Product Description
With an Introductory Essay byGrant Showerman ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Classic!
Although this book was written in the early twentieth century, the information it provides is invaluable for any scholar of Roman religion.The text is a superb overview of the material that was available when Cumont wrote and provides an excellent starting point for any explorationinto the influence of the Oriental cults on Roman paganism.Scholars ofearly Christianity will find the text particularly helpful in establishingthe context in which the earliest Christian texts were written. ... Read more

Product Description
An introduction to magical studies, with a full cycle of rituals and training in magickal circles, indoor/outdoor ceremonies, invocations and banishing. This book provides a complete system of magickal training based on Tibetan and Austrian ceremonial sources. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (22)

Immensely disappointed.
I was under the mistaken impression this book was a companion of sorts, to "A Book Of Pagan Rituals". More or less, a 'revised' edition of the original, or the likes of, from what I had been informed of, be it the written word of an email, or the passing of an opinion, via word of mouth.
Well, nothing could have been any less accurate.
The fault of this is mine, and mine alone. I should have taken more time to research it myself, such as using the 'browsing' feature, by reading through a few pages, etc...instead of simply, and with blind faith, hitting the One Click button, and awaiting my present, like a child up all night on Christmas Eve.

The book clearly endorses the Gardnerian tradition,in more than 2/3rd's of the book, which is fine in itself, and Mr. Fitch even acknowledges this, and it's original intent, but as the Gardnerian trad essentially is the veryfoundation of Wicca in general, aren't there enough, MORE than enough books on the subject as it is? I gather that Mr. Fitch seems to think not.

It appears that Laurie Cabot, "The Official Witch" of Salem, Mass., as she has been legally dubbed, {by the mayor of Salem, MA himself, some years back} to fall victim to the same dreadful addiction to greed, and the neverending desire for commercial success, and public noteriety, once one has a taste of it, and therefore can no longer be an objective, and truly respected Elder of the pagan community. You would think, that being a respected authority of the Old Religion, as well as a successful author, speaker, etc., would be enough for such people.
But like any addiction, I suppose, it seems that the good Sir, Mr. Ed Fitch, has too fallen victim to the ego boosting addiction to such notoriety. And from what I've seen over the decades, authors, actors, and other such artists, must face, and either succumb, or ignore, and walk through such obstacles to true spiritual enlightenment, to be considered a TRUE Elder of the pagan community.
After all, one can name him/herself the Grand Poobah of anything they choose. But like it or not, it is society, not the individual, who truly makes these labels stick. And fit.
Otherwise, it is not unlike self initiation, something I find so utterly offensive, it's almost laughable, in it's absurdity, if it was not so prevelent in the "NeoWicca" crowd, namely those of the Generation Y crowd, the very future generation of Wicca, the Old Religion, Witchcraft, NeoPaganism, etc...We are all in the same pool, some in the deep end, others wading in the shallow steps. And many others swimming in between.

As for the book itself, again the vast majority of the material in this book appears to have a pro-Gardnerian slant to it,
However, I feel that he should have originally marketed it as such, rather than let other individuals make their own conclusions about it, thus letting it be passed along, to the point of it's original review rendered utterly useless.

That said, I find the material to be quite uninformative, and much too strict, which, in my not so humble opinion, is rather indicative of the Gardnerian, and it's descendant, the Alexandrian tradtions. "This is the way it MUST be done, and that's that", is the general theme throughout the book.
Again, as this book is so heavily imbalanced with Gardnerian 'rules and regs', such as the pairing of opposite sex couples, which smacks of homophobic hypocrisy, and nowhere in the book have I yet to see any alternative to such a stance, that I had thought was long dead, along with 'desegregation' of white and black individuals.
Yet again, I must repeat: Fitch appears to have spent much of his time writing endorsements for the Gardnerian Wicca tradition, as well as 'plugging' Llewellyn, and his own previous works as well.
I have read through the book at least 3 times before creating this review, to make sure that I have not missed anything. Mr. Fitch is indeed a Pagan Elder, but then again, so was Alex Sanders, Gerald Gardner, Doreen Valiente, and Sybil Leek. And all had views (yes, they are all deceased now)that though part of their generation had instilled in them as 'natural', I still disagree with many of their views, save Doreen Valiente, as she was by far, one of the TRUE pagan Elders, that has left a hole no one can fill, in my opinion.
But in 'Grimoire of Shadows', from what I gather from it, it seems that every other page seems to contain an endorsement of some kind, directly, as well as indirectly, be it Gardnerian Wicca, the Gard ritual structure, or his own endorsement, shamefully repeating, "Be sure to buy my other book, "XXX", for further clarification". So, why could he not simply quote himself, from his own book, to make his point, I began to wonder. Finally, by the time I had put the book down for the umpteenth time, I was thouroughly disgusted, and utterly disappointed in him and this book, regardless if it was origianlly written in 1967. It could very well have been edited, and re-written, to make his point in the 21st century, albeit was finally published, (by Llewellyn of course) in 1996. Still, this is still the FIRST Edition, as well as the 5th printing. Therefore, to say, "well, this was back in the 60's when he wrote it" just doesn't hold water.

In summary,{yes, finaly...lol} I can only share my utter disappointment in this book, as I find it to be essentially of little, if any value, to a Novice, or an Elder, or anyone in between.

