Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent and needed, 14 May 2008
(A version of this review was originally posted on 'The Avalonia Esoteric Book Review' site)
If we look at the arguments people have over Wicca, the biggest one is generally whether "Gardner made it up" or not. He introduced `The Craft' to the public in 1951, claiming that he'd been initiated into a system which was already in existence, not one that he invented himself. Since then we've found evidence that Gardner certainly changed parts of it later (as did Doreen Valiente and others), but the question over whether he really found an existing tradition remains.
The authors of this book decided not to focus on the big names like Gerald Gardner, but instead trace the origins of Wiccan *practices*. These are, after all, the things that make Wicca what it is - the ceremonies, tools and systems.
And this is where the trouble is going to start, because many people now see Wicca as primarily a pagan Earth-religion. Early `Gardnerian' Wicca (before it was called that) was very different in some ways: more like an initiatory system of ceremonial magic with some witchy themes. People are quite angry on both sides about whether real Wicca today is the initiatory type, or one that should be open to all.
So what does the book say about this? Well, the first conclusion is that - even if Gerald did make it up - the systems Wicca draws together go back a long way. The early chapters are interesting, but the sections on the Athame, Magic Circle and Calling the Quarters are brilliant. There is a lot of information here for Wiccans who want to know more about where their practices come from: specific parts are traced to the Lesser Key of Solomon or John Dee and Enochian Magic, but beliefs such as only walking sunwise around a circle go back strongly to Egyptian times.
The chants and verses are also examined. `The Charge of the Goddess' is analysed in detail, as are some of the more common chants such as the Witches Rune. This is where the arguments will begin again, because the authors point to some sources that many people won't like. They show just how much of the Charge of the Goddess comes straight from Aleister Crowley, who isn't always a popular figure with modern wiccans. Doreen Valiente re-wrote much of the Charge from the original version, claiming she wanted to reduce the amount of Crowley material in it, but then replaced it with more! In fact, Valiente doesn't come out of this very well at all, although the authors politely use phrases such as "she may have been mistaken...".
I already knew some of these origins before reading this book, but the level of detail here really adds something. It makes a difference that the authors are practicing Wiccans with experience in ceremonial traditions, because finding the sources sometimes depends on understanding exactly what each ritual represents. Unfortunately, the answers aren't always going to be what wiccans want to hear. At one point the list reads "Crowley, Lesser Key of Solomon, Crowley, Christianity". For wiccans whose path may be primarily a pagan religion, this isn't going to go down well.
It doesn't have to offend, though. By emphasising the link to ceremonial magick, the authors actually reinforce Wicca's connection to original European witchcraft. Cunning Men are well known to have worked from books on astrology and texts such as these, but included here are also illustrations of *witches* working in a similar way. One illustration from 1715 shows a woman in a double-circle commanding spirits with a wand, following instructions from a book on the ground.
So, the big question: Do the authors claim that Wicca has a beginning that goes back before Gardner? Well, I'm not going to tell you. Finding out is half the fun of this book! They set out a number of possibilities, and discuss the evidence for each before picking one based on their own opinions. Regardless of whether you agree with their conclusions, people are already so divided on this topic that it is likely to be a very controversial book.
Because of that, I expected `Wicca: Magickal Beginnings' to sell very quickly. (I didn't expect it to sell every copy of its first print run in approximately three hours, however!) What was a nice surprise was how useful it will be to wiccans in their daily practice - knowing the roots of the tools and ceremonies really added a lot to my appreciation of many areas, and I loved reading about them. Some of the references are put in just for fun (and clearly labelled as such), but quite often the conclusions are a little different to those the wiccan community usually assumes are the case.
The first printing isn't free from mistakes: an errata sheet is included (humourously claiming that the minor spelling errors are all the fault of Hermes, the mischievous God of communication). The rest of the presentation is good though, and it becomes a real page-turner when you find a part of wiccan practice you feel strongly about.
"Magickal Beginnings" pulls together all the subjects that will interest wiccans, but which are usually too diverse to be found in one place. Readers who want to go further now have a valuable set of links to excellent texts. (The bibliography at the back runs to 16 pages...) By covering the ceremonial topics as well as looking at themes on the pagan side such as Cernunnos, I think "Wicca: Magickal Beginnings" is going to become a vital part of many wiccans' bookshelves.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wiccan History without the Gardner Bashing, 12 Jun 2008
I originaly wrote a review which is still listed below, but having reread this book I decided that it is probably the best available book on Wiccan history written to date and as such have decided to give it 5 instead of 4 stars. Anyone who mistakes this for "just another book on Wicca" should reconsider and spend the time and money on this book.
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This book surprised me. I expected to find material which I was familiar with, but in fact the material here goes much deeper than skin deep. I have seen a few reviews comparing it with other books on the history of Wicca, such as Triumph of the Moon, but whilst this is a natural comparison to make, such comparisons miss the point. This book does not present the same material, nor does it cover the same ground as previous books on the history of the tradition. It might however seem to do so, if you have only a superficial interest in the practices and beliefs.
The conclusions reached in this book will interest those interested in the work of Sabbatic Craft, Traditional Witchcraft and anyone who has long felt that Wicca has roots which reach back much earlier than the 1950's. The author actually show that based on the practices alone the tradition might be a continuation of the much older and much respected grimoire tradition. This is very interesting, as the material they present goes into much more detail than previous books. In fact they show that it is not just the Key of Solomon which influenced the Wicca, but also a number of other very important and much older grimoires.
I found their conclusions and theories, their weaving of different threads into one coherent mystery of possibilities interesting. I read a review elsewhere which compared it to a detective story and indeed, in places, it does read like a good detective story. There are many facts and the authors leaves it to the reader to decide what they believe and what they put aside, encouraging the reader to make their own minds up.
