Rating: 
Summary: Just putting in my 2 cents
Review: This book is very helpful to anyone beginning to practice the craft, as well as an experienced practictioner. They have the Sabbats explained and rituals suggested for each one, something I was having trouble finding. They offer the ups and downs of the craft for almost every intent and purpose (for white magick). This book completely illustrates the "how to's" of the Alexandrian tradition in specefic as well as non-denominational use.It even has many extras such as passages from the gardnerian book of shadows, and the details of Doreen Valiente's search for the proof of Old Dorothy. I enjoyed reading it very much.
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Summary: A very good complete book for one who has been on the path..
Review: I made the mistake and bought this when I was first beginning. The book confused me, but it was my own fault. The more I study Wicca, the more the book is useful to me. It is well written and worth buying.
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Summary: This Book is Classic, though biased, piece of Wiccan lore
Review: What people are not going to understand about this book is like other spiritual writings written by humans it is shaped by the opinions of the time. Thus the rampant and often militant feminism which seems more atypical of Dianic Wicca nowdays then anything else, that strides it lopsided gate through this book,is a reactionary period work of the time in which it was written. The stance of this book on these issues such as women being equal but more equal then men was never held by the Wiccan populace as a whole, but only by a few disgruntled voices, trying to backlash and overbalance wrongs that have been more then sufficiently addressed without punishing the men who did not propagate them to begin with. As in the Tao most Wiccans believe that male and female forces are equal dynamics of the great cosmos, both necessary to counterbalance and interact with the other. If you can get past this early undereducated feminist rheotoric and all the other socially outmoded philosophical devices in this book, what you have is a treasure of Gardnerian Wicca, that provides very useful examples of the practice of that Tradition. So take it with a grain of salt people like an educated Christian would some of the more Draconian parts of Mosaic Law and don't consider throwing away this excellent resource as a whole on technique just because you don't agree with its stance on issues. And to the beginners who would take this books philosphy to heart just because it is the stance of some vocal early Wiccans, let me paraphrase the great buddha. Don't believe something because it is written in an ancient book or dusty tome, but because you know it to be true in your heart.
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Summary: This is NOT LIGHT READING
Review: Don't expect to go through bits and pieces of this book with no prior understanding of the craft and get ANYWHERE. This is NOT light reading by any stretch of the imagination. There is a LOT of information in this thing, and it's VERY specific. This is a book chock ful of very good information, and a very intense read. but understand, I recomend this book for the knowledge it imparts and nothing else. Unless you are part of a fairly sizeable (13 or more) coven, any ritual work taken from this text has to be COMPLETELY re-written, and unless you know what you are doing, well....good luck. This is a book that I recomend people read at several different stages in there developement as a Witch. And for goodness sake this is NOT a children's book!! Get Familiar with the workings of witchcraft before reading this one...Books to start with, Green Witchcraft, The Power of the Witch (if you are willing to wade through Lourie Cabbotts' griping and railling there is good information in there somewhere), Incense, Oils, and Brews by Scott Cunningham... and then there is this one...there are lots of good texts out there, you just have to wade through the fluff to get to them...another good reference on the BASICS, is 'the big blue book by Buckland' Buckland's Complete Guide to Witchcraft ...well, that's all folks. Good luck and Blessed Be!
Rating: 
Summary: book assumes all witches have same beliefs.
Review: I am not wicca but an individual witch who is pro-choice. I hated this book and became so angry at the presumptions that I returned it in exchange for another book.
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Summary: Wicca hates men?
Review: Okay I've decided to edit my previous review due to a lot of realizations I've come across with this book and the counterdictions it seems to make throughout it. Don't get me wronge however, their are lots of useful information in this book and being an occultist and practicioner myself I have found some things I agree with but unfortunately have found way to many things that not only that I disagreed with but found rather offensive in nature.For one they make the statement that men and women are equal but women are more equal. Example: "A woman," says Carl Jung, "can identify directly with the Earth Mother, but a man cannot (except in psychotic cases)." First off this statement they bring up as 'fact' rather then what it was supposed to be in the first place which is mere opinion. Not only this but I can't help but feel that this statement is used to put men on the back burner in their religion and women on the top. Another statement that they make is even more disturbing and proves to me that their beliefs are even more male biased.
