Dung in the Gem Heap

Ariadne's Thread by Shekinah Mountainwater

I was a child during the Women's Movement of the 70's, and had to live through my Mom's experiments with "consciousness raising" and bra burning. She bought me books about Elizabeth Stanton and "Great Women" paper dolls. Even before feminism reared its head, I'd been brought up to know that I could be and do anything I wanted, no matter my sex.

While I have realize my forebears fought hard for many of the freedoms I take for granted, I define myself as a "human-ist" not a "feminist". (Not to be confused with secular humanism . . . I suppose I'll need to come up with a new name. Peopleist? Balancist? <G>). As a great believer in balance, I revere the God in men as well as the Goddess in women (and vice versa) and while I respect the right of Dianics to worship as they choose, some people take it too far . . .

"Men should get in touch with their feminine side," the author suggests. Well okay, not bad advice. But then she goes on to say that women should never define themselves as male/female. Instead, they should see themselves as Maiden, Mother or Crone. While these are useful definitions, the double standard irritates me.

Then she launches into a fit of "Herstory" and tells of the days before men existed, when we were all women and reproduced by parthenogenisis. She actually suggests (and seems to believe) that we can get pregnant by exposing our butts to the Moon. (I've done my share of testing this theory and it hasn't worked yet.) Mountainwater even goes so far as to point out that frogs can fertilize themselves, and uses this to suggest that before the FALL we did without men, and can do so again. (She fails to understand that frogs don't fertilize themselves by asexual fission. What happens is that if there aren't enough male frogs around, the female frogs will secrete hormones that will turn them into males.)

Sheesh!

Celtic/Norse/Egyptian Magic by DJ Conway

No, those are 3 different books, not just one. Or are they? Actually they seem more like the same book with a name change.

I once read an Writer's Digest column about utilizing research you'd done on one article to write several different ones by slanting the piece to the audience. So if you were researching skydiving, you might write one article on the dangers of skydiving around high wires, a travel piece about great places to skydive and a profile of Joe Snow, skydiver. This author takes the concept a bit too far.

Conway gives a little bit of history and a dictionary listing of god/dess names for Celtic/Norse/Egyptian flavor but the rituals and information within is pretty much standard Wicca, not specifically Celtic or Norse or Egyptian. Worse, the rituals in Celtic Magic are almost the same as those in Norse Magic.

Now my exposure to real Egyptian magick is about nil, but I've learned a bit about Norse due to a powerful interest in the runes, and I've been working Celtic for over 5 years. While I must admit that Celtic Magic was one of the first books I read on the subject (back before I knew better), there's almost nothing in there that's really about Celtic magick.

Buckland's Complete Book of Witchcraft by Raymond Buckland

Want to know how to take a mixing bowl and screw horns into it so you can have a cool helmet that looks like a mixing bowl with horns screwed into it? Then this is the book for you!

I'm naturally suspicious of anything which states that it could possibly be the "complete" of anything so large as the Wiccan religion within 272 pages. In that case, why has anyone else written on the subject? There's a lot of good info in this book, but it's peppered thickly with anal-retentive nonsense. In our circles we refer to this as the "Bucky's Big Blue Book 'O Wicca". (With about that much respect.) Now in fairness, back in the old days, before it was cool to be pagan, this book and a few others were the only ones you could find on magick or Witchcraft. So love this book for the dinosaur it is -- but look for real information elsewhere!

Lets take the section on magickal names. Buckland suggests that your magickal name must numerically equal your birth name's numerology. Why? Should we stay frozen into the mold carved for us at birth? What about growth? What about evolution? Your magickal name should be chosen because it resonates with how you see yourself magickally. It should be a process of learning and exploration and discovery, not a bunch of syllables strung together for the math!

Although there is good information here, it's clouded with all the "musts" that ought to state, "This is what works for me."

Advanced Candle Magick : More Spells and Rituals for Every Purpose (Practical Magick Series) by Raymond Buckland

What amazes me is that this is part of the "practical" magick series, when it's more "impractical" magick.

Take 37 candles in 47 different colors. Annoint them with oil. Carve their numbers into the sides 1 through 37 (that's not part of Buckland's instructions, but trust me, you're going to need to, because otherwise you're going to get totally lost). Now set them up in an arcane pattern. Light. Take candle #23 and swing it around candle #19, then through candles #4 and #18 . . . .

The KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) principle is desperately missing from this work. But if it makes you feel magickal to do candle spells this way, go for it. I would rather have seen Buckland explain how and why candle spells work than give us a bunch of complex (and expensive) recipes that confuse the reader, and are really repetitive if you understand the principles in use.

Mastering Witchcraft by Paul Huson

Some years ago I joined a Wicca study group. The leader and High Priest was a very sweet and gentle man, but in my mind he was highly misguided. This is the book his teachers had given him and he tried to pass it on to us. (He hadn't read much of the wealth of finer books now available.) This is another of those "it's all we had in the dark ages" books. This one should stay in the dark, believe me.

First off, the author suggests a ritual to make your break with Christianity as one of the first steps in studying Witchcraft. Never mind that I was never Christian to begin with, but I don't see that I must violently shove aside the past to embrace the future. I certainly don't see a reason to read the Lord's Prayer backwards. Really! Not only is witchcraft separate from Christianity (therefore what good will the Lord's Prayer do me, forwards or backwards?) but this is exactly the sort of thing that fuels the fundamentalists against us. I can't help but see this as 1) silly and 2) needlessly slamming another religion (what happened to mutual respect?).

Then there's all the information on magickal combat - defense and vengance. I don't see this as information appropriate in a book geared toward beginners. Now Huson doesn't claim to be Wiccan (I am finding that there is a difference between Wiccans and non-Wiccan witches.) but even if you don't follow the rede, it's wise to acknowledge the force of karma, and not do anything that might slap you in the face -- without careful thought and need.

If you want power over others instead of true power from within yourself, and if you don't care if the Universe slams you onto your back and shrieks "What in Hel do you think you're doing?" then this book is great.

Necronomicon by Ed Simon

"Help, help, I've just opened the 7th Gate of Marduk and summoned a demon from beyond the veil and I can't put it back! What do I do?" This was an actual person who came into my HP's store. He carried with him a singed copy of the Necro - when they'd realized what they'd done, they had tried to burn the book, then put it out, realizing they might need the information within to get rid of the demon. (As if they couldn't get a copy at just about any half-rate bookstore.)

Some people laugh this book off as complete nonsense. However while there are flaws within, I've seen & heard of too many incidents like the one above to think the book is entirely a joke.

This is NOT a book for beginners. If you want to play with the Elder Gods, please make a thorough study of abjuration (cleansing & binding) magick first. Personally, if I'm going to work conjuration and summoning, I'll summon things that don't think of me with the same fondness I feel for cockroaches.

It should be noted that if you follow this book in the manner intended by the author, the workings should take about 10 years. Picking it up and just doing a spell is not recommended.

So, what do you do if you've opened the 7th Gate of Marduk and summoned a demon from beyond the veil that you can't put back? Whatever it wants. (shudder)