The orange glow of a gas lamp surrounded by a soft white blanket of snow is probably the most recognisable piece of imagery from C.S. Lewis’s series “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe”. The origin of Lewis’s inspiration to use a gas lamp as signifier for the entrance into Narnia is a famous tale told within Malvern. On the way back from the pub one cold evening the talented author saw one of Malvern’s beautiful gas lamps alight and remarked how he may use it for a future book. If you walk down to Great Malvern Priory and look through its wardrobe-like exit you can easily see why Lewis was inspired by the gas lamps of Malvern. The Witches Lewis wrote about harnessed their power to plunge Narnia into a deep winter with no Christmas and can turn the living into a cold stone statue.
Lewis’s depiction of Witches is not the only connection between Malvern and witchcraft. Malvern is now the home of the e-commerce site Witchbox. Witchbox was founded by a local mother and daughter team, with the desire to connect and educate witches around the world. Witchbox has achieved this goal by creating a magical monthly subscription box. Each box is themed around an area of the craft such as Divination or Spell casting. This box has been created for beginner witches as well as those with a lifelong dedication to craft. Therefore, it contains not only the tools you will need, such as magical crystals and Oracle cards, but also all the information to use them in your practice.
With Witchbox coming up to its busiest time of year Halloween, or Samhain as it is known within the craft, we wanted to share how you could celebrate. It is believed by many who follow Witchcraft that Halloween is a time when the veil that separates us from our deceased ancestors is at its thinnest. This is an excellent time to forge connections with our ancestors, similar to practices held in Mexico on the Day of the Dead. To do this you may want to have a Samhain feast and invite your ancestors. You can find quality produce for your Samhain feast at the Great Malvern farmers market on the 16 of October.
Have a Blessed Samhain from the whole Witchbox Team.
To find more information about Witchbox visit www.witchbox.co.uk or follow us on:
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