HOW THE TAROT BECAME MAGIC with Dr Kate Laity Saturday, October 24, 5:00-6:30 pm Of course you know that Tarot is full of magic — but that wasn’t always known. The card game invented in fifteenth century Italy only developed an occult tradition in eighteenth century France. Why then? Who started it? What kicked it…
Tag: writing
Monsters & Gentlemen
Quite at random — because we seldom agree on anything to watch — Bertie and I watched Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story after we finished the second series of The Gentlemen. Both have a lot of blood flowing, or rather spattering. The screen and characters are frequently awash with red. Very wince-worthy! Ryan Murphy and…
Review: Practical Magic 2
Peg and I went to see Practical Magic 2 at the Spectrum on Thursday. She had a professional obligation (her review here!) but we both knew well the original film and have read some of the novels Alice Hoffman wrote about the Owens family, though not the most recent — though I’m pretty sure a…
Bridging the Invisible: Get Your Tix!
Online conference for art, design, magic, and religion. October 15 – 17, 2026 The Department of Art + Art History and The Center for the Study of Ideas and Practices at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, in co-sponsorship with The Center for Advanced Studies – Erlangen, The University of Exeter’s Centre for Magic and Esotericism, Societas Magica, and RENSEP, are pleased to collaboratively host Creative…
Boy Howdy
Vale, Dave Marsh, who has died at 74. One of the founding writers of Creem, my teenage bible, he’s probably best known for getting people to realise the power of Bruce Springsteen but he was also fierce advocate for Patti Smith, which was no small thing in the cock-rock 70s before punk arrived. I took…
On Cats
I know I have neglected the blog of late but I have been preoccupied with my presentation for ISSS; like most works, they are never finished, only abandoned — or in the case of presentations, must be delivered at a specific time so the deadline is very real. That’s to say I think I am…
Voilà Brigitte
Thanks to Bertie’s recommendation I have started watching Voilà Brigitte, which comes in wee bite-sized episodes on the ‘tube. They’re perfect for taking breaks from the presentation I’m writing for ISSS later this month — or should I say wrestling into submission (I hope!). The eons that exist between the proposal and the presentation hold…
Hookland Fragments
Re-enchantment is resistance. I think it fortunate (fated?) that my initial order of the Hookland book was returned for ‘unknown’ reasons — at one point there were claims of damage en route, but no substitute was suggested. This allowed me to instead order it from lovely Treadwell’s and receive in addition the much-desired Right to…
James Whale’s Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
As I put the finishing touches on my presentation for Sunday, I have been taking breaks with more swashbuckling: James Whale’s 1939 version of The Man in the Iron Mask. Returning stars of a recent view Louis Hayward and Joan Bennett, as the twins and the queen-to-be respectively. A great cast all around — it’s…
Life and Death of the Wicked Lady Skelton
After finally watching The Wicked Lady I decided I really needed to read it, too. Finding that it was cheaper to get the annotated copy was just a bonus because there were all kinds of notes and a good introduction. Magdalen King-Hall is not as well known as other historically-inspired novelists of her era like…