As a Priestess of the Old Religion for over 25 years, I am no spring chicken myself.
Therefore, simply take my review for what you can, and beware of any assumptions, or other 'reccomendations'. Be they mine, or your Mentor, neighbor, family member, or the Easter Bunny, for that matter... Granted, one's trash, is another's treasure. Still, it wouldn't hurt to take a peek at a few pages to get a feel for the genderal theme of the book. For only after reading a few pages, PAGES, not a chapter, I had already made up my mind that this was NOT a book I was going to recommend. And after I finally got through all of it, I had decided my views of it had only changed for the worse.

Simply beware. For every author, even the most respected, such as Valiente, Fitch, Starhawk, Adler, and many others, all have their bad days, and there are usually that ONE book that they create, that is...well, less than desirable. And I'm afraid that this one is his. I can only hope it remains the ONLY one.

Great
This is a book that is simple and puts things in it that other pagan books dont. Has so much in it and yet it is easy to read and understand.

A Grimoire of Shadows
This Book to me is more like a recipe book of Spells.Not much in the way of cause, purpose or reason.Whether or not the spells actually work, I cannot say but I feel it could have used a little more detail.

A classic for anyone interested in Witchcraft.
I am a bit appalled by the negative reviewers out there who say mean things about this precious tome of real magick! I suppose "pop wicca" by bestselling authors who know very little about real Witchcraft, the way it was meant to be practiced, is more appealing to these folk! I love this book and use it quite frequently. I feel it is very modern in its approach and contains some wonderful illustrations.

Mr Fitch is a modern guru of Witchcraft that is very underrated in the world of "pop wicca". It is interesting to note that many of his beautiful rituals appear in many other books published by Llewellyn. He is not even given credit! He claims most of these rituals are all public domain. Indeed, they should be.

His magical training section is very difficult and should be at least tried by anyone seriously interested in the craft. He personally invites anyone who masters these techniques to contact him through the publisher. Good luck to all who attempt them! Mastery is surely a sign that one is a real Witch!

Call me old fashioned, I feel this is the way that witchcraft should be practiced. A year and a day passes quickly. Why not savor them with study and reflection? Sadly, this volume has gone out of print. It should be required reading for anyone attempting the path.

One of the original texts for modern Neopaganism
Most of the reviewers of this book have absolutely no idea what they are talking about, but then why should their reviews be any different from all the others commenting on Neopagan books one reads nowadays? People, why don't you do your research before opening your mouths and aimlessly letting your words fly?

Listen to what reviewer Troyce of Texas has to say about this book, and ignore the people who talk about Druidism, balance, and rolling in their graves. This text is not Wicca at all, but an introductory course written for those seeking to learn non-oathbound material, PRIOR to learning Wicca. It is also the basic text of it's own for a later developed path called The Pagan Way, which still exists and originated in Chicago (use your search engine).

The reason the material may appear "dated" to Eclectic Wiccans is because it was written many years before there WERE any Eclectic Wiccans. Llewellyn books did not exist at this time; nor did any other books by Scott Cunningham, Silver Ravenwolf, et. al. There was only British Trad Wicca and British Trad Witchcraft (Cochranites, etc.) in Great Britain; in the US there was added to these the California contingency dealing with Victor Anderson and Gwydion Pedderwen and co., and a few others. Everyone else who now has a book out on "Wicca" was probably either just a gleam in their Daddy's eye or in diapers- or at most, still making out with their sweetie in the highschool parking lot.

Pick up this book or leave it alone, but at the very least make sure your decision is guided by some actual, solid facts; not just opinion based on the way some other uninformed reviewer "feels" about something.

(There now, that lack of smell in the air is the absence of BS, which has just been swept into a plastic bag and carted away. Don't you feel that the air is a bit less pungent now? More conducive to clearer thinking this way, wouldn't you say?) ... Read more

Product Description
The eighteenth-century Enlightenment marks the beginning of the modernage, when the scientific method and belief in reason and progress cameto hold sway over the Western world.In thetwentieth century, however, the Enlightenmenthas often been judged harshly for its apparently simplistic optimism. Now a master historian goesback to the sources to give a fully roundedaccount of its true accomplishments. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

essential, but extremely heavy and for scholars
This book is about the education of the intellectuals of the Enlightenment. While it is very interesting to trace how their minds developed - how they mastered and began to question the works of the masters of antiquity in a manner far more daring than the scholars of the Renaissance - it is so encylopediac that it impedes the narrative. In other words, I got bored and literally set it down for years. However, this is the work of a first-rate historian and so may have been too sophisticated for an amateur like me. (I like history, but this guy has READ EVERYTHING in the original, which I cannot.) Once I picked it up again, I did indeed enjoy it. Rather heavy handedly, Gay argues that what they concluded was that Christianity was a fiction and could not be true. Readers should know this. While I am somewhere on the spectrum between atheism and agnosticism, what I interpreted as Gay's atheism is even a bit too much for me.

I learned an immense amount about this period here, perhaps the most pivotal of the modern world. While a bit much, if taken in the right way it is a great guide to many of the debates that continue to this day and that originated with these intellectuals. However, I look forward to reading the next book, which is about what they did in a practical institutional sense rather than what and how they thought (covered by this first volume).

Recommended, but it is serious scholarly study rather than vacation reading!

i have read dozens of books on the enligtenment, but
I always knew i needed to read this foundational volume from the last generation, although i am a strong Christian traditionalist opponent of the so-called enlightenment.

