About us
The Ghostlights Collective is a Manchester gathering for people interested in myth, folklore, dreams, symbols, strange stories, creativity and the inner life.
We meet once a month to explore the old images and ideas that still seem to follow us around: myths, folk tales, dreams, weird fiction, art, psychology, occult history, sacred places, memory, longing, and the hidden patterns beneath ordinary life.
It is for writers, artists, photographers, readers, quiet people, curious people, and anyone who would rather talk about meaning than make small talk for two hours.
Each gathering has a theme. Sometimes we talk about myths, dreams, symbols or folklore. Sometimes we use simple writing prompts, images, reflection, or small symbolic exercises. You do not need to be an expert. You do not need to be spiritual, artistic, confident, or especially talkative. Curiosity is enough.
Ghostlights is not a networking event, an open mic, a therapy group, or a formal workshop. There is no pressure to perform, impress anyone, share personal things, or have clever answers. Listening counts.
This space is for people interested in:
• Myth, folklore and old stories
• Dreams, symbols and Jungian ideas
• Strange books, weird fiction and occult art
• Creativity, writing, photography and imagination
• Thoughtful conversation without social performance
• Quiet connection with curious people
What to expect:
• One monthly gathering in Manchester
• A calm, welcoming, low-pressure atmosphere
• A clear theme and gentle structure
• Group discussion, optional creative prompts, and reflection
• Sharing by choice, silence allowed
The aim is to build a small, thoughtful community around myth, meaning, creativity and the hidden life of the imagination.
A place for the rare, the reflective, and the quietly strange.
Upcoming events
3
The Green Chapel: A Mythic Walk to Lud’s Church
Manchester Piccadilly, Piccadilly Station Approach, Greater, Manchester M60 7RA, Manchester, GBA small Ghostlights journey into Back Forest and the moss-covered chasm of Lud’s Church, following Sir Gawain and the Green Knight through questions of promise, fear and return.
Some places feel as though they have been waiting for a story.
Hidden near Gradbach, Lud’s Church is not a church building but a deep, moss-covered chasm reached through Back Forest. Legends have gathered around it for centuries, and it has often been associated with the mysterious Green Chapel in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.
In the poem, Gawain travels into a wild winter landscape to keep a promise he would rather escape.
Our version is not a reenactment, costume event or formal ritual. It is a small day walk using the story as a lens through which to explore landscape, fear, honour, promise and return.
THE JOURNEY
We will meet at Manchester Piccadilly and travel together by train to Macclesfield.
From Macclesfield station, a pre-booked group taxi or minibus will take us to Gradbach, where the walk begins. The return vehicle will also be arranged in advance.
From Gradbach, we will follow a roughly three-mile circular route through Back Forest to Lud’s Church, with pauses for the landscape, a little context and informal conversation.
At the chasm, there will be a short reading from Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, followed by time to explore quietly.
We will then stop outside the chasm for a packed lunch and a simple creative exercise.
THE FIELD LEAF
Each person will receive a small folded field leaf containing a story fragment, a simple illustration of the route and a few optional prompts exploring promise, fear and return.
The route sketch is illustrative rather than a navigation map. We will remain together as a group throughout the walk.
You might write, draw, photograph, talk or simply walk.
Nothing has to be completed or shared. The field leaf is there to help you notice the landscape, reflect on the story and carry one small fragment of the journey home.
No knowledge of medieval poetry is needed, and you do not need to hold any particular spiritual beliefs. The aim is to let an old story alter the way we see a real place, and perhaps let the place alter the story in return.
PRACTICAL DETAILS
Manchester meeting point: Manchester Piccadilly
Train: 10:46 to Macclesfield
Scheduled arrival: 11:17The exact meeting time and expected return time will be added once the train and group transport have been confirmed.
We will remain together throughout the woodland walk. Attendees will not be expected to navigate independently.
This is a hilly woodland walk of approximately three miles on steep, muddy and uneven paths, with gates, steps, wet rock and exposed roots.
