This is the most radical work to date by Janet Farrar and Gavin Bone, arguably the world's leading experts on the subject of Modern Witchcraft and the Neo-Pagan movement. It is nothing less than their detailed analysis of the way Witchcraft has evolved into the worldwide religion that it is today...and their vision of its future. The authors do not create or endorse a specific Witchcraft tradition, but rather identify a system that is at the root of all of the existing paths within Witchcraft. They show how Wicca is a modern, non-dogmatic dynamic tradition still in a state of evolution-a Priesthood based on connection with the Divine and service to humanity. Here is a book for anyone interested in Wicca, from seekers just beginning on the path of the Old Ways to those thirsting for more knowledge about its inner practices.
Wiccans often describe the sequence of annual celebrations or sabbats as the Wheel of the Year. This imagery is very apt. It illustrates the cyclical nature of reality: what we celebrate now will come around again in due time. It also helps us see the sabbats as part of a greater whole. Each sabbat is a spoke on the great Wheel. As the Wheel turns, the seasons turn, and as the seasons come and go our lives progress through a repeating sequence of celebrations, times of work and times of rest.
I wrote these rituals originally in the late 1980s. I'd been thinking about the Great Rite in relation to same-sex couples, and thought I'd put my hand to writing a symbolic rite for gay males and another for lesbians. At the time it was written there were probably other rites like this out there, but I didn't know of any.
I used Mesopotamian mythology as the basis for the rituals, since that mythology had been on my mind a lot at the time. I've tried to make the actual rituals reasonably accessible, though, for those who prefer other mythology systems.
A few last things to introduce the rites: in some Mesopotamian myth, the Great Mother Tiamat created a mirror image of herself, who made love to Her and helped bring forth the first parts of Creation. The ritual could be performed with two cups (one cup holding salt water for Tiamat, the other holding pure water for Apsu/Bau). However, to keep it more in line with standard Wiccan practice, I've substituted the pentacle and salt for Tiamat. The salt is especially relevant to Her, anyway.
In the gay male ritual, I used Gilgamesh (a fire/sun/warrior/champion figure) and Enkidu (the gentle-wild-man figure, who is horned and a "green man" at the same time). There are elements of homoerotic love between the two in their myths. Many retellings of the Gilgamesh and Enkidu story tend to omit or downplay the homoeroticism.
"The Heart of Wicca" takes us beyond many of the currently popularized ideas and images related to the nature of Wiccan beliefs and practices. It guides us past the surface into a deeper understanding of the lifestyle, mind set, and religious dedication to spiritual growth that lie at the heart of this life-transforming practice. Reed tells us about life in a coven, training, rituals, initiations, finding a teacher, and spell-casting.
The Rebirth of Witchcraft traces the history of contemporary Wicca from its shadowy roots at the turn of the century to the present day. Doreen Valiente presents details never before published, some of them very revealing and surprising, on:
The leading figures in this rebirth from Gerald Gardner to Starhawk, and many others
Her own participation in rituals and involvement with the Craft
Her personal psychic experiences
Until now no one has told the real story of witchcraft from the inside as frankly as it is revealed here. In these pages Doreen Valiente presents fascinating reading for both the novice and experienced practitioner alike.
Ronald Hutton is known for his colourful and provocative writings on original subjects. This work is no exception: for the first full-scale scholarly study of the only religion England has ever given the world; that of modern pagan witchcraft, which has now spread from English shores across four continents. Hutton examines the nature of that religion and its development, and offers a microhistory of attitudes to paganism, witchcraft, and magic in British society since 1800. Its pages reveal village cunning folk, Victorian ritual magicians, classicists and archaeologists, leaders of woodcraft and scouting movements, Freemasons, and members of rural secret societies. We also find some of the leading of figures of English literature, from the Romantic poets to W.B. Yeats, D.H. Lawrence, and Robert Graves, as well as the main personalities who have represented pagan witchcraft to the world since 1950. Densely researched, Triumph of the Moon presents an authoritative insight into a hitherto little-known aspect of modern social history.
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