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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Miss This Book!, August 1, 2004
This review is from: Gay Witchcraft: Empowering the Tribe (Paperback)
This is the best book I have ever read on Wicca and the key to unlocking this spirituality for me. I have been interested in Wicca and paganism for a long time and just sort of dabbled, but never got too involved. I even had pagan friends and went to pagan events, which were beautiful, but I could never seem to find my own connection. Most of the books I would pick up on paganism just didn't speak to me or seem too interesting, even though I felt Wicca to be closest to my own spiritual nature. I tried Dragon wicca and gothic wicca, and both left me cold. After moving to the Northwest last year, I discovered New Witch magazine at a local bookstore, which I think is a great publication! Ads in that magazine led me to this book, Gay Witchcraft. Christopher Penczak writes in a way that is very enjoyable and conversational as if he is sitting there speaking with you. He takes you through witchcraft in an enjoyable, step by step manner that brings everything together and gradually makes sense as part of the whole. I had always had a bit of misgiving about witchcraft because I had trouble believing there were zillions of deities just out there floating around in the sky somewhere. Now that I've been reading this book, I understand that isn't really what witches believe and have a clear understanding of how it all works. A good friend of mine who is pagan said I would know my path when I found a book that not only "clicked" with me, but that it should cover things like working with energy, grounding oneself, etc. This is the basis for the first part of the book, learning how to work with energy and get oneself in the right energetic state before even attempting to work on more complex things like spells. No wonder so many people are turned off by witchcraft, most books make it sound like you can just light a candle, mumble a few words and your spell will come true. That isn't the case, it takes a lot of focus, energy and hard work, like most things. Although this book is written for gay practitioners and creates a great comfort level for us, I believe it would be a useful book for anyone getting into wicca and wanting to know how it all works and how to put it together. I don't know if it's coincidence, but since I've been working with this book, a lot of things in my life are starting to go the way I want them to. Even things I never thought would happen are happening. And I definitely, finally feel connected to something spiritual, which is giving me newfound inner strength and confidence, I even quit smoking! Thank you, Christopher, thank you, thank you, blessed be!
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Empowering His Gay Brothers, September 17, 2003
This review is from: Gay Witchcraft: Empowering the Tribe (Paperback)
In this volume, Christopher Penczak synthesizes his personal gay life experience with his knowledge of Wicca tradition, but as he clearly states in the introduction, this is not a scholarly book just for reading. His intent is to empower his gay brothers and he encourages us to experiment with and to try the dozens of meditations and exercises he presents throughout the book. The book is divided into three parts. In Part One, History and Mythology, Penczak presents an account of pagan history as it relates to witchcraft in general and gay witchcraft in particular. He begins in prehistoric times and ends with Arthur Evans, Harry Hay, Michael Thorn, Greg Johnson, Sparky Rabbit, and others who have worked to reclaim the Wicca tradition for gay men. The section covering gay positive deities is encyclopedic and multicultural including ancient Roman and Greek deities, Mayan, Chinese, Celtic, Hindu, Native American, and deities of other traditions. In Part Two, Tools of Our Tribe, he presents the hands-on tools used in the witchcraft tradition. He begins with internal tools (meditation, visualization, and concentration), and goes on to animal guides, altars, the home, preparation of "the temple of your body", and covens. The last section of Part Two presents beginning concepts in ritual, including casting and releasing the circle. Part Three, Empowerment-Love, Sexuality, Healing, and Ritual, is the true heart of the book, covering seven chapters and more than 135 pages. Here Penczak deals with spells and magick, and their use in love, sex, and health. In the last chapter he makes some of his most important statements. First he points out that his book is only a beginning, a point of departure for the magical life. He encourages readers to explore other pagan paths and find what works best for them. Then he discusses the importance of integrity and commitment, particularly as they relate to integrating magic into all aspects of life. Special attention is given to self-acceptance, relationships, and activism. The book concludes with a helpful bibliography and a listing of online sources. For those of you looking for a basic introduction to gay witchcraft, this is a good book to read and experiment with. It is also an excellent view of how one gay man intergrates paganism with his own life experience, and serves as a model and inspiration for anyone interested in doing the same. Reviewed by Bob Barzan in White Crane Journal
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21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Promising - but not, essentially, delivering., April 26, 2004
This review is from: Gay Witchcraft: Empowering the Tribe (Paperback)
I was quite excited when I saw this book - hey, a book about wicca that specifically adresses gay people. Sadly, the issues that I expected to see in this book (Gay deities? Polarity, or not? Specific handfasting rituals? Politically inclined gay/lesbian pagans, and how this affects their faith?) were not really present, or only skimmed over. This is a fantastic book for a gay or lesbian person who is new to Wicca, and wants the basic facts. It welcomes into the religion, and takes into account their different sexuality. But it's still a Wicca 101 book - for anyone who has read Starhawk, or Cunningham, or even Ravenwolf, this is a replay with a few brief mentions of 'gay' Wicca. At that point, your best bet (and my suggestion) would be to get a basic wicca book (Starhawk's Spiral Dance is my personal favorite) and to check out your local/University library for specific information as to bisexual deities and religious approaches. Check out Renaissance literature, in particular - the Zeus/Ganymede romance attained epic proportions. Boswell's analysis of early Christian religion also includes some information about pagan religions. Or just read feminist spirituality and environment books - they generally acknowledge lesbianism. Frankly, I'd be incredibly interested in a 'Gay Wicca' book that isn't also an introduction to the religion. There are many of us who are priests and priestesses, and have been for years - it would be nice to have books adressed to us, as well. I'm probably going to have to write that, however, if I actually want to see it printed.
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