heart
THIS IS A WALK, NOT A TALK.
An anti-seasonal, 2+ mile trek across London from a site of demonic heartbreak to SELFS home via poltergeists, witches, black dogs, the sacred shrine to the outside dead in Southwark and more. Comfort food shall be provided at the Old King's Head at journey's end. Meet at Bleeding Heart Yard, EC1 at 6.30pm on Thursday 14th February. Nearest tubes are Farringdon and Chancery Lane. 10th January: Noel Rooney - Plant Alchemy
Lavender stones, crystals of sage. Angel water, and terra damnata. Mercury, sulphur and salt. Divide and unite. Can you start the great work from a window box? 2007 13th December - Folk Yule Two Our annual Yule party with: Storytelling Songs Games Pin the Tail on the Yule Cat with live Yule Cat. Prizes Chips Pin thoughts and blessings on to our Yule Tree. £2.50 / £1.50 concs. entry but free to anyone with a party turn. 8th November: Antony Clayton - The Folklore of London Pubs
The talk SELFS was always destined to give: the author of Subterranean City and Decadent London on tales, traditions and terrors of some London ale houses. 11th October: Scott Wood & John Constable - Ghosts of South London Last minute chage: Patsy Langley has postponed her talk due to a family crisis so SELFS host Scott Wood will be presenting his own research into south London ghosts. Expect a drunken revenant, the Peckham ghost, an undead bank clerk and the dancing girl of Honor Oak. Local shamen and hero John Constable also stepped in to present some Ghosts of Borough from his book on Secret Bankside.
As this is a last minute change we'll be charging £1 for this evening to cover our expenses. Scott will accept tips of beer and crisps. 13th September: Rob Stephenson - Stones & Bones of London The stories of strange stones and unusual bones in London from the convener of London Earth Mysteries Circle.. |
|
|
|
|
|
August: we didn't have a meeting, we went to the (rainy bloody) seaside and the Margate Shell Grotto instead. 14th June: John Callow - Isobel Gowdie, the Queen of the Witches
John Callow, historian of early modern magic and witchcraft, brings alive the tale of the infamous Isobel Gowdie, accused of witchcraft in 17th-century Scotland. 10th May: Dan Baines - Dead Fairy Found in Derbyshire! Illusionist Dan Baines, of the Lebonan Circle, gives his account of how he fooled the world (well most of them) with his mummified fairy. From the conception of the idea through to the press reaction and public response Dan will give a full account of his miscievous antics. He promises to bring along one of the fairies he discovered in the Derbyshire barrow on Firestone Hill for all to see. Pagan Priests have warned that the remains need to returned as soon as possible so this may be your last chance to see them.... Read the full story here. 12th April: Stuart Inman - Surrealism and Magic
Stuart Inman is a founder member of the London Surrealist Group and a scholar of surrealism. He has specialised in surrealism in Czechoslovakia and the poetics of surrealism. The current talk examines a much misunderstood aspect of surrealism, its engagement with hermetic, alchemical and occult thought. 8th March: Tina Wrath - The Evolution of the Vampire
Tina reveals how Vampires have changed from the bloated, smelly
peasants of History to the Byronic figures that are "pale, handsome
and catnip to the ladies" that we know today.
8th February: Neil Gordon-Orr & John Constable - The Southwark Mysteries
Local historian Neil Gordon-Orr gives an illustrated talk on deities, saints and sacred sites celebrated within half a mile of SELFS' new venue in Borough.
