Roger J. Horne

In this new and vastly expanded edition, Cartomancy in Folk Witchcraft offers readers a well-sourced and practical guide to the witch’s card-based arts, unifying the realms of Marseille tarot and playing card divination and magic. Exploring the cards as a book of occult art authored by the Devil himself and drawing on cartomantic and folk-magical texts from hundreds of years in the past, this work is designed to serve as both guide and inspiration, allowing cartomancers to build on the lessons through their own experiments over time. Innovative approaches to old traditions in this volume include unique spreads, such as the “witch’s table,” advanced reading techniques, and rarely detailed methods of cartomantic craft, including Leland’s Aradian spirit conjuration, card-based sigilization and incantatory formulae, and ritual card pairings for sabbats and seasons. Newly included in this expanded edition are detailed card-by-card descriptions for both playing cards and Marseille tarot cards, a full chapter devoted to analyzing patterns in the tarot sequence, and an exploration of games and play using cards in order to develop budding skills in reading. The sound approaches in Cartomancy in Folk Witchcraft offer a corpus of transferrable lessons that can be utilized with any playing card deck or old-style tarot deck alike, emphasizing skillful pattern discernment over keywords and memorization. Roger J. Horne is a writer, folk witch, and modern animist. He is also the author of A Broom at Midnight, Folk Witchcraft, and The Witch’s Art of Incantation. His personal spiritual practice is informed by the magical currents of Scottish cunning craft and Appalachian herb-doctoring. Through his writing, Horne seeks to help other witches rediscover the living traditions of folk craft and connect to their own sacred initiatory threads of lore, land, and familiar spirit. Read more about his work at rogerjhorne.com.

Preserved in medieval and early modern witch-lore, the image of the witch embarking upon flight has become iconic from a historic and folkloric perspective. In the accounts of previous ages, however, it was commonly understood that witches flew in spirit form rather than corporeal form, leaving the physical body behind as the practitioner voyaged into the otherworld to procure knowledge, learn charms, visit boon or bane upon others, and attend the spiritual gathering of the witches' sabbat.In this unique offering, the author organizes the lore and charms of the transvective arts around thirteen central lessons and approaches in methodology, acting as gates through which the practitioner may cross. Some approaches offered here may be familiar to folk and traditional witches, such as via veneficium (by way of poison) and via equarum (by way of steed), while others, like via imaginibus (by way of image) and via tempestatis (by way of storm) draw on historic lore and charms in order to innovate upon old craft while maintaining the spirit that flavors these beloved arts.By mastering the often overlooked work of sabbatic ekstasis, the witch is brought into direct contact with familiar spirits, powers of the land and of ancestry, and with the primal sources of witchcraft itself, yielding an inexhaustible and ever-unfolding curriculum of the art magical.Roger J. Horne is a writer, folk witch, and modern animist. He is also the author of the Folk Witchcraft series. His personal spiritual practice is informed by the magical currents of Scottish cunning craft and Appalachian herb-doctoring. Through his writing, Horne seeks to help other witches rediscover the living tradition of folk craft and connect to their own sacred initiatory threads of lore, land, and familiar spirit. Learn more about him at rogerjhorne.com.From the The Transvective Arts in ContextThrough keyholes and twisted trees, by moonlight and candlelight, across oceans and fields and forests, witches fly. This is something even children know. It is ingrained in the lore of cultures around the world. What is less understood in modern times is the inherent symbolism of witch-flight, which together forms a body of lore-born wisdom. The actual praxis of engaging in flight—the charms, rituals, and recipes associated with this tradition of our art—is even less understood.Part of the problem lies in the diverse means and forms of folk witchcraft as a whole and our inability to make sense of its symbolism, abstraction, and pluralism when every other area of learning in our lives is governed by the cold science of empiricism. The other part of the challenge to understanding traditions of spirit flight is the romanticization of witchcraft that took place in popular literature from the early 1900s to sometime in the 1990s, exaggerating the role of the “hidden cult” and hiding the reality of folk craft practices in plain sight.Nonetheless, witches are at this moment coming home to their ancestral, lore and land-based folk traditions in droves never before seen. Disillusioned with the New Age movement and the attempt to forge a “one-size-fits-all” model of craft, witches are again exploring the old lore and charms of our ancestors, wresting them from obscurity and reinvigorating them with modern approach. The old grimoires and folkloric texts are again popular, and our ancestors smile on us as we experiment and develop our methodology to working charms that were once old, but are now new again.Among these, the rediscovered practice of transvection or spirit flight has enjoyed special popularity...

