The Devil’s Plantation
East Anglian Lore, Witchcraft and Folk-Magic
Taking its name from the lost ‘black book’ of a famed Cambridgeshire witch, as well as plots of land sacrificed unto the spirits and the Old One himself, Nigel Pearson’s ‘The Devil’s Plantation’ guides the reader through the traditional witchcraft, old magic and folklore of East Anglia.
This is an ancient landscape, and a melding pot for the beliefs, culture and magic of the various peoples who have inhabited it over its long history. And yet, until very recently, East Anglia has been a land ‘set apart’ and isolated amidst impassable marshes, Fens and uncleared Forests.
Thus East Anglia is a landscape in which ‘the good folk’, land drakes, land wights, meremaids, giants, spectral hounds, saintly miracles, wort Cunning, toad lore, folk magic and indeed witchcraft have been nurtured and continue to play a part in the lives of the people of what has aptly been named ‘Witch Country’.
Paperback Edition; Matt laminated cover with 80gsm white paper stock.
Standard Hardback Edition; a ‘Blueberry’ case binding with gold foil blocking to the front and spine, 80gsm white paper stock, ‘buttermilk’ endpapers, with black head and tail bands.
Special Edition; a limited edition of 300 hand-numbered examples, bound in dark brown and beautifully grained recycled leather fibres, with gold foil blocking to the front and spine, light brown end papers, with black head and tail bands. 80gsm white paper stock. Sold Out
Black Edition; a limited edition of 200 hand-numbered examples, bound in beautifully grained black recycled leather fibers, with black foil blocking to the front and spine, red end papers, with red head and tail bands. 90gsm white paper stock.
Fine Edition; a limited edition of only 15 hand-numbered examples, in a full black goat leather hand binding with inset dark blue goat leather shield panel with a blind embossed boarder and dark blue title panel on the spine, silver foil blocking to the front and spine and hand marbled end papers. This edition will be issued with a blue library buckram slip-case, blind embossed to the front. Sold Out
Size; All editions are presented in Royal format 156 x 234mm.
Pagination: 272 pages, plus 16 pages of photographic plates plus line drawings and figures by Gemma Gary.
Introduction.
Chapter 1 – The Living Landscape
Echoes of the Ancestors
Graven Images
Spirits in the Landscape
The Good Folk and their Kin
Land Drakes.
Chapter 2 – Meremaids, Giants and Spectral Hounds
Maids of the Meres
Herculean Labourers
Dark and Demon Dogs.
Chapter 3 – Characters of Craft
Witch Country
Dual Faith
Witchfinder General
Mother Lakeland
Old Winter
Jabez Few
Tilly Baldrey
Using the “Eye”
A Little Learning
Daddy Witch
Try to remember……..
By Royal Appointment
Spying on the Witches
Monica English
Today’s Characters.
Chapter 4 – Speak of the Devil ……. (and He will appear)
The Devil in Cambridgeshire
Suffolk’s Stones
Norfolk’s Hills and Hollows
Liminality
Cunning and Mighty is His Nature
Men In Black.
Chapter 5 – Witch Ways
Circles of Might
Toads and Bones
Toads in Magic
With the help of the Dead
Working with Familiars
Prevention, Healing and Cure of all Ills
The Craft of Contact
The Arte of Ligature.
Chapter 6 – Green Ways
Specialist Collectors and Gatherers
The Dark Orders
Plant Lore
Arboreal Lore
Healing Lore
Some Recipes.
Chapter 7 – Folk Ways
Defence by Boiling and Bottle
Salt, Shoes and Spheres
Blood, Bones, Burning and Baking
Special Stones
The Wake of Freya
Charms of Love
St. Mark’s Eve
Curious Cures
The Tides of Life.
Chapter 8 – Three Crowns and Several Halos
Legendary regalia
East Anglian Holy Land
St. Felix
St. Fursey
St. Botolph
St. Etheldreda
St. Withburga
St. Edmund
St. Walstan
Walsingham
Petitioning the Saints.
Appendix – Removing a Witch’s Curse.
Bibliography.
Index.
Paperback Edition
£15.50 plus shipping
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Standard Hardback Edition
Please note: this edition is now sold out, but we will shortly have stock available of the new Dust Jacketed Hardback edition of this book. We are introducing these editions as a replacement for our foil blocked Standard Hardbacks. We will be continuing with our Special Limited Edition books for future releases.
Black Edition
Sold out
Special Edition
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Fine Limited Edition
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