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Craft of the Untamed: An Inspired Vision of Traditional Witchcraft
The Craft of the Untamed sets out to present the main pillars of traditional witchcraft. Its premise is that a proper tradition is defined as a timeless unity. Outwardly the tradition bears a great diversity across different lands and spirit. Traditional witchcraft is found in various sodalities and groups across the world. Even so it is possible to discern several harmonious, shared themes. These themes are the land, the crossroads, death, night and the mountain of Venus. It is witchcraft where a human and angelic blood mingles to form a special pedigree that has shaped the archetypical image of the witch.
Traditional witchcraft is largely a peasant craft. These "black arts" are works of the earth and the black soil with all its mystery of death, growth and change. This book aims to present the craft free for needless obscuration. I have endeavored to reveal the richness of the tradition as it flows down through time and geographical space.
The reader will come to appreciate and understand the wise arts both infernal and celestial; the powers wielded by the denizens of the night will be accessible; and you will come to value them for their beauty and power.
Contents: Foreword by Shani Oates/Introduction//At the Crossroads of the Worlds/Solomonic Magick//The Blood of the Living Bones/Within the Mountain of Dame Venus/The Vinculum of Eros/The Art of Timeless Tradition/Within the Veil of Night/Against the Current
184 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 2, 2015
This is definitely a tribute to the dark ones. definitely not a fluffy safe version of the craft and this is definitely not Wicca. THe author is a student of many traditions and he pulls from such sources as Traditional British Witchcraft , Voudou, Hoodoo, Goetia, Santeria and perhaps several others that I may have missed . The rending is poetic and inspirational , a reading that will definitely transport you to the Emerald Castle in the North. I should be as poetic.
In the early days mankind was close to nature and it's spirit aligned with that of the forest. Taboos against sex were not yet instituted by the all powerful Christian Church , which enclosed the continent of Europe in a bloody grip fog terror in order to force upon it the ways of the cardinal and church fathers. After Christianity became established anything that was wild and free was considered dangerous and evil. Instead of everything being thought of as one it was not a dichotomy of good and evil something which they defined. THe witch saw everything as interconnected and the more connecting a goal to a thing the more likely it was about to manifest. The gods of old were equated with the devil or other demons. Such inspiration for the devil came from HErmes, Baal and Mithras. But really who is the devil? Are Satan and Lucifer the same entity.? Some would say yes and others would say no. Satan means opposer while Lucifer was a light bringer. Light bringers such as Prometheus often brought knowledge to mankind, often at great cost to themselves. THe author covers this much in depth.
Discussions go into the nature of the dark goddess and her many faces. Lilith, Hecate, Circe are all discussed as well as wondering in the night ffor it is from darkness that hidden knowledge is revealed and our unmanifest desires become manifest. Fairies, Jinn and other spiritual creatures are discussed as is their interaction with mankind. What is the3 nature of these beings? Read and find out. As the question as to what makes a witch is discussed there is talk of faerie blood and human spirit interaction in the creation of witch blood. THe book has some recipes and several rituals.
FOr those wishing toi pursue the old traditional craft this is one good book to have in your collections. I would advise reading some of Michael Howards materials along with Paul Husson to get a complete picture and develop your practice.
In the early days mankind was close to nature and it's spirit aligned with that of the forest. Taboos against sex were not yet instituted by the all powerful Christian Church , which enclosed the continent of Europe in a bloody grip fog terror in order to force upon it the ways of the cardinal and church fathers. After Christianity became established anything that was wild and free was considered dangerous and evil. Instead of everything being thought of as one it was not a dichotomy of good and evil something which they defined. THe witch saw everything as interconnected and the more connecting a goal to a thing the more likely it was about to manifest. The gods of old were equated with the devil or other demons. Such inspiration for the devil came from HErmes, Baal and Mithras. But really who is the devil? Are Satan and Lucifer the same entity.? Some would say yes and others would say no. Satan means opposer while Lucifer was a light bringer. Light bringers such as Prometheus often brought knowledge to mankind, often at great cost to themselves. THe author covers this much in depth.
Discussions go into the nature of the dark goddess and her many faces. Lilith, Hecate, Circe are all discussed as well as wondering in the night ffor it is from darkness that hidden knowledge is revealed and our unmanifest desires become manifest. Fairies, Jinn and other spiritual creatures are discussed as is their interaction with mankind. What is the3 nature of these beings? Read and find out. As the question as to what makes a witch is discussed there is talk of faerie blood and human spirit interaction in the creation of witch blood. THe book has some recipes and several rituals.
FOr those wishing toi pursue the old traditional craft this is one good book to have in your collections. I would advise reading some of Michael Howards materials along with Paul Husson to get a complete picture and develop your practice.
