Customer Reviews

Wicca 404: Advanced Goddess Thealogy

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Over and over again, I've seen books advertised as "advanced" when they are really just rehasments of Wicca 101 whose topics the author simply views from a different angle. Wicca 404 is an advanced book and I don't recommend it for new students. Get well-grounded in basic Wicca before reading this work because there are many places in this work that the author makes sweeping statements about Wicca and Wiccans, which aren't necessarily true. A reader needs to have a solid foundation in order to see where this occurs and to realize the statement isn't necessarily true.
That said, the author is a woman after my own heart. She sees Wicca becoming more and more trivalized and diluted by authors simply out to make a buck off the religion and don't care that what they are publishing is crap. As an HPS who has also seen this and is saddened by it, I truly appreciate and applaud Ms. Free for her hard work and dedication to the faith. Clearly, she has great insights and articulates them well in her work and that is why I've given this book 5 stars. Despite my crictisms of the book below, I highly recommend it to anyone who considers themselves very well grounded in the basics. It is worthy of a place on your bookshelf.
Now for the criticisms, given the title of the work I was expecting feminist leanings inside, but not to the degree I found them.
Chapter 6-"The God Problem" nearly caused my head to explode. Basically, the author states that the Earth as been in a state of what she refers to as "animus possessed" to the point that even the Pagan Deities have become corrupted and tainted to the point that working with Them is virutally impossible so, while we should acknowledge that the Great God of Wicca exists, we shouldn't make any real attempts to work with Him or get to know Him. Hog-wash! That, to me, is a cop-out to avoid the hard work that it may take to get to know Him in all His forms other than what are commonly found in our cultures. Admittedly, I had a hard time working with the Horned One when I first stepped on this path, but with persistance and hardwork I got passed the concepts of God commonly found today and got to know the Horned One in many of His forms. He wants to be known and to let us know He is more that Adonai, Jesus or Allah. He wants to be known "in His fullness" just as much as the Goddess wants to be known in Hers. If the author doesn't feel comfortable working with the God then she shouldn't, but she makes a terrible error in telling others not to do so as well.
This stance also becomes rather confusing when Ms. Free states in the Introduction that her view of Wiccan Thealogy is based on experience, testing, observation, and was developed by "siphoning out what worked and jettisoning the rest". This leads me to ask how one can observe/experience life then completely jettison the masculine aspect of the Divine and still have anything that contains a realistic view of life as we know it, and it's processes.
In Chapters 2 and 3 she also gives the reader the impression that Wicca and Wiccans, wholesale, take a pantheist view of the Divine with no aspect being seen as transcendent only "hard to known in Her complete fullness". Personally, I'm a Wiccan who is an panentheist.
Finally, the last chapter about the Wiccan Rede, while very well written, could have been longer and more indepth.
That said, and to her credit, Ms. Free does use the phrase "My Wicca" numerous times in the Introduction, and the reader needs to take that phrase to heart because this is, very much, Ms. Free's interpretation of Wicca.

Let me start with the good: Ms. Free is right on in her criticism of the dearth of advanced Wiccan theology books available (or as she terms it, thealogy). I share her frustration with the fixation of publishers who seem bent on promoting a spell-a-day mentality with little attention paid to the deeper aspects of Wiccan spirituality. There are far too many books out there that claim to explore the more advanced aspects of Wicca, but are in reality just a re-hashing of the same old very basic material. After while, it leaves a bad taste in one's mouth. I also happen to agree with the author's opinion that Wicca must be relevant to today's world, the world of the year 2008, not just an escapist exercise of romanticizing the past. So, big kudos to Ms. Free for addressing both of these very important issues. Also, I did not find, contrary to a few statements by other reviewers, that this book is particularly hard to read.

And that is about where my love affair with this book ends. The problem is that although the authors states at the beginning of the book that this is her understanding of how things work, the actual material itself comes across as an authoritative source of how all Wiccans perceive Deity and the metaphysical workings of the universe. There are far, far too few statements such as: "I believe..." "In MY coven, we believe that..." "This is MY understanding of the Goddess/God..." "It is MY belief that..." As one reviewer has already stated, you need to apply a substantial ego-filter to this book. And even then, you may find, as I did, that you are in serious disagreement with much of the metaphysical conclusions reached by Ms. Free.

