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       #Post#: 33--------------------------------------------------
       Galdrabok: An Icelandic Grimoire 
       By: Alfred Raeburne Date: October 27, 2014, 11:45 am
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  HTML http://www.amazon.com/Galdrabok-Icelandic-Grimoire-Stephen-Flowers/dp/087728685X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414427979&sr=1-1&keywords=Galdrabok
       "As a historical document, the Galdrabok is Stephen Flowers'
       account of an incredible survival of a Pagan era. It illuminates
       the Icelandic citizen's mindset in an era where mainland
       Europeans were being put to the sword for their beliefs in the
       Runes and the Old Ways.
       The naivete of some of the Galdrabok's spells (galdr) combining
       elements of Christian prayer and Pagan magic strikes one as
       charming. Here was a country where galdrmenn (sorcerers) mixed
       and matched the Traditions with childlike ease; almost like play
       for some of them, by all appearances.
       Customs of Icelandic magic are described: laws regarding
       kotruvers, gambling magic, for example, and birthing and healing
       magic ... and magic to expose thieves in their midst. These
       people were pragmatic in their use of magic, and they were a
       keenly inventive people, not afraid of experimenting.
       As long as it worked, it was used. If a spell didn't worked,
       they would recut the runes until something worked. And they
       wanted spells to pull a cow out of a bog or help a pig deliver a
       healthy litter, not this New Age channeling nonsense so
       prevalent in the modern world.
       For the serious Northern Tradition student, this book may need
       to be combined with other books, e.g. Northern Mysteries and
       Magick by Freya Aswynn, to ground one in the magical theory.
       "If you are interested in the book only for its historical
       value, as an anthropological treatise, it is an insightful look
       at the ancient Icelander's mindset, and is valuable in that
       respect.
       Some people (mostly Northern Tradition purists actively into
       magic) might say that the Galdrabok demonstrates the problem of
       mixing Christian and Pagan cultures. In the modern day, I'd say
       it was a document showing the wonders of multiculturalism in a
       most xenophobic era, and a goad for new practitioners of any
       sort of magic not to be afraid of playing with the format.
       If you are into serious and practical magic, this book can be
       your primer into a long - dormant art: the Art of spellcrafting.
       It shows you how the Icelanders used magic for practical ends,
       and they weren't afraid to experiment. If it worked, they didn't
       care if it was Christian and spoken in Latin. It worked, and
       that was that.
       In summary, it is a practical book of a potentially still -
       living magic, an anthropological insight into a way of life now
       long vanished, and a stepping stone to neomagicians in the magic
       - starved Third Millennium to rediscover something wonderful
       that's been lost for a long time to the world."~Cordor (Amazon
       Reviewer).
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