Customer Reviews

Wicca, New Edition: A Comprehensive Guide to the Old Religion in the Modern World

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have more books on the Craft than any sane person would keep. The useless ones I get rid of. This is one of the few I've actually read more than once. It contains quality material and makes an excellent first or second book for somebody new to the Craft.

Vivianne takes Wiccan tradition seriously, and doesn't cheapen it by making wild & unsubstantiated claims. She introduces her own material and names it as such. This book is complete. Rituals, directions, poems & liturgy. Everything you need but a coven, a calling and a connecttion to the Goddess.

Not only does this book describe Wiccan practice, but it describes it in sociological, historical, and psychological context, too. It is an example of applied Jungian theory. She uses the psychology of Carl Jung to explain the sense behind magic and Craft rituals. She bats around phrases like "Our Gods are the archetypal forces which inhabit the collective unconscious." To the question of "Are the forms of the Gods 'real'?" she answers first with a quote of Jung "they are images of contents which for the most part transcend consciousness." and then adds "what lies beyond the images is a divine reality ... true experessions of the nature of the divine translated into human terms."

This book contains a great deal of Craft practice, along with solid, original thought. Index, footnotes, a bibliography and a glossary round it out. A magnificent effort--more than earns its five stars! Every Witch ought to have read this book at least once!

I first read this some time ago when investigating Wicca. I still think it's one of the most candid and accessible reads for the newcomer to the topic. Given the number of not-so-good, me-too books out there on the topic that we saw published in the 90s, it stands out even more.

Its strengths are a matter-of-fact style, a balanced and pretty unbiased portrayal that doesn't try to make a political statement, and the large volume of information it offers. It is a sophisticated book that talks a lot about history, about initiatory experience, and about perceptions of divinity. The only flaw I can readily find is that it is a bit dry; just as its cover doesn't look like Tinker Bell, neither is the style. I can hardly mark Crowley down for this, but it's worth mentioning because it could affect the reader's interest.

Will appeal most strongly to the serious seeker with mature tastes in reading who is looking to be informed rather than entertained.

In a word, this is the best book I have read on "New Age" sprituality. Despite its title, the book is not limited to discussions of Wicca-- rather, it extends its very intelligent discussion of Western paganism in general, and even touches briefly on some elements of eastern religion. I am not Wiccan-- rather, I am a kind of amorphous pagan, with spirtuality but no fixed beliefs and no formalized rituals. When I read a book about spirituality, I tend to accept some ideas and throw out others. Most "New Age" books never seem to answer my favorite question: "*Why*". Instead, they seem to favor unquestioning memorization and rituals, which I despise. Ms. Crowley's book goes farther than any other book I have read to explain the "Why" and "What" of neo-paganism. It offers a brief history of Wicca, which is interesting-- but it really starts to shine when it discusses things like the male and female aspects of spirituality. She brings a refreshing Jungian approach to the discussion, too, which makes the material much more accessible for someone who has not bought into any particular named religion. Too often New Age books assume that the reader believes as the writer does, but Ms. Crowley does not make that mistake.

I would recommaned this book for *anyone* interested in learning about Wicca, pagan spirtuality, or even their own beliefs-- be they Christian, Jewish, Wiccan, Druid, Asatru, or floaties like me. The points raised are good and well-made, which makes the book a joy to read. Thumbs and big toes up!

I have read many books on Wicca, and have practiced the Craft for 10 years (I am a Gardenerian HP). This book is still the best introduction to the practices, meanings and spirituality of Wicca that I have ever seen. Vivianne Crowley, probably Europe's most respected and well known HPS, have here been able to present the Craft without hype, lucidly and warmly, in a way that makes both the religion and the craft of Wicca accessible to the newcomer and meaningful to the initiated. I truly love this book, and always recommend it to my own initiates, as well as anyone who's curious about the Craft of Wicca.

This book showed me that there are two very different types of Wicca. Most of us are familiar with eclectic "make it up as you go" Wicca from authors like Silver Ravenwolf. Vivianne Crowley's book thoroughly describes the other style of "traditional wicca." This religion has specific roles, rules, and procedures, and Crowley explains the history and theory behind them all. Chances are you don't know much about this part of Wicca; I sure didn't! Do read it, because it will balance the "fluffyness" that is sometimes prevalent in eclectic Wicca books. It also gives a very good description of different types of magic and how they work. Do yourself a favor and buy this book, even if you have no intention of ever being in a Gardnerian/Alexandrian coven.