A bronze age barrow at London Bridge, dog burials in Borough High Street and the recently discovered Roman temples of Tabard Square will all feature. The areas shamanic poet John Constable takes us in his experiences of the Southwarks Mysteries. |
|
|
|
|
Deep in to the mystery of Margate Shell Grotto. |
|
A still from the forthcoming CSI: Neverland. Clap children, clap! |
|
Marking the outsider dead at Crossbones, SE1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2006 Thursday 14th December. South East London Folklore Society returns with FOLK YULE. A evening of song, story-telling, sort-of-traditional games and further festive fun featuring party turns from: Ceri James & Bongo Tom, Rich Sylvester, Penny Hedge, David V Barrett, Neil Gordon-Orr, The Hawthorn Well, Richard Sanderson & Mark Braby, Kate Waterfield, Miriam Bance and your hosts: Clare & Scott Wood. This one off event will be taking place in the upstairs room of the Royal George, 85 Tanners Hill, Deptford, London, SE8 4QD. It's the red pub at the top of the hill. Please don't confuse it with the Royal Standard further down! The Royal George is a Sam Smith's pub so the beer will be cheap and the bar has a `book swap'. Please bring along books to exchange. The Folk Yule room is non-smoking. A £2.50 donation is requested to cover room hire and other costs. Nearest stations: New Cross, New Cross Gate, St Johns and Deptford Bridge. Buses 436, 321, 136 and 21. 53, 453, 171, 172 and 177 also
stop nearby.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
SELFS walkers in Charlton House gardens. |
|
|
Then we took a little break after The Spanish Galleon cancelled all of our bookings and turfed us out. Autumn walk from the woods to the river: Sunday 17th September .
A chance to explore the sites of ancient rites, apparitions, folklore and natural wonders with PF South East London and South East London Folklore Society. The walk is free. Join us for a Sunday afternoon picnic and stroll along part of the Green Chain Walk, from Oxleas Woods to the Thames Barrier. Starting at Oxleas Wood (meet by the café at 1pm) and finishing by the Thames. Severndroog Castle (a fantastic listed Gothic folly for those who haven't seen it) is open from 10am for London Open House: best to leave plenty of time before the walk if you want to go inside, as there might be a queue. We'll wander through the ancient woodland of Oxleas and the hideaways of highwaymen before taking in the site of Charlton's notorious Horn Fair (where apparently men `quite frequently wore women's clothes and amused themselves by striking women encountered on the fairground with sprigs of furze') and stopping to picnic near Charlton House, haunted Jacobean mansion and former home of SELFS. Then onwards for deer and peacock-spotting and over a Roman hill fort before passing a modern stone circle on the way to the Thames. It's also international Chalk4Peace weekend: so we'll be bringing chalks (and a camera!) in case anyone feels artistically inclined along the way. Total distance 4.5 miles we should arrive at the river by around 4.30pm. For further information contact Clare or Scott, or if the weather looks iffy on the day call 0777 577 2514 to confirm details. Hope to see you there! Buses to Shooters Hill: 89, 489 and (lower down) 161, 178 & 244
Buses from the Thames Barrier: 177, 180, 172 and 161 |
|
|
|
|
|
11th September: Jack Gale – London’s Green Web Jack Gale is a pagan and magickal writer on much experience, wisdom and warmth and tonight he shall be discussing London's "mystical forest". The greenery of South London features heavily in the talk!
14th August: John Rimmer – Charles Fort & Forteana John, editor of the much respected Magonia magazine, discusses the life and work of one of the paranormal's most influential and original thinkers, Charles Fort. Fort is most famous now for inspiring the journal of strange phenomena the Fortean Times. This talk will be followed by a panel discussion on Fort, his writings and his legacy which all are invited to take part in. As well as John, Mark Pilkington [Mark didn't make it - he was stuck in Mexico of Strange Attractor and Rachel Carthy will be on the panel. 10th July: Geraldine Beskin – The Life of Austin Osman Spare The proprietress of Atlantis Bookshop casts her powerful research skills on to the life and magic of south-east London's own artist and occultist Austin Osman Spare. 12th June: John Repsch – The Music, Magic and Madness of Joe Meek
Joe Meek was a cult British composer who dabbled in the occult and wrote innovative, chart-topping songs about séances, satellites and aliens. Writer and environmentalist John Repsch wrote the biography of Joe Meek in 1989. Bizarre and fascinating though Meek's life story was, Repsch had to publish it himself. The book has since spawned a BBC 2 'Arena' documentary, an avalanche of CDs and is scheduled to be made into a film this year starring Rhys Ifans. 8th May: Jon Hare - The Were-Tigers of Sumatra.
