After shifting the message of my project last week, and returning to some of my Wicca research, I was reminded of the history of witchcraft in the new forest and wanted to look into it more.
The New Forest and Dorset's connection to witchcraft:
'Burley has a unique and quirky character with witchcraft playing a large role within the village history. During the late 1950’s Sybil Leek a famous ‘white’ witch lived in the village and was often seen walking around in her long black cloak with her pet jackdaw sitting on her shoulder. With the locals upset by her presence, Sybil moved to America where she continued studying and writing about the occult and astrology.
To this day, Burley has become well-known for its connections to witchcraft. One of the shops in Burley (A Coven of Witches) was not only named by Sybil but you can also find a portrait of her hanging above the Jacobean fireplace. The shops sells a variety of witchcraft-related items.' https://www.thenewforest.co.uk/explore/new-forest-heritage/witchcraft-and-ghosts
'The New Forest coven were an alleged group of witches who met around the area of the New Forest in southern England during the early 20th century. According to his own claims, in September 1939, a British occultist named Gerald Gardnerwas initiated into the coven and subsequently used its beliefs and practices as a basis from which he formed the tradition of Gardnerian Wicca...According to Gardner, the faith which they followed was the continuation of the Witch-Cult, a pre-Christian religion that originated in the paganism of ancient Western Europe.
'In the same year, after encountering the New Forest coven, Gardner was initiated into witchcraft, and until his death nearly 30 years later, he devoted his life to it.
After initiation he decided to revive the faith, supplementing the coven’s rituals with ideas borrowed from English folklore witchcraft, Freemasonary (from which the pentagram symbol comes), ceremonial magic and the writings of Aleister Crowley...As Hitler threatened with invasion, Gardner was a member of the home guard and he prepared to repel the Nazis with magic. In 1940 he and his coven did so in the New Forest by creating, according to biographer Philip Heselton, ‘a cone of power which he directed towards the high command of Germany and even Hitler himself.'
I found a lot of information about Burley and its history of witchcraft, and being just down the road from Bournemouth I thought it would be beneficial for my project to give it a visit. Below are some of pictures I took of the village and surrounding moor.
Burley:
I really like some of these photos I took in Burley, especially the ones of the moor. I think the mixture of the weather on the day and knowing a bit of the history of the village, gives them a very haunted and folk horror feel. As well, when I visited, probably mainly due to the pandemic but, the village was eerily quiet and seemed very deserted, and it definitely made sense to me why it has such a connection to witchcraft and the occult.
Visiting Burley made me start to think about other locations I could visit and possibly use for shoots for this project. After finding out Burley's rich history, I wanted to go to somewhere equally as historic and thought that Corfe Castle on the Isle of Purbeck could work really well because, as far as I can tell from photos, it looks like a very haunting and majestic place. Going there will also give me an opportunity to work on my landscape photography skills.
My photos of Corfe Castle:
I wanted to go later in the day so that the location looked a bit more gloomy, but as it took me quite a while to set up and sort out the right settings, by the time I was ready most of the natural light had gone, so I only managed to get a few decent photos ^. Definitely a note to self for next time, give myself more time than I think I'll need! I think these photos could be good to use as backgrounds and overlays in photoshop though, I'll play around with them a bit more when I have other photos to work with.
Week 5 Reflections:
This week I've learnt a lot about Bournemouth and Dorset history and it's links to witchcraft and the occult, and considering this is still a new area for me it's definitely been really useful not only for the project, but for my understanding in general, to find out more about the area. Photo wise, the pictures these I've taken this week I don't think are particularly strong. However, going out to these locations this week has definitely made me learn from my mistakes a bit more and given me a better understanding of how to use my camera in a landscape environment which will definitely be very helpful when it comes to my proper shoots over the next few weeks. I think my main task for next week will be to start properly planning where, when and how I want to conduct my main shoots for this project, and as I'll be going home for easter, maybe looking into the history of folk horror and witchcraft back home.
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