Anglo-Saxon Charms

The following link below is, The Anglo-Saxon Charms by Felix Grendon, written in 1909. It is a collection of Anglo-Saxon Christian folk magic charms primarily geared toward healing. Unfortunately, I do not speak Old English, the Germanic tongue spoken by the Anglo-Saxons, but luckily some of the charms have been translated by the author. The observant reader will take notice of themes still found in modern folk magic practices. For example, here is a charm against and enemy that reflects a basic "shrinking" effect of reducing the influence and power of the enemy until they are forgotten. This type of charm has modern parallels in almost every true traditional folk magic practice.

"May you be consumed like a coal in the hearth fire
May you shrink as shit upon a wall
May you dry up as water from a pail
May you shrink as small as a grain of linseed
May you shrink smaller than a mite's hip-bone
May you shrink so small that you completely disappear."

Now, listen up conjure folks! This would be a POWERFUL chant to incorporate into enemy work.

Before you go on to read the text at the below link I should probably tell a little bit about the belief in elves and dwarves. The pagan Anglo-Saxons, as well as the rest of the Germanic tribes, believed that elves and dwarves were dangerous to humans. Unlike modern Wiccans and the like who actively seek to communicate with and "befriend" fairy folk, our actual pagan ancestors believed it was best to keep our distance from each other. The elves and fairy beings could cause disease. They could even kill people and for no good reason. Because elfish morality is far different from human morality. Merely trespassing onto elfish territory was often considered worthy of the death penalty, or so the legends go. Elves were known to shoot small arrows at humans. If a person was struck by such an arrow they were called "elf-shot". The symptoms of elf shot are remarkably similar to what we know call heart attacks, strokes and paralysis. Dwarves, had the nasty reputation of possessing unfortunate people, taking residence in their skulls and causing migraines and seizures with their constant clamoring. The solution for being possessed by a dwarf was, quite naturally, an exorcism. In the pagan past the exorcism would have been a pagan ritual. With the coming of Christianity new Christian rites were used. It was a natural leap for the Christian Anglo-Saxons to equate elves and dwarves with demons. It's kind of hard to argue against such a belief when both types of spirits are said to possess a hapless victim and inflict damage upon them. So keep that in mind when reading the text at the below link.

https://archive.org/details/anglosaxoncharms00gren

Read More

Book Review - Hoodoo Spiritual Baths: Cleansing Conjure With Washes And Waters by Aura Laforest

The book is, Hoodoo Spiritual Baths: Cleansing Conjure With Washes And Waters by Aura Laforest.

I was really disappointed in this book. All of the information in the book can easily be found on the Lucky Mojo website or on other sites online. However, what really bothered me was the advertisements for Lucky Mojo products. Nearly all of the "recipes" for various spiritual baths called for people to buy products from Lucky Mojo. So for that I have to come down hard on this book.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, I give this book a 1. I would not recommend buying it. Just go read the Lucky Mojo website or other websites online for free. You definitely don't need to purchase Lucky Mojo products to do authentic hoodoo spiritual baths.

Read More

Book Review - The Art Of Hoodoo Candle Magic By Cat Yronwode

The book is, The Art of Hoodoo Candle Magic by Catherine Yronwode.

I almost didn't read this book. I had been tipped off by a couple of people that everything in the book can be read for free on Cat's site. After eventually breaking down and reading it I can guarantee you that everything in the book can be found on Cat's site or easily elsewhere online. I can also assure you that this information is also the same information that she teaches in her hoodoo course, that is the candle magic part. So if you want to save money by just reading her website or even printing out pages of her website for your own personal use you can. If you want everything compiled into one book then you can purchase and read the book.

The info itself is good and gives not only a basic overview of hoodoo candle magic but also gets into some specific areas with detail, such as loading and butting candles.

The one issue I do have with the book is the author's inclusion of another man's work. The author included Mikhail Strabo's book, How To Conduct A Candlelight Service. The author is long dead but the material is presented as if it is an official collaboration between the two authors. The material of  Strabo's book has a completely different tone that Yronwode's book and should not have been included in my opinion.

On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, I give this book a 7. I have to take off points because the information is available for free online. If the information was not available for free online I would easily give it an 8 or 9. The information itself is still good though.

Read More