January 16, 2021
"Many contemporary presentations of this subject take an eclectic approach, which often leads to an uncritical use of myths and legends. This distinctively modern approach is often accompanied by an erroneous use of etymology and epistemology where phenomena are taken out of context and given distorted meaning."
It is astounding and disappointing that Frisvold says this in the second paragraph of the text's introduction, then goes on to do the exact same thing. This book is packed with information from almost any spiritual tradition one can name, but it is so discombobulated, unorganized, and seemingly indiscriminately arranged that the reader is left with the feeling that they just perused an under-performing undergraduate's lecture notes.
It is astounding and disappointing that Frisvold says this in the second paragraph of the text's introduction, then goes on to do the exact same thing. This book is packed with information from almost any spiritual tradition one can name, but it is so discombobulated, unorganized, and seemingly indiscriminately arranged that the reader is left with the feeling that they just perused an under-performing undergraduate's lecture notes.
July 14, 2016
A delightful journey into various aspects of the Craft. Frisvold penetrates his subject from different viewpoints, exploring chapter by chapter first metaphysical and relating aspects and giving in the end a ritual instruction. Taking into consideration the major ways to write a book about the Arte - practical, theoretical (ie. metaphysical, systematizing practice) and/or meta-theoretical (ie. trying to explain), "Craft of the Untamed" is a philosophically and theologically oriented text with practical considerations which provides stepping stones into the personal explorations of its various topics. Rather uncommon for a book within the field of witchcraft this is a) not a spellbook and b) not focused on thaumaturgy but implies in the end the union between usually thaumaturgic and theurgic operations.
I only have two minor critizisms which may be of less importance considering the rather "essayistic" format of the text: Being an anthropologist, Frisvold makes relatively little of his training in a methodological sense. Here I would have enjoyed a more thorough distinction between historical fact and mythological conclusion including additional references. His voice is educated and the content not overly obfuscated but he has from time to time a manner of jumping through assiciations which makes it somewhat hard to follow and creates an impression of notes rather than a "fluent" text.
Be cautious and have patience with your practice. It is an introduction into a tradition and as such for the rather advanced practitioner of the Arte.
I only have two minor critizisms which may be of less importance considering the rather "essayistic" format of the text: Being an anthropologist, Frisvold makes relatively little of his training in a methodological sense. Here I would have enjoyed a more thorough distinction between historical fact and mythological conclusion including additional references. His voice is educated and the content not overly obfuscated but he has from time to time a manner of jumping through assiciations which makes it somewhat hard to follow and creates an impression of notes rather than a "fluent" text.
Be cautious and have patience with your practice. It is an introduction into a tradition and as such for the rather advanced practitioner of the Arte.
June 17, 2020
Ao contrário do que o autor diz, bruxaria é sim um fenômeno europeu e isso não tem nada ver com uma tentativa racista de embranquecer a bruxaria. Bruxaria é feitiçaria européia, outros continentes tem suas formas de feitiçaria tbm - feiticaria africana, feitiçaria chinesa e japonesa na Ásia, etc - mas bruxaria é somente e por definição a de países da Europa, já que ela é toponímica e ligada à tradições regionais e folclore local de lá.
E ela é diferente da magia de ordens como AA, OTO, Golden Dawn e Cultus Sabbati.
Existe a bruxaria ancestral, a antiga, a medieval, a tradicional, a moderna e a contemporânea. O tipo de bruxaria defendida pelo Frisvold em seus livros cai na classe contemporânea, já que tem influências das ordens pelas quais passou, mistura a feitiçaria dos bruxos com a magia dos magos e também com a Gnose, já que em seus livros e blog dele e de sua esposa, como o Starry Cave, o Crux Sabbati e o Via Tortuosa, eles falam nos bruxos como pellars, astutos ou espertos descendentes do Sangue de Caim e cainitas, assim como setianos, tifonianos, ofitas, dracotifonianos e dracossetianos são gnósticos e é por isso que eles defendem que a bruxaria é uma heresia cristã, mas ao contrário do que eles dizem, essa não é uma visão tradicional.
Eles tb gostam de falar bastante nos cunning folks, mas esses são mais praticantes de folk magic, magia popular, estão mais próximos do que chamam de curandeiros na América Latina, não tem nada a ver com formas iniciaticas e secretas de ritos de escolas de misterios ou ordens simbólicas, metafísicas e filantrópicas.
Também membros de ordens como o Cultus Sabbati, do qual ele afirma fazer parte, falam em Tubal Caim por uma influência maçônica, assim como os membros do Clã que levam seu nome, pois Robert Cochrane, seu fundador, era maçom. Eles criam ainda uma triade de Samael e Azrael, anjos cabalísticos de Marte e Plutão, como se fossem anjos caídos - por uma influência da obra do Howard que era luciferiano - com Azazel.
