Dr Alexander Cummins is a contemporary cunning-man and historian of magic. His magical specialities are the dead (folk necromancy), divination (geomancy), the cunning-crafts of traditional British service magic, and the grimoires.

His published works include The Black Raven with Brian Johnson, Nazarth: Pillars of Gladness, The Art of Cyprian’s Mirror of Four Kings, An Excellent Booke of the Arte of Magicke with Phil Legard, A Book of the Magi, The Starry Rubric, and a host of essays in collections by both occult and academic publishers.

Al is a frequent speaker on the international circuit, and co-hosts the podcast Radio Free Golgotha. Dr Cummins’ work, classes, and services can be found at www.alexandercummins.com."

In this chat, we talk about geomancy, how it works as a form of divination, how it can be used for more magical operations, and just why more people need to use titles like 'service magician'. Enjoy!

Find Al online at: https://www.alexandercummins.com

His other links are here: https://linktr.ee/grimoiresontape

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Canals occupy a strange place in the cultural imagination. They're manmade, yet offer a connection to nature, and they offer a means of transport, but one that's only accessible by boat. Some cities depend on canals, like Amsterdam or Venice, while in the UK, canals are often overlooked or forgotten spaces that have long outlived their original purpose.

There is also surprisingly less folklore about canals than you might imagine, given the amount you can find about rivers or lakes. It's not that they're 'new' as a concept. The Romans built the Fossdyke to connect Lincoln to the River Trent in 50 CE, and the Grand Canal of China dates to the 10th century.

Yet in Britain, the real Canal Age didn't begin until the later 18th century, with canals built to ease the transport of goods. While the railway took over as the transport of choice in the 19th century, the canals remained. Some stayed in use until the 1960s. So what legends or ghost stories have clung to these manmade British waterways? Let's find out in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/haunted-canals/

Seances and the Female Medium in British Cinema talk: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/seances-and-the-female-medium-in-british-cinema-with-icy-sedgwick-zoom-tickets-1249421837349

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

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We've no doubt seen plenty of content online about water's power to be a great healer. We need to drink it (this is your reminder for today), while people swear by cold water baths for their wellbeing. Then we think about how much water appears in nature, somewhere we're often counselled to go to improve our mental health. I think of how often I find myself heading towards water on my days off, whether that's the local burn, the mighty Tyne, or the unforgiving North Sea.

But how often do we think of healing springs or wells as a potential destination?

They seemed a logical choice for this week's entry into our Folklore of Water theme after the brief dabble with Holywell Priory last week. True, wells can also be used for other purposes, like wishing and cursing, which I've covered before. But here, we'll focus entirely on four springs devoted to healing - especially of the miraculous kind.

Let's explore the folklore of healing wells in this week's episode of Fabulous Folklore!

Find the images and references on the blog post: https://www.icysedgwick.com/healing-wells-and-springs/

Get your free guide to home protection the folklore way here: https://www.icysedgwick.com/fab-folklore/

Become a member of the Fabulous Folklore Family for bonus episodes and articles at https://patreon.com/bePatron?u=2380595

Buy Icy a coffee or sign up for bonus episodes at: https://ko-fi.com/icysedgwick

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