Customer Reviews

Teen Witch Kit

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(41)

 

 

I was present when the long awaited sample of this kit arrived at the bookstore. I wandered thru the pages of the book and found the tone to be condescending and trite.

Then there were the "magickal goodies." Gimme a break. What IS that stone, anyway? I've never known a quartz crystal to feel oily and it was badly chipped. The cord... gods... go to WalMart and get satin cord there. MUCH higher quality and chances are it won't be unraveling after one use. The pentacle, symbol of our connection with all around us, of our inner perfection was ...sigh... pitted, false, warped (like the entire kit) and so, so Cheap. I wouldn't let my cat wear it. The yes/no coin was ok... Granted, a penny will do the same job, but it's probably the only item that isn't a complete offense.

Now about the "altar" included... Oh, c'mon! Plastic! What Element does plastic represent! And Llewellyn is supposed to be an authority on modern paganism and Wicca?

Kids, this kit ain't the real thing, and if you're the real thing, you'll feel that fact in an instant. Let me leave you with a list of REAL books to study (most of which tell you how to Make the things you need or suggest places where they may be found)

"The Power of the Witch" by Laurie Cabot and Tom Cowan "Earth, Air, Fire and Water" by Scott Cunningham "The Spiral Dance" by Starhawk "A Witches Bible Complete" by Stewart and Janet Farrar "Crystal Enchantments; A Complete Guide to Stones" by DJ Conway

There are many other good books, but these will give any beginner or young seeker a strong start.

And a tip... your first pentacle can be a piece of sliced, dried apple. The 5 pointed star that shows in an apple is far more connected to the Lady than any cheap metal. Let the slice dry on your altar, then trim the excess apple from around the star. Use clear nail polish to seal it, run a needle with thread through the top (just above the point of the star) and wear. The Pentacle represents Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Spirit... everything that we are... The apple represents love, regeneration, and even Avalon. The fact that you made this with your own hands and heart charges the piece with your spirit and adds to its essence. This is *real* magick, it has meaning, and it will never be found in a plastic altar.

Blessed Be

Silver Ravenwolf's works were a big influence on me when I first started out in Wicca. When some criticized her for 'Teen Witch,' I applauded her for stepping up to the plate and reaching out to a vastly growing teen audience that needed Wicca explained to them in simple and plain English. There's only so much ho-hum a teen can take, and Teen Witch was a refreshing zap of much needed attention to a often neglected audience.

This kit, however, is... tacky.

She may have had the best of intentions in offering 'starting kit' for teens that may not have much money or resources to buy materials with. But let me just say this- if you have the money to buy this kit, buy the actual book 'Teen Witch' instead and you'll realize that you don't need fancy crystals or spiffy coins to perform magic. As any Wiccan will tell you, the sheer act of prayer is magic. Magic = intent + thought + will. Silver herself reiterates that point in every book, as do many other famous Wiccan authors.

My thoughts on the contents of this kit:

- The book. The book is the one and only gem of the kit. It's nothing Silver hasn't written about in 'To Ride a Silver Broomstick' or 'Teen Witch,' though.

- The coins. Neat and spiffy, but cheap. Easily substituted by any coin you have lying around. The 'yes/no' coin can be replaced by anything you have... pendulums, cards, pennies, marked buttons..

- The crystal. If you're going to use a crystal or rock as your focal point, I'd suggest buying one you've actually gotten to see and handle to see if it's for you. This crystal in the kit is your typical 50 cent clear quartz.

- The string. I really don't know how you're going to perform knot magic with the same string over and over again. I'm not one to recycle spell supplies. One candle for one spell, one string for one spell. I don't use the same candle over and over again for candle magic and I don't use the same string for knot magic. My suggestion is go to your local market or craft store and pay a buck for a spool of yarn in the color you'd like. That spool will last you a good long time.

- The bag. Ugh, it's purple with yellow stars and crescent moons printed all over it. It's a little drawstring bag about the size of a 3x5 index card. To me, it screams, "commercialized and corny!" If you live with people that don't support your practice, this isn't exactly the best thing to cart around. Go to your local cloth store and buy a little square of the type of cloth you like in the color you like, some string, and duplicate it. The bag in this kit is made of cheaply material with cheesy print that looks like it came from the same material as a wizard's hat in a children's picture book.

