The Samhain Song Press Ultimate Grimoire and Spellbook Of Real Ancient Witchcraft ____________________ Being a Most "Un-Fluffy" Compilation of Magickal Spells, Incantations, Herbal Lore and Cures Gathered from Ancient and Reliable Sources ____________________ This Samhain Song Press Edition Copyright © 2008 by Samhain Song Press. View our complete catalog of classic witchcraft and pagan quality reprints at www.SamhainSong.com ii The Ultimate Grimoire and Spellbook Of Real Ancient Witchcraft is Copyright © 2008 by Samhain Song Press. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission, except by a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review. A Samhain Song Press publication View the complete Samhain Song Press catalog at www.SamhainSong.com Editorial, sales and distribution, rights and permission inquiries should be sent via e-mail to [email protected]. Traditional Sources /The Ultimate Grimoire and Spellbook Of Real Ancient Witchcraft/Compiled from Various Traditional Sources. First Samhain Song Press Edition ISBN 978-1-4357-4201-7 1. Spells. 2. Wicca. 3. Witchcraft. 4. Herbalism. 4. Magic 6. Magick. 7. Title Legal Disclaimer: All information in this book is provided for educational purposes only, as a folklore reference, and is not to be construed as medical advice, or to diagnose, treat, prevent or cure any disease, or as a substitute for competent medical care. iii PUBLISHER'S PREFACE One of the hottest debates raging in the 21st Century Neopagan community concerns the definition of two basic terms – Wicca and Witchcraft. Most followers of the peaceful, earth-centered, Goddess- worshipping Wiccan religion (ala Starhawk, Silver Ravenwolf, Scott Cunningham and their followers) consider themselves, by their own understanding of the term, to be practitioners of witchcraft as well. Religious Wiccan mostly view the two terms as essentially synonymous. The other side of the debate is argued by a separate, perhaps a shade "darker" subset of the pagan community, folks who call themselves simply Witches (never Wiccans!), and who often believe that the witchcraft they practice is not a religion at all, but rather a supernatural path to personal power, a system of magickal beliefs and practices designed to bring their minds, bodies and spirits into alignment with the sometimes violent, always morally-neutral fundamental forces of nature. Such natural spiritual alignment empowers them to bend and shape reality in conformity with Will, sometimes to cure and create, other times to curse or destroy, as appropriate to the situation at hand. These Witches generally view religious Wicca as a naïve modern creation, a "fluffy bunny"1 social movement closely akin to the crystal-waving New Age groups that have flourished throughout America and Europe since the 1930s. It is not my goal in this brief preface to take sides in the modern Wicca VS Witchcraft debate, only to recommend The Samhain Song Press Ultimate Grimoire and Spellbook of Real Ancient Witchcraft as an invaluable resource for your personal research into the question. Note before proceeding that every word you will read in the chapters ahead was penned prior to the year 1900 – half a century or more before Gerald Gardner's 1950's release of Witchcraft Today, the book that is credited with having launched the modern Wiccan tradition. Note also that the classic 19th Century works featured in this omnibus collection both mine and preserve living veins of ancient wisdom, folklore, superstition and popular belief that were already passing out of existence when these works were composed, and which by Gardner's post WWII writing days, had been long driven by modernization into cultural extinction. But fear not! The Samhain Song Press Ultimate Grimoire and Spellbook of Real Ancient Witchcraft is no dull work of ethnology! This is a true spell book filled with clear instructions for making magick happen, for cursing and curing, for binding a lover, for recovering stolen objects and for punishing the thief, for conjuring prophetic dreams, and every other imaginable application of the supernatural arts. This is a book of real ancient witchcraft. It is at once a practical guide to wielding magick the way our ancient ancestors understood iv it, and a mesmerizing window granting us an accurate vision of their times and way of life. How the view through that window impacts your personal position in the Wicca VS Witchcraft debate is entirely up to you. For those Wiccans/Witches/Pagans who find Christianity distasteful or troubling, be warned that some sections of this book, especially those taken from John George Hohman’s Pow-Wows; Or, Long Lost Friend, make extensive use of Christian language and imagery – but keep in mind when you study these passages that the Christianity practiced by Pennsylvania Dutch Pow Wow magicians is by no means the same Sunday morning moralism espoused by your