I was surprised by how fair Prof. Gay was in deftly criticizing the philosophes, with whom he obviously agreed.He agrees that they have a specticism which amounts to a dogmatic religion.It is easy to be a critic, but most critics of pre and post enlightenment have no idea of the loving essence of Christianiy, merely cynically attacking clericalism.I love and will use Gay's phrase on p. 145, that the philosophes and their contemporary disciples are "secular fideists."I am glad that Gay shows how Jefferson and Franklin were influenced by one of the most radical pre-philosophes, Pierre Bayle.Some of Gay's best chapters concern how the clerics of the enlightenment, the treason of the clerics, were either asleep, or gave too much credit to their enemies.Gay concludes that "those who are amused are already half converted," so opponents of the enlightenment need to be amusing, as well as having a content which shows how negatively devastating the so called enlightenment has been to Western and American culture."

Where to Begin Your Study of the Enlightenment
Two volumes in one, originally published in 1966 (The Appeal to Antiquity; The Tension with Christianity), these works combined in one volume are fundamental to any study of the the XVIIIth century and the Enlightenment.

There is one conspicuous and paradoxical omission. In more than 555 pages of text, notes and bibliography, professor Gay mentions Freemasonry only once - in citing the title of Lessing's masonic dialogue. The book is strewn with names of famous men long known to have been Masons without any attempt to show the contacts between them that the fraternity is known to facilitated. This serious flaw, by a Yale professor of history, has been corrected by Jacobs in her several books on Freemasonry and 18th century society. For a good start, see: Living the Enlightenment: Freemasonry and Politics in Eighteenth-Century Europe.

This inexplicable omission obscures the ubiquitous presence and impact Freemasonry had on XVIIIth century societies, forms of government as well as intellectual discourse and exchange. One example of how ignorance of Freemasonry's presence in eighteenth century affairs distorts an historical interpretation is found in Prof. Gay's labeling of Voltaire as an atheist. No atheist can be made a Mason. Three months before his death,Voltaire was initiated in the presence of Benjamin Franklin, at the Lodge of the Nine Sisters in Paris, on February 7, 1778.

Finally, a word of caution about the various exposés or monitors one may find about Freemasonry, whether online or in bookstores. Differences from jurisdiction to jurisdiction (Grand Lodge to Grand Lodge) and over time result in discrepancies in ritual wording and practice. As one who has examined visitors Masonically, I can tell you that even if one has read exposés, he will not be able to accurately perform convincingly unless he has actually been initiated. It simply is not possible to "crash" a Masonic meeting. Also, as the variety of books above attest, no one person speaks for Freemasonry.

Furthermore, even if one possesses an accurate monitor (to say nothing of the dangers of relying on a masonic cipher), the experience of the ritual is not the same as reading about it. Imagine the experiential difference between eating a cake and reading a recipe!

Breaking the "sacred circle"
Before I read The Enlightenment: The Rise of Modern Paganism and The Enlightenment: The Science of Freedom by Peter Gay, I had no idea that one could study the history of intellectual thought, even though I had read and studied almost all of the authors he discusses in detail in these seminal books.

Gay argues that there was in fact an Enlightenment (an issue hotly debated during my college years). The essential elements -- convergent rationalism, critical skepticism and anticlericalism -- created modern Western thought. Gay writes brilliantly, with great clarity, and his analyses of ancient and modern thinkers provided me with a number of important insights that my teachers and I had missed when reading the originals. Gay's bibliography is particularly illuminating.

Gay discusses the Greek and Roman philosophers in his first volume, and argues that thinkers of the Enlightment agreed wholeheartedly with Gibbons:

"If a man were called to fix the period in the history of the world, during which the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous, he would, without hesitation, name that which elapsed from the death of Domitian to the accession of Commodus."

At the same time, Gay is blunt in his judgments:

"History has been far from gentle with its hopes and predictions. The world has not turned out the way the philosophers wished, and half expected it would. Old fanaticisms have been more intractable, irrational forces more inventive than the philosophers were ready to conjecture.... Problems of race, of class of nationalism, or boredom and despair in the midst of plenty have emerged, almost in defiance of the philosopher's philosophy. We have known horrors, and may know horrors, that the men of the Enlightenment, did not see in their nightmares."

Gay does not, however, trace out the consequences of these philosophies but instead focuses on the study of the ideas themselves, and in particular the revolt of the philosophers against Chrisitanity and their return to classical (i.e. pagan) and secular thought.

Gay communicates the sense of excitement the men of the Enlightenment shared, a sense of adventure and daring. They were aware they were breaking with a thousand year old tradition with a great deal at stake.

I wished Gay had covered more ground in these two volumes; his modern Enlightment is limited to England, France and Germany in large measure, and ignores some intellectual leaders even in those countries like Gustavus of Sweden and Joseph of the Holy Roman Empire. In particular I would have liked to read his analysis of how the Enlightenment played out in the American colonies.

Nevertheless, this a splendid history, beautifully written, a truly exciting intellectual journey.

2009 Addendum

Peter Gay has been an important intellectual historian during my adult reading life. His "Enlightenment" reinforced and greatly enhanced my two years in college participating in the Integrated Liberal Studies program.

In the 1980s I was fascinated by Freud: A Life for Our Time, which was based primarily on original sources.

In the 1990s I browsed with great pleasure (but never studied seriously his five-volume "The Bourgeois Experience: Victoria to Freud."