Were I in a teaching situation in a coven, I might present this book as ONE view of the spiritual workings of Wicca, but certainly not the only view, and certainly not as an authoritative voice for all Wiccans. I cannot recommend this book for a solitary neophyte, who might mistakenly think that this is how *all* Wiccans perceive things.

Still, I give this book 2 stars for the earnest effort. It is a big step in the right direction, one that I will hope will spur other Elders in the community to truly address the deeper issues. A person just beginning to explore Wicca may find the leap from a monotheistic, patriarchal religious tradition to Paganism bewildering at times. As it stands, Wicca is creating its own spiritual void by leaving newcomers to the religion without meaningful spiritual guidance.

I bought this book on a whim, because it's cheap (I had another pricier book in my cart, and just wanted to reach the $25 free shipping threshold,) and because I liked the "spacey" cover. Admittedly, I had the shallowest of motives and no real expectations. Imagine my surprise when this small book by what was to me an unknown author entirely transformed my understanding of the Wiccan religion, my personal relationship with the Goddess, and the direction and meaning of my spiritual path.

For Esra Free, the Wiccan religion is not a fashion statement, a New Age spiritual fad, or some kind of psycho-social "safe haven" for teenaged misfits from Traditional religions or mainstream culture (which, you have to admit, is how the Media usually portrays us to the larger society). Free's experience of Wicca is richly and wildly beyond all that, in equal parts intellectually stimulating and emotionally profound, simultaneously grounded in the Earth and inclusive (literally) of the stars. This is Wicca as real religion for real people, theologically on par with every other World Faith, yet still deeply personal and powerfully eclectic. In what amounts to a very few words (the book is only 104 pages long!), Free manages to reconcile Theology (TheAlogy, actually, being the feminine form of the word as used in Wicca 404), science, magick, and perhaps most importantly, to my mind, anyway, the real "nuts and bolts" of life's meaning, of why we're here and what we're supposed to be doing with our lives, not just as Wiccans, but as human beings. In the thealogy of Wicca 404, the Earth is physically and spiritually alive (Gaia), with Her own path to walk and spiritual evolution to pursue - a task in which She needs our help. We are integral to Her spiritual success, just as She is to our own. This is such heady stuff that I hesitate to give too much away in a review - I hate "spoilers," so I won't ruin the wonder for other. Just read Wicca 404 for yourselves!

If I have one complaint, it is that the book is too short. I would have loved to have stayed in Esra Free's universe for a lot longer than the few hours it took to read this book from cover to cover, though I'm willing to bet that more will be forthcoming from Ms. Free and her "Cosmic Goddess Coven." I look forward to further installments. Part of Wicca 404 is a lengthy interview with Free taken from the pages of The Wiccan/Pagan Times, a small but reputable on-line Pagan publication. This theory/interview format worked well for me, balancing the at times challenging intellectual structure of the opening chapters with a fresh, personal and entertaining audience with the real flesh and blood woman behind the Thealogy. I was relieved to find all of my questions from reading the first half of the book (and then some!) answered in the interview. I wish the book was longer, but I have to admit that, after reading just the 104 pages provided, I honestly feel like I know this author and understand her ideas. She said everything she needed to say, then stopped, without adding a lot of fluff and filler. I appreciate that!

WARNING: This is NOT a book for beginners. If you are just launching your exploration of Wicca/Paganism, start with the basics (I recommend Starhawk's "The Spiral Dance"). In Wicca 404, Esra Free assumes the reader's familiarity with basic Wiccan and magickal concepts, and takes off from there. She opens the book with these words:

"The book you now hold in your hands contains no spells, no
rituals, and not one word about the Wheel of the Year or ritual
tools. This is not just one more in the seemingly endless stream
of "Wicca 101" books recycling one more time all the basic lore
and "do-it-yourself" ritual design and spellcrafting hints you've
already read a thousand times..."

Then she keeps her promise. There is exactly ZERO rehashing of the basics to be found here. If you are an accomplished 101 level witch seeking "higher instruction," I guarantee that you'll find darned near every concept in Wicca 404 to be new and exciting. If you don't yet know the basics, you'll be lost. Be warned!

If this were an expensive book, I would still insist that it deserves a place on the "required reading list" of every Wiccan/Pagan out there who cares about advancing beyond the Ravenwolf/LLewellyn "Wicca 101"" beginner's level of spiritual/magickal development. That it is bargain-priced makes NOT reading this book an act of indefensible spiritual denial. I give it an unhesitating five star rating.

