This encyclopedia aims to dispel such notions, with a comprehensive guide to witchcraft throughout history and around the world.

    Through the accessible lens of Modern Traditional Witchcraft, Laura Tempest Zakroff helps you formulate a personalized Witchcraft practice and deepen your work with spirits, ancestors, familiars, and the energies of the liminal realm. This book is a guide to connecting to your deepest feelings and intuitions about your roots, your sense of time, the sources of your inspiration, and the environments in which you live. It supports your experience of spellcrafting and ritual, and teaches you about metaphysical topics like working with lunar correspondences and creating sacred space. Discover valuable insights into practical issues such as teachers, covens, oaths, and doing business as a Witch.Modern Traditional Witchcraft is a path of self-discovery through experience. Let Weave the Liminal be your guide and companion as you explore the Craft and continue evolving the rich pattern of your magical life.Praise: Laura Tempest Zakroff has made Witchcraft accessible to beginners in a way that changes generations. You'll be recommending this book for decades to come.--Amy Blackthorn, author of Blackthorn's Botanical Magic

    At this time of equal day and night, we give thanks for the harvest that will sustain us through the dark winter months. This book explores the history, legends, and traditions of the season that is honored from the Far East to the Celtic Lands, and from Scandinavia to South America. Create your own Mabon tradition with the help of the book's many recipes, magical workings, equinox rituals, and crafts for all ages. -Part of Llewellyn's successful series on each of the eight Pagan sabbats, or holidays -The author is well-known throughout the Pagan community -For anyone who celebrates the turning of the seasons and the ancient holy days -Relevant to any culturally-based path

    The ancient prayers and stories, along with step-by-step guides to making use of them today, offer powerful proof of the spiritual value of these ancient rites.

    From magic's origin in the Shamanic tradition can religion, which, for the world's first civilizations, had no disctinction from magic. The book includes an international sweep of ancient cultural traditions and details the medieval phenomena of witch-hunts that still have resonance in modern society. In addition, the book examines the modern wicca movement, tracing the development fromt he 1900s and its links with the Celtic tradition.Illu strated with archival material, fine art illustrtaions of legendary magic workers, and special photography, this volume is a comprehensive examination of a timeless subject.

    Helplessness in the face of disease and human disaster helped to perpetuate this belief in magic and the supernatural. As Keith Thomas shows, England during these years resembled in many ways today's underdeveloped areas. The English population was exceedingly liable to pain, sickness, and premature death; many were illiterate; epidemics such as the bubonic plague plowed through English towns, at times cutting the number of London's inhabitants by a sixth; fire was a constant threat; the food supply was precarious; and for most diseases there was no effective medical remedy. In this fascinating and detailed book, Keith Thomas shows how magic, like the medieval Church, offered an explanation for misfortune and a means of redress in times of adversity. The supernatural thus had its own practical utility in daily life. Some forms of magic were challenged by the Protestant Reformation, but only with the increased search for scientific explanation of the universe did the English people begin to abandon their recourse to the supernatural. Science and technology have made us less vulnerable to some of the hazards which confronted the people of the past. Yet Religion and the Decline of Magic concludes that if magic is defined as the employment of ineffective techniques to allay anxiety when effective ones are not available, then we must recognize that no society will ever be free from it.

    Both the spiritual heritage of ancient runic lore and the practical steps we can take to draw on rune power are present in "A Handbook of Rune Magic." This complete book of rune instruction includes rune history and lore, its basis in metaphysical thought and mysticism, complete definitions of the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark, and the etymology, phonetic value and interpretation of each rune. The reader is shown how to perform chants and rituals using runic energy, how to sign and send runes, and given suggestions for runic meditation. The author's presentation of this powerful system is lucid and profound, and provides a valuable tool for spiritual transformation and self-development.

    Writing as the founder of the modern study of the history of religion, Romanian emigre--scholar Mircea Eliade (1907-86) surveys the practice of Shamanism over two & a half millennia of human history, moving from the Shamanic traditions of Siberia & Central Asia--where Shamanism was first observed--to North & South America, Indonesia, Tibet, China & beyond. In this authoritative survey, Eliade illuminates the magico-religious life of societies that give primacy of place to the figure of the Shaman--at once magician & medicine man, healer & miracle-doer, priest, mystic & poet. Synthesizing the approaches of psychology, sociology & ethnology, "Shamanism" will remain for years to come the reference book of choice for those intrigued by this practice.

