Sleep, the Witching Hour & Clocks Going Back

In England the clocks are turned back an hour this Sunday, 27 October. British Summer Time switches to winter time at 2am in the morning, meaning it becomes 1am Greenwich Meantime, or GMT. Afterwards there will be more light in the mornings but dusk will fall an hour earlier. 

The Witching Hour

Various different times in the night have traditionally been called "The Witching Hour". According to Britannica: "Some beliefs set the witching hour’s boundaries between 12am and 3am or between 3am and 4am." 

It was considered a dangerous time when spooky things happened. In Shakespeare's Hamlet, the ill-fated Prince says: "’Tis now the very witching time of night, When churchyards yawn, and hell itself breathes out Contagion to this world."

I've always had sleep patterns that mean I usually wake up some time between 3am and 4am, then go back to sleep after a while. I learnt that  in bygone centuries it was considered normal to have two sleeps. People would often do things in the middle of the night, which could include praying, having sex, or getting up to witchcraft.

My brain is at its most creative between my two sleeps, during the witching hour. I've long accepted my sleep patterns are like that and don't fret about it unless I can't get back to sleep again. I'm currently writing a new book, which follows on from my first gothic novel Erosion. I've been finding the middle of the night is when I get some of my best ideas about what to write next, and even solutions to problems I'm having with the plot. 

Spooky50: Get 50 per cent off my books

On the subject of my writing, here's another reminder that if you want to buy any of my witchcraft books or my novel Erosion really cheaply, now's your chance. My publisher Moon Books, which is part of Collective Ink, is offering 50 per cent off all e-books until October 31st. 

All you need to do is:

• Click here > https://www.collectiveinkbooks.com/moon-books/ 
• Choose your e-book(s)
• Click 'Add to basket for direct download.'
• Click on your shopping basket
• Click on 'Do you have a coupon?'
• Apply promo code Spooky50  and Validate.
• Proceed to Checkout.

If you want to search for my books, you can go straight to my Lucya Starza author page. I've written on candle magic, poppets, guided visualisations, scrying and the wheel of the year as well as my gothic novel Erosion. 

Notes: The photo at the top was taken by me and shows a clock in my witchy room. It was taken at 4pm, not 4am. I should also point out I earn commission from some links

Prevous related posts

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2024/10/seance-with-skull-from-my-gothic-novel.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2024/03/celebrating-book-sale-success-poppets.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2015/07/review-pagan-dreaming-by-nimue-brown.html

Witch Crafts: A Zodiac Wall Clock Kit to Construct

I was given this kit to make a zodiac wall clock as a present this Yule. I reckon it will be perfect to put on the wall of my witchy room. One of my resolutions this year is to blog about an art or craft each month, and I think this will be my project for January. I'm looking forward to it - hope it isn't too complicated!

A couple of other crafts I intend to try out this year are pyrography and basket weaving. I'm very much open to suggestions for other arty or crafty things to do - particularly folkloric makes or anything particularly witchy. If you have any suggestions, please comment!

Here are links to some craft projects I've done in the past:
Beeswax candle making
Brigid's Cross
Corn dolly

Drum birthing
Flower crown

Poppets
Vision board magic

Wands

News: Witchcraft, History, Salem, Time, Climate Change

"Gather Your Coven, This Witchy Film Series is Required Attendance" - news about cultural events and a movie with a witchy theme at Bedford+Bowery: http://bedfordandbowery.com/2016/01/gather-your-coven-this-witchy-film-series-is-required-attendance/

"Book linked to Salem's witch history set for auction block" - story at The Salem News: http://www.salemnews.com/news/local_news/book-linked-to-salem-s-witch-history-set-for-auction/article_1be18717-fa5b-5844-b295-bc92c6d296ed.html

"Henges, pyramids and the Celtic cross helped ancient mariners sail the world" - A look at Crichton EM Miller's book The Golden Thread of Timein The Scotsman: http://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/henges-pyramids-and-the-celtic-cross-helped-ancient-mariners-sail-the-world-1-466105

"Two irrational responses to climate change: Witch hunts and denial" - a look at history by Cynthia Barnett, the author of Rain: A Natural and Cultural History,at Los Angeles Times: http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-0124-barnett-king-james-little-ice-age-20160124-story.html

Review: The Power of Surrender Cards

I know that by January 5 many a new year resolution will have already been forgotten, but it is still early enough in the season of giving things up to be still thinking of, well, giving things up.