It is not step-free. You should be comfortable walking outdoors for several hours and wearing footwear with good grip.
Please message me before booking if you are uncertain whether the route will be suitable for you.
Bring:
- waterproof walking shoes or boots;
- weatherproof layers;
- water and a packed lunch;
- any medication you may need;
- a charged phone.
There are no facilities at Lud’s Church itself.
The event itself is free, although attendees must cover their own train fare and an equal share of the pre-booked group transport.
The estimated transport cost and payment arrangements will be confirmed before RSVPs are finalised. Please RSVP only if you are reasonably sure you can attend, as the vehicle will be booked according to the final group size.
SUPPORTING GHOSTLIGHTS
Optional donations towards Meetup fees, printed field materials and future Ghostlights events are warmly appreciated, but are never required to attend:
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VELPUMRYRU4LW
18+. Maximum ten people, including the organiser.
Ghostlights Collective explores practical esotericism, folklore, myth, depth psychology and the imaginative arts through participatory events in and around Manchester.
2 attendees
Titus Groan: A Ghostlights Book Club
House of Books & Friends, Ground Floor, 81 King St, Manchester M2 4AH, Manchester, GBEnter Gormenghast: an immense, decaying castle where life is governed by rituals so ancient that almost nobody remembers what they mean.
For the first Ghostlights book club, we will be reading Mervyn Peake’s Titus Groan, one of my favourite novels.
It is a sprawling Gothic epic and a work of wildly imaginative fantasy, filled with ruined towers, forgotten chambers, ancient ceremonies, grotesque characters and lives shaped by the enormous castle surrounding them.
Peake’s prose is strange, visual, darkly funny and among the finest writing I have ever read.
Titus is born as the seventy-seventh Earl of Gormenghast and heir to a world apparently incapable of change. Around him moves an unforgettable cast of dreamers, eccentrics, servants, schemers and isolated souls, all enclosed within the castle’s crumbling walls.
Among them is Steerpike, a kitchen boy with the intelligence, ambition and ruthlessness to begin climbing through the castle’s rigid order.
This is not conventional fantasy. There are no quests, invented languages or systems of magic. Peake creates his world through architecture, atmosphere, ritual and character.
Gormenghast feels less like a setting than an immense living presence: part sanctuary, part prison, and a universe unto itself.
Peake was also a painter and illustrator. Manchester Art Gallery’s collection contains his striking 1944 painting The Glassblower, giving this discussion a small and unexpected connection to the city in which we will be meeting.
THE DISCUSSION
We will meet for an informal conversation about the novel and whatever remained with us after reading it.
Possible areas of discussion include:
- Gormenghast as a place and almost a character in its own right;
- ritual, tradition and what happens when meaning disappears;
- Steerpike’s rebellion against the order of the castle;
- isolation, childhood, identity and inherited roles;
- Peake’s mixture of beauty, comedy and grotesquerie;
- whether Gormenghast is a prison, a sanctuary, or both.
No academic knowledge of literature is needed, and nobody will be expected to arrive with a polished interpretation.
You are welcome to bring one passage, character, image or question that particularly interests you, although this is entirely optional.
DO I NEED TO FINISH IT?
Titus Groan is a substantial novel, which is why the meeting is being announced well in advance.
The audiobook edition is excellent too, and print, ebook and audiobook readers are all equally welcome.
Finishing the novel will give you the fullest experience, but you are still welcome if you have read a significant portion and have not quite reached the end.
The conversation may cover the entire novel, so please expect spoilers.
Bring whichever edition you used, or simply come with your thoughts.
PRACTICAL DETAILS
This event is free, but please support the venue by purchasing a drink or something small.
Optional donations towards the group’s monthly Meetup running costs are also welcome:
https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=VELPUMRYRU4LW
Ghostlights Collective explores practical esotericism, folklore, myth, depth psychology and the imaginative arts through participatory events in and around Manchester.
3 attendees
Past events
17