    Today's hearth is the kitchen, and for many Witches it is the work-centre where they make the recipes and other 'tools' of their trade.The book includes:Oils, lotions and ointments, for magical and healing purposes• Soaps and bathing distillations, to prepare for Magical undertakings.• Brews and teas, using herb lore to heal the body and mind.• Soups, stews and other foods to sustain the sick and aid healing.• Candles and incenses, for use in Rituals and Magic.• Cakes, biscuits and breads, to honour the Goddess and the God.• Sabbat foods and wines to celebrate the Wheel of the Year.• Sachets of herbs to be given to those seeking protection, healing, confidence and many other problems

    “Paganism” does not refer to a single religion, but to a collection of earth-centric polytheistic philosophies that harken back to belief structures that pre-date Christianity.Pagans of all types believe that there are many paths to reach a harmonious relationship with deity. No single one is more valid than another. Since pagans do not see the world as locked in a cosmic struggle between good and evil, they do not recognize the Christian concept of Satan nor do they worship him.The notion of “pagan” as “heretic” is only valid when seen through the lens of Christianity. In her latest book, author Riley Starr offers a gentle introduction to the world of earth religions aimed at the beginner.Using Wicca, Druidry, and Odinism as exemplars, Starr explains what it means to function both as a pagan within a group and as a sole practitioner. With suggestions for starting a ritualistic life and for adopting the use of protective symbols, Starr opens the door for new followers of paganism to take the first steps in their own journey and encourages them to embrace a lifelong study of the deities and symbols that speak exclusively to them.Pagan holidays, beliefs, gods and goddesses, symbols, rituals, practices, and much more!

    With this book, Ellen Cannon Reed a High Priestess of the Isian tradition brings the symbolism of the Qabala into a new light so pagans can see its value and use it to enhance the Great Work.Reed explains the Tree of Life the primary symbol used to represent the universal energies as "revealed" by the Qabala and how its spheres and paths correspond to elements in the pagan tradition. Teachers can use the Qabala to understand the growth of students and their problems, using the Vices and Virtues to recognize stages of growth. Reed also provides exercises, meditations, and encouragement to students who are studying without a teacher. She discusses the Qabala as it appears in everyday life, which spheres of the Tree of Life to use for specific workings, and details two rituals using the Tree: a Dedication to the Journey, and the Rite of mending Love. Reed's command of the material allows teachers and students alike to gain powerful insight into their own search for spirituality. First published in 1983 as Witches Qabala Book 1: The Goddess and the Tree, this revised and updated edition is enhanced with Reed's thirteen additional years of experience.

    Over thirty-five magical models are compared and discussed. Begins with an introduction to magic, including a program of study so you can use any of the ninety-one systems described. Reveals the secrets of alchemy, magical alphabets, the chakras, the Tree of Life, astrology, and much more. It makes the ancient magical systems accessible, understandable and useful to modern magicians.

    This entry in the popular Inspirations series offers enticing summaries of key Celtic symbols, an introduction to the Celtic worldview, and enlightening short extracts from the great Celtic texts. Featuring 75 color photos and practical exercises that show readers how to apply ancient insights to their own lives, this elegant volume captures the spirit of the druids and storytellers in a series of poetic texts. The spiritual lessons cover such subjects as plant healing, spell casting, and traveling safely in the Otherworld, while a special section reveals the secrets of King Arthur's knights and the Holy Grail.

    I was surprised and, in fact, a little terrified when I found myself in the middle of a feminist spiritual reawakening.Sue Monk was a "conventionally religious, churchgoing woman, a traditional wife and mother" with a thriving career as a Christian writer until she began to question her role as a woman in her culture, her family, and her church. From a jarring encounter with sexism in a suburban drugstore to monastery retreats and rituals in the caves of Crete, Kidd takes readers through the fear, anger, healing, and transformation of her awakening. Retaining a meaningful connection "with the deep song of Christianity," she opens the door for traditional Christian women to discover a spirituality that speaks directly to them and provides inspiring wisdom for all who struggle to embrace their full humanity.

    In this volume I have followed one line only of anthropological enquiry, the survival of an indigenous European cult and the interaction between it and the exotic religion which finally overwhelmed it. I have traced the worship of the Horned God onwards through the centuries from the Paleolithic prototypes, and I have shown that the survival of the cult was due to the survival of the races who adored that god, for this belief could not have held its own against the invasions of other peoples and religions unless a stratum of the population were strong enough to keep it alive...Dr Margaret Alice Murray