Hereditary Witchcraft: Secrets of the Old Religion

Another book by the great Raven Grimassi. Never hesitate buying one of his books, as they will always be beyond your expectations with great writing, and excellent content. A great book for someone entering the Craft, or for the well seasoned follower. There is a lot of information in this book that I have never seen written in any other text. It is easy to read, and easy to follow--very informative and fun to read....It is written in such a way that you needent try to memorize the information, as it is presented so well that you automatically remember it. Excellent, book, as expected from him.

It does have some good information. But, I felt it referenced other books by the author quite alot. It assumed the reader had read or access to the author's other books. It made the reading a bit disjointed.

Grimassi says it right in the beginning of this book -- if you want to know the truth about hereditary witchcraft, read anything he wrote after 1994, like this book. (Before that time, he was bound to secrecy and unable to tell some of its truths.) Absolutely filled with wonderful knowledge. Nice pictures that don't overwhelm the wealth of information, but support important things he describes. It's nice to read a book by a witch who actually devoted his life to the Craft and didn't just spend a few days interviewing someone.Most books out there about witchcraft are New Age, but this gets right to the core. Great read and well worth the money! Highly recommended!

Description of this book starts with," traditions, beliefs, and techniques of modern Witchcraft!" This is what I was looking for and why I purchased this book. What we get is well documented beginnings and traditions of the author's brand of Italian Witchcraft, Stregheria. I did not purchase this book to be converted to or learn in depth, Stregheria. Some of these traditions to co-exist in modern Wicca, others are not. Author doesn't clarify. At times Mr. Grimassi is unaware that modern Wicca and Stregheria define certain practices exactly the same, for example, "divination.," As I study this book in more detail, it seems Mr. Grimassi primarily paraphrases his sources, he does not rework the information by forming his own ideas. When attempting to do so he tends to meander, is vague, ramble off on tangents and fails to clearly explain the concept. This may be why he credits his sources so frequently. This may also explain why he repeats himself where he shouldn't and why he often can't explain the concepts very well or extract what is pre-Christian Witchcraft from Italian Witchcraft. Grimissi is a good researcher and academic but he can't integrate the knowledge. I was expecting an integration of the of traditions that form the basis for modern Witchcraft. Mr. Grimassi seems incapable of that task.What could have been a valuable work on the foundation of traditions, beliefs and techniques of modern Witchcraft winds up being esoteric rambling about Stregheria. In the last third of the book, Grimassi discusses more regarding modern witchcraft and European Old Craft but continues weaving in and out of Stregheria, only confusing the reader. To better clarify what I am attempting to explain, Mr. Grimassi can't integrate the knowledge of Witchcraft at or even close to the expertise of Doreen Valiente, yet promotes himself as an expert on Witchcraft due to the number of books he has written. (As if the number of books one writes makes him an authority.) I was expecting more. I want to know as much as possible about pre-Christian Witchcraft He gave little of that. This author appears as though he can't assimilate what he has studied. This is an academician giving us his research (which is good) without insight. Mr. Grimassi left me disappointed and annoyed. The title of this book is extremely misleading.

A fantastic blend of Italian occult knowledge, application and tradition. I am pleasantly surprised at the newness it brought for me regarding my studies and research. It was a breath of fresh air. I am FULLY satisfied with the level of information, the techniques it offers and the legendary myths explained giving it that much more a feel on Ancient Pagan Times. Thank you Raven. La Vecchio Religione!

I am building a library of books on subjects like this and I thought this would be an excellent addition.

Very informative, I very much like certain sections of the book. I’ve noticed a number of spelling mistakes/ discrepancies in the text which can make it a bit hard to understand certain rituals, runes or practices. But after reading it once or twice you can tell it’s a mistake.

Honestly this one is kind of a bore unless you are really into "Italian witchcraft" or you are history of witchcraft nerd. It has a lot of definition and explanations, but it seems kind of academic in a watered down way.

Very interesting book, with a lot of information about this Old Religion. From an adept, it shows you an insight of how it started, where do the fundaments come from and great overall view.

Waste of Money .

Great

Just received, cannot wait to read it.

É dificil achar esse livro lançado em br, então resolvi compra-lo em ingles. E hoje, depois q o recebi, vi o quão bem fiz. Livro lindo, bem acabado. Obrigado!