I enjoy researching odd things when I’m writing new stories. I feel it livens the plot and deepens the experience for the reader if I can add in details that have interesting significance or a dash of reality. Recently, I was researching witches again. My series Witches of Etlantium explores elemental powers and when I wrote the series, I thought it was unique. To be honest, I hadn’t written urban fantasy before… or even regular fantasy. I was a litfic writer, and this new foray into fantasy was a huge learning experience for me.

It’s still a series that is dear to my heart, but I felt it needed a refresh. I’m currently re-writing the series, thus the research.

And I discovered Mother Shipton. This badass chick prophesied all sorts of things, and like Nostradamus, she wrote out her prophecies in poetry (couplets to be precise)

She has a moth named after her because of the ‘face’ on its wings and if you recall your earliest memory of what a witch should look like, I bet it’s a hallmark to her historical image. She was born in a cave during a horrible storm (reminiscent of famous Kaleeshi in Game of Thrones) and the adult Ursula was reputed to be so ugly the locals took to calling her ‘Hag Face’.

Some history suggests she never existed and that her predictions were frauds written by others. None the less, I thought them interesting.

But what were her prophecies you wonder. Well, if you interpret her poetry just the right way you’ll presume:

She foretold the end of the world in 1881
She predicted the fall of Thomas Wolsey
She predicted man’s flight
SHe predicted that women would dress as men
She predicted the American revolution
She predicted men would be able to ‘walk’ under water and ships would be made of steel and iron
She predicted the invention of horseless carriages

There’s more to be found about Mother Shipton, who was also considered a rare healer and I encourage you to check her out.

If you’re interested in my own foray into witch stories, you can pick up Water Witch from nearly every ebook retailer.