Product Description

We've come a long way from the time of our ancestors, who believed Witches rode broomsticks and ate little children for breakfast. In "A Witch's Halloween", Gerina Dunwich dispels the myths of this holiest of Pagan holidays and its most famous celebrants. For Pagans the world over, Halloween is a night of ancestors, a harvest festival, a time of magick and mirth, and a New Year's Eve celebration. Written by a practicing Witch, "A Witch's Halloween" is filled with history, folklore and myth, magickal spells, authentic Witches' recipes, divinations, a complete ritual for a Sabbat celebration, Halloween superstitions, and much more. This insightful book is a complete guide to celebrating the holiday as it was meant to be.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #95773 in Books
• Published on: 2007-09-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

About the Author
Gerina Dunwich (New York, NY) is a High Priestess of the old religion, a professional astrologer and tarot reader, and an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, a nondenominational religious organisation. she has edited and published Golden Isis, a Pagan literary journal, since 1980, and she is the founder of both the Pagan Poets society and the Wheel of Wisdom school. Gerina's varied interests include divination, mythology, herblore and the paranormal.

Customer Reviews

Very good.
I haven't read this book cover to cover yet but have given it four stars because it's a very useful book for anyone who is interested in Samhain/Halloween. The reason I haven't given it five stars is because some of the paragraphs are very short. Especially chapter six which is about herblore.

The book is printed in lovely sepia colours which makes it more easy on the eyes to read and also makes it seem like an old-ish book. The first chapter briefly covers the beginning of Halloween and includes a little about the Druids, Fairies and Goblins and then go on to Caesar and when Paganism and Christianity met. In this chapter we find out that America got the holiday from the Irish people escaping from the potato famine in the 1840s. (Well I'm not American or Irish so I didn't know this).

Chapter two is about the rituals connected with Halloween. Why children dress up, trick-or-treating, Muck Olla, "Thump-the-Door Night" (a custom from the Isle of Man) and the Festival of the Dead in different countries. There is also included some Halloween folk songs.

Chapter three is about the Pagan perspective of Halloween. Chapter four is about the symbolism of Halloween like the witch's cauldron, Jack-O'-Lanterns, ghosts etc.

Chapter five is about the lore and legends. This chapter has some interesting myths associated with Halloween. Chapter six is about the herb lore of Halloween. It's very short though.

Chapter seven is about superstitions and omens. Again a short chapter and some short paragraphs but very interesting. Chapter eight is about divination and incantations. In ireland they use shoes for divination. Throw it over your house and the way it lands tells you something about your future.

Chapter nine is about the witches' sabbat. This has a ceremony included and lists of the Pagan Gods and Goddesses who have a connection with Halloween. Chapter ten is "Wizardry and Enchantments". This includes some different spells. Chapter elleven is about the food of Halloween. It includes short paragraphs about for example "the Dumb Supper" and soul cakes and it also has some nice recipes for hazelnut cookies, Samhain cider and other Halloween recipes. The appendix tells you how to conduct a seance.

All in all a very good book that gives good background information on Halloween and definately worth buying.

Good starting point for the clueless...!
This book was a little disappointing.
I bought this book as I'm an avid Halloween enthusiast and have been for many years! I was hoping that this book would bring me fresh insight and some new ideas for Halloween parties etc. However, I found nothing new or inspiring within the pages.
This book would be ideal for someone who has no previous knowledge of the origins of Halloween, and has read no other books on the subject. For anyone who is looking to add to their previous knowledge or gain inpiration at this amazing time of year they would be a tad disappointed.
The cover design itself is more exciting than the contents within!

Good little read
I bought this to get some ideas for what to do for Halloween, and learned some interesting little facts about the festival. Covering both the history and the current practice, Gerina's fluid style is a pleasure to read, and she avoids sounding condescending or twee. The wealth of lore and superstitions in this book is fascinating, but my one criticism is she sometimes repeats herself. Otherwise, it's a good read.