CFZ member Jon Hare encountered the "were-tigers" while searching for ape-men in Sumatra. This is his first hand tale of living shamanism, martial arts and spirit cats. 10th April: Malcolm Godfrey - Ghosts of Deptford & Greenwich
Local author Malcolm Godfrey reveals some haunted places by the Thames.
13th March: Jack Gale - The Track way of Carnal Desire: Holda & the Sacred Landscape. Local history expert and respected magical writer Jack Gale presents his researches that followed a vision in Greenwich Park. This is a tale starting with the sacred landscape of Germany and takes us to the histories, mysteries and scandalous past of King William Walk in Greenwich.
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
13th February: Chris Woods - The Sacred Landscape of South-East London. Chris Woods, architect, local historian and more, presents “the actual and possible pre-Elizabethan sacred landscape of SE London”, particularly around the Brockley and Deptford area. We had a taster at Brockley Max last year, now we get much more. 9th January: Christina Oakley: British Cunning Folk
One of paganism’s finest scholars, and proprietor of Treadwell’s Bookshop, discusses our native ‘cunning folk’, whom she describes as “Britain's native Hoodoo practitioners”.
2005 12th December: SELFS Quiz & Social The annual SELFS Yule pub quiz has become nearly almost semi-famous as an evening of chat, questions and silliness that is open to SELFS regulars and new-comers alike. It's free, it's based on our core interests of 'paganism, folklore, forteana, high-strangeness and the occult' and it offers (bad) prizes to many and a cash prize to the winners. 14th November: Steve Wilson - The Kibbo Kift - The Woodcraft Kindred. Long before the emergence of Wicca in the 1950s, Britain's first modern pagan revival was spearheaded by "Kibbo Kift - The Woodcraft Kindred". This group mixed Saxon heathenry with a desire to transform the entire world by developing a group of people who had experienced the whole of human culture by starting at hunter-gatherer level. The parent group - The Boy Scouts - were not amused! Learn abut the group that spawned The Woodcraft Folk and their occult sister group The Order of Woodcraft Chivalry at SELFS.......... |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Richard Freeman, a loyal pint of cider to hand, catches his breath at SELFS. |
|
|
10th October: Richard Freeman - "Men and Monsters in Mongolia." The story of the CFZ's expedition into the Gobi desert in search of the infamous Mongolian Deathworm, a blood red, vermiform beast said to spit acid and electrocute its victims. The team heard of encounters with, not only the worm, but with modern day dragons, ghosts and giant horned snakes. They met with sand storms, tornadoes, an ice gorge and a pre-teen ladyboy. Hear it all in "Men and Monsters in Mongolia". Centre for Fortean Zoology See photographs and video clips from the expedition at Cryptoworld blog. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Picture is taken from the back cover of 'The Hamlyn Book of Ghosts in fact and fiction' by Daniel Farson (1978). Memories of this book can cause fortean men of a certain to get tearful.
