Becoming the Enchanter: A Journey to the Heart of the Celtic Mysteries

Rating:
Summary: A good read -
Review: Maybe the neopagans won't like it (the author makes an offhand comment about
a neopagan gathering in a bar) but I thought this was one of the most solid,
realistic books dealing with magic and finding a way back to ancient wisdom
I've read in a while. The characters were ordinary types, and I found it to
be accessible in a way that a lot of books with heavy mystical content
aren't. It's a fast-paced read and the author's a great writer--pretty
perceptive in her descriptions of the other characters, and often herself. I
I thought it was a fortifying read overall, and a fair portrait of the
excitement and problems that go along with the spiritual path. The ending's
significant, but I won't say more...

Rating:
Summary: A traveler's guide to the mysteries
Review: The author has a talent for describing something that is nearly impossible to describe in words - the mysteries. They must be experienced firsthand, and even trying to describe them in mundane language can cause one to lose the essence of the experience.
The author continues on with her sacred work despite the fact that some of the people she works with decide to move on - she doesn't take it personally and realizes that she has no control over the will of others.
I wasn't at all offended by the author's reference to Pagans, she described some of the people she worked with as Pagan. Pagans are just like anyone else of any other faith - some are more committed and aware than others, and some have issues that get in the way.
A seeker who has studied and has reached a point of saying, "Is that all there is to this path?" might find this book encouraging and inspiring. It's full of valuable nuggets of wisdom from the author's mentor, and it isn't another one of those "how to" books. She reminds us that the knowing isn't in the books, it's in the doing.

Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: This book hit home in a way that very few books have. There's nothing "fluffy bunny" or New Agey about it--it's an intensely realistic (sometimes excruciatingly so!) portrayal of a modern person being drawn into the mysteries, somewhat like Curott's "Book of Shadows," but wilder: rather than showcasing, say, the ways in which this process has improved her day-to-day life (a la Curott's stories of workplace foes she used magic to protect herself from, etc.), it simply describes how harrowing and fascinating it is to go through this process. Unlike many Pagan/Wiccan/etc. books, it's not ABOUT improving her everyday life: it's about coming into contact with something bigger than oneself, and figuring out one's own small role within that.