Fang and Fur, Blood and Bone: A Primal Guide to Animal Magic

by Lupa

Book by Lupa

Genres: Occult, Paganism, Magick, Self Help, Spirituality, Animals, Religion

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2006

About the author

"I am an author, artist, and wannabe polymath living in Portland, OR. I've been a pagan of various sorts since the mid-1990s. My primary focus has always been on totemism and animal magics, though in recent years I've been expanding into the general totemic ecosystem, working with plant, fungus, mineral and other totems. I've written several books based on my practices, and you can read my blog at http://www.thegreenwolf.com/blog as well.

Also since the mid-1990s, I've created ritual tools, sacred costumery, and other meaningful art out of hides, bones, beads, and other organics. It's been a strong part of my spirituality, and I even wrote a book about it, Skin Spirits: The Spiritual and Magical Use of Animal Parts. You can see what's currently available for purchase on my Etsy shop: http;//thegreenwolf.etsy.com

I am very involved in environmental and sustainable efforts. I volunteer with local environmental groups with tree planting and litter cleanup efforts, and I even adopted a small stretch of the Columbia River to clean litter, monitor flora and fauna, and do water testing. At home I do my best to follow Reduce, Reuse, Recycle (in that order), and many of my art supplies are secondhand or otherwise reclaimed, and everything gets used one way or another.

When I'm not creatively working or volunteering, I love to hike, go out dancing, read voraciously when I have the time, and hit the gym a few times a week.

Reviews

[Steve Cran · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lupa writes a fairly simple to follow book about how to connect to the animal spirits. I like books that are easy to comprehend and do not go over the head of the reader. I also do not like it when it is so simple that you do not even learn anything. This fights right perfectly in the groove.
Lupa starts off with telling everyone that she is neo pagan and that she practices chaos magic. Chaotes or practioitioener of Chaos magic do what works for them. While being a neo pagan Lupa at the same time reminds the reader to be critical of neo pagan sources as they often have their facts mixed up.
She does learn from Paleo Paganism but then does her own things and advises the reader that it is ok to do this. Her form is the wolf. This is her primary totem that stays with her for her entire life. Her secondary totem is the cougar that comes when it is needed then goes away. The tertiary is one that is sought out. What is the origin of totems? Ancient may have thought that they descended from certain animals or that they contacted the master spirit who gives them luck hunting a species in return for recognition, honor and offering.
Lupa laments how misunderstood the wolf , a misunderstanding that has led to a genocide of the species and unfair hunting practices. When being chosen by a totem or looking for a tertiary one is advised to do research on the animals. Got to know what one is dealing with. Animal knowledge is especially crucial in choosing a familiar. A familiar is not the same as a totem. A familiar helps the wizard perform magical actions and gain spiritual enlightenment. Once can not coerce an animal to be a familiar. This must be in the animals will. Familiars can be spirit form, physical or even created much like a servitor.
Cryptozoology is the study of hidden species like big foot or the chupacabra. When cannot tell if they are in fact real or imagined. The fact that they have been created and used means they are powerful and useful. Bestiaries with dragons and unicorns may be fictional, real or an exaggeration. Non ethe less they can be used for magical action. It is questionable how much spiritual inofmration they can provide as they are not real and not from this real.
When looking for characteristics or working with energy can make up creatures or pull from ciftional sources. Remember that fiction is another form of myth used to convey truth. This section delves into Chaos and Pop Cultural magic.
The last part of the book tells about using animal parts for talismans. It is a rather detailed examination on how to clean and work with the parts and the spiritual ramification. Finally there is animal sacrifice. Once again that is up to you. They advocate neither way but tell the pro and con of the concept. This would have been an awesome book but there were no photos on the kindle edition. Where the photos should have been placed there was a crossed out camera. The publishers could have done better then that.

[Hilary "Fox" · Rating 3 out of 5]

So, this is a bit out of the norm.

