Customer Reviews

A Wiccan Bible: Exploring the Mysteries of the Craft from Birth to Summerland

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

No matter what the author says, a book that is idiosyncratic and off mainstream Wiccan thinking, not in of itself necessarily a bad thing, should never be entitled "Bible". The book is innovative, and we need the religion of Wicca to evolve if it is to survive. However, this is innovation painted as a standard work by its title.

The author has strong opinions, but tends to be patronizing, didactic, and pompous in presenting them and uses hyperbole.

There are quite a few innaccuracies and mistakes - the consort of Asherah is apparently Ball (as opposed to Baal or Ba'al?).

I think the grandiose titles of the chapters are supposed to be Latin. If so, it is laughable - "ab" does not generally mean "of" or "concerning" (root meaning is "away from"); and even if it did, "ab" ("a" before consonants) does not govern the nominative case but the ablative case form. His chapter titles (Liber ab....) are the Latin equivalent of saying "Me loves he" instead of "I love him". All this would be more forgivable if Latin weren't being used to make the whole work seem more grandiose, like a sacred work of literature. In the event, it makes it hilarious to anyone who has had more than a few weeks of Latin instruction.

It is a shame, because a lot of work went into this book. There are what seem to be really good sections of Ancient Greek and Roman festivals and calendars. The inclusion of classical pagan information into a Wiccan framework is to be welcomed - we know more about the Graeco-Roman pantheon than we do about the Celtic or Germanic panthea (incidentally, the author appears in places to have conflated Germanic and Celtic festivals).

Spiritual works don't necessarily need to be scholarly, but if you are going to try to wax grandiloquent, you need to try to get the basic subject matter correct.

A. J. Drew starts in his introduction by stating the following: "You will note that the title of this book begins with the word A. This is because I in no way consider this The Bible. It belongs to me; I wrote it, gave it to someone to share it with you. They didn't think it would be a very popular book if we called it A. J. Drew's Wiccan Bible, so they shortened my name a bit and just called it A Wiccan Bible."

Yes, it did make me smile, but I think I would have gone with "A. J. Drew's Grimoire" or "A. J. Drew's Book of Shadows" because this book is more akin to the Wiccan version of a teaching book than a Bible.

Yes, he did lay out his 'Bible' in books, and yes, there is his version of Creation, Exodus, and other such chapters that make it resemble a 'Bible'. However, the content is strictly Wicca according to A. J. Drew, and it should not be confused with any other path.

A. J. shares with us his researches and his conclusions based on this research. It includes his famous "Rants" on different topics and provides some insights and some head scratches. It has some very complete concordances, some of the most extensive I've seen, and he covers a very wide range of topics: from Ritual, numbers, rites of passage, holidays, his specific path to the studying for Degrees. There is the unmistaken mark of A.J. in this book.

Make no mistake; this IS A. J. Drew's path. This is not everyone's Wicca, nor is it meant to be. Which is why I thought Grimoire or Book of Shadow would be more appropriate. Grimoire and Book of Shadow suggest a specific personal Tradition and A. J. has presented his idea of his family or Coven Tradition.

A. J has presented us with food for thought as well. His food will stir up controversy, discussion and even brew-ha-ha from many different corners of Wicca. There are going to be those who bash this book and there will be those who will praise it.

Personally, I found some material I skipped over after the initial introduction as it was not speaking to me. That does not mean it is wrong, it just means I did not seem to think it was for me. There is also some good material here for discussion and debate and I read it and gave it much thought. There is nothing here that I agree with, nor disagree with. How can I make a judgment on what another holds as a Truth for them. It may not be my truth but it is valid for the person who holds it as truth.

Which is what all these books are about... personal truths. For each reader will find something that will speak to them and cause them to think, rethink or consider the possibility. It does not mean that the reader will change their own personal truth! That is not what these books are about. These books are about 'food for thought' and not 'my way is the only right way'. And any author who states that should be run away from as quickly as possible.

If you are looking for a contemplative work and the view point of yet another person who has found his way along his own spiritual path, this book is for you. A. J. focuses on balance, provides us with some very in-depth correspondence lists and some entertaining rants. There are pearls of wisdom mixed in with the seaweed that are worth searching for. A good choice for those who are open minded and willing to explore other paths. boudica

The hardest part about being a struggling and solitary student of the Craft has most certainly been the lack of material that focuses on the deity. Too many books are only about the Goddess or only about the God. This book spoke in a way that so few do: the deity is one, is equal. I won't go into detail about what the book covers, other reviewers have done that already. Instead, let me just say, if you are as I am and wonder about Wiccan deity more than you do spells, this is the book for you.

