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Russian Magic:
Living Folk Traditions of an Enchanted Landscape
Cherry Gilchrist

192 pages
6 x 9

$18.95 paper
978-0-8356-0874-9

Russian Magic: Living Folk Traditions of an Enchanted Landscape is the most vibrant and accessible guide to the folklore of Russia in the English language. It shows for the first time how Russian fairy tales, magical traditions, native wisdom, and folk art are all profoundly interrelated. Russians have a deep reverence for their mythic roots, which unifies them with their rustic landscapes even amidst their urban modernization. This inseparable union is fundamental to a Russian’s soul, or dusha, which is forever bonded to country, both to the earthen soil and to its invisible realms.

The old Slavic traditions surrounding the spirits of home and nature endure. Russian Magic explores the long-held use of beloved characters like the Snow Queen, Father Frost, and the Fire Bird as vivid guides to spiritual and mystical understanding. With beautiful full-color illustrations and engaging personal testimonies, this book brings centuries-old myths and traditions to life.

The transformative, archetypal power of Russia’s magical lore lives not only through storytelling, but also through shamanic ritual. Cherry Gilchrist vividly illustrates shamanic practices used in Russia today, citing examples of prophecy and energy healing. The White Stone, a Siberian standing stone used for over 2,000 years for healing and protection, and the invocations of Mishka, the great Russian bear, for embracing fertility and immortality, are two of the many thriving traditions which Gilchrist covers.

The author has visited Russia over fifty times, intimately examining the culture’s life and lore. She has worked in the buyer’s market for Russian art, mastering Russia’s language, metro systems, and business practices. In addition to her extensive background research, her contact with colorful personalities including villagers, artists, archeologists, and even a Siberian shaman, makes this study in Russian magic even more engaging and lively.

ENDORSEMENTS

It's the first time any Westerner has understood the Russian soul, our love for the Earth and God's warmth.
— Alexander Prior, international conductor and composer

Through an intricately woven pattern of research and personal experience, Cherry Gilchrist draws us into the magical landscape of Mother Russia. A fascinating, informative read.
—Virginia Rounding, author of Catherine the Great: Love, Sex & Power

I highly recommend this marvelous book. The author reminds us of what too many have forgotten: that at the heart of human cultures is living nature, as manifest in local animals, places, and the land. Culture with soul arises out of an ensouled world. And what connects the two, as she not only describes but practices, is story. Some people, of course, have never entirely lost this vital connection, and she shows how their ways of life in Russia and Siberia are ripe for rediscovery. As we in the West face up to the gathering wreck of modernity, Cherry Gilchrist's book is one that shows the way forward.
—Dr. Patrick Curry, lecturer in Religious Studies at the University of Kent

Based on extensive personal experience and research, backed up by the existing academic studies of the subject, this book offers lucid and accessible insights into a traditional culture which is, astonishingly, still flourishing in the modern world. It is packed with information about surviving folk customs, indigenous religion and traditional cosmology.
—Prudence Jones, co-author of A History of Pagan Europe


Cherry Gilchrist is the author of nearly thirty books on mythology, inner traditions, alchemy, art, and culture. These include The Soul of Russia: Magical Traditions in an Enchanted Landscape (Quest: 2008) and Explore Alchemy (Heart of Albion 2007; formerly The Elements of Alchemy.)


Other titles by the author:

Quest Books
Quest Books publishes nonfiction works to facilitate spiritual growth and healing; to encourage the study of religion, philosophy, and science; and to promote fellowship among all peoples of the world. In addition to a comprehensive selection of Theosophy titles by noteworthy authors like H.P. Blavatsky, Annie Besant, C.W. Leadbeater, and others, Quest offers books on a variety of topics including alternative healing, development of creativity, transpersonal psychology, deep ecology, mythology, comparative religion, consciousness, spiritual evolution, ancient wisdom, mysticism, esoteric studies, and perennial philosophy.

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