Balkan Traditional Witchcraft

by Radomir Ristic, Michael C. Carter (Translator)

Published in English for the first time, this groundbreaking book by Radomir Ristic is a compilation of historical data, anthropological studies, and the authors own experiences and interviews with the Witches of the Balkans. Covering both theory and practice, the book gives a complete system of Balkan Traditional Witchcraft. Balkan Traditional Witchcraft is an ancient system from humanity's dawn that has survived into modern times due to the unique history of the region, and its practice can be applied to any culture, state or region in the world. Translated into English by Michael C. Carter, Jr., this book - a bestseller in its native Serbia - is an incredible look into the world of the Balkan Witch, covering ritual trance, tools, rites for healing, love, divination, defense and for making charms. It also explores the supernatural beings that Balkan Witches share their world with, deities, fairies and other spirits. There has never been such a deep exploration of the magic of this region available in English before.

Genres: Nonfiction, Witchcraft, Occult, Spirituality, Paganism, Magick, Folklore

326 pages, Paperback

First published July 21, 2009

Reviews

[Trunatrschild · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book on Traditional witchcraft in the Balkans that is still alive and well. The author interviewed actual witches for this book so it's the real thing. It is better written than previous books by this publisher and is easier and more interesting to read than other books because it's based upon REAL activities, not supposed ones or reconstructed witchcraft. There is no influence from the Wests neo-nature fads from the 1800's nor the later occult boom of the turn of the 1900's and no Gardner nor Cochrane. This is the real thing folks and I wish that it was a lot more indepth, but as the author states several times that several of the topics could use a separate book on their own. Well, if he wants to write it, I'll buy it!
I've you're interested in ceremonial witchcraft, this book will hold no interest as it looks like the witches of old, at least the folk ones were not ceremonial at all... no Tubal Cain, no kabbalah... just pure folk magic.
Good stuff.

[Erik · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is sort of an unusual book for me, but I was needing some background information to assist me in a writing project of mine where this "inside" information would help me flesh out my story. I'll be the first one to admit that I really knew next to nothing on this topic, so it made for an interesting read.

I felt the author did a fairly decent job introducing a novice to the world of Balkan Witchcraft, complete with background information on the development of the practices. I rather liked the details on herbalism, with the included list of natural plants and their uses intriguing. I probably would not want to bet my life on some of the uses, but there were a few I was actually familiar with in a medicinal sense.

The spell making was probably the weakest part of the book, where it often felt like there are no actual "recipes" for doing any of the casting and had tremendous variations. I find that difficult to comprehend as I would think it to be similar to cooking where deviations could have very bad outcomes.

Anyhow, I'll be keeping a sort of neutral grade on this as I'm no expert. It was not a bad read and did fulfill my needs as source material well. 3 Stars.

[Sara Bow · Rating 3 out of 5]

Autor hat tolle Recherche betrieben, hätte mir allerdings mehr Informationen zur Mythologie gewünscht statt konfuse Rituale zu lesen.

[Margarita Popova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in preparation for my Serbia trip while hanging out in the redwoods by the river which was very appropriate…. Looooove the style that started fairly scholarly and devolved over time into being almost kind of grumpy… Great resource on getting into ritual trance and befriending forest spirits and such which I’m a bit too unstable to do atm… but this is a great book to have around 🐉

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

note to self: do some research before picking up a book as you might change your mind halfway through it/ it might not be about what you thought it was. AT LEAST read the preface.

not that this book is bad or anything, far from it in fact as i was continuously entertained and a lot of the information in it has real cultural value, but it's certainly not what i expected. it's in parts a "how to" book on witchcraft. i was expecting more of an ethnological or scientific documentation on folk rites, traditions and practices 💀. at the very least a secular take. there's an entire section on how to have an out of body experience. it also isn't meticulously structured or well referenced (though understandably most of it is gathered from oral testimonies). it felt like that friend telling you spooky ghost stories over a beer. but hey according to this book people born on saturdays (like me) have some kind of supernatural power, so maybe me picking this book was no coincidence.

nevertheless it was a fun read and inspired me to dig deeper on the topic. i was hoping to read some more on witches in albania and kosova, however this book is mostly about serbia so it felt a bit foreign to me. although there are some common threads here and there.

[Perseus · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books had an incredible amount of time and research put into it and that becomes obvious in the amount of detail that it was put into it. The fact that the author actively sought out witches to help write their book is wonder, and therefore a lot of the stuff in this book is really useful to practicing witches looking into folk magic from the Slavic regions.
There was some problems with the grammar that can be attributed to the translation of the work. But overall, this book is wonderful for beginners and intermediate witches.

[Olivia Popovich]

The English translation of this book is pretty rough unfortunately. The author’s bias as a Wiccan is definitely noticeable as well. He tries to pigeonhole a lot of Balkan folklore into dualistic ideas about the existence of a pre-Christian triple Goddess and Horned God, which I didn’t feel was well supported by the ethnological and historical info he presents. I still felt like I got a good amount out of the book as someone from a Serbian background, but I probably wouldn’t recommend it to just any armchair occultist.

[Laura Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It was informative and spoke to advanced practitioners as well as those just beginning on their path. It is full of traditional folk magic and customs, and even has nice details on local mythologies. For someone doing ancestral spirit work, seeking to gain general insight into the ancient Balkan cultures, or looking for specific information and spells, this book is for you. It is versatile and well researched.

[Mari]

DNF - It does not warrant a rating, sorry...

[Nikola Gacek · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The content is good but there are so many grammatical errors that it's unreal. Where was the editor?

[Flavia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alcune cose sono molto interessanti altre sono praticamente una copia della Wicca con nomi serbi. Che furberia.

[Patricia Woodruff · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wealth of information for anyone studying Slavic magic and Ronovery. Many of the traditions overlap with the Balkan traditions.