I've always thought it would be lovely to find something that made surrendering bad habits more attractive. And I think I've found something that does that - a lovely boxed set called The Power of Surrender Cards.

They are by Judith Orloff, who has also written a book called The Power of Surrender,which has the subtitle Let Go and Energize Your Relationships, Success, and Well-Being. I've not read it but based on the cards, which I've found quite inspirational since I started using them a week ago, I'm going to add it to my wish list.

You can see some examples of the cards photographed above. They have really beautiful artwork as well as gorgeous gold edging and also feel a nice weight when you use them. The instructions come on just a single folded piece of paper inside the box, while the messages are printed on each card. Very easy to use. Just shuffle, think of a question such as, "What habit can I surrender to be happier?" then draw a card.

You might need to spend some time thinking about what the message means to you, but I've generally found the cards I've drawn have been spot on. In one very interesting coincidence, I drew the card Surrender to Divine Timing, which shows the time 3.15pm. It was actually about that time when I drew it. More oddly, however, a friend then posted up on Facebook that he had woken up just after 3pm in the afternoon, following a night-long ritual, and how he was doing an experiment in following the natural rhythms of when his body wanted to eat, sleep, work and play.

I have to add that I particularly like the card Surrender to Divine Timing because it shows London's famous clock Big Ben - another reference for anyone interested in tarots of London.

Publisher Hay House says on its website: "Surrender is the divine art of letting go—the ability to flow instead of clenching, obsessing, and over-controlling. Use these 52 cards by Dr. Judith Orloff as an oracle to empower your choices. By consulting this deck and the companion instruction booklet, you’ll be able to choose the most positive outcome in any situation.

Hay House added in a press release: "According to Dr Judith Orloff, the art of letting go is the secret key to manifesting power and success in all areas of life, including work, relationships, sexuality, radiant ageing and health and healing. Once embraced, surrendering removes roadblocks and the exhaustion that comes from 'trying too hard' - and it helps you achieve goals more effortlessly and brings ongoing happiness."

The Power of Surrender Cards: A 52-Card Deck to Transform Your Life by Letting Go were published in December, but I suspect they are probably intended for plenty of use in the new year.

Links and previous related posts:
The Power of Surrender Cards: A 52-Card Deck to Transform Your Life by Letting Go
http://www.hayhouse.co.uk/the-power-of-surrender-cards
The Power of Surrender: Let Go and Energize Your Relationships, Success, and Well-Being
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2015/10/london-tarot-fools-journey-and-folklore.html

Glastonbury: Learning to Live in Festival Time

If I have one regret from Glastonbury Festival it is that I missed the Dalai Lama's 80th birthday speech - but even that's not much of a regret. One thing I learnt over the five days was to slow down and move at festival pace, even if that sometimes meant I didn't get where I was intending to go.

Rushing around with just a goal in mind can mean missing out on fun along the way. It is okay to be where you are, even if that isn't where you wanted to be.

Glasto is massive. It can easily take 40 minutes to walk from one side to the other - longer if there are crowds of people all trying to get from one stage to the other at the same time between bands. Added to that, the ground gets really muddy after even a little rain and if you need to stop to use a loo or fill up a water bottle you will probably have to queue for five or ten minutes as well. If you let yourself get stressed out by that, you won't get the most out of the festival. You have to live in the moment, which is a good lesson to learn. One of my best Glastonbury experiences was one of those kinds of moments.

I was in a very long queue at some rather smelly toilets (if you have even been to an outdoor music festival you can probably picture that). People were filling up the ground in front of the stage. I was worrying that I'd not only miss the start of the band I wanted to see, but that I'd be quite unable to find my mates in the crowd. Then I got talking with four other women in the queue. We were different ages and I suspect from very different backgrounds outside the festival, but that didn't matter.

We shared tips for keeping clothes away from the mud (and other muck) in loos. The youngest, maybe 16 years old, offered to share her pack of wet wipes with us. A DJ started playing an Oasis song nearby and we all started dancing and singing along to it. By the time we reached the end of the queue and it was our turn to face the terrible toilets, we had bonded so much that we hugged each other and said our farewells as though leaving old friends. That's another Glasto lesson - that wherever you are you will find music and mates if you look for them.