I found his memoir, My German Question: Growing Up in Nazi Berlin, compelling and enlightening, and browsed with pleasure through Modernism: The Lure of Heresy, a survey of modernism in prose and poetry, music and dance, architecture and design, drama and the movies.

I feel very lucky to have had access to his works over these many years.

Robert C. Ross 1970 2009

Note: One of twelve NY Times "Editors' Choice" books for 1969; see first Comment.

Balanced and Erudite
Gay apparently spent several years on this book, and it shows in a work or painstaking and dramatic erudition. He provides, and clearly grasps, the context of the Enlightenment. To provide context in time he discusses the fall of classical paganism and the eclipse of reason in the Christian period. He covers the modes of thinking that arose during the Middle Ages and the elements of classical reason and creativity which are now increasingly accepted to have obtained during this traditionally dark episode of European history. He works through the rise of reason that had already started to occur with the Renaissance and on which the Enlightenment was built, indicating that the courage of the Enlightenment's revolution was not as visceral as it is sometimes portrayed; in effect, the Enlightenment philosophes were both surfing and fanning a wave whose relentless motion had already started, with the Church playing Canute before them.

To provide context in place he works through the sometimes startlingly bitter conflict in which the philosophes saw themselves as being engaged, a conflict for no less than the hearts and minds of all Western civilisation. They saw themselves, make no mistake, as in a struggle for survival with Christianity.

Here Gay is in my opinion almost too scrupulous, since he makes clear that the philosophes fought a tiger whose teeth were already falling out and thereby diminishes their courage, while at the same time impugning their fairness. Executions for blasphemy were not unknown in their Europe, but in practical effect the philosophes, and certainly the late philosophes, were not really in danger of their lives. For purely partisan reasons this almost leads me to dock a star off my rating, since this was a battle which had to be fought and from which we have all benefitted, while at the same time even now the beast of unreason stirs fitfully. Gay's philosophes were irascible, cantankerous and utterly combative, and regardedtheir battle too sententiously to be appealing as individuals. (Apart from the relentlessly cheerful Hume.) In fact, they remind me eerily of Richard Dawkins, which seems fittingly non-coincidental since he continues their battle.

As Gay indicates, this was the rise of modern paganism. Not the invention of paganism. Not the invention of reason. The Greeks and the Romans were there first. Not the invention of the social contract, nor the rights of man, nor the scientific method, nor the republic. All these grew from seeds already sown. What it was, instead, was the restoration and the ascendancy of these concepts. While we do not owe many concepts of Enlightenment thought fully to the originality of thephilosophes of the Enlightenment, we owe it to them that these concepts and values have become so unquestioned a part of our world that the primacy of reason is barely noticed for the historical anomaly it is. This is no small debt.

Gay's work is of startling and prodigious erudition. It took me two tries to read it, the first time being unprepared for such a wealth of historical detail. On the second try, more widely read, I devoured the book with joy. Gay is fair, in my opinion sometimes too fair, and he gives the Christian adversaries of the Enlightenment much credit for reasonableness and for greater intellectual sophistication than the philosophes alleged. This made it all the more worth reading, since it forced me to justify my own parallel tendency to the same simplifications. At the same time he paints a more nuanced picture of the aggressive and sometimes devious nature of the philosophes than is customary. My distaste for the establishment tormentors remains undiminished but perhaps more subtly coloured. Gay's fairness is a challenge, and a greatly rewarding one at that. ... Read more

Product Description
A fascinating scholarly look at witchcraft in American society! Why do some individuals in American society resort to the magical beliefs and practices of the occult while the majority do not? Contemporary witches say that witchcraft is a revival of a European Pre-Christian religion called Wicca. Practitioners of Wicca believe the world is alive, interconnected, and responsive to attempts to manipulate invisible, occult forces. These efforts constitute their magic, the "craft" of witchcraft. In the United States, Wicca has become the core of a collection of other pagan traditions, religions, and magical systems. This fascinating ethnography by an anthropologist explores contemporary witchcraft from the unusual perspective of self-identified witches and magicians. Readers have the opportunity to learn what kinds of individuals engage in radical thought movements such as this and view the ideas of witchcraft and magic from the vantage point of those who profess to be witches and practice magic. A description of the demographic characteristics of the group combined with an analysis of their complex belief system provides insight into the unusual behaviors shared by participants in this subculture within American society. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

A solid ethnography, perhaps lacking in scholarly skepticism
This is an ethnography of modern American Neopaganism. It's balanced pretty equally between festival culture (EarthSpirit in Massachusetts and circle farm in Wisconsin) and coven culture. The author was initiated into the Minoan tradition in the course of her research, a tradition that splits from Gardnerian craft over its practice of having single-gender covens.

The book is burdened with an overly technical but not particularly enlightening introduction using anthropologist Clifford Geertz's definition of religion. This seemed like residue from the book in its dissertation form. After that it opens with an extensive history section. I felt like Orion was a little credulous about the "official" history of British witchcraft -- for example, she was pretty unquestioning about the fact that Gardner was initiated into a pre-existing coven. This is followed by a long description of Gardnerian witchcraft, which was well-written and enjoyable.

Next the author charts the connections with what she calls the western spiritual tradition, focusing on Giordano Bruno. She makes a strong argument for witchcraft being a revival of a submerged spiritual thread within Western religion, although I think she relies too heavily on a few sources.

