[.ca] Wicca Craft (ISBN 0806512385)

Great for the beginner!:
I love this book even though I am a magician and witch for many years I still enjoy this one. I brought a copy of this one many years ago and it was a great benefit to me. She has a great Hecate incense recipe that i still love to make also she has a Hecate ritual. I became really interested in Hecate since I read this book. I would reccomend this book to anyone who is interested in Wicca and Witchcraft.

Look- it's NOT put out by Llewellyn.:
For those tired of the cookie cutter approach to paganism that seems to be the main offering lately, I highly reccomend checking this book out. Ms. Dunwich writes in a clear style, offering practical and not-so practical insights into magick and the Wiccan religion. It's been awhile since I read this, but I think it was delightfully free of "fluffy bunny" touch too. It's not that everything else is -bad-...just that this is -good-. Also, she doesn't endlessly refer to her other books on the subject. (How many witches does it take to change a lightbulb? A: Please refer to my latest book, Buckland's Guide to Practical Lightbulb Changing...)

I loved the way this book got me started in the basics:
Very recommended for a beginner. Although I do agree it lacks some, it doesn't get too specific, and round and about it just does basics. It tells you of herbs, but not really how they are used. It tells you of a few spells and such, but again, never gets too specific. But when I was starting out, it helped me alot. And I would always go back when getting started for reference. I would definately recommend it as a good start to Wicca, and starting of a Witch's library!

Another great one by Ms. Dunwich.:
This is the second Gerina Dunwich book I have read. My first was The Wicca Spellbook, and it was the book that started me on this path. This book contains a lot of great information as well as some spells and rituals. Very nice. Blessed Be!

An Excellent Book:
I bought this book some time ago, and it has been read often enough that it is beginning to spilt at the spine. As with any of Ms. Dunwich's books, I never tire of re-reading it. It is concise, practical, and to the point. Some of the information here may be found in other books by this author, but it is information that does bear repeating. Ms. Dunwich books in general are excellent reference tools. Her approach to the craft is educated yet original, and not filled out with "fluff and fairy-dust" like so many other popular titles. The information she gives is accurate, and above all _useful_. The recipes are delicious, easy, and adaptable for those of us who like to improvise on a given theme. A variation of her handfasting cake was a big hit at my handfasting, and her esbat cake has starred at family sabbats as well as my son's birthday parties. Incidentally, I have successfully baked several of her various cake recipes using whole-grain flours and honey and place of sugar (this makes an especially moist esbat cake); if you try this keep in mind to use whole wheat _pastry_ flour instead of bread or all-purpose flour, and watch anything baked with honey carefully, or it will burn. Another useful feature of this and many of her other books are the spaces left at the end of recipes and some chapters, which provide ample room for notes and personal variations of given spells or recipes. This book is a tool best used by the experienced Witch already familiar with the basics, or a beginner in training with or apprenticed to a more experienced preactitioner of the Craft. Beginners without access to teachers may find this book most helpful as a supplement to an online or correspondence course, or to supply valuable "creative homework" studies and examples lacking in the more simple "how-to" Wicca textbooks. There is much information here that is often neglected in the "how-to" textbooks. I have often heard it mentioned that Ms. Dunwich's books leave out valuable information on the specifics of the craft. I say that this book, along with _Candlelight Spells_, is a valuable tool to the teacher and student in part _because_ it doesn't tell one _everything_. This books is an overview of the Craft, it is not, nor does it claim to be, a complete course on Everything You Need To Know To Be A Witch. First off, no one book should claim to tell one _everything_ one needs to know about the Craft, because of the many varied approaches to the Craft, and because much of Wicca's deeper mysteries simply can't be taught in books. It is a wonderful learning exercise to examine the spells, rituals, and other information in this book in order to understand what she is doing and why. She leaves it up to the reader to interpret the spells and rituals in their own way, and to make responsible decisions for themselves regarding ethics, tradition, and technique, rather than approaching the Craft in a rigid, "cookbook", "do this, don't do that" fashion. In short, unlike many authors out there, she assumes her reader has a brain and knows how to use it. Because of this approach I do not hesitate to recommend it as a supplemental text to workshop leaders, Wicca 101 or 201 teachers, or Witches with apprentices. And even if you don't intend to teach, you _will_ get a lot of use out of this book and learn from it. This is a book that I sometimes use every day.