Cat Heath - Elves, Witches & Gods: Spinning Old Heathen Magic in the Modern Day

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Elves, Witches & Gods: Spinning Old Heathen Magic in the Modern Day 2021 by Cat Heath.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

As the purchaser of this e-book, you are granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. The text may not be otherwise reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, or recorded on any other storage device in any form or by any means.

Any unauthorized usage of the text without express written permission of the publisher is a violation of the authors copyright and is illegal and punishable by law.

First e-book edition 2021

E-book ISBN: 9780738765501

Book design by Samantha Peterson

Cover design by Shira Atakpu

Editing by Laura Kurtz

Interior art by Llewellyn Art Department

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Heath, Catherine, author.

Title: Elves, witches & gods : spinning old heathen magic in the modern day

/ Cat Heath.

Other titles: Elves, witches and gods

Description: First edition. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Publications,

2021. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: A

book on Heathenry-based witchcraft, suitable for practitioners of all

levelsProvided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020050982 (print) | LCCN 2020050983 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738765358 (paperback) | ISBN 9780738765501 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Witchcraft. | Magic.

Classification: LCC BF1566 .H39 2021 (print) | LCC BF1566 (ebook) | DDC

133.4/3dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020050982

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020050983

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

This book is dedicated to my daughter, Pod.

May you always keep your fierceness and never

dim your light. I love you and always will.

Contents

List of

: Cosmology

: An Overview of Heathen Magic

: The Deities of Heathen Magic I: The Spindle and Spear

: Heathen Deities II: Freyr and the Elves

: Cosmology: Creation, Endings, and Geography

: Foundational Ideas in Heathen Magic

: The Practice of Heathen Magic

: Basic Skills

: Magical Tools

: The Pathways Between

: Fiber Magic

: Spoken Magic and Herbal Charms

: Safety and Troubleshooting

: Rites, Rituals, and Celebrations

Fundamentals, Experientials,
Remedies, and Recipes

: The Deities of Heathen Magic I: The Spindle and Spear

: Heathen Deities II: Freyr and the Elves

: Cosmology: Creations, Endings, and Geography

(Grounding and Centering)

: Foundational Ideas in Heathen Magic

: Basic Skills

: Magical Tools

: The Pathways Between

: Fiber Magic

: Spoken Magic and Herbal Charms

: Safety and Troubleshooting

: Rites, Rituals, and Celebrations

Foreword

W hen I heard that Catherine was writing a book, I was delighted. I respect her and all of the work she has done for the heathen community both locally and worldwide, even though her name itself is not yet highly known. A book! I thought. I cant wait to see what she writes!

Having read Elves, Witches, and Gods , I have to say that the wait has been worthwhile. Personally, I use scholarship to inform my spiritual practice. One of the first things I look for in a book is: is there scholarship and if so, is that scholarship accurate? This book certainly is. Catherine has researched magic, seidhr, charms, and Anglo Saxon as well as Old Norse practices, and her process is ongoing. The book is full of historically, culturally, and archeologically relevant information. Where she has had to divert from Old Norse and Anglos Saxon sources to fill in a blank spot, she has done so using other Indo-European sources, which she has clearly researched as thoroughly as the others. While full of research, Anglo-Saxon and Old Norse terms (among others), Catherine takes the time to define and explain in a way that makes the terms resonate with the reader rather than leaving them dry.

This is the second thing I look for in a book: is it readable? While I am just as fond of researching dry tomes full of doctorate level prose, I think that in general, books should be accessible to many people. This book is just that. Catherine writes in a clear, open prose that feels nearly conversational in its tone. She explains her topics, research, and thoughts using a narrative that does not patronizerather, the prose is straightforward and easy to understand.

Perhaps the best thing I can say about this book is that it is useful. Catherine uses a mix of scholarship and personal experience and tracks how she arrived at a belief, ritual, or other practice. This means that the book spans the gap between old and modern. When possible, she uses the source materials directlyfor example, using Anglo-Saxon era charms to ward off illness. When she uses her own understanding and inspiration to develop a practice, she clearly states that she is doing so, which means that the reader receives a thorough understanding of the place scholarship has in the modern record. Above all, this book is practical. Catherine has taken the time to show the reader where beliefs, practices, spirituality, and her processes come from, and encourages readers to develop their own practices in each chapter.

Catherine is very clear that this book is not for beginners. This is for people who already have basic beliefs and magical practices under their belt. That said, Catherine does provide what she calls foundations discussing such things as meditation, visualization, and other ways to develop a long-term practice and build on already existing practices. Chapter by chapter, each ritual builds on those that came before it, which shows how intertwined witchcraft, magic, and seidhr are. Working with the dead, with elves, and with gods can be very dangerous. This is not work for the faint of heart.