In the rest of the book, the author makes a number of unique and fairly interesting arguments.

1. Witchcraft -is- creativity. Witches are practicing a spiritual art form. (She gives good evidence for this from her field work, but from my personal experiences with witches, I could go either way on this. Some covens are definitely -not- interested in being creative -- they're interested in preserving their traditions unchanged, and they're not all that interested in culture reform either.)
2. Witchcraft is a countercultural reform movement in the tradition of the Rosicrucian brotherhood, and is focused, among other things, on healing (spiritual healing, physical healing, earth healing).
3. Witches are defined/define themselves by what mainstream culture is not.
4. Witches are the opposite of modern doctors. In contrast to the doctor-patient relationship, where the patient is passive and the means of healing highly technological, the alternative healer operates on an equal basis with the person needing healing in an attempt to empower the person to heal themselves.
5. Revived shamanism is an extremely important component of American Neopaganism.

Orion closes with a discussion of the rapid growth of Neopaganism, and the debate over the need for professional clergy.

This is a solid ethnography, mainly weakened by the fact that, even though it was published in 1995, most of the field work is from the mid-1980s. A lot changed between then and 1995, and it's been another ten years since then! The book does a good job of situating witchcraft in the history of earlier reform movements, though, and it does it without trying to argue that earlier mystical Christian reformers were "witches" or thought of themselves as "pagan" (as I've seen some historians do -- and frankly that's just anachronistic).

Orion also does better than Jone Salomonsen does in the latter's ethnography of Reclaiming witchcraft -- Salomonsen argues that Reclaiming -is- essentially a Judeo-Christian reform movement in a tradition of the same, while Orion sees Smerican witchcraft as the child of those movements but emphasizing the thread in the Western mystery tradition that has always looked back to pre-Christian (usually classical) religions.

Interesting But Not Easy Reading
Ms. Orion has written a book that, at times, reads more like a Physics Textbook. However,if you can get through the first three chapters, there really is somevery interesting information within the following pages(especially her questionnaire results). For the person who has alreadychosen neopaganism as a lifestyle, I would recommend it for reading. Forthose in the "still curious" category, perhaps you will want tostart elsewhere.

Excellent analysis
The researcher does an excellent job of examining the type of individuals attracted to the neopagan movement and why more mainstream religions have lost their appeal to them.Especially useful was the exact resemblancesand differences between neopagans and fundamentalists, which will doubtlessraise a few eybrows.

Preaching to the pagan choir, with a view of who witches a
Ms. Orion presents the results of a survey takenat a number of differantgatherings of modern witches. She makes little or no attempt to beobjective, presenting only a possitive view. she does however offer someanswers to questions few think to ask,(such as "what do most witchesdo for a living?") An interesting book for the already converted. ... Read more

Product Description
This Practical and accessible guide includes: What is Paganism? Pagan beliefs and Gods and the seasonal cycle and spiritual practice ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Amazing Prognastication in '87 of reality in "03
I read this after it first was published in 1987.I just recently relooked it over and am amazed at the accuracy of the direction Linsell believed the church was going.And lo, the church is there.

He recalls from historical analysis how the church since the Englightment on has been taking on the values and shape of the culture, and how this is influencing American Christianity away from its God breathed (inspired) values and the will of God for His church.

His prediction that all the major denominations have given way to pluralism is totally right on!The quote which should sting us back into reality: "These churches are doing nothing of a serious nature to purify their bodies and return themselves to the orthodoxy that prevailed at the time of their founding."

My own church, the Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod, is evidence of this move away from orthodoxy and its founding. Those in charge now proclaim with great pride that they have led the body away from its out-of-date moorings into the future which they have contended God will bless with growth. But to date this has not happened.

Amazing work to reread and contemplate.Also see books by David Wells. ... Read more

Product Description
Have you ever wondered how God intended to end all this business of running His universe?Did you ever stop to think that God knew how everything would become before He created a thing?Did you ever wonder how the teaching of eternal punishment came to be in our Holy Bible?If it is the will of God that none should perish, but all should come to eternal life. Is almighty God able to fulfill His purpose in the earth or does His plan rest upon the weak and uncertain will of man?Would a loving, fair, merciful Heavenly Father ever allow His creation to be tortured forever in the flames of hell? His character would not agree to it; His power and sovereignty would not allow it; and His revealed Word of Truth does not teach it."For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." if the first statement is true, then follows that second statement must also be true.Capt's methodical research of the early Christian Church, and the later alterations of early biblical translations, will test everything you thought you believed about Christianity. Whether you are in full agreement or not, this is a book you cannot put down. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Counterfeit Christianity
Not very good. There is no bibliography or list of sources referenced in the book. He seems to assume that Christianity of the 3rd or 4th century is the same Christianity that Christ and his disciples lived by in the 1st century A.D.

Where did the doctrine of a burning hell originate - from Scripture or from pagan religions?

In his book, Mr. Capt discusses this question from the standpoint of Scripture and early church history. He also deals with such questions as: What will be the fate of those who "die in their sins," never having received the salvation provided by Christ? (This would include the vast majority of God's creation.)Will He confine them to a place of everlasting punishment to be tortured in a burning fire as most modern churches teach? As a Christian, I always wondered about that. It didn't seem to be fair. Not every person has the same opportunities to know about Christ, either because of his place of birth, his family situation, etc. Mr. Capt presents compelling arguments to prove that the very character of God (perfect justice, mercy and love) would not permit this gruesome punishment. What, then, will be their ultimate fate? This subject is also dealt with at length in the book, and the answer will bring both hope and comfort to many people.

