Study of Witchcraft: A Guidebook to Advanced Wicca

The Study of Witchcraft is a compendium for Wiccans who want to deepen their understanding of their traditions. The Study of Witchcraft reaches beyond Wicca, delving into topics as diverse as history, psychology, divination, and lucid dreaming, The Study of Witchcraft introduces the reader to these topics, discussing each in depth and offering a one of a kind course of study including recommended reading, offering readers increasingly, solitary witches a self study guide and a rich resource. The Study of Witchcraft includes information for all sorts of Wiccans/ traditional, eclectic, radical, groups, and solitary. Wide ranging topics also include Western occultism, myth and folklore, meditation, astrology, the Burning Times, history, herbalism, and much more. Deborah Lipp opens the book with a discussion of the past 40 years of Wiccan history and talks about the diverse people who call themselves Wiccans. Then, throughout the study guide portion, she offers information tailored to different types of Wiccans. Essentially, The Study of Witchcraft is a veritable master's degree in Wicca in book form! * Written for the needs of the modern wiccan, who learns primarily by self study * Written by a noted and respected author, whose work is already used in study groups.

About the Author :
Deborah Lipp is an active "out of the closet" member of the Pagan community and has appeared on various media sources, most notably on the A&E documentary Ancient Mysteries: Witchcraft in America as well as on MSNBC, in The New York Times, and others. Deborah is also the author of several highly regarded books including The Way of Four and is the author of the forthcoming The Ultimate James Bond Fan Book. She lives with her son in suburban New York. Isaac Bonewits is one of North America's leading experts on ancient and modern Druidism, Witchcraft and the rapidly growing Earth Religions movement. He is the author of Real Magic, Authentic Thaumaturgy, The Pagan Man, Bonewits's Essential Guide to Witchcraft and Wicca, Bonewits's Essential Guide to Druidism, Real Energy, and Neopagan Rites, as well as numerous articles, reviews and essays. He is a singer songwriter with two and a half albums to his credit. As a 'spellbinding' speaker, he has educated, enlightened and entertained two generations of modern Goddess worshippers, nature mystics, and followers of other minority belief systems, and has explained these movements to journalists, law enforcement officers, college students, and academic researchers.

Review :
Lipp, author of The Way of Four and Elements of Ritual, suggests that the reason there are not more advanced Wicca books is because advanced Wicca happens when you stretch beyond Wicca itself. She goes on: When I was trained as a young traditional Wiccan, I was expected to make an extensive study of topics that ranged far beyond Wicca and witchcraft. For Lipp, the areas beyond memorizing the elements of the pagan calendar and spell casting that young Wiccans ought to be exploring include such obvious topics as the evolution of modern Wicca from Freemasonry and the history of witch hunts. However, she breaks new ground when she encourages readers to explore such traditional spiritual practices as meditation and the study of comparative religion. She writes, Certain advanced Wiccan skills, such as deep trance or channeling, depend on a greater ability to still the mind, quiet the ego, and reach an inner balance. Indeed, Lipp invites readers to enter into psychotherapy in order to gain deeper self-awareness. Each of her chapters is supplemented with a helpful homework section and an annotated bibliography for further reading. Advanced practitioners of all stripes should be delighted with this enduring contribution to the literature. (Oct.) Publisher's Weekly, Copyright A(c) Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.