The focus is largely on the cosmos and that Wicca is a "Nature religion" and not an "Earth Religion". Author repeatedly bashes written material available to the public, yet states in the book that she is not a writer by nature. Its not just people who cater to the publication machine that shouldn't write books, its people who aren't writers...the very short text was hard to finish, not because of the concepts but because of the lack of flow in the material.

The teeny bopper,goth, "Weekend Wiccan" concept rehashed throughout the book is also not new, even in those "101" books...and gets way to much attention.

The idea of a 404 book is good, but its like a movie with a great plot outline that fails to deliver...it could have been done much better by someone else.

I'm sorry if this came across as harsh, but all these positive reviews are what made me give this book a chance, and if someone spelled this out for me, I would not have. This was a bad essay with space odessy & ego. Don't waste your money!

Most popular versions of Wicca, to the extent that they attempt serious thealogical explorations at all, tend to envision the Wiccan Goddess as some brand of "Jehovah in a dress," a female deity, for sure, but still "deity" as that term has been defined for the last several thousand years by Middle Eastern religions like Christianity, Judaism or Islam, a supernatural "other" who created the universe and who from then on stands "outside" Creation somewhere, looking down on humans from "above." Just like the Christian G-O-D, only a girl. I'm sure many will take insult at this uncharitable characterization, but I shared it, too, without even realizing it, before I read "Wicca 404," so I'm not pointing fingers. It's very hard to recognize how subtly trapped we might be within a Christianized worldview until we have had opportunity to see our understanding (or lack thereof) contrasted against a view as utterly foreign to the "big wo/man in the sky" conception of deity as is Esra Free's wholly pantheistic "Great Cosmic Goddess." This is deity as natural phenomenon, not just some lovey-dovey "Goddess of Nature" out there somewhere, but the whole physical universe, the entire natural world, as the living, breathing body of a being as physically real as you or me, whose spirit we intuit as Divine Intelligence (Goddess), and within whose physical, emotional and spiritual life processes we humans play an integral, organic, even cellular, role. Starting from the simple contention that Wicca is a natural, as opposed to a supernatural, religion, Free builds a convincing step by step case for a view of the Goddess that I think our pre-Christian European ancestors would have wholeheartedly endorsed. Along the way, she explains how and why magick works, why we human beings exist, and just exactly what we ought to be doing with our lives. This is mind-expandingly good stuff with the potential to reshape Wicca as we have come to know it here in 21st Century America. Take heed!

That praise delivered, the reader should also be warned that Esra Free is V-E-R-Y opinionated (negatively) toward Christianity (and to a lesser extent, Islam and Judaism), and expresses something of a grudge, as well, against Traditional Coven Wicca. In the second half of the book, a chatty and revealingly personal interview with the author from the pages of The Wiccan/Pagan Times, she repeatedly opens her response to various questions involving covencraft with versions of the phrase, "I'll probably make somebody mad saying this, but..." - and then she goes right ahead and says things she might have been wiser to hold her tongue about, unless she is intentionally trying to start a "witch war" with Traditionals. Which may well be exactly what she hopes to accomplish, as she is clearly a staunch champion of Solitaries everywhere, and of their stature within the Wiccan community. She even coins the (to my mind, quite brilliant) phrase "coven of solitaries" to describe groups all over the world (including her own "Cosmic Goddess Coven") who use the word "coven" to describe their assemblages, but who freely admit to having no connection to anything even vaguely resembling any supposed "Paleolithic Lineage" going back to pre-Christian times. They ("we," as this describes me and mine to a tee) are, instead, learning the Craft from books, from each other and from hard-won personal mystical experience, and for Free, that's what Wicca is all about. She paints a highly democratic/romantic image of brave bands of solitaires coming together to push back the farthest frontiers of magick and human culture that seems as consciously calculated to alienate Traditional Wiccans as it is designed to inspire Solitary practitioners. I will be very curious to observe how the Traditional community responds to this book, especially should the "coven of solitaries" concept catch fire...

