Customer Reviews

Green Witchcraft: Folk Magic, Fairy Lore & Herb Craft (Green Witchcraft Series)

5 star:		(48)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

I really liked this book. It is a very practical, responsible book. She definitely writes from a "kitchen witch" or a "folk magick" slant.

Chapter 1: The Green - Ms. Moura goes into her definition of Green Witchcraft. She has an interesting family background in that her mother and grandmother had very pagan practices and beliefs while remaining staunch Catholics. She does do some historic tracings but it is mostly a book on what was passed down to her. She takes a definite pantheistic view and deals more with the elementals than any particular aspect of the God and Goddess. She also sees elementals as "whos" not "whats" which to me made a big difference. She is also a solitary so most of the material is written with that slant and the idea that dedicating, initiating yourself is just as "valid" as having it done by an HP.

Chapter 2: Basics - goes into a brief explanation of the sabbats and esbats and how she personally celebrates them. She is one of the first authors I have seen that gives a clear definition of the difference between dedication and initiation rituals. Her explanation (which matches what I believe) is that a initiation ritual is your way of "introducing" yourself and asking for guidance as your learn the basics. You are not pledging yourself to any one path, just kind of saying "here I am". A dedication ritual is one in which you dedicate yourself to a particular path or belief with

full-knowledge of what you are pledging to. She also goes over her ideas of the use of craft names as well.

Chapter 3: Witches and Herbs - goes over the usual herb correspondences, some correspondences for candle magic, one of the few places I have seen information about tree correspondences, color relationships, herbs in rituals, ritual timing

Chapter 4: Green Living - Some background info on how she came to her view of witchcraft, some "core traditions" which include the rede, the Charge of the Goddess, 5-fold and 7-fold blessings.

Chapter 5: Magic - basic components of spell and circle casting, brief pages on runes and divination

Chapter 6: Magical Practices - more divination techniques, recipes for ceremonial oils (altar, annointing, cleansing, consecrating etc.

Chapter 7: Green Rituals: this was the chapter that sold me on the book. She has one of the clearest step by step basic ceremonies that I have ever read. As a solitary, it gets very confusing where, when, and how to use certain tools like wands, athames, brooms, bells, cauldrons etc. Ms Moura walks you through a step by step ritual. She also has initiation and dedication rituals and various others (handfasting etc.) For all of her rituals she gives you candle color correspondences recommended incenses and step by step directions for you to use/improve on.

Chapter 8: The Esbats - full moon and new moon and tool consecration rituals.

Chapters 9 - 16: The Sabbats - rituals for each of the sabbats.

I have been practicing for over ten years and have seen many different attitudes in ethics and the Craft. While this book has many good and thoughtful things, many of which I found helped me take a better look at the world around me, I found that some of it held innaccuracies- the number of witches burned during the inquisitions and such(Which was not in the millions)- and I felt a degree of predjudice against other religions and outlooks on life held by others in her writing. As a book for advanced study I recommend it as a must read, but I don't feel Green Witchcraft is the kind of thing a beginner should read until she or he has a more balanced view on the world, the ethics of our Craft, and can read a book, draw what they need from it without being influenced by opinion, misconception, or predjudice. It is not my wish to seem harsh but I would not recommend this book to any in my Circle who have just begun practicing and perhaps it is best I let others know as well. The information was straightforward and well written and there was a lot of thought put into it but it does not belong in the hands of a beginner.

In the swamp of tripe that masquerades itself as information on Witchcraft, mixing fact with fantsay in a misleading amalgam, Aoumiel has created a lush, pleasant garden. 'Green Witchcraft' covers not Wicca, but Paganism -- the old ways, the way the ordinary person on the heath would have identified with them. There is no pretense of titles and degrees, no endorsement of dogma, just quiet affirmation that at heart, each of us knows where and how to find the divine. For they *are* in each of us.

Aoumiel visits more briefly than I would have liked on her family's blending of pagan traditions into a Judeo-Christian framework. But the examples she does give show how paganism isn't just a religion, it's a philosophy and a way of life that can work harmoniously with other religions. She is helpful to those wondering how to blend their Pagan faith with the largely Judeo-Christian world.

