JRR Tolkien Romantic Legendarium

 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4047925414

A tragic love story in a way and one that has gone through many changes in JRR Tolkien notes. Way before the events that transpired in Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit, the evil Morgath had control of middle earth and he was a despot to be sure who terrorized elf, dwarf and man. Hobbits did not come around yet.

Christopher Tolkien goes through his father’s unfinished notes like the Quenta Silmarillion, Quenta Nodali and a couple of other unpublished tomes and delivers to the reader the story of Beren and Luthien. In the original version Beren is the son of a forester. He is a nodali elf sometimes called a gnome. But this is not your classic gnome but a real elf. One day Beren walks into the forest of Artanor and espies the beautiful maiden Tinuviel dancing to her brother’s music. He spends several days watching her until they finally meet. When they do he is so smitten with her that he asks for her hand from her father, King Tintwelimt., . The king is none to happy about this and he thinks of a way to thwart the young elf’s romantic aspirations. Beren must infiltrate Angaband, Morgath’s stronghold and get a jewel off his crown. This is one of the Silmarillion. Beren becomes a slave for Tevildo, Morgath’s super cat right hand man and believe me this cat is a task master. Luthien fearing the worst pleads for her father to intervene but to no avail .King Tintwelint locks her in a tree house. Using magic her mother taught her she escapes and uses magic to infiltrate Angaband. While wandering over there her and a super hound named Huan devise a plan to fight Tevildo. Later they use sleeping magic to get the jewel but plans go awry. I won’t spoil the end.

In the different renditions of the tale many names get changed and Tevildo morphs first into Thu a feared necromancer to Sauron his most trusted right hand man. King Tinwellint becomes King Thingol and Artanor becomes Doriath.

Beren origins change as well. In the newer versions of the story Beren becomes a man son of Barahir who is caught by Morgath and murdered. Other version contain wars between kingdoms and the ravages of orcs.

The newer versions are more realistic while the earlier version is Faery tale like quality. Would not mind seeing a cohesive story out of this. While there is one at the beginning there are bits and pieces of the newer versions through out the book. 

Releasing Your Inner Werewolf

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4032374447

 Prepare to unlock your inner beast. This book on lycanthropic Magick will show you how. Wolf have been venerated at deity since man;s beginning in some for or other. Some of the original Greek Gods were depicted as wolf like. The founders of Rome were raised and suckled by a she wolf. Lupercalia would have priests or Lupercal dress up in wolf skins and strike women with whips in order to unsure fertility. Hekate, is depicted with a wolf;s head. Odin is a wolf god who can shape shift into anything. He has two wolves that accompany him. Apollo himself was depicted in wolf like form.  The first werewolf might have been in Mesopotamia where in a  follower of Ishtar was turned to a world for entreating her too much.

Over the centuries there have been many werewolf cults. The warriors would don the skins and shapeshifter metaphorically into wolves. These warriors were dedicated to Odin in the North of Europe. The book delves into the history of werewolf cults and wolf magic. The book then goes into rituals designed to help you find your inner wolf . Remember that we human evolved from wolves and dogs at one point and we are accessing our animal brain. The exercises then tell how to raise wolf power and finally shape shift into a wolf. Now mind you , people do not physically turn into wolves this is a spiritual change. Sort of like going on beast mode.

This energy is later raised and focused toward growing your fetch and feeding it. The fetch or your double can be sent to do errands, give you information or house your consciousness . Other rituals include spells for obtaining love, money and finding other werewolves.

Denny Sargent culls many of his techniques from shamanism and European witchcraft. There are lots of yips and howls on this paradigm. While one is not forced to use them I would have found some words in place of growls more beneficial.