Horns of Honor: Regaining the Spirit of the Pagan Horned God

by Frederick Thomas Elworthy, Raven Grimassi (Editor)

For the modern Pagan and Witchcraft community, horns play a major role as a symbol of fertility, power, and protection and yet there are few books that discuss the significance in a way that makes sense to a practicing Pagan.

In Horns of Honor, neopagan scholar and award-winning author Raven Grimassi updates one of the few classic texts on horns, Frederick Thomas Elworthy's classic 1900 text, Horns of Honor. Grimassi has added a new introduction, footnotes, and commentary to make this extensive overview of animal horns in cultures across time, accessible to the Pagan community.

Horns of Honor examines the religious and ritualistic significance of horns in many cultures, the ancient reverence for horned gods, and the horn as a positive symbol.

This revived classic is sure to be welcomed by all in the Pagan community.

Genres: Paganism, Nonfiction, Religion

280 pages, Paperback

First published June 28, 2008

About the author

Elworthy, F.T. 1830-1907
Elworthy, Frederic T. 1830-1907
Elworthy, Frederic Thomas 1830-1907
Elworthy, Frederick T. 1830-1907

Reviews

[Mara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am by no means a horn-ologist (which I'm pretty sure isn't a word), nor am I a a scholar of Modern Paganism. However, I am someone who enjoys learning about the evolution of symbols and ideas in culture (semiotics?) and, for that reason, found this book to be very interesting. That being said, it did feel "academic" at times, but I add that not as a criticism, but, more a note on what one should expect from this book.

It's very difficult to give this book just one rating as it's a re-issue of Fredrick Thomas Elworthy's 1900 book, but with an introduction and helpful commentary from the editor, Raven Grimassi. Unsurprisingly, Grimassi's introduction and commentary were much more accessible.

Going into reading this, my understanding of the significance of horns in art was largely informed by a ninth-grade trip to see the Lady and the Unicorn tapestries in France and learned all about what Grimassi refers to as "the horn and its association with sexual freedom" (very racy stuff for a ninth grader).

Now I realize, however, that horns in all of their symbolic glory are kind of everywhere. (My favorite example, not given in the book, being the Spirit of the Forest in Princess Mononoke).


The "White Stag" and its symbolic relationship to honor and power is just one of countless examples of the pre-scandalized horn (think the devil, Pan, horn-y). I won't try to summarize the symbolic evolution- for that the book is very much worth reading.

I read this through the Goodreads Giveaway First Reads program.

[Cwn_annwn_13 · Rating 2 out of 5]

I decided to read this because I thought it would focus on the various horned entities and God's of pre christian Europe but it's focused on the symbolism or meaning of crowns, plumed and horned helmets. The evolution of Pan and various European Horned Gods being rebranded as "the devil" by Christians when they attempted their spiritual genocide of European people and also a lot of stuff on hand signs in religious ceremony and iconography. There was some interesting stuff in this but it was written in a very dry academic but at the same time rambling and unfocused way so I'd only recommend this for people doing deep research on the subject matter covered in this book.

2.5 out of 5 stars.

[Darrell Kinney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm writing my review now because I'm done with this book. I did not finish the chapter on sacred disks because I simply couldn't take the authors lack of a central focus or thesis. This book is decent as a reference work on classical art and I did enjoy perusing the illustrated reconstructions of ancient artifacts. Elworthy is an antiquarian. He likes to collect, scrutinize and label things. It's clear from the vast collection of personal artifacts he owns that he cites that he is a collector or antiquarian bric-a-brac. That is mainly what this book does. Artifact after artifact as gazed at with suppositious eyes. I am left to wonder what authority the author had to make some of his claims.

Maybe I was misled by the editors retitling of this book the "Regaining of the Spirit of the Pagan horned god." There is little analysis or symbolism of the horned god.

I was most fascinated by the author's thesis that the crests and plumes on imperial headgear from the knights to Otto Von Bismarck, where symbols of the horn. In the beginning of the book there were some interesting passages. It's just that it takes this turn into art history with the chapter on hands. I understand the analogue the pointed fingers erect being a symbol of the horns. One has to look no further than the gesture which Ronnie James Dio revived which was really an ancient way of warding of the evil eye to see the connection between hand and horn. The horned gesture which so many people have misinterpreted to meaning a homage to Satan or an illuminati symbol.