This was the first book I read when I decided to learn about Wicca. Although it contains a lot of the standard "how to" material that's found in every other Wicca 101 book, it's presented in a far more sophisticated way, and the book contains much else besides. The additional material may be characterized as theoretical or systematic, which I consider a big plus.

Unfortunately, the book has significant drawbacks. For one thing, Ms. Crowley endorses the thoroughly discredited Murrayite thesis of the primitive witchcraft religion that was suppressed by the Christian church, which then reemerged in the last century. To present this view as anything else but bad history strikes me as disingenuous, if not dishonest, especially as the book was first published in 1996, by which time even most Wiccans had admitted that the Murray thesis is untenable. Ms. Crowley also seems unable to resist the occasional, and almost always historically inaccurate, pot shot at Christianity.

Second, Ms. Crowley's heavy handed use of Jungian psychology makes it seem as if Wicca is just Jungianism with a kind of religious veneer. Instead of Jung's ideas being used as one way of explicating Wicca, one gets the impression that those ideas are at the very heart of the religion itself. By the same token, the Hindu system of the "Chakras" is referred to throughout (although the perspective on them is not quite the traditional Hindu one), without any justification or explanation of why, if one is a Wiccan, one should believe in the existence of chakras. It's just sort of assumed that chakras are part of standard philosophical anthropology, which is emphatically not the case.

Nevertheless, this is by far one of the best books about Wicca I've come across. It's extremely articulate, has a smooth and coherent progression, and Ms. Crowley's spirituality comes across with a certain authenticity that's almost wholly lacking from the cotton candy Wicca books out there that take up all too much space on the bookstore shelves.

Unlike authors like Scott Cunningham who simply tell us to do stuff without telling us why or how, Ms. Crowley tells us of the inner meaning behind Wiccan rituals, aloowing us to create our own traditions. You will never find a book that is this detailed. But not detalined in the way that it's all a bunch of magickal jarjon, like most of Ray Buckland's books are. She has a degree is psychology and understands society and the human mind better than any other author our there. This is a no crap Wicca book. It's not a book that simpy say "witches do this" and "witches do that" over and over again. This, alog with "The Wiccan Mysteries" and "To Stir a Magick Cauldron" are the only three books out there that are really worth owning that deal spciffically with modern Wicca. If you're one of those candy coated 'pagans' who simply do spells all day long, avoid this book. IUt is only for serous students.

I had heard lots of good things about this book so when it was available at the library, I quickly picked it up. This book has a lot of information on the history of Wicca and Witchcraft (she acknowledges that they are NOT the same) and is a very interesting read if you want to know more about how covens work. She thoroughly explains the difference between the first, second and third degrees and also describes the basic rites that you go through to get these degrees.

I had some trouble reading this book. (I'm 19) The text is small and Crowley uses complex wording. It is definitely not the first book you should read on Wicca. I wouldn't really call it a beginner's book but it does have some basic information in it. I would say that you should probably be able to read at the Grade 12 level at least to fully comprehend this book. I often had to re-read a paragraph and you may want to put a dictionary beside you as you read. Despite this, it is very interesting and informative.

It isn't necessary to own this book but it is a good idea to read it thoroughly. What I mean is, you probably won't be going back to it very often once you understand the information in it. It's not a resource.

V. Crowley uses a LOT of quotes from C. Jung and it may be a good idea to read a bit about him yourself, although this is not required.

This book is a must have. I would not have

known about it had not a friend in the U.K.

sent it to me as a gift.

Gift? This little book is a Gem of a gift.

Yes, some parts I had

to reread, because of *MY* lack of knowledge of

Carl Jung. That is not the Author's fault,

and it doesn't make it a bad book. What it does

is stimulates the old gray matter. I am going on

64, and Yes, you *can* teach an old witch new things!

This book should be on every witch's bookshelf.

As one reviewer of this book stated, this book

should be read by those of other belief systems, too.

Bright Blessings

When i first began exploring Wicca i bought every book about it that i could. Most beginning Wiccan books are all the same, sometimes beginning books are all there seem to be :), but Vivianne Crowley's book definitely made an impact on me. She not only explains many of the things that i had already read, she gives them more life and meaning. She makes Wicca seem less dry. In fact i would dare say that her book is one of the few that i have read that really makes Wicca out to be the truly Spiritual, poetic, mythic, beautiful path that it is. I would go even further to say that her book opened a deeper understanding of Wicca, my place and attraction to it and what a Mystery Tradition really is in this day. I think anyone that is interested in Wicca would benefit greatly from reading this book, it is one of my favorites, ive read it at least two or three times and that is a lot for me. Blessings!