"Discussions concerning pre-Christian religion in Western Europe have, for many years, been considered problematic due to a lack of texts, material culture, and the theoretical framework into which place-name studies have been constructed. This study examines the relationship between two groups of peoples, or tribes, the Iron Age Dobunni and the early medieval people know as Hwicce, whose territories in the Severn Valley and Cotswolds overlapped."--BOOK JACKET.

In The Tribe of Witches a wide-ranging theoretical framework for understanding the major cults worshipped amongst the Iron-Age tribal group called the Dobunni, later known as the Hwicce, was put forward. Towards the end of the tribe's lifespan the mother goddess of the Dobunni was introduced. In A Dreaming for the Witches the cults which worshipped the tribal deities are explored more fully. The surviving textual data and archaeological material are reviewed, and what we know of the Dobunni pantheon, using predominantly Welsh sources placed in a wider European context, is discussed. The Roman period process of interpretatio is explored, along with European traditions of mythical animals and plants which created our underlying cultural tales and traditions. The Tribe introduced the Matrona of the Dobunni; this work gets to grips with the tribal father. The sacred landscapes accounted for by Nennius are investigated, and the mythical landscape around Gloucester revealed. Finally, a discussion is put forward which places the cults of the Dobunni at the heart of the Christian grail myths.

When Christopher Penczak was introduced to Witchcraft, he found a spiritual path that hononred and embraced his homosexuality. Now he has written a book of clearheaded theory and practice that is bound to become a classic. With Gay Witchcraft, Penczak joins the ranks of his forebearers in spirit, gay writers who have taken a tradition and made it home. This is a complete book of theory and spiritual practices of Witchcraft for the gay community. Penczak's writing will make it much easier for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people interested in practicing any form of Witchcraft. Exploring the history of Paganism and offering a compendium of spells, meditations, ceremonies, and affirmations that will enrich both the novice and the experienced practioner seeking out new views of myth, ritual, and healing.

A baffling museum murder that appears to be the work of twisted human killers results in an unexpected and violent confrontation with powerful shape-shifters for Choctaw detective Monique Blue Hawk. Blending tribal beliefs and myths into a modern context, The Hatak Witches continues the storyline of Choctaw cosmology and cultural survival that are prominent in Devon A. Mihesuah's award-winning novel, The Roads of My Relations.

A Community of Witches explores the beliefs and practices of Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft—generally known to scholars and practitioners as Wicca. While the words "magic," "witchcraft," and "paganism" evoke images of the distant past and remote cultures, this book shows that Wicca has emerged as part of a new religious movement that reflects the era in which it developed. Imported to the United States in the later 1960s from the United Kingdom, the religion absorbed into its basic fabric the social concerns of the time: feminism, environmentalism, self-development, alternative spirituality, and mistrust of authority. Helen A. Berger's ten-year participant observation study of Neo-Pagans and Witches on the eastern seaboard of the United States and her collaboration on a national survey of Neo-Pagans form the basis for exploring the practices, structures, and transformation of this nascent religion. Responding to scholars who suggest that Neo-Paganism is merely a pseudo religion or a cultural movement because it lacks central authority and clear boundaries, Berger contends that Neo-Paganism has many of the characteristics that one would expect of a religion born in late modernity: the appropriation of rituals from other cultures, a view of the universe as a cosmic whole, an emphasis on creating and re-creating the self, an intertwining of the personal and the political, and a certain playfulness. Aided by the Internet, self-published journals, and festivals and other gatherings, today's Neo-Pagans communicate with one another about social issues as well as ritual practices and magical rites. This community of interest—along with the aging of the original participants and the growing number of children born to Neo-Pagan families—is resulting in Neo-Paganism developing some of the marks of a mature and established religion.

In Tribes of the Moon, Otherkin author Lotuswulf re-envisions the long-standing ideas of a witches coven and provides a new shamanic view of the coven gathering. This book follows the cycle of a year through the lunar calendar with information about the name of each lunar month and the seasonal rites and rituals that correspond with it. Packed with rituals for groups or solitary work, the book goes on to include ideas for ritual pathworkings with six mystical and modern archetypes that have almost been lost or degraded by modern society.

An abridged version of the 1937 an-thropological study of the Azande of the southern Sudan, the theoretical insights of which have proven increasingly influential among both anthropologists and others

Is shamanism all that different from modern witchcraft? According to Christopher Penczak, Wicca's roots go back 20,000 years to the Stone Age shamanic traditions of tribal cultures worldwide. A fascinating exploration of the Craft's shamanic origins, The Temple of Shamanic Witchcraft offers year-and-a-day training in shamanic witchcraft. Penczak's third volume of witchcraft teachings corresponds to the water element - guiding the reader into this realm of emotion, reflection, and healing. The twelve formal lessons cover shamanic cosmologies, journeying, dreamwork, animal/plant/stone medicine, totems, soul retrieval, and psychic surgery. Each lesson includes exercises (using modern techniques and materials), assignments, and helpful tips. The training ends with a ritual for self-initiation into the art of the shamanic witch--culminating in an act of healing, rebirth, and transformation. COVR Award Winner

In Tribes of the Moon, Otherkin author Lotuswulf re-envisions the long-standing ideas of a witches coven and provides a new shamanic view of the coven gathering. This book follows the cycle of a year through the lunar calendar with information about the name of each lunar month and the seasonal rites and rituals that correspond with it. Packed with rituals for groups or solitary work, the book goes on to include ideas for ritual pathworkings with six mystical and modern archetypes that have almost been lost or degraded by modern society.

Thought to be the father of modern witchcraft, Gerald Gardner published The Meaning of Witchcraft in 1959, not long after laws punishing witches were repealed. It was the first sympathetic book written from the point of view of a practicing witch. The Meaning of Witchcraft is an invaluable source book for witches today. Chapters include: Witch's Memories and Beliefs, The Stone Age Origins of Witchcraft, Druidism and the Aryan Celts, Magic Thinking, Curious Beliefs about Witches, Signs and Symbols, The Black Mass, Some Allegations Examined. The Meaning of Witchcraft is a record of witches' roots-and a tribute to a founding pioneer with the courage to set that record straight.