Green Witchcraft: Folk Magic, Fairy Lore & Herb Craft (Green Witchcraft Series) [Paperback]

Aoumiel (Author), Ann Moura (Author)

Book Description

Series: Green Witchcraft Series | Publication Date: September 8, 2002

Positive, practical, and easy to use, Green Witchcraft brings together the best of both modern Wicca and the author`s family heritage of herb craft and folk magic. Green Witchcraft explores the fundamentals of the Wiccan religion, providing magical training for the independent thinker. Step-by-step instructions on a wide variety of magical techniques as well as basic rules of conduct make this the ideal book to get you started. Green rituals for self-initiation, rites of passage, seasonal celebrations and activities provide an excellent foundation for your own magical tradition. Paperback, 266 pages

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Witchcraft is more than a religion, it is truly a spiritual way of life. Sometimes people focus on only one or two aspects of Witchcraft instead of appreciating it for the fullness of its beliefs and practices. I think you will find that if you study Green Witchcraft by Ann Moura you will have the basics in all areas of the Craft of the Wise.

For example, did you know that the ancient roots of Wicca can be traced all the way back to ancient India? You can find this amazing history in Green Witchcraft (the author majored in history and used to be a history instructor).

You will also learn the basic tenets of Witchcraft as focused in the Witches' Rede, the Charge of the Goddess, the Law of Return, and more. This book also teaches you how to do magical rituals and celebratory rites. Included are complete versions of rites for the major Wiccan holidays such as Imbolc and Ostara. Other rites – which include how to do the ritual and what to say – are rituals for the Full Moon, Paganing, Handfasting, and more.

Once you learn how to do the outline of a magical ritual, you need to be able to fill in the blanks. This includes the use of colors, candles, and herbs along with selecting the proper time and day and doing divinations. You'll learn how to use tea leaves, Tarot cards, and a crystal ball for this purpose.

In short, this book provides you with a complete understanding of all of the core elements that make up modern Paganism. Since this is non-sectarian, what you learn here can easily be applied to any tradition of Witchcraft. This is a book you'll come back to again and again.

About the Author

Ann Moura has been a practitioner of Green Witchcraft for over forty years. She holds both a B.A. and an M.A. in History. Maura lives in Florida where she runs her own metaphysical store, presents public rituals, and teaches classes on the Craft. Visit her online at www.annmourasgarden.com or at www.lunasolesoterica.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; 1st edition (September 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1567186904
• ISBN-13: 978-1567186901
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (85 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #72,310 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book for all seekers, April 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Green Witchcraft: Folk Magic, Fairy Lore & Herb Craft (Green Witchcraft Series) (Paperback)

I really liked this book. It is a very practical, responsible book. She definitely writes from a "kitchen witch" or a "folk magick" slant.

Chapter 1: The Green - Ms. Moura goes into her definition of Green Witchcraft. She has an interesting family background in that her mother and grandmother had very pagan practices and beliefs while remaining staunch Catholics. She does do some historic tracings but it is mostly a book on what was passed down to her. She takes a definite pantheistic view and deals more with the elementals than any particular aspect of the God and Goddess. She also sees elementals as "whos" not "whats" which to me made a big difference. She is also a solitary so most of the material is written with that slant and the idea that dedicating, initiating yourself is just as "valid" as having it done by an HP.

Chapter 2: Basics - goes into a brief explanation of the sabbats and esbats and how she personally celebrates them. She is one of the first authors I have seen that gives a clear definition of the difference between dedication and initiation rituals. Her explanation (which matches what I believe) is that a initiation ritual is your way of "introducing" yourself and asking for guidance as your learn the basics. You are not pledging yourself to any one path, just kind of saying "here I am". A dedication ritual is one in which you dedicate yourself to a particular path or belief with

full-knowledge of what you are pledging to. She also goes over her ideas of the use of craft names as well.

Chapter 3: Witches and Herbs - goes over the usual herb correspondences, some correspondences for candle magic, one of the few places I have seen information about tree correspondences, color relationships, herbs in rituals, ritual timing

Chapter 4: Green Living - Some background info on how she came to her view of witchcraft, some "core traditions" which include the rede, the Charge of the Goddess, 5-fold and 7-fold blessings.

Chapter 5: Magic - basic components of spell and circle casting, brief pages on runes and divination

Chapter 6: Magical Practices - more divination techniques, recipes for ceremonial oils (altar, annointing, cleansing, consecrating etc.

Chapter 7: Green Rituals: this was the chapter that sold me on the book. She has one of the clearest step by step basic ceremonies that I have ever read. As a solitary, it gets very confusing where, when, and how to use certain tools like wands, athames, brooms, bells, cauldrons etc. Ms Moura walks you through a step by step ritual. She also has initiation and dedication rituals and various others (handfasting etc.) For all of her rituals she gives you candle color correspondences recommended incenses and step by step directions for you to use/improve on.

Chapter 8: The Esbats - full moon and new moon and tool consecration rituals.

Chapters 9 - 16: The Sabbats - rituals for each of the sabbats.

46 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good book for further study., April 23, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Green Witchcraft: Folk Magic, Fairy Lore & Herb Craft (Green Witchcraft Series) (Paperback)

I have been practicing for over ten years and have seen many different attitudes in ethics and the Craft. While this book has many good and thoughtful things, many of which I found helped me take a better look at the world around me, I found that some of it held innaccuracies- the number of witches burned during the inquisitions and such(Which was not in the millions)- and I felt a degree of predjudice against other religions and outlooks on life held by others in her writing. As a book for advanced study I recommend it as a must read, but I don't feel Green Witchcraft is the kind of thing a beginner should read until she or he has a more balanced view on the world, the ethics of our Craft, and can read a book, draw what they need from it without being influenced by opinion, misconception, or predjudice. It is not my wish to seem harsh but I would not recommend this book to any in my Circle who have just begun practicing and perhaps it is best I let others know as well. The information was straightforward and well written and there was a lot of thought put into it but it does not belong in the hands of a beginner.

33 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Starting Information, November 25, 1999

By 

Horizon (Tacoma, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Green Witchcraft: Folk Magic, Fairy Lore & Herb Craft (Green Witchcraft Series) (Paperback)

In the swamp of tripe that masquerades itself as information on Witchcraft, mixing fact with fantsay in a misleading amalgam, Aoumiel has created a lush, pleasant garden. 'Green Witchcraft' covers not Wicca, but Paganism -- the old ways, the way the ordinary person on the heath would have identified with them. There is no pretense of titles and degrees, no endorsement of dogma, just quiet affirmation that at heart, each of us knows where and how to find the divine. For they *are* in each of us.

Aoumiel visits more briefly than I would have liked on her family's blending of pagan traditions into a Judeo-Christian framework. But the examples she does give show how paganism isn't just a religion, it's a philosophy and a way of life that can work harmoniously with other religions. She is helpful to those wondering how to blend their Pagan faith with the largely Judeo-Christian world.

I liked the sections on each Sabbat, especially the earthy, traditional activities that she suggests can be incorporated into (or substitute for) more formal observances. Although it basically bulked out the book for Aoumiel to reproduce the basic suggestions for a ceremony each time she covered a sabbat observance, that was handy too. The appendixes were fascinating, and while again they did not have as much depth as I would have liked, they provided both an intrigue for more information and a jumping-off place to research it.

'Green Witchcraft' is an intelligent, commonsense, fact-based book that no one new to, or curious about, Paganism should be without. I applaud Aoumiel for providing an alternative to the Wiccan fantasy sci-fi convention nonsense that is out there confusing people.