|
|
|
12th September: Simon Sherwood - "Phantom Black Dogs: A psychological perspective" Phantom Black Dogs have been reported for centuries and are still being reported today. Parapsychologists have concentrated upon human apparitions and there is very little consideration of animal apparitions, let alone apparitions of Black Dogs. This talk will consider the extent to which psychological/parapsychological theories of apparitions can explain these phantom Black Dogs? Have a look at Simon's Black Dog website here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
11th July: Steve Ash - Spring-heeled Jack: The Terror of London Wryd Walker Steve Ash discusses Spring-heeled Jack, who terrified Victorian London in bizarre and alarming ways. Or did he? Steve will be assessing the evidence, discussing the era's perchance for 'guising', or 'ghosting' as he calls it , as well as examining psychogenic mass hysteria phenomena and explaining the 'parapsychogenic', a possible paranormal dimension to the mass hysteria effect... See more at Steve's website The Complete Spring-heeled Jack Page 13th June: Panel Discussion: Paganism & the Counter-Culture Is another world possible? What place does paganism, magic and the supernatural have in the struggle for a better, greener, fairer future? Does it have any place there? All very nice they were, too. |
|
|
|
|
Boing! Boing! "Have at You, Peeler!" |
|
The Paganism & the Counter Culture panel enjoy supper. From the left: Adrian Harris, Steven Grasso, Andy Worthington, Jocelyn Chaplin and Steve Ash. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
11th June: Magic Mystery & Hidden History We put on a program of talks on Magic, Mystery and Hidden History for the Brockley Max Festival. Those taking part either live in or around Brockley or have something to say about this part of south-east London. It ran from 3pm to 8pm on Saturday June 11th at the Brockley Jack Theatre, above the Brockley Jack pub, Brockley Road, Brockley, SE4 2DH. The event was free. Alex Hodson: Down With the Fences: The Battles against the Enclosure of Sydenham Common and One Tree Hill. Local people have a 400 year history of fighting to preserve open space against development and destruction. Some they lost... but some they won! Neil Gordon-Orr: Brockley Footpath - an ancient track-way? South-east London Historian Neil Gordon-Orr traces a possible sacred path to and through Brockley. Scott Wood: Ghosts and Monsters of Brockley and Surrounds. SELFS organiser combines two of his favourite things in a talk on supernatural beasties in south-east London.
Steve Wilson: The Brockley Thing.
In the mid 1920s The Woodcraft Folk broke away from the Kibbo Kift, Britain's first modern working class pagan group - over "The Brockley Thing". What was this thing? What sort of thing was it? Chris Woods: Merriton and Brockley - The town in the marsh and the clearing in the wood. A possible prehistory of the landscape of Brockley and Deptford Bridge from the Iron age to the Middle ages, "common greene" to Brockley Common. Andy Worthington: The Battle of the Beanfield. The local author of “Stonehenge: Celebration and Subversion” remembers, twenty years on, the events of the Battle of the Beanfield, the bloody end of the Stonehenge Free Festival. Kate Waterfield: Runa Megin. Kate Waterfield discusses and performs pieces from the Runa Megin; an evocative exploration of the musical possibilities of ancient runes is rich with echoes of an Eastern European folk heritage and an experimental "extended technique" vocal approach. A "musical delight to the ears" : Pentagram Magazine. |
|
We love our audience! Thanks to Chris Woods for these pictures, see more at the SELFS / Forteana photo-gallery. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Alex Hodson What a fine collection of "blokes in t-shirts" pictures. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Here we see Greenwich's most glamorous ghost tipping along it's delightful period staircase. |
|
|
9th May: Geraldine Charles – Royal Maritime Greenwich - Trails of the Unexpected. This talk will cover folklore, ghost stories and earth mysteries in and around the sites of the Palace of Placentia, Queen's House, Greenwich Hospital and more, which is the site now occupied by Greenwich University and The National maritime Museum. The talk will be illustrated with photographs. Geraldine is a registered archivist working at the National Maritime Museum, she is also a biologist with a special project on Pythons & Boas, a parasitologist (squirrel’s gut and rectal content), an expert in the Victorian and Egyptian Symbolism of Abney Park Cemetery, a published poet, a founding Trustee of the Families in British India Society, trainee bongo player and sings in the ‘world music’ group Songlines. Our kind of person. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
