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by Shera Long (Author)
Step into the older Christmas, the one lit by candles, guarded by holly, warmed by the hearth, and haunted by the long winter dark.
The Christmas Grimoire is a richly atmospheric journey into the forgotten folklore of the sacred season, uncovering the old charms, household rites, winter herbs, candle customs, ghost traditions, blessings, omens, and protective practices that once surrounded Christmas from Advent to Candlemas.
Long before Christmas became a season of bright shop windows and polished decoration, it belonged to farmhouses, churches, snowy thresholds, smoky kitchens, winter roads, and fireside rooms where people watched the weather, blessed the house, remembered the dead, and looked for signs in flame, frost, animals, dreams, and the first visitor of the New Year.
Inside this book, readers will discover:
Old candle rites and vigil lights of Christmas Eve
Threshold charms using salt, iron, holly, bells, and greenery
The folklore of winter herbs including holly, ivy, mistletoe, rosemary, bay, rue, and juniper
Hearth blessings, Yule log customs, wassailing, bread, beer, ashes, and sacred food
Ghost stories, ancestral memory, and the eerie tradition of Christmas hauntings
Saints of the sacred season, including Saint Nicholas, Saint Lucia, Saint Stephen, and the Holy Family
The Twelve Days of Christmas, New Year omens, first footing, Epiphany blessings, and Candlemas light
Historically grounded reflections for modern readers who want to reconnect with the old winter wisdom
Blending folklore, history, seasonal magic, Christian custom, household protection, and the enduring mystery of midwinter, this book gathers the old knowledge of the Christmas season into one elegant volume.
It is perfect for readers of folklore, witchcraft history, seasonal magic, Christmas traditions, folk Catholic customs, old European beliefs, hearth and home spirituality, and the darker, stranger beauty of winter.
For anyone who has ever felt that Christmas holds something older beneath the lights, this book opens the door.
