Customer Reviews

Candlelight Spells: The Modern Witch's Book of Spellcasting, Feasting, and Healing

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

 

 

Filled with many spells, recipes, a lexicon, an herbal section, and more, this book is interesting, fun to read, and not as bad as many of the fanatical Wiccan reviewers condemn it to be. Sub-titled "The Modern Witch's Book of Spellcasting, Feasting and Natural Healing" this should tell you that it is not a book about Wicca. It is basically a book about Witchcraft, which is much older and varied than Wicca. True, there are a few naughty spells in this book, but so what? The author, who mentions the Rede/Law of Three in the start of the book, is not forcing you to operate them. She gives you the facts and warnings, and then lets you decide for yourself what is right and wrong, unlike so many other Wiccan authors (and others) who try to censor anything that they feel comes close to "violating" the Wiccan Rede, and who preach unendingly about karma, karma, karma, the way Christians scream about hellfire, sin and eternal damnation. Why does Wicca seem lately like a repackaged version of Catholicism with a feminist twist? Lighten up Wiccans! Realize that the Wiccan Rede and 3-fold karmic retribution are concepts that were developed in the 20th century by English author Gerald Gardener and prior to that was totally unheard of (let alone followed) by Witches in any culture. I'm not saying you should work black magick, but do not live in fear that everything you do is going to be judged and punished by the Gods of Karma, the way the Christians believe that you will be judged and punished by God. But even Christians believe in "an eye for an eye." Sometimes bad people need to be punished, whether by the law or by a spell. To let someone get away with causing harm to others is, in my opinion, just as bad. Wiccans may not hex or use magick to cast love spells on particular individuals, but many Witches do when they feel the time is appropriate. Even famous English Witch Sybil Leek was known to take this stand. Besides, anyone who knows enough about the laws of magick should know that magick, which is energy, does not always rebound upon the sender. Alot can happen to magickal energy from the time it is sent to the time it reaches its destination. Energy is very transformational and unpredictable. Furthermore, magick knows no good or bad, black or white. It is pure energy. We decide what is good or bad, mainly based on what society teaches us. Good and bad are subjective terms. Anyway, I've ranted long enough. Getting back to Ms. Dunwich's book, I recommend it more as a Witchcraft book; not so much as a Wiccan book. (And I may be wrong, but I sense that Gerina Dunwich is more of a Witch than a Wiccan at heart, even though most of her book titles contain the word Wicca) The recipes are interesting and are traditional in a Pagan sense. And yes Virginia, Pagans of old did feast on roasted squirrels, as well as rabbits, snakes, wild boars and just about anything else they could hunt with a bow and arrow or a spear.

I must disagree with the reader from Massachusetts who said "The spells in this book are useless to anyone who practices the Rede of Harm None." Granted, there are a few spells in this book which violate the Rede, however, it is unfair to put all of its spells into this category. I've read this book and while I don't agree with everything its author says, I've found that it does contains some wonderful healing spells and love spells, and much that can be used even by those who live according to the Wiccan Rede. There are also a number of spells to protect one against evil and psychic attack, and there certainly isn't any negative magick to be found in the Amulets and Talismans section of the Spellcasting Chapter. This book also has some very good (and interesting) Pagan recipes and directions for making sachets, incense, and candles. There is also an entire section on how to use herbs to heal various ailments. This may not be the best book on the market to accurately reflect the beliefs and practices of the average Wiccan, but in all fairness, it is far from being the worst.

I started out with this book years ago and it is just as wonderful now as it was then. It's filled with many things that every witch should use and enjoy. Notice that I said witch, meaning in general and not necessarily Wiccan. If you are like me, you will study an explore all magic of all religions, in which case, this book would be great for you. Is is very heplful in many different ways and I recommend it to anyone interested or practicing witchcraft.

