Best-selling author Erica Jong here turns her attention to the fantastical and factual world of witchcraft. In beguiling poetry and prose, she looks at the figure of the witch both as historical reality and as archetype - as evil crone and full-breasted seductress, as a lingering vestige of a primeval religion and a projection of fear of the unknown. Joseph A. Smith's powerful, haunting illustrations enliven each page, as Jong investigates the witch as a survivor of the age of sorcery, as a scapegoat for male-dominated church-state politics, as a remarkable natural healer, and as a hexer without peer. Real recipes for love potions and flying lotions, along with formulas for spells and incantations, make this book a rich journey of mystery and delight. Available in paperback for the first time, Witches has been a favorite since it was published more than 20 years ago - a testament to the enduring fascination with the myths and truths about these intriguing figures.

    In it he shares profound Craft teachings that will transform your relationship with magick, and your work as a Witch. I wish I'd had access to this treasure earlier on my path."--Christopher Penczak, cofounder of the Temple of Witchcraft and author of the Plant Spirit FamiliarFor the first time in more than a decade, Grimassi introduces readers to a new system of witchcraft, one that draws upon the old ways and the old days. Rich with spells, rituals, and detailed illustrations of plant spirits, Grimassi dares readers to take the path that leads deep into the darkened woods--to traverse upon the Thorned Path.Meet the entities that dwell within the organic memory of the earth, the devas, the deities, the magical life force that lies within the wooded glen. Learn to work with these spirits, and use their wisdom to transform your life and your practice.

    It includes hands-on information for modern celebrations, spells and divination, recipes and crafts, invocations and prayers, and more!Yule—also known as Midwinter—is when nighttime has reached its maximum length, but there is a promise of brighter days to come as candles are lit and feasts are enjoyed. This guide to the history and modern celebration of Yule shows you how to perform rituals and magic to celebrate and work with the energy of the winter solstice.

    "She is warrior, queen, death omen, mother, murderer, lover, spy, conspirator, faery, shape-shifter, healer, and sometimes the living earth itself. A captivating contradiction: a demonic female who both haunts and heals; benevolent in one moment, ghastly the next, and kind the moment after that.”The Morrigan is one of Pagan Ireland’s most famous—and notorious—goddesses. Her name translated as “phantom queen” or “great queen,” the Morrigan is famous for being a goddess of war, witchcraft and death, protection and retribution. This book also explores her patronage of motherhood, healing, shapeshifting, and the land. Classified among the Sidhe (fairies), the Morrigan dates back at least to Ireland’s Iron Age, but she is as modern as she is ancient―enjoying a growing contemporary and global following.Author Courtney Weber provides a guide for the modern devotee of this complex, mysterious goddess that encompasses practical veneration with modern devotionals, entwined with traditional lore and Irish-Celtic history.

    But what is it that has made these people turn their back on the formal, structured religions that encompass the majority of the Western world?In our modern, high-pressured world, many of us fail to take notice the sheer beauty of the natural world surrounding us. In many ways, this is a travesty: the world we live in today seems so completely distant from the one our ancestors lived in, a world where humans and nature were at one, their existence intertwined in the natural cycles of life.Wicca is a new way of life, a religion that takes you back to a more simple time, before the invention of the high-tech gadgetry we see all around us. You will learn to live and appreciate the natural world that surrounds you, celebrating the intricate changes in the seasons and everything they bring — from the bounties of the Summer harvest, to the cold and darkness of the Winter months, as Mother Nature rests in preparation for the next explosive cycle of life that Spring brings.Wicca is a re-incarnation of the very earliest religions, long pre-dating Christianity. Wiccans celebrate and share many of the same beliefs that these early people held, and try to embrace their way of life, all while remaining fully-functional in today's modern world. Foundations for Becoming a Practicing Wiccan Wicca differs from the highly structured religions that most people in the Western world are familiar with. There is no sacred text to follow, teaching you about the religion, and how to live your life to the fullest.Wiccans must take it upon themselves to piece together the many different aspects of this exciting, enchanting religion, and this can seem highly intimidating at first.Wicca for Beginners was created with these people in mind, acting as an entry point for anyone seeking information about the Wicca religion — whether you're just looking to learn more about the fascinating Wiccan way of life, or you want to start practicing Wicca yourself.You will learn all about the history of the religion, the many different beliefs held by Wiccans, and the significant dates and celebrations of the Wiccan calendar. You'll be introduced to the Wiccan deities, discover the Wiccan tools and altar, and learn the difference between a coven and a solitary practitioner.Finally, you will be introduced to the concepts of witchcraft and magic, learn the basics of rituals and spellwork, and will even be shown an example ritual, perfect for beginners.In other words, Wicca for Beginners will teach you everything you need to know to start practicing Wicca, today!So scroll to the top of the page and hit the buy button now, and you can also download my fantastic free gift!Blessed Be.

    Every year on October 31, when the children of the world parade through the streets dressed as monsters, skeletons, and witches, they reenact a sacred ceremony whose roots extend to the dawn of time. By receiving gifts of sweets from strangers, the children establish, on a symbolic plane that exceeds their understanding, a fraternal exchange between the visible world and the invisible world. Author Jean Markale meticulously examines the rituals and ceremonies of ancient festivities on this holiday and shows how they still shape the customs of today's celebration. During the night of Samhain, the Celtic precursor of today's holiday, the borders between life and death were no longer regarded as insurmountable barriers. Two-way traffic was temporarily permitted between this world and the Other World, and the wealth and wisdom of the sidhe, or fairy folk, were available to the intrepid individuals who dared to enter their realm. Markale enriches our understanding of how the transition from the light to the dark half of the year was a moment in which time stopped and allowed the participants in the week-long festival to attain a level of consciousness not possible in everyday life, an experience we honor in our modern celebrations of Halloween.

    The Druidry Handbook is the first handson manual of traditional British Druid practice that explores the Sun Path of seasonal celebration, the Moon Path of meditation, and the Earth Path of living in harmony with nature as tools for crafting an earthhonoring life here and now. From ritual and meditation to nature awareness and ecological action, John Michael Greer opens the door to a spirituality rooted in the living Earth.Featuring a mix of philosophy, rituals, spiritual practice, and lifestyle issues, The Druidry Handbook is onestop shopping for those seriously interested in practicing a traditional form of Druidry. It offers equal value to eclectics and solitary practitioners eager to incorporate more earthspirituality into their own belief system/ it also appeals to the merely curious.

    There are still witches who whisper upon tied knots to curse or heal, sorceresses who shapeshift into animals or household objects, magicians who cast spells for love or good fortune, and common folk who seek their aid for daily problems big and small. Sharing the extensive knowledge she inherited from her mother and grandmother, including spells of the “Old Believers” previously unknown to outsiders, Natasha Helvin explores in detail the folk history and practice of Russian sorcery and Eastern Slavic magical rites, offering a rich compendium of more than 300 spells, incantations, charms, and practical rituals for love, relationships, career success, protection, healing, divination, averting the evil eye, communicating with spirits and ancestors, and a host of other life challenges and daily situations, with complete step-by-step instructions to ensure your magical goals are realized. She explains how this tradition has only a thin Christian veneer over its pagan origins and how the Slavic pagan gods and goddesses acquired new lives as the saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church. She details how the magical energy for these spells and rituals is drawn from the forces of nature, revealing specific places of power in the natural world as well as the profound power of graveyards and churches for casting spells. She explores the creation of amulets and talismans, the importance of icons, and the proper recital of magical language and actions during spells, as well as how one becomes a witch or sorceress. Offering a close examination of these two-thousand-year-old occult practices, Helvin also includes Slavic folk advice, adapted for the modern era. Revealing what it means to be a Slavic witch or sorceress, and how this vocation pervades all aspects of life, she shows that each of us has magic within that we can use to take control of our own destiny.

    In the stories of ancient goddesses you will hear your own soul calling out to you.

