Living Wicca: A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner (Llewellyn's Practical Magick Series) (Paperback)

by Scott Cunningham (Author) "MEMBERS of covens have access to teachers, attend learning circles, and can enjoy the experience of other Wiccans in guiding and enriching their Wiccan knowledge..." (more)
Key Phrases: circle casting, solitary practitioner, deity concepts, Book of Shadows, Solitary Wiccans, Goddess of the Moon (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Living Wicca is the perfect companion to Cunningham's Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, containing the same concise and comprehendible style that makes the first book so enjoyable. With Living Wicca, Cunningham goes beyond the mechanics of the faith and emphasizes the importance of making Wicca a part of your everyday life. Focusing on the solitary practitioner, Cunningham encourages you to make your own path within the Wiccan tradition, and offers simple suggestions, from recycling to visiting the park, that heighten your spiritual awareness of the mundane world. --Brian Patterson

Product Description
Selling more than 200,000 copies, Living Wicca has helped countless solitary practitioners blaze their own spiritual paths. Let the wise words of Scott Cunningham guide you toward a new level of practice.
Living Wicca takes a philosophical look at the questions, practices, and differences within Witchcraft. You'll learn how to create your own rituals and symbols, develop a book of shadows, and even become a high priest or priestess. Also covered in this Scott Cunningham classic are tools, magical names, initiation, the Mysteries, 120 Wiccan symbols, and the importance of secrecy in your practice.
• New edit • New interior design



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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications; 1st edition (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0875421849
• ISBN-13: 978-0875421841
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #16,544 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

89 of 95 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential to Solitary Wiccans.........., December 15, 2001

By	Margaret "fugirl" (NYC) - See all my reviews

........if you enjoyed Cunningham's "Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner", you'll love "Living Wicca", a guide for solitaries which further brings Wicca into our everyday lives and experience.

Cunningham further delves into the topics of learning (tools, secrecy, self-initiation, Mysteries, and everyday Wiccan spirituality) and practicing (prayers and chants, offerings, rites, magic, deities) Wicca and to establishing your own traditions (from ritual design, to the Book of Shadows, adopting beliefs and rules). This book, like the first, is really for beginners like myself and reflects the "newer" Wicca and not the Old Ways or any particular modern Wiccan path. This allows the solitary practitioner to be more eclectic while still holding onto basic Wiccan traditions, albeit not strictly.

I particularly enjoyed Cunningham's ideas for bringing Wicca into my daily life.........those long stretches that occur between the esbats and sabbats. His ideas for daily prayers make Wiccan expression a regular, daily experience. I also like his practical ideas for enhancing spirituality: gardening, volunteering time, meditating, etc. Cunningham shows us how to add to our rituals with our own ideas that are meaningful to us, making Wicca a more personal experience. He also shows us how to better write our Book of Shadows, by adding in basic beliefs and rules as well as our own rituals and magic.

This book is also one that I can see drawing beginners into Wicca, helping them love their new religion (as has happened to me) and thus compelling them to delve much further into it, be it by exploring more about more modernized versions of Wicca, by seeking out the Old Ways and our origins, by searching for a coven and a teacher or all of the above. I highly recommend this book to eager beginners who are just learning about Wicca and just starting to practice.

91 of 104 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A Disappointing Sequel, January 19, 2000

By	Richard Ballard "rjballard" (United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book addresses no well-defined audience. The writing style assumes Wiccan background knowledge that solitary Wiccan novices will not have (knowledge that this book and its predecessor do not provide). Yet this book's discussions are not very useful for experienced Wiccans. This book is disappointing compared to Mr. Cunningham's excellent first book "Wicca: A Guide For The Solitary Practitioner".

In this book Mr. Cunningham is careful (pp. xi, 87, 124, and 138) to state that he is assisting solitary Wiccans who lack access to Coven teaching resources. He also states that solitary Wiccans must carefully incorporate basic Wiccan principles into their worship. The reader wonders if Mr. Cunningham's first book was criticized for its free and open writing style.

Chapter 2, "Secrecy", strongly discusses a controversial Wiccan topic. Here Mr. Cunningham acknowledges past persecution of Wiccans, and discusses his own past dealings with non-Wiccans. He also discusses the role of secrecy in magical activities.

Chapters 3 through 7 deal with everyday Wiccan practices. Chapters 8 through 11 deal with Wiccan prayer and provide example prayers. These chapters' discussions are weak.

Chapter 12, "Magic and the Solitary Wiccan", deals with raising energy within the Circle and with directing it outside the Circle. This chapter's discussion relates primarily to Wiccan Coven members. Mr. Cunningham acknowledges (pg. 78) that the solitary Wiccans has few energy-raising options.

The remainder of this book addresses creating and documenting your own Wiccan tradition. Mr. Cunningham discusses the Wiccan Goddess and the God. His Wiccan God discussion assumes an alienation of affection not reflected in his first book or in other Wiccan literature. Mr. Cunningham also discusses ritual accessories, ritual design, and traditional Wiccan beliefs and rules (with example Sets). He discusses creating your own Book of Shadows. Mr. Cunningham ends with an excellent discussion concerning if and how One should teach Wiccan beliefs to others.

This book includes a comprehensive listing of Wiccan symbols (pg. 154). The book also includes a number of good and concise Suggested Reading lists (pp. 103, 125, 148, 180, and 185) and an excellent Annotated Bibliography.

Mr. Cunningham's first book allowed a Wiccan true novice to create a free and open Wiccan tradition. This book is organized similarly, but its discussions are incomplete and would confuse a Wiccan novice. In addition, this book so stresses Coven membership that Wiccan novices might question the validity of solitary worship, defeating the book's stated purpose.

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book!, April 25, 2000

By	Matt (Atlanta) - See all my reviews

When I read Scott Cunningham's "Wicca: A Guide For the Solitary Practitioner" I felt that there needed to be more. Something was missing. I picked up "Living Wicca" and found what was missing from the first book. Scott Cunningham goes over Prayer, gives some ideas on how to do a ritual when you don't have access to all you're tools (like in a hotel room while on a trip), basic ideas on forming your own tradition, and bringing Wicca into your everyday life. I loved reading this book and recommend it and its predecessor to anyone. I can't wait to read it again and again! This book should be required reading for everyone interested in Wicca.