I first came across it in a book called the White Goddess by Robert Graves. It is a book about the meanings of myths. While it has been slated as totally inaccurate by historians I find it a fantastic source of stories and Ideas.
FAIRIES.
Every culture in the world has legends of Fairies and many of them are very similar. Fairies can appear as old or young at will. They are young and beautiful but can become old and ugly. They can live in fantastic other worldly abodes and can grant wishes but none of their magic seems real for it fades away at the break of day.
I was intrigued by the similarities in all the various legends and got to wondering if they were supernatural creatures why were their powers so limited. It seemed to me that all fairies could do was change the appearance of reality and the easiest way to do this is to put thoughts into other people's heads, perhaps using telepathy.
Their long life is easily explained. 30 years ago scientists were arguing that barring accident or disease it might be possible for a person to live as long as 250 years. Now as they begin to understand the genetics of aging, some scientists talk of gene therapy producing a lifespan of a 1000 years or more.
MAGI.
The Magi were an ancient cult of priest magicians from ancient Babylon. Bablyonian magic was at the root of many modern science principles. (For example the 360 degrees in a circle come from the Babylonians who counted in units of 60 like we count in units of 10). As we discover more science and magic seem to move closer together. While writing the book I read that a certain frequency of noise played under an aircraft wing reduces the amount of fuel it needs to take off. How is this possible?
Double entry book keeping, the fundamental principle of modern accounting. was also invented in Ancient Babylon there about 4000 years ago. Accountancy is the driving force of modern society keeping track of goods and money moving all over the world. Its other function is to conceal wealth. Financiers are some of the most powerful peple in the world. Bankers get bonuses of millions of dollars every year. Why do we think accountacy is boring?
ooGRIFFINS are very ancient symbols. There is a wingless griffin in the throne room of Knossos
in Crete dating back to 3,500 years ago. The ancient Greeks thought they made nests for their eggs on the ground which they lined with gold.
Adrienne Mayor in her book The First
Fossil Hunters believes they originated as stories of protoceratops
fossils weathering out of the rocks of the Gobi desert where the ancient Sythian tribes prospected for gold washed down in streams. It does not take much
imagination to see a griffin's head in a protoceratops' skull.
Her views were the subject of a History Channel Documentary called Ancient Monster Hunters.
Probably because griffins were such ancient symbols they have passed from culture to culture. The shape has not changed but they have become more mystical creatures, progressing from guardians of gold to guardians of occult secrets. In the middle ages emeralds were thought to be from griffin's nests.
London
THE CITY: As a northern immigrant I love London. Surprisingly the City of London is tiny. From the Tower of London walk up Bevis Marks and London Wall, taking in the site of Bishop's Gate and Liverpool Street Station (the site of the Bethleham Hospital for the Insane known the world over as Bedlam). Then follow the old city wall past the Museum of London (spending about 10 hours in there). Past the criminal courts of the Old Bailey on the site of Newgate (an infamous prison), where you turn down towards Saint Paul's Catherdral and you will find yourself walking down the bed of the old River Fleet (giving Fleet Street its name). The river now runs underground as part of the city sewerage system and is one of the many caged rivers of London feeding the mighty Father Thames. Given that you can resist the temptations of the Museum of London, which I never could, the whole thing can be done in about 2 hours.
Check out the Museum of London at www.museumoflondon.org.uk
London is a magical city and quite a lot of action takes place there in the three books. A big influence and source of arcane snippets about people and places such as St Giles Church and Bess' guardians, was Peter Ackroyd’s London. Peter Ackroyd is a master of magical prose and this book is haunting testament to his life long love affair with the city.
As Peter Ackroyd says London has a way of retaining the personality of neighbourhoods over the centuries no matter how the surrounding architecture changes and you can feel it in the air.
Often during the early morning I would
walk through Seven Dials from Soho to Holborn.
Seven dials is so called
because it has a pillar in the centre of a small plaza - a pillar with 7 sun dials each facing a street leading
outwards like a web. I was originally attracted to Seven Dials by a
couple of brilliant shops covering art and the occult. It was only later
that I discovered it was historically associated with fortune-tellers
and magic.
It was also in Seven Dials that I discovered the prototype of Vic’s wonderful van. There is a small flower market there and I think the van belonged to one of the stallholders.
ooooTAROT CARDS
Rosie uses the Rider Waite pack of Tarot Cards.
Although the cards do not feature much in Thomas the Rhymer, Rosie gives a tarot reading to Catherine in The Daughters of Albion, where the reading is given in full and predicts a lot of what happens in the rest of the novel.
o Learn more about the Tarot and the Rider Waite pack
