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Troy Books |
| AUTHORS | |
Gemma is a student, practitioner, author and artist of the Old Craft. She lives in a remote farm cottage on the outskirts of St Buryan, in Cornwall’s Penwith region; Mainland Britain’s most south-westerly region. The village and the surrounding area are particularly rich in Witch-lore and ancient sacred stone monuments. From her study window Gemma can see the famous ‘Merry Maidens’ stone circle. Gemma’s working interests and research encompass witchcraft, folk-magical traditions, folklore and customs of Cornwall, the West and beyond, as well as ‘Modern Traditional Witchcraft’ and the ‘Craft of the Wica’. In addition to her practices as a working Cornish witch and charm maker, Gemma is the current serving Magistra of Ros An Bucca, a traditionalist Cornish witch kord (clan). Whilst the public have been well served with numerous books dealing with the history of Cornish witchcraft, Gemma’s first book Traditional Witchcraft - A Cornish Book of Ways has been the first to explore Cornish witchcraft as a continuing, developing and evolving contemporary practice; for working witches and their clients in Cornwall still remain. Gemma is currently working on a number of other book projects relating to Cornish and West Country magic, and the contemporary traditional Craft. Websites: www.cornishwitchcraft.co.uk www.gemmagary.co.uk |
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CASSANDRA LATHAM – JONES Cassandra was, until recently the village wisewoman of St Buryan, a position, from which she is now retired, which gained her the considerable notability of becoming the first person to be registered in the UK as a working witch with the Inland Revenue. For this she became popularly known as ‘Britain’s first tax-paying witch’ and considerable national media interest followed. However, of this she remained wary and fiercely selective, being ever mindful of the Craft’s portrayal, and turned down any media requests that might seek to trivialize her work. As a working wisewoman, Cassandra has served clients from her local community, and beyond, for many years with the traditional services of wart charming, healing, exorcism, charm making, divination, counseling, rites of passage and magical assistance for a plethora of life’s needs. Cassandra has served as vice president of the Pagan Federation and is a founding member of the Cornish Ancient Sites Protection Network (CASPN) She is also memorable for her work as a Penglaz ‘Oss Teazer for many years within local festivals, and continues today to perform with Boekka, a unique fusion of Border Morris, Teazing and Guize Dance. Cassandra is also an accomplished and entertaining speaker and continues to give talks about her work. Cassandra’s Book Village Witch describes her life and work as a Village Wisewoman, her journey to this unique occupation as well as offering an insight into her personal approach to magic. Websites: www.villagewisewoman.co.uk www.boekka.co.uk |
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SIMON REED Simon Reed lives in Penzance, Cornwall where he is a leading campaigner for Cornish native culture. He has been a central and key figure in the revival of traditional Cornish customs and festivals in the Penwith region, notably the hugely successful Montol festival – the Cornish celebration of Midwinter in Penzance and the May Horns festival which has been re-established as annual event. He is also the organiser of other smaller cultural events on a regular basis. He has served in West Cornwall as Town and District Councillor for over 10 years. He was Deputy Mayor of Penzance in 2002 and was Town Mayor twice 2003-2005. Behind Simon’s work is a deep passion for Cornish custom and community tradition, he also performs regularly as a folk musician. His first book, ‘The Cornish Traditional Year’ is a valuable resource for people with an interest in regional traditional customs and festivals. Simon hopes that readers outside Cornwall will be inspired to become involved in the revival of these vital community celebrations in their own areas. In addition to the better known Cornish festivals, such as Helston’s ‘Flora Day’ and the Padstow ‘Obby ‘Oss, Simon guides the reader through the numerous lesser known, and sometimes bizarre feasts and festivals of the Cornish Traditional year. Website: www.cornishculture.co.uk |
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