11th April: Neil Gordon-Orr – Spring Festivals in South London. Neil is a local historian particularly interested in forgotten and radical history. In the run-up to May Day and Beltane, he will discuss spring rites from the Roman era to the present day, concentrating on rituals and festivals in South London. 14th March: Mark Pilkington - A Fearful Current: Notes Towards a Chronology of Paranoid Technology. From the 18th century to the 21st, some people have believed that machines are influencing their thoughts, words and actions; that by pulling levers, turning dials and pressing buttons, unseen hands control their lives. This talk treads a tentative path through this labyrinthine, liminal world, where the borders between fiction, delusion and reality are indistinct, and one wrong step can lead to madness. Mark is a contributing editor for the Fortean Times, editor of the Strange Attractor Journal, shrunken head collector and ferret fancier. 14th February: Jason Oliver – Suspension and other Body Rituals. Jason will discuss body ritual with specific relation to suspension, both past and present, and its relation to the death posture as posited by Austin Osman Spare. Other body modifications will be discussed as a peripheral to these body rites of passage. Jason is studying at the Royal College of Art for a Masters degree, his main themes being body modification, ritual and associated practices. |
|
|
|
|
A Jack-in-the-Green frolicking in his natural environment. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
10th January: Jeremy Harte – Explore Fairy Traditions. Jeremy Harte combines folklore scholarship with a lively style to show what the presence of fairies meant to peoples’ lives. He draws on legends, ballads and testimony from Britain and Ireland to reveal changelings, brownies, demon lovers and abduction into the Otherworld. His research is based on primary sources and many errors about fairy tradition are laid to rest. Jeremy is the author of numerous articles on earth-mysteries, folklore and more, his book Explore Fairy Traditions was published by ’Explore Books’ in October 2004. Read the Independent on Sunday Magazine review of this meeting here. 2004 13th December 2004: Free Yule Party and Quiz with prizes. Let’s pick each-others brains. 8th November 2004: John Eden –The Story of ‘Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth’ Thee Temple ov Psychick Youth began in 1981 mixing art and ritualistic occult practices, it deconstructed language, sexuality and the sacred. John's presentation will summarise a history of the network and its practices, focusing specifically on his own involvement and experiences. 11th October 2004: Kathleen Blackmore – Urban Witchcraft & Witch Trials Kathleen (Birkbeck College, University of London) will explore urban witchcraft and a Southwark witch trial from 1701. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The last moot at the Mitre, which was Tony Clayton's Subterranean London talk. Look at you all. You can see why we moved to the (more spacious) Galleon. |
|
|
13th September 2004: Antony Clayton – Subterranean London Antony Clayton, author of “Subterranean City, Beneath the Streets of London”, will examine aspects of the folklore of underground London. The talk will concentrate principally on some of the stories of the capital's ancient 'secret' passages and tunnels and sightings of ghosts underground. 9th August 2004: Geraldine Beskin - 'Aleister Crowley: The Man Behind the Myth' Geraldine, of Atlantis Bookshop fame, discusses the life, times and truth of the self-styled "Great Beast". |
|
|
|
|
|
12th July 2004: Gordon Rutter - 'Fungi - Folklore, Facts and Fiction' From fairy rings to potent poisons and hallucinogens, fungi have had an enormous impact on human civilization. What's the truth behind Father Christmas? Why were fairy rings the crop circles of their day? All this and more but no free samples. |
|
|
|
|
|
