Witchcraft: A Mystery Tradition (Paperback)

by Raven Grimassi (Author) "It is difficult to know precisely what prehistoric humans intended when they buried their dead with various objects, or when they colored the body with..." (more)
Key Phrases: triformis nature, memory chain associations, faery maiden, Mystery Tradition of Witchcraft, Harvest Lord, Wheel of the Year (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
Understanding the Mystery Teachings of Witchcraft is essential for anyone wishing to enrich their Craft. World-renowned author and scholar Raven Grimassi guides readers down the well-worn path to these Mystery traditions by exploring their roots in myths, legends, verses, and lore.

Witchcraft: A Mystery Tradition provides a cultural and mythical context that helps readers gain insight into these Mystery themes. Drawing upon the long-standing traditional European Witchcraft and occult concepts and tenets, Grimassi constructs a cohesive mythos that supports and unifies the Sabbats and their associated deities. Also provided are techniques for aligning with the "momentum of the past," a powerful current of knowledge and energy available to all Witches.


About the Author
Award-winning author Raven Grimassi is the author of seven books on Wicca and Witchcraft, including Wiccan Mysteries (awarded Best Book of the Year & Best Spirituality Book 1998 by the Coalition of Visionary Retailers), Wiccan Magick, Italian Witchcraft (previously titled Ways of the Strega), Hereditary Witchcraft, Encyclopedia of Wicca & Witchcraft (awarded Best Non-Fiction Book 2001 by the Coalition of Visionary Retailers), Beltane, and The Witches' Craft.

Raven Grimassi has been a teacher and practitioner of the Craft for nearly 30 years. He is trained in the Family tradition of Italian Witchcraft (also known as Stregheria), and is also an initiate of several Wiccan Traditions, including Brittic Wicca and the Pictish-Gaelic Tradition. He is currently the Directing Elder of the Arician Ways. Raven considers it his life's work to ensure the survival of ancient witch lore and legend along with ancestral teachings of the Old Religion.

Grimassi has worked as both a writer and editor for several magazines over the past decade, including The Shadow's Edge (a publication focusing on Italian Witchcraft) and Raven's Call (a journal of modern Wicca, Witchcraft and Magick).



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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; First Edition edition (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738705969
• ISBN-13: 978-0738705965
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #68,687 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Reconstructionist Views, November 13, 2004

By	Brother MOLOCH 969 "MolochSorcery.com" (Cleveland, Ohio) - See all my reviews

Few books on the subject of Witchcraft come along that I'm willing to doff my hat too mainly because so many are pedantic in their offering. This book is not one of those pedantic offerings but rather a well written and useful theory books that is so lacking in the Wiccan community.

This is not a cookbook or "how-to" manual. What it is makes it all the more desirable for the budding and mid-level Wiccan practitioner to want to own and study.

One of the things I have to give Grimassi is his due on covering the balance of the Wiccan cosmology. Most Wiccan books tend to focus solely on the divine feminine aspects and the chief reason for this is that many of the authors of Wiccan books are feminists. Thus the divine aspect of the male is either ignored (usually) OR relegated to little more than a masculine "escort" companion.

The chapter on the "Witches God" I found useful and entertaining. For instance, I chuckled at the thought of the looks of horror on the faces of so many fluffy bunnies when they see the inverted pentagram in the pages of a Llewellyn book on the Craft! Actually Grimassi uses the symbol merely to point out the idea of the look of Hercules' ritual death position which according to Grimassi was inverted.

When we get into Chapter Five, "Exploring the Inner Mysteries", Grimassi offers up front a skull and crossbones and how it symbolizes the "guardianship and power over the realm of death". At last, a Wiccan book that doesn't eschew the mysteries of Death! Sadly this is an aspect that is so lacking in modern Wiccan literature but is NOT neglected in Wicca's cousin the religion of Vodu where a Lord of Death is given His respect and dignity at every ceremony.

Next the author takes us thru standing stones and sacred groves or that which we need to find peace in our workings. The idea that the stones retained all which they witnessed and that groves of trees harbored the Spirits of the Gods themselves. (Another concept that is found in other cultures.) Two other subjects covered by Grimassi are that of Summerland and Reincarnation both of which are not covered in any real depth but at least he makes an attempt to help the reader delve more into the concepts of each instead of just paying lip service to the notion as so many other Wiccan authors tend to do.

The next two chapters were reminiscent of Stewart Farrar's "Eight Sabbats For Witches" as Grimassi tries to offer more than an overview of each sabbat and the meaning behind its importance. Not since Stew Farrar has this subject been dealt with in any real depth and due to the lack of written evidence on neo-Celtic sources, this does not help make it any easier for Grimassi to explain the spiritual significance underlying each one. I for one would like to see Raven take his time and research this area of Wiccan lore more in depth perhaps even with a book devoted solely to the spokes of the year.

The rest of the book delves into other areas that are worthy of study for the Wiccan. One of the interesting things about Grimassi is that while I don't consider him a scholar in his research, I do consider him to be a valid reconstructionist. Why? Because some of his theories & conclusions just do not convince me when he points to historical evidence (sic). Too much of this material is skewed by minimal accounts and smacks of way too much personal interpretation.

The bibliography is not full of other Llewellyn books and thus lends more credibility to Grimassi as a researcher for this work. This in itself is a refreshing break from your typical Llewellyn offering. One sore point though is in the section on "The View from Colleges and Cauldrons" where Grimassi quotes from one of $ilver Ravenwolf's books and he was doing so well up to that point!

