Picture an old, gothic cathedral. Now lift your eyes to the edges of the eaves and
the peaks of the ridgelines. Look carefully, and you’re likely to spot one or more
creatures clinging to the side of the building or balancing atop a spire.
Gargoyles!

These staring, startling, sometimes leering creatures have gazed down at us for
centuries. Though they were most popular during the Middle Ages, many
gargoyles endure today. And stonemasons and artists continue to embrace the
craft and create new versions for our viewing pleasure.

Have you ever wondered why gargoyles were created, who made them, and how
they got there? Many cultures throughout history have produced sculptures of
fantastic creatures, figures that stir our imaginations, just as they stirred the
imaginations of the artists and craftspeople who envisioned them.

Gargoyles takes you on a journey into a mysterious world, through bestiaries
and traveling menageries, past grotesques and chimeras, through medieval
cities and guilds and into huge stone buildings. Gargoyles are an embodiment of
form and function   serving a clear architectural purpose but also symbolically
important. Whether warding off evil, frightening away fear, or showcasing human
foibles, when a gargoyle was placed on a building, people noticed.

Gargoyles will introduce you to stone faces, doom stones, drinking heads,
Sheila na gigs, hagodays, and other stony members of the gargoyle family. In
doing so, it delves into historic models of arcane craftsmanship and
architecture, considering the reasons that gargoyles came into being and
hearing the legends of the gargoyle, both mythic and modern. It also covers the
emergence of stone creatures into popular culture.

For modern magick users, Gargoyles explores the role of the gargoyle in
magickal practice, including gargoyle use in elemental correspondences, stone
magick, protection, warding, egregores, talismans, animal associations, ritual,
and spell work. It also includes a “field book” of gargoyles, both old and new, that
can still be seen and appreciated today.

Susan “Moonwriter” Pesznecker is a hearth Pagan and a child of the natural
world. A registered nurse for many years, she is currently completing a master’s
degree in creative non-fiction writing. Areas of magickal expertise include green
magick, wortcunning, healing, geology and stonework, organic gardening,
nature study, and folklore. A fourth generation Oregonian, Susan lives in
Milwaukie, Oregon.