Description
In the pre-Christian societies of Northern Europe, magic was embedded in the practical skills of everyday life. Everything in Nature was imbued with an inner spirit, as was anything made by hand. People believed in magic because it worked and because it was part of the functionality of their day-to-day lives. Many of these practical observances and customs continue to the present day as rural traditions, folk customs, household magic and celebrations of the high and holy days of the calendar. Exploring the magical pagan traditions of the people now called Celtic, Germanic, Scandinavian, Slavonic and Baltic, Nigel Pennick examines the underlying principle of the Northern Tradition - the concept of Wyrd - and how it empowers the arts of operative magic, such as direct natural magic and talismanic or sigil magic. Sigil magic involves the powers contained in objects which can be channelled after the appropriate ritual. Runes are the most powerful sigils in the Northern Tradition and were
