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Rating: 
Summary: A WONDERFUL BOOK FOR THOSE WITH WISDOM!
Review: A great book that i have used so many times the cover is falling off! Dr. Buckland got the information to write this book from the late Aiden Breac "a real life Scottish Witch" who lived all of 92 years,this book is anything but a fluff wicca book,this is a book that focuses predominantly on solitary ritual,and can be adapted to small circles of hedge witchs.For the uninformed, Pictish and Scottish are virtually one and the same,being that the Scots interbred with the Picts to the point of total absorption.In my opinion you cant go wrong with this book, but its important to know that the rituals are mostly for out of doors. True to Life PICTISH WITCHCRAFT IS WHAT YOU GET HERE.
Rating: 
Summary: It has it's good points...
Review: After reading quite a few of the other reviews of this book, I thought I should toss in my opinion...The spirit of this book (as based on Aiden Breac's teachings) follow fairly closely to the tradition that I was raised in by my mother, who grew up in the far north of Scotland. The idea that the Scottish pagan tradition is a solitaire one is very true, and the methods put forward are workable in any solitaire trad. I will grant, on the other hand, that Buckland went overboard as usual. That I know of, the only pre-roman alphabet ever found in use in Scotland was Ogham, so I have no idea where he came up with his others. Also, the idea of a set formula of spells was never taught to me, so I don't think that this was a part of the trad. But I expected these things from Buckland as his goal is to give the masses what they want. My point is that there are some jewels of wisdom in ths book that are of great use to any student of pagan traditions, and especially to a student of Scottish traditions.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome Book
Review: I love this book!! I have read this book cover to cover countless times. If your looking for a book that teaches very structured rituals that need alot of tools(athame, pentacle disk, boline, broom, chalice, etc.) then I would recomend going else where, But if your looking for a very simple, basic yet beautiful and fulfilling book on the scottish laypersons aspect to the craft than this book is for you. Not alot of hoopla and dogma here just folk magick, natural magick and a some great yet simple sabbat rituals. Awesome book for people who want to practice wicca/witchcraft of the common folk and not the more elaborate ceremonial magick of the rich folk of the day.
Rating: 
Summary: Another Fraud
Review: I'm sure this will be dismissed as another "negative comment"- in some circles, trying to find out the truth is always "negative". But the facts speak for themselves. Look up Buckland's "Pictish spiral writing". First, note a few points- 1)Pictish was a Celtic language. If you doubt this, check any current academic work on the Picts 2)his alphabet includes letters which don't exist in any Celtic language 3)nothing like this writing has ever been found carved anywhere in Scotland. Again, check any academic work. Now, take a closer look at the letters themselves. The "a" looks like an "a", written as a spiral. The "b" looks like a spiral "b". The same is true for all of the letters. This is not an historical Pictish alphabet, it's a childish code. I'm sure this won't shake anyone's faith. Fundamentalists will keep thinking the world was created 6000 years ago, and their neopagan counterparts will keep buying nonsense and believing it. But these aren't mistakes, they're lies. And what kind of spirituality can you build on a lie?
Rating:
Summary: A Horrible Monstrosity
Review: It is horrible that so much crap is being published today due to such unscruplous authors who dont know anything about what they are writing about. This book is Wicca with Celtic flavorings, and why have 'celtic' flavored Wicca when you could have the real thing?As a person of Scottish origins it saddens me to see others be sucked into this ignorent old mans lies.It also saddens me to see so many people contributing to the COMPLEATE AND UTTER LIE that Wicca is of Celtic origins, which it is of course not. PLEASE DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK-and study the facts first.
Rating:
Summary: accessible and enriching
Review: It's interesting to me to find so many "reactionary" reviews here on Amazon, giving admirable works such as this 1 or 2 stars max, then trashing it as if it is totally useless. Don't make your review less useful than the work you are trashing, please. I will also try to stick to my own advice! Buckland's approach is slightly sensational and exaggerated. Now, that being said, this book - like so many of his others - is filled with unique insights, factual data about time, place and activities; not to mention fanciful but substantial musings and experiential approaches to the subject that prove very workable. With many books published by Llewellyn approaching ideas from an accessible, highly useful format, one should glean the insights then move forward into other works to add to this knowledge. For instance, coalescing Buckland's ideas with those of Israel Regardie and Christopher Hyatt will prove a multi-dimensional and hearty meal certainly worthy of your time and energy.
