Reviews for Ancient Spellcraft: From the Hymns of the Hittites to the Carvings of the Celts

The average rating for Ancient Spellcraft: From the Hymns of the Hittites to the Carvings of the Celts based on 2 reviews is 2.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2018-04-02 00:00:00 Matthew Prentice I was incredibly disappointed by this book. I suspect a lot of that had to do with my expectations--I found this title in the Suggested Reading of another, more academic work, which seemed to indicate that this title was an academic overview of magical practice in ancient cultures. What I found here was a modern, Neopagan-friendly spellbook with charms and methods loosely based on ancient mythology. At first, I was really impressed with some of the history presented here. Unfortunately, as I tried to dive into some of the more interesting factoids and learn more, I discovered that, in many cases, the majority of modern historians actually subscribe to an alternative interpretation of artifacts and events. I quickly began to believe that many of Perry's conclusions might actually be wishful thinking, particularly in regards to some of her assertions that religious groups had co-opted or suppressed the methods and symbolism of previous goddess-worshippers (in many cases, I found consensus on different explanations). This concern also carried through to Perry's scholarship on the origin and significance of certain terminology. In one case, I was absolutely delighted by her history of a specific word. I went to see if I could find reference material on the subject, only to discover that she had the meaning of the word wrong, the form incorrect, had incorrectly attributed its usage, and that most linguisitic scholars appear to be in agreement that the connection she made would be totally irrelevant. By the time I was halfway through this book, I had stopped looking up the cool facts to learn more. Sadly, my disappointment still deepened. The early chapters suggest that these methods are as close to authentic as possible and shouldn't be modified, as doing so might compromise their correctness. However, I am doubtful that the ancients were casting volcano spells in their kitchen sinks with baking soda and vinegar and would love to hear someone explain to the fire department why they had shut themselves in their coat closet with a rubber snake to burn bay leaves. Also, while I am not an expert on most of these ancient cultures, I am fairly well-read on one or two of those described here and noted that this work's divination methods were actually in direct conflict with other works that I had previously read. All in all, I felt that the integrity of many of these rituals and charms had been severely compromised. I'm pretty disappointed and would not recommend this book. Sorry!

Review # 2 was written on 2015-03-12 00:00:00 Jihan Holton There are many books on spells and rituals on the market. There are some books that deal with magic without deities and some that deal with deities and spirits. Most of the spells you will find in those books that deal with the ancient deities are modern in origin. This book is a unique treasure among spell books. This book actually goes to the source for information on the spells and magical rituals of our ancient fore bearers. There are nine sections in this book. There is the introduction and 8 chapters in the book itself. This book is well organized, though there is one chapter I may have placed in a different location because of a quote mentioned in that chapter. The rest of the book I feel is in perfect order. The first chapter is about spell casting the hows and whys and includes a little information about the deities involved. The second chapter covers the context of the cultures in the book. The next six chapters are full of spells and rituals that are simple, practical, and easy to perform. The first chapter is one that should not be skipped. I know its easy when you are researching spells and rituals to jump right to the spells and rituals, which is fine once you know a bit about how magic work and the deities and spirits that are involved. If you are a beginner or just curious about spell crafting you really need to read this chapter. It covers the meaning of the word spell, the methods. getting into a magical mindset, and setting up your workspace. All of those items are important for effective spell casting techniques. The second chapter like the first one should not be skipped. This section is all about the region and the cultures that the spells in this book come from. When you are working with deities and spirits it is important to understand them. This section talks to you about the different cultures, where they were, when they were in power, and a bit about their history. This information gives you a basic idea about the types of people that worked with the deities and forces mentioned in the book. This allows you to approach the powers within as respectfully as you can. The third Chapter is where we finally start get into the meat of the book. This is where we start getting into spells and rituals for different needs. For me this is where the chapter on protection spells should be. The author states at the beginning of the chapter of protection: �There are more spells in this section of the book than in any other section of this book because protection is of paramount importance. If we are not protected, we will have no chance to enjoy prosperity, fertility, and all the rest� (Ancient Spell Craft pg 136 by Laura Perry) Instead the author start out with spells for prosperity. At the start of each of the chapters on spells there is information on the different types of spells. There is prosperity of the fields, the business, and other aspects. The first few pages in the chapter on prosperity and money magic covers the different types. The author then provides several different spells on field prosperity and on money spells. The fourth chapter is about Romance spells. Here the author discusses how while the concept of romantic marriages is new the practice of performing love magic has always been around. In the past they have been more about lovers outside of marriage or in the form of sacred lovers at the temples. There are several different spells in this portion, none of them based on targetting someone already in a relationship but in your own words one who will be right for you. The fifth chapter is about spells for Fertility. Here the spells are as much about getting pregnant and having children as it is about the fertility of the land. Without fertile farmlands crops etc we can not have food to live on. In the ancient world crops were the way of life. Today those spells and rituals are still effective for personal home gardens and for larger farmers. The pregnancy spells also provide several different ways of asking for aid in that area of your life. The sixth chapter is all about protection. The spells in this section cover protection of the home, your business, from theft, and several other things. As I said earlier because of the emphasis the author places on protection (in the beginning and at the end of the chapter) I feel that this should have been the first chapter on practical magic. The chapter ends with a discussion about spiritual protection which is necessary when one begins to work magic and perform rituals. It is for this reason I believe the chapter should be the first one. Other than that it has every sort of protection that you could ever need to use based on day to day life. The seventh chapter in the book is my favorite section. I am a fond of healing spells and healing based magic. That is the focus of this chapter. This spell has a road opener spell (for those unable to move forward based on illnesses or issues) and spells about removing your illnesses. There are spells for emotional healing as well as physical healing. This chapter covers everything you would ever need to know for any sort of healing. The last chapter is on divination. Reading oracles and divining the future has always been a part of religious and magical workings. There are many different traditions of divination from tarot cards to I-ching coins, to reading stones tossed in a blanket. This chapter provides several different spells and divination rituals of sorts. These simple to perform spells often allow for easy to read signs and omens to see if your works are going to come through and to see what needs to be done in a situation. I want to compliment the author on their diligent research on the topic of ancient magic and the cultures. They have a substantial bibliography for such a small and informative book. The only other suggestion I would have to make this book better would be to have an appendix in new editions listing the deities mentioned and their associations so people have references for the deities when they decide to start making their own spells.