Here you might swoop with a swallow, follow a seal through the sea or sky-race with swifts.' Here you will find incantations and summoning charms, spells that protect and spells that protest, tongue-twisters, blessings, lullabies and psalms. 'It tells its stories and sings its songs in paint and word. 'This is a book of spells to be spoken aloud,' promises the introduction. In the reading of its acrostic spell-poems while enjoying the accompanying art, one undergoes an educational and inspirational journey too, even if it's not quite the same as Will Stanton's.

This youngest Old One might read no more than one line - I have journeyed as an eagle, 'and he was soaring suddenly aloft as if winged, learning through feeling, feeling the way of resting on the wind and tilting round the rising column of air, of sweeping and soaring, of looking down at patchwork-green hills capped with dark trees, and a winding, glinting river between.'Īlthough The Lost Spells won't imbue the reader with ancient powers as The Book of Gramarye does, there are moments when it almost feels like that might happen, and it truly IS a magical and charming little book. Will reads the ancient Book of Gramarye, a magical book that is more than merely paper it is a rite of passage of an Old One, in which in the reading, one experiences magical spells and is taught everything about one's powers. So let these spells ring far and wide speak their words and seek their art, let the wild world into your eyes, your voice, your heart.' - from The Lost SpellsĪbout halfway through the newest collaboration between British nature writer Robert Macfarlane and artist Jackie Morris, The Lost Spells, I am suddenly reminded of a chapter in The Dark is Rising, the award-winning children's book by Susan Cooper about an English boy named Will Stanton, who discovers on his 11th birthday that he is the last of the Old Ones, immortals dedicated to keeping the world safe from the forces of evil, the Dark. 'To enchant' means both to make magic and to sing out. But there has always been singing in dark times - and wonder is needed now more than ever. Creatures, places and words disappear, day after day, year on year. 'Loss is the tune of our age, hard to miss and hard to bear.

Rambles.NET: Robert Macfarlane & Jackie Morris, The Lost Words, Spell Songs, The Lost Spells Robert Macfarlane & Jackie Morris,

The lost words poems