Ancestral Slavic Magic - by Natasha Helvin (Paperback)

About the Book

"A guide to harnessing ancestral power in the Slavic Pagan tradition. Offers traditional rituals and spells to help you connect with your ancestors, see your family's ancestral patterns, and change your destiny. Examines the history of ancestor worship in the Slavic tradition and ancient Slavic burial and funeral customs, many of which are still practiced today in remote pockets of Russia. Explores the similarities between ancestral beliefs in Haitian Vodou and the Slavic tradition"--

Book Synopsis

A guide to harnessing ancestral power in the Slavic Pagan tradition

- Offers traditional rituals and spells to help you connect with your ancestors, see your family's ancestral patterns, and change your destiny

- Examines the history of ancestor worship in the Slavic tradition and ancient Slavic burial and funeral customs, many of which are still practiced today in remote pockets of Russia

- Explores the similarities between ancestral beliefs in Haitian Vodou and the Slavic tradition

Raised in the Soviet Union, where she grew up steeped in ancient Slavic magical traditions, occultist and hereditary witch Natasha Helvin reveals not only how you are continually and powerfully influenced by your ancestors but also how you can open the door to your ancestral connections in order to know who you truly are and change the course of your destiny.

Helvin examines ancestor worship in southeastern Europe and western Russia and the way it shaped their indigenous magical and spiritual practices. She explains how energy flows in a familial context and how strengths and dysfunctions are passed from one generation to the next for centuries. She shares time-honored rituals and spells to help you to recognize these ancestral patterns and influences, make changes in the harmful ones, and harness your familial strengths to direct your destiny.

Looking at both Slavic Pagan and Eastern Orthodox traditions concerning the dead, the author also examines ancient Slavic burial and funeral customs. She reveals how these burial rites became incorporated into rural witchcraft practices, and she explains traditional Slavic ideas on death and the afterlife, the soul, the spiritual power of colors, and magical objects.

As an initiate in Haitian Vodou, Helvin also looks at the many parallels between Vodou and the folk magic and ancestor worship of the Slavic tradition, showing that in both traditions forging a stronger connection to your ancestors can lead to increased power and understanding in life.

Review Quotes

"Helvin writes like a Russian--direct, forceful, sometimes abrasive. She cites her sources in general but makes it clear that she is coming from oral tradition and also drawing her own conclusions and making her own path from what she has been taught and experienced. This book will reward several readings, because there is a lot in here, and I would strongly encourage people to do the work--call the Ancestors, do the rituals and explore your own family traditions."-- "Samuel Wagar, Facing North"

"As we enter a new era critical for the survival of humanity, it becomes imperative to heed the wisdom of our ancestors' spirits. Natasha Helvin beautifully describes the essence of this new era, offering insights from the Pagan perspective of the Slavic and Rus people of Ukraine and Southwest Russia. Additionally, she explores the traditions of the Vodouists in Haiti."-- "Nicholas E. Brink, Ph.D., author of The Power of Ecstatic Trance, Baldr's Magic, and Beowulf&r"

"Natasha Helvin's Ancestral Slavic Magic reminds us that our Pagan roots are as present as they are past and that they hold the key to our future. Through her sharing of Slavic Pagan lore, Helvin teaches the importance of observing cycles, spending regular time in nature, tending to our dead, and, most of all, engaging with our ancestors. The resonant teaching Helvin offers throughout this book is that true magic takes effort, and that effort must be consistent."-- "S. Kelley Harrell, author of From Elder to Ancestor and Runic Book of Days"

About the Author

Natasha Helvin is an occultist, hereditary witch, and priestess in the Haitian Vodou tradition as well as an avid scholar of other magical traditions. Raised in the Soviet Union, she learned the ancient Slavic secrets of magic and healing from her family and, as a child, often saw her grandmother and mother use magic in their everyday lives to help neighbors and friends. A professional rootworker and spiritual coach, she is the author of Slavic Witchcraft and Russian Black Magic and lives in the Pacific Northwest.