Always, ~Tara~

This book, like _WiccaCraft_ is also an indispensible reference tool. I have a really old copy, so well-used and worn it is held together entirely by luck, magick and duct tape. The pages are dog-eared, stained with cake batter or spilled herb tea, highlighted, underlined and scrawled with notes, with mugwort or basil pressed between chapters, or torn bits of notebook paper or cash register recipts used as improptu pagemarkers here and there. My copy of this book is a mess, and there is a reason for this. It is in constant use. At least until it falls apart and I have to get a new copy.

As a reference tool it is unsurpassed. Her recipes are delicious, although some of the wild ingredients might be hard to find if you're living in an urban environment. They are easily adapted for those who like to improvise on a given theme, or for those who prefer to use whole-grain or vegetarian ingredients, although for the most part they're already healthy. Her cake recipes may be successfully baked with whole grain _pastry_ flour, and/or using honey in place of sugar; I've done much experimenting with her "Esbat Cake", which I actually use for Sabbats and children's birthday parties. It is a big hit with children and adults alike, and made with whole grain pastry flour, honey, and yogurt, it is a light, moist, and richly flavored cake, perfect with either a whipped cream or light cream cheese frosting, or a simple dusting of powdered sugar over a lace doily.

Back in the days when I was a Bright-Eyed Little Apprentice Witchling, my first teacher introduced me to this book. Since then, I've heard other new students complain that it doesn't give "enough" information on certain topics; yet I believe it was one of the most valuable learning tools I had. It is not, nor does it claim to be, a Complete Book of Everything You Need to Know to Become a Witch. Expecting that from _any_ book would be unwise on the part of any student or teacher. What it _is_ is one of the most excellent _supplemental_ texts I encountered during my own early training.

The glossary in the back is a useful tool for any student, of course, as are the various reference lists for herbs and candle colors. Ample space is provided at the ends of recipes, spells and chapters for the student's questions, notes or their own spells and rituals. The resources in the back may be a little outdated (at least they are in my copy, which is older than dirt anyway) but nonetheless may prove useful to the student with the patience to shuffle through them, and take the time to write letters.

The spells and rituals themselves provide excellent examples for the student to analyze. Ms. Dunwich does covers the Rede, but leaves it up to the student to interpret the rede and make responsible decisions in regard to ethics and spellcraft. Invocations and words of power are written in caps, making it easy for the student to study them independently should they choose. Her spells and rituals themselves provide an excellent learning opportunity for the student; my first teacher had me break them down and analyze them, then rewrite my own interpretations. The instructions for the spells provide plenty of room for improvisation, yet are clear and concise and complete as they are. She gives examples of a wide variety of spells, from simple folk-charms to elaborate ceremonies, to older rites no longer in popular use, and all provide a wealth of information to the truly interested and motivated student. In short, unlike so many mass-marketed spellbooks and texts, _Candlelight Spells_ is writen with the assumption that the reader has a brain and knows how to use it. This book makes an excellent supplemental text for students taking correspondence or online courses, workshop leaders, Wicca 101 or 201 teachers, or experienced Witches considering taking on an apprentice.

Beyond study, this is a book that will get _used_. Some of the contacts and resources _are_ still around, the glossary is always helpful as are the correspondence listings, and, as mentioned before, the recipes are delicious. This isn't a one-time read-through book, this is a book that will become a companion and guide for the long haul. Pity it isn't available in a more durable hardcover. Thank the Gods for duct tape.

Some of the reviewers have had a field day with this book and have said some pretty nasty things about it (and the author). But I read this book a few years ago and I thought it was totally cool. It has some really awesome spells. I tried a few of them myself and I had really good results. Yeah, there are white, black, and grey spells in this book, just as there are white, black, and grey witches in the craft. Choose what is right for you, not for me!

