Path: typhoon.sonic.net!not-for-mail Newsgroups: alt.magick.tyagi,alt.wicca,talk.religion.misc,alt.religion.wicca,alt.pagan,alt.pagan.magick Subject: Wiccan Written Sources References: <23cf48a7.0310090414.6acd54f0@posting.google.com> <1g2kxir.1196lnh1kkcn82N%baird@newstaff.com> From: lorax666 Reply-To: spam@luckymojo.com User-Agent: nn/6.6.0 Lines: 73 Message-ID: Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 21:24:56 GMT NNTP-Posting-Host: 208.201.242.18 X-Complaints-To: abuse@sonic.net X-Trace: typhoon.sonic.net 1065821096 208.201.242.18 (Fri, 10 Oct 2003 14:24:56 PDT) NNTP-Posting-Date: Fri, 10 Oct 2003 14:24:56 PDT Xref: typhoon.sonic.net alt.magick.tyagi:41638 talk.religion.misc:405199 alt.religion.wicca:761894 alt.pagan:374992 alt.pagan.magick:38886 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 -- yronwode.com@nagasiva; http://www.satanservice.org/ emailed replies may be posted; cc replies if response desired; HOODOO CATALOGUE! send street addy to: catalogue@luckymojo.com