My only other "negative" comment about the book is that it has something of a "copped together" feel to it, as if the "Wicca 404" in our hands represents a sampling of a larger, perhaps unfinished, work (that may still be forthcoming?). Free mentions in the interview section that much of the material included in the book originated in lessons developed for initiates into the "Cosmic Goddess Coven," so maybe that explains it. The first five chapters work fluidly together as a seamless and convincing exploration of Free's pantheistic understanding of the true nature of the Great Goddess of Wicca. Her chapters on the Wiccan God and on "Doing" (with acknowledged reference to the early 20th Century metaphysical "Work" of Russian mystic G.I. Gurdjieff) seem a bit abbreviated and "forced" after that long, smooth flow. Her chapter on "Eclecticism," while thoughtful and thought-provoking, once again bolsters Solitaries at the unsparing expense of Traditionals. As a Solitary myself, working with a group of magickal friends who meet Free's definition of a "coven of solitaries," I must admit that I personally enjoyed her perspective a great deal - but I can see where it's going to raise hackles amongst a certain crowd. 'Nuff said...

Wicca 404 is a bit uneven in places, but overall, the author's take on the Goddess, and our role as human beings in her life, is nothing short of breathtaking in its scope. The interview is highly entertaining, and the first five chapters are outright revolutionary in their pantheistic re-visioning of the core theological underpinnings of the Wiccan religion. I predict that this book will stir up a number of stormy but ultimately healthy and long-overdue controversies in the Wiccan/Pagan community. It's worth the price just to know what everybody's going to be talking about...

And speaking of "price," here is my final assessment of Esra Free's "Wicca 404": I initially read this book as a .PDF download sent to me as a free review copy by the author, who found my blog on the Internet and hoped I might help publicize her book by publishing a review. Well, here's the review, and what's more, I am right this moment heading off to drop the very reasonable $8.95 necessary to add a print copy of "Wicca 404" to my magickal reference bookshelf. I recommend you do the same!

I am not a book reviewer by nature, so excuse the randomness of these comments. I am a Priestess of Wicca, and have been for over 20 years. I have read so many books which rehash the Wicca 101 material ad nauseum. While this book has some flaws, the author did point out that she is Not a writer. To have opened up to public scrutiny and spoken her mind deserves respect. As with all books on the subject, grains of salt should always be at hand. That being said, I think some extremely valuable points were made and for those, the attitude with which they were were made can be forgiven.
I think Wicca can only survive as a valid and viable religion if we stop being apologetic, stop trying to live in a past that never existed and take ownership of our path and of the Earth, here and now, and fully participate in enhancing Gaia's spiritual path in the Cosmos.

A very valuable point also made is that of the nature of our God and how we continue to define Him as what he is not. This is a disservice to Him, and to our Path. I did find her explanation of this dilemma very clear and rational. But also inspired me to want to get into greater touch with Gaia's Animus in His fullness, rather than through the filter of our cultural bias.

The entire book, I found, made me want to strive to do more for my own growth and to the service of Gaia, The Cosmic Goddess of Wicca and of Her Balance and Counterpart our Beloved God. I immediately passed the book on to a Coven Sister and invited her to join in the awakening that must occur for us to all move forward.

Many thanks to Esra Free for this experience.

Brightest Blessings,
Rev. Eala Airgiod, Circle of the Spiral Moon

I had this book on my Yule list to give to my mother - who purchased it for me. Gift books are always given early.

As a HPS, I was seeking advanced Wicca books, especially since I am working to convert the classes I teach into published books. I will set this book into the "what not to do" and "bad example" category as both a Wiccan HPS and a writer.

Despite Ms. Esra's speaking to put ego aside, she really toots her own horn about "My Wicca." The tone is arrogant, "my way is the only best and right way," and contemptuous of Traditional Wiccans who are the Elders deserving respect for having taught and promoted the beauty of the religion in the first place. It showed gross ignorance of the Traditional Wicca (BTW) to the point that was heart-breaking. It seems like her experience with other Wiccans is limited to the internet and not to personal experience in exploring other Traditions of Wicca beyond American Eclectic.

After filtering through the ego and sad amount of lack of skill in writing, her enthusiasm for serving the Goddess as Her Priestess is obvious and pure. However, such enthusiasm is often part of the "adolescence" phase of Wicca. Ms. Esra's ignorance of what the degrees of Traditional Wicca represent show she has not progressed through these life experiences as a priestess yet.

It's an outsider, Solitary Eclectic Wiccan's view of Wicca. Which she, to her credit, admits to. And it needs to be kept in that perspective.