Please note that this title represents an older edition of this work, the new edition of which can be found Fifty-two the pages count in the devil's picture-book, thirteen signs within four suits of blood, knife, stone, and crook… Exploring the common playing card deck as a book of magic authored by Old Scratch himself and drawing on cartomantic and folk-magical texts from hundreds of years in the past, Cartomancy in Folk Witchcraft offers readers a concise, well-sourced, and practical guide to the witch's card-based arts. Innovative approaches to old traditions in this volume include unique spreads, such as "the witch's table," advanced reading techniques, and rarely detailed methods of cartomantic craft, including Leland's Aradian spirit conjuration, card-based sigilization and incantation formulae, and ritual card pairings for sabbats and seasons. In addition to a solid introduction to divination and magic using playing cards, this volume includes a brief essay exploring the inherent pairing structure in the trump sequence of the Marseille tarot. The sound approaches in Cartomancy in Folk Witchcraft seek to offer a corpus of transferable lessons that can be utilized with any playing card deck or old-style tarot deck alike, emphasizing skillful pattern discernment over keywords and memorization. From the The slim volume you now hold in your hand is inspired by the tradition of chapbooks from the mid-1800s detailing cartomantic operations, including works such as Mother Bunch's Golden Fortune-Teller (1857), The New Fortune Book or Conjurer's Guide (1850), and The Spaewife or Universal Fortune-Teller (1827). In the age of these concise books, now long passed, the reader could explore a variety of cartomantic methods and rhyming mnemonics without spending a fortune. Their methods were simple and accessible to all, designed for use by common folk. Anyone could pick up a deck of cards and begin to explore the subtle arts of cartomancy. In the spirit of this tradition, this work is intended to be both concise and practical. Today, one can find any number of oracle decks in a variety of themes and art styles, so why should the modern witch bother to train in the discipline of old folk cartomancy? Put simply, folk cartomancy offers us a connection to our past and to arts that are skill-based rather than product-based, cunning rather than consumerist. By learning these methods and approaches, the witch can read with cards in a variety of styles, including the elusive tarot minors in unillustrated decks like the Marseille tarot. The history of folk cartomancy is old and rich indeed. In fact, evidence suggests the existence of diverse folk-magical practices involving cards long before the tarot rose to its now prominent position. Huson (2004) notes that La Spagna Istoriata , published in 1519, makes reference to making a circle and “throwing the cards.” Pierre de l’Ancre (1622) notes the use of cards to forge pacts with devils. In Witchcraft and the Inquisition in Venice, 1550-1650 , Martin (1989) describes alleged witches Angela and Isabella Bellochio, who supposedly used cards extensively in their rites. Leland’s (1899) collection of Italian folklore published as The Gospel of the Witches of Italy lists the ability to “divine by cards” as a gift given to those who follow the path of witchcraft. Unfortunately, the practitioners who belonged to these currents of cartomancy were not so fortunate as to bequeath their work in the form of a cohesive tradition. Instead, it is up to us to reconstruct their wisdom from the fragments we collect like jewels...

this product page represents an older edition of this title. See the new edition available as of March, 2021 at Complete with practical exercises, descriptions of craft theories and models, hand-drawn illustrations, and the author's working grimoire, Folk Witchcraft provides the student witch with an insightful perspective on the craft that is firmly rooted in the past, but adapted for the present. Experienced witches will deepen and enrich their practices by connecting more fully to traditional magics from hundreds of years in the past. Learn how -Master ecstatic methods of spirit-flight described in witch-lore -Celebrate the turning of the seasons with traditional rituals -Cultivate closer relationships with nature spirits and personal familiars -Work powerful traditional charms, such as the witches' ladder, the poppet, and blessing/cursing by gesture -Discern the magical properties of herbs and plants without relying on tables from books -Augur practical guidance from the spirit world -Utilize old craft incantations, remedies, and recipes -Connect with the Old Ones, the ancestors of Folk Witchcraft -Experience shapeshifting into various animal spirit forms -Craft herbal unguents, oils, powders, tinctures, and infusions -Interpret incantations, charms, and sigils received from your own familiar spirits -Research and hone your own lore and grimoire-sourced magical practices With over 50 rituals, charms, and exercises, Folk Witchcraft offers a refreshingly simple approach to the craft that is non-dogmatic, flexible, and rewarding as a personal spiritual practice. From the Let’s imagine that we aren’t miles apart. We’re sitting by a fire, looking out into the mysterious night. It’s All Hallow’s Eve, so there’s a chill in the wind, and the branches of the trees are bare. The stars are bright. Embers from the fire catch on the wind in bright flurries, drifting up into the yawning dark like fireflies. We are here to talk about witchcraft, about spirits, about the land. We are going to talk about the cycles of nature and what they mean. We’ll talk about our dreams and visions. We’ll nourish our spirits with wisdom from the old lore. Beyond the crackling fire’s glow, the shadows lingering between the trees could almost be our ancestors. In many ways, we are living in the golden age of witchcraft. New traditions are springing up all around us. Writers, bloggers, and vloggers share their approaches and ideas. Scholars have begun to unpack the old lore through the lens of legitimate spiritual experience. Books on the craft are published every day. These modern grammars usually share the author’s rituals, their charms, their holidays, and provide a step-by-step approach to conducting craft workings. They try to explain what witches do, what they believe, how they conduct their rituals, what rules they should follow. Sometimes they offer a spurious account of witch history and lineage that leaves the reader more puzzled than before. These books provide much of the how, but little of the why. Pre-made models and rituals that are practiced without an understanding of their source are like cut they are beautiful on the kitchen table, but quickly wither away. This is not that kind of book. Make no mistake; by the end of this book, you will have a treasury of charms, rituals, incantations, and practical methods by which you can conduct your craft. My larger goal, however, is to provide students of the craft with the means by which to connect with the source of witchcraft, those gates of initiation through which any witch worth his salt must pass. Because folk witchcraft is a living tradition, most of us hone and polish our craft over time. We research, experiment, and adapt. We follow the guidance of our familiar spirits. We listen to the land...