Customer Reviews (22)

The information is NOT the issue...
...the issue is that the author has taken her information from others who have taught and written about Faery for *decades* longer than she has, and BLATANTLY stolen it. There has been litigation against her. Even Llewellyn won't publish her books anymore because they are afraid of getting sued. Folklore, Meditation, Folklore, Meditation, and then more Folklore- that is the way to learn the Faery Faith.

I didn't think this was as useful as the first book.
While I don't agree with everything Ms. Stepanich says in her books, I usally try to collect a variety of works in my 'witchy' library.I usually try to look at the stuff I don't agree with and form a solid opinion on *why* I don't agree.It helps me to really find validity in what *I* believe.If you've read the first book in her series, I would recommend the second just for continuity.If you haven't I suggest you start at the beginning as I found that book more useful.I did notice quite a bit of what she said seemed to have come from other authors.Ultimately, I think I would recommend some other authors first.However I think it is also a good idea to be receptive to others' views and ways of doing things.

Spiritual practices
As an Irish gent recently relocated to Boston, and having come across the works by the Irish-American author, Ms. Stepanich, I must say that I find her understanding of Irish mysticism to be quite enchanting. I took the time to read the reviews below and found it quite interesting that many of them sounded as if they were written by the same person and that that person just might be one of the other "authors" so favorably highlighted. Such a shame to attempt to slaunder one individual to stroke your own ego! Makes for bad business. My end comment: a lovely spiritual practice is presented in this book and the first one. As an old druid I must say, she has got her finger on the pulse of the Faery more accurately than any other contemporary author.

This is the best book of Irish Traditons ever printed!!!
This is the best book of Irish Traditons ever printed!

Want to learn about the Irish shamanic traditons? want to learn about the Irish Gods and Goddesses and how to work with them? Then go to the Irish Faery Faith expert! That is Kisma Stepanich! Go to other traditions and their experts for their ways. This is truly unique and the best writing available! As for some of the negative comments listed below, lets see these poeople do better! It is easy to sit on your duff and criticize, but hey, write something and lets see if you can do better!! Buy it, you won't be sorry!!

Dont waste your $$$
I echo a reader from Boston's review.
I *used* to own both these books, one and two. I recycled them, hoping they'd find a useful life. I wouldnt GIVE these away to some unsuspecting person.
Kisma plagerises (and still gets things wrong) is incapable of reasearch, and when questioned on her "facts", replies that the questioner is "mean and too scholarly".
Well then, I'm proud to be in the "mean" camp.
Do not waste your money, especially at the ridiculous prices being asked for here!!
As has been stated, better to spend your hard earned bucks on WY Evans Wentz, RJ Stewart, et al. I own these books, they blow Kisma away. Kisma who?
She's out of print? GOOD!! Best thing that ever happened to this culture raping liar.
Deserves negative 5.
PS, whomever said "those who didnt like it probably didnt use it as intended"?
Puhhhhleese. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Not for multiple-deck owners.
This deck *requires* you know your mythology, your Celtic sagas (no, I do not mean the Eddas or the Finnish saga).You must know them, you must know Celtci culture as the wide- sweeping thing it is and was--and you must know very little of it will be reflected in this deck.

I dislike decks with "extra cards".The standard number is quite enough to learn/interpret/be inspired by.I am a purist in this:if you add cards besides the Major Arcana, the Court Cards, and the rest of the Minor Arcana, what you have is NOT A TAROT DECK!You may indeed have an *oracle*, but not all oracle cards are Tarot cards.

If you do not know your mythology, you will be confused by the namings of the cards--the cards have names beyond court and suit, and these names have significance.If you don't know them, you miss out on part of the meaning.

I've heard from the more scholarly inclined that the Gaelic used in the deck is awful, the Ogham is applied with little to no purpose (the equivalent would be just slapping in Futhark runes whereever they look good), and that some of her mythological comparisons are questionable at best.

I can only tell you I found it annoying to continually reference the book--and I'm not a novice reader--to work around these 'extra cards' that always required reference.If you are an experienced reader of more traditional Tarot, or even the more expansive, wide-ranging decks, I still think you will have trouble with this.It's not just mythology, it's the creator's *interpretation* of the mythology that must be learned, and I find that... cultish thinking.

I *like* rather strange art, so the visuals did not bother me (the reason for the two stars).The book (badly organized, and due to its micro-size, containing no index, with small print, difficult to handle) gives a strong impression that this is a 'channeled work'.I have little opinion on that--but I know this isn't Feri as I know it, it's barely Wicca, and it's certainly not Tarot.

