Male witch turns animal bones into wands and voodoo dolls to honour cycle of life but admits work needs ‘strong stomach’

A male witch who gathers animal bones to craft wands and voodoo dolls admits his work can be “icky” and demands a “strong stomach”, but he believes he is honouring the cycle of life.

Lucan Thorndyke, 36, a craftsman from Eastbourne, East Sussex, dreamed of becoming a priest from the age of 14, but after studying philosophy and theology at the University of Exeter in 2009, he felt disconnected from church teachings and began exploring other spiritual paths.

He said he eventually reconnected with the traditions of his Swedish and Norwegian family, who read Tarot and tea leaves during his childhood, and in 2020, he chose to identify as a witch.

The same year, after losing his job as a restaurant manager due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he started a business called Wyrd Bones, making jewellery, voodoo dolls, wands and artwork from sheep, deer, horse, cow, fox and badger bones he finds on countryside walks.

Once he has cleaned the carcasses, he carves, paints and tempers the bones in the fire, but he often has a backlog in his workroom before he realises “what they need to become”.

He said he also casts spells for love and prosperity on the items by focusing on an object and saying a mantra, and outside of his crafts, he does his own Tarot and rune readings, which he believes can predict the future.

Lucan told PA Real Life: “All of my skulls and bones are found by delving under hedgerows and rummaging through woods.

“People have called it ‘icky’ and I agree – you need to have a strong stomach.

“I think I’m honouring the cycle of life and death, and I am re-purposing the animals, and it’s all done with love and respect for them – I form a connection with them.”

By the age of 14, Lucan knew he wanted to become a priest to “build a closer relationship with God” and to “help people in the community”.

With this goal in mind, he went on to study philosophy and theology at the University of Exeter in 2009.

But, during his studies, he began to feel a growing disconnection between “what is written in the Bible” and what is “taught in churches today”.

This led him to abandon his original plan after graduating and, over the next decade, he explored spirituality “on (his) own terms”.

By 2020, he found himself reconnecting with the folk traditions of his Swedish and Norwegian heritage.

He said: “Some of my earliest memories are of my mother reading Tarot, my grandmother doing tea leaves… and making charms like hagstones hung by the front door to keep evil out, shoes buried under the doorstep to befriend the house sprites.

“But none of my family members ever called themselves a witch, they lived folk traditions that did not require classifications.”

In 2020, Lucan felt the need to define his own spiritual identity and settled on the term “witch”.

He said: It’s only with Hollywood that we have these misconceptions that witch means ‘woman’.

“(I believe) witch is a gender neutral word. Girls aren’t witches and boys aren’t wizards, no matter what JK Rowling says (in Harry Potter), we are all just witches.

“There have been many, many male witches throughout history… they’re not all women.”

Lucan said he has been welcomed into modern pagan circles, although most of his connections with fellow male witches are online, as few live nearby.

Lucan explained: “From ‘normal’ people, you get a little push back, but that is from ignorance.

“You tell someone you are a witch and they really don’t know how to reply.

“I’m always asked where my pointy hat is – I don’t own one!”

His daily rituals are rooted in nature – Lucan starts most mornings with a swim in the sea and often walks barefoot through the countryside to feel more connected to the earth.

In 2020, after losing his job as a restaurant manager due to the pandemic, he began crafting handmade witchcraft items such as wands, necklaces, voodoo dolls and artworks, using skulls, bones and animal skin.

Lucan has not used voodoo dolls himself but said others use them to “make an effigy of someone” and “pin where you need to be healed”.

“I realised that there is a gap in the witchcraft and pagan community in the UK for ethically sourced, good-quality tools and items to be used in practice… so I created (my business) Wyrd Bones,” he said.

Lucan collects many of his materials during his nature walks, often searching in woodlands and hedgerows for animal remains.

He said he has found everything from cows and horses to foxes, deer and sheep.

“I haven’t had any controversy at all – farmers appreciate people cleaning up the countryside, buyers appreciate me giving new life to the departed,” he said.

Once the carcasses are cleaned, he carves, paints and occasionally tempers the bones in fire.

“Quite often bones will sit around for ages before I realise what they need to become,” he explained.

“There is no point in trying to force it to become something it isn’t meant to be.

“I can see about 26 (skulls) from where I’m sitting, (in my workroom), more are probably hiding.”

Lucan said he also casts spells on the items he creates, or provides instructions for customers to follow themselves, with love and prosperity being the most common requests.

For him, a spell typically involves an “incantation, a focus and the will of the individual” and is similar to “manifestation”.

He added: “You need an object to focus on – for a money spell, this could be a coin, then you need the right incantation, which is like a mantra that you say aloud.”

In addition to his craft, Lucan said he offers Tarot and rune readings, which use symbols from ancient runic alphabets to gain insight or guidance about a question or situation.

He has been practising since childhood, taught by members of his family.

“They (the fortunes) all tend to come true,” Lucan explained.

“I think one from myself (that came true) was when I was about 13.

“Mother was trying to sell the house, it wasn’t shifting, and I did a rune reading and predicted the exact date we would move.

“It came to pass exactly as I predicted it, I don’t know why but that one always stuck with me.”

To sceptics, Lucan said: “I used to be a sceptic, I used to doubt everything, it kept my mind closed.

“There will come a point when you have to stop believing in coincidence and start wondering if there isn’t more to this world that can be dreamt of in your philosophy.”