[PDF] The Old Magic Of Christmas eBook

Author : Linda Raedisch
Publisher : Llewellyn Worldwide
Page : 314 pages
File Size : 29,43 MB
Release : 2013
Category : Body, Mind & Spirit
ISBN : 0738733342

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'Tis the Season for Witches, Elves, and a Legion of Ghosts Not so very long ago, Yuletide was as much a chilling season of ghosts and witches as it was a festival of goodwill. In The Old Magic of Christmas, you'll rub elbows with veiled spirits, learn the true perils of elves, and discover a bestiary of enchanted creatures. Rife with the more frightful characters from folklore and the season's most petulant ghosts, this book takes you on a spooky sleigh ride from the silvered firs of a winter forest to the mirrored halls of the Snow Queen. Along the way, you'll discover how to bring the festivities into your home with cookie recipes and craft instructions, as well as tips for delving more deeply into your relationship with the unseen. Praise: "Steeped in history and adorned with a bit of enchantment, The Old Magic of Christmas is the perfect book to read by a winter's fire with a mug of mulled cider in hand."--Deborah Blake, author of The Witch's Broom "...[A] fascinating journey into the stories behind the tinsel and bows."--Doreen Shababy, author of The Wild & Weedy Apothecary "...[A]n intriguing little tome that explores the darker side of the Yuletide holiday."--Ellen Dugan, author of The Enchanted Cat

Author : Christian Rätsch
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
Page : 559 pages
File Size : 17,79 MB
Release : 2006-10-24
Category : Religion
ISBN : 1594776601

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An examination of the sacred botany and the pagan origins and rituals of Christmas • Analyzes the symbolism of the many plants associated with Christmas • Reveals the shamanic rituals that are at the heart of the Christmas celebration The day on which many commemorate the birth of Christ has its origins in pagan rituals that center on tree worship, agriculture, magic, and social exchange. But Christmas is no ordinary folk observance. It is an evolving feast that over the centuries has absorbed elements from cultures all over the world--practices that give plants and plant spirits pride of place. In fact, the symbolic use of plants at Christmas effectively transforms the modern-day living room into a place of shamanic ritual. Christian Rätsch and Claudia Müller-Ebeling show how the ancient meaning of the botanical elements of Christmas provides a unique view of the religion that existed in Europe before the introduction of Christianity. The fir tree was originally revered as the sacred World Tree in northern Europe. When the church was unable to drive the tree cult out of people’s consciousness, it incorporated the fir tree by dedicating it to the Christ child. Father Christmas in his red-and-white suit, who flies through the sky in a sleigh drawn by reindeer, has his mythological roots in the shamanic reindeer-herding tribes of arctic Europe and Siberia. These northern shamans used the hallucinogenic fly agaric mushroom, which is red and white, to make their soul flights to the other world. Apples, which figure heavily in Christmas baking, are symbols of the sun god Apollo, so they find a natural place at winter solstice celebrations of the return of the sun. In fact, the authors contend that the emphasis of Christmas on green plants and the promise of the return of life in the dead of winter is just an adaptation of the pagan winter solstice celebration.

Author : Trisha Ashley
Publisher : HarperCollins UK
Page : 257 pages
File Size : 38,39 MB
Release : 2011-10-03
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 1847563015

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A deliciously seasonal and heart-warming tale from the Sunday Times bestseller

Author : Michael Garland
Publisher : Puffin
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 29,19 MB
Release : 2003-09-22
Category : Christmas stories
ISBN : 9780142501405

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No Marketing Blurb

Author : Al Ridenour
Publisher : Feral House
Page : 327 pages
File Size : 10,71 MB
Release : 2016-09-12
Category : History
ISBN : 162731041X

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The Krampus, a folkloric devil associated with St. Nicholas in Alpine Austria and Germany, has been embraced by the American counterculture and is lately skewing mainstream. The new Christmas he seems to embody is ironically closer to an ancient understanding of the holiday as a perilous, haunted season. In the Krampus' world, witches rule Christmas, and saints can sometimes kill.

Author : Tristram Potter Coffin
Publisher :
Page : 220 pages
File Size : 14,22 MB
Release : 1973
Category : Christmas
ISBN : 9780816491582

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Insights into the culture of pre-Christian Europe are provided as the author seeks out the origins and meanings of songs, food, legends, and other items associated with yuletide.

Author : Sue Stainton
Publisher : Harper Collins
Page : 36 pages
File Size : 48,83 MB
Release : 2007-10-16
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 0060785713

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Santa helps the reindeer find their missing magical bells.

Author : Rob Scotton
Publisher :
Page : 36 pages
File Size : 28,75 MB
Release : 2016-10-01
Category :
ISBN : 9781945546105

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Russell's Christmas Magic Storybook Greetings

Author : John Grossman
Publisher : Harry N. Abrams
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 17,16 MB
Release : 2008-10-01
Category : Religion
ISBN : 9781584796992

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A colorful assortment of two hundred antique postcards, greeting cards, advertising giveaways, and other ephemera from the Victorian and Edwardian eras offers a unusual study of the darker side of Christmas past, a holiday marked by dissipation, drunkeness, and other rowdy misbehavior.

Author : Heather Graham
Publisher : Penguin
Page : 338 pages
File Size : 27,30 MB
Release : 2012-11-06
Category : Fiction
ISBN : 0451238443

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“An enchanting and heartwarming story, A Magical Christmas is a perfect gift for the season.”—RT Book Reviews From New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Heather Graham comes a wondrous Christmas romance to be reread and cherished anew each year.... Jon and Julie Radcliff are facing the last Christmas of a marriage in trouble. The love they once shared has been tattered by time and torn apart by divergent goals. Their teenagers, Christie and Jordan, are rebellious, and their youngest child, six-year-old Ashley, is showing the hurt and confusion of her family’s turmoil. Yet somehow the Christmas season must be gotten through, even if it is only for appearance’s sake. The perfect place for this is the Oak River Plantation, where the Radcliffs are promised a traditional Christmas. So imagine their surprise when they are met by the quaint couple in charge, Jesse and Clarissa Wainscott, dressed in costumes dating from before the Civil War. Have they somehow entered a place that spans the gulf between past and present? Before Jon and Julie and their children can uncover the secrets surrounding their mysterious but marvelous hosts, they become aware of some profound truths about themselves—and they discover that love lost can be found, making the bond of marriage and family strong enough to survive—even triumph.