Very well done book and deck
Now, I freely admit my work with spiritual anything is rather limited. I became interested in it when I was working as a clerk in a New Age shop in Maine. There was a reader who worked there, and something she told me stuck with me when I was looking for a deck to initiate myself into Tarot. No matter if the deck is made by US Game Systems, which has a tradition of pumping out Tarot decks by the tons, or is done individually, it's no good if you don't feel a pull to and connection with the deck. This particular deck struck a chord with me, mostly because I'm Irish-American, and I thought the artwork was amazing. The artwork is really what first drew me, since I didn't recognize Emer on the cover. It's strong, clear, and uncluttered. Ms. Stepanich's writing is very much the same. The slight renaming and of some traditional aspects, like renaming Page, Knight, Queen, King as Knight,Maiden, High King and High Queen can be confusing or off-putting to some, but I feel that's more a matter of personal taste.

I can happily say I've got no reservations recommending this set to anyone interested in the mythological history of Ireland. Is it completely accurate? No. Is that a problem? Well, that depends on how you respond to such things. People will always have their own opinions, and some do more fact checking the others. If you take everything you read on faith, that's more a failing on oneself, then the writer. If you discover an INTEREST in the topic, and collect your OWN data, then there's nothing horribly wrong with one person being wrong, or mistaken, about some historical facts. Those facts are written by the winners, anyways. However, this deck will hopefully guide the interested reader into doing their own research, something one should do anyways. And more importantly, Kisma, in my opinion, does a very good job on displaying the importance of being open minded and willing to stretch your thinking and find more information on your own, without immediately telling everyone who believes something different than you, that they are "wrong!". And again...if you feel a connection to the deck, then even if the details of the history of Mannan Mac Lir are wrong, your interpertation will be fine, without anyone else's help.

Ignore the detractors, and give the deck a try. It all comes down to that connection, and either it's there or its not, but you won't know until you work with it.

Try it
Let me start out by saying that this deck has beautiful artwork which does resonate with me on one level. Thought i am not wiccanI bought these cards and Kismas other 2 Faery books and am glad to have them. Kisma has been accused of being false in her presentation but I just dont see it. Kisma Stepanich has presented a very in depth journey in these cards, she has opened the doors to higher consciousness and I reccomend people who are drawn to it most assuredly try it. Good luck on your journey.

I liked it! I don't care what anyone else thinks.
I never really used any other cards but these (I've owned a Rider-Waite deck I didn't resonate with), and I still think these are useful and insightful. I don't find the deck too complicated as some say, but then I am not attempting any spreads, just one card readings that usually give the answer my heart peacefully acknowledges as truth. Another reviewer stated that the cardshave "spot-on accuracy" and are of a "revelation nature", and I find this description accurate with regards to my own experience.

I've read the reviews of others on this site, and I'm certainly not closed-minded to the idea that perhaps the "lore" is inaccurate...but I'm glad I never knew of the possibility till after I used and loved the deck! It is a deck worth knowing, for me. Also, if I had read the reviews before I bought it, I wouldn't have bought it, because I'm quite anal about the accuracy of things.

The deck has been intensely insightful for me, personally, so I can easily forgive any potential inaccuracies or made-up histories. Besides, I'd be interested to see if this other reviewer (who said "to claim it isn't correct by their knowledge is at best being a fundamentalist in a very unfundamentalist religion") might not have a point.

Also, I have to consider this: I personally refuse to subscribe to any path in a fundamentalist fashion; I pick the aspects of each "religion" or "path" that are right for me and they are amalgamated into my daily life. If I were to personally write a spiritually inspired book or anything else, it would most likely be a work of "cobbled together stuff", those elements from varying sources that fit into my mind and heart like puzzle pieces, even if they didn't come from paths with identical "titles". Maybe that's what the author of this tarot deck was doing, (if the negative reviewers happen to be right!) who knows. I like the deck, dang it.

My favourite Deck!
This was a present and it has become my main deck. Perhaps people whom don't like it don't like celts either.It's very well thought out and the more you study it, the deeper it gets. The art work is gorgeous and thesymbolism brilliant. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (53)

WOW!!!
If you liked Witta this book is for you!!
I would have had a alot less problem with this book if Wicca were not in the books title.So much has been thrown into Wicca over the yearspeople really have come to belive that Wicca really is Celtic.I think mostly becuase the word Celtic is a good way to sell you something Runes,Chinese art anything from England and Germany is fair game. The list goes on and on.As long as you are buying they will be selling.This book falls in with the above.I know this is lost of most of you, I really do.I could not get through most of it .This is a Ancient Tradition ?? just becuase you wish it to be will not make it true.If it were called a New Faery Tradition or a Modern Tradition of Ireland that may have been different.

A Beautiful Ritual Guide
I used to own this book, but no longer... not because there's anything wrong with it, but because it was stolen. Now, I go online to get a replacement copy and see all these horrible negative reviews. This is just childish. Did anyone actually believe that the faith depicted in this book was handed down through the ages unchanged from the time the Gauls set foot on the shores of Erin and fought the Tuatha De Danann? I don't remember Kisma even so much as implying that it was. What it is, and does a wonderful job of, is a Wiccanization of Celtic faery faith. As Starhawk would say, we are all moving towards the future, "Creating Religion," and it's a shame that some members of the Wiccan/Pagan community see fit to belittle others for their beliefs and the way they choose to implement them. I truly expected more from folks who chant "Burning Times-never again!" but I guess that's too much to ask. Small wonder that we have trouble being taken seriously as a religion in this, and many other, countries.

