Reviews

Practical Protection Magick

Practical Protection Magick:
Guarding and Reclaiming Your Power

Ellen Dugan, Llewellyn, 2011 
4/5 Broomsticks

The occult spectrum provides many different ways to look at defensive magick. Some practitioners hesitate to perform such workings, and a few fear that self-defense could be a violation of the “Harm None” Wiccan rede or may result in some kind of karmic backlash. Others believe that if one doesn’t entertain the possibility of negative magick, it won’t happen to you. Therefore, the concept of protective magick is sometimes not acknowledged whatsoever, and, as a result, Witchcraft becomes all about pure love, peace, and a lot of white light — the “fluffy bunny” of magickal urban legend.

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The Weiser Field Guide to Witches

The Weiser Field Guide to Witches:
From Hexes to Hermione Granger, From Salem to the Land of Oz

Judika Illes, Weiser Books, 2010
3/5 Broomsticks

This thin volume is a treasure-trove of information for almost anything witchy, from magical tools to witches in pop culture. Delightful illustrations and photographs relevant to each entry enliven the book, which will be a beautiful addition to any witches’ library or to anyone who is simply interested in learning more about witches: what they are rumored to be, do, or believe. The Field Guide encompasses not just Wicca, but many forms and traditions of Paganism, including African traditions and Voudou.

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Aradia: Gospel of the Witches Retold

Aradia: Gospel of the Witches Retold
Patricia Della-Piana, Lulu 2011  

When Charles Godfrey Leland published Aradia, or The Gospel of the Witches at the end of the nineteenth century, he believed he was preserving what remained of an ancient but dying tradition. The bulk of the document came from a stack of handwritten material from his conversations with a Florentine fortune-teller and strega named Maddalena (Margherita Taluti). At the time the book received almost no attention and was more or less forgotten. Fast forward fifty years, and Gerald Gardner and Doreen Valiente read Aradia and incorporated some of the contents into their new religion, Wicca, thereby making it popular and widely-read for the first time.

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Hogwarts for Real? Witchschool Lessons

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WITCH SCHOOL: FIRST, SECOND, AND THIRD DEGREE LESSONS IN THE CORRELLIAN TRADITION  
REV. DONAL LEWIS-HIGHCORRELL LLEWELLYN, 2008

Witch School was founded online (as witchschool.com) in 2001 by the Correllian Nativist Tradition, which was itself founded in 1879. Originally a family tradition, in 1979 the decision was made to open the tradition to the public via a series of correspondence lessons created (in part) by the Rev. Don Lewis.

In my opinion, it is important to see the Correllian Nativist Tradition and Witchschool.com as two entirely separate entities, because although the Tradition founded the School, the latter has almost nothing to do with the Tradition. Witchschool is very popular; the School claims more than 200,000 students, making it (to my knowledge) the largest occult organization in the history of modern Paganism. Although these books are labeled WitchSchool, it would be more accurate to say they are “Correllian Nativist” as the lessons are the public documentation of this Tradition’s teachings.

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The Living Temple of Witchcraft

Book Cover

The Living Temple of Witchcraft:
Vol. 1, The Descent of the Goddess and
Vol. 2, The Journey of the God

Christopher Penczak, Llewellyn, 2008, 2009

In 2002, six years ago, Christopher Penczak gave us the first installment in his Temple of Witchcraft series and with volumes 1 and 2 of The Living Temple of Witchcraft: Mystery, Ministry, and the Magickal Life he completes the cycle. I’ve reviewed most of this series and am frankly running out of new ways to say “this is great!’”

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Old World Witchcraft : Ancient Ways for Modern Days

Old World Witchcraft : Ancient Ways for Modern Days
Raven Grimassi, Weiser Books, 2011

4/5 Broomsticks

Author Raven Grimassi states that the goal of this book is to allow what he calls “The Old Ways witch” to emerge by clearing away the large mounds of debris that surround it. He has done an excellent job at that task. Old World Witchcraft is a beautifully- researched and well-written book, and gives those who read it a sense of what real witches and witchcraft were all about before being falsified, fantasized, and maligned throughout history.

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