The writing style is difficult to read, and I appreciated it being a short paged book because it lacks flow; I had to force myself to read and finish it. Included in the book is her interview with The Wiccan/Pagan Times, and her message is conveyed better in the interview than in the book's text itself. She should probably just publish interviews of this sort instead of writing, which she admits writing is not her forte.

Her message to bring Wicca into the future is a good one I think we can mostly all agree on. However, saying in effect that Wicca is the ONLY religion that can move into the future is ridiculous and arrogant, lacking respect for other religions and Wicca's principle in not being the "only right true path" we criticize other main stream religions for.

She needs to be careful of promoting the hypocrisy and arrogance in her "Wicca" that we wish to be free of in Wicca and Paganism. Yet, filter through the egotism, and the message is one to be taken to heart.

Esra Free's Wicca 404 - Advanced Goddess Thealogy is a small book that explores the cosmology of Wicca. Or more accurately, it explores cosmology from the Wiccan perspective. It is a much-needed book right now, and the major problem I have with it is that it's too short.

The opening paragraph to the book sets the tone, informing the reader that the book contains "no spells, no rituals, and not one word about the Wheel of the Year or ritual tools." Free makes good on that claim, as the rest of the book steers determinedly into an examination of such questions as "What is nature of Divinty?" Chapters include discussions of Wicca as a Nature religion, as opposed to an Earth religion, and why that difference is significant. There is a particularly interesting chapter on the concept of the egregore and how it relates to Goddess-forms. Another chapter tackles why Wiccans seem to have a problem with properly approaching the God and giving Him the same kind of fleshing out that the Goddess has received in our studies.

There are some flaws that show through in the book. The first is Free's writing style; her sentences are simply too long, and she clearly could have benefited from the services of a good editor. There are places where the sentence you've just read has to be re-read to understand the meaning of the whole, due to the sentence structure and length. Another flaw is the appearance of Free's obvious negative experiences with Traditional Wiccans, exhibited in the chapter on Eclecticism. Her definition of "fluffy bunny" in the chapter exploring the Rede is off as well. She apparently believes the term is applied by some Wiccans against those who adhere closely to the "harm none" clause; I believe that Free's take on this is incorrect.

The only other complaints I have with the book are that it doesn't explore the subjects presented far enough, and that Free doesn't cite her source material enough. For example, Chapter 4 (Egregores and Goddess Forms) is obviously influenced by Talbot's The Holographic Universe, but that book isn't mentioned. There isn't a bibliography at all, in fact; certain footnotes specify which works she pulled direct quotes from. However, the lack of citation might be an indication of just how thoroughly Free has internalized these concepts and made them part of her Wicca. And this is the whole point of the book.

Having said all this, I still must (and want to!) recommend the book to anyone who is serious about seeing Wicca grow past its "101" roots. Free minored in Religion at her university, covering topics that run the gamut from Middle Eastern religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) to Mediterranean (Classical pagan), Asian (Hinduism, Vajrayana and Zen Buddhism) and various shamnistic paths. These influences show in her treatise, and I believe most of them truly belong in our religion. Free sounds a call for us to "get serious" about true study in our faith, for internal consistency to our system of belief. It's a call worth answering.

I believe Wicca needs more authors dealing with the philosophy of the religion. That said, this kind of book is not helpful: rather than presenting the issues with a spectrum of approaches, then considering them side by side, Free presents her personal viewpoints without context.

She falls into a number of what I would consider huge errors. Especially noticeable is the fact that the God gets only lip service in spite of her having devoted a chapter to scolding others for doing this. Otherwise, when she discusses Deity she ONLY uses language relating to the Goddess.

Worse, she takes up a lot of space in this short book making acrimonious remarks about Abrahamic faiths and their perceived atrocities against Man and Earth.

All in all, this is a shortsighted and shallow exploration of topics that need better authors to address them.

Just as another reviewer mentioned, I too bought Wicca 404 because I had another book in my cart and wanted to add an inexpensive second title in order to reach the $25 free shipping threshold. I mean, why pay for one book plus shipping when, for about the same price, you can get two books?

I have been studying the Wiccan religion for some time now, and have read numerous books on the subject. The main book I ordered the day I also bought Wicca 404 was Raven Grimassi's "Spirit of the Witch: Religion and Spirituality in Contemporary Witchcraft." I read the Grimassi book first, as he is a respected "name" in Wicca, and an avid "Traditional," who claims both to be descended from ancient witches (the whole "Fam-Trad" thing), AND to have been at one time initiated into a Gardnerian Coven, before launching his own "Aridian Tradition" of Italian Stregheria. A "heavy hitter" by almost anyone's measure.