This book's concept and outline are excellent. Its bibliography shows that it was well researched, so there is no excuse why it was so poorly written. Besides this being a dissertation of the author's personal feelings and political views, there are two words that describe this work: weak and immature.

Mr. Drew is the only pagan author who seems to have the uncanny ability to make me cry, laugh and cheer while reading his books. Reading this book reminded me of those early days in New York. It reminds me of when I could turn on the radio to hear Marian Weinstein (our lovely `Giggle Witch') or stop at the Magical Child (back when it was called the Warlock Shop) for coffee and conversation with Horrible Herman (Herman Slater). It is the type of book that Leo Martello would have brought to Central Park for our summer picnic discussions. With A Wiccan Bible in print, Drew has assured his place in the hearts and libraries of many Wiccans, especially those of us who remember the days when our authors had a sense of humor and Horrible Herman wasn't nearly as horrible. If I had to sum up what I feel in a sentence, that sentence would be; `This book tells me that Mr. Drew is one of us'. Now I have to figure out just who he is. He sounds like one of the crowd from West Islip, New York as far back as the late 60's or maybe early 70's, but I don't remember the name. If I had to take a guess, I might guess he is Marion Weinstein's boy but I don't think she ever had children.

This book was a great deal more than I thought it would be. As one who has been actively and publicly Wiccan for many years, it was nice to see meaning returning, in printed form, to my religion. Most books tell the uninitiated where to put their feet. This book tells the reader why to put their feet there. Actually, it says nothing about feet but you get the idea. I would not recommend this to anyone who is new to the craft. It is far too advanced for the beginner. But for someone who has been active for a time, it is wondrous. I about fainted when I saw mention of the lustral bath. Now there is a vital part of Wiccan ritual that most books skip.

It was refreshing to find an author who reminded us that this is his Wicca, rather than claiming that this is Wicca. I particularly liked the hint of this in the title; A Wiccan Bible and the authors note that a "bible" is a collection of sacred texts and that this is his collection; hence the `a'. It could have better been titled `A Wiccan's Bible' but as it is, the title is much better than A Witches Bible Complete by the Farrars due to the incompleteness of any book on the subject or The Good Witches Bible by the Frosts due to the word "the" in the title.

This book will be sure to please any Wiccan who is not stuck in a eurocentric mindset. Although I am sure racists wont like the idea that Wicca has developed into a world religion, I think the majority of open minded Wiccans will not only love it, they will benefit greatly from reading it. They will also benefit from one of the most inclusive listing of gods and goddesses that I have seen to date.

I do not always agree with this author, but it is joyous to find a book that says something which might cause me to disagree. Most books seem to rehash the same old material. It is hard to argue with a book that tells the reader an athame is usually double edged. Instead of rehashing the basics, Drew. Surprising, in most cases I find myself wholeheartedly agreeing.

The only bad thing I could say about this book is that it reveals secrets, which were once reserved for initiates only. Many others and myself feel that these secrets are best kept out of the hands of the uninitiated and those without a formal teacher. I have not allowed this concern to influence my rating because this issue is addressed within its pages and Mr. Drew does give very good argument as to why such secrets should be made available in times as critical as the ones in which we live.

Blessed be Mr. Drew and may you too live free!

It seemed you either liked the book or you probably hated the book.Why all the praise and hissing about this book?I was somewhere in-between.I liked how he described his rituals and beliefs,yet this is not to be considered the definative pagan way of practising wicca.So,the reader must keep an open-mind ,that this is AJ Drew's take on Wicca.To name the book,'the Wicca Bible',may be a bold statement.A better title would be,'One Wiccan's Credo'.His opinions are quite strong,yet i was interested in what he had to say.The problem is not in his writings,it's with the title.A bible has a set dogma,with core beliefs and universally accepted axioms among its brethern of cult followers.I would still recommend reading it,though read it with an open-mind.

I have an extensive Wiccan library and have studied for many years, and this is the worst example of a "Wiccan" book that I have ever come accross.

It's not Wiccan, it's A.J. Drew's personal religion.

It's aweful, buy something else.

