Witch's Halloween
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| |||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
We've come a long way from the time of our ancestors, who believed Witches rode broomsticks and ate little children for breakfast. In "A Witch's Halloween", Gerina Dunwich dispels the myths of this holiest of Pagan holidays and its most famous celebrants. For Pagans the world over, Halloween is a night of ancestors, a harvest festival, a time of magick and mirth, and a New Year's Eve celebration. Written by a practicing Witch, "A Witch's Halloween" is filled with history, folklore and myth, magickal spells, authentic Witches' recipes, divinations, a complete ritual for a Sabbat celebration, Halloween superstitions, and much more. This insightful book is a complete guide to celebrating the holiday as it was meant to be.
About the Author
Gerina Dunwich (New York, NY) is a High Priestess of the old religion, a professional astrologer and tarot reader, and an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, a nondenominational religious organisation. she has edited and published Golden Isis, a Pagan literary journal, since 1980, and she is the founder of both the Pagan Poets society and the Wheel of Wisdom school. Gerina's varied interests include divination, mythology, herblore and the paranormal.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I haven't read this book cover to cover yet but have given it four stars because it's a very useful book for anyone who is interested in Samhain/Halloween. The reason I haven't given it five stars is because some of the paragraphs are very short. Especially chapter six which is about herblore.
The book is printed in lovely sepia colours which makes it more easy on the eyes to read and also makes it seem like an old-ish book. The first chapter briefly covers the beginning of Halloween and includes a little about the Druids, Fairies and Goblins and then go on to Caesar and when Paganism and Christianity met. In this chapter we find out that America got the holiday from the Irish people escaping from the potato famine in the 1840s. (Well I'm not American or Irish so I didn't know this).
Chapter two is about the rituals connected with Halloween. Why children dress up, trick-or-treating, Muck Olla, "Thump-the-Door Night" (a custom from the Isle of Man) and the Festival of the Dead in different countries. There is also included some Halloween folk songs.
Chapter three is about the Pagan perspective of Halloween. Chapter four is about the symbolism of Halloween like the witch's cauldron, Jack-O'-Lanterns, ghosts etc.
Chapter five is about the lore and legends. This chapter has some interesting myths associated with Halloween. Chapter six is about the herb lore of Halloween. It's very short though.
Chapter seven is about superstitions and omens. Again a short chapter and some short paragraphs but very interesting. Chapter eight is about divination and incantations. In ireland they use shoes for divination. Throw it over your house and the way it lands tells you something about your future.
Chapter nine is about the witches' sabbat. This has a ceremony included and lists of the Pagan Gods and Goddesses who have a connection with Halloween. Chapter ten is "Wizardry and Enchantments". This includes some different spells. Chapter elleven is about the food of Halloween. It includes short paragraphs about for example "the Dumb Supper" and soul cakes and it also has some nice recipes for hazelnut cookies, Samhain cider and other Halloween recipes. The appendix tells you how to conduct a seance.
All in all a very good book that gives good background information on Halloween and definately worth buying.
The book is printed in lovely sepia colours which makes it more easy on the eyes to read and also makes it seem like an old-ish book. The first chapter briefly covers the beginning of Halloween and includes a little about the Druids, Fairies and Goblins and then go on to Caesar and when Paganism and Christianity met. In this chapter we find out that America got the holiday from the Irish people escaping from the potato famine in the 1840s. (Well I'm not American or Irish so I didn't know this).
Chapter two is about the rituals connected with Halloween. Why children dress up, trick-or-treating, Muck Olla, "Thump-the-Door Night" (a custom from the Isle of Man) and the Festival of the Dead in different countries. There is also included some Halloween folk songs.
Chapter three is about the Pagan perspective of Halloween. Chapter four is about the symbolism of Halloween like the witch's cauldron, Jack-O'-Lanterns, ghosts etc.
Chapter five is about the lore and legends. This chapter has some interesting myths associated with Halloween. Chapter six is about the herb lore of Halloween. It's very short though.
Chapter seven is about superstitions and omens. Again a short chapter and some short paragraphs but very interesting. Chapter eight is about divination and incantations. In ireland they use shoes for divination. Throw it over your house and the way it lands tells you something about your future.
Chapter nine is about the witches' sabbat. This has a ceremony included and lists of the Pagan Gods and Goddesses who have a connection with Halloween. Chapter ten is "Wizardry and Enchantments". This includes some different spells. Chapter elleven is about the food of Halloween. It includes short paragraphs about for example "the Dumb Supper" and soul cakes and it also has some nice recipes for hazelnut cookies, Samhain cider and other Halloween recipes. The appendix tells you how to conduct a seance.
All in all a very good book that gives good background information on Halloween and definately worth buying.
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a wonderful alternative to the usual Halloween books, looking at this Holliday from the Pagan prospective. Its interest however is not restricted to Pagans, as it is extremely informative and fascinating for anyone who enjoys to read about Halloween.
The first chapter "The Hallowed Beginnings" explores the origins of the Samhain celebrations from ancient Ireland to the Irish immigrants who brought their Halloween customs to America. This chapter is very informative but also quite disturbing, as it describes horrible sacrifices of humans and animals by the druids and it even states that horses where killed in Britain as late as 400 A.D. Although the writer throughout the book states that neither human nor animal sacrifice takes place during Neo-Pagan celebrations, nonetheless this is a shocking chapter to read and it has cast a shadow on Halloween for me.
