Ancient religions

Most people are familiar with the popular image of elves as Santa's helpers and dwarfs as little bearded men wearing red caps, who are mischievous and playful, helpful and sly, industrious and dexterous. But their roots go far deeper than their appearance in fairy tales and popular stories. Elves and dwarfs are survivors of a much older belief system that predates Christianity and was widespread t

In the occult classic THE MIRROR OF MAGIC, renowned Surrealist, Kurt Seligmann (1900– 1962), draws from his encyclopaedic practitioner's knowledge and extensive antiquarian collection to offer a comprehensive, illustrated history of magic and the occult from Mesopotamia and ancient Egypt to the 18th century. He explores the gods and divinatory arts of the legendary Sumerians and the star-wise Baby

In this practical guide, Jon G. Hughes shares ancient secret Druidic techniques of divination passed down to him across five generations in an unbroken lineage of influential Welsh Druids. Hughes explains the three forms of divination used by his tradition: interpretive divination, used by readers of the Sevens (small staves with engraved sigils); inductive divination, which includes instructions

The festival of Beltaine, May Day, is a celebration of the return of spring and the promise of summer, a time for love magic and spells for increasing the fertility of the land and the plants that grow upon it. Like Samhain in autumn, Beltaine is also a time when the veil between the physical and spiritual world is at its most transparent and the ancestors and denizens of the Otherworld easily int

Druids and their magic, lore, and rituals have fascinated all those who encounter them, from the ancient Greeks and Romans onward. Even today, the mere mention of their name evokes pictures of standing stones, mistletoe, golden sickles, white-robed priests, and powerful sorcerers. But were they really as we picture them? Drawing on comparative mythology and linguistics, archaeological evidence, an

In the Celtic tradition dying is considered an act of birthing, of our consciousness passing from this life to the next. The role of an anam-áire is that of a midwife, a sacred guardian of life force, who supports a dying person by witnessing their journey. Informed by an early near-death experience and her own life's work, Phyllida Anam-Áire offers an intimate overview of the sacred stages of the

The season of Yuletide--the 12 nights following the winter solstice--offers the ideal opportunity for inner focusing, for seeing signs, and for planting seeds for the future. This guide explores inner practices for the magical Yuletide season, the period between December 21 and January 2, when the veil between worlds is thin. Revealing the deeper meaning of the darkest time of the year, the author

Whether viewed as a mid-winter observance of the Winter Solstice or a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ, for millennia cultures have taken time out to honour the darkest days of the year with lights, foods, and festivities.In ancient Egypt, people decorated their homes with greenery at the festival of the re-birth of the God Horus. The ancient Romans decorated their homes with vines and ivy

Runes and plants both contain the dynamic and raw energies of Mother Earth and can be used to heal, manifest, protect, and elevate magick. Both support and deepen the nature-human connection that is vital to mind, body, and spirit. And while both can provide us with many benefits on their own, when merged in magickal union, their combined powers are multiplied exponentially.In this magickal grimoi

From Moses to Merlin to the power of the royal scepter, the wand has been a key magical device found in nearly every civilization and esoteric tradition throughout history. The fundamental purpose of a wand is to act as a spiritual conduit, harnessing the power of the adept's intention and channeling it into manifestation.Exploring the history, lore, and creation of living wands—those crafted from

In the ancient realm of the Celts, the seer was a person who opened a window to reveal a complete view of the cosmos, in which the otherworld and the everyday world interconnect. This was the essence of true perception and wisdom, known as gléfiosa, or 'bright knowledge'. For the seer, the babbling of the stream, the swaying of treetops in the wind, the hunting and foraging of animals are all brim

Drawing on myth, folklore, poetry, and the tales of Celtic gods and heroes, 366 Celt provides 366 daily meditations to show how anyone can explore the power of Celtic spirituality throughout the year. Topics covered include: The magic of the Druids Animals and plants of Celtic lore Fairy stories and heroes of old Sacred sites and ancient treasures The holy days of the wheel of the year McCol

Celtic Tree Oracle is based on ancient Celtic wisdom, which revered trees as living, spiritual beings – keepers of sacred knowledge that can help us survive, and thrive on Earth. This deck is your tool to tune into the trees and access their age-old loving guidance. You will become familiar with the signature energies of the trees and more connected with nature – inspired to walk through the woodl

Written for intermediate to advanced healers, RELIANCE ON THE LIGHT explains how to identify negative interference and create psychic protection in daily life through meditation and visualization. Diane Stein is concerned that a darkness has engulfed the world in the form of violence against humanity, ecological destruction, and prevailing hopelessness, and so she designed her teachings to help pe

One of the most enigmatic figures in world history, King Arthur has been the subject of many fantastical tales over the past 1500 years, leading many scholars to regard him and his fabled city of Camelot simply as myth. But, as Graham Phillips shows through a wealth of literary and scientific evidence, King Arthur was a real man, Camelot a real place and the legendary Excalibur a real sword - and

Among the many significant discoveries excavated from Assyrian king Ashurbanipal's royal library in Nineveh were tablets documenting the development of Mesopotamian astrology, now recognised as the earliest astrological science. Drawing upon translations of the Nineveh library tablets as well as many other ancient sources, Michael Baigent reveals the roots of modern astrology in the Babylonian sci

Stonehenge is just one of thousands of stone circles erected throughout Britain and Ireland over three millennia from 3,000 BC on. How did this building tradition survive for so long, over such a large area and with such complexity and uniformity, when the people of the British Isles lived in separate, isolated communities and left no evidence of a central leadership or obvious communication netwo

Cuneiform texts found on clay plates in Mesopotamia tell us about an extraterrestrial race, called the Anunnaki, who came from space to exploit our planet. Through genetic manipulation, they created modern humans from existing earthly life forms to serve them as slaves. They physically left our planet millennia ago, but as Jan Erik Sigdell reveals, their influence and control over humanity is stil

Spanning Ancient Egyptian culture (ca. 3200 BC to AD 400), this 'Handbook of Egyptian Mythology' is a complete survey of Egyptian mythology.

The international Number One bestseller from the author of The Song of Achilles, shortlisted for the Women's Prize for Fiction Woman. Witch. Myth. Mortal. Outcast. Lover. Destroyer. Survivor. CIRCE. In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. Circe is a strange child - not powerful and terrible, like her father, nor gorgeous and merc