The parental character of God - one of the strong arguments presented by Mr. Capt to disprove the doctrine of eternal punishment
God, as our Father, and we, as His children set an example for our own earthly parent/child relationships.Mr. Capt presents a valid argument that a good, loving earthly parent administers punishment (correction) in order to bring about repentance and restoration to obedience. A father would never torture his child for his entire life for disobedience. God, our Father, being perfect goodness and love would do no less to us, His children. Mr. Capt demonstrates that the doctrine of hell fire had its roots in pagan religions and cannot be backed up by a thorough study of Scripture. Other convincing evidence is presented to show the error of this doctrine. It is well worth reading his book, but be ready to be challenged about what you have always been taught in modern churches concerning eternal punishment in a fiery hell.

Untold story of the Bible
This is a book everyone calling themselves christians should read and find out for the first time what a real loving God is instead of a monstor. ... Read more

Product Description
A Community of Witches explores the beliefs and practices of Neo-Paganism and Witchcraft - generally known to scholars and practitioners as Wicca. While the words "magic," "witchcraft," and "paganism" evoke images of the distant past and remote cultures, this book shows that Wicca has emerged as part of a new religious movement that reflects the era in which it developed. Imported to the United States in the late 1960s from the United Kingdom, the religion absorbed into its basic fabric the social concerns of the time: feminism, environmentalism, self-development, alternative spirituality, and mistrust of authority. Helen A. Berger's ten-year participant observation study of Neo-Pagans and Witches on the eastern seaboard of the United States and her collaboration on a national survey of Neo-Pagans form the basis for exploring the practices, structures, and transformation of this nascent religion. Responding to scholars who suggest that Neo-Paganism is merely a pseudoreligion or a cultural movement because it lacks central authority and clear boundaries, Berger contends that Neo-Paganism has many of the characteristics that one would expect of a religion born in late modernity: the appropriation of rituals from other cultures, a view of the universe as a cosmic whole, an emphasis on creating and re-creating the self, an intertwining of the personal and the political, and a certain playfulness. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Ideal for discussions of children and "routinization"
Helen Berger is probably one of the leading investigators in trying to get a sense of the numbers and ideological places Pagans and Witches in the U.S. are going. While her book "Voices From The Pagan Census" is designed to display mostly raw survey data with little interpretation, this work handles most of her interpretive analysis of this movement. A note of warning--although the title includes "Neo-Paganism," there is very little here not of Witchen or Wiccan tradtion. Those looking for cross-tradition discussion will be disappointed.

Her book, thankfully, is centered around questions of family and tradition continuity through children, and how the influence of multi-generational change will affect the communities at hand. Her own major influence is Anthony Giddens, who holds that "postmodern fracturing" is the logical outgrowth of modernity, rather than a new era. Likewise, the subject or self has in no way evaporated, but rather remains symbolically negotiated and mediated between public and private experiences. As globalization lifts and floats institutions above their historically grounded practices and origins, so Wicca, as a religion of its time, asserts a similar possible universality, and this accounts for the way it draws both on individual experience and large, competing traditions of formerly indigenous knowledge as valid ways of practice.

Offering a background in census numbers, the concept of magic, Gerald Gardner, and other common Witchcraft parameters, Berger first focuses on the concept of the "magical self," a Promethean space attuned to the mysticism both of specific theurgical rituals and the mysticism of everyday life. Gods/Goddesses are viewed multivalently, and personal transformations, (often in terms of gender roles and expectations) are a predominant concern in ritual.

Berger then moves outward, to examine "The Coven," and the space of (post)modern friendships and fluid relations that develop. Secrecy, the Learning of Witch practices, and the similarity to family and kinship structures is discussed. Again moving outward, Berger examines covens and groups in relations to the larger concept of community. Drawing on Shane Phelan's concepts of lesbian community, Berger argues a similar process takes place--insulation from hostility, visibility, persona construction, and political launching pad for interacting with the wider world. While large conflicts exist, Berger posits the commonality of a magical "shared life world" and a collective memory that helps to construct a usable past and promising future, one that is envisioned especially at festivals.

Perhaps most fascinating and unique is Berger's attention to children and the routininzation that accompanies multigenerational development. While some families affiliate themselves with institutions such as Unitarian Universalism for social cover, others question bringing in children at all. As most parents were raised a different religion, many do not want to inflict that same conflict on their children. Another conflict is involving children in rituals normally meant for adults, with archaic language and intense group concentration. Other families and groups write rituals in which children can specifically particpate in some limited role, or certainly in their own rites of passage. The controversial topic of how children learn and relate to sexuality in a Wiccan context is well covered. But even that controversy fades somewhat as the prophetic voices of Witchcraft turn to priestly voices (to use Max Weber's language.) Practices, according to Berger, are becoming more standardized, and isomorphic. Two communities, EarthSpirit and Circle Sanctuary, are examined as creative responses to routinization.

The early parts of Berger's volume have much in common with other investigations. This makes them no less valuable, but there is a degree of redundancy in her discussions and "thick descriptions" of invocations and rituals. Where her work really shines is in her discussion of the role of children and routinzation of practice within magical communities. For these topics in particular, Berger's work is definitely required reading.

