Customer Reviews

Pocket Guide to Wicca (Crossing Press Pocket Guides)

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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This book is an EXCELENT resource!

Now it doesn't begin or attempt to give the material that "Wicca" or "Living Wicca" by Scott Cunningham provides.

I mark sections of this book that demonstrates "Why I am a Wiccan" and loan this little volume to friends when they want to learn a little about my beliefs. then I send the new would be Wiccans to the Scott Cunningham material mentioned earlier. or True Magick by Amber K.

"Pocket Guide to Wicca," by Paul Tuitean and Estelle Daniels, is an effective, user-friendly introduction to a diverse and growing religious movement. Practicing Wiccans themselves, Tuitean and Daniels share a wealth of data in a very readable style.

Despite its length of only 128 pages, the book covers a good range of subjects: the history of Wicca, Wiccan beliefs and practices, coven organization, festivals and rites of passage, ritual tools, etc. I was particularly fascinated by the brief history of Wicca, which covers the work of Gerald Gardner and other pioneers.

The authors describe Wicca as "a modern version of the original pre-Christian, European shamanic religious tradition." In addition to putting out basic information about Wicca, the authors also clearly mean to dispel "misunderstanding and. . . misconceptions" about this religion and its adherents.

Although I do not practice Wicca myself, I am a strong believer in religious tolerance and interfaith education. I thus salute Tuitean and Daniels for their work on this book. If "Pocket Guide to Wicca" helps to empower Wiccans and to dispel prejudice among non-Wiccans, then all people, regardless of religious identity, will benefit.

As a fast easy reference book, I found it to be very easy to use. It gives a brief history, but gets down to business with the actual information that you are seeking in order to accomplish your magick. Very good for beginners.

I picked up this book after seeing it, by chance, on the shelf at a local bookstore. I was amused to see that someone was trying to throw all of the aspects of Wicca into one thin little "pocket guide." I was, however, a little surprised at what I found!

Unlike some other books which contain too much mumbo-jumbo, this book seems to get straight to the point. The authors have some good layouts of circle casting and rituals...

As I said, I would suggest this book as purely a reference guide - not for first time readers. Once a basic knowledge of Wicca is attained, this book has some good info!

This diminutive book should not be looked over. It's pretty general when it comes to most things, but it's a good an introduction to Wicca as any (and better than much of the Llewellyn crap out there). I would not recommend this book as a main resource to begin practicing Wicca, but I think it would be useful to those who just want to know what it is all about, and it may be helpful to a beginning Witch if it is used in conjunction with other (good) introductory books. The authors state that it is not intended to teach one how to practice: "It [the book] is certainly not complete, nor is it a primer for becoming Wiccan. It will, however, give interested people a good idea of what being a practicing Wiccan is all about" (11).

Included is the typical Witchcraft 101 information: the Wiccan Rede, the Goddess and God, Sabbats, a brief history of modern Neo-Pagan Witchcraft, descriptions of various Wiccan Traditions, basic ritual construction, tools, etc. plus a few extra features one is not likely to find in similar introductory books. For instance, it has a page or two dedicated to the Pagan notion of Darkness and its necessity for balance in the Universe. It also has an interesting segment on Pagan culture (common values, festivals, and information on covens) which is rather illuminating. Being a fairly small and inexpensive book, it might be a good buy for those of you who are curious about Witchcraft and don't have much cash (or room) to spare on books. It can also be used a nifty reminder of Sabbat dates, basic correspondances, etc. I should mention that the authors of this book include both British Traditional Wicca and Eclectic Wicca/Neo-Wicca under the overall classification of "Wicca."

I enjoyed this book, and despite the fact that it only has 122 pages of reading, there is still much to be learned within. It covers all the basics, and I think it's very good for the beginner. It doesn't delve into the history of Witchcraft all that much, so I would recommend Drawing Down The Moon by Margot Adler as well. All in all this is a great little book.

Blessed Be!

This book was the first book on Wicca that I bought. Although I reccommend the book, I think it's not for beginners. Try Scott Cunningham.