.

[Bruce Qi]

thanks Seth , much appreciated , gonna take a peep at them now

[witch]

I finished reading The Flame in the Cauldron and have started A Deed Without A Name (having a Nook ereader eats up all my extra cash).  So far, very interesting and cheerful--reading books like that makes me feel less like a big freak.

 

On the other hand, reading those made me realize what is helpful about fluffy bunny wiccan books, and I thought I would respond here to explain.   I think there are six kinds of people:

1. people who think that witches are Satan's minions and will burn in hell,
2. people who think that witches have a harmless type of mental illness,
3. people who have a laissez-faire, openminded view of witches, but who are not personally interested in it,
4. people who want to be witches,
5. people who are witches and want to get stronger in magic, and
6. people who are witches and are just trying to hold it all together.

I think the books you listed are for people in group #5.  And I think the fluffy bunny books are for people in groups #4 and #6,  People in my group, #6, need to focus on grounding, protection, and day-to-day mundane life, the material world.  So all the silly fluff in, say, Scott Cunningham, is harmless for people in group #4 and genuinely helpful for people in #6.  It helps to have a circle, it helps to have props and an altar with doohickies on it, even cakes and ale at the end help balance neurotransmitter levels and ground.  Material world is good. 

 

I think that's why I am a taoist too and do tai chi--both very grounding and pro-material-world.

 

By the way, I finally tracked down my birth father--turns out he's a witch too.  I think our lives would have been a lot easier if we had been together.  At least in some ways, in others, more difficult.  So I guess with me it's genetic.

 

Also, I think Orion Foxwood is correct about the North.  Ties in with the research that Canadian guy is doing on psi--very dependent on the state of the earth's magnetic field.

 

Oh, also I found this, thought it was pretty funny:

 

http://www.traditionalwitch.net/forums/topic/3308-charge-of-the-fluffy-bunny-goddess/

Edited May 5, 2015 by witch

[RiverSnake]

One book I'd add to that list which has been more enjoyable than any other Ive read on the craft is Serpent Songs, curated by Nicholas De Mattos Frisvold. Hoping to also get his book Craft of the Untamed.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Craft-Untamed-Inspired-Traditional-Witchcraft/dp/1906958114

 

http://scarletimprint.com/books/serpent-songs/

Edited May 5, 2015 by OldChi

[Seth Ananda]

.

Edited November 25, 2015 by Seth Ananda

[Seth Ananda]

.

Edited November 25, 2015 by Seth Ananda

[RiverSnake]

Many people do tend to take pot shots at Wicca (including myself) for its shady history and it becoming a mainstream religion. Thought this girl made some controversial but valid points regarding Withcraft, it's history and Wiccan practice.

 

Edited May 5, 2015 by OldChi

[Apech]

Many people do tend to take pot shots at Wicca (including myself) for its shady history and it becoming a mainstream religion. Thought this girl made some controversial but valid points regarding Withcraft, it's history and Wiccan practice.

 

 

Interesting vid.

 

My first teacher was a 3rd degree witch who was a student of Alex Sanders ... so definitely 'Wicca' I suppose ... but there was no fluffy bunny stuff going on.  It was sex and magic all the way.  Very powerful guy but slightly bonkers.

 

My second teacher knew Gardener ... but he was more a High Magick kind of person.

 

So I've seen witchcraft from that side.

 

But here where I live now there are many bruxas (witches) ... its a living tradition although with no coherent style or outlook.  Herbalism, mediumship mixed with Catholic Saints, spells against the evil eye and some cursing.  Its a mix.  But why does it exist?  Because an old lady's grandmother taught her and her grandmother taught her ... going back and back to who know's when.  So over time it changes of course and maybe some old lady has a special connections to the Virgin Mary or Sao Roque or whoever and they pray to them ... so what?  What they are doing is the same.  Cos in the end all you have is your mind, your body, your will and the magic field (and the entities therein).

 

The reason it attracted me is because it's practical and about doing ... not great theories or high blown spirituality ... but about relating directly to power.