Occasionally infuriating but mostly disappointing
First of all, as a non-Wiccan Pagan, I am SO sick and tired of people automatically equating (Neo-)Pagan or Witch with Wicca that I could just scream.

Second, this reads like someone's graduate-school thesis, heavy on the academic citations and sociological jargon and light on readability. I minored in anthropology at university and still found it pretty chewy at points.

Third, extrapolating the _entire_ Pagan community from a very limited sample (virtually all Wiccan), in my opinion, utterly ridiculous. Certainly it isn't going to tell anyone much about actually _practicing_ the religion, so don't plan on reading it for that purpose. (It will, however, give an all-too-clear view of the backbiting, sniping, and passive-agressive behavior all too common in the Wiccan community. Sigh.)

not hutton.
This book tries, and fails, to pick up where Hutton leaves off. Not a bad work, and certainly valuable and written in acessible langauge, but the scope of the investigation was too narrow to have much external validity.

CLOSE, BUT NOT A RINGER
This is a thorough and helpful book in understanding the development of Wicca in America from its European immigration. But actually therein lies the problem as, once again I discover, it is difficult to find detailedhistorical documentation on the ancient roots of the Old Religion. Sincethe late sixties, and in conjunction with the feminist movement, it appearsthat emphasis continues to be taken away from the equal duality of Godrepresenting both sexes through symbolistic ritual instead of the Goddessslant that is continually stressed. I understand the religious persecutionof woman over the milleneum and tend to side with them on this issue, buthijacking the Wiccan religion to spearhead a Female Goddess movement is notthe way to balance the scale.

Good, but needs more
This is a good book if you are interested in how Wicca is growing in the U.S. and the concerns of modern day wiccans. The first chapter is a quick summary of wiccan beliefs and sabbats, etc. But the rest of the book reallyhas nothing to say about wiccan beliefs. The rest of the book deals withcovens, community, and how Wicca is a postmodern religion. Overall, its agood book if you're interested in the theology of Wicca, otherwise(especially if you're looking for a book to use for practicing and learningwicca) it needs a lot more. ... Read more

Product Description
Contemporary Paganism is a movement that is still young and establishing its identity and place on the global religious landscape. The members of the movement are simultaneously growing, unifying, and maintaining its characteristic diversity of traditions, identities, and rituals. The modern Pagan movement has had a restless formation period but has also been the catalyst for some of the most innovative religious expressions, praxis, theologies, and communities. As Contemporary Paganism continues to grow and mature, new angles of inquiry about it have emerged and are explored in this collection. This examination and study of contemporary Paganism contributes new ways to observe and examine other religions, where innovations, paradoxes, and inconsistencies can be more accurately documented and explained. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Voodoo and Afro-Caribbean Paganism
This book provided a great overview of the various practices from location to location.The information itself gets repetitive because there are similarities in these different groups, making the reading a little dry in places, but I don't see any way around it. Perhaps pictures would have been helpful. I really like the picture on the cover. The author does seem to know her information which comes from a pro-Voodoo perspective as is herself a practioner. This book gives me a lot of information to digest before I travel into areas where Voodoo is openly practiced. I also liked the movie reviews which depict voodoo practices. Missing was the movie, "Serpant and the Rainbow," but I suppose you cannot list them all.

Completely enjoyed this book!
This book is very well organized and well thought out as well as enjoyable reading!The contents show a deep understanding of Voodoo from the Caribbean perspective, as well as it's evolution and amalgamation with other belief models that impact it such as Catholicism and East Indies Indian beliefs.Ms. Dorsey has also provided how it's impacting the Neo-Pagan and New Age world and given it's readers a rare look into that community as it is today!I highly recommend this book!

Thoughtful, concise and comprehensive
A wonderful book that is truly informative without being a dry read. Highly recommended for the both the beginner or those familiar with Voodoo and Afro-Carribean traditions. Bravo!

Insightful
What we have here is someone who understands implicitly the commonalities found across the faiths and systems.The Afro-Carribean religions arose from just that, and this work helps explain this most important point.

GIVE ME A BREAK!
How surpsising! Yet another book written by a "Pagan" seeing how he/she can degrade other traditions and make them as low as his/her own! If you talk to a follower of Santeria, Vodou or Candomble and call them Pagan...make sure you have your First Aid Kit handy for afterwards!

ALL African derived traditions are monotheistic! There is only ONE GOD in Africa...no matter what you call him! If you think that the Orisha Oshun is a goddess and "equivalent" to the "Vodou Goodess" Freda, then think again! They are indeeed mighty entities, but they are GOD'S EMBASADORS and not gods themselfes...The list why this book su%$s big time goes on and on! If you are truly interested in Afro-Caribbean Traditions, leave your cosy "reading room" and find a good house to study with! ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Paganism," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Paganism in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Paganism when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Paganism, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume of the Zondervan Guide to Cults and Religious Movements discusses Goddess Worship and the impact native religious traditions of Europe and tribal traditions from North America have on Neo-paganism. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Poor scholarship and Innacurate Potrayal
As a Christian theologian who teaches in theology and as someone who practices Goddess spirituality, I can attest to the inaccuracy and inappropriateness of the author's depictions of BOTH Christianity AND Goddess Thealogy/Worship. First the author is clearly an evangelical fundamentalist who thinks that only his version of Christianity is the true religion and all others are "pagan." It is gross how he tries to prosthelytize at the end of the book. Secondly, Goddess understandings are rooted in Thealogy not TheOlogy and this is a huge distinction and big mistake to make. Furthermore, thealogy is not to be defined according to patriarchal understandings of Christian theology. This goes to show that the author does not even understand what Goddess thealogy is about as he says so little about it and spends most of the time talking about Christian beliefs instead. Thealogy is a very rich discourse with multiplicity and diversity and this author simply cast it as vague and nonexistent. If you want to really understand Goddess spirituality and not for simply converting them to Christianity (or back to Christianity as they have left it already most likely,) do not read this book.Goddess worshipers have left the monotheistic religions in part for the major arrogance of this Christian who wrote the book. This never should have been published as it is a disgrace to both faiths and ignores the central teachings of Christ just by its very form and content.

