Customer Reviews

The Wicca Handbook

5 star:		(40)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

This book, by Wiccan Priestess Eileen Holland, is probably one of the best books for the serious beginner and intermediate Wiccan I have seen in a long time.

This book is not a general information book, but a working handbook, to be used as reference and as a guide as you start on the spiritual path of Wicca.

As I read her introduction, I was drawn into reading further. Here is a woman who is as practical as she is informative and learned. I was also impressed with her practicality in dealing with the many different aspects of Wicca. But it was her overall view of the state of Wicca with todays rapidly expanding influx of new people that really impressed me. To quote "The rapid growth of Wicca currently makes this (initiation by a High Priest and/or High Priestess) impractical, since there are not enough High Priests/High Priestesses to train and initiate all the newcomers. Wicca is also establishing itself in new countries and cultures, places where there are no experienced Witches to lead others."

All of her book is just as rooted in practicality. As I said, this is a working handbook, not a simple beginners guide. It is filled with information and how to use it. Spells, circles, health and healing, how to do it, when to do it, suggestions for seeking guidance from the deities. The information is abundant, clear directions are given and it is probably one of the most complete books for its size and content. Those who have been on their path for a few years will find this a great reference book to refer to time and again. It has abundant material gathered together in one convenient place, which will make this the book of choice when looking something up for a new idea or an old one that has been temporarily forgotten.

Ms. Holland also keeps the book generic, not leaning towards any particular path or deity. This makes it easy to adapt the information provided and is diverse enough for any person who is pursuing the Wiccan path.

For the average solitary, I would recommend this as a good, practical and very well packed textbook that will be referred to again and again.

The Wicca Handbook Eileen Holland

Eileen Holland seems to be the Julia Childs of gourmet Wicca. So many books I have read on Wicca craft indicate the spells, herbs, candles and other articles necessary for the altar, but none of them seem to be as chock full of handy information as "The Wicca Handbook." Her extraordinarily complete tables of correspondences may not be as comprehensive as Aleister Crowley's encyclopedic "777" or "Magick, Book 4," but she honors her mentor upon whose book she has based her work, Starhawk ("The Spiral Dance"). Her bibliography displays firm and dependable sources; otherwise, this would simply be another book of mixed puddings and confused recipes.

The spell tutorials are easy to follow and extremely easy to adapt to your present circumstances. Everything a beginner or an experienced practitioner might need is indicated, beginning with a Book of Shadows through the variations of invocations to the god/dess. Love, for instance, has 24 spells. Her comments on ethics and superstitions are humorous and pertinent and she cautiously warns of the problems and difficulties in casting the wrong spells. Blessed Be.

There's no questioning the fact that Holland knows a great deal about Wicca and has a great deal of useful information about the Craft which she tries to share. However, I think a few problems might have been remedied.

First of all, other reviewers have already pointed out the mixed signals she sometimes sends us. For example, she writes that it is unethical to use magick to compel others to do things they normally would not (e.g. to cast a love spell on someone who obviously is not interested in you). This would be a violation of the individual's free will. However, two pages later, she provides us with such a spell. This is irresponsible. In her defense, she does inform us of the consequences which can result from this, and also urges us to invite rather than force someone to pay us attention.

Secondly, the book is somewhat difficult to tie together. In many ways it's well-organized, and it's usually easy to find information about a general topic under numerous section headings. However, it becomes hard as you try to cross-reference specific items. If I'm holding a ritual in honor of a particular deity, it takes a lot of searching to find a suitable plant, and color, and stone, and incense, etc. This is unfortunately the case even despite an extensive index.

However, this weakness stems from one of her strengths: the enormous part of the book dedicated to correspondences. She provides us with hundreds of Gods and Goddesses to assist us with special concerns from purification and "guarding magical writings" to "fatal attraction" and hexing. You might not be able to easily find all you want to know about a particular Deity, plant, stone, or planet (or substitutions for them), but it's bound to be in there somewhere.

Also, Holland should be praised for the fact that she did not stick with the usual laundry list, if you will, of Western Gods and Goddesses. For readers who do not identify closely with them, she also includes lists of Deities from Indian, Chinese, Japanese, Native American, Arabic, African, and Polynesian traditions (as well as a few others!).