I liked the sections on each Sabbat, especially the earthy, traditional activities that she suggests can be incorporated into (or substitute for) more formal observances. Although it basically bulked out the book for Aoumiel to reproduce the basic suggestions for a ceremony each time she covered a sabbat observance, that was handy too. The appendixes were fascinating, and while again they did not have as much depth as I would have liked, they provided both an intrigue for more information and a jumping-off place to research it.

'Green Witchcraft' is an intelligent, commonsense, fact-based book that no one new to, or curious about, Paganism should be without. I applaud Aoumiel for providing an alternative to the Wiccan fantasy sci-fi convention nonsense that is out there confusing people.

First off, there are some good things in this book. Ms. Moura describes her personal path in a clear and readable way. And she presents a form of practice that will certainly strike a chord with a number of kitchen witches.

That said, there are many more things that prevent me from recommending this book - especially to beginners.

First, Ms. Moura presents her personal take on witchcraft as the basis for all forms of witchcraft, and blends this form of arrogance with an active hostility toward other religions (especially Judeo-Christian religions). Even though much of what she presents has a strong Wiccan flavor, she twists many elements of modern Wicca, using the problems she perceives from a rather odd mix of misinformation to belittle the entire religion and most of it's practitioners.

The "Craft history" she presents, and threads throughout many areas, is beyond questionable, and leans strongly toward highly imaginative. (It is the same speculative history that is presented in her "Origins of Modern Witchcraft".) While historical speculation is bound to come into almost any witchcraft work, I believe that it is inappropriate to present personal speculation as fact in a work aimed at beginners.

Additionally, Ms. Moura claims to be presenting practices used by simple, common people, but the rituals and spells she provides are more complex than almost anything I've ever seen. They're certainly not the clean, simple workings I would expect in a path claiming a shamanistic style. In addition to requiring inordinate amounts of preparation for very simple workings, she also calls for tools that she never explains or teaches how to prepare or use.

In short, there is little in Green Witchcraft that cannot be found in other "101" type books, frequently done much better. While there may be material useful for someone who has a good grounding in basic witchcraft, and there are some useful - if complex - rituals... the problems with history and prejudice as well as the amounts of basic information missing prevent me from recommending this book.

It touches on many of the basics of Paganism in a simple and straightforward manner. Topics covered: pagan history, basic ingredients and instructions for rituals, herbs, color/tree/candle associations, tarot, runes... I thought that it covered so many different topics that it covered some topics too lightly. A bit heavy on the Wiccan aspect, but this book is what gave me the self created title of "green witch". I hadn't found any other title that so perfectly reflected my beliefs. Worth the money for beginners, I definately plan to order the second volume.

Because this is a book on Green Witchcraft, I was hoping to find more herbal information than is usually included in beginner books. I wasn't disappointed in that regard at all. The author includes herbal lore and info in nearly every chapter and in every aspect of the Craft that she describes. I was also impressed by the amount of info she includes on dream divination and the tarot. The sections on Sabbat activities at the end of each Sabbat ritual was another thing not often seen in books for beginners. Although this isn't the first book I would recommend to newbies on Wicca or the Craft, it did provide some info that I haven't seen in other books.

I agree with some of the other reviewers that her 'history and origins' info is a little hinky. I also agree that she isn't at all a 'simple' green witch. Her rituals are highly elaborate and detailed but, they provide excellent examples for newbies on all the various steps to creating rituals. I can't agree that she is in any way anti-Christian. She goes into detail about how non-judgemental her mother and grandmother were and how they were able to mesh their Catholic faith with folk magic without denigrating either one.

I would recommend this book to someone who already has a solid grasp of the history and origins of Wicca, who knows that every ritual doesn't require such a production, and who would like to get a different perspective and some info not available in most beginner books.

