Silver RavenWolf

Although her real name is Jeanine E. Trayer, she would eventually choose the name Silver RavenWolf to write under and use in spiritual practices. She originally used SilverRaven but after much consideration decided to change it. Each part of the name has a spiritual meaning, silver being the threads that connect the lower self to the higher self, raven being a bird of prophecy and a shapeshifter, and wolf being a protector and a teacher.^[1] Her husband, Mick, would also use the name MindWalker.^[1][2]

She comes from a Christian background and did not have direct Craft influence.^[1] When she was young, she saw visions of angels,^[1] and later received a tarot deck when she was 13 by a family member who was scared by them.^[1] The first exposure she had to witchcraft was the Diary of a Witch written by Sybil Leek, however she was still doubtful of witchcraft.^[1] Her first altar was a dressmaker’s board because of space limitations and for general privacy from others in the living space with her. Moving on from her first altar, she now has a working altar, that is for her own use, and a wall altar that is for the family,^[1] which includes her two daughters, Echo and Falcon, her two sons, one of which is named Dragon, her husband, Mick, and a dog.^[1][2] She would also begin learning runes with The Book of Runes, written by Ralph Blum, and later gain more insight into this when asked to edit Freya Aswynn’s book Leaves of Yggdrasil^[1].

RavenWolf continued to have many firsthand experiences with magick throughout her life. She received a visit from the Egyptian Goddess Bast, in the form of a shadow off a larger-than-life cat.^[1] She used magick on herself to project the kind of person children would listen to, so when tasked with watching over a group of children on a field trip, she could ensure their safety because they would all listen to her and not run off.^[1] She also considers her first publication going through without multiple rejection letters as part of both Llewellyn’s support and generosity and magick due to the fact that she had to take care of her family at the same time as writing her manuscript.^[1] The Rituals she uses are also influenced by Starhawk’sSpiral Dance ritual.^[1]

Bried Foxsong of Sacred Heart gave RavenWolf her first degree initiation.^[1][3] She then received second degree initiation in the Caledonii Tradition by Lord Ariel, and later received her Third Degree Initiation from a member of the Serpent Stone Family, a pagan congregation.^[1][3] While studying under a British Traditional Witch, Bried Foxsong, who is on the International Red Garters’ records in Britain,^[3] Silver became connected with a family lineaged witch who was the last in his line of the tradition. It was this mentorship that prompted the beginning of the Black Forest Circle and Seminary in the 1990s. ^{[citation needed]}, The Black Forest Circle and Seminary is an organization that contains hundreds of covens spanning the United States and Canada. She is now the current head of the Black Forest Tradition as well as an Elder in the Serpent Stone Family.^[3]

Until the 2010s, she appeared as a lecturer and workshop facilitator at events in the Neo-Pagan community. She was active in Wiccan anti-discrimination issues.^[4] She provides group seminars during the summer called the Sisters of the Cauldron who work on healing requests.^[1] She is also a firm believer in everyone’s individual ability to draw their own conclusions and follow the path right for them. She believes that people who come to the Craft from other religions bring some of that religion with them and that it is not a bad thing unless they try to force their truths to become another’s truth.^[1] Many of her beliefs regarding Satanic Witchcraft was also not out of discrimination, but a response to the Satanic Panic, that ended shortly before the publication of her To Ride a Silver Broomstick, and was simply meant to help alleviate fear of the Craft by assuring that witches do not worship Satan.^[1]

As well as being apart of the Neo-Pagan community, she is also a hereditary Powwower who was taught by Preston Zerbe,^[3] and adopted the Pennsylvania Dutch practice in a Neo-Pagan context.^[5] She learned from her grandfather, Samuel Cornelius Baker, that on her grandmother’s, Lottie Knaub’s, side there was a strong connection to Pow-wow.^[3] She was told that this Pow-wow skips generations and the last relative she had who was a Powwower was her great-great-grandmother on her father’s side.^[3] There are no concrete records of this however because her great-aunt burned the family records.^[3] She also learned that her great-great-grandfather drew astrological charts to tell people’s fortunes during a town festival.^[1] This was learned after discovering a family heirloom pitchfork that was carried through the town as part of a harvest parade which she now uses as her stang,^[1] a ritual item usually made from wood.

RavenWolf is the author of over 17 books on Wicca and Paganism in general.^[6] She has also written several novels. Currently, her books have been translated into Czech, Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Hungarian, Dutch and Portuguese. She is the director of the Wiccan/Pagan Press Alliance Midnight Drive^[7] and a member of the Authors Guild, authors League of America. She also has her own website where she provides a link to her blog page, which she uses to share anything from crafts, to events, to general information, and a link to her candle shop.^[8] She describes herself as an author, an artist, a candler, and a spirit doll designer^[8] and has also studied graphology.^[1]

• To Ride a Silver Broomstick: New Generation Witchcraft (1993) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-0-87542-791-1

• Hex Craft: Dutch Country Pow-wow Magick (1997) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-723-6
• TeenWitch!: Wicca for a New Generation (1998) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-725-0
• American Folk Magick: Charms, Spells & Herbals (1999) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-720-5
• Halloween: Spells, Recipes & Customs (1999) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-719-9
• Silver's Spells for Protection (2000) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-729-8
• Silver's Spells for Love (2001) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-552-2
• Angels: Companions in Magick (2002) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-724-3
• Journey of Souls: Case Studies of Life Between Lives by Michael Newton (introduction by Silver Ravenwolf) (2002) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-485-3
• To Light a Sacred Flame: Practical Witchcraft for the Millennium (2002) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-721-2
• Witches Runes: Insights from the Old European Magickal Traditions (Cards) (with Nigel Jackson) (2002) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-553-9
• Solitary Witch: The Ultimate Book of Shadows for the New Generation (2003) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-0-7387-0319-0
• Silver's Spells for Abundance (2004) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-0-7387-0525-5
• A Witch's Notebook: Lessons in Witchcraft (2005) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-0-7387-0662-7
• To Stir a Magick Cauldron: A Witch's Guide to Casting and Conjuring (2005) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-424-2
• Mindlight: Secrets of Energy, Magick & Manifestation (2006) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-0-7387-0985-7
• HedgeWitch: Spells, Crafts & Rituals For Natural Magick (2008) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-0-7387-1423-3

• Beneath a Mountain Moon (1995) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-722-9
• Murder at Witches' Bluff: A Novel of Suspense and Magick (2000) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-727-4

Witches' Chillers series:

• Witches' Night Out (2000) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-728-1
• Witches' Night of Fear (2001) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-1-56718-718-2
• Witches' Key to Terror (2001) Llewellyn Publications ISBN 978-0-7387-0049-6

• Modern paganism and New Age