So this is dated, very speculative, and poorly edited. Could be used as a reference work. Don't expect it to change your life.

[Nanci · Rating 3 out of 5]

Raven Grimassi's modern look at Frederick Thomas Elworthy's 1900 publication is an interesting study of its time, but I found the additional subtitle to be misleading. I feel that Grimassi's introduction to the new edition has much more to do with "Regaining the Spirit of the Pagan Horned God" than Elworthy's essays -- in fact, his introduction even says that the bulk of Elworthy's text refers to other symbols besides horns and horned deities. I would have preferred to have read a book that dealt specifically with what the subtitle stated, but still found this to be a rather informative read with many suppositions on the meanings of multiple symbols on a variety of Roman art that's probably not familiar to much of the general public.

[Trevor Madison · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked up Horns of Honor: Regaining the Spirit of the Pagan Horned God expecting an inspiring exploration of the Horned God and how to reconnect with his spirit in modern spiritual practice. Instead, what I got was a dense, academic slog through symbolic analysis and historical references.

The title suggests a spiritual revival, but this book reads more like a dissertation than a guide. While some of the information may be interesting to scholars or students of comparative mythology, it's presented in a way that’s dry, overly analytical, and completely lacking in soul. If you’re looking for inspiration, connection, or a living sense of the divine masculine, you won’t find it here.

Disappointed and honestly, a bit misled. This one wasn’t for me.

[Bekd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some parts very informative, but mostly very dry for what this topic could have been

[Ashleigh Furry · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not what I expected. Horns of Honor is a good name for the book how ever "regaining the spirit of the Pagan Horned God" should not also be in the cover as far as I am cincerned, it is misleading. Where to start with this one, ugh, I literally had to skip large chunks of this book and just skimmed them because I did not find where they should even be in here. Hand gestures and hand art are important and nice to learn about as an add in bonus to this book but not so much of it, seriously. This book practically went on a tangent multiple times straying away from topics about Horned God's at all. If you are looking for a book that helps you get more in touch with a Pagan path and The Horned God do NOT get this one, you will be sadly mistaken. I spent quite a lot of money on this book and regret it and I rarely regret things. The beginning to middle of the book is a decent read (the writers certainly did a lot of research to make this book and that is very commednable) if you are looking for a history on horns and how they later turned into symbols in art, etc. That is about all I got out of this book that was some what interesting but I could have found online for free. The topic of "thief candles" was very interesting to me but again, did not belong in this book as it is completely unrelated to any horned gods what so ever. This review is not positive unfortunately and I only give it two stars because of the effort of research it must have taken to write the book; it needs to be renamed.

[Paul Romero · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit slow but very informative. I give it a C+

[Marsha · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, I should say that I won this book through first reads - and THANK YOU for that. Sometimes, I am just in the kind of mood to read something more 'educational'. I also enjoy learning about various cultures, myths, religions, and the like. As, I have just begun to learn more about paganism in general, this was a great aside, though it didn't relate just to paganism but how the symbol of a horn has played a roll throughout various beliefs throughout history. As another reviewer mentioned, it was a bit academic. But, that was fine with me as that was kind of what I was in the mood to read anyway. I must say that I learned a lot - and now I notice the image of the horn a LOT!
Thank you again for allowing me to win this book. I really enjoyed it.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

First half of the book was on horns, and the second half on hands. I really enjoyed the horns portion, didn't care as much about the hands, but that was a personal preference, not author related. More of a technical read, though interesting. There was a real minimal overlay of Christianity, but the original author, Fredrick Elworthy did a really nice job of not making the Pagans of the time sound evil.

[Kit Findley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've only just glanced at the first few pages and I'm already enjoying it! This is just my kind of book. It goes into the spiritual connection humanity has with animal horns, throughout different cultures. It's fascninating!! I'm excited to read the rest of this and feel really thankful to have won this awesome book!! Thanks!!