Review for Contemporary Witchcraft

A couple of snippets from the latest review that I have received for Contemporary Witchcraft: Foundational Practices for a Magical Life from Ariadne Rainbird, a practicing Wiccan of over 35 years and who I had the privilege of circling with back in the mid 1990s when I was extremely "green" around the edges:

A somewhat personal "bug bear" that has infiltrated modern paganism in more recent times, to the extent that even more seasoned practitioners using these alleged alternative words because "they sound great" as opposed to keeping true to the origins.  Will this point make my book "controversial"? 

Contemporary Witchcraft: Foundational Practices for a Magical Life is not due for release until July 2021 however pre-orders will soon be available through the various outlets listed on my publisher's web site:

https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/moon-books/our-books/contemporary-witchcraft

Meanwhile, I have commenced writing what seems to be the second book on contemporary witchcraft that will lead on from these foundational practices.

Contemporary Witchcraft Books Have Arrived

It is always exciting when a delivery finally makes its way to your door.  The current COVID-19 situation seems to have thrown not only postal services around the world completely out of whack, but has also impacted upon other modes of transport and delivery.  I found time ticking merrily away recently as it has been a number of weeks since my publisher had notified me that I was able to order early pre-release copies of Contemporary Witchcraft; Foundational Practices for a Magical Life.  

With the return of weekend markets starting to appear in my calendar, the first this Sunday, 18 October 2020 being the Adelaide Psychic Fair that is held at 230 Flinders Street in Adelaide, I was starting to get concerned that my delivery of books would not arrive in time.  Ye of little faith.  The long awaited boxes (plural as there were two of them) of books were collected from the post office this evening.

My dissatisfaction with books aimed at neophytes (seekers) venturing into the world of magick and witchcraft where the emphasis seemed to be merely on spells as opposed to establishing deeper practices that would aid and support them upon their journey, resulted in me writing Contemporary Witchcraft.  

As already mentioned on the book's own page, Contemporary Witchcraft aims at providing the neophyte with the ability to render the “veils” between this world and the mystical one by applying themselves to the work in order to understand these mysteries.

Ironically a pre-introduction to contemporary witchcraft, or modern Wicca, emerged when I had sent the manuscript off to the publishers.  That pre-introduction evolved into A Little Book of Wicca which is specifically designed as an initial information guide for anyone who is curious about the practice of Wicca but who not not yet decided whether this is actually the right spiritual path for them.

If you live in Adelaide and are looking for something to do on Sunday, I will be at the Adelaide Psychic Fair at 230 Flinders Street.  Later in the month, on Saturday, 31 October 2020, the Adelaide Health & Wellbeing Market will finally be returning to the beautiful Church of Trinity on Goodwood Road, Clarence Park.  I will be minding my LunaNoire Creations stall under the marquee out the front.  Then on the Sunday, 1 November 2020, I will be at the Gawler Psychic Fair. If you are attending any of these events, please pop along and say hello.

Shadows, Shades and the Dark Goddess

Lately I have noticed an increase in social media chatter about “shadow workings”, and in particular relation to working with “shadow beings”.  While these days everyone seems to have their own interpretations with respect to things, I feel it is important to differentiate between “shadow working” (based on a Jungian psychological term for understanding the repressed/rejected aspects of the self), and working with actual ghost like “shadow beings” who are not of this mortal world.

Throughout history, “shadows” (as in “shadow beings” or “shades” as they were also called) referred to the spirit or ghost of someone who had died and was residing in the underworld.  When the Greek hero Odysseus descended into Hades (the Underworld) in Homer’s Odyssey, he encountered “shades”, tormented ghost like beings.  Likewise, Aeneas who traveled into the Underworld in Virgil’s Aeneid.  In his Divine Comedy, Dante Alighieri also referred to many of the dead as “shades”, including his own guide, Virgil.