21st Century Wicca: A Young Witch's Guide to Living the Magical Life (Citadel Library of the Mystic Arts) [Paperback]

Jennifer Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Series: Citadel Library of the Mystic Arts | Publication Date: June 1, 2000

Written by a young witch in her mid-twenties, this book provides a refreshingly modern approach to Wicca craft and practice. Chapters cover spells, sabbats, initiations, psychic abilities, everyday magic, the effects of Wicca on relationships with others, being a teenage witch, and much more. A series of exercises designed to both teach and accustom the reader to the ways of witchcraft is also included.

Product Details

• Paperback: 219 pages
• Publisher: Citadel, Kensington Publishing Corp. (June 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806518871
• ISBN-13: 978-0806518879
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,070,089 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, November 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: 21st Century Wicca: A Young Witch's Guide to Living the Magical Life (Citadel Library of the Mystic Arts) (Paperback)

I've been a practising Witch for over 5 years now, and I've hada number of new Wiccans whom I've met over the Internet ask me tosuggest books - this is the first one that I suggest! This is NOT a how-to book. What this book provides is a starting point. It makes you question what you believe, and how strongly you believe it. It says "this is your potential - now find a way to get there". This book is wonderful to read, and written with intelligence. I read it after 4 years of practise, and it gave me insights into the Craft that I haven't gotten elsewhere. Scott Cunningham is still one of my favourites, especially for beginners, but Jennifer Hunter's 21st Century Wicca is so much better to start out with. It's a breath of fresh air, and nowhere in the book does she say "this is the way that you do such-and-such". She guides you into finding a way to do ritual, meditation, and worship in a way that suits you best... There are no preset rituals in the book, which I understand is a turnoff for a lot of new Wiccans, but the problem I found with printed rituals is that I had a hard time, in the beginning, composing my own rituals, because I never really learned to do it myself... Now, that's not so hard.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best Wicca 101 book out there, July 23, 2006

By 

Lupa (Portland, OR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: 21st Century Wicca: A Young Witch's Guide to Living the Magical Life (Citadel Library of the Mystic Arts) (Paperback)

This is, quite simply, the best Wicca 101 book alongside Cunningham's "Wicca for the Solitary". While the latter book goes into more ritual detail, "21st Century Wicca" discusses everyday life as a Wiccan.

There are some ritual ideas and basic info in this book, but where it really shines is with the personal testimony and the attention Hunter gives to what it's like to be a Wiccan in the "real world". She goes over things that a lot of high school and college-aged Wiccans (who make up the bulk of the 101 crowd) are concerned with, such as whether or not to find a group, the virtues of self-initiation, and coming out of the broom closet.

It's an exceptionally realistic look, without going into persecution complexes. The added quotes from people who have been practicing pagan ways for varying amounts of time just makes the book that much more valuable, showing the reader that it really *is* a very individual path and there's no single "right" way to do things.

All in all, I think that if you have to give a book to a younger newbie (or if you are that younger newbie) this is it! Even if you aren't that young, you'll still find a LOT of good material in here. 5 of 5 stars!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Informational, March 2, 2003

By 

Callista "from SMS Book Reviews" (Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 21st Century Wicca: A Young Witch's Guide to Living the Magical Life (Citadel Library of the Mystic Arts) (Paperback)

This is a really good book. I am very suprised at how good of a writer Jennifer Hunter is. When I first ordered this book, I was just going by it's title and when I got it, I was dissapointed because it looked like another stupid beginner's book with the same old information as every other one. It got put to the side and then I packed up my room because we were redoing it. 6 months later I unpacked it and have been reading it and I am astonished at how good it is and mad at myself for not giving it a chance. I especially like the chapters on Magic and Everyday Magic (living as a Witch.)

The book is divided into three parts, Maiden, Mother and Crone. Chapters include: Energy Work, Diety, Magic, Sabbats, Ritual, Magical Tools and Altars, Initiation, The Other Side, Commmunity, Relationships, Teenage Trip and College Life and more. There are quotes from real witches scattered throughout the book and she provides exercises too. The exercises are fun!

I most definitely recommend this book to beginners but even if you aren't a beginner, this book is very informational. As the preface says:
"I wrote this book because I felt that most of the books on Wicca were giving us too much of what we didn't need: flowery rituals, tables of correspondances, complicated spells -- and yet, virtually no information about the reasons behind all that."

How true! Hunter does a superb job of fulfilling her goal.