Customer Reviews

Witchcraft: A Tradition Renewed

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

 

 

I bought this book because of Doreen Valiente's supposed authorship, and was unpleasantly surprised to find that she wrote the introduction only--not the book. That little deception aside, Evan Jones writes a very interesting account of a little-known tradition of witchcraft, but it sounds suspiciously like the 18th Century Occult Revival, and not the ancient tradition he implies. The book is certainly an interesting version of English Craft practice, and a good account of the late occultist Robert Cochrane, but you may not care for the bait-and-switch technique of crediting Doreen Valiente as the author.

WOW this book is good. Although more aimed for coven witchcraft rather than hedge witchraft, it is still nevertheless a good read and gives lots of interesting viewpoints and insights into the older craft and not the more commercialised wicca.

Lots of garbage masquerades as "traditional" witchcraft. Much of the quality material can be traced back to Gardnerian roots. This book is a rare gem--a reliable and modern source for non-Gardnerian British Craft material. Doreen Valiente, an important figure in Wicca, wrote with Evan Jones about the practice of the Craft after Robert Cochrane's style.

While this book does not hold many "spell recipes" or "ritual scripts," it provides enough information to "produce" rituals in this style & to organize a coven. This begs the question, however, of whether or not the Craft may be handed down through books or not.

The Goddess knows Her own, and to Herself She will call them. Within these pages lie material that may be of great use to those so called. Five stars for laying out a tradition rarely written about and making it available to those called to "tradition," but not to the "Gardnerian" way of doing things.

This book is pretty well written, and a good read all in all. I think what it boils down to is whether Cochrane's style of witchcrft and his rituals are really your style. Personally, I do not believe they are my style, but I feel like I understand witchcraft better, though it gets a bit dry in some places. When Doreen had her temporary break with Gardnerianism, this is the craft she practiced. I believe that Cochrane's rituals represent a simpler or almost more simplistic and primal type of witchcraft than the more ceremonialist approach of Gerald Gardner, and yet if I had to choose between Gardner's style and Cochrane's, I would personally prefer Gardner's. There is a very stark contrast between the two methods, and I believe this is part of the reason the two men disagreed so much on what witchcraft really is. I do not believe that one way or the other was the "right" way or the "only" way. I still think that Cochrane did us a great service by preserving some of the lore in the ways he did, and I think he probably was inspired by authentic traditional sources. In the British Isles there must be several different *kinds* of traditional witchcraft, which may be extremely different from one another. While Cochrane's rituals seem to have a certain celticization to them, which might not be so be authentic, Gardner's style occasionally resembles something continental rather than Anglo-Saxon. I believe that research will show, however, that both ways have authentic roots, and that there is room enough in the world for both ways of doing things.

I love this book, simply because it is not airy-fairy garbage! A more realistic view of the ancient Witchcraft- not modernized Wicca. Those who cannot handle it, are simply denying their heritage.

First of all, this is not a book on Wicca; the Witchcraft described here is based on that taught by Robert Cochrane, who claimed that his was an ancient and hereditary faith; whether or not you accept this, the book is still a good discussion of traditional, non-Wiccan Witchcraft as a religion, and as in my opinion if a path calls to you it doesn't usually matter much where it comes from, I won't be discussing this issue. Something I found particularly interesting, because it was new to me, was the coven structure, which includes a whole slate of officers, allowing more coven members to take part in ritual. The tools also differ somewhat from what I was familiar with; the stang occupies a more central position in ritual than I've seen elsewhere, and I've never seen some of the other tools mentioned before. An interesting book, and the only one I've seen on this particular version of Witchcraft; in addition, it's worth a read simply for the different point of view it provides and the look it gives into the history of modern Witchcraft.

Even though this book was first published in 1990 it is written in the classical style of the 70's Witchcraft books like Mastering Witchcraft by Paul Huson. Evan John Jones takes the reader inside the traditional covens of British Witchcraft (not wicca) and explains in detail the uses of such traditional tools as the Stang, Cord, and Human Skull within the Rites.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about traditional craft.

I found this book after doing research into Robert Cochrane and 1734. I was fascinated by the supposed "traditional witchcraft" that it was purporting to represent.

As another reviewer stated, this book is not written by Doreen Valiente but by Evan Jones. He is a very clear, concise writer however, and I enjoy his style very much.

The small amount of earlier research I did on Robert Cochrane showed him to be an admirer of Robert Graves, author of the White Goddess. A glance at the bibliography of this book will show the author's admiration for Graves as well as Margaret Murray, the author of the Witch Cult in Western Europe.

Because of his influence from the above authors and what is now debatable material historically, I would approach his statements regarding the history of his strand of the Craft with caution. I wouldn't throw the proverbial baby out with the bathwater however. He is honest about the rituals he presents being modern but based on older concepts. He also encourages individual interpretation of the lore and what it means for each person and each coven.

One thing that really struck me is his honesty about cursing. Evan Jones does not encourage cursing, but he admits to the reality of the need for it at times. He blatantly refuses to give the reader pointers in how to curse stating that is something that witches need to find their own path to. He believes as strongly in personal responsibility as he does in doing what needs to be done.

This is not commercialized Wicca. Robert Cochrane did not appear to have much love loss for Gerald Gardner, so his strand of the Craft differs from Gardner's. However, I don't know how necessarily "traditional" it is. It may be closer to British Traditional Wicca (without the strong ceremonial magick aspects), but I am not a practitioner, so I can't state that with certainty.

You will find familiar material such as the wheel of the year and reverence for the Lady over the Lord, mainly represented by the Horned God. The God is still a very strong part of this path. He is not as watered down as you might find in other strands of the Craft. It is a beautiful system of ritual, devotion with shamanic components that Jones presents here. If you feel called to some Wiccan concepts but cannot make up your mind that is the path for you, this book will give you another perspective to consider.

If you are looking for a "how to" book on spellwork, this book will disappoint. However, if you are interested in purusing another chapter in the unfolding history of "old school Wicca", you might find something of interest.

Evan Jones gives a good account of what he and his fellow coveners did under the direction of Robert Cochrane in the 1960's. The book is geared for group work and maintains the male/female, hierarchical system of Gardnerian Wicca.

Personally, I prefer Valiente's books on modern Craft history; but this text does possess some merit if one is looking to expand their knowledge on how a coven can be run.

It does not content any original chants, prayers, divination, and powerful names like we use here in the Philippines...We have been in the actual practice of the Craft since tha Spanish colonization....