Balkan Traditional Witchcraft

Published in English for the first time, this groundbreaking book by Radomir Ristic is a compilation of historical data, anthropological studies, and the authors own experiences and interviews with the Witches of the Balkans. Covering both theory and practice, the book gives a complete system of Balkan Traditional Witchcraft. Balkan Traditional Witchcraft is an ancient system from humanity's dawn that has survived into modern times due to the unique history of the region, and its practice can be applied to any culture, state or region in the world. Translated into English by Michael C. Carter, Jr., this book - a bestseller in its native Serbia - is an incredible look into the world of the Balkan Witch, covering ritual trance, tools, rites for healing, love, divination, defense and for making charms. It also explores the supernatural beings that Balkan Witches share their world with, deities, fairies and other spirits. There has never been such a deep exploration of the magic of this region available in English before.

With its geographic diversity of rocky edifices, deep river valleys and dense forests, Europe's Balkan mountain region has been characterized as a natural fortress. This natural multiformity is mirrored by an ancient admixture of magical beliefs and practices present in the region for thousands of years. Among the many specialist types of Balkan magic is 'Vesticarstvo', a sorcery drawing its power from Balkan folk belief, relict shamanism, and medieval heresy. This traditional magic, which has also been referred to as The Balkan Craft, is present today in many forms, and uses of thousands of charms, rites, and spells in the rural communities where it survives. A quintessential embodiment of this power is the zmajevit covek or 'dragon-man'. Part human, part serpent, he possessed supernatural heredity and the power to curse, cure, and traffic with supernatural beings. Often incorporating the ancient powers of the pre-Roman Gods, the Queen of the Fairies, elemental spirits, and the ancestral retinue, the vital corpus of Vesticarstvo lore is a little-explored area of occult study. Drawing from both historical sources and present survivals, the present volume examines its history, beliefs, and rituals, including a complete English translation of DE INTORKATURA, an age-old rite of magical combat, as well as several other Balkan witchcraft rituals never before translated into English.--Publisher

BASTA VESTICJA, or 'A Witch's Garden' is rich presentation of the occult properties and witchcraft lore of over 60 herbs and trees. Written by a modern practitioner and ethnologist, the book discusses the magical usages of herbs in healing, witchcraft, and shamanic trance, as well as the relation between spirits of the land and the plant powers accessed by the witch. Although the specific emphasis is on the occult traditions of the Balkans, most of the plants are found widely distributed across Europe, and contains information which has never been published elsewhere. Lavishly illustrated by artist Liv Rainey Smith with over 50 original botanical woodcuts specially commissioned for the project, BASTA VESTICJA is an engrossing book of plant lore that is both beautiful and informative.

Issue 2 of The Crooked Path Journal contains the following articles: Artemisia - Eric De Vries Bag of Bones - Steven Posch Balkan Traditional Witchcraft - Radomir Ristic Sympathetic Magic - R.J. Thompson The Call - Veronica Cummer The Dragon and the Dragon Slayer - Robin Artisson Away With the Fairies - M.V. Wragg Childe Ballad 243 - Steven Posch Scourges and Traditional Craft - Radomir Ristic Occult Significance of the Crossing Rite - R.J. Thompson Cupmarks - Steven Posch Great Spirits of Fate - Radomir Ristic Virtues and Ethics - R.J. Thompson Young Hornie Steals Fire - Steven Posc

This is a book about the religion once practiced ages ago in the Old Forest region of Europe. The book contains channeled messages from the Gods of the Old Forest and from the fey, as well as stories, myths, legends, and bits and pieces of the old witch language. It is not meant to be a "Wicca 101" book, but the next stage towards witches, in particular those of European descent, being able to reclaim their heritage. In this regard, there is no other book currently out there quite like this one. Not only does it provide a link to the past, but it also gives witches a potential focus for the future.

A practical guide to the ancient magical tradition of Russian sorcery and Eastern Slavic magical rites • Offers step-by-step instructions for more than 300 spells, incantations, charms, amulets, and practical rituals for love, career success, protection, healing, divination, communicating with spirits and ancestors, and other challenges and situations • Reveals specific places of magical power in the natural world as well as the profound power of graveyards and churches for casting spells • Explores the folk history of this ancient magical tradition, including how the pagan gods gained new life as Eastern Orthodox saints, and shares folktales of magical beings, including sorceresses shapeshifting into animals and household objects Passed down through generations, the Slavic practice of magic, witchcraft, and sorcery is still alive and well in Russia, the Ukraine, and Belarus, as well as the Balkans and the Baltic states. 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.

Encounters with Witchcraft is a personal story of a young man's fascination with African witchcraft discovered first in a trek across East Africa and the Congo. The story unfolds over four decades during the author's long residence in and many trips to Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. As a field researcher he learns from villagers what it is like to live with witches, and how witches are seen through African eyes. His teachers are healers, cult leaders, witch-hunters and self-proclaimed "witches" as well as policemen, politicians and judges. A key figure is Mohammadi Lupanda, a frail village woman whose only child has died years before. In her dreams, however, she believes the little girl is not dead, but only lost in the fields. Mohammadi is discovered wandering at night, wailing and calling out for the child. Her neighbors are terror-stricken and she is quickly brought to a village trial and banished as a witch. The author is able to watch and listen to the proceedings and later investigate the deeper story. He discovers mysteries about Mohammadi that are only solved when he returns to the village three decades later. Today, witch-hunting and witchcraft-related crimes are found in more than seventy developing countries. Epidemics of violence against alleged witches, mainly women, but including elders of both genders, and even children is on the increase in some parts of the world. Witchcraft beliefs may lie behind vigilante murders, political assassinations, revenge killings and commercial murders for human body parts. Through African voices the author addresses key questions. Do witchcraft powers exist? Why does witchcraft persist? What are its historic roots? Why is witchcraft-based violence so often found within families? Does witchcraft serve as a hidden legal and political system, a mafia-like under-government? The author holds up a mirror for us to think about religious beliefs in our own experience that rely heavily on myth and superstition.

Scientific approach to esoteric and mystical themes.