The Dalai Lama gave a birthday message to the crowd during Patti Smith's set at the Pyramid Stage. I had also wanted to be there for that, but I was right at the other side of the festival. Earlier in the day I had gone in search of a cup of chai, which is a lovely spiced tea and the perfect pick-me-up festival drink in my opinion. I'd wandered up to the healing fields and found the Mandala tent where chai was on offer, folk music was being sung and there were some nice benches to sit on and rest weary legs.

When the folk music ended, Nik Turner (formerly of Hawkwind) came onto the stage for a jamming session with various other Glasto old-timers, including someone called Captain Whizz who I had never heard of before. But the set was so good I got up to dance despite aching feet. Then I realised I was missing Patti Smith and the Dalai Lama, but I didn't mind. I was where I was and that was a good place to be.

And, of course, Patti and the Dalai Lama are still available to watch on the BBC website, while the Mandala Stage was certainly not being recorded. After I got home and had internet access, I listened to what the Dalai Lama said. After the crowds sang Happy Birthday to him, he thanked them for their warm feelings:

“I dedicate my body, speech and mind to the wellbeing of others. That is my main daily practice. When people are showing warm feeling that gives me more enthusiasm...We all the same human beings. We all want happy life. Each day is a new day. New birthday. Every morning when you get up, think this new day, birthday, I must carry this birthday, happy birthday. In order to be happy day, keep here more compassionate feeling...that is the ultimate source of happy mind, happy feeling. That brings self confidence. That creates honest, truthful, so your new day becomes more meaningful...that day carry transference, that brings trust. Trust is the basis of friendship. We are social animals. Friendship very important. Friendship cannot be bought by money or force. I practice that, so I want to share.”

It is, undoubtedly, a good message. I hope I'm not being too irreverent when I say what it reminded me of - the message from the time travel movie Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure: "Be excellent to each other...and...PARTY ON DUDES!"

I think if I could time travel, I would go back and experience all the Glastonbury Festivals of the past. There are so many wonderful lessons to be learnt in festival time - and so many wonderful friends to make there.

Photos from top: the Pyramid Stage, a hugging troll, Nik Turner and Captain Whizz

Links and previous related posts
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02vtjqw
http://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/

Summer Time and Seven Keys to Living Timefully

The clocks go forward this Sunday, which means we lose an hour out of the weekend. Although it is lovely when British Summertime is here and we get lighter evenings, it does serve as a reminder to make the most of all the time available.

Mindfulness coach Tom Evans and author of The Zone: How to Get In It and Stay In It,says that by clearing your mind, you make space for decision-making clarity and remove thoughts that would usually serve as barriers to your best ideas.

He said: “Anyone who puts aside ten minutes a day to meditate will be more relaxed, happy and creative as a result. By clearing your mind, you make space for decision-making clarity and remove thoughts that would usually serve as barriers to your best ideas.”

Tom's mindfulness movement is called ‘Living Timefully’, which is mindfulness with time management at its core. Here he has compiled seven time-full and mind-full ways to take control of the passage of time.

Key 1: Meditate daily
It is thought that every minute spent in the meditative state, gets added back to our lives. We either save any time spent by having a better day or add a minute to our longevity. When we learn to enter the meditative state with our eyes open, time seems to bend and stretch so we get more done in less time.

Key 2: Make a date with your Creative Self
Each day, even if it’s just for 10 minutes, a date with our Creative Self is like a recharge for the mind, body and soul. We might write ‘morning pages’, pick up a guitar and strum or visit an art gallery. Just going for a walk in the park and imagining the most amazing future counts too.

Key 3: Trust your gut and follow your heart
Our head ‘shouts’ quite loudly; so much so that sometimes the signals from our gut and heart get overlooked and overruled. So, for each decision you have to make, ask your gut for a Yes or a No. Next ask your heart if it is cold, lukewarm or boiling hot about it. If your gut and heart give you the green light, proceed with gusto. If not, ask them what would have to change in order to get their blessing.

Key 4: Create a To Love List
It’s said when we love the work we do, we never work as such again. So ditch your To Do list and start a To Love list. At the top, put the things you love to do first and tackle your list from the top down. If there are things on there you don’t like doing so much, either outsource them or be creative about how you could love doing them.

