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Wiccan Written Sources

To: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.wicca,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.wicca,alt.pagan,alt.pagan.magick
From: lorax666 
Subject: Wiccan Written Sources
Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 21:24:56 GMT

50031010 viii om happy lunatix! Athaeamas!

Chuck Lysaght :
#> Do you consider him a good source on Wicca and Paganism? 

he's good for the kind of Wicca he did.

#> If not, do you have any other sources?

there are even good sources online for Wiccan materials. 

baird@newstaff.com (Baird Stafford):
# I'm inclined to consider Cunningham to be as good an *introductory*
# source as may be found.  

yes, his "Wicca for the Solitary Practitioner" (whatever the title)
was the first and most expansive text I'd seen on the topic. his
approchable style and amusing marketing by Llewellyn inspired me
even to lampoon his "Kitchen Magick" at one point "Toilet Magick!".

# Other authors, such as the Farrars (mentioned in another article 
# posted to this thread) and Vivienne Crowley are perhaps better 
# sources for those who have mastered Cunningham's material.

Cunningham's Oils/Incenses/Herbs is a valuable reference, even if
it occasionally includes non-Wiccan lore and data therein. I've
heard good testimony about Buckland but am not sure he's the best
of sources on anything more than his own stuff (Seaux Wica??).

some old original materials for background studies (not really
intro materials) have been

          Starhawk (particularly Spiral Dance)
          Adler ("Drawing Down the Moon" -- older edition easier to read;
                  the revised is a good reference book for sure!)
          Gardner (what he wrote and published)
          Huson ("Mastering Witchcraft")

the tendency to fabricate in occult and religious circles should
be taken into consideration. sources from which modern Wiccans
have occasionally drawn (Pseudepigrapha, Leland's "Aradia",
or Murray's "God of the Witches" or her other text) can also be
helpful in researching materials valuable to Neopagans and Wiccans,
even if they are not reliable anthropology/folklore.

Lady Sheba's Grimoire, for example, or Ed Fitch's wonderful "Rites
From the Crystal Well" are classic sources that many Wiccans enjoy,
as with periodicals like the Green Egg (esp. early issues).

I'm sure one of the FAQs has booklists for Neopagans to choose from.
the type of practice/theory one prefers will predispose one to the
text along the lines of preference. Ryall, for example, has more
religious materials, while Weinstein has magic without much 
religion that I noticed (at least in "Positive Magic"). the 
various Wiccan Books of Shadows or Wiccan Bibles etc. haven't
impressed me much, but I'm not drawn to other people's scripture
much so much as creating my own.

it should be said that my best instructors in Wiccan practice and
philosophy always warned me against going to books for Witchcraft
information! they contended that the gods are better sources by
far and that books tend to blow power and personality ou of
proportion for the purpose of attention-grabbing and 
self-adornment. as referential objects we may have difficulties
discerning between fact and fancy when info is conveyed in text. 

blessed beast!

lorax666
-- 
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