Ou seja, seus livros estão cheio de misturas e equívocos e visões preconcebidas adquiridas em ordens de influências maçônicas, roscaruzes/protestantes, judaicocristãs, etc e as apresenta como único e verdadeiro - pois defendem uma verdade perene (conceito vindo da filosofia perene, fundada por um funcionário da biblioteca vaticana) - e correto caminho de bruxaria tradicional, se assemelhando bastante aos discursos de pastores que defendem suas fés como as únicas autênticas, quando são frutos de uma segunda e terceira ondas.
E ela é diferente da magia de ordens como AA, OTO, Golden Dawn e Cultus Sabbati.
Existe a bruxaria ancestral, a antiga, a medieval, a tradicional, a moderna e a contemporânea. O tipo de bruxaria defendida pelo Frisvold em seus livros cai na classe contemporânea, já que tem influências das ordens pelas quais passou, mistura a feitiçaria dos bruxos com a magia dos magos e também com a Gnose, já que em seus livros e blog dele e de sua esposa, como o Starry Cave, o Crux Sabbati e o Via Tortuosa, eles falam nos bruxos como pellars, astutos ou espertos descendentes do Sangue de Caim e cainitas, assim como setianos, tifonianos, ofitas, dracotifonianos e dracossetianos são gnósticos e é por isso que eles defendem que a bruxaria é uma heresia cristã, mas ao contrário do que eles dizem, essa não é uma visão tradicional.
Eles tb gostam de falar bastante nos cunning folks, mas esses são mais praticantes de folk magic, magia popular, estão mais próximos do que chamam de curandeiros na América Latina, não tem nada a ver com formas iniciaticas e secretas de ritos de escolas de misterios ou ordens simbólicas, metafísicas e filantrópicas.
Também membros de ordens como o Cultus Sabbati, do qual ele afirma fazer parte, falam em Tubal Caim por uma influência maçônica, assim como os membros do Clã que levam seu nome, pois Robert Cochrane, seu fundador, era maçom. Eles criam ainda uma triade de Samael e Azrael, anjos cabalísticos de Marte e Plutão, como se fossem anjos caídos - por uma influência da obra do Howard que era luciferiano - com Azazel.
Ou seja, seus livros estão cheio de misturas e equívocos e visões preconcebidas adquiridas em ordens de influências maçônicas, roscaruzes/protestantes, judaicocristãs, etc e as apresenta como único e verdadeiro - pois defendem uma verdade perene (conceito vindo da filosofia perene, fundada por um funcionário da biblioteca vaticana) - e correto caminho de bruxaria tradicional, se assemelhando bastante aos discursos de pastores que defendem suas fés como as únicas autênticas, quando são frutos de uma segunda e terceira ondas.
November 19, 2014
It was a very good book for understanding a bit more of what Traditional Witchcraft actually is. I had been referred to the book when I asked a colleague about learning more about these traditions and I was not disappointed. The art work is also quite fascinating.
November 12, 2020
This book was one of the most interesting and wonderful readings I had in a while. Maybe a bit too specific in certain topics and arguments, but extremely good to read to have a concrete insight/introduction on old good traditional witchcraft (very different from the one so popular today, Harry Potter and New Age style). Very recommend to start scrunching the surface of more ancient (and I would say powerful) stuff.
July 14, 2025
Nick is simply one of a kind. As far as I'm aware, this is one of his earlier publications as a writer, but it's no less detailed than his other work on Afro-Caribbean religions. I enjoy the fact that he doesn't shy away from blood and entheogens in his vision of traditional witchcraft, nor does he shy away from the figures of the Black Man or the Witch Mother. If you're a beginner, and you want to start an authentic practice, this is the book to read.
November 3, 2018
I so wanted to give this book 5 stars and it's almost there, it's basically 4 and a half, but there are too many typoes, some pictures have an awful resolution and some of the formulas might have used a more poetic touch. Other than that, love the content.
July 2, 2019
As always, Frisvold does not disappoint. Only minor was its volume!
December 29, 2019
The poetic journey
Great book if you want to understand the core of the Arte and the left hand path gnosis 10/10 , Highly recommanded.
Great book if you want to understand the core of the Arte and the left hand path gnosis 10/10 , Highly recommanded.
July 27, 2022
A rambling mess that tries to mash together various mythologies, history, and psychology. There are a couple of interesting nuggets in here, but it's not worth it to dig through this to find them.
June 20, 2015
Varied in approach, I enjoyed looking at Western witchcraft from the different perspectives and influences. Interjecting practical spells and rituals, it is more than an expression of one practitioner's journey, but an explanation of the WHY. Just a lovely, lovely book.
March 8, 2012
Excelent. A Must-read!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews