Customer Reviews

The Wiccan Rede: Couplets of the Law, Teaching, and Enchantments

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(27)

 

 

This author has been formally denounced by at least three Seax-Wiccan covens (and since Seax-Wicca is a small sect, this is a notable number). Since Amazon doesn't want URLs posted here, just do a search for Seax Wicca, Spiral Seax, The House of the Morning Star, or HearthFyre Coven and you'll find more information about this and the nature of the author in verifiable sources.

When I saw the book, I thought that this could good. An in-depth, philosophical discussion of the Wiccan Rede, what it means, and how it could influence a wiccan's relationships with the world? This could really be a 'Good Thing'.

This book, however, is NOT a good thing. Mark V. re-writes a significant amount of the Rede from the standard version (sometimes for no apparent reason), places his own personal philosophy as the underpinnings of the Rede (e.g. Homosexuality bad, Vegitarianism good -- cheese and dairy are OK, eggs are not), and states as scientific fact things that are at best speculation, and in several cases are provably wrong. His interpretations are radically different from interpretations of sections, easily found on the web, that have been done by multiple other people, and he does not bother discussing the differences and why they are there. The attitude of this book seems to be "I'm right, you're wrong, I'm big, you're small, I'm strong, you're weak" -- my way or the highway.

Poorly thought out. Poorly written. Poorly edited. Don't bother with this one.

I got this book from a local library and found it easy to read, but unfortunately bigoted and filled with carefully disguised hate rhetoric. His condemnation of homosexuals and people that eat meat flies in the face of nearly all Wiccan teachings. I was very offended by this work and I am a happily married mother of 4!
There are many viewpoints out there and that is a good thing- it keeps people thinking. But this book is more than a viewpoint, it is hate. The Wiccan Rede was NOT meant to encourage bigotry or dogmatism, that fact in itself removes ALL credence from this work...

You may find this book useful as a starting point for discussion, but be very wary of taking anything in it at face value. I suggest very large blocks of salt, in fact.

The book does, indeed, cover the Wiccan Rede couplet by couplet. The author fails to credit its first publication by Lady Gwen Thompson, which makes me highly suspicious of his scholarship. One might get the opinion from his book that its history was completely unknown.

The veiwpoints of how to interpret the Wiccan Rede are his own, and do not reflect the views of most of the Wiccans I have met, from eclectic or Traditional backgrounds. In particular his personal stance on homosexuality sounds much more like what I expect from conservative Christianity than from a Wiccan.

His personal webpage certainly does more to explain his views than I can, and I suggest you read it before buying any of his books...

This is one man's vision (or version) of what the Rede means, and how he incorporates the Rede into his practices and daily life. Mr. Ventimiglia has extrapolated a number of conclusions from his interpretation of what the Wiccan Rede should mean to the average practitioner. One can argue with many of them, and should, as attempts to extrapolate views from sacred texts out of all context with their religious, social, and historical matrix is what has gotten an increasingly schismatic Christianity in trouble for all of these years. Mr. Vertimiglia, with his PhD in religion appears to have learned that bad habit from his studies, and taken few of the positive lessons away with him.

As a gay Witch, I find particular fault with his opinion of homosexuality in the Craft. In a footnote on page 125, Mr. Ventimiglia sums up his views on homosexuality almost as an afterthought by inferring that it is not "natural" (based on the male-female polarity of the Wiccan God and Goddess), that homosexuals are hedonistic (the basis of which he doesn't bother to state), and that Wiccans shouldn't buy into this hedonism on the basis that just because something feels good doesn't mean it's right, ethical, or moral (thereby implying that homosexuals are wrong, unethical, and immoral). This sounds suspiciously like Dogma to me. And I thought we were beyond all of that. ...

Homosexuality is "natural." It appears to be practiced by every higher species (Read Bruce Bagemihl's "Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity" for an in-depth study...you can buy it online here at Amazon). ... Many of the lower life forms are asexual or hermaphroditic. ...

Greater Witches than this author have accepted the place of LGBT peoples in the Craft ... Buckland, Leek, the Farrars, Valiente. With that one little footnote, Mr. Ventimiglia dispenses with history and biology, and promotes a vision that flies in the face of the love and inclusivity that is Wicca. His does not sound like a Craft of the Wise to me.

And it turns out that he is "not a witch at all" as Dorothy said. He is a Christian mystic masquerading as a witch. If in doubt, read Dion Fortune's "Sane Occultism" for direct parallels between this author and Ms. Fortune (a Victorian prude if ever there was one) on homosexuality and vegetarianism.

I picked up a copy of The Wiccan Rede" by Mr. Ventimiglia during my post Thanksgiving browsing...I was SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited when I saw it sitting on the shelf...I bought it without even giving it a thorough once through. What a GREAT idea I thought to myself as I paid and left the store. I read it about a week later, in one sitting...this book was NOTHING like I expected...I thought, based on the blurb on the inside flap that this was to be a never before attempted look at the meaning of the rede.

Touted to "give the reader a comprehensive and practical understanding of even the most esoteric pagan beliefs and practices" and "how to extract the Rede's wisdom and put into practice, how to live by it's underlying principle..."

Ok, so I didn't expect it to be the "be all" and "end all" on this subject (especially given the size of the volume)...but I certainly expected much more (MUCH, MUCH more) than what I found inside the pages of this little tome. What I found was one man's OPINION or PERSONAL INTERPRETATION of the rede...not founded on any tradition or previous system of practice (near as I can tell at any rate)...and what I read here was very disturbing. On the surface, Mr. Ventimiglia seems to write about a gentle and enlightened lifestyle, the way of the craft...

