3/24/2021
Folk Magick from Europe BibliographyPeople often ask me about books and resources to learn more about British Folk Magick and magico-religions, the fairy faith, and pre-Gardnerian Witchcraft. For my purposes, I am sticking with the British Isles / Celtic countries, simply because that’s my wheelhouse. There are also tons of books about Hoodoo, Conjure, Vodoun, and other Afro-Caribbean folk magico-religious traditions. All of these are valuable, and some are similar to one another – not due to appropriation, but because of people sharing customs, trading information between populations, and parallel practices arising at the same time in different locations. While books are awesome – I wrote a few, y’know – also suggested is looking online at museum collections, at photos in magazines, photos of scenery, photos of living people doing ancient folk dances, folkplays, and calendar customs, looking at town historians and tourism sites, listening to music online, and watching videos of living customs on You-Tube. If possible, visit some of the events that are still occurring or that are being revived. So anyway, here is a list of authors, teachers, presenters and venues from modern times who have worked with European versions of Folk Magick, especially the British Isles and amalgamated traditions that came to the USA. Kelden Mercury – Modern folk magick Byron Ballard – Appalachian folk magick Shani Oates – British Traditional Witchcraft / Cochrane’s Craft Michael Howard – Transcribed Robert Cochrane’s information and wrote his own stuff, too Gemma Gary – Cornish Traditional Witchcraft Cory Hutchinson – New World Witchcraft Elsa Marie Edmond – Celtic ways Kristopher Hughes – Welsh ways, translated some of the older Cymraeg (Welsh) documents Lupa (Greenwolf) – Bones, vulture magick Icy Sedgewick Sarah Anne Lawless – Herbalism, poison path blog and store Nigel Pearson – old world Witchcraft Silver Ravenwolf – Germanic / Dutch “Pow Wow” / Brauche tradition Jake Richards John Michael Greer – Druidry, European magick Roger Horne Alison Davies Vance Randolph Ian Corrigan – ADF Druidry Jason Mankey – Gardnerian Witchcraft, but with info from pre-Gardnerian traditions Robin Artisson (although I think he is a jerk) John & Caitlynn Matthews Mara Freeman Emma Wilby – Cunning Folk And Familiar Spirits : Shamanistic Visionary Traditions In Early Modern British Witchcraft And Magic “Caileach’s Herbarium” – Scots Magick blog “Cronekdhu” – Traditional Cornish Witchcraft blog Museum of Witchcraft and Magic – Bostcastle, Cornwall, UK Buckland’s Museum of Witchcraft and Magick – Cleveland, OH, USA Sharyn McCrumb (fiction author) Old World Witchcraft store Artes & Craft store – proprietor Paul Barbary is a blacksmith and Trad Brit W’craft practitioner Here are some books and authors that are older, which have transcribed folk magick traditions, sometimes by observation, and sometimes by interviewing practitioners and witnesses. A caveat – some of these are really classist, sexist and racist, as they present from the viewpoint of the intellectual elite, Christian white males from the upper crust of British society. However, these resources have valuable information on folklore and magico-religions. The Book of English Folk Tales – Sybil Marshall The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales The Book of English Magic – Philip Carr-Gomm & Richard Heygate The Encyclopedia of Folklore & Literature Bloodstoppers & Bearwalkers (tales from the Upper Peninsula of MI) – Richard Dorson Observations on the Popular Antiquities of Great Britian – John Brand & Henry Ellis Old English Customs Extant at the Present Time: an account of local observations, festival customs, and ancient ceremonies as yet surviving in Great Britain – Peter Hampton Ditchfield The Golden Bough – Sir James George Fraser The English & Scottish Popular Balads – Francis James Child (aka the Child Ballads) (Five volumes) A Popular History of the Ancient Britons or the Welsh People – Sir John Evans The Welsh Fairy Book – W. Jenkin Thomas The Mythology of the British Islands – Charles Squire Celtic Myth & Legend – Charles Squire Cunning Folk & the Production of Magical Artefacts – Owen Davies & Timothy Easton Palgrave Historical Studies of Witchcraft & Magic Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia – John Koch “Fairy Books” (by color, such as “The Green Fairy Book”) – Andrew Lang The Fairy Faith in Celtic Countries – Walter Evans Wentz Barddas – Iolo Morganwg The Mabinogion – translated by Lady Charlotte Guest The Secret Commonwealth of Elves, Fauns & Fairies – Robert Kirk The Magic of the Horse Shoes – Robert Means Lawrence Teutonic Mythology – Jakob Grimm Heroic Romances of Ireland – A.H. Leary Visions & Beliefs in the West of Ireland – Lady Augusta Gregory Fairy & Folk Tales of the Irish Peasantry – William Butler Yeats. In fact, ANYthing by Yeats! Legendary Fictions of the Irish Celts – Patrick Kennedy The Witch Cult in Western Europe – Dr. Margaret Murray God of the Witches – Dr. Margaret Murray The Gododdin Poems – William F. Skene Celtic Folklore, Welsh & Manx – John Rhys Carmena Gaedelica – Andrew Carmichael Scottish Fairy & Folk Tales – Sir George Douglas Notes of the Folk-lore of the North-East of Scotland – Walter Gregor Traditions & Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall – William Bottrell The Folk-lore of the Isle of Man – A.W. Moore A Peep at the Pixies – Anna Eliza Bray Tales of the Dartmoor Pixies – William Crossing Survivals in Belief Among the Celts A Book of Folklore – Sabine Baring Gould The Origins of Popular Superstitions & Customs – T. Sharper Knowston English Fairy & Other Folk Tales – Edwin Sidney Hartland English Fairy Tales – Joseph Jacobs Popular tales of the West Highlands – J.F. Campbell Irish Druids & Old Irish Religions – James Bonwick The Religion of the Ancient Celts – J.A. MacCulloch The Book of Halloween – Ruth Edna Kelley Fiction Authors: Shakespeare Spenser Mallory Bede (pseudo-history) Geoffrey of Monmouth (pseudo-history) Yeats Burns Chaucer Blake |
A.C. Fisher Aldag
Chronicler of Cymric Folklore, Granmother and grouch. Enjoyer of good food. Archives
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Common Magick from Llewellyn Worldwide
Witches & Pagans # 38 & # 39 from BBI Llewellyn's Witches' Companion 2022, 2023 & 2034 from Llewellyn Worldwide Llewellyn's Spell-a-Day Almanac, 2025 from Llewellyn Worldwide |
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