Lupa is a practicioner of therioshamanism and this book is pretty much an introduction to that combined with a healthy dose of chaos magick. It's an interesting text, and I suppose a good one for a beginner? I don't really know enough about it to comment too deeply, since I've not read many occult texts of that nature. I found it informative, interesting enough to keep me reading and pondering it. From an anthropology standpoint it's fascinating that people believe in this and practice it regularly. I don't really think I could practice much of it, even out of curiosity, since I'm so darn bad at meditation. Oh well?

It's interesting, informative, but probably not for anyone above novice level, let's say. Her blog is fascinating and goes far more in depth on the different shamanic aspects of her belief and practices. I highly recommend it for the curious and she's quite fun to talk to.

[Nathan Ridings · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel a bit bad about giving any author 1 star, but this book just wasn’t what I was expecting. If you’re a Harry Potter style neo pagan who believes in creating animal spirits ala carte D&D and Pokémon style then this book might be for you. I think the author has a good imagination, but not sure if they’ve ever really worked with an animal spirit. The title and the cover definitely led me astray. I don’t want to say much else negative, but for a second edition there was also sections that had an extreme amount of grammatical errors. The author is well read, but appears to just be a buffet of choose your own adventure style beliefs with heavy influence from works of fantasy. I will be removing other books from this author from my book list.

[Asani Brewton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This seriously needed an editor. There was a lot of repition, errors, etc... that actually managed to detract for me - though that stuff doesn't usually bother me. The material was somewhat unique for the genre, but at the end of the day - not my cup of tea. It did occassional offer the kernel of food for thought, so it wasn't a total wash. I would recommend it to others who are more interested in this vein of reading as a spring board and as a source of info within the bibliography.

[merlyfe · Rating 1 out of 5]

We start of with animals as chakra points and totems- taken right out of Ted Andrews books. Moving along to picking out your very own familiar at a pet store ! Need I saw more?
I couldn’t even finish book. UPG is fine but we don’t have to share it as historical practice. It’s so disappointing to pick up another book on “animal magic” that leaves out so much.

[RunningRed NightBringer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have a 2006 edition of the book, finally got around to reading it, and was somewhat disappointed. Maybe I would have gotten more out of it in 2006.
The book includes chapters on familiars, using animal energy in magick work, non-physical shapeshifting.
For disclosure, I've been a pagan and therian since the mid-90s and...I didn't get anything useful out of this book. As for the writing, Lupa could have used an editor to tighten up some of the rambling passages and inconsistencies. It read more like a school paper than a guide to magick. As for the content, it was very watered down. Hardly a "primal" guide. She talks a lot about her own experience gathering physical animals for familiars, connecting with spirit guides, etc, but the advice for the reader is vague and not useful. I'll give her a pass on therianthropy/shapeshifting chapter. Back in the early 00s a lot of us were still trying to figure this shit out.

It read a little too...safe. Like she didn't want to scare off the reader.
This book might be okay for a casual pagan who wants to incorporate some animal spirituality, but I wouldn't recommend this to my therian friends. It wouldn't help.

[Christy Stewart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just what I would have expected from this author and publisher. If you aren't one of those "spell a day" witches who want to use animal magick, this is the book for you.

[Mycelial Alchemy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of Lupa's earliest works from what I understand, and I am glad that they revisited it for some edits when they self-published it. I do always appreciate that from Lupa, is their honesty about being wrong, learning, and encouraging others to continue to educate themselves as well and to be aware of themselves and how they speak about others.

Because it is an earlier work of Lupa I definitely was not expecting mind-bending content (as we all know, knowledge grows with time and experience, and I've read their other books, and I quite love the approach Lupa has made for themselves when it comes to talking about their beliefs and how they offer tips and tricks to other peoples), and while this book specifically isn't for me in the way the content is laid out with instructions and how to go about the ritualistic approaches of working with animal remains and doing animal magic, it is still educational ON those fronts, and I'm a sucker for learning.
I cannot properly Judge/Rate it, as I know when content isn't for me, it most certainly can be for others.

