Customer Reviews

Scottish Witchcraft: The History and Magick of the Picts (Llewellyn's Modern Witchcraft Series)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

After reading quite a few of the other reviews of this book, I thought I should toss in my opinion...

The spirit of this book (as based on Aiden Breac's teachings) follow fairly closely to the tradition that I was raised in by my mother, who grew up in the far north of Scotland. The idea that the Scottish pagan tradition is a solitaire one is very true, and the methods put forward are workable in any solitaire trad.

I will grant, on the other hand, that Buckland went overboard as usual. That I know of, the only pre-roman alphabet ever found in use in Scotland was Ogham, so I have no idea where he came up with his others. Also, the idea of a set formula of spells was never taught to me, so I don't think that this was a part of the trad. But I expected these things from Buckland as his goal is to give the masses what they want.

My point is that there are some jewels of wisdom in ths book that are of great use to any student of pagan traditions, and especially to a student of Scottish traditions.

I'm sure this will be dismissed as another "negative comment"- in some circles, trying to find out the truth is always "negative". But the facts speak for themselves. Look up Buckland's "Pictish spiral writing". First, note a few points- 1)Pictish was a Celtic language. If you doubt this, check any current academic work on the Picts 2)his alphabet includes letters which don't exist in any Celtic language 3)nothing like this writing has ever been found carved anywhere in Scotland. Again, check any academic work.

Now, take a closer look at the letters themselves. The "a" looks like an "a", written as a spiral. The "b" looks like a spiral "b". The same is true for all of the letters. This is not an historical Pictish alphabet, it's a childish code.

I'm sure this won't shake anyone's faith. Fundamentalists will keep thinking the world was created 6000 years ago, and their neopagan counterparts will keep buying nonsense and believing it. But these aren't mistakes, they're lies. And what kind of spirituality can you build on a lie?

A great book that i have used so many times the cover is falling off! Dr. Buckland got the information to write this book from the late Aiden Breac "a real life Scottish Witch" who lived all of 92 years,this book is anything but a fluff wicca book,this is a book that focuses predominantly on solitary ritual,and can be adapted to small circles of hedge witchs.For the uninformed, Pictish and Scottish are virtually one and the same,being that the Scots interbred with the Picts to the point of total absorption.In my opinion you cant go wrong with this book, but its important to know that the rituals are mostly for out of doors. True to Life PICTISH WITCHCRAFT IS WHAT YOU GET HERE.

First of all (noone) knows anything about what the Picts believed, and secondly the Scots and the Picts were twio different celtic people, so naming this book Scottish Wicthcraft and trying to pass it off as Picttish religion was (another) big mistake. Maybe Mr.Buckland really believed this supposed "Aidean Breac" and he really thought he was learning the religion of the Picts, but anyway he was and did not(.)Dont by this book its another money maker by Mr.Bucland and Llewyllyn. And all those people that wrote reviews saying it is now a tradition it is not(.) If we knew something about the religion of the Picts we could create a (new) picttish path, but we dont know anything so anyone calling their path Picttish is lieing if they say its ancient at all. If you want to know the (history) of the Picts I suggest reading books by W.A Cummins and Elizabeth Sutherland.Beannachti to those who search for the truth.

Given that this is supposed to be about the religion of the Picts it is strange that most of the information on magic comes from Scottish folklore from the last 1000 years. There is a lot of folk lore masquerading as fact in this book. There is also a lot of bo**ocks masquerading as historical fact; for instance he uncritically quotes McNeill who claims that Druidry was the native religion of the British Isles and was adopted by the Celts when they came to the country (p11). In fact, Druidry was the religion of the Celts and given that Britain was one of the last places to be conquered by the Celts, Druidry came late to Britain.
A major problem I have with the book is that Buckland engages in historical ethnocentrism; that is, he projects current definitions of 'witch' into the past, terming anyone who engaged in any practice that would now be loosely termed pagan a witch, regardless of whether the individual would have self identified as a witch (p21). Furthermore, Buckland has the ability to be blind to things that don't suit his viewpoint, for instance he claims that 'in Scottish folklore witches and wizards are always friends of the people, evidently being regarded, from ancient times, as highly honourable,' (p21). Even a cursory scan of any book on Scottish folklore will reveal a large amount of information on curses and the Evil Eye, hardly honourable.

According to Buckland, the Picts practiced the 'airts' which were the learned arts, sadly airt is not a Gaelic word, rather it is Scots for aim or direction (p89). This is exemplary of the sloppy scholarship and research that has gone into this book. Another relates to the chapter on Seership and second sight, from Buckland's description this is something that can be used at will and can be directed, however second sight was involuntary and many of the people afflicted with it wished that they did not have the gift.
Appendix C is his history of Witchcraft first written in 1966 and is farcical; he has an uncritical acceptance of Margaret Murray's The Witch Cult in Western Europe (p228) accepting all she says as fact. This probably leads to assertions that nine million people were killed on charges of witchcraft (er, try 200,000) and that witchcraft had lasted '20,000 years or more' (er, try from 1954) (p227).


