Another year, another Hallowe'en has come and gone. I had a very pleasant holiday, though as per usual ate too much candy and goodies. Be that as it may, my "Dinner for the Dead" was a success, and I watched my fill of Witch movies and ghost stories. However, 6 days later, I still haven't taken down all of my Hallowe'en decorations, and my apartment is full of skeletons, ghosts, witches, pumpkins, and the like. Today I'll probably box them up, but for the mean time I'm going to enjoy them for just a little longer.
In other news, it's been a week of new books! On Wednesday, I got Cassandra Latham-Jones' book "Village Witch." If you don't know, Latham-Jones is a village Witch, or wisewoman, living and working in rural Cornwall. I've read a few reviews where people weren't really thrilled with the book, because it does read like an autobiography and not as (yet another) "how to" book on Witchcraft. This is what I like about it, though; I know how to work magic, but it's interesting to read about the long and winding path that led the author to where she is now, and about her personal take on magic and The Gods. On Friday, I received Raven Grimassi's new "Old World Witchcraft," which is his newest work and presents his thoughts and opinions about Traditional Craft. I've barely gotten to look at it, but from what I've seen so far it explored the truths behind the historical Witch trials, and looks at what the Witches of the past actually believed as opposed to what their persecutors claimed that they did. By now I'm quite convinced, modern assertions to the contrary, that there WERE (and are) pockets and covens of surviving, if fragmentary, Pagan belief which existed underground even after the Church had violently conquered most of Europe, and that these people became the Witches of the Middle Ages. However, these people worshiped a Horned God (later known as "The Devil") and the Goddess Diana (often called "the Queen of Elfhame" after Her true name had been forgotten or repressed) and not the "Satan" of the Christians. From what I've seen, this book explores much the same conclusions, so I'm quite excited to be able to read in-depth about Grimassi's research. I'll post a longer review whenever I'm done with the book.
Hope everybody is well. The time changed last night, so by waking up at my usual 6:30am the clock now insists that it's 5:30am, so I think it's going to be a long day. I've been suffering from a migraine off and on since Thursday, so I do believe I will just take it easy.
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