Key 5: Sync with natural time
Our modern calendar has caused us to fall out of sync with natural time. Our creativity waxes and wanes with the seasons, the phase of the moon and the hours in each day. When we discover our naturally creative times, we go with the flow and stop pushing water up a temporal hill.

Key 6: Be thankful
At the end of each day, either in a journal or just in your head as it hits the pillow, reflect on the highlights of your day. As you drop off into slumber, say one last ‘Thank You’ for the day to your bed for giving you a good night’s sleep.

Key 7: Perform a Random Act of Kindness
When we get into the habit of performing a random of kindness to a stranger each day, something rather magical happens. Other people, who weren’t aware of our act or the recipient of our act, perform similar kindnesses to us. The ratio of kindnesses is more than two bestowed back on us for everyone we give out. The result is big time saving.

Tom wants to get everyone to meditate, so has also made a ten-minute ‘Be Calm’ meditation that is available free of charge. You can find out more about that and about Tom's work here: http://www.livingtimefully.com/ Tom’s main web site is: http://www.tomevans.co

His books include New Magic for a New Era: How to Live a Charmed Lifeand The Zone: How to Get In It and Stay In It.

Note:  the clocks go forward 1 hour at 1am on the last Sunday in March, and back 1 hour at 2am on the last Sunday in October. The period when the clocks are 1 hour ahead is called British Summer Time (BST).

Links and previous related posts
http://www.livingtimefully.com/
http://www.tomevans.co
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2015/01/tips-how-to-overcome-12-barriers-to.html
New Magic for a New Era: How to Live a Charmed Life
The Zone: How to Get In It and Stay In It

York Announces 'Temporal Twinning' with Norse Jorvik

The clocks might be going back tonight to mark the end of British Summertime, but the City of York has gone back even further in time to link up with its historic ancestor, the Viking city of Jorvik.

Twinning pairs of cities around the world is a common concept these days, but York has taken the concept of sharing cultures further, taking part in the world’s first ‘temporal twinning’, with its Norse predecessor.

Councillor Sonja Crisp, cabinet member for leisure, culture and tourism at City of York Council, who has worked with experts from York Archaeological Trust to set up the twinning, said: “The whole idea of twinning cities was to promote better understanding between different cultures, and to build economic links between two locations. We’ve been doing this for the last 30 years with the Viking city that stood where York is today, with visitors coming to the modern city to learn about the Vikings,”

Interest in the Vikings has brought millions of visitors to the city, attracted not only by the re-creation of a 10th-century cityscape at Jorvik Viking Centre, but also by the Norse antiquities on display in museums and attractions. The names and layouts of the streets in the city centre even have Norse roots. ‘Coppergate’ derives from the Old Norse meaning ‘Street of the Cup Maker’ and street layouts in the city centre follow Viking property boundaries that date back 1,000 years, when Jorvik was a thriving metropolis and hub of international trade.

Sarah Maltby, director of attractions for the York Archaeological Trust, said: “It seems strange to think how comparatively little residents and visitors knew of Viking-age York just 40-50 years ago. The Coppergate dig, from which the world-class discoveries revealed so much about day-to-day life in a Viking city thanks to detailed research lasting over 30 years by our own archaeologists, led to the establishment of Jorvik Viking Centre, which has welcomed more than 17 million visitors since it opened in 1984.

"It seems fitting that, through this ‘temporal twinning’, York is recognising the cultural exchange that continues to take place.”

The twinning will be marked by the installation of a new series of ‘Welcome to York – twinned with the Viking City of Jorvik’ signs on major roads into the city, alongside new Viking-themed educational and outreach programmes co-ordinated by the Jorvik Group of Attractions.

Next year’s Jorvik Viking Festival takes place from 14 – 22 February 2015 and is the largest celebration of Viking culture in the UK, regularly welcoming upwards of 40,000 visitors to the city. For more details, please visit www.jorvik-viking-festival.co.uk.

Review: The Earth Pathways Diary 2015

My diary seems to fill up so far in advance these days that I find myself buying my diary for the following year earlier and earlier. Mind you, having lots to look forward to is great. The problem is choosing which diary to buy as I have many favourites - including Llewellyns Witches Datebookand the Country Wisdom and Folklore Diary.

The one I've gone for this time is another of my favourites - the Earth Pathways 2015.

It's a diary that makes you feel good just looking through it and has lots of colour artwork, inspirational text, information about astrology and moon phases, pagan festivals and crafts to try throughout the season.

