Customer Reviews

Advanced Wicca: Exploring Deeper Levels of Spiritual Skills and Masterful Magick

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There are just so many "right" ways you can learn to cast a circle, invoke the elements, quarters and deities, create a proper altar/sacred space, etc. And the correspondence tables...do you have enough of them already??? This book is what many on the Wiccan path have been pleading for...a book that goes beyond the basic teachings of the Wiccan way.

Finally Pat Telesco moves the practicing Wiccan further down the path towards self-enlightenment. This is not a simple spell or recipe book. It's a resource on how to live a magickal life, to live, breathe, and sleep magick.

Telesco defines what it means to be an adept in the Wiccan community. She covers such things as trancework, group dreamworking, creating amulets, talismans, mazes and labyrinths, working with elementals, and group pathworking. She also provides a number of spells, meditations, visualizations and other exercises or activities. Her community ritual, which involves putting together the pieces of a puzzle, has wonderful depth and meaning.

She discusses the role for the Wiccan in the Wiccan community, and the greater community at large, whether it be as a teacher, counselor, healer, study group organizer, coven builder, or public spokesperson for the Craft. Telesco also offers wonderful guidelines for self-regulation and how to deal with difficult issues in the Craft such as the internal squabbling known as "Witch wars".

Like so many of her other books (Spinning Spells and Weaving Wonders; Wicca 2000, etc.), this one is very well written and organized. It is a highly recommended addition to the experienced Wiccan's magickal library.

Compared to Patricia Telesco's other books, this book takes on a decidedly more serious tone, and one which is more innately spiritual rather than practical. I sense an earthiness in Telesco's material, and I have always loved her common-sense observations on life and spirituality; this book is clearly a departure from the practical Wise Woman Telesco, and is a journey inward to ascertain the seriousness of the soul. Wicca is, first and foremost, a religion and a spiritual path, and far too much attention is given to the outward "trappings" of the craft, rather than on the committment of mind, heart, and soul which must take place in order to really and truly embrace Wicca's spiritual dimensions. I appreciate Telesco's honesty and her commitment, and I found myself realizing that what has been important to me all along is what should be important to me: the state of my inner being, rather than any outward appearance -- to share one's faith, the heart and soul must be in the right place; ritual is only "cake frosting" if the spiritual side does not enter into it: and Telesco makes us keenly aware of that. This is a completely beautiful book -- I highly recommend it.

Oh, thank you! I have been waiting for this book to come out as a much needed adjunct to all the 101 materials out there. The best part about this title is that it stresses "Advanced" doesn't necessarily mean more powerful, but more responsible and better controlled magick. It also talks about the roles and responsibilities of the adepts, teachers, and elders in our community. Beyond this, it gives instructions into magick best suited for a more experienced student of the craft like making elementaries, group dream work, and astral temples. This is definitely 2nd generation Wicca.

Lately, I've been feeling a bit conflicted. On the one hand, if I allow myself, I can indulge in 3 hours of nightly news plus Internet and paper news. Most of it is pretty grim. On the other hand, I have Wicca friends who are moving away from Washington to get away from all the negative energy. I feel like running away myself, but cannot.

I read ADVANCED WICCA thinking I would learn new methods, rituals, and practices I could use to soothe my troubled soul. Telesco is indeed a soothsayer and has plenty of suggestions for strengthening one's spiritual life. However, she also says becoming an Adept in the craft (advanced in Wicca) requires taking steps along a path you may not be prepared to take.

Like many religions, Wicca has a inward comtemplative and an outward active side. Wicca is probably the most individual religion around but it isn't about becoming a hermit. After all, Wicca is about wisdom, and what good is wisdom if you can't share it? What good does it do to only look after your own skin? You may be a solitary, but you have a responsibility to the world around you.

Telesco says, "If you are walking the Adept's Path, you must leave apathetic attitudes behind you and become proactive here and now. Nothing less than a positive, mainstream future for the Craft is at stake." These are pretty scary words for folks who are just beginning to feel their way after several centuries of persecution and riducule that even today are pretty strong. Telesco says, that while most religions of the world have a symbol, such as a cross, a star or a cresent, the pentacle of Wicca sends many folks into spasms. While most religions have high holy days that are respected (or supposed to be) in our diverse culture, many still hide their involvement in the high holy days of Wicca--which are the oldest celebrations on earth. those few members of Wicca who dare to practice in the open are often ridiculed in the press. Can you imagine the outcry if the Passover, Easter, or Ramidan was riduculed? And yet, Wiccan celebrations are often viewed as puerile activities carried out by adolescents.

