Wow - part IV already. Originally I thought I would just write a few lines but to be honest once I get started on this subject I could probably go on about it for years! (Okay – I promise I won't!)

So how did hexing actually work? I can only tell you what I observed for myself because I was never admitted to the family’s innermost circle. This was because my main interests of healing and divination were considered a bit ‘wet’, so I am sure I only ever got to see the tip of the iceberg.

Much of my family's hexing was spontaneous and improvised on the spot, suggesting a very advanced knowledge of the mechanics of spell-casting. They often used images in some shape or form however. The fact that my mother and aunt took in sewing for people meant they often had scraps of material left over. So making poppets (sometimes also called voodoo dolls) was never a problem. Interestingly they usually referred to them as wax effigies even though they were made from wooden old-fashioned clothes pegs.

I only ever actually saw a poppet used on one occasion, though it was often hinted at. Back when I was young, it was quite common to try and make one’s own doll, either a rag doll, knitted one, or from clothes pegs or wooden spoons. I was good at this, because I liked most crafts, and I was especially good at making them from clothes pegs. My family encouraged this - for obvious reasons, I suspect - and because what I made were so lifelike I even managed to sell a few to augment my pocket money. There was no magical intention attached to them, they were just for fun.

Once a friend asked me to make a pair representing her and her fiancé. I made my friend’s first and then my mother suddenly took an interest in what I was doing and offered to make the male doll. She had the most peculiar expression on her face while she did so; she was intent on the task in hand and at the same time observing me closely. I always used pipe cleaners to make the arms and hands, so it was easy to make the two figures hold hands, which I thought was rather romantic. ‘No,’ said my mother, and swept them apart with her hand. ‘Now see what happens.’

I think I expected the figures to start walking and take on a life of their own. But of course, the magic was subtler than that. Shortly afterwards I had a phone call from my friend in floods of tears. She and her fiancé had broken up. I mentioned it to my mother and she just stared at me for a few moments. ‘I’m not in the least surprised.’ Looking back on it, neither was I.

I’m not sure whether any of the younger generation of my relatives has continued with the craft. I suspect that one or two have and I’ve made it my business to give them a very wide berth. But the distractions of modern life have taken their toll. Email and mobile phones have the edge over telepathy, involve no long training and little effort. We are constantly surrounded by an ‘instant’ world; instant results, instant gratification. It’s hard to imagine that hexing holds much interest for young people nowadays. Hex –versus- text? No contest.

And yet, over the years I have witnessed how deeply witchcraft and magic are embedded in our collective psyche. In spite of two thousand years of Christianity, our old pagan beliefs are lurking just below the surface, ingrained so deeply that they have been impossible to eradicate. Given a chance – even half a chance, it will come to the fore. I have a sneaking suspicion that if you scrape away the thin veneer of ‘civilisation’ you may find that we are all witches, under the skin.

Seeking the Green by Tylluan Penry, published soon by Capall Bann. For more info - watch this space!