I first read this book a few years ago, in the days leading up to Halloween. I remember searching online for books to get me in the holiday mood, and among all the shiny, glossy titles (and there are so many!), there was this one that looked quite different – a small, unassuming volume, with a plain yet, to my mind, beautiful cover under the title of “Folk Witchcraft: A Guide to Lore, Land, and the Familiar Spirit for the Solitary Practitioner.”
I’d never heard of the author before (Roger J. Horne), nor of the publisher (Moon over the Mountain Press), but somehow I instantly felt it would be the right choice – at least judging by the title and the artwork which ticked all the right boxes. And, while this may make me sound very shallow, I was quite hooked on the choice of font, as well.
It took some weeks to arrive, and by that time I was extremely curious and excited about what I might find in it. The opening paragraph was just beautiful, and I knew I’d be having a great time reading it. It just felt so soothing:
As I’ve mentioned earlier, this is not a large volume – but it does contain a lot. There’s a total of 200 pages, and the book is divided into seven chapters (besides Introduction and Conclusion), namely Lore, Land, The Familiar Spirit, Grammar: Basic Rites, Grammar: Sabbat Rites, Grammar: Conjurations, and Grammar: Various Charms.
As the title suggests, the book is about folk witchcraft, i.e. the so-called Traditional Craft, and the author goes to explain that what he means by the term is “a branch of modern craft firmly rooted in the folklore of witches before the 20th century.” (p 11) It’s a “both… and” sort of book – ancient and modern; traditional yet attuned to the way we live today; firmly rooted in folk witchcraft, yet open-ended as to how people come to interpret it given their individual background, ancestry etc. Rather than making any exclusive and unwarranted claims regarding his particular pathway (as contemporary witches are sometimes in the habit of doing), the author has designed the book so that it may be useful to all witches, drawing on the commonalities. (p 12)
As a linguist, I quite appreciated the author’s repeated use of the word grammar – entirely justified in so many ways (etymologically, “grimoire” and “grammar” are close cognates). Perhaps those are the words that best describe the whole book. On the one hand, it is a short and concise grammar book, introducing you to the very basics of the language of witchcraft – a language of great many dialects (some close to being mutually unintelligible), but with the shared underlying structure. On the other hand, it is a proper grimoire, which is to say a practice book, with content that needs to be worked on and experimented with.
If you have any interest in witchcraft at all, folk or otherwise, this is the one title I would recommend as a standard grammar and exercise book, great both for total beginners who are still trying to find their way, and for the experienced practitioners who might need a little refresher course on the basics of the Craft. One of its beauties is the sheer simplicity: the rites and practices described in it are symbolically rich while all being perfectly doable without any unnecessary fuss or fluff.
The note on the back cover says it all: “… Folk Witchcraft offers a refreshingly simple approach to the craft that is non-dogmatic, flexible, and rewarding as a regular spiritual practice.” I’m very happy to attest to that. Two thumbs up!
“Folk Witchcraft: A Guide to Lore, Land, and the Familiar Spirit for the Solitary Practitioner” by Roger J. Horne. Published by Moon over the Mountain Press in 2019
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