In sum, this book has great potential and I do recommend it. It may be difficult to navigate as thoroughly as you might like, but bear with it - the information it contains can be most helpful.

Blessed Be.

The Wicca Handbook by Eileen Holland is one of the best books I've ever used for references and correspondences. It's list of herbs, scents, stones, deities, elements, etc. is very useful information for spellwork and rituals. The fact that it is so anthropologically based also has gives it an added bonus...it can be useful to anyone of any tradition and style. I loved the extensive section on animals, especially because of the fact that it was, again, written to fit any tradition, not just shamanism. Her charts on the planets and numbers, something where most wiccan books lack, was a refreshing adversity to the mundane norm, and is a way to even further your magical studies and spirituality. This is one of the most-often used books in my possession, and it will be so in yours as well. Buy this book, and have a limitless amount of universal-wiccan knowledge at your very fingertips!

I bought this book primarily because of the correspondence chapters that looked very useful. I admit, I didn't take as much time to look it over as I usually do (I had a fussy toddler and the shop owner was giving us 'the eye'), so I paid my $15 and took it home. I have to say, I was dissapointed. I have been a practicing witch for 10 years, and the book really didn't help much at all. Most of the correspondence chapters are pretty much rewrites of better sections in better books, and her information on spells borders on unethical in places. I wasn't really surprised to learn that she is solitary, and has not had any formal training outside of books. Her commentary on ignoring the phase of the moon because she lives in the city and doesn't care was very annoying to me as well. I would not recommend this book to beginners, or experienced witches either. Better books have been written by Scott Cunningham, Doreen Valiente, Silver Ravenwolf, Janet and Stewart Farrar, etc. This is also a book that downplays the need for the new pagan to do research before using cultural icons, powers and mythos. If you're a new Witch, get "Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner" and "To Ride A Silver Broomstick" to start, and read anything by Doreen Valiente.

I have had this book for years and still refer to it on a weekly basis. Thorough, easy to read, and informative, the Wicca Handbook is a must for all practicioners of magick, even if you are not Wiccan or a Witch.

I notice that the majority of 5 stars are from new witches. I also note that the most gushing is from Ororo - Eileen's close friend!! As a witch of 28 years, I can assure you this book is full of re-hashed information that has been written a hundred times before. It is obsessed with magick and spells. It has nothing to do with Wicca as a belief system. Oh, it touches on them briefly, then promptly takes you into more hocus-pocus. It is extremely irresponsible, with paragraphs on why love spells are wrong, then devotes several pages to them. It's no good saying that is up to the reader's integrity - she also condemns "cancer" spells, and doesn't feel the need to explain how it is done. I also found it quite disturbing that she seemed slightly smug and proud that she did a binding spell on a stalker and his baby was later born with a whole in his heart. A complete waste of money, as I think the more experienced witches have agreed.

I've read some complaints about this book, however I find it would be best for beginners or simply as a research book. This was one of the first books I received, probably in middle or high school, and it was easy to read and comprehend. I enjoyed it mostly as a resource, than anything. I like that the book is broken into categories, such as love, and then lists goddesses and herbs, etc that are related, rather than other books which require you to constantly flip back and forth. It may not be necessary for advanced readers, however I still find myself going back to, and will probably purchase for friends.

This book was a great resource for me, I checked it out from the library and now am thinking of buying it. Eileen this book is great! It helped me along in my first starting Book Of Shadows. Thanx ^^

This is a great book... it has the largest collection of correspondences I have ever found in books or the internet. One reviewer said that this material was found in "better books", however, I have no idea to which books she is referring, since I own dozens of Wicca books, including Starhawk, Ravenwolf, the Farrars, and Cunningham, and this is the best, most comprehensive list I have found.

Beyond the correspondences, Eileen shares a great deal of knowledge and experience with her readers, beyond just telling us what "her coven" thinks and does, like some Wiccan authors do. She talks about everything from living in Egypt and dealing with people there's prejudice's about witches, to astral projection, to living with chronic illness.

I do not think that this book would be the only resource a beginnning witch would need, because it does not go into the history of witchcraft, deities, etc. For something ilke that, I would recommend the Spiral Dance, by Starhawk. But as a supplement, this book is a tremendous aid to spellwork.