squeaky-clean Protestant neighbors or even the robed priests manning the altar at the Catholic Cathedral downtown. Like the Afro-Caribbean religions of Voodoo, Santeria, et al, Pow Wow (and all other, genuinely preserved European magickal traditions) survived centuries of Christian persecution by "embracing the enemy," painting the ancient gods and spirits in the colors, names and stories of the Mother Church, while secretly maintaining the inner integrity of the original system. When you read these passages, see past the veneer to the truths contained inside. Change "Jesus" to "Zeus" or "Thor" and "The Virgin Mary" to "Hera" or "Freya," and the spell will still work. Real gods are not picky about the names by which mortals invoke them! Finally, please be aware that much real ancient witchcraft was, to put it frankly, quite grotesque. Some spells in this volume call for the flesh of human corpses or the body parts of animals. Any 21st century magick user worth his or her salt, and with a copy of any "Wicca-101" table of correspondences in hand, ought to be able to dream up a dozen non-lethal, safe and legal substitutions for any such spell ingredient. There's more than one way to skin a cat, as the saying goes, and only whacko teenage Satanists and other low self-esteem losers actually do such things anymore. It's the 21st Century, folks -- Improvise! Cats are sacred to the Goddess in just about every ancient culture on Earth. Skin one and you will pay… Witch or Wiccan – be smart! Don't risk Divine Disembowelment! Happy spellcasting! Hrafen Starbourne, Editor Samhain Song Press ____________________ 1 The term "fluffy bunny is used within Neopaganism as derogatory label for Wiccans and other religious Neopagans who tend to focus primarily upon the most accessible or emotionally uplifting aspects of the faith, while downplaying the more serious, traditional aspects, often expressing their beliefs in a New Age or "sweetness and light" manner. v The Samhain Song Press Ultimate Grimoire and Spellbook Of Real Ancient Witchcraft In Five Parts: Part One: Charms, Spells and Cures as Recorded In Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland by Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde Part Two: Blessings, Curses, Spells and Strange Magicks From ARADIA or the Gospel of the Witches by Charles G. Leland Part Three: Incantations and Specimens of Medical Magic From GYPSY SORCERY and FORTUNE TELLING by Charles Godfrey Leland vi Part Four: A Collection Of Mysterious And Invaluable Arts And Remedies, For Man As Well As Animals, With Many Proofs From JOHN GEORGE HOHMAN’S POW-WOWS; OR, LONG LOST FRIEND Part Five: THE FOLK-LORE OF PLANTS bY T.F. THISELTON-DYER Part One: Charms, Spells and Cures as Recorded In Ancient Legends, Mystic Charms, and Superstitions of Ireland by Lady Francesca Speranza Wilde Original Publication, 1887 - 9 - THE FATAL LOVE-CHARM A POTENT love-charm used by women is a piece of skin taken from the arm of a corpse and tied on the person while sleeping whose love is sought. The skin is then removed after some time, and carefully put away before the sleeper awakes or has any consciousness of the transaction. And as long as it remains in the woman s possession the love of her lover will be unchanged. Or the strip of skin is placed under the head to dream on, in the name of the Evil One, when the future husband will appear in the dream. A young girl who was servant in the large and handsome house of a rich family tried this charm for fun, thinking she would dream of one of her fellow-servants, and next morning her mistress asked the result. "Throth, ma'am," she answered, "there never was such a foolish trick, for it was of the master himself I was dreaming all night, and of no one else." Soon after the lady died, and the girl, remembering her dream, watched her opportunity to tie a piece of skin taken from a corpse recently buried round the arm of her master while he slept. After this he became violently in love with the girl, though she was exceedingly ugly, and within the year he married her, his love all the while remaining fervent and unchanged. But exactly one year and a day after her marriage her bedroom took fire by accident, and the strip of skin, which she had kept carefully hidden in her wardrobe, was burnt, along with all her grand wedding-clothes. Immediately the magic charm was broken, and the hatred of the gentleman for his low-born wife became as strong as the love he had once felt for her. In her rage and grief at finding nothing but coldness and insult, she confessed the whole story; and, in consequence, the horror she inspired amongst the people was so great that no one would serve her with food or drink, or sit near her, or hold any intercourse with her; and she died miserably and half mad before the second year was out--a warning and a terror to all who work spells in the name of the Evil One.