The Old Magic of Christmas

Yuletide Traditions for the Darkest Days of the Year

By: Linda Raedisch

Narrated by: Chloe Cannon

Length: 6 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

'Tis the season for witches, elves, and a legion of ghosts. 

Not so very long ago, Yuletide was as much a chilling season of ghosts and witches as it was a festival of goodwill. In The Old Magic of Christmas, you'll rub elbows with veiled spirits, learn the true perils of elves, and discover a bestiary of enchanted creatures. 

Rife with the more frightful characters from folklore and the season's most petulant ghosts, this book takes you on a spooky sleigh ride from the silvered firs of a winter forest to the mirrored halls of the Snow Queen. Along the way, you'll discover how to bring the festivities into your home with cookie recipes and craft instructions, as well as tips for delving more deeply into your relationship with the unseen.

©2013 Linda Raedisch (P)2020 Tantor

Interesting history of Christmas

This was included with audible, so I decided to give it a go for the holiday season.

Honestly, I’m not really even sure how to rate or review this as it’s doing several things at once. It’s both informational/educational, while being historical of course, then it’s the mix of folklore/mythology/and a bit of fantasy, and then it’s also part recipe/baking book?

With that being said, with this book’s hand in several baskets, this was still a really great bit of info on the history of Christmas. From paganism and the Christian events that began to overshadow the old holidays, to the different iterations of Santa and his helpers. (And the different iterations of those that weren’t his helpers…IE Krampus). Just a really great job of laying out the different winter holidays and their traditions around the world.

In that sense, I suppose to succeeds in what it sets out to do, so 4/5* as somethings lost their flow a bit.

Hard to follow along

Very interesting, though I had a hard time following a long. Not sure if it was the narrator (she sounded a lot like a robot to me) or how it was written.

Dark Magic

Linda Raedisch’s tales of Christmas past are a bit darker than our modern Christmas tales and traditions which nonetheless often still bear the shadows of the ancient Yuletide pagan religions. The recipes and crafts dispersed throughout are worth being scared half to death by an unsavory cast of witches, goblins, werewolves, spirits and chimeras. Chloe Cannon narrates with a perfect seriousness and a good humored wink so that we don’t approach the treacherous magic of Christmas with too great an apprehension but with a prudent nod to the mistletoe.

My favorite Christmas book!

Very comprehensive, well narrated. This has quickly become my favorite Christmas book. Thanks to the author for all her hard work.

Very Fun and Informative

this was a delightful book that leads you through several different cultures and customs surrounding the cherished Yuletide season. ❤️

enjoyed thoroughly

As a pagan myself, I enjoyed learning more about the various winter holiday customs. Great narration.

An interesting listen.

The narrator has a good voice. The information is interesting. If you’re interested in a different view of the end of the year holiday; then this could be for you.

Great subject matter, awkward writing and narration

The subject matter is great, but sometimes the writing makes it a bit hard to follow. The narrator’s somewhat dry manner often helps with difficult to understand subject matter but didn’t help with the difficult paragraphs.

This was ok

I appreciated learning more about some of the darker traditions associated with Christmas and the ties between these traditions/lore and other fairytales. It was a little hard to follow in spots.

Okay

I really looked forward to this right during the Christmas season. But it was filled with so much foreign material that I could not relate at all and my attention wandered continuously. I thought it would discuss our many yuletide traditions but it dealt with so many other countries so long ago that I could not keep my mind on it. The narrator sounded like she was about to burst out laughing.