Family Wicca: Revised and Expanded Edition [Paperback]

Ashleen O'Gaea (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 7, 2008

Once again, Wiccan families can take heart! Family Wicca is back - revised and expanded!

More than 10 years ago, it was the first book written specifically for Wiccan parents. Now it's the 21st century's best reference for the still growing number of neo-Pagan parents who want to introduce their children to the principles of their religion. Like Ashleen's other books, it's written from her perspective as a Wiccan, but it's easy for Asatruar and Druids to "translate" and use, too.

In Family Wicca, priestess, wife, and mother Ashleen O'Gaea offers encouragement, shares her own family's experiences, discusses real-life challenges and how to deal with them, and provides a wealth of simple rituals and inexpensive projects that will enhance your family's life in every way.

Learn to ground your family in Wicca without devaluing other religions...explain life, sex, and, death compassionately and with calm common sense. Live mythically...and joyfully celebrate the passages in your life. Not only will you find lots of ideas to use right away, you'll also refer to this book again and again as your traditions grow with your family. It includes, for example:

• Answers to hard questions about the faith from children and non-Wiccan family and friends. • Ways to put Charge of the Child into practice. • Blessings for daily events and spells for daily problems. • Tips on celebrating the Sabbats through camping and other outdoor activities. • Projects to do together, such as making brooms, banners, calendars, and coloring books.

Wicca's families are Wicca's future. The need for mutual support is increasing - and Family Wicca is revised and expanded to answer that need for another generation.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"Down to earth advice on sharing the Wiccan religion with your children, parents, and other family members, whether you are an experienced or brand new Wiccan." —Isaac Bonewits, author of Bonewit's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca

"Ashleen O'Gaea has made a powerful and comprehensive book even more valuable with this second edition of Family Wicca. This book should be on the bookshelf of every modern Wiccan family for the Charge of the Child alone. It truly gave me goosebumps. Family Wicca offers Wiccan and other Pagan families projects that everyone can share in as well as age-appropriate magic, tools, and rites. This book really does cover just about everything you need to raise children in the Craft with creativity, magic, and honor." —Kristin Madden, homeschooling mom and author of Magickal Crafts, Pagan Parenting, and Pagan Homeschooling

"Family Wicca represents the rebirth of a book that the community craves. Wiccan practitioners are welcoming new generations of children every day. This book will grow with us, and nurture our families with Spirit, magick, and love." —Patricia Telesco, author of Kitchen Witch's Guide to Brews and Potions and 365 Goddess

"Family Wicca is still relevant and useful to this family more than a decade later. I can't imagine any Pagan Parenting library being complete without it." —W. Lyon Martin; author of the Pagan children's book An Ordinary Girl, A Magical Child

About the Author

Now that their son the Explorer is all grown up, Ashleen O'Gaea and her husband Canyondancer share an adobe home northwest of Tucson, Arizona, with their three cats and a bald dog. O'Gaea and Canyondancer are the founders of Adventure Wicca and for 13 years led Campsight Coven in that Tradition. O'Gaea is the author of Raising Witches, Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Beltane to Mabon, and Celebrating the Seasons of Life: Samhain to Ostara (all New Page Books).

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Career Press; Exp Rev edition (July 7, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564148866
• ISBN-13: 978-1564148865
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #945,352 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sometimes I have to remind myself that I'm not an Arizona native; I was born in the Pacific Northwest, but can't imagine calling anywhere but Tucson home.

I'm a Third Degree Wiccan priestess and the author of several books about Wicca . . . and I'm just breaking into fiction with short stories and novels.

I'm a co-founder of the Tucson Area Wiccan-Pagan Network, and with my husband Canyondancer I'm a co-founder of the Adventure Tradition of Wicca. I'm on the board of and the writing priestess for Mother Earth Ministries-ATC, a Tucson-based Neo-Pagan prison ministry.

