Old Stones, New Temples [Paperback]

Drew Campbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 14, 2000

Old Stones, New Temples is the first comprehensive introduction to Hellenic Reconstructionist Paganism. Carefully researched and documented, this book provides everything a modern person needs to practice ancient Greek religion today.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Andrew Campbell, Ph.D., was educated at Bennington College, the UniversitŠt Hamburg, and Washington University, St. Louis. He is the founder of Nomos Arkhaios, an educational resource center for Hellenic Pagans, and priest of Thiasos tes Glaukos, a Hellenic ritual group. Drew is the author of several other books, and co-editor, with Pat Califia, of Bitch Goddess: The Spiritual Path of the Dominant Woman. He lives in San Francisco with his wife.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris Corp; 1st edition (September 14, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738832014
• ISBN-13: 978-0738832012
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,023,500 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A mixed bag, March 20, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Old Stones, New Temples (Paperback)

When this book was first published, I was extremely excited because it was the only book of its kind on the market. As a Hellenic Reconstructionist, I wanted to show my support for Drew Campbell and I hoped that this book would lead many others to Hellenic Reconstruction. Despite my initial excitement, the contents of this book make it a mixed bag for me.

The main problem is; this book isn't Silver Ravenwolf-bad, it's just not very good, either. Although Drew mentions in his introduction that this book was not meant for an audience of scholars, as a fellow Classicist, I found that the scholarship was shallow, misleading or downright poor. As another reviewer pointed out, instead of going to the trouble to research rituals properly, Drew seems to have concocted rituals wholecloth. As a Classicist, this is irresponsible - but, frankly, it isn't Reconstructionist, either.

In addition to the made-up cookbook-style rituals, the book has a section on incense (primarily from Scott Cunningham's books) and several feel-good exercises are suggested where you ask yourself; what is a hero (page 84) or how you feel about 'channeling' (page 64). The exercises, incense recipes, cookbook rituals and shallow scholarship really make this book a slim notch above some titles published by the rightfully-maligned Llewellyn Publications.

In many ways, this book has become a microcosm of everything that has gone awry in Hellenic Reconstruction - from the influence of new-age practices to reliance upon unsubstantiated personal gnosis at the expense of scholarship. Hopefully, responsible scholars who are also Recons can write new books that are reliable, exciting and a good foundation for those new to our religion. Perhaps Hellenic Reconstructionism will actually become *Reconstructionist* instead of thinly-veiled Hellenic Wicca/Paganism/Hermeticism etc.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, July 2, 2002

By 

Arcadius (Adelaide, South Australia Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Old Stones, New Temples (Paperback)

This book should be top of the list for any Hellenic Pagan, and also for those who wish to know more about the religion. It is exactly what it claims to be, a beginners guide on Hellenic Paganism covering various concepts as ritual, theology, spirituality and other aspects of Hellenism. The FAQ at the book of the text is an excellent resource for the less well-informed about the religion, and factually the book is spot on and is well referenced. Any pagan knows that all too often information contained in these sort of texts are spurious and deliberately misinterpreted, however this book is very admirable in its adherence to historical correctness and its avoidance of new age & feel good concepts that characterise nearly all other Pagan resources. If you have heard the call of the Olympians at any stage of your life, I highly recommend you read this work.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A "4" but not a "5", April 28, 2004

By 

Gitana Gerondas "Gitana Gerondas" (Santa Fe, NM) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Old Stones, New Temples (Paperback)

I had been trying and trying to get this book for what seemed like forever. When I finally got it, it took me all of 3 days to read through it. Right off, that's not a good sign to me if it's *that* easy to read. For some, however, that might be a good point-- very reader-friendly. What disappointed me about it was 1.there was not enough research into it 2.the list of Greek words was not written in Greek font 3.there is no index and 4.just a general feel of "cuteness" that I was suprised to find. But, the good news is that there will be a new edition coming out soon, and I'm confident that the organization responsible for that (the original author is no longer working on this) will do an excellent job, and I plan to buy the new one as soon as it is available. One the whole I would recommend this book, but just don't have expectations that are too high as I did.