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by Troy Trevoli Vonder (Author)
Punaküla Põleb is a deep dive into the malefic heart of Estonian witchcraft, a pocket-sized grimoire collecting the maleficia, nocturnal forces, Devils and werewolves of Estonian lore alongside the tales of trials and the histories of those condemned for consorting with baneful powers. Both folkloric testimony and a work of forbidden art, The Red Village Burns stands as a unique Estonian Black Book: a rare guide to the sinister currents of Baltic sorcery.
The manuscript opens with the many faces of the Christian Devil in Estonia, each revealing layers of fear, resistance and dark fascination. It then conjures witches both real and imagined, and records the spells and maledictions whispered in fields, barns, and courtrooms: charms to steal milk and butter, curses to twist bones, incantations to summon toads in an enemy's belly, and transformation rites that turn men and women into wolves. It also reveals how Estonian lycanthropy diverges from other European forms, rooted less in lunar madness than in the will and craft of witches. To conclude, Punaküla Põleb unveils a neglected thread of European sorcery available for the first time in English: the Sinister Arts preserved in Estonian folklore, shaped by centuries of occupation, christianisation, and persecution.
