1st 2024 192pp Hexen Press. Illustrated. White cloth with design and titling in black. NEW.
 
Ltd. ed. 250 copies. Flowers of Blood  is an exploration of the folklore of plants in pre-industrial Sweden. Through a deep dive into the world of the enchanted flora of northern Europe, the author evokes a dreamlike borderland where the numinous is thought to dwell and where each plant and tree is filled with hidden meanings, arcane knowledge and mysterious powers. Imbued in a deep animistic worldview, the natural environment of the rural folk presented is alive with spirits and supernatural beings. Here, we encounter the Underworld Dwellers, the Devil, Näcken (the water sprite), Skogsrået (the forest sprite), Hyllefroa (the elder tree spirit) and biblical figures like Cain, Judas Iscariot and Maria, in evocative plant and tree folk legends. Through in-depth researches in the archives of Uppsala and Stockholm and older local historic books, Sara Bonadea George presents, for the first time in English, a body of lore that remains little known at present even in Sweden.

The text is accompanied by a short story and poem by Per Faxneld, Associate Professor in History of Religions and author of several books on the history of esotericism.