The Path of the Adept is a spritual path, and like all spiritual paths involves a solitary walk to a divine source. Each person is called in a different way. You will know your call when it comes, and when you hear the call, you cannot not respond.

These days, I would like to focus all my energy on the natural world around me, my beautiful garden and the birds that inhabit it, but I cannot. The external world intrudes into my existence because the rain does not fall, the air is not clean, and the butterflies and bees are missing. Nearby, gas-guzzling SUVs are running up and down the roads, their owners oblivious to the connection between themselves and their consumption habits and pollution and turmoil all over the world. I feel called to reach out and join others who fight to reverse the effect of the sins we have committed against our mother. Patricia Telesco challenges those who wish to grow in the craft to look inward and then reach outward.

There are four good advanced books out right now, and this one is smack in the middle of them for difficulty and level of skill.
The theology present in this book is interesting, but I founfd the work of little use to my own practice-too magicky.
Perhaps Advanced Magick would be a better title, as it is much more magick than Wicca.
If possible, glance over it before you buy it.
Unless you are a true newb, there Is a chance none of this will be new to you.

This book, like many of Telesco's earlier books, gives a good overview of many useful subjects. However, there are too many subjects for any one to be covered very deeply. Also, I did not find anything in this book that is not covered in a good basic Wicca class, or in basic pre-dedicant or first degree training with a good coven.
It is a good introduction for those who are just moving past Cunningham or Buckland's basic books, but is certainly not 'advanced'.

Blessings,
Sana

Telesco reminds us in this book that advancement isn't about complexity or power - it's about responsibility. And there were LOTs of great ideas for advancing one's abilities in this book (in fact, it's the only book I recall that ever talked about making elementaries, effectively doing group dream work, and finding one's magickal "voice"). Hightly recommended for taking the next step forward from 101 books

for people who want to move past 101 books into something deeper without feeling drown by dogma, this is a great book to explore. It's based on the archetypes of adepts from around the world and has sound research beneath it. As with other Telesco titles, there's little flashy or hocus pocus here - rather forthright foundation building and steady steps forward. If you want Charmed type magick - don't go here, but if you want something transformational, then buy this book!

Firstly, I think people should realize that Wicca is a mystery religion, it is not a revealed religion. Everything about the Western culture is geared towards revealed religion, and, even for the pagan with a secular background, it is a very hard jump to make. People want books to GIVE it to them. It doesn't come from a book though - books are great to get you started,and the ONE good thing about this book is it does point you to some excellent books you should read. But the real shift that takes you into advanced Wicca, that has to come from within.

Aha! Eureka! Shazaam! That's where it is.

However, all the books she suggests are fairly modern. I've advanced my own practice the most by going back to the OLD books - Agippa, Blatvasky,Bardon, Crowley.

I would have liked to see this book expand on the mythology and symbolism that magickal practice uses. She does discuss the pentacle and the circle, but I did not feel that her explanations were particularly deep. I found the same when she discussed the tarot - very superficial. I personally did not understand why an adept should be able to meditate for 20 minutes? That's an assumption in my opinion. Everyone may be different, but when I could meditate for 20 minutes I didn't feel any particular change in my consciousness. It was actually when I found myself needing to set an alarm clock that I started making progress. Of course it all helped. Meditation is very important. I didn't like the time limit there. In several places there are assumed goals - assuming the reader has went down the path of Wicca for this or that, when in fact, none of those may have applied.

One thing I did like about the book is that she did touch on several concepts that could be explored by those looking to extend their magickal practice. Of course each such thing - IE elementals - could have books written on them by themselves, but at least they were touched on. Vocabulary is important to any endeavor, and this book might extend that for some.

The advice to live a magickal life is stellar advice, which is why I gave this one a 2. I would have liked to have seen more practices to put people in touch with a more animistic viewpoint, which for myself and others I know was VITAL in the pivotal mindset that takes hold before the Aha!s begin. IE nurturing plants, such as growing a magickal plant such as the mandrake BY the old prescribed methods. It is a very hard thing to do, but quite transformative.

So, from my perspective, this might be Wicca 102, but it is not really advanced.

While the book clearly does not present anything advanced, it is still a somewhat decent book. At least it was nice to not have another re-hash of the customary fluffy nonsense so abundant in Wicca books today. However, essentially this is yet another beginners book, but with some material bordering on intermediate. It's a worthwhile read in general, but don't have your hopes up of learning something new here.