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Llewellyn

To: alt.magick.tantra
From: rball84213@aol.com (Richard Ballard)
Subject: Re: Llewellyn
Date: 10 Sep 2000 18:13:04 GMT

seeker@NOSPAMambrutis.com (Voco In Dubium) writes:

>>I am unfamiliar with the entire Llewellyn book line, but I highly 
>>recommend several Llewellyn books related to witchcraft and 
>>Wicca.
>Name me ONE good Llewellyn book on WITCHCRAFT, not 
>Wicca, but truly the old craft.

In my original reply (which you edited) I stated the reasons why 
I believed that Edain McCoy's "Inside A Witches' Coven" (witchcraft, 
not Wicca) and "The Sabbats: A New Approach to Living the Old 
Ways" (pagan, not Wicca) were excellent books.

>>Scott Cunningham's book "Wicca: A Guide For The Solitary 
>>Practitioner" is an excellent guide for someone interested in 
>>the details of solitary Wiccan worship.  
>
>Mr. Cunningham's book is good for the absolute neophyte 
>looking for a jumping off point for pagan studies. The problem 
>lies in that his book should be read, then put away, with the 
>studies to continue elsewhere. 

My opinion is that Mr. Cunningham's book "Wicca: A Guide For 
The Solitary Practitioner" can provide a Wiccan with a strong and 
enduring foundation upon which to build their Wiccan solitary 
worship tradition.  There is no need or requirement to read the 
book, then discard it.

>Unfortunately, Mr. Cunningham may have been too good at his 
>art, and many neophytes read his books and then STOP, 
>adorning themselves with their pentacles from Spencers and 
>calling themselves Wiccans or even worse, Witches, when they 
>couldn't be farther from the truth. His books barely scratch the 
>surface in both practice and history, yet lead the reader to 
>believe, that basically, they now know it all, at least the 
>important parts. 
>Furthermore, he is the Bob Villa of paganism, encouraging readers 
>that if it doesn't "feel" right, or you don't want to do it the prescribed 
>way, by all means FIX IT!  That's fine if you want to 'create' your own 
>religion, but it is this attitude that makes Wicca in general almost 
>unrecognisable to it's original roots only 50 years ago.  Again, not 
>that it's bad, but when treating religion like a "choose your own 
>adventure" book, don't call the end result Wicca OR Witchcraft 
>when the end is so far from the origin.

One of the advantages of Wicca's flexible locally-defined family 
traditions is that Wiccans *do* have the freedom to decide how 
much Wiccan scholarship is appropriate and relevant for them. 
(This is especially important for solitary worshippers who have 
less access to historical resources.)  One need not complete a 
given number of credit hours or degrees in order to be a Wiccan.

[Aside:  In ARWM I have stated my opinion that having a Wiccan 
"defining document" or "charter" would help Wiccans in a number 
of ways.  I believe this is more important for (prospective) Coven 
members than for solitary worshippers.  Anyone who joins any 
organization makes commitments, in a sense giving up a bit of 
their personal freedom when making the commitment.  Having a 
charter that allows prospective Coven members to understand 
the commitment Covens expect of their members would, in my 
opinion, help everyone concerned.]

>>I have followed ARWM 
>>for a long time, and I only remember good ARWM comments 
>>concerning this book.  [Oddly enough, the sequel "Living Wicca: 
>>A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner" is in my opinion 
>>disappointing and self-defeating -- it subtly discourages solitary 
>>Wiccan worship in favor of Coven membership without providing 
>>explicit rationale.]
>
>And furthermore encourages readers to ignore tradition and craft 
>their own.  It's New-Ageism inspired by Wicca, not Wiccanism, 
>which may be more than fine for some, but understand it for what 
>it is.

I do not understand your comment.  Furthermore, I do not know 
whether your comment refers to "Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary 
Practitioner" (in my opinion an excellent book) or "Living Wicca: 
A Further Guide for the Solitary Practioner" (in my opinion a 
disappointing, self-defeating sequel).

My opinions.

Richard Ballard  MSEE  CNA4  KD0AZ
Consultant specializing in computer networks, imaging, and security


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