Youth has such allure. When wrinkles start to crease the perfect scheme of one’s face, and when frown lines become etched, stray and strange thoughts come to the human mind. That’s a time when many turn to the mystical arts, and profess deep faith in the unexplained.
But does the mystical world really take away age? Can knowledge of the esoteric arrest the ageing process? Many would say yes. Yogis and sadhus and spiritualists are known for their vitality and youthfulness.

But what is their secret? Is it a magic potion — or secret words spoken in the silver of a full moon night?
I do not give you formulas and recipes — that would be tampering with Nature. But Wiccans will now and then reveal some secrets — it’s up to you to understand them.
Youth and beauty can be preserved. There are ways, which were known to the Ancients. The lost city of Atlantis was believed to be a storehouse of everlasting energy. Wicca follows certain ways — chants, exercises and flower potions which keep the skin taut, the lines at bay and the vital energies high.
But the will has to be indomitably strong — the famed ‘will of the witch’ is a very real thing. Certain ingredients are important — such as saffron and white roses. Moon-cleansed water is a universal mixer. And the time of day when invocations are done are in consonance with either the moon or the sun cycles.
There are some power-spots around the world, which, given the correct catalysts, enhance and preserve the life-force and delay the natural ageing process of the body. I give you one for now.
London. The church of St. Mary le Strand, situated on a little concrete island right in the middle of the Strand, is a strange place. On two sides there is the streaming traffic of Central London, red buses and black cabs, the colleges, Royal Courts of Justice. There is no firm date known as to when this church was erected. History says that in medieval times, the site of this old church was occupied by a Strand Cross — it is unclear as to why it was erected. This site was later occupied by a windmill to pump water.
In the early 1600s, a maypole was also erected at this site, which the Puritans later removed. However it was rebuilt, and the fame and news of this maypole soon spread far and wide. Over the years, they say parts of the maypole remained and it was presented to Sir Isaac Newton as a base for a telescope!
Whenever one goes into the Church, one feels enveloped by an atmosphere which crosses dimensions and times. The quiet within has its own potency, and the glow of the erratic London sun lighting up the stained glass windows seems to create a pulsation, which can be picked up by a sensitive observer from the pews.
One has often sat on those old wooden pews, absorbing the play of light and atmosphere and pondering upon what could be the secret of the Church.
Old places of worship and wisdom were never built anywhere by chance. They were strategically situated at power spots, over intersecting ley lines. Perhaps the Ancients believed that here, prayers would be carried faster to God. The commonly spoken-of ‘sthan mahatva’ or power of site, is what this would be.
The famed maypole, erected at this site and ‘in use’ for so many years, perhaps was the biggest indication of the site’s pagan powers. Maypoles have been a custom from time immemorial in many parts of the world — most famed in England and Germany perhaps. They used to be set up at the coming of summer and would be bedecked with flowers, garlands, egg shells and natural decorations.
Strings of flowers would be held by revelers, moving clockwise and anti-clockwise in rhythm around the pole. Wicca believes this was an ancient way to raise earth energy. This energy, in combination with subterranean running water nearby, would have created a very potent life force for those who knew how to tap into it. The ancient wisdom of tapping into earth energy is also known to the Native Americans, who by their very dances and heel-toe movements at certain places in the earth can invoke and absorb energy from the earth. Perhaps it is the old echoes from the dances around the maypole, a symbol of renewal and energy which are still bathing visitors to the little Church on the Strand with vitality and radiating life, health and youthfulness.
Yes, the secret of youth is available at places like these, if you go looking for it…

The writer is a Wiccan who endorses the concept of white magic