Book Review: Living Wicca: A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
Title: Living Wicca - A further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner
Author: Scott Cunningham
Reviewer: Sabrina Gould
E-mail: [email protected]
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications
ISBN: 0-87542-184-9
Book Subject: Wicca 101
Where it can be found: bookstores, libraries, online
Rating: 8.5
Recommendation: Recommended
Reason for Recommendation/General Review:
This book is an excellent introduction to Wicca. It covers topics such as deity concepts, circle casting, raising energy, teaching Wicca, creating new traditions, magical names, whether to practice when you're ill, etc. I like the fact that Cunningham advocates following basic Wiccan beliefs, but using your own judgment and discretion. Although this is not a large book (220 pages), it is nevertheless crammed full of basic information for the beginning Wiccan.
I had very few problems with the writings in this book. A huge majority of the information is accurate, and the things I disagree with happen to be more so for the author's opinions than actual fact. For example, he says it's a universal Wiccan law that blood is not to be shed in a circle. However, there are Wiccans who use a small portion of their own blood for magical workings. I think many Wiccans believe that blood is never to be shed for violent reasons or for sacrifice, but that it's OK to use your own blood for personal magic, correct me if I am wrong. He also says you should only use Goddess invocations that invoke her in her lunar aspect on the Full Moon; I'm sure many Wiccans would disagree. I'm also not big on his conception of the Goddess and God; he seems to feel that Wiccans shouldn't invoke the Goddess in her aspects of Warrior or Justice - again, many would disagree with this.
Given the amount of information packed into this book, the accurate and valid information far surpasses the questionable information. And the questionable information is really due to varying subjective opinion rather than being blatantly false. I definitely recommend this book, and I think it is one of the best books for a beginner Wiccan to buy.
Last Updated: June 3, 2004
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