Among the many manuscripts, you can peruse online at The National Library of Wales is a manuscript volume, a Book of Incantations, from the library of John Harries (d. 1839), of Pantcoy, Cwrtycadno, Carmarthenshire. He was an astrologer and medical practitioner. The manuscript contains the spirit lists and seals of the 17th-century grimoires Goetia and Theurgia-Goetia (view it here) and details of “how the ‘cunning man’ could cause benign spirits to appear, listing the attributes of each spirit, with diagrams that represent the named spirit to be conjured.”
The Harries family became renowned for their ability to predict the future, recover lost or stolen property, combating witchcraft, and invoking benign spirits, and as a result, were severely condemned by the mainstream religious people of the 19th century.
He was a cunning man…a term (also cunning folk) used when referring to “practitioners of folk medicine, folk magic, and divination“. If you want to learn more about folk magic and cunning folk, pay a visit to the independent Museum of Witchcraft and Magic in Boscastle, more details can be found on their website here: https://museumofwitchcraftandmagic.co.uk/. I’d also recommend George Nigel Hoyle aka Cunning Folk whose blog often features some fascinating articles, he also runs The South East London Folklore Society.
Taking inspiration from the story of John Harries, director Zoe Dobson and writer Ali Cook created the short film “The Cunning Man” featuring Simon Armstrong and Charlotte Jo Hanbury.
The film tells the story of an elderly and mysterious farmer who drifts through the Welsh valleys collecting dead animals.
Refusing the services of the local abattoir’s collector, what he has in store for these creatures is beyond anyone’s imagination. An enchanted tale in the face of callous greed.
Attribute: Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru – The National Library of Wales