Customer Reviews

The Everything Paganism Book: Discover the Rituals, Traditions, and Festivals of This Ancient Religion (Everything (New Age))

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

There are lots of introductory Pagan books available and this one takes a good overview of it rather than get into the "nuts and bolts" of what Pagans "do." The author begins with a brief history of Paganism before going to discuss their belief system, various "Pagan holidays," and the tools used in celebrations.

What sets this book apart from other "beginners' books" is the author's devoting chapters to specific Pagan religions, like Asatru, Druidry, Santeria, and Shamanism (although some would argue these are not necessarily Pagan religions). I also liked that topics like Pagan Ethics, The Role Of Magic, and Explaining and Protecting Your Beliefs were also discussed.

This is a good book not only for the good amount of information it covers, but also because it provides the non Pagan with a general idea of what Paganism is in a nonjudgmental way.

As an ecletic Wiccan coming from a Christian family, this book helped immensely when trying to explain to my parents, especially my mother, what I believe and how I practice my faith. It also helped me to understand more about other faiths I wasn't as familiar with. Well written in layman's terms, this book paints a general picture of how the faiths described tend to work. Well laid out, easy to read, and good information.

I was overall very pleased with this book. It offers very novice information in layman's terms about the Neo-Pagan perspective and different sects of beliefs. But there was still very much to be desired, and their section on Wicca was not only ill-informed but very fluffy and vague. So this is DEFINITELY not the source for information about Wicca, of any origin or lineage.

All around, for the price I got it for, it was a good buy but I'm very sure there are other books that are just as good, if not better.

The book is a very light overview of Pagan religions. As a book targeted to the newbie attempting to discover information on the different Pagan religions and/or is seeking a path, this book is generally not useful. The information that is included is very weak and watered down. Information of the Reconstructionist religions such as Hellenismos, Religio Romana, CR, and Kemeticism is so generalized as to not have any value, and is nothing that a person could not imply from their names.

The book also fails to do any substantial "compare and contrast" of the religions to give the reader an idea of the many substantial differences. Some chapters, such as those on ethics, magic, sexuality, et al, leaves the reader with the impression that there exists a universal doctrine that Pagans adhere to, and the different paths are nothing more then a different flavoring.

Ultimately, while I cannot give the book a resounding "do not buy," I cannot recommend it.

A year ago, I would have described this book as a valuable resource for a person new to Paganism and trying to find a path. Over the last year I have made more of an effort to learn about the differences between the various Neopagan religions and now find this book does not do justice to the real diversity of thought and practice that exists. In fact, this book does what many Neopagans do, which is attempt to homogenize Paganism into some universal religion with different flavored sects. The book is weak and ultimately deceptive.

I really love this book. It explains a lot about Neo-Pagainsm, and goes into some detail about the diffrent traditions and sects. It's not a how to book, and it doesn't try to sneak spells and other things that wouldn't fit into it. It doesn't cover every little thing, but that's not possible. I really enjoyed her tone, and I gave this to my mom to read, so she could understand my religion a little better. I feel that it really helped!