The Magic of Coin-Trees: The Roots of a Ritual, Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic by Ceri Houlbrook (Palgrave Macmillan, 2018) Hardcover

Ceri Houlbrook. The Magic of Coin-Trees from Religion to Recreation: The Roots of a Ritual, Palgrave Historical Studies in Witchcraft and Magic. London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2018. Hardcover edition. 307 pages. Condition: Fine Description from the publisher:  This book traces the history of ritual landscapes in the British Isles, and the transition from religious practice to recreation, by focusing on a highly understudied exemplar: the coin-tree. These are trees imbued with magical properties into which coins have been ritually embedded. This is a contemporary custom which can be traced back in the literature to the 1700s, when it was practiced for folk-medical and dedicatory purposes. Today, the custom is widespread, with over 200 coin-trees distributed across the British Isles, but is more akin to the casual deposition of coins in a wishing-well: coins are deposited in the tree in exchange for wishes, good luck, or future fortune. Ceri Houlbrook contributes to the debate on the histor