London Fortean Society

CANCELLED Unfortunately our speaker for The Shakespeare Furore has had to pull out at the last moment. It's too late to organise a replacement, so I'm afraid we'll have to cancel the meeting altogether. Ticket holders will be refunded. We hope to be able to rebook her next year. Tuesday 24th September 2024 The Shakespeare Furore   The Shakespeare authorship question first burst into public consciousness 170 years ago. Early questioners included many prominent figures of the 19th and 20th centuries. In the last two decades, while those defending the orthodox narrative have increasingly characterised the authorship question as a conspiracy theory, over 50 peer-reviewed articles challenging the traditional narrative have been published in academic journals. Meanwhile, the orthodox position has begun to shift towards the ‘many hands’ idea, with the New Oxford Shakespeare now claiming that a third of the Shakespeare canon is co-authored. Now award-winning journalist Elizabe...

This event is cancelled. John is not coming to the UK at this time. We wish him all the best. Here is a recording of a similar talk John did for us online in the very early days of the first Covid lockdown.  Real or imaginary, shapeshifters lurk deep in our psyches and remain formidable cultural icons. The myths and magic surrounding shapeshifters are brought vividly to life in John B. Kachuba’s compelling and original cultural history. Tuesday 10 September 2024 7 pm doors. 7.30 pm start.  £5 / £3 Concessions Advance Booking The Miller , 96 Snowsfields, London Bridge, London SE1 3SS Tube and Rail: London Bridge Facebook Page  London Fortean Email List There is something about a shapeshifter – a person who can transform into an animal – that captures our imagination; and causes us to want to howl at the moon or flit through the night like a bat. Werewolves, vampires, demons, and other weird creatures appeal to our animal nature, our dark side, and our desire to break free ...

  WARNING: Talk contains adult images Tuesday 27 August 2024 8pm (Doors 7.30) £5 / £3 concessions ( Advance tickets ) The Bell ,  50 Middlesex Street E1 7EX (Tubes: Liverpool Street, Aldgate, Aldgate East) London Fortean Email List Dr Eric Dingwall was a friend, associate, rival, and occasional enemy of the more publicity-hungry Harry Price. Appointed Research Officer for the Society for Psychical Research, Dingwall's specialism was physical mediumship, a mainstay of numerous mediums' performances before, between, during and after the two World Wars. In public, Dingwall could be frustratingly sceptical (much to the chagrin of his SPR colleagues), but private communications tell a different story. Certain mediums had impressed him with their displays of apparently fraud-proof and inexplicable phenomena. At the end of the War he was appointed Honorary Assistant Curator of the British Musuem's Private Case, a secret collection of erotic, pornographic, libellous and blasphemou...

  Tuesday 30 July 2024 The Legacy of The Wicker Man Since 2010 author and performer David Bramwell ( The Odditorium, The Haunted Moustache, No 9 Bus to Utopia ) has been performing as Lord Summerisle in Sing-Along-A-Wicker-Man , a show that attracts more than its fair share of Pagans, despite the film’s portrayal of them as a homicidal cult. Since the advent of monotheism, Pagans have been portrayed as purveyors of the dark arts. What led us to demonise a way of life that honours nature and gave us such beloved festivals as May Day, Halloween and Yuletide? In this entertaining and thought-provoking talk Bramwell unravels the history and cultural significance of The Wicker Man and undertakes a quest to understand its relationship with Paganism now. Along the way he interviews druids at Glastonbury, rewrites the “unholy trinity” of folk horror, participates in May Day rituals and meets The Wicker Man ’s Robin Hardy and musician Julian Cope, revealing an island still alive with r...

Magical Art, Radical Folk Dance, Sacred Landscapes, and Women's Stories. Saturday 29 June 2024 Doors, coffee from 10.30 am Talks: 11 am - 6 pm (inc. breaks) £18 / £14 cons  Advance tickets Conway Hall , 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL Tube: Holborn Directions London Fortean's Mailing List Facebook event Art, magic, and folklore cross over and over again making new forms of creativity and lore. Join us at Conway Hall on 29 June 2024, for talks and discussions on making new traditions, art and magic, lost woman artists, radical Morris Dance, and much more. Talks and performance timings: 10:30 There should be coffee 11:00 Doors 11:15 Thomas Sharp, Marc Spicer & Rosey Trickett: Circling the Square Mile 11:45 Break 12:00 Jennifer Higgie: A Journey into Women, Art, and the Spirit World 12:30 Amy Hale - “This current drew you”: Ithell Colquhoun’s erotic energies and sacred landscapes 13:00 Lunch 14:00 Site-Specific Performance: Aliki Karveli 14:30 Break 14:...

  Tuesday 25 June 2024 Aleister Crowley: The Spy Who Loved the Occult Mountaineer, artist, poet, magician, was Aleister Crowley also a secret agent who worked for different branches of British Intelligence at various stages of his life? Did this culminate in his interrogation of Nazi warlord and occultist Rudolf Hess in 1941? Richard C McNeff deciphers Crowley’s espionage career as well as taking a wider look at his role as an influencer, with some very surprising followers. The author of two novels prominently featuring Crowley, Richard will separate fact from fiction in his portrayals of the Beast. (This talk completely sold out when we ran it in January – so we’re giving you another chance to hear it – or to hear it again!) Venue: The Bell, 50 Middlesex Street E1 7EX Date: Tuesday 25 June 2024 Time: 8pm (Doors 7.30) Tickets: https://www.wegottickets.com/event/623170/

Join us and James Ball, Professor Chris French, Professor Karen Douglas, Brent Lee and Jonn Elledge for a deep dive into conspiracy theory and culture. The history, the people and the dangers of a conspiracy mindset Saturday 22 June 2024 Doors, coffee from 11.30 am Talks & Q&A:12 pm - 6 pm (inc. breaks) £18 / £14 cons  Advance tickets Conway Hall , 25 Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL Tube: Holborn Directions London Fortean's Mailing List Facebook event page Photo by Olof Nyman from Pexels Conspiracy Theory states that nothing is how it is reported, that everything you know is wrong, and that sinister forces are controlling everything for their own, dark motivations. Opposing this dark pantomime are the lone hero truth-tellers, from David Icke to Donald Trump, Alex Jones to the gnomic, anonymous Q.  Conspiracy thought has moved to the centre of society, bringing with it violence and terror and the removal of faith in conventional media and law. The concept of truth has...