Pagan Portal Ancestral Healing Edited by Trevor Greenfield

112 Pages
Publisher: John Hunt Publishing
Release Date: July 31, 2020

Self-Help, Religion & Spirituality, Multicultural Interest

Trevor Greenfield has been a practicing Shaman for over 25 years.

The book is written as short stories by multiple authors all on the same topic.

Healing in the Ancestral Soul by Kenn Day: The author talks about Family Constellation Work technique. He includes a very powerful paragraph about forgiveness that I have copied and read over and over.

Walking the Bones: Reconnecting with our Ancient Past by Taz Thornton: She discusses animism and the belief everything has an energy or spirit.

Intergenerational Silence: Witnessing Yesterday to Heal Today by Irisanya Moon: The author discusses trauma (including rape and abusive relationships) and how we as humans deal with it.

Of Things Lost and Love Gained by Imelda Almqvist: She tells us about pain and trauma and how we can become more spiritual by learning from the past.

Dealing with Ancestral Shame by Mabh Savage: The author explains how it is okay not to accept the past mistakes of our ancestors as our own. She also states that it is okay to cut someone out of your life if they have harmed you.

Ancestral Healing by Elen Sentier: She talks about ancestral healing not only with connecting with our human ancestors but also with the land.

Stuck in the Rage Stage? By Dorothy Abrams: The author discusses denial and the importance to move onto the next step of anger. She also provides rituals to help with this action.

Looking them in the Eyes: Animals, Ancestry and Animism by Andrew Anderson: He discusses the importance of all life and how he became an ethical vegan to honor his animal ancestors.

Recovering the Bones Healing the Past by Angela Paine: The author explains how mourning for a lost loved one allows both people to heal and move one.

Saving the Tinkers’ Heart by Fiona Tinker: She provides a statement from her website which describes the Tinkers’ Heart as a space sacred to Scotland’s Travelling people.

Schism & Split: Wounds that can never heal by Melusine Draco. The author provides explanations on how words can cause harm. Words become actions and damage can occur.

When I first started the book, I didn’t realize the stories were written by separate authors since they flow together so well. Actually, had to start reading the book a second time so I could feel each story separately. The feelings and emotions along with forgiveness and love are brought to the forefront with this book.

This is a good book for presenting animals as spiritual beings connected to human beings. It's quite comprehensive and informative regarding the animals and it also encourages readers to learn more about the animals they feel connected to. It's important to understand them in order to understand ourselves through them. However, I would only recommend this book to people who already hold beliefs in animals as familiars, because it's a spirituality book, after all.

If you're a wiccan or witch and you want to read a guide to animals, this is the book for you.
The author's approach to the subject of witchcraft is very down to earth.
It covers maditation, spells, how to incorporate your animal guide in your rituals etc..
10/10 would recommend

Informative and extremely readable. The author puts the animal spirits in clear and understandable terms. Really enjoyed using the information to connect. Thank you!

Another great installment in the Pagan Portals series, I will be recommending this to all of my friends. As always, an in-depth look at a major aspect of magic, one I greatly enjoyed reading.

I gravitated towards "Animal Magic" as both a skeptic and a curious onlooker, having experienced a close affinity to an animal myself over the past two years. I think this book is better suited for people who already have knowledge in witchcraft and would take more out of it in a practical sense than I did. As a neutral reader, the material ranged from very familiar and even at times apparent, from what I remember reading about familiars from years back, to the complex and technical, like the sections on guided meditation. I think I wouldn't have minded it as much if I'd enjoyed Patterson's writing style more, which was actually the main source of frustration. The lack of editing at times, along with the use of ellipses to try adding some character to her jokes or witty remarks just didn't work for me, making it hard to focus when my mind was going over each sentence as an editor and trying to find better ways of wording it at certain moments. It wasn't bad, but I feel like the best way to learn about the topic would really be to sit down with an expert and have an in-person, casual conversation.

I received a free ARC of this title from Moon Books via Netgalley.

I'm a fan of Rachel Patterson, and I follow her blog on Patheos. Patterson's approach to the subject of witchcraft is very practical, no-nonsense, and down to earth. Her sensible writing, bereft of zany woo-woo and fluff is an example that I wish more authors would follow. If you're a witch who wants to read a book about animal guides that gives practical, workable exercises, then look no further. This very succinct book provides enough information to get started.

Some of the topics covered include what animal magic is and the benefits of practicing it, meditations and simple spells to employ when attempting to figure out which animal has something to teach you, and how to incorporate your guides into rituals and other workings after you've connected with them. Also included is the obligatory brief listing of traditional associations belonging to the more commonly known animal guides, but Patterson encourages the reader to use their own intuition to learn what the animal has to teach them as opposed to relying entirely on a paragraph from a reference book. Much appreciated.

I would recommend this title to anyone who is curious about animal guides, just getting started working with them, or has been working with them and would like some new ideas to try out and deepen their current practice. Fans of Lupa's works will also appreciate the solid content and no-nonsense approach.

Informative, insightful and eye opening. The book is a must read for every one. I hope for more titles like this. I loved it and would recommend it to everyone. A really great book.

Rachel Patterson continues to be a very easy yet informative read, with fascinating insights as to how you can improve or add to your craft.

While I'm not sure a lot of the practices here would work for me personally, it was nevertheless a very good and interesting look into how animals guides can work with you every day.

This is an excellent introduction to spirit animal work. It includes a handful of different paths, details for meditations or ceremonies, and even a rough guide of characteristics and such. I will absolutely be hunting down other guides by this author.