Drew's 'A Wiccan Bible' is from the start admittedly his concept of Wicca. It is his attempt to make sense of Wicca, a thesis of sorts. It's a long work, and sometimes takes a winding path, but his readers will probably be better served by covering all the things he has covered, rather than leaving so many things unanswered. This is a long treatise on the theory and theology along with suggestions of daily and ritual practices. It's obviously Drew's opinion on everything from birth to death in Wiccan thought, but his arguments are valuable at least for their attempts to make sense of things in Wicca that don't seem to make sense. His answers may not be right, but at the very least, he has attempted to provide answers to many lingering questions, and made clear at every juncture that these are his views and conclusions and are in no meant to be taken as authoritative. Thus I think we are better served by hearing his opinion, instead of the typical 'go find your own opinion' advice which is actually a lack of advice, or premature advice.

Some of his explanations or examples are facile, but this is the case with most literature of this kind. Wicca is a religion that attempts to take stock of the world in a universal, syncretic matter, but when one looks closer, one notices contradictions. It takes a lot of work to make sense of Greek, Roman, Egyptian, Celtic, Germanic, and world mythology, and with a scope as wide as it is, mistakes and simplifications will be made. Wicca 101 books tend describe a few goddesses and gods with perhaps a sentence about each example and an occasional summary of a mythical story involving a specific goddess. There's always some discussion of the core symbolism of 'The God' and 'The Goddess,' without always adopting that symbology into a trans-cultural, broad view of world mythology, that is rooted in a (less romanticized) concept of history. It's easy to adopt Wicca to a (simplified or, to some, flawed) version of say the Celtic or Saxon gods; it's much harder to do it on a comparative or world scale, but it's necessary given the pan(en)theistic aspect of Wicca.

This is where Drew's work excels, at giving countless examples from different pantheons, and showing where aspects of what has become know as Wicca has deviated from more common practices in various lands or uncritically adopted terms.

That being said, this is far from an academic text. The writing is light, and enjoyable. Perhaps it's less of a bible and more a collection of sermons on the different parts of Wicca. The bibliography is useful, but rather short for a work this long (probably 20 books and 5 original sources). The organization and chapter titles are interesting, with the Latin being a nod to Crowley's various Liber al ____ (if the Latin is non-grammatical, Crowley started it). And, if one wanted to nitpick, I'm sure the work is riddled with oversimplifications regarding its encyclopedia of gods and goddesses.

But...it was a good start, as an attempt to discuss pagan life in depth, with the life experiences of the author at the center of much of it. To me, he is honest, honorable, humble and never comes off as arrogant, as others have found. It's an honest attempt at making Wicca truly all encompassing of world mythology, while attempting to be respectful of that lore and using a study of that mythology it to fill gaps in Wiccan thought, such as on controversial issues like war. It's really easy to poke holes in his ideas, but much harder to be constructive and come up with something better. Something better would need a scholarly undertaking of world mythology, which is an unrealistic burden for almost anyone, given the time and variety that span across the various peoples that have lived upon our earth. It won't please reconstructionists or dedicants of specific traditions, due to his idiosyncracies and occasional errors, but I think it may indeed be a useful attempt at a corpus of Wiccan or a kind of Neo-Pagan thought.

This book is really only valuable if you want to join the Church of A. J. Drew, not Wicca. This does not even come close to being a 'Wiccan Bible', and I recommend A Witches' Bible: The Complete Witches Handbook for those who want good information.

Like all books on the subject of religion how-to's this one should also be taken with a grain of salt. It is a good book and it does cover many aspects, but at points it does get denominational, wordy, and pious. Of course it's going to be kind of specific, AJ does say that this is HIS bible. Which means we're all kind of expected to have our own views etc. So HAVE THEM.

There are inadequacies throughout the book. Things like Circle of Art, and when the symbolic Great Rite should be performed.

Newer pagans- please don't think that because we skip the words "of Art" it's because we want to be "spooky". Many don't like the term simply because Art is something far more tangeble than A place without a Place and a Time without a Time.. so it doesn't work for us.

"The symbolic Great Rite is teh conception, the body of ritual is growth of the magickal child within the womb of the CCircle, and teh end of the ritual is the birth of the magickal child. That magickal child is the product of the intent of the rite."

Using his own terms ... if the child is the product of the intent of the rite shouldn't the intent be done first?

It's a chicken or the egg kind of question, and the answer is- do what agrees with you. That is always the answer.

These are just two examples to consider there are many many more.
The beauty of this book is that it counters its pretention with multiple disclaimers to remind you that- hey- this is only one guys way of thinking. Use it as a jumping point to further your research and your own thinking.

Namaste,
Sarah