The Witch at the Forest's Edge: Thirteen Keys to Modern Traditional Witchcraft

Description

I stand in the meadow, at the forest's edge. One step forward and I will straddle the boundary between fading light in the swaying grass and rich darkness in the woods. One more step and I will be immersed in the nighttime world of southern, hardwood forest. My home lay behind me, the wild magic ahead. I am the witch at the forest's edge. This book is an invitation to animists, ancestor worshipers, magic seekers, and the wild at heart. It systematically explores the foundational aspects of modern traditional witchcraft. The book is structured into 13 core chapters or classes that cover all essential skill sets for any modern, traditional witch in a practical, caring way. Each chapter offers suggested activities and/or reflections for journaling and a reading list for further exploration. Advanced skills such a hedge riding and ritual possession are taught in a structured, explicit way that makes them accessible to a wider audience. Written from an animistic perspective and without pushing any specific deities, the book offers a thorough practical and theoretical framework for considering each witch's personal theology and practice. Without pushing one cultural context, The Witch at the Forest's Edge offers the means to reflect on the multiple cultures that inform the practices of modern witches, encouraging the reader to think deeply and undergird modern practices with ancestral knowledge.

Christine Grace is a longtime teacher of the Craft and a founder of the Forest's Edge Tradition of witchcraft. She is cohost of the Betwixt & Between podcast, covering a variety of topics in witchcraft and everyday magic. She has a terminal graduate degree in theology (MDiv) and another in mental health counseling (EdM). Grace is a National Certified Counselor. She has served as a hospital chaplain and officiates weddings and funerals

"The Witch at the Forest's Edge by Christine Grace presents a thorough one-on-one introduction to the Forest's Edge Tradition's approach to modern witchcraft, while wonderfully adding to the conversation surrounding the execution and usefulness of a regional, animist-based practice." --Christopher Orapello, co-author of Besom, Stang, and Sword and co-host of the Down at the Crossroads podcast "The Witch at the Forests Edge is full of regional magic and wisdom that can really only be gained through experience. It's a great book for beginners and more seasoned practitioners alike because it doesn't just teach a technique, it offers a perspective into a different way to view the world around you."--Temperance Alden, author of Year of the Witch "The witch is a curious figure, existing in a uniquely liminal space of both fact and fiction, this world and the next. Many practitioners of magic walk a path that carefully stays in that middle ground, but a few heed the call to peek beyond the hedge, to walk amongst ancestors and spirits and gods and beings for which we don't yet have names. It can be daunting to leave that comfortable middle path, but Christine Grace's book The Witch at the Forest's Edge provides a gentle, encouraging hand to hold as you take your first steps past the hedge into the world beyond. The advice is practical, grounded in a practice that begins with what you have on hand and in your surroundings, includes discussion of ancestry and the many ways that family is made and found, and includes a deeply appreciated section on magical ethics. This book is practical, fresh, and will help guide a whole new generation off the well-trod path to embrace the old, wild magic found beyond the hedge." --Fire Lyte, author of The Dabbler's Guide to Witchcraft and host of Inciting A Riot "A thoughtful examination of witchcraft, The Witch at the Forest's Edge by Christine Grace explores a wide range of topics ranging from sourcing our tools ethically to examining the origins of what we think we know to Spirits of Place. Grace's gentle voice evokes a texture of dappled shade, as though these truths were shared on the border between this world and the next. The Witch at the Forest's Edge restores the animalia missing from pop culture witchcraft, linking nature's richness with modern understandings of community, respect for culture, and stewardship." --Amy Blackthorn, author of Blackthorn's Botanical Magic "The Witch at the Forest's Edge is accessible but deep work, and Christine Grace does not shy away from encouraging us to be open to more demanding practices and fields of study. An excellent book for seasoned witches, alongside those just starting down the path. " --Jen Rue Holmes, of Rue and Hyssop "To work as a witch means to embrace liminality, always moving between various states and layers of reality. Touching on thirteen different areas of a witch's practice, Christine Grace's exploration of what it means to occupy a place in the natural world challenges readers to think about specific aspects of their practice in a focused way. The Witch at the Forest's Edge is a welcome and thought-provoking addition to a modern library, enabling a practitioner to re-examine their spiritual connection to the natural world at any point in their journey." --Arin Murphy-Hiscock, author of The Green Witch "One of my many hats is as a forest farmer, so The Witch at the Forest's Edge by Christine Grace has a special meaning for me. I grew up as a forest dweller and live now with the woods at my back porch. This powerful and intensely liminal place holds the keys to a deepening of our spirituality, as well as a broadening of it. This book will be read, marked, pondered upon, and read again."--H. Byron Ballard, author of Seasons of a Magical Life