Natasha Helvin

Passed down through generations, the Slavic practice of magic, witchcraft and sorcery is still alive and well in Russia, the Ukraine and Belarus, as well as the Balkans and the Baltic states. There are still witches who whisper upon tied knots to curse or heal, sorceresses who shapeshift into animals or household objects, magicians who cast spells for love or good fortune and common folk who seek their aid for daily problems big and small. Sharing the extensive knowledge she inherited from her mother and grandmother, including spells of the "Old Believers" previously unknown to outsiders, Natasha Helvin explores in detail the folk history and practice of Russian sorcery and Eastern Slavic magical rites, offering a rich compendium of over 100 spells, incantations, charms and practical rituals for love, relationships, career success, protection, healing, divination, averting the evil eye, communicating with spirits and ancestors and a host of other life challenges and daily situations, with complete step-by-step instructions to ensure your magical goals are realised. She explains how this tradition has only a thin Christian veneer over its pagan origins and how the Slavic pagan gods and goddesses acquired new lives as the saints of the Eastern Orthodox Church. She details how the magical energy for these spells and rituals is drawn from the forces of nature, revealing specific places of power in the natural world as well as the profound power of graveyards and churches for casting spells. She explores the creation of amulets and talismans, the importance of icons and the proper recital of magical language and actions during spells, as well as how one becomes a witch or sorceress. Offering a close examination of these two-thousand-year-old occult practices, Helvin, also, includes Slavic folk advice, adapted for the modern era. Revealing what it means to be a Slavic witch or sorceress and how this vocation pervades all aspects of life, she shows that each of us has magic within that we can use to take control of our own destiny.