The second chapter "Ritual and Revelry" provides information on various Halloween and similar customs from around the world, their origins and the way they have survived today, like the Italian All Souls' Day and the French Jour des Morts. This is very informative but is restricted only to certain countries and it is not an extended research on all the customs found around the world, which I found quite disappointing.
Chapter three "Halloween: A Pagan Prospective" presents the misconceptions regarding Halloween, the Christian attempt to link Halloween to the devil and the Neo-Pagan prospective.
The next few chapters, "The Symbols Of Halloween", "Halloween Legend, Lore And Trivia", "Halloween Herb Lore", "Superstitions and Omens", and "Divinations and Incantations", explore all these facts associated with Halloween, their origins and their influence. These are very well researched and informative.
The final chapters "The Witches' Sabbat", "Wizardry And Enchantments", and "A Traditional Halloween Cookery" provide every information anyone would possibly need to know in order to celebrate Samhain/ Halloween today, in a traditional Pagan way; foods, spells, rituals etc., sadly the recipes provided are only a few and not for every dish mentioned.
I am not one to judge a book by its cover, but I have to say, this one is fantastic; very sophisticated and festive. Sadly, even though the book when we search inside it on the web page appears to be printed with lovely antique style sepia letters, it actually is an ordinary black and white print or rather printed with greyish letters as if photocopied from the original, which was quite disappointing.
In total this is a nice informative book, it is however, somewhat unorganised and I think that it could perhaps include some more information. A nice read nonetheless.
The first chapter "The Hallowed Beginnings" explores the origins of the Samhain celebrations from ancient Ireland to the Irish immigrants who brought their Halloween customs to America. This chapter is very informative but also quite disturbing, as it describes horrible sacrifices of humans and animals by the druids and it even states that horses where killed in Britain as late as 400 A.D. Although the writer throughout the book states that neither human nor animal sacrifice takes place during Neo-Pagan celebrations, nonetheless this is a shocking chapter to read and it has cast a shadow on Halloween for me.
The second chapter "Ritual and Revelry" provides information on various Halloween and similar customs from around the world, their origins and the way they have survived today, like the Italian All Souls' Day and the French Jour des Morts. This is very informative but is restricted only to certain countries and it is not an extended research on all the customs found around the world, which I found quite disappointing.
Chapter three "Halloween: A Pagan Prospective" presents the misconceptions regarding Halloween, the Christian attempt to link Halloween to the devil and the Neo-Pagan prospective.
The next few chapters, "The Symbols Of Halloween", "Halloween Legend, Lore And Trivia", "Halloween Herb Lore", "Superstitions and Omens", and "Divinations and Incantations", explore all these facts associated with Halloween, their origins and their influence. These are very well researched and informative.
The final chapters "The Witches' Sabbat", "Wizardry And Enchantments", and "A Traditional Halloween Cookery" provide every information anyone would possibly need to know in order to celebrate Samhain/ Halloween today, in a traditional Pagan way; foods, spells, rituals etc., sadly the recipes provided are only a few and not for every dish mentioned.
I am not one to judge a book by its cover, but I have to say, this one is fantastic; very sophisticated and festive. Sadly, even though the book when we search inside it on the web page appears to be printed with lovely antique style sepia letters, it actually is an ordinary black and white print or rather printed with greyish letters as if photocopied from the original, which was quite disappointing.
In total this is a nice informative book, it is however, somewhat unorganised and I think that it could perhaps include some more information. A nice read nonetheless.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book was a little disappointing.
I bought this book as I'm an avid Halloween enthusiast and have been for many years! I was hoping that this book would bring me fresh insight and some new ideas for Halloween parties etc. However, I found nothing new or inspiring within the pages.
This book would be ideal for someone who has no previous knowledge of the origins of Halloween, and has read no other books on the subject. For anyone who is looking to add to their previous knowledge or gain inpiration at this amazing time of year they would be a tad disappointed.
The cover design itself is more exciting than the contents within! A much better read is Halloween by Silver Ravenwolf. Larger & much more informative.
I bought this book as I'm an avid Halloween enthusiast and have been for many years! I was hoping that this book would bring me fresh insight and some new ideas for Halloween parties etc. However, I found nothing new or inspiring within the pages.
This book would be ideal for someone who has no previous knowledge of the origins of Halloween, and has read no other books on the subject. For anyone who is looking to add to their previous knowledge or gain inpiration at this amazing time of year they would be a tad disappointed.
The cover design itself is more exciting than the contents within! A much better read is Halloween by Silver Ravenwolf. Larger & much more informative.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Good little read
I bought this to get some ideas for what to do for Halloween, and learned some interesting little facts about the festival. Read more
Published on 7 Nov 2008 by Icy Sedgwick
A most interesting read
I have been a pagan for a number of years now, but have only ever favored the books written by Scott Cunningham due to his natural and down to earth explanations. Read more
Published on 14 Sep 2008 by M. Cox
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Earth Based Religions > Witchcraft & Wicca
- Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Occultism > Magic
- Books > Mind, Body & Spirit > Thought & Practice > New Age
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Earth-Based Religions > Wicca
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Earth-Based Religions > Witchcraft
- Books > Religion & Spirituality > New Age > Occult > Witchcraft
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