This is an extract from a review written for the Cardiff University Pagan Society magazine, see:
http://cardiffpagan.co.uk/magazine/issues/6/reviews/scottish-witchcraft.html

This book really deserves ZERO STARS. One more attempt to pass of Wicca and Wicca-derived spirituality and methods as Celtic Paganism. I've got news for those considering buying this book: 1) Wicca IS NOT Celtic Paganism! and 2) This book is NOT about Celtic Paganism in any way, shape or form, except for some of the cute myths and names included to try and make it sounds authentic. If you really want to learn about Celtic religion, try Alexei Kondratiev's "The Apple Branch" or Erynn Laurie's "Circle of Stones". If you want Wiccan fluff dressed up in kilt and celtic knots, then by all means buy this book.

As a daughter of a MacLeod I was thrilled to find this book. I have searched for a book such as this. This is well written,detailed and not bogged down with so much technical background information one looses interest after the frist chapter. Many books on Magick are geared for the novice and it is refreshing to find that this book addresses the practioner. I have learned a great deal about the magick of my heritage, and in an informative and hands on manner.

I love this book!! I have read this book cover to cover countless times. If your looking for a book that teaches very structured rituals that need alot of tools(athame, pentacle disk, boline, broom, chalice, etc.) then I would recomend going else where, But if your looking for a very simple, basic yet beautiful and fulfilling book on the scottish laypersons aspect to the craft than this book is for you. Not alot of hoopla and dogma here just folk magick, natural magick and a some great yet simple sabbat rituals. Awesome book for people who want to practice wicca/witchcraft of the common folk and not the more elaborate ceremonial magick of the rich folk of the day.

Buckland, from all evidence, has manufactured this so-called "secret" tradition. Pulling from various sources, he invents the "true and secret" Pictish faith of the Scottish highlands. It's all a work of fiction, and a hodgepodge of numerous Shamanic and Wiccan traditions culled and compiled to form a more hard-core, nature based Wiccan faith and add another feather to Buckland's cap in a perhaps self serving fashion by passing all this off as genuine scholarship and an "inside track" through secret contacts within the occult community.

All this said, in the end, who cares? Buckland has never been one of my favorite authors, but he manages to make something genuinely beautiful from the various threads of Wiccan faith he pulls together. The result is a genuinely and overwhelmingly nature based faith, something previously lacking in Wicca, and it's a quite elegant and breathtaking fusion of the shamanic and Wiccan traditions into one package.

Of particular interest is the "wilderness survivalist" aspect of the approach which Buckland invents. This immersion approach is something heretofore lacking in Wicca, and I think many Wiccans could benefit from supplementing their faith with this approach to some degree. Nothing encourages respect for nature like allowing oneself to be subject to its full force and authority. Having been active in Scouting in the past, most particularly the Order of the Arrow, as well as being inclined to venture off into the woods on my own as a youngster for impromptu camping trips alone, I can assure you that the majesty of the natural world was never more evident than when one is sleeping open and exposed in its embrace, or when one has to perform such minor but (in this day and age) seemingly "lifesaving" tasks as starting a fire without matches and tinder.

There's also a minimalist approach to the tradition - very few tools are relied upon, and those that there are appear to have highly versatile functions. You don't have athames and chalices which incur the same degree of veneration as a samurai gives his sword, but actual tools which function above and beyond "Picti-Witish" ritual. The main "tool", for example, is basically your walking stick, along with your "dirk", basically a knife which is used for such utilitarian purposes as cutting meat and self defense. There's also the "keek-stane", essentially a scrying mirror - an odd addition, to be sure, when a consecrated pool of water would be more appropriate - but the book isn't perfect.

Also of note is the solitary nature of the tradition, more in keeping with the shamanic roots which appear to lie at the heart of the invention. Buckland's creation is all about communion with and meditation in nature, and that's always best in small groups of no more than three, at the most. The "Picti-Wita" tradition is best explored individually and alone.

It's easy to forget that Gerald Gardner also "invented" Wicca many, many years ago, pulling from traditions of the Golden Dawn. To give the faith credibility, he gave it a long lineage, handed down over generations from his ancestors. Buckland no doubt rationalizes his own approach in similar fashion. Like Gardner, Buckland may have lied about his sources and about the tenure of the tradition. In the end, while I'd give the author one star for his chicanery, his creation is breathtaking and, hopefully, enduring, and satisfies a void in the tradition that needed to be filled, and therefore gets five. He brings together Shamanic and Wiccan lore in a stunning package and, in this work more than any other, has finally left the indelible mark he has so long sought.

The opinions on this book appear to be many and varied, from wild support to outright rejection. I would advise the curious reader: make up your own mind. Like many of Llewellyn's books its historical accuracy is questionable, but there is some truth to be found in the general folk-lore. I would reccommend it for any beginning pagan like myself, as a jumping-off point for research and for helping to find one's "true" path. Good luck!