Rating: Summary: A VERY GOOD BOOK... Review: I have both of Kisma's books & I must say that the first few months they sat smothered underneath some of my other pagan books, for I was having a bit of a difficult time gathering in all the extensive knowledge she has placed within her Faery Wiccan books....but in truth, with a little time & patience I began to read them. I was surprised by the way I was beginning to look at life differently. I learned a little more each day until finally I came to understand the "Faery Faith" Kisma so graciously speaks about. Although this book might not be for everyone, I do think that instead of listening to what others have to say, (be it negative or even positive)...read the books yourself & listen to what your heart says. I'm sure that you may place your book down for the first few months or so because the information inside appears hard to grasp....but give it time & the benefits you may reap can be wonderful! ~~ I'm always briefly shocked by the way some "wiccans" can be so harsh & judgmental on someone's lifetime work. It gives the impression that they are immature in many ways...I for one was taught to respect all religions out there no matter how absurd they may seem & I do hope that someday we can all be a little more compassionate towards everyone, trying not to be so vicious & small-minded. **Blessed Be**
Rating: Summary: So Many points of view Review: I have considered this book for a long time, reading all of the reviews and researching it online. There seem to be many many people whho are angry that this book was in print, claiming that Kisma plagerized the work from other authors. There are some reviewers who say that Kisma has written complete fluff which has nothing to do with Faery Tradition. After considering it for some time I decided to get both of her books used. They arrived within a week of eachother and I am delighted. These books convey the Faery Tradition in a wonderfull way. The only thing I am confused about is why the author chose to incorporate the word "wicca" in the title. These boks are not like the rest of the Llewyllyn trash on the reinvented religion known as "wicca". If you are looking for books which convey the world of Feary then I would reccomend you read these. Her tarot deck is also nice if not a little new agey at times. Incidently I do want to chime in and side with some of the other reviewers who said to stay clear of Scott Cunningham's works. His books were silly and modern, ignore them and embrace these.
Rating: Summary: A soft-spot for the book. Review: I have read this book and it's Faery Wicca 2. I have to agree with some other folks here who claim that some of the reviews here are harsh. I think the art in the book was fantastic. My soft spot for the book is that this was my intro to Wicca, one of the first books I ever bought, and through it I was introduced to a Celtic archtype that would become a spirit guide to me, so to speak, and still is to this date, 7 years later.
The book itself, I feel is not all that bad. Even though she copies material without actually saying it's referenced, the sources do exist in the back of the book, and while, yes, she does have a great imagination and created some weird things...I think another critic mentioned an "ancient potatoe goddess"...it all comes out in the wash. First off, anyone who knows anything about history of Ireland or America should know that the potatoe is NOT some ancient Irish veggie...it was brought to that country by...I could be wrong here...by Americans. Okay...so there's no such thing as an "ancient" potatoe goddess.
I would not recommend this book for any Wiccan beginner. There is some good Wiccan ritual practice taught in the book. There is some info on the gods that is not too bad, and I did enjoy reading the books. However, I feel book 2 is better than this first book. I would say read the book and keep what you feel is right. You can dispel any myths later during your studies. Studying is what paganism, wicca, and witchcraft are all about. If one has no plans on studying up on deity, and not just reading one book, then one doesn't need to be on a pagan path because the path includes mounds of study so that one doesn't look like fool, making mistakes like Kisma did. Know your mythology, know your religions outside of paganism and wicca, and mostly, if you're going to work with pagan gods of other cultures, such as Irish deity...then study that region, culture, history, and mythology or your wasting your time and will look foolish. That's what happened to Kisma. She did not do her research into the historical culture of Ireland properly. If your going to honor Irish deity, than learn about the land from which they stem or at least read more scholarly work on the Celtic deities. Maybe indepth study is not what the average Wiccan wants to do...but, I think flying by the seat of your pants and working with deity that you are unfamiliar with outside of what you learned in 3 popular Wicca books is nonesense.
