The Real Witches Book of Spells and Rituals (Real Witches)

Rating:
Summary: A Serious Coven Handbook
Review: I love the blurb on the front cover: "Kate West is the real thing. Her Witchcraft is about passion, not fashion."

Reading the book, you do get a good feeling about her passion. The material covered in her book is no nonsense and is rooted in traditional English Witchcraft. No fluff bunny material here, or new fangled junk. Her book is concise, with the details spelled out and she covers the material very well.

Everything is here to begin and maintain a good, solid working coven. The material covers background history, what witchcraft is, how to start a coven and keep it in a good order. She explores personal reasons for starting a coven, basic coven rules and how to develop them. There is discussion about traditional degrees, what they constitute and how they were meant to work. The task of finding membership is covered in a wonderfully put together overview of the different kinds of members you will find and how to deal with them. A Rite of Initiation is provided as an overview of how it is done in traditional covens and it can also be used as a blueprint for adapting it to your own situation. The Wheel of the Year is explored as well as the Full Moons or Esbats. Ritual is discussed in relationship to how a coven is based around these important events. Both indoor and outdoor rituals are covered and again, Ms. West is detailed in her coverage of these.

Ms. West covers the mundane workings of a Coven as well. She includes working together to establish basic rules that apply to your coven, the unavoidable paperwork and establishing training for the membership. She also explores the overall life cycle of a coven, covering such considerations as Daughter Covens, new and lost membership, "Boom and Bust" and how to be a good Covenor.

A lot of information is packed into this book. There is a glossary in the back of the book, and as well as a recommended reading and contacts section. Ms. West is delightful to read, provides a good solid background based on personal experience, and has organized the information well in this book, making it easy to follow.

Anyone who is considering forming a coven would do well to include this book in their list of materials they should cover and consider for their own personal information as well as for the benefit of their coven. And if you already have a coven this is another good reference book for your group. There are too few books that cover coven life as well as this one does and should be considered a must have for your reading list as well as your library shelf.