However, as someone who is plural, I can speak upon the splitting of psyche and working with personifications of the self.
'I do think when it came to talking about splitting the psyche or at least learning about it and acknowledging ones identity in sections, as a plural individual I felt concerned for the safety of anyone wanting to approach this, but if it is done with careful regard and only for small periods, I can understand how this mirrors lots of unpacking and growth for all kinds of people within mental health avenues.'
This was my only note about this book, along with nodding to their updates and removals of opinions/thoughts/explanations of other cultures animal rituals, of sacrifice or otherwise.

I personally do not have interest in content from white creators about cultures that the creator is not claimed by, so that's my only 'negative' opinion on this book that I can think of, but once again, this is an old book, Lupa acknowledges this, and in the book even states that readers can take their explanations worth a grain of sand.

I am eagerly going to read the next book that came after,
Skin Spirits, so my next review for a Lupa book will be that one... and with that, I think I will have read nearly every book Lupa has written/published!

[Chantel O’Brien · Rating 4 out of 5]

I particularly enjoy the earlier chapters in this book.

This book really hits on many (if not all) parts of animal magic/shapeshifting and really helps the reader to understand the symbolic & practical applications of animals in a therapeutic manner.

[Trunatrschild · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little New Agey wiccan for me. I am able to pick out the good out of a sea of bulloney though and she does have a few gems. This is a good starting spot, but mixes too much stuff for me to base my practice on. I prefer not to mix and match generalized whitified Native American traditions with hinduism and wicca like she does. I should have skipped the chapter on how to connect 'your totem' to your chakras, I did skip the chapter on how to connect various totems to the elements when casting one's circle. She does manage to mix her new agey elements with using her totems for personal psychological work, but that is the whole point of New Age, personal exploration and spirituality, done 'your way'. At the end, she did include a little skinwalking and usage of animal parts, with a page or five of apologies to the people who worry about animal rights. This was as close as she got to what I was interested in, shape shifting and skin walking. But I am more aware of where to go from here and what to avoid like the plague. It's also a shame that her editor didn't edit out the constant "you can use animals/totems in magic" I only need to be told this once... not over and over and over again, thank you!
So, if you've never heard of totems used in any context than wicca 101, and you are eclectic and like to borrow from different cultures, this book is the book for you, but if you're into more traditional practices of any type, this book will be a disappointment.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent introduction to integrating totem (I use that word for lack of a better term) work into one's spiritual practice. This is something I've wanted to further explore as a component of my own practice, and Lupa has given me plenty of food for thought! Along with several exercises to help me along my way.
I was very glad that this work wasn't "woo-woo-kooky." Lupa is very well-articulated and there isn't anything here that comes across as fluff or B.S. She shares her own experiences and gnosis without exaggeration or ego, which is refreshing to read in a market glutted with too many books that do just that.
This is NOT a traditional shamanic-type text, so if that's important to you, you may want to look elsewhere. This book details a syncretic system that successfully melds various practices and techniques into an effective and workable whole. Lupa has given the metaphysical community a very useful toolkit.

[Acacia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a nice, highly readable "how-to" guide on working with animal spirits and animal magic. The book offers a wide toolkit of approaches (which is handy because every approach will not work for each individual). References and research are given by the author, adding authenticity without bogging down the writing for everyday readers.

One area which may be considered to be lacking is a more religious or philosophical framework to place these techniques into. However, the author makes it clear that this is not the intent of her work. Instead, she provides an overview of the mechanics of practice itself. In this way the reader can feel free to find the pieces that work for them and apply it to their own spiritual path accordingly.

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

For me this is so Tribalistic for beginners and we bit different than wat u find she is one of my top author out there I have got 2 other books she's done it's how its done and lade out and to me she doesn't go into this is wat u must do kind a thing as every one is different and she touches on things other authors don't if you use are not into it have look any way i going get her book in ebook as well

[Gwnhwyfer]

Found through review at Magickware's Book Reviews.