April | 2015 | Hag o' The Hills

Saturday 11th April was a busy day for me, but also a very special day. I’d spent the morning and afternoon at the Scottish Pagan Federation Conference and in the evening returned to Dundee to attend the launch party of a dear friend’s business.

My friend Juan launched his business Conjure, along with 2 other businesses (Siobhan Diamond Photography and Jill Sime Make Up Artist) in collaboration with Moonberry Creative Studios.

Over the past several months I have watched him put in a tremendous amount of hard work and effort and the stress such work brings with it, and I can say with confidence that not only did he face the storm but he came out the other side and brought some beauty into this world.

Conjure is not only a business but it’s also a labour of love for Juan, and he expresses his creativity through making handmade esoteric themed accessories, jewellery, apparel & art.

The artist in his studio

So I arrived that evening with another good friend and was pleased to see a good turn out for the studio launch for all three businesses. Free wine and champagne and bars of chocolate were given out and there was live music from a fantastically talented group called Sinderins, (formerly Anderson McGinty Webster Ward and Fisher). There was a raffle with a lot of lovely prizes and overall everyone managed to raise over £300 for the renal unit ward at Ninewells Hospital.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/z_ryZ9Ssq6o“>

It was a great night and I felt so proud of Juan for everything he has accomplished. Well done mate! 😀

Me being silly

I will leave you with some photos of his studio and products to drool over 😀 Also see some links below for access to Conjure’s pages.

Slàinte Mhath!

The Hag x

Links:

https://www.facebook.com/ConjureAccessories

http://www.conjureaccessories.co.uk/

https://twitter.com/conjureuk

http://conjureaccessories.tumblr.com/

https://www.facebook.com/MoonberryCreativeStudios

https://www.facebook.com/SDiamondPhotography

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jill-Sime-Makeup-Artist/208450079177546

https://www.facebook.com/Sinderinsband

It’s been a long time since I last wrote a blog post here. Life has been keeping me pleasantly busy since I started my degree in English Literature, spending time with loved ones and doing full time work. So my apologies folks, I do intend to blog more this year.

As of 14th March Hag o’ The Hills turned 1 year old! I’m please to say I’ve had good feedback from people. This blog was really only intended as a place for me to gather my thoughts, get into the habit of regular writing and document my spiritual path. It pleases me greatly that others enjoy reading my words and get something out of my posts. Thank you all for your ongoing support 🙂

11th April saw me and some fellow witchy chums driving through to Edinburgh for the Scottish Pagan Federation Conference. Although I was still bleary eyed from getting up early (I am definitely a night owl), my spirits were high and we laughed and joked our way there.

I was last here a couple of years ago, but looked forward to it more this time around as one of the talks was about Scottish cunning folk.

Christina Oakley Harrington, an academic, historian and founder of Treadwell’s Bookshop presented the talk, taking us on a journey through the witchcraft trials in Scotland, and some of the spells and remedies said to be used at the time. She told us the stories of Alexander Drummond, Jean Maxwell and Adam Reid.

Some of the cures involved transferring illness from a person onto special water (usually collected from a south running water), or by transferring illness to animals or even people. A person’s shirt was cleansed in a south running water to provided a cure. She also mentioned “silvered” water (a piece of silver being placed in the water vessel) being used in place of south running water. She also gave us a wonderful source to search through trial records in Scotland (see links below).

The talk was very moving at points, you could really get a sense of how those poor folk suffered when they were arrested and found guilty. Christina had previously given members of the audience cards with the names of the cunning folk and each in turn were said out loud while we sat and thought of them. Say my name that I may live. I felt my heart tug as each name was called, and the tears began to well up. It was a beautiful thing to be part of. We cannot change their fates, but we can remember them and honour them.

The next talk I attended was Hollow Hills and High Places by Julia Jeffrey – the artist of Tarot of the Hidden Realm. She recounted her experiences with the landscape and it’s beings, and how she incorporated the essence of it into her tarot deck and art work.

Next up was Paganism in Fairy Tales by Joanna Coleman, which started with Joanna telling us a fairy tale before discussing some of the themes involved. Then we ended with a workshop by Christina Oakley Harrington – Scottish Cunning Folk’s Magic. I was only able to attend this one for 30 mins as my friends and I had to catch a train.

I was pleased to see the animistic side of Paganism represented by this year’s talks. Paganism seems to be growing up a bit, maturing and moving past the usual goddess worship and digging back down to the roots and acknowledging the spirits around us. Not that I’m criticizing goddess worshippers, I just happen to think there’s more to Paganism than just that. I am definitely looking forward to next year’s conference.

Picked this up from the stalls

Next thing I have planned is to go to the Beltane Fire Festival again at the end of this month. I can’t wait for that! Good company, plus the delights of the festival and then the wonderful pubs after it, then the full Scottish breakfast the next morning. Gonna need it for the hangover 😛