Silver RavenWolf?

[emmfullness]

Starlock

Well, one thing to add in that I ended up cutting out of that initial post I made was to consider the pressures that were around at the time she published her FIRST book and the pressure the publisher is probably putting on her to continue writing similar material to keep their market share. In other words, I really think there's more going on here than just her personal dispositions and whatnot. There are definately sittuational pressures that are contributing to the publication and content of her books.

So is it really Silver that is pushing the Wicca trend or is it the publisher USING her towards those ends?

Yeah, that's true. However, she doesn't have to give into that pressure. The trend with her so big right now that she could easily find another publish to publish her books her way. Or, she'd show some sort of deviation from her usual tone on her websites, etc., and I have not witnessed that on the link provided in the "To ride a Silver RavenWolf" thread.  

[MST3Kakalina]

i'd think if that were the case--if her publishers were pushing her to be a certain way--she would have the integrity to say, "no." i can't imagine her publishers giving any more vague threats than "keep being angry! and outspoken!" etc. you have her 'tude but still do things like, say, get your history straight, or maintain civility in dealing with other religions.

if it IS a charade, though, what a sad little person she must be.


so no. i have absolutely no respect for her.  

[Tsuzuki]

I own quite a few excellent books by the same publisher on paths that she insults in her books. I don't think it's Llewellyn's fault. However, it does seem that they'll publish just about anybody.  

[MST3Kakalina]

i heard somewhere once that the reason they publish so much crap is that it's the stuff that makes the most money the quickest, that way they can also afford to publish some decent, not-as-well selling stuff.

i dunno, i like their magical almanacs. they're handy and have a nice variety of stuff.  

[Tsuzuki]

Somebody needs to tell them to put some of their better ones back in print.  

[Jasta]

I actually have SRW's "Teen witch", and her whole trilogy - "to Ride a Magick Broomstick" etc, or whatever it is.
My idea of her tends to run thus :
Yes, the woman may have no morals at all; yes, her attitude sucks, and she has no idea what religious tolerance means. BUT, there is some information in those books that I found in those books before I found them elsewhere - ideas, concepts - primarily teaching techniques, and some are especially good for children, or teens - in "To Stir A Magick Cauldron", she talks about different visualisations to be used in casting Circle, and I had never come across anybody who suggested doing that. Yeah, ok, so that made me question it's validity, but when I thought about it, I decided that it's the energy that matters, not what you visualise the energy to look like, and my teen pupils have had great fun coming up with individual ways to cast their own circles over the years. Note - I don't pretend this is Wicca, or any specific religion; my teaching tend to run on a fam trad/ my studies basis. Most of them settle into the tried and tested methods afterwards, but it's a great exercise in visualisation, and makes practising Circle casting fun too.
I guess I just wanted to say - just because an author is ridiculous and a discredit to the pagan community, doesn't mean their books are totally useless. Use your common sense, skim through the obvious BS, and just take what you can use. You can always sell the book on Ebay later..... cool  

[Starlock]

I checked out "To Ride a Silver Broomstick" from my local public library. I haven't read any of her stuff on my Barnes and Noble trips though... not sure what keeps me from picking up more of her books. You don't really have to buy them even. I only own a few Neopagan related books.  

[xsparkledovex]

Triste-chan

http://wicca.timerift.net/ravenwolf.html

That link explains a lot of it. Basically, she has no ethics, and her history sucks.

Haha, wow. I'd never actually read any of her stuff before - except a quick flick through some book of hers on making "portals", just to laugh at it - and it's worse than I thought eek eek  

[BookWhore]

I will admit that I did buy "To Ride a Silver Broomstick" several years back when it first appeared. As I progressed though, and did studying and research on my own, it became apparent that her history is not very good, and the sweetness and light in everything made me a little ill. I just don't like her, I don't like her style and I do believe that she is out to make money. To me she is on a par with televangelists. She uses the ideas to make money. You can't necessarily fault someone for trying to make money but you also don't have to buy the stuff. she is what she is and she nauseates me but some have found her info....helpful.  

[Captainkaneda]

Two words-Sell out 3nodding  

[TeaDidikai]

Captainkaneda

Two words-Sell out 3nodding

Two more- Lying whore.  

[Sky_13]

My honest opinion about her books is that they are a great resource for teenage girls who have watched the Craft, and thought it looked neat. They'll read her books, get really into it, then find something else exciting and move on. Anyone actually interested in the religion the movie was loosely based on, will do some more research and find the facts before trusting one, miss Ravenwolf.  

[Blacklight Floater]

Quote:

If you are attracted to a religion for reasons other than its religious content, you are a poser. It's like saying you're a Christian because you like communion wine.

<--- from article

lolz... Um, yeah, I like her spells and stuff, though I think I've only tried a few. ^^ But some of her ideas like the ones on the site shok me.

Christians aren't out to get ya!

Just the few who come from the landover baptists! .... which... I think is a fake church. o.O  

[TheDisreputableDog]

Iquey

Just the few who come from the landover baptists! .... which... I think is a fake church. o.O

Yep. Fake. But hilarious nonetheless. For awhile. They get old. Although maybe I just haven't looked at the website in awhile.  

[Kristal Lee]

Hmmm... I read Teen Witch long ago, and am a few chapters into Solitary Witch or whatever it's called simply out of curiosity.

I don't think none too highly of her myself...

It's true that there IS *some* good info in those books, but you have to be able to sift through the crap to get at it. However... this is true of most if not all books out there. Some more than others, of course, but so many books are published just for money and not for accuracy - on a variety of topics - that anything you read anymore has to be taken with a grain of proverbial salt.

Read LOTS. Read lots of books by different authors, take no one author's work for gospel. The more you know or even think you might know, the easier it will get to make decisions on what to really believe. This is my opinion on the matter, anyway...