"Today's witches are ever mindful of issues like religious freedom and human rights, animal rights, environmental policies of governments, deforestation problems, and ocean and air pollution problems, just to name a few."

"To love unconditionally is to remain forever faithful in that love, and where there is unconditional love, there is also unconditional trust. We must never do anything that will violate that trust."

"...this lesson stresses the value and sanctity of all life, and the important necessities from theft and for generosity and compassion."

and these are but a few of the phrases that struck me in the book as positive and helpful...however, they are sandwiched in between hateful, superior, demeaning, and outright bigoted statements about the positive benefits of an all vegetarian diet (most of Chapter 2) and how immoral homosexuality is...how can one man go from writing one of these phrases above to demeaning all of the "unintelligent" and "un-enlightened" meat eating Wiccans and Pagans out there in the world today. How can he talk about unconditional love and trust, generosity, and compassion then turn around and slam homosexuality...in a FOOTNOTE almost near the end of the book (page 125)...was he counting on most of us not picking up on that?

He even re-wrote some of the Couplets to better suit his interpretation...now I did get that some of this stuff was going against the grain...I don't have a problem with challenging tradition and putting new and/or useful ideas out there for us to consider and examine...unfortunately what we got in this book is anything but New (hate and discrimination are hardly new) or Useful (unless of course I use it as kindling in the fireplace). Such a shame that this promising topic has been done such a very big disservice!!

I am most saddened to have Mr Ventimiglia counted among Wiccan authors as he is clearly anything but...this book is full of contradictory "behavior" -- saying "love and trust," tolerance and mindfulness...then turning around in the same breath and spewing out one man's opinion as the only enlightened way to live and believe (though it is rather nicely worded)...I did come to hate the phrase "the intelligent Wiccan" -- which seems to say, those of you who agree with me (you are intelligent), and those of you who don't -- UNINTELLIGENT and UN-ENLIGHTENED....though he never actually goes so far as to say that...his behavior in public forums certainly allows us to see how he really feels about his fellow Wiccans (who don't agree with him that is).

This book is NOT what it claims to be. I would highly discourage potential readers from buying this garbage -- your ten to twelve dollars can be much better spent...give it away...heck, I'd even go so far as to say that your money would be better used if you threw it out of your window. There are SO very many good books out there that delve into ethics from a Wiccan standpoint (try When, Why...If by Robin Wood) and SO many, many more books that give a realistic overview and/or ideas on how to live a positive Wiccan lifestyle, I encourage you to buy ANY one of those!!

I hope someday that an aspiring Wiccan author will pen a much more enlightened volume on the rede...Mr.. Ventimiglia is right, this subject does deserve a thorough examination...unfortunately, you WILL NOT find it in these pages!!

Poor scholarship and documentation, and even poorer taste. This book gets in it's little digs which are solidly the author's *opinion* on major issues, not the stance of Wicca (or of Seax-Wicca) on those issues. The author's condemnation of meat eaters and homosexuals are not nor will ever be the 'official' stance of any known large branch of Wicca. This book with its lack of solid scholarship and repugnant hate speech would most effectively be used for perhaps balancing a wobbly table leg, or as an addition to your pile of books used solely for a door stop. Bad Book, no reccomendation.

Mr. Ventimiglia's beliefs are abhorrent and have nothing to do with Wicca. Trying to justify his hatred in terms of "Universal Law" is beyond contempt.

If homosexuality was against Universal Law, then there wouldn't be homosexuality among animals, and there is. This man has let his own wounded pride dictate his theology. Don't let it dictate yours. His thoughts and words are evil and not worthy of an audience.

This book is an interpretation of the Wiccan Rede which consists more of the author's opinions than actual fact.

The author adds a line to the Rede which states, "Deosil go by waxing moon, chanting out the Seax-Wiccan runes" (pg 16). That is not part of the original Rede of the Wiccae. In fact, Seax-Wicca is a rather new tradition created by Raymond Buckland.

I found the views in the book are more closely related to fundamentalist Christian views rather than Wiccan tradition.

For instance, his views on homosexuality (pg 125) state that it is immoral and unethical and indicates that it is not in accordance with the Wiccan Rede. I have yet to see where sexual orientation fits anywhere into the Rede at all. This is a Christian concept, not Wiccan.

The author also attempts to push his personal views of vegetarianism off as an inadvertant teaching of the Wiccan Rede (Chapter 2). Many of our Sabbats revolve around the harvest as well as the hunt.

There are many other references in this book which he attempts to pass off his personal views as a literal interpretation of the Rede. Don't waste your money on a book that is full of opinions with no real substance.

For a more logical interpretation and history of the Rede, I highly recommend Wicca 333 - Advanced Topics in Wiccan Belief, by Kaatryn MacMorgan.

This book, like any other, is just a collection of words...Whether you take to heart the controversial ideas put forth by this author, is entirely up to you.
However, Ventimiglia is presenting himself as a teacher, and while no one is totally unbiased, and usually present their information from their own experience, his conduct in public forums is really quite disconcerting. There seems to be in posts credited to his name, a decided emphasis on the money he makes from the publicity he receives and direct attacks on the character of individuals who disagree with his ideas. The latter I'm sure being better carried out in private. At least, that sort of strength of character is what I would look for in someone acting in a teaching capacity.
The most interesting thing I've found though, is his presence in the review boards of his books. I've never before seen an author so concerned with defending himself against bad reviews, like this. Again, making me suspect his strength of character.
I cannot choose for you, your decisions are your own, but I suggest strongly you read all the opinions about this and his other books before you make your purchases.