Watkins publishing have added to the world of Fortean travel-guides with 2 titles aimed to whet the wanderlust of wyrd voyagers. From the pen of Andy Sharp – musician, wordsmith and designator of the English Heretic black plaques (awarded to the strange denizens and dwellings that English Heritage overlooked) comes The Astral Geographic. On my first encounter with reference books, I often flip through the index to get a taste of what’s to come. Here we find an itinerary that takes us from “Anal Intercourse” to the “Zong Massacre”. Better buckle up then as it sounds like a wild ride is in store. Many eclectic ports are found along the way – myriad souls encountered include JK Huysmans, Sun Ra, Felicien Rops, Madame Blavatsky, Moloch, Manson, the Son of Sam, Saint Mary and that dweller in many an abyss – the almost ubiquitous Aleister Crowley. Although a chapter is devoted to Crowley and Neuberg’s summoning of the demon Choronzon in the Algerian desert, for readers who may feel somewhat overwhelmed by the seemingly universal presence of Magick Uncle Fester in much of occulture literature, there are also many other interesting characters and scenarios encountered within the pages of this book. Other subjects include Atlantis, the alchemy of Fulcanelli, Hekate, folk curses, Viking witchcraft and much more besides.
Sharp’s prose melds the informative and the poetic; although different in subject matter, in spirit it sometimes puts me in mind of the works of the naturalist J.A. Baker. Perhaps more accessible than his previous ‘The English Heretic Collection’ – ‘The Astral Geographic’ retains a targeted market as I suspect that mainstream TV producers may not send out Joanna Lumley or Bradley Walsh on a Saharan sodomy and ‘Satanism’ safari. Both this book and Weird Walk could however prove good ground for offbeat travel shows.
Weird Walk perambulates in a hinterland between Julian Cope’s ‘The Modern Antiquarian’ and Sara Hannant’s ‘Mummers, Maypoles & Milkmaids’ concentrating as it does on the British ritual year and megalithic monuments. It is more about rolling cheese than raising the dead. There is a little crossover with a chapter in The Astral Geographic in covering British standing stone’s relationship with short horror fiction and some Haunted Generation television shows, but Weird Walk focuses more attention on a variety of British sites – both ancient and follies of a more recent era. I particularly enjoyed Weird Walk’s commentary on EF Benson and Blakeney Point. Best remembered for his 1920’s socialite characters Mapp & Lucia, Benson’s supernatural stories have not quite enjoyed the renaissance bestowed upon M.R. James, Machen or Blackwood but are worth some attention. In its accessible psychogeographical approach to combining history, folklore, pop culture and artistic and literary inspiration, Weird Walk would also be of interest to fans of Edward Parnell’s Ghostland.
Weird Walk takes a seasonal approach and accompanies us from the Beltane fires of spring through summer’s Burryman Parade, from autumn’s Stag Dance of Abbot’s Bromley to the winter Wassailing in the company of the strange bone-horse the Mari Lwyd. Taking in many other ritual customs and enigmatic sites it illustrates that for the folk traveller Britain offers a lot of visiting opportunities the world round.
Both The Astral Geographic and Weird Walk bear an Occult Revival-revival aesthetic coupling Art Nouveauesque psychedelic title fonts, loose drawings, sun-bleached photography (Weird Walk particularly has some lovely, evocative shots) and a colour palette recalling the Gay Way primary school books, but both are equally substance as style. As someone once said “Man cannot live on bread alone” … or prana, manna or foyson… so quirkily both books occasionally include stopping off spots where the weary wanderer may partake of sustenance … though perhaps of the liquid victual variety. Whilst The Astral Geographic may point you in the direction of Absinthe, Weird Walk pours you a pint of real ale. They’re quite different books in some ways but are complimentary and provide interesting nuggets of diverse information to both the active and armchair travellers.
The Astral Geographic: The Watkins Guide to the Occult World
Andy Sharp
Watkins 2023
pb. Illus. index. 294pgs £20.00
ISBN 9781786786739
Weird Walk: Wanderings and Wonderings Through The British Ritual Year
Alex Hornsby, James Nicholls, Owen Tromans
Watkins 2023
hb. Illus. refs. Index. 288pgs. £19.99 ISBN 9781786786821
Reviewed by Andy Paciorek
Folk Horror Revival & Urban Wyrd Project ⨘ 