Читать книгу Dark Moon Magic - Cerridwen Greenleaf - Страница 9

During the Dark Ages, northern Europeans practiced a sort of “primal paganism.” The Goths were Germanic tribes, the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Vandals, Lombards, Burgundians, and Franks, hailing from the area we now know as Scandinavia. Gothic spirituality was informed by a mythology best described by the Roman historian Tacitus: “In their ancient songs, they celebrated an earth-god Tuisco, and his son Mannus, as the origin of race, as their founders.” Powerful female elders, or “seeresses,” passed down this pagan mythology through an oral tradition, and the runes were their only writing, a symbolic system used for signs and omens. Goths made quite a name for themselves as they moved across Europe, spreading destruction and even ransacking Rome. Their violent antics earned them the name “barbarian,” which was later replaced by the much more colorful term goth, meaning “uncivilized.”

What is Dark Moon magic? It is the modern art of magic deeply rooted in the old ways, a personal path that honors the ancient while harnessing the power of the past to enhance today’s daily living. It is a singular craft that heralds and encourages individualism while retaining an all-important connection to a spiritual tribe.

Dark Moon Magic is your all-inclusive guide to the art of magic for this new “dark age” in which we live, with both the history and how-to. Dark Moon Magic is the next step beyond Wicca for beginners. If you are a spiritual adventurer who likes to look at the other side and the hidden, strange, and mysterious, to discover a marvelous and unexpected world of enchantment, then Dark Moon Magic is for you. This volume will help you gain a fuller understanding of what makes Dark Moon magic unique and provides you with a stepping-off point for self-exploration and the creation of your own personalized spells and tribal rituals. Each chapter contains rituals, charms, and spells from simple “quickie” spells to more complex enchantments that mark very special rites of passage and engender the deepest personal transformation. Reader-friendly and eminently helpful, Dark Moon Magic is an instruction book for leading an utterly enchanted and empowered life.

Who are these Dark Moon witches anyway? To a “mundane” (the uninitiated non-witch), today’s Dark Moon witches are weirdos—extremely pale black-clad creatures who are overly interested in the world of the shadows and don’t seem to come out during the day If your idea of a good time is to dress as though you are in mourning, pack a lunch, and head off to the local cemetery for a picnic, you could be a Dark Moon witch!

Take a closer look, however, and you will find a rich tapestry of ideas and practices beyond the stereotypes. For example, Amber Rae, a witch in San Francisco, grows rare flora from the nineteenth century and uses them in her magical tinctures and essences. Similarly, Miss Kat, a ceremonial magician and Thelemite, studies Egyptian mythology and creates ritual music and art. You will also find that Dark Moon magicians are highly literate, spiritual, colorful, and creative people from all walks of life—doctors, attorneys, musicians, teachers, writers, and more. Yes, they all do wear a lot of black, but despite their rather gloomy appearance, they are probably having an awful lot of fun and pursuing the ancient adages of “Know thyself” and “To thine own self be true.”