Grimoire of Adair Jones (Entry 3)

Author's note: Entry 1 and 2 available on my profile also, I've uploaded a trailer to this series on Youtube.

Link: Entry 1 - https://vocal.media/horror/grimoire-of-adair-jones

Entry 2 - https://vocal.media/horror/grimoire-of-adair-jones-entry-2

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30/06

I went back to that creek today and met Mindy. Today they brought their familiar with them. It was a black Irish Wolfhound named Louie. Mindy was already taller than me, but Louie was also really tall. Well, I guess that was kind of expected since Louie’s Irish Wolfhound.

I told Mindy that I wasn’t comfortable with following them back to the village, but I still want to learn more about witchcraft. I thought it might be a bit selfish of me to say something like that. But Mindy was accepting of it and said that they would probably do the same if a stranger walked up to them and suddenly started talking about witchcraft and secret village.

Mindy told me about the history of witchcraft. How before, there used to be a large group of witches and each group had their own unique practices. When the Catholic Church took over England, there was a need to keep things subtle. But none of the witches had any trouble with continuing to practice their craft.

Apparently, the situation only got out of hand when the Salem Witch Trial happened. Although many people were wrongly accused, there were actual witches among the people that were hung. This still didn’t make the whole incident any better since none of the witches or the people who were hung on the trial caused any harm to the public. But regardless, the Chasseur apparently started to search the houses without a warning and most witches were given very little time to hide the records of their crafts. Some apparently tried to run away but struggled to survive in the harsh environment alone. I always thought witches to be some supernatural being that’s much stronger than us, but I guess we’re all humans. I mean, I would never consider Mindy any different from anyone else I know in my life. Now that I think about it, if I decide to continue studying witchcraft, I would be a witch as well. And I know for a fact that I wouldn’t survive very long in the wild.

I went off track there. I made a decision to use this diary to record anything I learnt about witchcraft. It’s a topic that’s so unknown to me I can’t help but be fascinated by it. Especially now that I know it’s very likely to be real. Anyway, Mindy told me that after the trial, very little records were apparently left behind. Some witches have hidden their knowledge into stones and constellations depending on the craft they practice. But Mindy said it’s almost impossible to retrieve that information since at the time, each craft was very unique from one another. So, it’s really difficult to reverse those spells.

Mindy said that of the most common form the craft is recorded in forms like folklores, mythologies, urban legends and any other form of stories. But because most of them have been translated into so many different languages and the story has been passed down through so many generations, a lot of the information was lost. Not only that but most of the time when the story was being re-told, it was done so by people who didn’t understand the encrypted messages. So, any key-wording in the story has been changed around. But none of the witches blames the misunderstanding since the craft was encrypted so that people outside their community won’t misuse their craft or so that one of the members of the churches finds it and trace it back to them.

Mindy told me that after Salem, the witches hid for about fifty years. They avoided any form of contact with the rest of the world. They taught each other whatever spells they could remember within their own separate groups. Then, some of the witches went out to blend in with other people. They kept their familiars as a pet and sent them over to wherever witches were hiding. As people slowly started to forget about Salem, the witches tried to find each other again. With the different group being able to communicate to one another, they were slowly building back the culture and knowledge they originally had.

When a decent amount of information was exchanged, a lot of the groups that were communicating with one another noticed that the book known as the core folklore was missing. It was one of the first artefacts was hidden. The core folklore apparently was a book that stored the basis of witchcraft. Since it’s a valuable artefact, they didn’t just write “core folklore” on the book cover either. But there is one clue on finding the core folklore which is an extract that all witches have been taught.

Stories and histories of all existence

Carved and recorded among the stars

Shared to this plane through the language of humankind

And stored through bound parchments

The force of natural shall protect it firmly

When a threat comes upon these tales

According to Mindy, each line represents a different field of witchcraft. The first line represents the divination craft. The second line represents the astrological craft. The third one represents linguistic craft. The fourth line represents the blacksmithing craft. The fifth line represents natural craft and the last line represents that misuse of any of the craft can result in an irreversible tragedy. This extract also shows how the basis of witchcraft was translated over to this universe and why the book is so important.

So far, I only know the history of witchcraft and only seen two of the spells that they use. But I’m impressed that all five crafts worked together to bring this core folklore into existence. Well, it does hold the core knowledge of witchcraft so I guess it would make sense that all of the crafts had to work together to bring it into this world.

According to Mindy, the current mission that the witches are working on is recruiting people who show potential in witchcraft to keep their culture alive. While they’re recruiting, they’re also trying to find any clue to where the core folklore has been hidden. I guess it’s only natural that they want to retrieve as much of the traditional craft as they can.

All of this is starting to make me think about my own culture and heritage. It made me realise that I never took my Taiwanese heritage too seriously. Sure, I celebrate their holidays even after moving to England but I never cared to look into the history of it. My writing is getting a bit rusty after living in England for a while. Next time I talk to my mum, I might ask her if she knows anything about the origin or cultural context behind any of the holidays we celebrate. I might start a different diary to write in Mandarin as well so that I won’t lose the writing.

All of these thoughts came from just learning about the history of witchcraft. I wonder how much my mindset will change after I officially get into witchcraft? Would I eventually have to explain any of this to my parents? Can I continue witchcraft even when I go back to Taiwan? Would I want to go back to Taiwan if there aren’t any witches there? Why didn’t I ask myself any of these questions before? First thing first, I need to spend more time getting to know the whole craft and about this secret village of witches. It’s only then any of these questions should matter. Gosh, how much of a mess would I be if I didn’t journal to clear out my thoughts? Well, I guess I’m already a mess anyway.