ISBN: 1567187196
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 2
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Summary: Could have been a lot better
The book is separated into 7 chapters, covering a pretty impressive variety of Halloween lore, beleifs and activities.
The first 3 chapters explore the history of halloween, the customs surrounding it, and the superstitions associated with it. These chapters are interesting, but show a slant toward the mainstream halloween more than the pagan holiday of Samhain. Many parts of this are highly speculative as she tries to associate just about every piece of history with witchcraft. The history in these chapters may not be completely reliable, but it's a fairly interesting read.
Chapter four is all about divinations. This chapter somehow manages to find a bizarre balance between taking divination seriously and writing it off as a bunch of party games. The only method she goes into any great detail on is casting runes, and actually suggests making them out of pumkin seeds. This is also a chapter where she spends alot of time dwelling on apples. She has alot to say about apples in this book. More than pumpkins. There was one think about this chapter that bothered me, mostly because it seemed to have either have been written out of ignorance, or to avoid offending a certain minority of people. It was in regards to communicating with the dead: "never try to contact anyone who had a history of abuse, criminal behavior, or mental dysfunction. The only exception here would be an Alzheimer's Patient, who will retain his or her original faculties after death." How does she know this? Did she contact dead people who had every diagnosable mental illness and finally conclude that Alzheimer's was the only one that went away after death? I'm not going to go into the various mental illness and explain why that was absurd, if you're curious about how alzheimer's compares to other mental illnesses, then you can look into it, but the bottom line seems to be she didn't want her readers to think she was telling them they couldn't contact their grandfather who suffered mental lapses before he died. She should have just said to avoid contacting people who were dangerous. On the issue of contacting the dead at all, that would be a matter of personal conviction and I hope the readers are mature enough to evaluate the consequences before taking action to do so, whether it works or not.
Chapter 5 contains several pretty simple recipes, some of which overlap with decorating ideas. Most involve apples or pumpkins. They mostly strike me as treats for a children's party, but might be handy for someone who has no halloween recipes of their own.
Chapter six is magick spells. They are your basic bunch of Silver Ravenwolf spells: A bit of rhyme, some magickal ingredients, invoking angels, mostly for love, prosperity, and protection.
Chater seven focuses on Halloween as a time to honour the dead. There's a lot of the same kind of stuff as there was in the divination section. It included a funeral ceremony, which I was expecting, and sevel ways to honour the dead.
What this book was missing:
This book didn't feel very wiccan to me. It was more about the "acting out" portion of halloween than anything personal and spiritual, it offered no suggestions on how to celebrate the holiday as a wiccan. It basically just meshed it incomprehensibly with how the Christians view the holiday. I can't say that was what I was looking for in this book at all.
Summary: Halloween Traditions, Divinations, Recipes, Crafts and More
"Harvest moon, velvet sky, pumpkins glowing, children laughing, costumes, candy, snapping breezes...scary stories, Indian corn, haunted houses, smiling scarecrows, blowing leaves...apples, parties, spindly spiders, dancing bats, grinning ghosts, sparkling stars...hayrides, dances, screeching cats, big bonfires...just where did this autumn gaiety begin?" - Silver RavenWolf
Magical holidays arise out of the mist in October. Whether named All Hallows Eve, Samhain, Saven, or Halloween, these autumnal celebrations are often a mixture of Pagan, Christian, and American practices. Each year, Americans spend billions of dollars for Halloween festivities, including costumes, candy, and decorations.
However, what are the origins of this holiday? What is the significance of jack-o-lanterns, black cats, trick-or-treating, and masks? Via her magic broomstick, author Silver RavenWolf takes the reader on a guided tour of Halloween history, customs, symbols, and lore in her book Halloween - Customs, Recipes, and Spells. From The Druids to the Romans, Colonial Pennsylvania to Ireland, RavenWolf searches for the roots of Halloween and examines celebration rituals from around the world.
Featuring superstitions, crafts, recipes and spells, Halloween - Customs, Recipes, and Spells is a phantasmagoric travelogue through foggy cornfields and gravestones laced with cobwebs. RavenWolf shows readers how to honor and contact the dead-including a pagan funeral rite-as well as how to construct divinatory tools for Guidance.
Some of the fascinating offerings you'll find in this book include:
* Superstitions and symbols of pitchforks, scarecrows, werewolves, vampires and bats
* Customs such as bonfires, Halloween processions, masks and costumes
* Divination methodology and instruction for casting lots, pumpkin seed divination for solitaries and parties, making a magick mirror, and Psychometry
* Tempting recipes like Green Man cake, Toasted Pumpkin Seeds, Easy Enchanted Punch, Frosted Grapes and Honeyed Apples, and Sugar Snakes in Graveyard Dust
* Magickal charm bags, pleasant dream sachets, corn husk magick, and pumpkin abundance lights
* Harvest Moon ritual, Halloween defense spell, Samhain protection powder, and Jack-o'-Lantern protection totem
* Spirit rattles and bowls, solitary Samhain ritual, ancestral altars, the dumb supper, offerings to the dead, and a simple ritual to receive answers from the dead
Written in an engaging, playful style, Halloween - Customs, Rituals, and Spells takes the "scare" out of this oft-misunderstood holiday, and shows how Halloween can be a time for sacred ritual, family bonding, self-discovery and FUN. I found the various mythos and customs absorbing, as well as the various symbols and superstitions. My favorite part of the book, though, was the section on Halloween divination used during this time of year; including instructions for making your own divination tools.
If you're interested in Halloween, Samhain, Day of the Dead and other "spooky" holidays, this book is a great way to indulge your fascination and learn a few new things along the way. In addition, Pagans, Wiccans, and open-minded folks will welcome the ideas for celebration and ritual.
Summary: My Favorite Holiday
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. In here the history of the holiday Halloween is explored as well as the second half is interesting recipes for Halloween goodies. Halloween is actually a neopagan holiday but a lot don't celebrate it because it scares them. Well it doesn't scare me. Finally a book that is a non-condemning tome about the subject.
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