14th June 2004: Chris French - "The Psychology & Parapsychology of Alien Abduction Experiences'' The Anomalistic Psychology Research Unit at Goldsmiths College, University of London, is currently engaged in a project investigating the alien abduction experience (AAE). The project will result in data relevant to psycological accounts of AAEs but will also probe further into the wide range of additional anomalous experiences reported by 'abductees'. Richard Sanderson said of the night: "The excellent Scott Wood's SELFS at The Mitre in Greenwich presented a talk by Chris French on "The Psychology of Alien Abduction Experiences". I won't go into details, but it pretty much convinced me that we're not being scooped up by flying saucers on a daily basis. Chris got a slightly rougher ride than perhaps he would at the Skeptics in the Pub meetings, while treating the believers with a little more respect than I would. There was still one of those terrible "what is reality?/what is real" circular arguments though, that can waste a lot of time and, by their very nature never get anywhere. On the whole though, a great evening (in the open air too, due to the glorious weather), led by a charming and efficient host. Recommended." |
|
|
|
|
They're coming to take you away. |
|
|
|
|
|
10th May 2004: Stephen Grasso - 'I Put A Spell On You' Stephen looks at the history and development of hoodoo, rootwork and conjure sorcery, and discusses its place in modern magical practice. 5th April 2004: - 'Any Questions?' I thought we'd try something a bit different this month. If it works, we'll do it again sometime; if it doesn't, we won't. (Turned out that most really enjoyed it so we did something similair in June 2005) Steve Wilson (Moot With No Name), Christina Oakley (Treadwells Bookshop), Jack Gale (Greenwich Mysteries), and Jacqueline Woodward-Smith (Avalon in London) will be taking questions from the floor - and from the people seated on chairs - on all matters magical, folkloric, and pagan. We'll start at 8pm for this one, and you're welcome to email your questions in advance if you wish. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8th March 2004: - Darren Francis - 'All Nature Is Naked: Pan In Myth & Magick' Tonight's speaker leads us through the Wild Wood in search of the history and legacy of the horned and hoofed one. 9th February 2004: - Richard Freeman "Worldwide Dragon-Lore" Dragons are amongst the most ancient and widespread of monsters, occuring in every culture on earth. Amazing encounters with dragons are still reported around the world today. Can the dragon legend be explained in reality? Tonight's speaker examines the differing kinds of dragons, possible explanations for what lies behind dragon lore, and takes a look at encounters with dragons in the modern day, including the claim that a dragon worship cult was still carrying out human sacrifices in England up until 1928! |
|
|
|
|
|
12th January 2004: - Jack Gale - "At The Well Of The White Lady'
A talk centred around Flamsteed's Well, in the grounds of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich. An earth-mysteries investigation using psychic input and historical research with material ranging from the first Astronomer Royal to a shadowy prehistoric Goddess Cult. 8th December 2003: - 'Yule Social & Occult, Fortean & Folklore Quiz Night.'
10th November 2003: Steve Ash - 'The Dionysian Underground & The Bacchic Revolution'. Steve Ash reveals the shocking truth about the Dionysian Underground and the magickal current it works with, as well as exploring the history (and herstory) of Bacchic Revolutions since the dawn of history. Crazed paganism, Libertine Counterculture, Revolutionary Conspiracies, Neo-Occultism, Sex, Drugs, Art and Post-Situationism. What more could you want? |
|
|
|
|
|
13th October 2003: Sarah Crofts - 'The Deptford Jack In The Green & Elsewhere'. "When the police stopped all such customs". Fowlers troop have been taking out the Deptford Jack in the Green on May Day for around the last twenty years. It is a revival of a Jack last seen in Deptford around 1910. Sarah Crofts will look at the origins and history of the Jack in the Green tradition, with particular reference to the Fowlers Troop. Sarah has been a member of the modern Fowlers Troop almost from the start, a member of the local women's Morris dance team and plays English traditional music on the concertina. 8th September 2003: Adrian Harris - 'Eco-magic - Breaking Boundaries & Crossing The Line'
Adrian says: "Eco-magic is an evolving practice that resists definition, but it's always breaking boundaries. Both physically on the activist front line and magically we're aiming to cross the line.