Overall there are six sections or chapters in this book. The first two provide Sabbat and Esbat recipes, including some recipes for incenses and other such things. As someone who doesn't equate witchcraft to any kind of religion those two chapters were pretty useless to me, and since I prefer to buy my incense instead of make it myself, the last few recipes weren't much of use to me either. Chapter three is about making candles. I didn't really get much out of this chapter, although I did buy the book thinking that its focus is candle magic (which, I'm sorry to say, it is not.) This chapter is pretty short. There's a recipe for a candle anointing oil, color symbolism is briefly discussed, and then there is a list of herbs and what their magical properties are (used when making your candles). Chapter four is about herbs. It starts off with a few "cures" for common ailments like headache and toothache that might have been used by village people. Then there's more herbs listed just to take up space. Chapter five is titled "Spellcasting" and is my favorite part of the book. There are a few spells that caught my eye, like "Spell to Acquire Wealth" on page 123. While I wouldn't mind trying it, the spell requires that one wear a talisman of seven gold rings on a gold chain around one's neck. If I had seven gold rings laying around, I wouldn't need a money spell, now would I? (Unless she's talking about a talisman that has seven rings drawn on it, which I personally haven't seen anywhere). I still like how the spell is written, so I might try it. Chapter seven "Lexicon of Witchcraft" is just a glossary of words and their meaning.

Even though the author equated witchcraft to Wicca in the introduction and stated that all witches should follow the Wiccan Rede, she did not have a problem including spells that use drops of blood and even a "hex your enemies" spell. I personally don't have a problem with those kinds of spells and actually think that they should be in every book that says it's about witchcraft, but it seemed kind of hypocritical by what was said in the introduction of the book. It should be noted that a large number of the pages in this book are more than half-way empty. Some sections have one short spell per page...This, in my opinion, is a waste of trees, but I guess it makes the book appear longer.

Overall, I was pretty disappointed, except for the spellcasting chapter (which is not worth the price of the book by itself). If the whole book was more like that chapter, instead of just listing herbs to take up space, I would have given it more stars.

It wasn't what I was looking for personally, but I guess it might be useful to other people. (Crafty pagan witches, perhaps?)

-Ater

As I am a new witch, I am constently looking for sources of great information. I did not find this book very helpfull at all. It has a lot of receipes in it, but unless you have an unlimited supply of dead squirrels lieing around, they are not very realistic. There is a short chapter on candle making which wasn't too bad, but you will probably get more information and ideas from a craft book than from here. Its a good book to flick through but I wouldn't bother buying it.

This book is not *completely* useless, but I've got to say it's the worst one on Pagan and magickal practice I own. There are a few good recipes and a few mildly useful spells and lists, but then there's far too much inaccuracy, some really lousy and dangerous magickal ethics and several laughably bad attempts at high magickal language. The worst and funniest--I laughed off and on for the rest of the week--is a spell to call wind . It's very impressive-looking in a Ceremonial-Magick-tinged kind of way, and might even work....except it calls ALL FOUR CARDINAL WINDS AT ONCE. Why am I suddenly picturing Ms. Dunwich being dervished away to Oz? <g>

As a practicing Wiccan, I found this book to be extremely irresponsibly written and I hope that newcomers to The Craft will not use this as their basis for learning.

Included in the text are spells for "hexing" an enemy and other such negative applications of magic. I feel this is very irresponsible on the part of the author. One of the first things I ever learned from my teachers was that it is wrong, wrong, WRONG to send negative energy at anyone, no matter how much you think they may deserve it. In doing so, you are only hurting yourself, for what ever kind of energy you send out, you get back three fold. Send out negativity get back negativity galore.

I implore anyone that reads this book to review other texts and consider some of the author's suggestion's carefully before acting them out. Be responsible and first do no harm, either to yourself or to others!

Better still, copy down some of the food recipes (which sound interesting, though I haven't ! tried them) and then throw the book away.

IT seems i seem to like every book that wiccian purists hate!!!! this is a really fun read!!!! but lets start with the bad. This book has 2 hexes!!! JUST 2!!!!! and of the two. only the "hex cake" is practical!! the other one is kinda gross lol. but all in all. no dogma. just simple recipes, spells and a GREAT herb listing!!! I highly recomend this book to ANYONE interested in the magick arts. OR just a fun read if your not!!! lighten up people!!!! five stars from me! no complaints:)