The Practical Pagan: Commonsense Guidelines for Modern Practitioners [Paperback]

Dana Eilers (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2002

Offers suggestions, hints, and down-to-earth help for seekers and believers of Paganism to understand and find their place in the community. Included are discussions about what it means to be Pagan, getting involved in the Pagan community, myths about Paganism, and coming out of the broom closet. The book also gives valuable information about choosing a specific path, joining an organization and deciding to be a solitary practitioner. The book also contains common sense guidelines of conduct, Paganism and the family, love and relationships and educating yourself about Paganism. This book encourages all seekers and followers to follow their own inclination and it will serve as a guide and a resource to those just starting out or those who are still seeking answers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Career Press (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564146014
• ISBN-13: 978-1564146014
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,085,701 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Dana D. Eilers is the author of The Practical Pagan (New Page Books). She is a practicing Witch and Pagan Civil Rights advocate who has worked both in a coven and as a solitary for more than 10 years.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Really Useful Book for your Library, May 11, 2002

By 

Boudica (Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Practical Pagan: Commonsense Guidelines for Modern Practitioners (Paperback)

Finally, a book that deals with the realities of being pagan in a mundane world.

Bravo to Ms. Eilers for taking the time and energy to put a lot of very valuable reference material together in one place and make it available to everyone.

For those not familiar with Dana Eilers, she is a witch, she is a lawyer. She has worked for legal council for such groups as WARD, AREN and WADL. She has put in "years" of voluntary time to various Pagan/Witch/Wiccan groups as legal council as well as just time spent helping bring order to a chaotic situation.
Her book does the same thing. While we are all aware of our spiritual paths, we do encounter legal entanglements that may or may not be of our own making.

In those things that we mess up for ourselves, Ms. Eilers offers advice and council as to how to unmake those messes and avoid them in the future. Much of it is common sense, hence the name of the book.

In those cases where our problems may be because of the religious path we choose to follow and are being either discriminated against or denied our rights, Ms. Eilers has placed chapter and verse of the law at our fingertips, to enable us to understand, in plain English (my goodness, a lawyer who speaks plain English, how unique and so definitely Pagan!) what our options are, where to seek council and material to provide any legal representative we may choose to aid us.

There is way too much material in this book (another plus for Ms. Eilers, she didn't cheap out on the information) to even try to recap the book. Everything from definitions of key words to meeting and greeting other pagans to proper behavior with pagans and with the mundane world.

Yes, this is a must have on your library shelf!!!! I would love to have several copies I could give away to some of the people I meet everyday in the pagan world, just so I pass along the common sense some people don't use that the Goddess gave them.

If nothing else, give this book a serious read. Ask at your local libraries and make sure they get a copy and keep it in stock. It is a much needed book in our community and will prove to be a valuable tool to the community over the years.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad, just not great., June 4, 2002

By 

K. Konetzka (Goodrich, MI USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Practical Pagan: Commonsense Guidelines for Modern Practitioners (Paperback)

I actually just finished reading this book and I found it to be a fairly fun read. Ms. Eilers has a breezy style and an obvious sense of humor. Unfortunately, most of this book is pure fluff-how many of us really need to be told to bathe daily and wear clean clothes? Duh. If this is information you need, you'll probably require more help than you can get from a book. It's common sense, folks. The information offered is hardly earth shattering, but if you've got a few hours to kill and you're in the market for a bit of fun, then by all means, give it a read. But unless you're a real newbie to the Pagan path, there's not much to recommend. Harmless.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Too Much Common Sense, not enough resources., October 5, 2004

By 

MicheleLB "Michele" (Southwestern Connecticut - United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Practical Pagan: Commonsense Guidelines for Modern Practitioners (Paperback)

I had high hopes for this book, but I was pretty disapointed by book's end.

It's obvious to the reader that this author has (too much) experience with law by the end of the first section (she's a lawyer, and tells you so at least 5 times). The book is laden with references to 'defending yourself in court' against discrimation, but the author goes on to tell you to try to hide your religion from work and State Agencies whenever possible. Well, she doesn't say "hide" exactly, but it's damn near close (remove jewelry, don't wear a lot of makeup or be eccentric).

The book is full of common sense that makes you say "DUH!" a lot:
- It's common sense that you should not walk into an interview (courtroom, school, etc) professing your religious beliefs - I don't really think that part of the book applies to Pagan's only!
- Also, the part about The Department of Children and Families being discriminatory really bothered me. Being Pagan is no reason for your children to be taken away, and could never hold up in court if you are a great parent otherwise.
- Of COURSE you don't take your underage children to places where there's nudity or sexual contact (especially in the name of religion!).
- She spends a lot of time talking about being a "good" pagan. Basically she tells you about 15 times to bath yourself, take care of your kids, give them good food, and keep your finances in order, etc. Seriously, that applies to EVERYONE. And I don't think a person that's not taking care of their kids is going to read it in this book and have an "aha!" moment.

I didn't learn anything about being pagan from this book because, well, I'm already Pagan. You don't need a book from a condescending teacher (lawyer) telling you to bathe and clean your children to learn about the religion.

This book is getting 2 stars, however, for the section about learning more about Paganism. Although I could have found all of that information on the internet (for free), it was a nice addition to an otherwise preachy essay.