A unique exploration into Irish druidism, fairy lore, miracle-working saints, sacred kingship, witchcraft trials, the Celtic Order of W. B. Yeats, the Theosophical circle of “AE”, and mystical artist Art O’Murnaghan, A History of Irish Magic is the first book of its kind - deeply researched yet highly readable.
Jointly written by Holythorn Press founders Sally North and James North, A History of Irish Magic is a quest to understand the magic and mystery of Ireland. This book examines ancient legends and folklore, tales of heroes and the fairy folk, and magical beliefs; some of which persist even to the present day. The book charts the enduring essence of Irish magical belief from ancient paganism, then through Ireland’s distinctly magical Christianity, to the late 19th century fusion of traditional magic and esotericism, and its deep influence on the wider 20th century pagan revival.
372 pp. on heavy white Munken paper.
An exlusive gift will be included with your order: three B&W postcards by two Irish women artists/occultists, Maud Gonne and Althea Gyles. An Irish Magic bookmark will also be included.
Hardback - Sewn binding, cloth with foiled decorations and title, bands top and bottom, dust jacket, limited to 300 copies only, hand numbered limitation page.
Munken white paper
16 pp. colour photographs
161 x 245 x 34 mm
£26.99
Óðinn’s identity as the Ecstatic God of the Tethers of Law and Death, is least recognised through his Skin-Turning and Shape-shifting techniques as gifts of the highest craft he imparts to a shamanic warrior elite. Those themes are explored in this volume, alighting upon a wide range of magics and histories identified within the Óðinnic cultus. Medieval source materials yield a wealth of information relating to Totemism; Ritual Guising; the Berserkir and Úlfhéðnar as Óðinn’s True Wolf Warriors; Motifs of Magical Beasts in Battle; the Wælceasega as Carrion Host; the Law and Covenants relating to Wǽr-loga; Outlawry; She-Wulves; The Red Thread of Wyrd, Warding and Binding the Dead, Varðlo(k)kur - the call to spirit; Dragons, the Wyrm, and finally, to the malefic sorcery of the Dog Heads of War, The Zmei, The Roggenwolf and the Bukka, whose presence in the wheat, rye and barley knots of the blessed harvest grains, all wend a path through to the real St George, to Green George.
Enchanted thread, girdles, withies and staves, seiðr and the völur are woven through the time-honoured mysteries shared by Beowulf, Grendel and his brimwylf (‘sea-wolf’) mother. Nordic culture drew inspiration and influence from the magical and martial disciplines of the Sámi, Slavic, north-European and Eurasian peoples. Invoking the divine ecstasy of creation, Shamen priests and warriors, stand ‘outside’ time. Óðinn’s antinomian challenges generated considerable friction within societal ‘law.’ The dehumanisation of the skóggarmaðr (wild men of the forest) outlawed for following his rule, rendered them indistinct from the forest-wolf’s status, and were perceived as equal quarry. Transpersonal experiences shaped their realities, relating to identification through a clan totem, namely the wolf, and later the dragon, wyrm and raven, not merely as wild beasts of battle, but of ancestry, mind, of wit and wisdom. Couched in ambiguities, the role of the Valkyrjur,’ the ‘handmaidens of Óðinn is re-evaluated, leading to a new conclusion for their association with (battle) carnage and the ‘Cult of the Dead.’
£22.50 £25.00
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Challenging former atrophied or outdated knowledge regarding Óðinn’s acquisition of the runes and the mead of poetry, this extensive and intense study revisits Hávamál, Vǫluspá, Skáldskaparmál, Grímnismál, Heimskringla and Ynglinga Sagas specifically, to unravel and reconnect crucial factors that collectively reveal a magical formula for rebirth and resurrection. These kennings have preserved the threads of mysteries pertaining to Rúnar entrenched in Taboo. Óðinn’s quest of discovery takes him through three historically attested trials as Rites of Passage that find parallel forms in other animistic traditions. His ordeals of Mound, Tree and Sacral Kingship together with an articulation of the role of Hamingja are hitherto connected.