Customer Reviews

A Victorian Grimoire: Romance - Enchantment - Magic

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is great for the magical Victoriana buff. I love my copy of Mrs. Sharp's Traditions:Reviving Victorian Family Celebrations of Comfort and Joy, but what it lacked was a magical, mystical component. This book evokes all the imagery of a Victorian lifestyle, but puts a magical spin on it. I DO lots of these things already, but with a magical focus, it makes it fit into my life that much more meaningfully. I wish it had more delightful Victorian images, but that is the only obvious downfall. If you love Victoria magazine, but have a magical heart inside, this book will appeal to you! You will be dreaming up the perfect life for yourself over a nice cup of tea!

I picked up this book hoping that it offered some insights into the Occult Revival of the nineteenth century, or even some useful information about the origins of spiritualism or the Golden Dawn.

This isn't a book about the actual magic practiced by actual Victorians. This book is much more interested in Romance and Enchantment -- that is, in twentieth-century nostalgia for a vanished heyday of home and hearth.

This is kitchen witchery -- it's certainly simple, beautiful, and meaningful, but the only real "Victorian" aspects are some trappings and an emphasis on domesticity.

It's strongest when it discusses recipes and magical practices, and it's weakest when it overgeneralizes about "the Victorians", lumping American and Englishman, gentleman and laborer together. One gets the impression that the 19th century was peopled mostly by cryptoPagans practicing herbal spells for home and family -- so just who *were* the folks who raised enormous sums of money for missionary efforts to convert "heathens who bowed down to wood and stone"?

I've always been suspicious of books that include both ritual and history -- inevitably, one or the other suffers. This book is no exception. The magic is *beautiful* - but the history is much more Romanticism than fact.

It's almost time for me to buy a new copy of this book. I've referred to it time and again, bookmarked, toted around, and used in the messy kitchen so often that it's about to fall apart.
And I'd hate to go without it. Great book. It really got me started with kitchen witchcraft. And I love the Victorian period and it's myriad of customs and superstitions.
The format was great in an unexpected way. I was expecting rituals and magical history but got ways to bring a little Victorian custom into my magic. Very nice.
Also, my cousins and nieces are all addicted to the American Girl books and love the recipes and crafts in this book as well.

Normally I detest Llewyllyn books but this one offers some wonderfull little practices that can enhance your daily life. I cant say much for the parts of this book which are wiccan but as for the folk traditions and alike this book deserves two thumbs up

This Grimoire is very interesting indeed, the author mixes up american Victorian age uses, or at least it looks as if she does, (i am not an expert on Victorian age) with some work of her own. The grimoire is very vast, and so some arguments are not treated with the depth that maybe many would like, but the real goal of a commercial grimoire is in fact the one to inspire ideas, not to be an all comprehensive copycat guide. This Grimoire does exactly this, it gives you food for thought and creative ideas, like using umbrella's, fans, and it makes you want to learn more about many of it's contents. And personal research is a MUST for all pagans, inspiring that research and giving an overview on some parts of it is what a commercial grimoire is about. 5 stars for it's creativity and inspiring parts. My advice is to have it in your library.

an interesting historical approach to the craft that reclaims magic as something natural, and tries to reintegrate that naturalness in our lives.

I loved this book, it was one of my first introductions to practical magick five years ago. It carries information about things that are hard to find. For example, why the Victorian society behaved in certain ways that seemed to follow christian beliefs, but in reality skirted pagan beliefs as well. Very enjoyable and recommended.

Although it can be said that this book is mainly for those whom are in search of knowledge pertaining to Magic and such, it can also be helpful in giving a person ideas on how to be spontaneous and romantic in an old fashion sort of way. This book should be read by anyone interested in Magic, Romance, and even History. The author has presented an insight in the Victorian Era unlike many other books a person will find. Truly there is not much to say about this book other than I would suggest that anyone that comes across this book, to read it. In some ways, I would even say that it might even give you some insights into yourself by making you think about the things within and around you

Patricia Telesco invites the reader to take a nostalgic walk through the magical past with her, as she explores the unique and creative ways of Victorian wisdom. From learning flower sybolism, to doing parlor divination, to learning how to create useful health and beauty products, this book is a must have for any witch who feels the need to connect with her magical roots. Lovely, evocative, romantic: I just can't say enough to praise this interesting and unique volume.

This is them most enchanting witchcraft book ever... so romantic... so victorian... I loved it! The Craft ideas were clever... the rituals are beautiful... the poetry was georgious... & the illastrations were adorable!