I have come a long way since I've read this book, and I have learned a lot. The point is, when you read a book, keep what you agree with, and toss away the rest. I do still have both of these books on my bookshelf. Kisma introduced me to "Faery" gods and it was my first taste. I am a polytheistic pagan, not necessarily Wiccan, and my thirst was for deity...not someone's tradition. Kisma started, or at least practices, something called a Faery tradition. I have no idea who invented it and I don't care. While she was accused of plagarizing, the material is referenced and through that appendix I came across more scholarly and interesting reads.
The point is, if the fact is really fiction and you can see that through study, then you know it's false. Anyone who reads one or two books and thinks that they know everything, or the author is blessed by the gods, needs their head examined anyway. The only way one becomes knowledgeable, and the only way one can truly claim that they are truly students of a path is to study it until they can't see anymore.
Knowledge is what opens up our eyes, and if you read a few bad books along the way, that makes you all the smarter. For those of you who told other to not buy this book...you're wrong for doing so. How can they have the same experience as you did if they do not buy it? Someone even said something like this book is for bottom-pit book readers...well, my response to that is...You read it!
Rating: Summary: Good Wiccan Book Review: I own both Faery Wicca One and Two and think they are both good books. I do believe Kisma could have been more "historically accurate," but I still love this book!
Rating: Summary: An exceptional texts combining wiccan and faery lore! Review: I really enjoyed these two books. as a long time practitioner of the craft and sojourner in the realms of the faery folk, i was delighted to read these books and see how the two worlds (wicca and faery) come together. though faery wicca is not my tradition, i find in these books excellent resources including rituals, legends and simple ways of bringing faery magick into one's life.
Rating: Summary: i liked it! Review: i'd recommend it to anyone interested in faery.
Rating: Summary: The extremes ... Review: If you notice the reviews they fall in either the five star (inspired word of the goddess herself) or the one star (this stuff is complete trash). It almost seems like either her best friends or worst enemies are posting them. I, myself, found the work more imaginative than informed or inspired. I think the works of R.J. Stewart and John and Caitlin Matthews are better presented and more interesting.
Rating: Summary: The Living Light of Faery Revealed Review: It's deeply disheartening to see that this woman continues to attract so many fans. While many other reviewers have pointed out Stepanich's rampant inaccurancies and tendancy to just plain make stuff up ("ancient Irish potato goddess" indeed!), nobody seems to have touched on the blatant plagiarism that led to certain of her books being yanked out of print. She has no respect for accuracy or even the intellectual property of other authors. She certainly has no respect for her students, or she would not teach them such utter trash. Entire web pages have been devoted to debunking her, and I suggest readers look up a couple of these before they waste their money--and time, as anything you "learn" from Ms. Stepanich will have to be unlearned later.
Rating: Summary: The worst sort of pagan author Review: It's deeply disheartening to see that this woman continues to attract so many fans. While many other reviewers have pointed out Stepanich's rampant inaccurancies and tendancy to just plain make stuff up ("ancient Irish potato goddess" indeed!), nobody seems to have touched on the blatant plagiarism that led to certain of her books being yanked out of print. She has no respect for accuracy or even the intellectual property of other authors. She certainly has no respect for her students, or she would not teach them such utter trash. Entire web pages have been devoted to debunking her, and I suggest readers look up a couple of these before they waste their money--and time, as anything you "learn" from Ms. Stepanich will have to be unlearned later.
Rating: Summary: A unique book about a unique faith! Review: Kisma Stepanich writes about the very unique and very beautiful Faery-Faith of Ireland!!!! There are many works about the Faery-Faith, but they cover mainly the English (Rj Stewart) and the Continental (Evans-Wentz, with a small section on Ireland.) But Kisma write about the Irish faith which is different!!! Don't judge it by different faiths, judge it on its own merit! It is the best!
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