• 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. 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. INTRODUCTION
Your Ancestors and Your Destiny
PART 1
Ancestors and the Magical Tradition
1 The Beginning
2 Pagan Christianity
3 Our Roots
4 Energy of the Family System
5 Seven Generations of Contact
6 The Pagan Calendar and Its Connection to Our Ancestors
7 Color Symbolism of the Slavs
8 The Ancestors in Haitian Vodou
9 Witchcraft and Healing in Haitian Vodou
PART 2
Transitions, Initiations, and Burial Traditions
10 An Initiation as a Rite of Passage
11 Haitian Vodou Initiations
12 The Slavic Wedding as a Rite of Passage
13 Bridges and Crossroads
14 Magical Properties of Water
15 Christianity Is the Most Powerful Form of Occult
16 Spell Text as a Legacy of the Prophetic, Enchanted Word
17 Burial Rites in Old Russia
18 Funeral Rites and Their Connection to the Folk Magic of Old Believers
19 Death and Burial Rites in Haitian Vodou
20 The Transmission of Magical Power at Death
CONCLUSION
From Our Ancestors to Our Future
Bibliography
Index
About the Author "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." "As we enter a new era