I love Ann Moura's books, they are straightforward and spiritual offerings for the Witch. Moura is the daughter and granddaughter of Brazilian witches who were also Roman Catholic. Over time, Moura explored many other religions (she attended the Baptist church when she was a teenager) before she settled on witchcraft as her lifetime religion. Moura suggests that "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" as well as perceptiveness, interconnectedness, and community are the core principles and essential beliefs of Witchcraft.

Moura's book is written for the solitary witch, and it is a bit advanced for the beginner, who might find Scott Cunningham's book for solitary practitioners easier to follow, although I best loved Rae Beth's books for solitaries. Moura is an historian and she brings her knowledge of teaching history into her book. She references respected authors such as Joseph Campbell and others who have studied the history of the old religion in an academic setting. Although I have read many of Campbell's books and faithfully watched the Campbell interviews Bill Moyers conducted for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (produced before PBS was censored by elected officials-you can find these interviews at Amazon on DVD), I found new and interesting information in Moura's book.

Moura suggests that all religions are interconnected springing from one source although what sets Witchcraft apart is that it is very intuitive, not following some out-of-date-orthodoxy. Moura suggests that Wicca was not a 20th Century invention as some detractors imply, but it is a continuation of ages old practices, many of them incorporated into Christianity centuries ago. (Hel, for example was the Goddess of the Norwegian underworld, where pagans went when they died, according to Norwegian "mythology" - hence perhaps, the comment by a church father that "pagans go to hell"). This is an interesting and informative book for those with open minds.

As I am new to the craft this book has helped me out a lot, It definately has made me want to look deeper into aspects of Witchcraft. ie. History ... etc. I am reading a book by Scott Cunningham, and also one by Silver Ravenwolf for comparison as suggested in some of the reviews on other books regarding witchcraft and Wicca in general.

I would recommend this book for those just starting out, although I can see how more advanced practitioners would be a little put off by it.

Blessed be!

This is the first book I read by Ann Moura, and it has definitely left me wanting more. First, I'll mention the writing style: it can be very formal at times, which can make it dry and hard to get into, at least compared to some other books I've read. It didn't bother me, but it did slow me down a bit when I first started reading. There is a new heading (or several) on almost every page, which can interfere with reading it straight through smoothly, but I immediately recognized that these could be incredibly helpful if I go back to reference the book, especially since the first few chapters are very long.

The fairy lore portion of this book? If you are looking for fairy lore, get a different book. This is not at all a focus in this book. A few things are mentionned throughout the book, but there isn't a chapter on the subject.

The book forcusses mainly on what the green path is, and how to work with it. She writes as a solitary, for a solitary, but includes recommendations for group work. She seems to understand how different every witch can be and she explains her path in such a way that it could be followed as she writes it, merged with your own path, or just offer some helpful perspectives that might influence you on your path.

Her history is incredibly well researched, and really manages to put some perspective on some modern beliefs and practices. She explained very understandably where working with angels came from and why it is not really wiccan. She even explained something about the story of Cain and Abel that I couldn't stop thinking about for days.

She explains her approach to ritual in detail, giving reasons for her key decisions well before the book turns into a series of rituals. Some of the rituals that are included are a funeral-type ritual and a rite of passage. I mention these because you don't see these very often. Including a ritual for a departed friend strikes me as evidence that the author really takes their path seriously as a life-long journey and commitment.

Sabbat rituals are included (just like practically every book on witchcraft) and she includes a list of non-ritual activities to celebrate the sabbats. I usually find these more interesting that the published rituals, so I thought I'd mention them.

On the green path itself, I'll mention a few things. It is very earthy. There is a lot of emphasis on the elements. It's not all about the elements, but I noticed there was more of an emphasis on them than a lot of other craft books had.

This is a well written book. The author lays out the groundwork for her own perspective on Green Witchcraft in a manner that is a very compelling read. One problem I have often had with books in this type of genre is that they are steeped in traditional rituals that make no sense.

Ann Moura introduces the concepts of Green Magic in a way that really makes you want to know more, and read through her personal take on most of the rituals hungrily, rather than as a chore.