"Tonight I want to open up what that means for eco-magic by looking at the sensuous, earthy connections that lie at the heart of eco-magic, the queer, anarchic, eco-erotic future that may await..." |
|
| |
|
|
|
|
11th August 2003: John Rimmer – ‘The Brentford Griffin’
John edits the (much-recommended) Magonia magazine that 'interprets vision and belief'. Tonight John describes the strange case of the Griffin sighted over Brentford, and the stranger people who were involved. John has informed us that he has been trawling the pubs of fair Brentford, conducting research on the beast. Visit the Magonia website here. 14th July 2003: John Constable – ‘The Southwark Mysteries’
John Constable is a playwright, poet and shaman, who has lived and worked for 17 years in south-east London. Tonight he explores the secret history behind his epic The Southwark Mysteries (published by Oberon Books). How the hermetic teachings of a Roman Temple of Isis resurfaced in the songs of Bankside actors and whores. The story of John Crow and The Goose, a medieval prostitute licensed by the Church to work within The Liberty of The Clink, outside the law of The City. Her bones were unearthed and her spirit raised when work on the Jubilee Line Extension dug up the Cross Bones Graveyard, SE1. More info here. 9th June 2003: Neil Starman – ‘The South London Magical Landscape’
A search for South London's spirits of place via a whistlestop tour of its forgotten sacred sites and springs, groves, burial grounds, and more. The mysteries of the Old Kent Road shall finally be unveiled. 12th May 2003: Clai Philpott – ‘Dionysus In Chains’
Why, in this rational age, does the cinematic witch still hold such power over us? What does she represent and why mustn't she be allowed to live? Clai is currently writing a dissertation on the representation of woman as witch in cinema. In this talk she attempts some answers (video clips included). |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
14th April 2003: Justin Woodman – ‘Subterranean Worlds and Underground Civilisations'
Strap on your hard hat and have your flashlight at the ready! Presenting an alternative / magical travalogue of things chthonic and speleological, your tour guide for the evening will assess the reality and significance of those subterranean worlds which have fascinated occultists, ufologists and forteans alike. We will be stopping off at the underground kingdom of Agharti, Nazi World Ice theory, secret military/alien bases (and other diverse locales) along the way - please remember to leave the rest rooms as you found them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
10th March 2003: Rachel Carthy – ‘Cannibalism’ Rachel Carthy is a collector of strange and wonderful books and knowledge. Tonight she will lay out a vile sensationalist feast of gore, with no redeeming social or educational value whatsoever, for all the hungry souls at SELFS. Jayne Ayris, of the Forteana list, had this to say: "We all thoroughly enjoyed Rachel's well prepared and thought-out talk... It was entertaining, amusing in parts, and had some wonderful puns thrown in. Obviously years of research paid off, as she had facts at her fingertips, and packed in a lot of true stories and facts in the time she had. She covered many aspects, from all times and places, right up to the latest German internet based case. I won't give too much away, as I know some of you may yet hear her talk, and I believe she is posting notes. Thanks Rach, for a wonderful evening!" 10th February 2003: Mark Anthony – ‘Persian Goddesses in Zoroastrianism’ Tonight Mark will discuss the goddesses of Ancient Persia, with special reference to Zoroastrianism, where a number of goddesses can be found, with different functions and attributes. There will be particular emphasis on the goddess Anahita, a deity still very dear to Zoroastrians today. Mark will also discuss some possible influences and relationships between ancient Persian goddesses and those of neighbouring lands, such as Mesopotamia. 13th January 2003: Michael Staley – Initiation: The Cosmic Sweep Initiation is a dynamic, transformative process, in the course of which the relationship between individual and universe becomes ever clearer and more intimate. Though this talk concentrates on initiation in the context of magic and mysticism, it applies equally to any field of creative endeavour. As well as drawing on his own experiences, tonight’s speaker touches upon the ideas of Kenneth Grant, Austin Osman Spare and Aleister Crowley, amongst others. There will be reference to a specific Spare picture, ‘Background of Prescience’, a 1955 pastel which is very relevant. Marc Robinson, of Enthusiasm blog, was provoked into these thoughts "Attended another meeting of the South East London Folklore Society last night - Michael Staley gave forth on the subject of initiation, with particular reference to an Austin Osman Spare drawing called The Background of Prescience. [...] I must say I was a little surprised to hear that he didn't think formal initiation was very important. It's understandable that someone may find the experience something of a let-down if initiation (in the sense of revelation of hidden knowledge) doesn't provide answers the initiate might hope for - but I have to suggest that there is a social and psychological significance in exoteric initiation, the loss of which in secular society, it could be argued, makes lifelong infants of us all. Which is all very fine for proponents and beneficiaries of heirarchical, paternalistic (and for that matter, consumerist) societies - but of course there are initiations for the elites, the Freemasons and the likes of the Skull & Bones - now, what about the rest of us? Shouldn't we consider reclaiming our rituals of validation and recognition as grownups? Mmmm?"
