Picture copyright D.B.Griffith 2013
On the fourth of November 2013 I posted the following on
Facebook:
I am heartbroken.
I have just received
in the post what could be the last ever edition of the The Hedge Wytch
Magazine. Due to falling subscription rates it is no longer financially viable
to continue publication.
Let me be honest about
this, The Hedge Wytch Magazine one of only two top quality magazines in the UK
that deals with matters of a Traditional bent and is actually worth reading.
The other is obviously The Cauldron Magazine.
There is some
possibility that if enough interest is generated there may be a re-launch in
the future. I urge people to consider expressing an interest in this and
contacting the publisher.
If the Cauldron
follows suit all that will be available in the UK will be generalist Pagan
magazines and a lot of New Age Garbage.
Details of the The
Hedge Wytch Magazine and this latest development can be found here:
http://sothisstar.co.uk/
Some may think it strange that the closure of a magazine
should affect one so deeply or move anyone to post such a message on an
Internet board. Yet the closure, even a temporary one, is a sad loss for the
Pagan and Occult community at large.
Founded
in 1997 The Hedge Wytch Magazine was the journal of the Association of Hedge
Wytches, a loose association of Craft practitioners without a formal membership
system. Over a period of time the AHW became increasing decentralised and informal in this regard.
The
magazine also changed, perhaps originally influenced by the philosophy of the
author Rae Beth, whose works postulated an unconventional and modern definition
of Hedge Wytchcraft. In time the magazine became increasingly traditionalist
and folklore root orientated, appealing not only to the solitary practitioner
but also the traditional covenor. As such the magazine became an alternative
and a complementary periodical to the long established Cauldron Magazine;
sharing at times readership and contributors, many of a scholarly approach to
the Craft.
The
real issue in my opinion; is that with the loss of each magazine such as the
Hedge Wytch or for example the White Dragon
magazine that closed some years ago, is that the diversity and therefore
quality of material available is diminished. The material available to the
Pagan, Magical and Occult fraternity is polarising. At one end of the spectrum
we have specialist journals such as Clavis, Pillars or Abraxas, published
annually or twice a year, they are costly and often available only in limited
number. At the other end of this literary spectrum we have some rather light
weight, new age magazines, suitable only for those who seek comfort and not at
all challenging. Nearer the middle a few quality but generalist Pagan magazines
such as Pentacle, yet they are all thanks in part to the Internet, feeling the
squeeze. Few journals of a Traditionalist leaning survive today and it is with
a sense of irony that I write this lament for the printed word, on an Internet
BLOG.
Yet
the printed word is in reality far superior to what is generally found upon the
World Wide Web and that is because quality suffers on the Internet. The
individual is their own safety valve when it comes to quality and the editing
of a web post. In a magazine or a journal the editor provides this important
function, to put it simply there is a peer review. It is with good reason that the
majority of universities in the UK have banned the use of Wikipedia references
in assignments, recognising that in general an Internet
source is a third rate one.
So
the loss of a magazine such as the Hedge Wytch, White Dragon or to give another
example the Wytches Standard, is a symptom of neglect by the community as
magazines that appeal to the lowest common denominator proliferate at the
expense of quality. In a sense the community has only itself to blame as there
is an element here of casting pearls before swine. The Pearls of True Gnosis
are ignored in favour of the quick gratification of the
New Age Guru.
For
details on the current situation, possibilities of a re-launch and for the
purchase of back issues please see the website: http://sothisstar.co.uk/
Other journals of note are:
The Abraxas Journal http://abraxas-journal.com/
The Cauldron Magazine http://www.the-cauldron.org.uk/index.html
The Clavis Journal http://www.clavisjournal.com/
The Deosil Dance http://www.deosildance.co.uk/
The Pentacle Magazine http://www.pentaclemagazine.co.uk/
The Pillars Journal
The Silver Wheel Journal http://www.merciangathering.com/
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