"For balance it is, and must be, which is why we emphasize both the essential equality of man and woman in a Wiccan working partnership and the advisability of the High Priestess's being recognized as 'first among equals' in her own relationship with her High Priest and the coven."
First off this statement itself is a counterdiction. How can a men and women be equal but women be more equal and with the High Priestess on top and the High Priest the lap dog? That just doesn't make any sense, also it strikes me that their is a little hint of a pyramed scheme in it with no one able to equal the High Priestess. Yet this further proves to me that the authors all though male and female have no idea of what balance is really about nor for that matter what equality is really about that is from my own impression, 'equality of man and woman and neither above the other but rather complimenting each other,' sadly this is not what they are trying to say at all if you read between the lines. One last paraphrase I'd like to make that is actually amusingly inaccurate, "You will search in vain throughout the history of religion for a sacrificed and resurrected Goddess." This is not completely true actually, Tiamat being slayed by Marduk to create the Heavens, the Earth, etc. Is by all accounts a sacrificed Goddess. The funny thing about what many points this book trys to bring up about a sacrificed god is that this wasn't how ancient cultures or later cultures looked upon all the gods at all. They also try to make the statement that their are only triple goddesses and no triple gods. This statement in itself is is highly ignorant, Odin had three forms, that are infact very similiar to the maiden, mother, crone aspect infact. Also they are even more hypocritical when they state, "We tried to extract a pattern, not to impose one; and extracting is not easy." I'd have to disagree, infact ever sense I picked this book up that is all they have really done is impose this belief. The proof is very easy to find especially when you come accross things like, "a concept to which we cannot attune ourselves." After stating their opinion that the winter being male and the summer female is wronge. However I am simply amazed after they express their disagreement on this subject that they still stagnantly believe in the Lord Of The Underworld and that the Goddess rules over life. Fact is that this book in itself as well as many other books I've read in the past about Wicca including Starhawk and many others that Wicca is all about the hatred towards males in general.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: I would give it five stars, but they don't distinguish between Wicca and witchcraft...witchcraft is NOT a religion. Wicca is. To give them credit, I believe the book was written BEFORE people really started separating the two. I personally am a witch, but not a Wiccan. Other than that one point, I highly recommend this book to any serious seekers!:)
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Summary: i feel i must , on behalf of the true craft of wicca
Review: i do not consider myself wiccan (most of my library consists of celtic spirituality, shamanism, a couple things on healing and voodoo)however i support the wiccan craft fully however many are lead to believe that wicca is about goddess worship, avoiding the dark, pretty crystals, everything that isn't white light sugar and roses is against the law of 3. the law of three states that "whatever you send out comes back three fold". NOT "if you do anything not pretty and to my liking your throwing the entire religion out of balance."
if you want the "look at me i'm a witch and pretty in pink" get scott cunninghams "wicca for a solitary practitioner" if you want the true wicca craft you need look no further. forget those who claim it looks satanic, this covers everything you need to know about wicca
Rating:
Summary: Great Book, Must Read, Almost Perfect, but not Complete
Review: This book is a compilation of two previousely published books. In this form, it is much more affordable than the other two combines. It contains ample information on the 8 sabbats as well as an introduction to Wicca and the underline rituals most often used in coven rites. That is where they lost one star from me, it is mainly a coven based book, giving very little information about practicing along. So here is what I have come up with. This book gets 4 stars. Scott Cunningham's book for solitaries gets 4 stars, but if you own both then each gets five stars! You realy should purchase this book, it is well worth the money.
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Summary: A must for beginners
Review: This book was given to me by a friend of mine. After reading it i found it to be a valuable addition to my library of Wicca/Witchcraft books. Very indepth and thorough, i find myself refering back to it on many ocassions. Janet and Stewart Farrar have written an excellent book that should be on the shelf of any serious practitioner of the Craft!!!!!!
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