Basically, each and every item in this kit is easily replacable. If you have people living with you that don't approve of what you do, I fear this kit will just draw unwanted attention. If you're short on cash, buy book 'Teen Witch' instead of the kit (or Scott Cunningham's 'Earth Power' and 'Earth, Air, Fire and Water' which includes spellcrafting techniques that don't need props which are based on pure natural magic). There are many techniques and theologies that must be learned before attempting spellcrafting as suggested in this book. Meditation, creative visualization, and practicing magic at its most basic form through prayer- these are all techniques students should be familiar with beforehand.

Needless to say, this kit isn't a good starting ground for seekers or beginners. Phyllis Curott's 'Book of Shadows' and Scott Cunningham's 'The Truth About Witchcraft' today are terrific books that can help lay down the fundamentals of the actual faith. Jennifer Hunter's '21st Century Wicca' is another terrific book on the subject. These three titles I mentioned were books I loaned out when I was in high school that got the most positive feedback by my fellow peers, so I'll go out on a limb and say these titles probably would appeal more to a teen audience.

Teenagers don't need to be spoon fed their religion, but what they do need, like all of us, is sincerity. I just didn't feel like this kit was sincere in its intent. You can mass market a child's favorite T.V. show into figurines, but you can't mass market religion into a do-it-yourself kit.

Basically, to sum up my review, you can get better supplies out there for the same price (or less!) of what you'll pay for this kit. I really don't know how I'm supposed to bond with and create emotional value with these cheaply items, and if I can't feel the emotional value in them, how am I supposed to use them for spiritual workings?

I'm fairly new to the Craft, and as a matter of fact Silver Ravenwolf's book Teen Witch was the first book about Wicca/Witchcraft that I read. However, the very fact that it includes an "easy-to-assemble altar" makes me take a step back in shock. The book itself may well be good; however, the fact that it claims to contain 'everything necessary for magic(k)' implies that these tools themselves are necessary. Some of the most powerful magick can be done with the mind alone. The spells included in her book are good examples of how to write a spell, especially for a beginner. But this reeks of... greed, if that's not too harsh of a word. Many to all of the items in there are completely unnecessary for magick, and can be found much more inexpensively at thrift stores or even at flea markets (I pick up nice crystals at flea markets almost every time I go, always for under $1. often for under 50¢.) and at home(shoelaces, anyone?).
Assuming the best, she may have blessed these items, and cast a spell of protection on the pendant. But it'd be better to teach how to cast protection spells or how to bless items. I find that the old saying about giving a man a fish applies to spellcasting, also: "If you give a man(or woman) a spell, he will be able to do one thing; if you teach a woman (or man) to write spells, she will be able to do anything." (Alright, it's not perfectly poetic, but it's the thought that counts.)y

I wasn't entirely impressed with Silver's latest item: Teen Witch Kit. I bought it hoping it would have something to add to my knowledge of the Craft, as it was directed to TEENS which I am. But... being serious about my studies, I already have an extensive collection of books and magical paraphenalia. What I found in Silver's kit was extremely disappointing, and I wouldn't recommend it to anybody who already has Silver's Teen Witch book and understands it fine. The Teen Witch Kit should have been directed to a much younger level, and I feel slightly insulted that Silver thought the book and objects she included were suited for the age group it was advertised for.

This is my third attempt at writing this so I don't completly kill this product...

I am a serious teen witch (and Wiccan), and I know this is the path I will follow for the rest of my life. It is insulting to me to find this box filled with (cheap) things that has the sign on it saying, "YES! YOU can be a witch too!" I can just imagine the..."Learn to control your sister! Fly on a broomstick!" This is not the kind of message I want to have a largly known author (who's work I don't like much) to get across. It's like saying, "You can be a witch in 10 easy steps!" Which is not so. It insults me that she would sell out what she believs in such a way it's almost down-right degrading. I, myself, have not bought this product, but my friend did and, wearing the pentagram, came up to me and said, "Look! I became a witch too!" And under some grilling, she knew nothing and had actually tried to preform some spells to get this guy to fall desperatly in love with her.