protect your children...from this book !
My Goddess, what utter tripe! I think that Hawkins failed to think about how ancient pagan holidays were converted into the ones that they are known by today by the church (Easter and Christmas, anyone?).

This is just another book released by closed-minded right-wing Christians to try to show that the Goddess and Her children are evil and "satanic" when these religions and ways of life existed BEFORE Christianity.

Typical
This is the typical kind of publication one would expect from right-wing fundamentalist christian publishers like Zondervan. Anytime something threatens the male power-hold of mainstream religion, especially christianity, you see publications of this sort. christianity is a religon cobbled together from all the pagan religions - there is nothing that is unique to christianity.

We can see the results of male-dominated religion in our world today: endless war based on male ego and power grabs, destruction of the environment, denigration of women. Without the guiding and civilizing hand of the Goddess, males have run rampant over the earth, raping it for their own gain.

Accurate, but not Complete
As a polytheist myself, I am wondering if the reviewers who accuse the author of misrepresentation and bigotry have actually read the book.Hawkins presents neopagan theology and practice thoroughly and well, with constant reference to respected primary texts from within the pagan community.He has obviously spent a great deal of time researching neopagan views and, with a few rather minor exceptions, presents them with as much accuracy as any neopagan would.

That said, I was under the impression from reading the description that this book would be mainly concerned with providing Christians with solid logical rebuttals of neopagan arguments, and was very surprised to find that it does not.It is not that Hawkins' arguments against neopaganism are inadequate - they simply aren't there.With two exceptions, Hawkins simply sets factual statements of what neopagans believe against factual statements of what Christians believe or what is asserted in the Bible.(Those two exceptions are the very interesting epistemological critique of neopaganism on pp. 32-34 and the section applying the "problem of evil" to polytheism, panentheism and pantheism on pp. 44-46, which unfortunately ignores the fact that Christianity suffers just as much from this argument as neopaganism, if not more.)Hawkins does not provide an argument for the truth of Scripture, which strikes me as very odd considering that such arguments do exist and his book is essentially useless as a witnessing tool without one.His Biblically-based arguments cannot function on their own without some other argument establishing the Bible as a reliable source.

That said, the information Hawkins presents on neopagan and Christian beliefs is generally quite accurate, and this book would certainly be a useful supplement for Christians who already have a grasp of some arguments for the reliability of the Bible.I can find little fault with the section at the end describing approaches to take when talking to neopagans about Christianity, and I would generally make the same recommendations myself.Neopagans would do well to read the epistemological critique I mentioned above (pp. 32-34), since responding to these objections would go a long way towards clarifying neopagan ideas of truth, belief and justification.

Generally, I can think of much worse treatments of neopagan religions in the literature of Christian apologetics and I would be pleased to learn that a Christian friend was reading this one.

In Response to the Celtic "Witch Witch" and others...
For starters this book was published by a Christian publishing company (Zondervan) and is really for the most part intended for Christians to use to compare Christianity to neopaganism. Since Hawkins and Gomes come from a Christian worldview it makes sense that they don't spent time defending the "validity" of the Christian faith since that is not their intent. The implication that the Christian faith is indeed the "true" faith is something that is "implied" in the text since, once again it was published by Christians for Christians. This is not to say that the book doesn't have value as an "apologetic/evangelism" tool, because it does and is intended for that as well, but from the point of view of the Christian using it not necessarily the neopagan picking it up and reading it.

The thing that Celtic Witch and the other "negative" reviewers have to get over is that Christianity makes an "absolute truth" claim. Christians make that claim, because Christ made the claim about himself in John 14:6. We don't believe that neopaganism is a path to God in whatever shape/form/etc. that people take him/her to be. Another big problem that Christians have with neopaganism is in its use of magick, which is condemned in the Bible. Any kind of occultic worldview whether it be New Age, Satanism, Wiccan, etc. butts heads against Christianity, because of the "truth claims" they make which contradict what Christianity teaches.
Celtic Witch and the group most likely are not going to agree with the "truth claims" of Christianity, but they have to understand that we don't agree with the claims of their neopaganistic beliefs either. I am not a relativist nor do I believe that relativism is really a tenable belief. Therefore I don't believe in this "every path leads to God" nonsense that many people promote. Everyone has a worldview (even if that worldview is that they don't believe in worldviews). How we understand whether one worldview is true over and against another deals with issues of coherence and correspondence to reality and the like. Although this is not the place to discuss this in its entirety I would guide people to Geisler's "Christian Apologetics" book on more information concerning coherence and correspondence. Beware neopagan you won't like what you read! ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Some account of the religious beliefs of the West African Negroes, particularly of the Yoruba tribes of Southern Nigeria. ... Read more