My review of Oaths and Vows by Ksenia Menshikova.
First, her knowledge of how magic works, elements, the spirit world is immense. It’s equivalent to the Masters that teach at the College of Psychic Studies. I am impressed.
She’s slowly putting the material she covers in her school into books. It’s a Russian school on a par with the College of Psychic Studies, but doesn’t offer as broad a curriculum. Her writing style is clear and easy to understand, and for any terms that are odd, she gives an explanation. The book has a Q&A format included in each chapter, which is helpful as it shows her students learning and how they resolved issues.
This book deals with the importance of honouring oaths and vows to the gods, the backlash effect of magic, what happens if you break a vow, how to switch from one path to another, and the elements. It talks mostly of the Norse Gods and how they work, and its focus is the Northern Tradition, both of Britain, North European, Scandinavian and Slavic.
My only gripe with the book is her view on the “Abrahamic Tradition” which includes Judaism, Christianity and Islam. She splits magic into 2 pathways: Spirit & Blood.
Spirit is the Abrahamic, Hindu and Buddhist traditions, and Blood is the pagans. The difference is to do with how the “servant” of the pathway interacts with their gods and ancestors.
She’s very negative about the Abrahamic pathway, and I don’t know the history of Russia, but personally I feel this wasn’t necessary. Yes, the God of Abraham doesn’t share his worship with other gods and idols, but from a magical perspective, alot of practices incorporate Christianity and the bible in their magic, without issue either for themselves, or any gods. After awhile it irritated me, her constant bash against one tradition.
I have others of her books, which I will read because her knowledge of the craft is second to none. But if you do read this, just be aware she really doesn’t like Christians! 