In my advanced, un-edited copy, there was no index so I'm not sure if the finalized version does indeed have an index. All in all I rate this book four stars and recommend it to anyone who wants to get a valuable overview of the mystery aspects of the Craft of the Witch.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Educational and enlightening, September 25, 2004

By	W. Koenigsmann "Wendy Koenigsmann" (Northern Hemisphere) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Having read works by Joseph Campbell and Jung, and having an interest in occult matters and ancient history, I really think this is a rich and informative book that I will read over and over again, and also use as reference on mythology, symbolism, and the occult.

While I do not consider myself a "witch," and don't want to (due to the current trend of witchcraft and Wicca), my interest in this book was moreso a good introductory lesson in the mythos of the world of witchcraft and Wicca, since these religious paths have always been so misunderstood. (I suppose I just have a thirst for knowledge in general.)

I think everyone, regardless of their ancestry or religion, should read this book, if only for the sake of learning about the origins of European holidays, myths, and legends. (For one, if more people knew where our current Christian holidays originated from, there would be less judgementalism against those who practise pagan religions and are involved in the occult.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Informative and Enlightening, June 2, 2009

By	GroveGuardian "EyeStars" (Southwest) - See all my reviews

This book received a rather nasty "review" from an individual who sang his own praises related to a background of archaeology and classical literature. The impetus for the "review" may be rooted in what Grimassi wrote in the third appendice. This section of the book points out the errors of scholars in the field of witchcraft, with a particular emphasis on scholar Ronald Hutton. Additionally, Grimassi notes Hutton's comment that ancient Greek philosophers were frustrated that the common person ignored their wisdom in favor of their own personal experiential perceptions. This condition apparently still upsets scholars of our own period.

For a balanced understanding of the book I offer the following -

This book contains ten chapters that present an understanding of the inner meanings and mysteries found in the modern Craft. The topics covered include an investigation of ancient concepts, modern traditions, the God & Goddess, inner mysteries, the Wheel of the Year mythos, the eight Sabbats, and metaphysical principles in contemporary Witchcraft/Wicca.

In this one volume the author shares over 30 years of extensive research, informed discernment, and personal practice. Like all of Grimassi's books this one is full of quotes from historical and literary sources, and also includes the insights of a well-seasoned initiate practitioner. The book also includes an artful blend of oral teachings with documented beliefs and practices. Now with that being said, this book is not about digging in the earth and trying to piece sparse fragments together in hopes of a picture, nor is it about the "wisdom" of classical scholars. Instead it's a book about a cohesive initiate level understanding of the inner mysteries that comprise the modern Craft.

In the introduction to this book, Grimassi shares his personal vision of Witchcraft/Wicca as being comprised on ancient and modern concepts. He makes it clear that he is incorporating pre-Christian concepts into "the common modern Craft structure" (primarily Celtic) through which to convey the inner teachings of Witchcraft/Wicca as a Mystery Tradition for modern use.

Chapter One is titled 'Witchcraft and the Old World' and deals with archaic elements of witchcraft in both northern and southern Europe. Grimassi quotes from various academic sources including Witchcraft in Early Scotland (University of Exeter Press), Witchcraft and Magic in Europe (University of Pennsylvania Press), The Pagan Religions of the Ancient British Isles (Blackwell Publishers). Grimassi also draws upon Celtic works such as Celtic Myths & Legends (Dover Publications), The Myth of the Goddess (Arkana Books), and Mythology and the Celtic Heritage (Ashgrove Press).

Chapter Two is titled 'The Mystery Tradition in Modern Witchcraft' and deals with the themes of the Otherworld, teachings of the sacred tree, hearth teachings, and Nature as the "blue print" for understanding divine consciousness. This chapter reflects the core understanding of initiate level teachings.

Chapter Three is titled 'The God of the Witches' and explores the aspects of the Horned God, Green Man, Harvest Lord, Sun God, Child of Promise, Underworld God, and the Hammer or Smith God.

Chapter Four is titled ' The Witches' Goddess' and examines concepts such as the Great Goddess, Earth Mother, Moon Goddess, Star Goddess, Underworld Goddess, Crossroads Goddess, and Fate Goddess.

Chapter Five is titled Exploring the Inner Mysteries. It explores topics like standing stones, memory chain associations, inner mechanisms of magic and ritual, reincarnation, and the mystery teachings of birth, life, and death. This is a very informative and enlightening chapter.

Chapter Six is titled 'The Wheel of the Year Mythos' and deals with underlying themes that empower the Eight Sabbats. These include the solar & lunar mythos, ancient themes of the life of the seed from sprout to leaf and on to fruit.

Chapter Seven is titled "The Witches' Sabbat" and explores each underlying mythos associated with the individual Sabbats. This chapter is invaluable to anyone who wants to understand and embrace the spiritual essence of the Sabbats.

Chapter Eight is titled 'Occult Principles in Modern Witchcraft' and examines many time-honored and time-tested concepts that are the foundation and nourishment of key ritual and magical elements of Witchcraft/Wicca.

Chapter Nine is titled 'Ways of the Witch' and presents material concerning the practice of witchcraft. Topics include setting an altar, working with ritual tools, energy fields, and seasonal components.

Chapter Ten is titled 'Returning from the Mysteries' and is a review of the primary elements of the book. Grimassi brings them all into relationship in this chapter and connects the reader with holistic understanding of the inner mystery traditions.