This book is a collection of essays from lectures given by 12 scholars at Hidden Charms 3 conference held in Chester, UK on 2 October, 2021. As the name suggests, the essays shed light on the research on the objects and symbols that were used to protect people from supernatural harm for centuries.
The topics of the essays are absolutely fascinating for anyone who is interested in superstitions and the worldviews of the people of the past.
Humans in all societies of the world, for as long as anyone can discern, have taken the threat of supernatural forces seriously. As a consequence of this there are an enormous range of practices in existence which are designed to protect us from these forces.
The Hidden Charms conferences seek to bring together scholars working in this area to share ideas and discuss new research. The first was in 2016 in Norwich, the second in 2018 in Salisbury, and here we have the proceedings of Hidden Charms 3 which took place in St Mary's Creative Space, Chester on October 2nd…
A thoroughly interesting book on the belief in witchcraft and magic in 19th century Somerset (UK), which came very handy when I was doing research on the beliefs of the country folk living in Somerset village of Dunster.
Some stories are quite heartbreaking and paint a sad picture of what life was like for those who did not conform to the worldviews of their uneducated and highly superstitious fellow villagers.
The author of the Oxford Illustrated History of Witchcraft and Magic unveils the history of witches in one of southwest England’s most spiritual sites.
The belief in witchcraft and magic was widespread in nineteenth-century Somerset. Witches were blamed for causing the ill health and death of people and their animals. Those accused of witchcraft often found themselves being ostracized and beaten by their neighbors. Magical practitioners known as cunning-folk drove a thriving trade not only in curing the bewitched, but also in detecting lost property, inducing love, and predicting the future. Astrologers and fortune-tellers were also widely consulted.
This was the first book I read when I started doing research on protective marks. The topic is absolutely fascinating and after reading this book, I have never looked at an old building in the same way.
As academic research into these mysterious marks is still relatively new, researchers do not always agree on the meaning and original purpose of the marks, which makes the topic even more interesting as it certainly sets readers’ imaginations flying.
For centuries carved writings and artworks in churches lay largely unnoticed. So archaeologist Matthew Champion started a nationwide survey to gather the best examples. In this book he shines a spotlight on a forgotten world of ships, prayers for good fortune, satirical cartoons, charms, curses, windmills, word puzzles, architectural plans and heraldic designs. Drawing on examples from surviving medieval churches in England, the author gives a voice to the secret graffiti artists: from the lord of the manor and the parish priest to the people who built the church itself.
Here are strange medieval beasts, knights battling unseen dragons, ships…
The book is a collection of fascinating old English superstitions, beliefs, and history, as well as a self-guided ghost walk guide of the beautiful medieval village of Dunster, in south-west England.
