Copyright bbc
Julie Forest has been practising witchcraft for about 30 years. "I think I do about 14 different spells," she says. "I do love spells, protection spells." In a room in her house that she calls her "magic room" stands an altar, with her wand, carved from a piece of hazel. She has a magic name, she says, "written in runes so other people wouldn't be able to read it". "All witches, I would think, would give themselves a magic name," says Ms Forest. "Back in the old days, people used to hide the fact that they were witches so that nobody could say, 'I know who else is in the coven'." She says some people can be "a bit weird about it" when they find out she is a witch, adding: "But it's just something that I am, witchcraft isn't a bad thing, we're just ordinary people. "There's the sort of picture of a person with a warty nose and this idea of wearing a tall, pointed hat. "It's quite ridiculous really, If you were trying to hide you're a witch, you'd hardly walk around with a tall, pointed hat on."