The chapter on the Wiccan Rede was very interesting. They examine origins of the thelemic ode in The Adventures of King Pausole, Valiente's work, Gardner's work and a number of other sources. Likewise, the chapter on the Athame was fascinating. Here they present material, with line drawings, showing the actual meanings of the strange inscriptions long passed on from initiate to initiate, with jumbled meanings. The meanings often taken from The Witches Bible, given to the Farrar's by Valiente, who clearly must have misunderstood them. The chapter on Drawing Down the Moon again challenges views and I can imagine that this might upset some Wiccans. Likewise, whilst some of the analysis of The Charge of the Goddess given in that chapter has been seen before, the level of detail in this book is unprecedented and clearly laid out.
There is so much material here for those eagerly looking for something to further their understanding of their Craft. This book will not however make much sense to those Wiccans who prefer to keep their practice to talking about it, this is a book for those who practice and do so with an open mind. As such I would recommend it alongside the other books on the history of the Craft.
This book is likely to upset or confuse people who are set in their ways, the sources of the rituals are not always as clear cut as it would have appeared to be from previous research published on the subject and many people may feel threatened by some of it.
For me this book represents the best of the best of what is being written on the Wiccan Tradition today. Its fresh, original and does not seek to convert or persuade people to take up a particular way of working or thinking. Instead it presents information which every single person who practice Wicca, Witchcraft or any form of ritual celebration within the modern Pagan movement needs and should read. (Unless they wish to remain ignorant)
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2 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Missing the mark, 11 Jun 2008
Oh dear, what in the world happened here?
I wanted so desperately to like this book. It is packed full of interesting information, attempts to tackle the key aspects of Wiccan Traditions and has an appendix that seeks to look into the smaller concepts of modern witchcraft. However, despite the best intentions, the authors have missed the mark dramatically, leaving the reader wondering what in the world is going on as the book detours to and fro.
As was mentioned, this book is packed full of some very interesting information. Unfortunately, much of that information has little or nothing to do with the topics it is inserted into, while the information that is actually relevant is applied in the manner of a man eating soup with a fork.
It seems to me that this book attempts to be a "Triumph of the Moon" for beginners, but it is very far from achieving that.
In several instances the authors attempt to undermine Gardner's words and expose the truth of Wicca's roots. In and of itself that is all well and good, but in this case it is sloppy and ridiculous. Examples that come to mind are the implication that Gardner was not inspired by the tale of Good King Pausol due to the fact that it is an obscure source, however the authors fail to realise that regardless of how obscure the source may be to others, it was obviously known by Gardner! Amusingly, the authors also say: "But who was King Pausol? Searching for him revealed The Adventures of Good King Pausole, which seems to be what Gardner was writing about..."
One seriously has to wonder how hard of a search was undertaken by the authors, being as Gardner himself cites that same book as his source beneath the very quote (taken from his book "The Meaning of Witchcraft") that the authors had used just two lines prior!
They go on to insist that the source of the Rede was more likely Crowley and explaining the meaning of Thelemic Law. I wouldn't mind too much if the idea was to imply that the wording of the Rede was inspired by Thelemic Law, but that is not the author's meaning at all. Indeed, they appear to be laboring under the impression that the two are more or less interchangeable, regardless of the fact that the meanings are most certainly different. It would seem that in this case the book's writers have confused something that looks the same as being the same.
But rest assured, this is most certainly only the most minor of the many possible assertions that could be exampled amongst this books many strange twists of personal logic.
Obviously a discussion of Crowley and other magical and occult teachings that predate Gardner are relevant to the subject material, especially being as many of those almost certainly did influence Gardner in his development of Wicca. However, I would have hoped that the authors of this book would have been able to focus on the relevant material of these subjects and then apply it in a way that remained relevant.
The general form of the book tends to move in three stages:
1. Open a chapter by discussing the supposed origins and meanings of something.
2. Dismiss these off hand and use irrelevant data as the key to that dismissal.
3. Form a conclusion that is neither connected to the original assertion or the data presented.
There is actually some good material in this book, it merely lacks the thread of sense to tie it all together properly.
On the other hand, from time to time the authors do present some information in a good way and keep it relevant and informative, such as the tracing of many ritual components to the Key of Solomon, etc. However, despite these bursts of good material, none of it is anything new and all of it should already be known by experienced Wiccans and witches, while less experienced Wiccans and witches would do better to get the full story and complete facts elsewhere.
The authors insist this book represents many years of research and study and that the book has been long in development. However, between the multiple spelling errors and silly information mistakes (such as saying at one point that Doreen Valiente wrote Witchcraft Today), combined with the complete lack of flow in this book, I can't help but feel that regardless of the how long the author says this book has been in production, it was nevertheless rushed to print. Indeed, "rushed to print" was the constant impression that I got, the further into this book I read and it seems to me that the book has suffered greatly because of it.
Was it actually rushed to print? Obviously I don't know, but either way this book would have benefited from having more time applied to it and a skilled editor waiting in the wings to tidy it up. However, it doesn't appear to have either of those things and so it just comes across as rushed, messy and generally wrought with problems.
These authors have both produces some very good books in the past, but I can say that this one was a thorough disappointment. I sincerely hope that this book is not an indication of how the authors intend to approach their topics in the future.
I would recommend that anyone looking to get an understanding of the origins of Wicca and its practices stick with the works of Prof. Ronald Hutton and Philip Heselton, because you won't find anything in this book that will enlighten you on the subject.
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by Sorita D'Este
by Sorita d'Este
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