The Earth Pathways Diary 2015 also has a month-to-page desk calendar for the year and a notes at the back so it is very useful. The diary is produced every year by a co-operative of friends in the UK, which is part of a thriving community of artists, writers, environmentalists and those following an earth-based spirituality. That means you know that not only are you buying a beautiful diary, you are also supporting an ethical enterprise.

I picked up my copy at The Atlantis Bookshop, in London, but you can also order copies directly from Earth Pathways or via Amazon.

Doctor Who: Vision of a Weeping Angel?

Looking forward to the Doctor Who 50th anniversary special and at the same time stepping back in time to early summer (in my mind, I mean, seeing as I am not capable of real time travel), here is a photo of something that I thought looked a bit like one of the Doctor's scariest enemies - a Weeping Angel.

Although I've watched Doctor Who since the first episode, I think the Weeping Angels are far more scary than the Daleks, Cybermen or anything that got me hiding behind the sofa when I was young.

I saw the statue in West Norwood Cemetery - I imagine it is still there, or at least I hope it hasn't moved since I saw it last. I very much hope so...

Links and previous related posts
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/articles/A-New-Dimension-for-Doctor-Whos-Fiftieth-Anniversary
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weeping_Angel
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/10/brompton-cemetery-time-machine.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2012/10/london-necropolis-west-norwood-cemetery.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2013/07/pagan-eye-doorway-to-another-world.html

London Necropolis: Brompton Cemetery

For Halloween - or Samhain as pagans prefer to call this time of honouring the dead - here are some pictures I took at London's Brompton Cemetery when I went there to investigate the Brompton Cemetery Time Machine.

This splendid Victorian cemetery, built at the same time as Highgate and Nunhead burial grounds, has plenty of intriguing monuments quite apart from the mausoleum that - according to legend - was designed by an eccentric scientist as a means of travelling through time.

Take that strange archway in the photo at the top, for example. It lies flat on the earth rather than standing upright. Perhaps it was simply a victim of a German bombing raid during the Second World War, toppled by the blast and never restored. Or perhaps it was built that way - and if one was to sweep away the autumn leaves one would find a Gothic doorway which, if opened, would reveal a staircase leading down into an underground world of sepulchral chambers.

One interesting fact I learnt about Brompton Cemetery is that Beatrix Potter used names from tombstones she saw there as inspiration for some of her animal characters in her books.Inscriptions on headstones include Mr Nutkins, Mr McGregor, a Tod, Jeremiah Fisher, Tommy Brock - and even a Peter Rabbett. It is also said that Mr McGregor's walled garden was based on the colonnades.

The photo below shows the supposed Brompton Cemetery Time Machine standing behind rows of tombstones.

Links and previous related posts

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/10/bad-witchs-guide-to-londons-ghosts.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/10/brompton-cemetery-time-machine.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/10/london-necropolis-highgate-cemetery.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/10/walking-among-londons-dead.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/10/london-necropolis-animal-graveyard.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/08/blake-rising-spot-of-lunchtime.html

http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2008/10/how-to-celebrate-samhain.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brompton_Cemetery
Beatrix Potter The Complete Tales: The 23 Original Tales

Saturn: God of Old Age and Time

With the clocks going forward to British Summer Time this Sunday, and with my mother's funeral taking place on Monday, I have chosen Saturn, Roman God of Time, Old Age and Death as the Bad Witch's God of the Week.

Saturn is something of a contradictory deity, as he is both a god of abundant harvests and a god of sadness, decline and death. I think that actually sums old age up pretty well. There are good things and bad things about being old - you can slow down, take it easy and enjoy the fruits of your labours, but on the other hand old age is also a time of diminishing energy. It is when one must come to terms with the time when one will pass from this life and, according to some mythologies, journey onwards to the Summerland.

One can grow old gracefully, in comfort, surrounded by one's family, but it is still the end of one cycle of life.

The Romans honoured Saturn with a festival called Saturnalia just before the Midwinter Solstice and the rebirth of the sun, but I think it is also appropriate to honour Saturn now, just before the clocks spring forward and one can truly say: "Winter is dead. Long live Summer!"

When I was deciding what music to play at mum's funeral, someone suggested playing Saturn: The Bringer of Old Age from Holst's The Planets Suiteas people enter the chapel. It has the advantage of being something appropriate to play at the funeral of someone who died in old age and it also lasts about 8 minutes - enough time for even the slowest mourners to get seated.

