The Beheading Game: Unearthing the Occult Mysteries of the Celtic Cult of the Head

In The Beheading Game: Unearthing the Occult Mysteries of the Celtic Cult of the Head, Briar investigates the theurgic and thaumaturgic applications of this cult from an occult perspective.

Archaeological traces and remnants of what has been dubbed a Celtic ‘cult of the head’ have fascinated and puzzled scholars for many years. In The Beheading Game: Unearthing the Occult Mysteries of the Celtic Cult of the Head, Briar investigates the theurgic and thaumaturgic applications of this cult from an occult perspective. By examining the ritual significance of severed heads and headlessness in the context of what she identifies to be a broader ‘Beheading Game’ as it relates to the pan-Celtic Cult of the Head, she discusses how ‘the Celts’ saw in the head the seat of the immortal soul, drawing from academic research, atavistic experience, and acute personal gnosis to delve deep into the roles of the severed head permeating Celtic lore.

Briar is a traditional folk witch, cunning woman, and fairy doctor. She is also a Gallo-Irish polytheist who is deeply invested in the fairy faith revival, finding bridges between her native and adoptive lineages. Her work is placed under the patronage of the hawthorn tree, characterized by the sorcerous duality of healing and harming (mithridatism as per the magical glyph of the snake or serpent), and in furthering her relationship with the hidden by cultivating and deepening meaningful bonds with gods and ungods alike, exploring one’s own soul and psyche as Other. With a scholarly background in comparative art and literature (PhD), Briar is a French native born and raised in the mountains, baptized by the cold waters of their glas lakes – now currently living and working in the UK, being taught by the land here. She aims for knowledge just for the sake and beauty of it, balancing quest for power and academical rigor with fire in the head, heart, and hands. A “daughter of Ivor” and beheaded copperhead, she is also a Brighidine devotee, a Flame Keeper and Hearth Tender: there is little in the way of her magic that does not flow back to the goddess, or come from the patronage of the Pale Ones under the hills. Her writings and services can be found at greenechapel.com, and she is also active on Instagram under @greene_chapel.

The Beheading Game: Unearthing the Occult Mysteries of the Celtic Cult of the Head
Briar
A Guide to the Underworld
ISBN 978-1-915933-02-7
28 pages
Published May 2024