Public Transport And The Tortured Souls Of The Damned

Public Transport and the Tortured Souls of the Damned

Have you ever been sat on the Underground, or Metro, and noticed that the car’s windows create an infinity mirror, with your reflection repeated on forever into the dark? Be careful not to stare to long or too hard, lest you see your reflection staring back. 

The modern mass transit system has many drawbacks; smelly passengers, other people’s music and the chance that a daemon may chose your body as its vessel to escape the mirror realm. We can all do our part to minimise these inconveniences and make every journey a pleasant one! So remember, keep your luggage in sight, be mindful of your fellow passengers, and look away if your reflection starts to reach out towards you.  

Good luck, safe travels and remember never to take directions from a Duegar, Wisp or Flibbertigibbet.

Fabre demonstrating the effects of cordyceps infection to his students. This particular strain only affects aphids, otherwise he’d be wearing heavier protection.

Ghost lights of China Town

The warmer weather has been a welcome development for Londoners this week, but travellers should be advised that along with Snowdrops and Crocuses we are seeing an increased number of Hinkypunks (also see Will-O’-the-Wisp, Jack-O’-Lantern) on our roads. In particular there are multiple reports of a ghost light attempting to lure passers-by into gas works near Chinatown Gate in Soho.

 Before heading out remember to check for disruptions on your route, dress appropriately for the weather, and carry a sprig of Speedwell to ward off malign spirits. 

excerpt

He brought joy to every funeral, accidentally of course, but it had happened, and he’d even managed to wring a chuckle from the dead with his jokes multiple times while taking a shortcut across the graveyard.

After all, unintentional resurrection hadn’t ever happened (let alone been a punishable crime) among witches before Wyker.

Wyker, I guess 🤦

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How to Cope With Harbingers of Death

From the call of the Screech Owl, a persistent Raven, or a sighting of the Black Dog, portents of death can come in many forms. But for those of us that have seen them the question is “what next?”. It is important to remember that knowing that your end is neigh doesn’t mean that you can’t continue to enjoy life! In many ways impending doom can be a great stress reliver; long-term worries can be set aside, enabling a person to really live for the day without fear of the consequences. 

For those unable to adopt this philosophy, however, help-lines and support groups are available. It should be noted that the support groups have limited availability and run on a ‘first-come-first-served’ basis. Booking spaces in advance is not allowed, for obvious reasons. 

Witchcraft and the Industrial Revolution

In the cataclysmic change of the Industrial Revolution people were torn from the land they had worked and lived on for generations and swept into the great new metropolises forming across Britain. This torrent of humanity carried the witches along with it, forcing them from their rural parishes into the narrow valleys of terraced houses and the looming shadow of the factory stacks. Magic that had been tied to trees and stones and mountain streams had to find new roots. Hedge witches that had practiced their craft for thousands of years had to find new rituals. 

As with all change, some rose while others fell. The Rooted Gods of the forests and hills were forgotten and passed into a deep reverie. The more humanlike of the Fae, however, found new pleasures, new pastures and new hunting grounds in the sprawling townships of England. Magics that had lured unwary travellers from a woodland path worked just as well on late night revellers and unwatched children in a crowded street. 

Some witches were quick to find their place in the new world. In the 1890s the Southwick sisters discovered that weather magics and smog were a potent combination and conjured clouds of smoke and ash to cover acts of theft and grand larceny. Similarly, at the turn of the century the sorcerer James Heath found that the water spirits still answered his call from London’s pipes as well as from natural streams, and caused a lot more damage when asked to overflow their banks. 

People move, places change, but life goes on. Old magics are forgotten and new ones created. The spirits of the wild places might be in decline, but a new breed of urban Fae will rise to take their place. The only thing that is constant is change.