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Foundations of Witchcraft: A Blackfeather Mystery School Training Manual
Praise
A comprehensive, deep program for magickal training that guides the reader into a living, balanced practice of Witchcraft. I am sure this will serve as a gateway into the mysteries for many sincere seekers and experienced practitioners alike.
—Christopher Penczak, author and co-founder of The Temple of Witchcraft Mystery School
Empowering and well-grounded, Foundations of Witchcraft provides the reader with sound guidance and practical skills to develop and enrich their spiritual practices. Speaking through years of experience and community embodiment, Glasse and Dreamwalker lay a strong foundation while inspiring individual growth and the development of one's own Craft."
—Coby Michael, author of The Poison Path Oracle
I regularly receive questions from newcomers to witchcraft or people looking to refresh their existing perspectives and practices on which books to read first or next. Now, I’ll be able to tell them that there is a book that I wish I’d read when I was starting my journey into magick. Foundations of Witchcraft is well structured and a pleasure to read. More importantly, it gives the reader options, choices, and guidance on how to best use the book. It is the next best thing to actually having Irene and Caine in the room with you. The witchcraft that it teaches is forward looking, inclusive, grounded, and caring.
—Ivo Dominguez Jr, author of Spirit Speak: A Comprehensive Guide to Connect Beyond the Veil
Foundations of Witchcraft takes an incredibly successful in-person magickal training program and makes it available as a self-guided experience for magickal practitioners all over the world. This program is practical, challenging, and, most importantly, effective. Blending learnings and exercises gleaned from decades of magickal study and practice, the authors guide the reader through an intensive, hands-on experience to claim their power and use it well. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to dive deeper into magickal practice, no matter their starting point.
—Enfys J. Book, author of Queer Rites: A Magickal Grimoire to Honor Your Milestones with Pride
Carefully scaffolded, this book guides students from their first entry into the Craft through a learning process that provides sufficient theory, experience, and structure, leaving them with a solid foundation for ongoing practice and self-directed development. The writing is refreshingly clear, encouraging students to open themselves to genuine mystical inspiration and spirit contact while also cultivating deeper discernment and self-sovereignty. This will be one of my go-to recommendations for those new to Witchcraft who want an introduction, and it is equally valuable for long-term practitioners seeking to reinvigorate their practice by consciously embracing a “beginner’s mind” once again.
—Gwendolyn Reece, author of The Waters of Mnemosyne: Ancient Greek Religion for Modern Pagans
If you're new to witchcraft, or haven't ever had "formal" training, you want this book. It is clearly laid out for anyone to use, no matter what path you're on, whether you're a beginner, or someone who has practiced for years. Each chapter builds on the previous chapter, and by doing so, Irene Glasse gives you the steps to help you build a strong foundation for your craft. She suggests a timeline, too, for working with each chapter before moving on to the next chapter. This book is going on my keeper shelf, when I'm not actively using it to deepen my own foundation. Thank you, Irene. Thank you.
—Christine Cunningham Ashworth, USA Today Bestselling Author and author of Scott Cunningham: The Path Taken
Foundations of Witchcraft is an example of the type of occult training manual that every serious magickal practitioner will wish they had back when they first began exploring the Craft. This text provides a very thoughtful and intuitive progression through essential foundations of a magickal practice. Where many books focus on spellcraft at the expense of not digging into the deeper mysteries beneath, Glasse and Dreamwalker do a wonderful job of balancing rich conceptual understanding of metaphysical principles with practical and ritual approaches. Foundations of Witchcraft thrums with one of my most valued and sought-after treasures, which is honesty.
—Nikki Wardwell Sleath, MA, co-author of Ogham Sorcery, author of Dream Sorcery and The Goddess Seals
Irene Glasse is a highly respected figure in the modern NeoPagan scene, with decades of grounded experience and community building, she brings to the general public for the first time a tome of invaluable techniques and grounded wisdom. Appropriate for the solitary beginner as well as community organizers, and of course members of her own tradition, Foundations of Witchcraft is an incredibly hands-on book of personal spiritual and magical development. Bravo to Glasse and Dreamwalker for this version of what comes across as a long developed system of magic.
—Benjamin Stimpson, author of Ancestral Whispers: A Guide to Developing Ancestral Veneration Practices
In Foundations of Witchcraft,Irene and Caine have crafted more than a book. They have created a guide and companion for those looking to explore the magic of witchcraft. This training manual is a living thing through which its author's voices reach out to nurture and challenge you, and to invite you to be in community with everyone else exploring this path. From blended oils, to spellcasting and rituals, to guising—this manual provides a solid foundation on which to build your witchcraft.
—Ron Padron of White Rose Witching
Foundations of Witchcraft is a solid, practical book that walks you through the Craft in a way that’s clear and usable. You can tell it comes from real experience and a desire to actually help people build a working practice. There’s structure without it feeling forced, and it gives you a path to follow while still leaving room for your own way of doing things. The focus stays where it should—on consistency, personal responsibility, and developing your own power. If you’re serious about the work and not just reading about it, this book will meet you where you are and help you move forward.
—Dave Gaddy, author of The Simple Magick of Wild Things
Foundations of Witchcraft is not just any book on witchcraft. What you hold in your hands now is the product of many years of accumulated knowledge and practice aggregating around sacred purpose turned into a driving force. This book, designed as a course, is in the author’s own words, “the physical result of a divine directive.” Foundations of Witchcraft outlines a path to personal empowerment, a path that takes seekers through the magic-filled woods and valleys of witchcraft practice. These pages house a trove of knowledge derived from various traditions, research and the authors’ personal experience with witchcraft. This book, or better said the approach it proposes, teaches students to overcome roadblocks such as self-sabotage and guides them to build a foundation of self-love, self-confidence and magical competence that extends beyond ritual space and flows into daily living.
—Daniela Simina, author of Where Fairies Meet: Parallels Between Irish and Romanian Fairy Traditions, A Fairy Path: The Memoir of a Young Fairy Seer in Training and Fairy Herbs for Fairy Magic: A Practical Guide to Fairy Herbal Magic
I expected Foundations of Witchcraft to be good. What I didn’t expect was to be whisked back in time to the days when I was first learning about magick. Glasse and Dreamwalker’s words turned me back into a teen lurking in the occult section of the library in the mid 1990s. Each chapter reminded me of the mysteries that pulled me onto this path in the first place, and the homework was and is probably my favorite part of the process. Don’t let the title fool you, this book isn’t “just” for beginners…honestly, it’s not “just” anything. It is a guide, a reminder, and refresher, and an encouragement to be who we all knew we were as teens in the occult sections of libraries and bookstores: powerful and curious.
—Erika Wren, host and writer of That Pagan Mom podcast and blog