Kelden

An excellent, accessible, well organized, and well written introduction to Traditional Witchcraft. The exercises gradually progress the reader through making tools, preparing for ritual, and practising folkloric magic. They are also indexed separately, something I wish all books on magic and spirituality would do. (I always put mine at the end of a chapter so people can find them again, but having a separate contents page for them is excellent.)

The foreword by Gemma Gary, and the show more introduction by Kelden, stress the similarities between Traditional Witchcraft and Wicca rather than the differences. As a polytheist Wiccan with a strong interest in folklore and a land-based spirituality, I was grateful for this.
The section on the Devil in traditional witchcraft is excellent and explains that the Devil of folklore is not the same archetype as the Christian Satan.

This is a book written by someone who really knows what they are talking about and has clearly practised this path for a good amount of time. Top notch!

The section on engaging with the Otherworld was very good indeed. But the bit that I really loved was the section on connecting with the land — your local land wights, genii locorum, local wildlife, local geology, and so on. It echoes a lot of what I’ve been saying for years. show less

Absolutely LOVED this book!
Like the author, I have felt for the past few years that I have reached a plateau in my craft and magickal workings. It was to the point where every book I read on the subject just kept on repeating the same information and were becoming redundant. "Where do I go from here?" "How do I reach the next level?" and "Have I hit the limit of my power as a witch?" were some of the questions I asked myself often. Then I happened upon this book...
I was immediately drawn in show more by the beautiful art on the cover, and was excited to learn about a path that I had never explored before. "What is Traditional Witchcraft?" I wondered.
From the very first pages this book had me enamored. The author knew exactly where I was because he had been there himself. As I continued reading I learned not only new concepts but that a lot of the fundamental rites that I perform in my craft are indeed parts of this new-to-me path as well. You know, those little quirky personal things that you think only you do? I was fascinated!
By the end of the book I was empowered and as giddy as a schoolgirl knowing that I had not reached the end and that there is so much more out there to learn. Most of all, I fell in love with this crooked path of Traditional Witchcraft. I feel that it called to me in a very personal way.
On top of that, the book is well written and edited. It has lots of wonderful information on the subject and is super easy to follow. Although I would like to mention that this book reads well to the more seasoned crowd than it may to a beginner. It doesn't go over a lot of the foundational workings of the craft but rather seems to pick up where most craft books leave off.
This is a wonderful book that I will recommend a great deal to others ❤️ show less