Customer Reviews

The Everything Wicca and Witchcraft Book: Unlock the Secrets of Ancient Rituals, Spells, Blessings, and Sacred Objects (Everything (New Age))

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

 

 

This book is great for those of us who are just starting out and want a basic understanding of Wicca and everything that goes with it. It lightly touches on a lot of subjects and gives answers to questions that I didn't even think to ask. If you are just starting out you might find you really like this book. I know I did.

This is a great overview for the beginner. It describes the philosophy and idealogy, history, and folklore in the first few chapters, then moves on to practical instruction. I found the section on kitchen witchery particularly interesting. It does go into casting circles, ritual construct, and eventually deities, but is mostly a book of "low" (as opposed to "high", or rituallistic) folk magic. Despite the title, I did not find it to be particulary biased toward Wiccan magic, thus making it great for the beginner looking for a generic or secular approach.

No section is terribly in depth, but it will expose you to a variety of magickal pursuits, leave you excited about continuing, and give you an idea what you wish to study more about.

I found this book to be a very helpful general overview of everything that I still need to learn. It was especially helpful in the area of meditation. It actually gives you some great ideas to try if you are having trouble relaxing and staying focused. There is also a great section in the back of the book that refers you to other books and to web sites where information can be found and supplies can be bought. Oh...one more thing...it has a great section on herbs and rocks and what they can be used for. I would recommend this book to anyone that is just beginning their spiritual journey.

I am new at Wicca(n)1 week to be exact and a lifetime (over 35+ yrs)of being a Roman Catholic. I have been overwhelmed in what to read first. The title and the reviews here helped me decide to have this as one of the first books to start with. I found it to have a good foundation; however it brought on a lot more questions. I guess that would be a good thing. Still not sure where to start or what is most important- start an altar, deciding on which devination, choose a god or goddess to start studying, do rituals on everything I buy. I bought other books at the same time(Cunningham crystals,oils and herb books as well as solitary books) and hopefully they will help answer some of my questions

I did find out that I am more Fire my color is orange; My b-day is on Lughnasadh Aug 1. I understand more about my personality then ever before; and why I do certain things and why I prefer the mountains and outdoors over the beach or gardening.

The book gave me the ground work to start with and now I have to research a little deeper for a better understanding. So I am going to look for books on getting specific for certain areas that I have read that I have questions on. As a newbe I feel this book gives you a GREAT basic understanding it's not to overwhelimng (besides his use of uncommon words need a dictionary near you), it entises you to research more information if your still intrested in wicca(n)

This book is well laid-out and a fun read, but the errors in easily-checked information (such as the definition of "newt" and the year that the UK repealed the Witchcraft laws) puts the other data in question.

Like most beginner books, it provides a quick survey to different aspects of Wicca and Witchcraft. After reading three books on Wicca, also for beginners, I thought I wasn't gonna learn anything anymore from this book, I was wrong, I still did.

The reason I gave it three stars though is because some of the "facts" contained are obvious errors, such as Tarot cards having 72 cards instead of 78, and the mismatching of the meaning of the words pentagram and pentacle. Such errors made me question the credibility of other parts of the book.

Overall, it is still a good read, and while I think it isn't the best beginner book, I think you can do far worse than to buy this book.

I look at this like a coffee-table book that you can pull out when people have basic questions on a wide variety of Wiccan/Witchcraft topics. Contrary to some reviews here... I'd say it's impossible for ANY author to cover it all in under 300 pages considering the diversity of Wiccan beliefs and practices (but the Everything books try to do just that). Singer does her best within the framework provided (this reminds me of the Dummies guides but with a little more class).

If you already know the foundations of the Craft, this probably isn't the book for you, but it is the book for friends and family who find themselves confused and just wanting something to help them grasp the foundations of what you believe/do. Plus there are simple angles that Singer brings to the work that make a lot of sense in our busy world.

You're not going to get a treatise here on any one part of Wicca - but rather snapshots of a very diverse faith, which is a tribute to "unity through diversity" .. overall a very strong book.

Well I didn't actually read this book cover to cover because it's really a basics book and I already know everything that's in it. I still wanted to review it though.

What makes me wary of this book, is that the first thing it says is "Witches do not eat babies, and they're not Satanists." I read a book to learn about the subject, not learn what it is not about. While I have no problem with a section on misconceptions, I don't believe it should be the very first paragraph.

This is a book for a Jack of All Trades. It covers a lot of subjects but doesn't actually have a lot on each subject. Some subjects covered include: History of Magick, Wicca and Witchcraft, Folklore, Tools, Symbolism, Sacred Space, Meditation, Prayer, Dreams, Hexcraft, Ritual, Divination, Elements, Kitchen Witchery, the role of color, shape etc... in Magick, Minerals, Plants, Animals, Astrology, Numerology, Divinities, Sacred Places, Healing and Coven Craft all within 290 pages.

Some topics are only covered in a paragraph. Good points I found were that is seems to have correct information. The author explains the difference between Wicca and Witchcraft and doesn't rave about 9 million witches being killed during the Burning Times. The short Folklore and Superstitions chapter was interesting.

There are a few sample spells but they are really simple and made to show you how to make your own. There were a few parts I read word for word because they interested me but other than that. I would be wary of a book that tries to incorporate Everything into one book. There is a glossary at the back of the book as well.

I enjoyed the meditation section. Many books that describe how to meditate, are really confusing. While the section is small, it's easy to understand. It also teaches you how to adapt spells to fit your life and needs. It does give a brief section on how to make your own spells too. It does cover a few things that most other basics books don't, but like I've said all along, each section is brief.