Customer Reviews

The Gardnerian Book of Shadows (Forgotten Books)

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

 

 

Just to clarify what other reviewers have noted - this is an oathbound tradition meaning that teaching is passed orally from mentor to student. At the same time, Forgotten Books did NOT copyright this material - they are a publishing company that published material which noone currently has a copyright on such as ancient greek texts, and religious texts that are obscure.

Apparently this is the original book of shadow transcribed from the Museum of Witchcraft however without a teacher you won't benefit much and certainly Gerald compiled this alongside a number of other witches who helped. What is disappointing is that there are no references, explanations or investigations into this material provided.

You'd be better off reading Chas Clifton's Cauldron of Inspiration alongside a few introductory books but I recommend finding a mentor and joining a coven.

This is NOT the Gardnerian Book of Shadows! This is just a collection of the ritual texts lifted from Aidan Kelly's "Crafting the Art of Magic, Book 1" (Llewellyn Publications, 1991). There are MANY examples of alterations in the texts that prove that the versions in this book were lifted wholesale from Kelly's book. These include ritual texts that Kelly "reconstructed" from multiple sources into versions that are unique to his published book. Is he getting royalties for this? He should.
Don Frew

Who had the nerve to copyright this material after all these years? Profit motive much??? Now I can't share my personal copies from the 1970s with anyone because you slapped a copyright on it after the fact? (You and several other people...) Got to call my attorney.

And why does my copy have a green bicycle on the front/back covers? Another Gardnerian "secret," I suppose?! Hey, might be a "collectible," huh?

I needed to see what's passing for Gerald's BOS of late and this version is hardly well-presented.

Cashing in on revelation is de rigour, right?

Don't waste your money, folks!

This is your BASIC Gardnerian book. Again, this is very, very basic, I suppose to give the reader a quick and easy understanding??? It may be too basic for most to understand in any depth the religion, rites, rituals, redes, etc. It almost appears as if someone took another book and summarized the highlights to make this book. Very strange to follow and if you do not understand the Gardnerian religion, you will be lost. If you do understand the religion, this book will not enlighten you in any way but to read some of Gardner's writings.

A really quick reference work on Initiations for witches... There is a lot of Valiente's writings cited.

So. You've got something that claims to be an oathbound book of a particular tradition. Clearly then there are three possibilities:

1. It is indeed an oathbound book of that tradition, in which case the publisher is dishonourable and untrustworthy.
2. They are lying and it isn't what it claims to be, in which case the publisher is dishonourable and untrustworthy.
3. Some of it is genuine and some of it is not, or it is perhaps incomplete, in which case as the publisher is dishonourable and untrustworthy, you won't be able to know which is which.

One wonders also, how they've managed to conclude that Gerald Gardner is the sole author when the two most common theories as to its authorship are either that he received all or some of it from other sources, or that he compiled it along with other authors (Doreen Valiente in particular). Just what is the copyright status of this volume?

Finally, what's the point? Trying to learn an oral tradition form that tradition's written sources is a dubious pursuit in rather obvious ways. Certainly, I know, as an Alexandrian, that just having a look at my BoS wouldn't teach you much, and I'd be prepared to bet the same would be true of the Gardnerians.

If someone is interested in pursuing Gardnerianism, or any BTW tradition, then they'd certainly be well-advised to stay clear; reading what purports to be material that you plan to take an oath to keep secret is not likely to convince any potential teachers that you'd take that oath seriously, is it?

The only value in having a BoS of a tradition that is not your own (if it was your own you'd be given one for free) is to be able to go "ooh, I have a secret thing". If that's what you want, you'd get better value out of tabloid magazines that claim to have insight into the sex-lives of various flavour-of-the-month celebrities. Much juicier secrets and a good deal cheaper.