Is this the message we have been trying to get across? We're another thing you can just buy and become just like that? That what we do is just a game, a joke? It seems like, with this product, that's the message RavenWolf is trying to get across.

This is the most pathetic thing I have ever seen marketed under the word Witchcraft. The book gives you spells to distract your bus driver but claims you should take the thing seriousely. The cardboard and plastic box doubles as an altar?

I find this kit to be of absolutely no value to anyone other than the people who will probably make money off of it. Their is almost no mention of religion and the instructions on spellcraft are so cute, it should have been made by the people who made those little toy ovens that use a light bulb to make cake.

Besides being comprised of cheaply made items, this kit teaches teens to use magic to solve all their problems. I think this is an irresponsible message for any adult to give a teen.

I was very disheartened to find that the kit folds into an altar made of plastic and cardboard. Altars are sacred in Wicca, and I think it is very sad to see Wicca come to this. The only other thing that could have made this kit even more insulting would have been inflatible God and Goddess figures.

Ah, yes, the infamous "Insta-Witch Kit."

Teens and adults who are truly interested in Wicca will shun this like the farce it is. "Momma Silver" sold out to Daddy Dollar; her recent works speak clearly and eloquently about fantasy witchery. Spend your money on books that focus on teaching, not Hollywood marketing.

This kit is not popular among most teaching/counseling Wiccan HPs/HPS. Why? Simply because Wicca is a Religion, not a toy, not a game, not a kit. How can a religion be sold?

What's next, Silver? Maybe a "Buddhist in a Box Kit?" How about a "Complete Catholic Conversion Kit?" Or perhaps in your own words, the "Enochian Speak 'n Say."

slan leat

this kit is a travesty to the pagan or wiccan religion. you can't stuff spirituality into a cardboard box. i have given many workshops about this kit, and i'll tell you exactly what you are paying for; one tiny velveteen pouch, one quartz crystal, one plastic "divination coin" (?) one plastic "god/ goddess coin" (??) a tiny plastic bag of salt, a piece of string, and a flimsy cardboard altar, which goddess forbid, you actually wanted to put a candle on your altar to represent, i don't know, fire? you would burn the house down. this is sheer capitalism, and i am not saying that to be mean, we are americans, it is how we are. i have met ms. ravenwolf and she is very nice, but this is not her grandest idea. all of my friends that own pagan supply stores have discontinued carrying her products. if there is witchcraft in a box why not mormonism in a bottle or christianity in a bag? because you can't buy religion that's why. though this kit DOES comes with a book complete with spells like "how to turn you busdriver into a toad". this gives us a terrible name and no one can turn anyone into a toad! for people who dont know anything about our religion, when they pick up this box is this what they should see we are abaout? cardboard and plastic, and toad spells? all for $24.99. what a deal, you might as well sell your self worth. please if you want to learn about wicca buy some books, study, and listen to your intuition. plastic tools and cardboard altars are simply not needed to be spiritual. don't waste your money thinking you need to have every tool in order to find the goddess. it takes an entire lifetime to gather all your tools, they will come to you when you are ready. all the magick you will ever possess is already within you, you just need to take time to practice and access it. please buy yourself a good book with your money, not this.

I am sooooooooo disappointed in Silver RavenWolf. When I was just starting out in the Craft, "To Ride A SilverBroomstick" was my Bible. Now, looking on her "Teen Witch" book, I realize how far a very good author has fallen. When I have children I MIGHT lead them to this book, but I DOUBT IT, since there are other books related to young kids that will suit better. The way she talks down to teens is very demeaning, and I also don't like the way she fills half the book with spells without further explaining the tenents of the religion. "Hey, forget about that boring belief stuff, try some spells!!!" Riiiiiight. All you teen seekers, go for Scott Cunningham and Jennifer Hunter, or even Silver's first book, "To Ride a Silver Broomstick". Otherwise? Don't waste your time on this one.