Bloomsbury Publishing is releasing a trio of books today in their popular Wooden Books series that may look like the first reader board books we enjoy snuggling up next to our kids with before bedtime. Of course, you can still do that with these books, but you might save them for some alone time reading too. Noted for bringing “wisdom and knowledge from the deep past forward into the twenty-first century,” the latest volumes of Wooden Books will make a nice addition to your collection, or a good place to start if you haven’t already.
Included in this new release of Wooden Books, you will find: Charms, Amulets, Talismans & Spells by Marian Green, Earth Grids: The Secret Patterns of Gaia’s Sacred Sites by Hugh Newman, Stone Circles by Hugh Newman.
Charms, Amulets, Talismans & Spells explores just what the title implies. Unraveling the mysteries behind those lucky charms so many of us carry with us and discovering the origins of the most prominent magical objects found in literature and lore around the world, author Marian Green brings her expertise in the history of ceremonial magic and folk lore to this compact encyclopedia. There is so much compressed into this tiny volume that some of the charts and illustrations are difficult to read with the naked eye (my aged vision forced me to use a magnifying glass a few times, but the extra effort was worth it), yet the overall artwork is stunning.
Earth Grids: The Secret Patterns of Gaia’s Sacred Sites reveals the geometric intricacies of our little world with methodic detail following insightful historic research. An expert in Megalithic study, author Hugh Newman knows a thing or two about prehistoric formations and the calculated patterns and alignments that our ancestors coveted. The accuracy of the ancients using minimal primeval tools to locate themselves geometrically is astonishing. With crisp sketched illustrations, readers get a complete visual of the intricate calculations and thought process that went into such complicated yet basic ideas.
This same astonishing understanding is taken to the next level in Newman’s other book in the series, Stone Circles. Though Stonehenge may be the most popular prehistoric monument found in Europe, it is by no means the only megalith wonder from ancient times. Crammed into this tiny volume, we are introduced to a large number of other mysterious structures found throughout history, and some not so long ago. Like the other books, the images are sharp and informative, even on such a miniscule scale.
Don’t let the size of these tiny books deceive you on the amount of informative data they provide. They are the perfect desk library for anyone interested in ancient rituals, structures, and geometric idea. From scholars, students, writers or just someone interested in historic wonder, these books are as informative as they are charming.
At over 60 volumes and growing, the Wooden Books collection from Bloomsbury Publishing is huge. While the scale of information and entertainment these books hold is just as immense, the mere artistry and visual pleasantry is priceless and deserved of becoming collectables. These aren’t the early reader board books you read with your kids, but they are certainly something you might hand down to them when they’re older.