I'm on the board of the Society of Southwestern Authors, for which I coordinate the annual Writing Contest. In our spare time (!) 'dancer and I love to entertain; we like to camp and travel, too, even though we miss our old dog and three kitties when we do.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not what I expected....BUT so much more!, June 16, 2006

By 

James W. Kiley Jr. "or Kelly Kiley" (FL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Family Wicca: Revised and Expanded Edition (Paperback)

I just got done reading the book Family Wicca: Practical Paganism for Parents and Children (the revised and expanded edition) by Ashleen O'Gaea. While the book was not exactly how I thought it was going to be as far as giving pointers on how to raise your children as Pagan.....it became so much more than that to me. I absolutly loved this book! It gave great ideas of what families can do to celebrate the Sabbats and Esbats (Which Mrs. O'Gaea refers to as Suns and Moons) together as well as celebrating passages in life such as...coming of age, Croning, Dedication, and Death. I also find this book a valubale asset for any "family" such as a Practicing group, or Coven. As a matter of fact I have gotten some great ideas of things to do with the Coven I belong to, and would love to do the Queening ritual for the Women's Mysteries group I am in.

The book also deals with some spiritual questions children might ask, and gives pointers on how to go about answering them. There is alot of talk about morals and ethics throughout, which I think is very important. The author also gave alot of personal antecdotes on her past expierences in raising her child on the Wiccan path. (who is grown now, and is no longer Wiccan)

Another great point the author brings up in this book was that even if you raise your child in a Pagan tradition, they may not choose to be Pagan when they are an adult....and that's OK. It's a lesson that tells me the religion the child chooses to follow is no big deal because at least the parent raised them with the best of intentions and instilled a good moral and ethical foundation in that child.

I found out that this same author has another book called Raising Witches: Teaching the Wiccan faith to Children That book goes more indepth on how to teach your children. It has a Wiccan Curriculim for 5 different age groups. The book talks about how children grow and learn so one can teach thier children what is appropriate for thier age level. And I am shure those that aren't specifically Wican can benefit from this book as well, adapting things to suit thier particualr Pagan path. I havent reas this one yet but will be ordering it on Amazon probably after I am done typing this.

In conclusion I have to say that I highly reccomend this book to not only Pagan families, but other types of families as well such as Pagan groups, and Covens. Kudos to you Ashleen O'Gaea, and thank you for blessing me with such wonderful words to read. May you and your family be blessed always!

~Kelly

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Overall Guide, September 20, 2006

By 

Boudica (Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Family Wicca: Revised and Expanded Edition (Paperback)

This is a new and revised edition of the very popular book by this author. I even had a friend comment to me that she had seen this new version and wanted to know if I had read it.

Well, I did. While containing much of the older and basic material, there is much new.

The book approaches whole family practice, and the raising of a child in our belief system. It discusses social, magical, political topics and more, giving us a grounding in our own basic principles so we can easily pass these along to our children.

There is a basic outline of modern Wicca and the family, Sabbats, specifics to raising children in the Craft, answering those questions that you didn't think you could answer, rites of passage, Wheel of the year and more.

The first book was a very good and useful tool for the Wiccan family. This updated version still finds practical advices, good overviews of the practice and Ms. Ogaea's simple yet elegant writing style that makes this a good choice for anyone looking for a guidebook for bringing Wicca into a family practice. boudica

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Did not live up to it's title., July 18, 2011

By 

DeeVah (Northern Cali United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Family Wicca: Revised and Expanded Edition (Paperback)

Since this book is titled "Family Wicca" it would seem natural that it would contain practical advice for the family who is studying/practicing Wicca. Maybe I missed something? What I got out of this was a lot of bashing on other faiths and religions in the name of "defending our faith". I felt that she went a bit over the top in trying to protect her child from others who may or may not understand Witches/Wicca which was exacerbated by her insistence that the school her child attended remove all "green warty witch images" during Halloween festivities. I don't make a big deal out of societies view of my religion. My children and I love the green warty witch images because they are meant to be caricatures, not actual representations. My youngest has begun asking questions that I try to answer the best I can, I am as open and honest as I can be with her. However, I was hoping this book would suggest some answers or possibilities when these questions arise. I want to raise my child to understand that this is the path that I have chosen, and doesn't necessarily have to be her path. The author does state that her child no longer practices their faith, I respect that he was given space to choose his own path. I guess I just missed the whole meaning of this book. While it did have it's good points, the author seemed rather preachy and didn't do well with explaining the Family aspect of Family Wicca. It felt more like a really long family newsletter that lacked any real practical application. I will just continue to search and in the mean time muddle through answering those questions as honestly and as best as I can.