However, I have chosen Neptune: The Mystic from the Planet Suite instead, because mum loved the sea, as do I. And I would rather think of my mum sitting on some sunny shoreline, watching the boats sail across the water, than remember her as she was when she was old and dying.

The picture at the top right shows Poster art print: SATURN FROM CASSINI ORBITER SPACECRAFT (A2 - 43x61cm / 17x24in, semi-gloss satin paper). The picture below that shows Holst: The Planets Suite.Both are available from Amazon.

Links and previous posts:
http://wwp.britishsummertime.co.uk/
http://www.roman-colosseum.info/roman-gods/saturn.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturn_(mythology)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neptune_(mythology)
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2010/03/god-of-week-aion.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/10/brompton-cemetery-time-machine.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/10/anubis-god-of-week.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2011/03/my-mother-has-died.html
Holst: The Planets Suite

Review: Align - Ley Lines in the Limelight

Last Wednesday I went to see Align, a live show on London history, myth and psychogeography, at the Museum of London.

The museum gave it the subtitle of Ley Lines in the Limelight. It was essentially a theatrical talk and artistic slideshow presentation about London's ley lines and psychogeography.

As most readers of A Bad Witch's Blog will know, ley lines are straight lines that run through prominent points in the landscape. One theory about why ley lines exist is that they follow prehistoric tracks, often leading through sites of spiritual or cultural significance such as wells, megaliths, mounds and temples. Some people also believe that earth energy is channeled along ley lines, empowering - or powered by - the holy sites along the way.

Psychogeography is the theory that the landscape and geography of a place affect the psychology of those who live or work there so that similar types of activity tend to reoccur in the same place throughout history.

In Align, psychogeographers Robert Kingham and Richard Cochrane (pictured right) explore the secret landscape, history and myths of London. They concentrate on places and events that have happened along the Strand Ley, which runs through St Martin-in-the-Fields, St Mary-le-Strand, St Clement Danes, St Dunstan's in Fleet St and Arnold Circus (pictured above), which was once the site of a friary and later became a notorious area of poverty.

Of course, much of the history of these sites is well documented in regular guide books - and even their secret history has been written about in books such as Christopher Street's Earthstars, John Matthews and Chesca Potter's Guide to Legendary Londonand Merlin Coverley's Occult London.

But if you think you are an expert on London's past, Align might still open your eyes to a few things you didn't know, as Robert Kingham and Richard Cochrane have done a wonderful job of unearthing strange and fascinating facts about England's capital.

I personally learnt two things about the area where I worked in for three years, near Old Street, in East London.

The first thing was that The Tower Theatre Company, while excavating the foundations for a new theatre, found they were building directly on the site of London's first ever purpose-built theatre.

The second thing I learnt was that the office I worked in, in Scrutton Street, was next to a vinegar yard owned by the family that later had the dubious claim to fame of discovering and mining blue asbestos. Blue asbestos was found to cause asbestosis and is a substance that has killed many people who came into contact with it. Scrutton Street is also the possible former location of an ancient mound said to have been the site of plague burials.

Those types of synchronicity are points of similarity on the time-line of places that can be compared to points of interest on geographical lines that are called leys. That seems to me to be the comparison that Align tries to make between ley lines and psychogeography.

Of course, I can't help realising that, by that theory, my working in that area of East London makes me a prime candidate to become either an aspiring thespian or a mass killer. I don't think I've killed anyone yet...

You can find out more about Align and watch a six-minute trailer for it at http://bigi.org.uk/align/. Robert Kingham and Richard Cochrane are planning future dates for Align, possibly at the Museum of London or at universities, so check their website for updates.

Link:
http://bigi.org.uk/align/
http://www.museumoflondon.org.uk/English/
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/01/ley-lines-and-london-walkiing.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/09/mystical-legendary-london-in-day.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2009/02/psychogeography-by-merlin-coverley.html
http://www.badwitch.co.uk/2007/12/spirit-of-city.html
http://www.leyhunter.com/archives/tlh2.htm
http://www.earthstars.co.uk/visionary-landscape-walks/
Earthstars: Geometric Groundplan Underlying London's Ancient Sacred Sites and Its Significance for the New Age
Guide to Legendary London
Occult London