A hundred pages into "Spirit of the Witch" I was ready to pull my hair out. Over and over and over, I read passages that began with versions of "ancient people used to believe that..." and "Nowadays we know that such and so isn't literally true, but witches still embrace the symbolism of..." Blah, blah, blah. I had grown beyond the nuts and bolts level of "Wicca 101," and I was hoping "Spirit of the Witch" would reveal a deeper element, some core truth about the reality of the Goddess of Wicca that might open up a new path for my journey... What I found read more like weak Jungian analysis, a bunch of archetypes and symbols and naive' ancient beliefs copped together with no sense at all that any kind of real, tangible deity was being talked about here. I kept thinking, "Why would anyone become a witch, if here's nothing REAL behind any of it? If it's all just a mix of disproven folk beliefs, Jungian psychobabble and role play dress-up?" Please understand that I DO consider myself a witch and a daughter of the Goddess. My embrace of the Wiccan path comes from my own deep, emotional and intuitive experience of the reality of the Goddess. In light of my emotional rootedness to the Goddess and Wicca, Grimassi's dry, strangely non-committal "think piece" left me feeling edgy and almost embarrassed to call myself a witch. It's so weird -- Raven Grimassi is a big name "Traditional" witch, and his book left me thinking that maybe witchcraft was a load of BS after all, considering how this big name Wiccan author won't even take a stand on the reality of it all...

I put "Spirit of the Witch" aside, unfinished, and turned to Wicca 404...

What a difference! Esra Free is a brilliant thinker and an exceptional writer. But what really grabbed me and wouldn't let go about Wicca 404 is that, from the word "go," Ms. Free discusses the Goddess as a real, tangible, living entity, as the personal mind and spirit animating all Nature. The truth I know deep in my feelings and intuition, Esra Free grants words in Wicca 404. You simply cannot read this book and think, "Well, maybe this is Wicca stuff is just nonsense..." Wicca 404 is at once a clear declaration of the Goddess's physical reality embodied in Nature and a reliable "map" for connecting with and experiencing that reality for yourself. I have read no other book like it. Looking back, I can see that all of the books I have read to this point explored the "outer forms" of Wicca, such as the Sabbats, the wheel of the year, ritual tools, magick, etc. Some of them did a great job, so I am by no means "dissing" those efforts. I learned a lot from them. But Wicca 404 shoots right past all that and reveals the "inner truth" around which all those "outer forms" revolve. THE GODDESS IS REAL. Wicca 404 shows us exactly how Her reality works, what that means for us, you and me, right here in the real world, and the very real magick aligning our wills with Hers makes possible. Just sitting and reading this book, I could feel parts of myself opening up to Her presence in new ways. I not only understood myself in relation to Her in a new and deeper way, I could literally FEEL her presence. After I finished the book (it's short and doesn't take long to read through), I took a walk in a large, wooded park down the block from my home. That feeling of presence never left me. Wow.

Several reviewers have suggested that Esra Free is picking a fight with "Traditonals" with certain statements she makes about Traditional Coven Witchcraft in Wicca 404. Maybe so. She does go off on that crowd a couple of times, and even goes so far in the interview portion of the book to very eloquently, and with humor, suggest that a lot of the people who claim to herald from preserved "ancient traditions" (like Raven Grimassi, and a whole bunch of other Wiccan authors) are, essentially, liars. Those are tough words, indeed. But I have to admit, coming to Wicca 404 immediately following my experience with the Tradition-drenched "Spirit of the Witch," I tend to think she is probably right. Every word of Wicca 404 proves that she is a very smart woman, with the true, gritty courage of her convictions. I trust her to know what she's talking about. Maybe so-called "Traditionals" SHOULD be worried... In Esra Free, we Solitaries may finally have our own Martin Luther! Let the reformation begin!

But the most important thing is not to let any such wrangling distract you from the stuff that sets Wicca 404 apart from every other Wicca book out there. There are maybe two mentions of the whole Trads VS Solitaries conflict in this book. That is less than a fraction of one percent! What truly matters is the reality of the Goddess, and that's what the other 99.9% of Wicca 404 is all about. I give this book five enthusiastic stars ++++++!