    A Complete Guide to Faeries and Magical Beings is a wonderful companion for those who wish to tour an enchanted world. Cassandra Eason begins with the myths, legends, and real evidence surrounding the origins and existence of fairies and then takes us on a journey throughout the world to introduce us to the many different varieties of these mysterious beings. From fairies to viking giants, selkies to gnomes, fey beings abound. In this spritely volume, Eason shares fascinating anecdotes of people who have actually seen them. And if you'd like to meet them yourself, Eason also provides simple techniques, exercises, and rituals to attract, find, and communicate with the little people. Hang silver bells by a window. Keep potted plants in your home. Or sit quietly between two oaks at dusk or dawn. Fairyland mirrors universal human issues: fortune versus misfortune, fate versus free will, perfection and imperfection, illusion and objective reality, different time scales, the existence of parallel dimensions, and the duality of human nature. Some people even believe that fairies are becoming more visible again, as they were in preindustrial days, to remind us of the consequences of consumer society -- the danger of being seduced by our own versions of fairy gold. "If you want to be happy, be." -- Henry David Thoreau

    Learn how to find an ethical teacher; how to strengthen magick through a healthy lifestyle; how to prepare for rituals; how to raise, channel and ground magical power and more.

    A well-rounded introduction to Midsummer, this attractive book features rituals, recipes, lore, and correspondences. It includes hands-on information for modern celebrations, spells and divination, recipes and crafts, invocations and prayers, and more!

    The Way of Four helps you determine which of the four elements are prominent and which are lacking in your world using a variety of custom-made quizzes. It includes a multitude of methods to incorporate and balance the elements in your environment, wardrobe, and even your perfume. This is a fun and valuable sourcebook for anyone seeking balance and beauty in a hectic world.

    Psychoanalyst Jean Bolen's career soared in the early 1980s when Goddesses in Everywoman was published. Thousands of women readers became fascinated with identifying their own inner goddesses and using these archetypes to guide themselves to greater self–esteem, creativity, and happiness.Bolen's radical idea was that just as women used to be unconscious of the powerful effects that cultural stereotypes had on them, they were also unconscious of powerful archetypal forces within them that influence what they do and how they feel, and which account for major differences among them. Bolen believes that an understanding of these inner patterns and their interrelationships offers reassuring, true–to–life alternatives that take women far beyond such restrictive dichotomies as masculine/feminine, mother/lover, careerist/housewife. And she demonstrates in this book how understanding them can provide the key to self–knowledge and wholeness.Dr. Bolen introduced these patterns in the guise of seven archetypal goddesses, or personality types, with whom all women could identify, from the autonomous Artemis and the cool Athena to the nurturing Demeter and the creative Aphrodite, and explains how to decide which to cultivate and which to overcome, and how to tap the power of these enduring archetypes to become a better "heroine" in one's own life story.

    From Abramelin he took his concepts of protections, purifications, evocations, vestments, and dromena down to specific details. This system of Abramelin the Mage is known from a unique 15th century manuscript persevered in the Bibliotheque de l`Arsenal in Paris. In it, Abraham of Wurzburg, a cabalist and connoisseur of magics, describes a tour that he made of the then civilized world, visiting sorcerers, magicians, and cabalists, estimating their powers and virtues. This quest is in itself as fascinating as the similar tours of Gurdjieff. The high point of Abraham`s travels was found in a small town on the banks of the Nile, where he encountered the great magician Abramelin, whose complete system Abraham thereupon sets out in detail. This amounts to a complete course in ceremonial magic (both white and black), which the student can pursue by himself. Abramelin, whose system is based mostly on Hellenistic theurgy of the Iamblichan sort, but with Jewish increments from the Cabala, explains the qualifications needed to become a magician, purifications and asceticisms to be practiced month by month, studies and activities permitted during this period, selections of place and time for working magic, equipment needed, prayers and formulas, evocation of good and evil spirits, commanding spirits, to do one`s will, overcoming rebellious spirits, an similar material. Specific instructions are offered to develop such powers as clairvoyance, divining metals and treasurers, warding off evil magic, healing illness, levitation, transportation, rendering oneself invisible, creating illusions and glamour, reading minds, placing compulsions, working black magic, and a host of other abilities. We do not guarantee that Abramelin's techniques work, not that the results are desirable...