Customer Reviews

Faery Wicca, Book 1: Theory and Magick, a Book of Shadows and Lights (The Ancient Oral Faery Tradition of Ireland) (Bk.1)

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(15)

 

 

It's deeply disheartening to see that this woman continues to attract so many fans. While many other reviewers have pointed out Stepanich's rampant inaccurancies and tendancy to just plain make stuff up ("ancient Irish potato goddess" indeed!), nobody seems to have touched on the blatant plagiarism that led to certain of her books being yanked out of print.

She has no respect for accuracy or even the intellectual property of other authors. She certainly has no respect for her students, or she would not teach them such utter trash. Entire web pages have been devoted to debunking her, and I suggest readers look up a couple of these before they waste their money--and time, as anything you "learn" from Ms. Stepanich will have to be unlearned later.

The only positive thing that one can say about this book is that it is slightly better than the 21 Lessons of Merlin, by Douglas Monroe. What factual information there is has been buried under nonsense and a poorly disguised veil of Wicca. Please, people, spend money on real materials on the Irish indigenous traditions of filidecht (poet-craft) and folklore rather than wasting time on this. It is fascinating that Kisma can claim to have been an Ollamh (highest level of poet-singer) in the middle 1980's, as the rank of Ollamh required between 12 and 21 years of study under an Ollamh.

I give this book one star simply because the illustrations are lovely. I've never seen the artist's work before, but I'm very impressed.
That said, both of Kisma's 'Faery Wicca' books are pure trash. It's sad that people actually believe that Kisma is revealing an ancient tradition. I'm sorry to ruin anyone's happy little fantasy, but she is not. The ancient Irish did not practice something that is suspiciously similar to Wicca. The fact that Kisma has somehow convinced many people that they did is lamentable.
Ignoring her lack of historical fact, as a book about a spiritual path, it fails. There is not much mention of the Tuatha de Danaan, whom Kisma claims are ever so important. The only real rituals offered are four rather short, rather uninspiring holy day rituals. I'm confused as to why she spends so much time focusing on things such as "the four elementals" <which, SURPRISE!, are not Celtic at all> and not on her gods.
I can't help but laugh at the reviews here, where people suspect that Kisma's books have been given bad reviews because people are "angry" that she "exposed their secrets". Honeys, end your fantasies. Kisma and her group are the only ones who have practiced this stuff. It is NOT ancient. I can't repeat that enough.
Even wit the bad history, this book might have been an okay guide to a more Celtic <notice that I did not say A CELTIC> form of Wicca, if Kisma just admitted that this stuff wasn't ancient and was just a Celticization of Wicca. Sadly, she doesn't do this.

This is a sweet, large-type, teen-age book. It does not deal with the hard-core issues of the magical traditions. If you are in need of some soul searching quiet time, the meditations contained within are just right. It will pinch your intrest in finding out more about the traditions of the faery, yet it lacks a firm grounding in truth and the art of magick

The orginal faith is not Wiccan. If you would like to read the true information on this faith try Exans-wentz, Caitlin Matthews or RJ Stewart. Deserves a -5

Well, it doesn't take much to realize that these books (I'm including volume 2) aren't worth the paper they're printed on. If this is an authentic old world tradition, as Stepanich claims, then why does it include crops like potatoes, pumpkins, and corn in the rituals, crops that were not even discovered by Europeans until 1492.

Don't waste your money on this incredible waste of paper, filled with regurgitated and garbled bits and pieces of older, more reputable works on Faery, Druidry and Wicca. In addition, it's an excruciating task to actually READ this book - wading through all the spelling, grammatical and word usage errors. Was the Publisher's editorial staff all on strike or something when this book was being processed? Save Money, Save Trees, Don't Bother!

Llewellyn must have some very shoddy editors to work with material from very shoddy writers. Faery Wicca is replete with spelling and punctuation errors. And that's BEFORE one begins to consider its questionable content which, considering this after my long study of Irish history and mythology, is just a faery's bum more than someone's delusion of a spiritual path. In addition, let me direct you to the bottom of page 134, where Kisma writes: "...the horrible witch burnings of Salem, Massachusetts, in the United States of America..." Any witchcraft historian worth his/her salt knows "witches" were never burned in the Colonies. Am I to trust some so-called "Ollamh" with guiding my spirit when she cannot even quench my need for facts? Skip this one, I implore you.

If you notice the reviews they fall in either the five star (inspired word of the goddess herself) or the one star (this stuff is complete trash). It almost seems like either her best friends or worst enemies are posting them. I, myself, found the work more imaginative than informed or inspired. I think the works of R.J. Stewart and John and Caitlin Matthews are better presented and more interesting.

Don't waste your money. Nothing but fabrications, innaccuracy, fantasy, and bogus claims. If you want to know about real Celtic and Druid religion, visit your library and find a book written by someone who knows what they are talking about.