Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was so excited to receive this book, but unfortunately, my excitement was quickly replaced with disappointment. This book should really be titled "Wicca for Beginners", as the information within it is heavily filtered through a Wiccan lens, and barely even touches on paganism outside of Wicca, which does not represent paganism as a whole. The descriptions are brief, and lacking any real history or substance, they're just cursory overviews that barely even brush the surface of understanding. For instance, the description of the Triple Moon: "With two crescent moons on either side of a circle, the triple moon symbol represents the lunar cycle in the northern hemisphere (as it shows the waxing, full, and waning phases) as well as goddesses associated with the Moon. It can be used to draw and lunar energies to help with focus and working with lunar deities." But the Triple Moon is so much more than that, it represents the Maiden, the Mother, and the Crone, the journey through growth and life, a rich and important symbolism that isn't mentioned. This theme is a constant throughout the book. This book was also written with heavy personal biases and opinions that disregard and even attempt to shame the vast eclectic community, and those who practice paganism as a philosophy, completely rejecting Secular Paganism, which is a quickly growing path within modern paganism, substituting it with the authors own opinions on what is "proper" and what isn't within their own world view. I spent the entire book, not highlighting good information, as there wasn't much to be had, rather, I found myself highlighting misinformation, personal opinion and bias, and writing my own expansive notes in the margins. This was less of a book for beginners, and felt more like a book written by one. - Catlin Price