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Underground > Temple >

The Dark And Light bookshop in Dalston, London

12:18 / 10.09.04

I've tried the net and the phone book, and apparently it's not, but then again Doc " Papa " Williams may just prefer to stay under the radar.

Or was Iain Sinclair just making this up ?

Whatever, I've lately become a little concerned about what the neighbours are up to - last Sunday, for example, the character in the house opposite was seen to be dancing round a large cauldron full of burning herbs, probably not with the intent of doing a barbecue, and since then the ghosts in this joint have apparently been out of control. And then there's the person who lives next door.

I always wanted to live in a Fall song, or a kitchen sink version of a Dennis Wheatley novel, and now it looks like I've made it. So if I have to get involved in a magickal war with some of these people, and it seems like I may, where's the best place to pick up supplies, if Dark And Light is shut these days ?

( As threads go, admittedly, this is semi-satirical, or just meant to be funny, but then again, the facts of the case as outlined above really aren't made up. I feel like Dr Strange in his Greenwich mansion, surrounded by enemies, and it seems like the best thing to do is fight back. So, how to proceed ? All advice appreciated, cheers )

13:02 / 10.09.04

Darkness and Light hasn't been open for years. Although I did spot something that looked a lot like a botanica on Stokey high street when I went passed there in a car recently. I haven't been to check it out though. There's a couple of interesting botanicas in Brixton that carry a lot of stuff.

last Sunday, for example, the character in the house opposite was seen to be dancing round a large cauldron full of burning herbs

More information? What are you talking about? If it looks like "voodoo" and involves a cauldron then it might be Palo Mayombe. Why do you think these people are your "enemies", exactly? Or do you just randomly fancy persecuting someone going about the business of their religion because you don't understand it?

So if I have to get involved in a magickal war with some of these people, and it seems like I may, where's the best place to pick up supplies

If it's something like Palo, and you don't happen to be really, really, really experienced in that kind of area yourself - and I'm guessing that you're not - then I would seriously recommend moving house before engaging them in "magickal war" or pissing them off in any way. It'd be toothpick versus Hanzo sword, mate.

13:30 / 10.09.04

I should add this quote from Lights Out For The Territory by I Sinclair, with regards to the shop:

There couldn't be a more appropriate location for Doc " Papa " Williams to have launched Dark and Light, his walk-in, neighbourhood voodoo boutique. Dark and Light ( The Foremost Source of Occult Books & Supplies ) is part of a multinational franchising operation with branches in New York and Haiti. It's moment has surely come around - even if the shop has been dressed after the style of Live And Let Die. The statuettes have the authentically ironed-over, Roger Moore android look: charming but dysfunctional.

The doc, a softly-spoken Haitian exile, is always ready to pose with fat Cuban cigar and skull perched on top of his electrified hair. He can heal and he can curse. He can work on your barnet or drive out demons... He has the cuttings to prove it. Local spirits willingly dance to the command of this Dr Dee of Dalston.
Dark and Light dominates the crossroads... The left side of the shop, confronting the newspaper-seller's booth on Kingsland High Street, superimposes headlines of hysterical horror, reflected in the display glass, with potions, herbs, candles, chicken-bones, feathers, roots, claws, cat-sized coffins. A tarot has broken free of it's box. Potential students of the dark side are encouraged to browse through the small library of books on display: The Egyptian Secrets Of Albertus Magnus, White and Black Arts For Man And Beast, The Story Of Solomon The King. I can never make my mind up - is this tellingly sited shop promoting the craziness, the babble, that has spilled over on to the walls ? Or is it simply a focusing device, a shelter for all the unhoused definitions of the weird that stalk the streets of the borough ? Dalston, twinned with downtown Port-au-Prince, has declared itself a voodoo republic

All joking aside, and with apologies to anyone who's already read it, it seems like a wonderful world if places like that still exist, so if that one's shut, as I suspect it might be, where are the others ?

The neighbours, as I say, need to be kept in line.

( Sorry for the double post, long business lunch etc, had a couple of glasses of wine, and so on. )

13:57 / 10.09.04

So, err... did you read my post?

01:38 / 12.09.04

No, sorry GL - I must have been halfway through composing the above load of, er, stuff, when your post arrived. I will not, pretty clearly, be starting a magickal war with my next door neighbour. As you rightly surmised, I'd be totally out of my depth, although my flatmate, on the other hand, who the next door neighbour was a bit snippy with ( we were sitting out in the garden over a couple of drinks when what looked like smoke from a housefire came billowing out of next door's place, so my flatmate went over to see if everyone was ok, to get fairly short shrift from this character who was dancing round a cauldron of burning sage, ) probably wouldn't be, if it came to the crunch. Which it won't do, of course. Really, going to Dark and Light or related just seems like a fun afternoon out - I'm at best a dilettante when it comes to this sort of thing, but this friend of mine isn't, and ta, in any case, for the recommendations.

15:18 / 12.09.04

Yeah, well I'd exercise caution myself. A lot of caution. Try to find out what it is the next door neighbour is into and what sort of clout they have before your flatmate goes wading in. Experienced or not.

It still strikes me as unnecessary to go picking fights with unknown factors because they were a bit impolite to you. The magical equivalent of having a go at the little guy who spilt your pint in a bar, then finding out that little guy happens to be the UK no rules fighting champion or something.

Unless your flatmate has a good idea of the sort of thing the next door neighbour is likely to bring to the game, and a lot of experience in resolving situations of that specific nature, it could get a bit messy...

I'd seriously try and dissuade your flatmate from stepping up to it if I were you. Or at least try and gather more information about what the neighbours are involved in. You don't want some crazy Palo Mayombe temple on your case.

Orrin's Prick Up Your Ears

17:16 / 12.09.04

Palo's fascinating, but it's seriously ruthless shit done by seriously ruthless people. All respect to them, but they don't mess about. A friend of mind told me that in Cuba, if someone really wants something done now, regardless of collateral damage or whatever, they'll skip Santeria completely and head straight for the Palo guys. Serious witchcraft and I wouldn't mess with it.

08:04 / 13.09.04

Indeed. I think this might link into the martial arts thread a bit. You could almost make the analogy that a ceremonial magician with ten years of experience going up against a Palo guy, would be like, say, a classical martial artist of ten years experience who's not used to getting hit repeatedly in the face or grappled, stepping into the ring with a mixed martial artist. Or perhaps someone with a machine gun...

For all I know, your next door neighbour might just have been cooking his dinner in that cauldron, but I'd be more than a little circumspect about the whole situation...

Orrin's Prick Up Your Ears

08:44 / 13.09.04

That's about right!

If it's on the stove and he's stirring it, he's making his dinner. A Palo cauldron is unlikely to look like a scrubbed cooking pot. There'll often be twigs and bits of wood sticking out of the top, so that might be one way to tell. Sometimes you might see a bone of two, although they're usually buried at the bottom.

I agree with Gypsy. Best to leave it alone, really. Personally, since watching 'Indiana Jones', I've made it my policy never to mess with the priests of ruthless, necromantic death cults

3 If it gets too bad, a quiet, respectful word is better than starting any kind of feud. That applies equally to life as well as magic, I suppose.

Orrin's Prick Up Your Ears

08:51 / 13.09.04

By the way, in case any of that sounded at all flippant, I'd like to say that I have great respect for all Palero. Very impressive guys, in every way.