Dreams of Witches

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By Christina Oakley Harrington.

Free, pagan, transgressive: worshippers of Pan, devotees of Diana. The men and women who meet under a full moon in the wild woods danced, sing, made music, and made love; in the home they make potions and mutter spells, be it to curse or cure. The witch image infused the European imagination down the centuries, appearing in court records, prose, and poetry. The impulse the literature described finally became a practiced mystery religion in the twentieth century, in the form of Wicca as it coalesced in the New Forest in the 1930s and 30s. The poems and passages in this book illustrate the supportive imagination of the New Forest Coven and its most famous initiate, Gerald Gardner. They date from the late medieval period through the Edwardian age, and all were instrumental, influential - inspiring early pagans, and hopefully, too, readers today.

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Edition:

By Christina Oakley Harrington.

Free, pagan, transgressive: worshippers of Pan, devotees of Diana. The men and women who meet under a full moon in the wild woods danced, sing, made music, and made love; in the home they make potions and mutter spells, be it to curse or cure. The witch image infused the European imagination down the centuries, appearing in court records, prose, and poetry. The impulse the literature described finally became a practiced mystery religion in the twentieth century, in the form of Wicca as it coalesced in the New Forest in the 1930s and 30s. The poems and passages in this book illustrate the supportive imagination of the New Forest Coven and its most famous initiate, Gerald Gardner. They date from the late medieval period through the Edwardian age, and all were instrumental, influential - inspiring early pagans, and hopefully, too, readers today.

[read more below]

  • Black Letter Press

    We've come across some first-edition copies of Dreams of Witches! If you're a collector, now is your opportunity to grab one.

    This edition features a night blue cloth bound cover adorned with gold gilt decoration and titling on the front and spine. Printed on durable, age-resistant paper with a rough ivory texture, the cover design pays homage to Gustav Klimt's renowned 1898 piece, "Fischblut." This work represents Klimt's profound artistic expression, capturing his metaphysical perspective on life as an eternal, ethereal existence through its imagery of endless floating forms.

    1st Edition

  • Black Letter Press

    This edition is printed and bound in Venice by Grafiche Veneziane in turquoise Wibalin Buckram. The front and spine are decorated and titled in gold gilt. This edition is printed on rough ivory, wood-free, age-resistant paper. The Cover design shows an elaboration of 1898 Fischblut by Gustav Klimt, his greatest work of graphic design and a seminal artistic statement for him. Its imagery embodies Klimt's metaphysical view of life as an endless floating form. Gilded on the front.

    2nd Edition

  • Black Letter Press

    The cover is made of a thick Fedrigoni carton. It is thread sewn and the book block is made of rough ivory, wood-free, age-resistant paper. It measures 140 x 215 mm and is printed and bound by Grafiche Veneziane in Venice, Italy.

 

About the Publisher

Black Letter Press is a small independent publisher located close to Hannover in Northern Germany, founded by Alice and Claudio Rocchetti in 2018 in Turin, with the publication of Giambattista della Porta's Natural Magick.

BLP specializes in the revival of rare and antique books on a broad range of topics, including the sciences and history of science, poetry, occult philosophy, art, curious and unusual literature, and more.

Our mission is to do these historical texts justice, publishing books that are fine and beautiful, yet remaining affordable and accessible.

Description

Free, pagan, transgressive: worshippers of Pan, devotees of Diana. The men and women who meet under a full moon in the wild woods danced, sing, made music, and made love; in the home they make potions and mutter spells, be it to curse or cure. The witch image infused the European imagination down the centuries, appearing in court records, prose, and poetry. The impulse the literature described finally became a practiced mystery religion in the twentieth century, in the form of Wicca as it coalesced in the New Forest in the 1930s and 30s. The poems and passages in this book illustrate the supportive imagination of the New Forest Coven and its most famous initiate, Gerald Gardner. They date from the late medieval period through the Edwardian age, and all were instrumental, influential - inspiring early pagans, and hopefully, too, readers today.

Christina Oakley Harrington is Treadwell’s founder and presiding spirit. She was voraciously interested in spirituality and magic since childhood, and grew up in West Africa, Burma, and Chile, only moving to the West at the age of fifteen. In her early twenties, she was heartened to discover Europe’s own native religious traditions and has been a pagan ever since. A former academic, she left university life in 2001 to establish Treadwell’s. These days she serves as a consultant for programs and projects but is usually at the shop. She is the author of two books and numerous articles and was co-founder and literary editor of Abraxas: International Journal for Esoteric Studies.