Old World Witchcraft depicted in an early color woodcut.
My second nonfiction book, which I am writing at the present time will be on Deborean Magick. Here is an excerpt from the Introduction:
The term Deborean is used in magick circles for two very distinct forms of magick. Deborean Wicca is a branch of Wicca that melds Celtic spirituality and Cherokee magickal traditions. This form of Wicca is akin to Appalachian Granny Magick which grew out of the hills about the same time as Deborean Wicca. Settlers of Celtic descent flocked to this region and co-mingled with the Cherokee who had lived there for thousands of years. The two belief systems merged into a magickal system utilizing prayers, spells and rituals from both nations.
Deborean Magick is a system that attempts to recreate witchcraft as it was practiced in Europe before the “burning times” or before the 15th century and grand scale witch persecutions. This is a very difficult endeavor as few written documents have survived from that time (due to the secret nature of the practices; witches were persecuted before the Inquisition, just not in such great numbers). Deborean tries to re-establish the link between old world magick that existed between the Greco-Roman civilizations and the late middle ages and early Renaissance. To this end, scholars are trying to confirm the existence of magickal practices that probably were not widespread but most certainly existed.
Magick is found in all civilizations as is the belief in the supernatural. Long before the Judeo-Christian religions were created, people believed in magic and practiced rituals to raise power. The ancient caves of Europe are full of cave paintings depicting these rituals. With the onslaught of the three major religions, as much as they tried to suppress and obliterate the ritual practices of old, witchcraft and magic did continue. Although it is obvious now that Margaret Murray’s witch cult did not exist and there probably was no universal religion practiced by pagans, the rituals and spells of the Old Religion were kept alive probably by solitary witches working alone and in secret. There were no covens, no organized Sabbat or Esbat meetings but the religion was carried down from one generation to the next.
My book will explore the religion as practiced by the people that lived in Europe from the 3rd to the 13th century. A thousand years of ritual practice, spells, curses and knowledge have been mostly lost from those times but a few documents and oral traditions do remain. And that is what my book will focus on.
An early draft for the cover of the book. Subject to change. 🙂
DAGoodrich 