9th December 2002 Yule Social and Occult Quiz Night 11th November 2002: Scott Wood - The Angels of Mons and Elsewhere Believers say that during the retreat at Mons, August 1914, the British Army were saved from total defeat by a host of angels. Skeptics have always maintained that the Angels of Mons were a delusion based on a fictional story. Scott Wood disagrees with all of them. |
|
|
|
|
|
14th October 2002: Alistair Coombs - Cosmic Rounds & Aeonic Progression
The details of this one got lost; sorry, Alistair... 9th September 2002: Jack Gale - Working With Nature Spirits
Jack Gale needs no introduction, being a well-known and much-respected figure on the pagan scene. Tonight he discusses the ideas and practicalities behind working with nature spirits. 12th August 2002: Clai Philpott - The Psychosis Of Man
Turning on its head the well-known theory that the government is out to debunk the paranormal, Clai will be leading us through her recent trip into Chapel Perilous asking how much the government controls the paranormal, and why. Does any of it exist anyway? 8th July 2002: Bill Redwood - William S Burroughs: Drugs, Guns, Art & Magick
William Burroughs spent much of his time shooting; usually heroin, occasionally people. His books, initially banned for obscenity, made him one of the foremost modern American writers. He also gained a reputation as an artist. Less well-known is that he was a practicing magician, and this talk will look at his significant, though under-acknowledged, contribution to magickal theory and practice. |
|
|
|
|
|
June 2002: Darren Francis - Aliens, Demons, Gods, & Other Lovers
Occultism, the paranormal and folklore are rife with tales of all manner of entities - physical and otherwise - seemingly intent on having sex with us. Darren Francis investigates. Records of most SELFS moots after this one have been lost, except for the ones below. Any help tracing the history of SELFS would be greatly appreciated, please contact me via email. 8th April 2002: Steve Wilson - Cosmic Connection? Using Paradigm Shifts to explore weirder world views. Steve said as the time: "Alistair Coombe's talk at SELFS has had to be replaced with 24 hours notice due to severe illness in his family. The replacement talk is on "Cosmic Connection? Using Paradigm Shifts to explore weirder world views." by my good self. The talk explains how paradigm shifting can allow magicians to explore some of the wackier views of reality without becoming a "truebeliever", and gives publicly for the first time the results of a five-year magical working exploring an intererrestial communicationparadigm, including how to use "Star Trek" to go where no magician has gone before!" 8th October 2001: Justin Woodman - Arthur Machen, Margaret Murray, and the "Little People"
Arthur Machen was a one-time member of the Golden Dawn and celebrated author of supernatural tales in which the "Little People" of Welsh folklore appeared as a recurring motif. Forging tenuous links between Margaret Murray's "witch cult", Austin Spare's formula of atavistic resurgence, Richard Shaver, Chaos magick and Princess Diana (!), tonight's speaker will weave a deliciously conspiratorial melange out of Machen's malign vision of the fairy folk. 10th September 2001: Jack Gale - The Demon of Tidmouth: Restoration Period Chaos Magic
High wyrdness and sorcery in 17th Century Wiltshire! Drawing very much on primary sources, Jack Gale presents the strange tale of William Drury, one of the 17th Century's best-documented sorcery cases.
11th August 2000: Rob Stephenson - The Moon and the Megaliths. The magical atmosphere often possessed by prehistoric ancient sites has inspired a rich folklore, yet coexistent with this mythic understanding of place are theories relating the layout of these sites to the movements of the heavenly bodies. These two complementary themes will be explored using slides.
24th June 2000: Thee Midsummer Event
The second conference, co-ordinated by Steve Wilson for SELFS in association with the Pagan Federation. Speakers included: Andrew Collins, Caroline Robertson, Steve Wilson, Caroline Wise. Live entertainment provided by Inkubus Sukkubus and The Sleeping Myth.
4th December 1999: Thee Event
The first conference, co-ordinated by Jason Oliver for SELFS in association with the Pagan Federation. Speakers included Storm Constantine, Jack Gale, Lynn Picknett, Clive Prince, Gerald Suster, Steve Wilson, Caroline Wise. Live entertainment provided by Interferrence and Fantasmagoria. Click here for a review of thee Event. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