Rating:
Summary: accessible and enriching
Review: It's interesting to me to find so many "reactionary" reviews here on Amazon, giving admirable works such as this 1 or 2 stars max, then trashing it as if it is totally useless. Don't make your review less useful than the work you are trashing, please. I will also try to stick to my own advice! Buckland's approach is slightly sensational and exaggerated. Now, that being said, this book - like so many of his others - is filled with unique insights, factual data about time, place and activities; not to mention fanciful but substantial musings and experiential approaches to the subject that prove very workable. With many books published by Llewellyn approaching ideas from an accessible, highly useful format, one should glean the insights then move forward into other works to add to this knowledge. For instance, coalescing Buckland's ideas with those of Israel Regardie and Christopher Hyatt will prove a multi-dimensional and hearty meal certainly worthy of your time and energy.
Rating: 
Summary: No real history here.
Review: Sorry Mr. Buckland. I have been to Scotland and inspected many stones inscribed by the Picts and I didn't see any of your swirl type alphabet on any of them. This book does contains a lot of information about Wicca but very little on Scottish history that is accurate. You can't make something that is not Wicca into Wicca and that's what it looks like you tried to do in this book. It was entertaining to read but not very factual.
Rating:
Summary: A useful book of lies
Review: This is a difficult book to review. On the one hand, the book is full of lies and falsehoods. Buckland makes most, if not all, of this up as he goes along. It does not take an advanced degree to realize that "Pictish Script" is the author's invention, or that ancient peoples did not go about carrying large "scrying stones." (If people in older times were to want to scry, or use a reflective surface to see projected images, why not use pools of water?) Further, a quick Googling will reveal that "Aidan Breac" likely never existed.
Early on in the development of Neo-Paganism, making false claims to an ancient heritage was a common way of lending a sense of magic and authority to one's practice. Gerald Gardner, founder of modern Wicca, claimed to have been initiated into an ancient Craft tradition by an older woman named Dorothy. Research suggests "Dorothy" never existed, and that Wicca was Gardner's creation, a modern reinterpretation of elements from various traditions and influences. While dishonest, this practice of spinning tales of ancient lineages has its value in the creation of a romantic vision. It creates a sense of magic and mystery and gives a sense of roots to those who are troubled by the idea of practicing a new religion.
_Scottish Witchcraft_ presents a fully realized vision, and the system Buckland presents is clear and useful. Many books on Wicca are stuffed to the brim with countless spells and complicated rituals, making it perplexing for those who simply want to understand the basics. In this book, Buckland presents a basic, bare-bones version of modern witchcraft that sheds much insight on the nature and function of its elements and practices. The book is an excellent introduction to the basics of magickal working: centering, raising energy, focusing and releasing energy, grounding, visualizing, and sympathetic magick/ritual.
Had Buckland shed the falsehoods about links between his personal ideas and ancient "Scottish Witchcraft," and gave the book the title "Bare-Bones Modern Witchcraft," this could easily have been a four or five-star book, a useful guide to anyone interested in a basic, earthy version of modern witchcraft. Yet though the imaginative vision of ancient Scottish witchcraft practiced by roving solitary Highlanders gives the book a fun and beautiful mythic vision, I find conscious dishonesty like this impossible to overlook and forgive. It suggests an attempt to avoid criticism by making false claims to the authority of tradition, and makes it hard to trust the author or discern what is and isn't worth retaining.
Rating:
Summary: It could be better if...
Review: This piece of Witchcrap COULD be better, ever so slightly, if they renamed it "Scottish Witchcrap: The lies and falsehoods of a Liar", and inserted inbettween everyline in bold, red text "Everything in this book is a LIE, dont believe any of it for it is ot of the truth". It would still be pretty bad, but then something in it would be true! If you dont get it I'm saying dont waste your time or money on this book.
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