Courtney Patricia "GamerGirl" Parsons

I am always amazed by my sisters and brothers
I have encountered *so* much negativity and unspecified criticism while reading reviews for so many pagan books. I find it interesting because if you don't like I book I agree you should say why and I am all for a critical review but some of these entries are simply spiteful and not consturcutive at all! Putting such negative energy out will surely spill yr glass of milk!! If I had never read the book I would prolly buy it to see what all the fuss is about.

That said, I read these books (both one and two) when I was about 15-16 and at the time I loved and cherished them. They were not my "intro to wicca" (I am pagan not wiccan anyway)they weren't the first or last books I read and they certainly are no where near being the "cornerstones" of my faith or spiritual explorations. But I did love them. I am a voracious reader and even if they were/are complete fiction they are still worth a read.

to those who say she "fabricated" or purely made things up (and it is true Irish folk didn't have potatos in ancient time!) I would have to remind you of the great Monnique Wittig quote:

remember
make and effort to remember
and failing that; INVENT!

My Introduction to wicca
This book was my introduction to wicca, I have to say it was a pretty good book. I found alot of the information in it useful and learned alot. There are some things that I just didn't believe and others that now (10 years later) I have still kept very close to me.
I have read alot of the comments on both of the books and all I have to say is this, Wicca is about learning, studying, and helping eachother. Itis not about bashing anauthor for where or how they got there information. I am sure some of the things from this book did come from other souces. But tell me what can you say when you are writing about an ancient religion that has been passed down generation after generation. I for one would not like an author who just made up a fiction book and sold it as a guide to wicca.
I learned a lot from this book not just regular information which is what the words hold but I also learned a very important
thing from this book that I have to say you really don't learn from other books. History is a very important element. I learned a lot of history but also learned to want to learn history. That is a very important element that I feel is missing in a lot of wiccan books That I found in this book.

Does it really matter....
I haven't read the book... yet... but does it really MATTER if its plagerized? If she still gets the information accross... then what does it matter? She still puts a works cited list... You can check out other books yourself... Stop complaining, enjoy the fact you HAVE information (unlike me, who wishes he had these books, but doesn't have a single wicca book)... Plagerized or not. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Non-scholarly Claptrap
Sirona Knight should never be considered a scholarly source on Druidism. She's just horrible & Wicca-fies everything she touches. Her books are usually her take on things, not an expression of things as they are or were. Stay away--FAR away!

Excellent Source for Celtic Paganism
This book is one of the best I've read on Celtic traditions. Most books on the Celts give you lots of examples of rituals and tools, but they don't explain the base of the Celtic beliefs. THIS BOOK DOES. This book gives you the history on the Celtic traditions. Not just a general overview, but why they believed they way they did. It is the best source of information I have come across. It has the information on tools and rituals, but those are no good if you follow something you don't know the history of or why you are doing rituals or what the tools are used for. This book has everything.

A well written book on the Celts
I have read several of Sirona Knight's many books, and have always found them enjoyable to read."Celtic Traditions" offers an excellent overview of Celtic culture, including a section on faery traditions.Beautifully combines historical data with modern Celtic spirituality.I strongly recommend this book along with "The Druids" by Peter Ellis and "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Elves and Fairies" by Sirona Knight

I am so angry I bought this book
This woman has the writing skills of a high school dropout.Some sentences are written so badly I had to read them again just to make sure they were in English.For some reason I thought this was a serious book about the Celtic revival phenomenon instead, I found out it was just another new age junk book filled with clichés, gross generalizations and non-sequiturs. Here is a classic example (pp. 29-20)

"Matriarchal order and lineages stem from the early concept that creation comes from women. Creation is a divine seed, stemming from the Mother.Plainly, the mother's identity is always certain while the father's is not..."

I want my money back.

A Must Have on Celtic Spirituality
This book would be a great starting point for those interested in exploring the realms of Celtic Magic.Ms. Knight covers Shamanism, the Celtic Gods and Goddesses, the Druids (including a brief description of the Ogham, a Celtic form of tree divination), the Faeries, and modern Celtic Traditions. She includes several visualizations and some sample rituals.She also talks about Celtic Wicca, which I didn't actually think was necessary; for me the Celtic lore would have been enough, but of course this would be an added plus for those interested in following the Wiccan path.

She also has a recommended reading list and a list of favorite Celtic music titles which I found to be very helpful.

Ms. Knight's writing is enjoyable and easy to read, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone wishing to explore the Celtic path.


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