Magick Matters

“Runes for Beginners: A Guide to Understanding and Using the Ancient Germanic Alphabet” by Sebastian Berg

"Origins of the runic alphabet are shrouded in mystery. The earliest inscription is the one that reads Harja that might mean warrior or comb, which can be found on the Vimose comb in Denmark that dates back to 160 CE. This uses the runes so maturely and confidently that scholars think it resulted from about 100 years' experience from writing the runes over this amount of time. How this tradition was created has been debated and speculated for many years. Inspirations from the Roman and Greek alphabet, along with Danish and Italic origins have been suggested. The most likely is the Greek since it does resemble a variation of the Greek alphabet. The Greek alphabet...>>

“Runes for Beginners: Simple Divination and Interpretation” by Alexandra Chauran

"Connect with your intuition, discover more about your personality, and solve problems using the power of runes. With professional fortune-teller Alexandra Chauran as your guide, you can learn how to ask for and interpret the answers to your biggest life questions concerning love, your career, health, and many other important topics. A solid reference for both beginners and adepts, Runes for Beginners covers everything from rune meanings and memorization techniques to making your own runes. With help from diagrams, practical exercises, and phonetic breakdowns for all the runic letters, you'll develop a path most beneficial to your goals and improve your life. You'll even uncover traits about yourself that you may have never known."...>>

“Paper in My Shoe: Name Papers, Petition Papers, and Prayer Papers in Hoodoo, Rootwork, and Conjure” by Catherine Yronwode

"Learn how to craft spiritual name-paper links to distant people, employ written commands to get your way in life, use printed prayers and paper currency in candle spells, and carry prepared papers on your person for mastery and control. Paper in My Shoe is a practical manual that will teach you the art of written magic in the African American traditions of Hoodoo and Rootwork."...>>

“Reimagining Death: Stories and Practical Wisdom for Home Funerals and Green Burials” by Lucinda Herring

"Natural, legal, and innovative after-death care options are transforming the paradigm of the existing funeral industry, helping families and communities recover their instinctive capacity to care for a loved one after death and do so in creative and healing ways. Reimagining Death offers stories and guidance for home funeral vigils, advance after-death care directives, green burials, and conscious dying. When we bring art and beauty, meaningful ritual, and joy to ease our loss and sorrow, we are greening the gateway of death and returning home to ourselves, to the wisdom of our bodies, and to the earth."...>>

“The Misinformation Age: How False Beliefs Spread” by Cailin O’Connor and James Owen Weatherall

" Why should we care about having true beliefs? And why do demonstrably false beliefs persist and spread despite bad, even fatal, consequences for the people who hold them? Philosophers of science Cailin O’Connor and James Weatherall argue that social factors, rather than individual psychology, are what’s essential to understanding the spread and persistence of false beliefs. It might seem that there’s an obvious reason that true beliefs matter: false beliefs will hurt you. But if that’s right, then why is it (apparently) irrelevant to many people whether they believe true things or not? The Misinformation Age, written for a political era riven by “fake news,” “alternative facts,” and disputes over the validity of...>>