Folk Witchcraft: A Guide to Lore, Land, and the Familiar Spirit for the Solitary Practitioner

Description

Complete with practical exercises, descriptions of craft theories and models, hand-drawn illustrations, and the author's working grimoire, Folk Witchcraft provides the student witch with an insightful perspective on the craft that is firmly rooted in the past, but adapted for the present. Experienced witches will deepen and enrich their practices by connecting more fully to traditional magics from hundreds of years in the past. Learn how to: -Master ecstatic methods of spirit-flight described in witch-lore -Celebrate the turning of the seasons with traditional rituals -Cultivate closer relationships with nature spirits and personal familiars -Work powerful traditional charms, such as the witches' ladder, the poppet, and blessing/cursing by gesture -Discern the magical properties of herbs and plants without relying on tables from books -Augur practical guidance from the spirit world -Utilize old craft incantations, remedies, and recipes -Connect with the Old Ones, the ancestors of Folk Witchcraft -Experience shapeshifting into various animal spirit forms -Craft herbal unguents, oils, powders, tinctures, and infusions -Interpret incantations, charms, and sigils received from your own familiar spirits -Research and hone your own lore and grimoire-sourced magical practices With over 50 rituals, charms, and exercises, Folk Witchcraft offers a refreshingly simple approach to the craft that is non-dogmatic, flexible, and rewarding as a personal spiritual practice. From the Introduction: Let’s imagine that we aren’t miles apart. We’re sitting by a fire, looking out into the mysterious night. It’s All Hallow’s Eve, so there’s a chill in the wind, and the branches of the trees are bare. The stars are bright. Embers from the fire catch on the wind in bright flurries, drifting up into the yawning dark like fireflies. We are here to talk about witchcraft, about spirits, about the land. We are going to talk about the cycles of nature and what they mean. We’ll talk about our dreams and visions. We’ll nourish our spirits with wisdom from the old lore. Beyond the crackling fire’s glow, the shadows lingering between the trees could almost be our ancestors. In many ways, we are living in the golden age of witchcraft. New traditions are springing up all around us. Writers, bloggers, and vloggers share their approaches and ideas. Scholars have begun to unpack the old lore through the lens of legitimate spiritual experience. Books on the craft are published every day. These modern grammars usually share the author’s rituals, their charms, their holidays, and provide a step-by-step approach to conducting craft workings. They try to explain what witches do, what they believe, how they conduct their rituals, what rules they should follow. Sometimes they offer a spurious account of witch history and lineage that leaves the reader more puzzled than before. These books provide much of the how, but little of the why. Pre-made models and rituals that are practiced without an understanding of their source are like cut flowers: they are beautiful on the kitchen table, but quickly wither away. This is not that kind of book. Make no mistake; by the end of this book, you will have a treasury of charms, rituals, incantations, and practical methods by which you can conduct your craft. My larger goal, however, is to provide students of the craft with the means by which to connect with the source of witchcraft, those gates of initiation through which any witch worth his salt must pass. Because folk witchcraft is a living tradition, most of us hone and polish our craft over time. We research, experiment, and adapt. We follow the guidance of our familiar spirits. We listen to the land...