Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #392304 in Books
• Published on: 2009-09-09
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

Customer Reviews

Ambitious claims worthy of study
The Witching Way of the Hollow Hill.
By Robin Artisson.
Published by Owlblink Bookcrafting Company (USA).
ISBN 978-1-4116-8193-4
Review by the Chattering Magpie.

Subtitled "the gramaryre of the folk who dwell below the mound and a sourcebook of hidden wisdom, folklore, Traditional Paganism and Witchcraft" this work makes some quite ambitious claims that are I think, generally fulfilled.

This book is a personal examination of the theory and practice of the British Traditional (non-Gardnerian) Craft. As such it combines elements of a book of shadows or grimoire, with explorations of the underling spirituality and magickal practice. This puts the work on a par with "Witchcraft a tradition renewed" by the late great Evan John Jones. A book often mistakenly credited to Doreen Valiente in its totality but is in reality the work of Jones and is in all probability his greatest work.

In an occult world suffering from the sanitised publicly acceptable version of the Craft, numerous examples of which are found on sale in the high street, this volume offers a sensible, serious and more than usually in depth alternative.

What is so surprising is that a book of this quality, dealing with aspects of British Traditional Witchcraft is written by an American and published in the USA.

Sadly this book is unlikely to become a best seller, simply because it is so good and is of a more than usual seriousness. This book is written for people who want to study the Craft and not for the New Age dabbler. As such it can be compared favourably with other works of Jones, such as "Roebuck in the thicket" for example.

By not being a best seller this work is likely to join the ranks of "The Devils' prayer book (by the late E.A. St. George and republished by Corvus as "Rites of shadow"), or "Mastering Witchcraft" by Paul Husan. Books few have heard of, even fewer have read but books that remain influential in some Craft circles.

The Witching Way of the Hollow Hill is available on the internet via Lu-Lu or the Owlblink site. More books by Artisson are in preparation and I for one eagerly await their publication.

Over all not a bad book.
Difficult to pigeon hole this book, it claims to be about the theory and practice of the British Traditional witchcraft but is clearly written by someone who is from and living outside Britain and not a member of a British Witchcraft Tradition. Though it does contain some interesting material and magical insights it shouldn't be read as any sort of guide to traditional witchcraft as practiced in the UK. Over all not a bad book as long as the last point is taken into account.