The Witches Craft by Raven Grimassi is one of the best Wiccan/pagan history books I’ve read in a long time. At the bottom of the cover, it says: The Roots of Witchcraft and Magical Transformation. This book is packed with all the knowledge of the old ways you could ask for.
Grimassi was trained in the ways of Italian Witchcraft, Brittic Witchcraft, and Pictish-Gaelic Tradition. In this particular book, he talks about a Goddess that is near and dear to my heart. Hecate. He does an excellent job of unveiling how it was she went from being a Maiden Goddess to being a Crone.
He provides for us the Roots of the Old Religion and explains that by using old Texts such as Canon Episcopi, which was directed toward people who thought they traveled or rode with the Goddess, we can discover the hidden truth of the ancient ways. He admits that much of what is used in these books is taken out of context. But, we can put them back into context and use them in the ways they were intended. He provides many different examples that are well worth the read.
One of the things I like about this book is that he takes another look at the tools of the craft. He uses what he found in historical texts and his own knowledge granted to him through the different forms of training he has had and shows the original reasons why a tool was used. One example is the Witches Broom. He points out that the broom wasn’t just a tool of the Goddess but was a representation of both the Goddess and God. The Shaft or handle symbolized the phallus of the Male and the foliage symbolized the females “pubic patch”. He goes on to even explain the use of the Ritual Scourge a tool that is often frowned upon in this day and age.
If ever there was a book to help those who do not understand who the Pagans were and what it means to us today, this is it. My mother keeps trying to understand my path. I will be giving her this book, the next time I see her so that she can get a better view of the history she doesn’t seem to understand. I highly recommend this book to anyone exploring the path either as their own possible spiritual path or to better understand someone they love.
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