The Grimoire: A Historical Guide to Folk Magic, Charms, Herbs and Spellcraft

What is genuinely old in folk magic- and what was added much later?
The Grimoire: A Historical Guide to Folk Magic and Spellcraft brings together charms, blessings and protective practices from England, Wales and Scotland while clearly showing where each one comes from.

Unlike books that combine medieval manuscripts, later folklore and modern Wiccan practice into one undifferentiated “ancient tradition”, this guide labels every item as:
Historical: preserved in a medieval or early modern source.
Traditional: part of a documented folk practice or belief.
Modern Reconstruction: carefully adapted or created for present-day use.
Inside you will find:
The complete Nine Herbs Charm, the tenth-century Anglo-Saxon healing charm associated with Woden and preserved in a surviving manuscript.
Forty-one practical charms and blessings, each with its purpose, timing, tools and words.
Space to record your observations, adaptations and results.
The documented cunning folk of England: paid village practitioners whose work appears in historical records.
Protective folklore, herb correspondences and charm traditions from Wales, Scotland and England, kept distinct rather than blended into a single invented tradition.
Clear safety notes wherever herbs, fire or historical practices require caution.
Written for the practising witch who wants to know what is genuinely old, and for the history reader who wants to understand how folk magic was recorded, practised and transformed.

Simon A. Williams, founder of Histories and Castles, turns primary-source research into accessible, evidence-led accounts of Britain’s medieval and early modern past. He is also the author of The Truth Behind Welsh Myths and Legends, The Pendle Witch Conspiracy and No Law for the Poor: Justice and Power in Medieval England and Wales.

Begin with the surviving material. Know what comes from history, what comes from tradition and what has been reconstructed for the modern reader.