Authors to avoid??

[AvalonAuggie]

To my knowledge Starhawk would be on that list because she is often radical in her ideas, and the fact that she takes a very feminist spin on Paganism. She's a great author, but if there's somthing about Starhawk I'd avoid it's the assumption that her feminist witchcraft tradition is actual traditional Wicca. because it's not.

Cabot....kinda scares me. I haven't really read a lot of her stuff, but she does seem very publicity-oriented, and I get pissed off when anyone actually talks about witchcraft in Salem, acts as the "Official Witch of Salem," et cetera, because the Salem witch trials had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with "witchcraft" as Laurie Cabot or Silver Ravenwolf or even Gardner define it. Using that location and its history to pimp out your merchandise and your brand of modern paganism is quite frankly an insult to those 19 people who died as a result of the trials.

that's like...it's like Madonna talking about the Holocaust to promote her little watered-down, celebrity-oriented version of "Kaballah."  

[Lotus Poem]

Gavin and Yvonne Frost are authors of Good Witches Bible which is a highly controversial book. In it they describe a ritual of a father making a phallus for his daughter (aged 12) and showing her how to use it and then offering her up to his High Priest for sexual intercourse as an initiation. ... now I find this repulsive and horrific though I have heard that they have improved in later years and are not recommending such acts anymore. I admit I haven't read any of their other books being a bit shell shocked from that one. I have heard a lot of people singing their praises though and I wouldn't mind some more information.  

[TeaDidikai]

AvalonAuggie

Cabot....kinda scares me. I haven't really read a lot of her stuff, but she does seem very publicity-oriented, and I get pissed off when anyone actually talks about witchcraft in Salem, acts as the "Official Witch of Salem," et cetera, because the Salem witch trials had ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with "witchcraft" as Laurie Cabot or Silver Ravenwolf or even Gardner define it. Using that location and its history to pimp out your merchandise and your brand of modern paganism is quite frankly an insult to those 19 people who died as a result of the trials.

that's like...it's like Madonna talking about the Holocaust to promote her little watered-down, celebrity-oriented version of "Kaballah."

I think the real insult would be the fact that a heathen was living in what was once a Puritan Community.

But then, said Puritans are "in heaven" and likely don't really care- for that matter, I wonder how they are getting along with the Native Americans they displaced in the afterlife.

Good marketing isn't a crime. People have to feed themselves after all.  

[wicked_faery]

TeaDidikai

quote]

I think the real insult would be the fact that a heathen was living in what was once a Puritan Community.

But then, said Puritans are "in heaven" and likely don't really care- for that matter, I wonder how they are getting along with the Native Americans they displaced in the afterlife.

puritans didn't believe they were going to heaven. they "knew" they were all going to hell except for a chosen few that were "pure". that's why they lived so pure & were hence called puritans. they hoped that they were a chosen person so they didn't want to lose the chance to go to heaven.  

[TeaDidikai]

wicked_faery

TeaDidikai

quote]

I think the real insult would be the fact that a heathen was living in what was once a Puritan Community.

But then, said Puritans are "in heaven" and likely don't really care- for that matter, I wonder how they are getting along with the Native Americans they displaced in the afterlife.

puritans didn't believe they were going to heaven. they "knew" they were all going to hell except for a chosen few that were "pure". that's why they lived so pure & were hence called puritans. they hoped that they were a chosen person so they didn't want to lose the chance to go to heaven.

Source for that?

I'm working largely with statements taken as record for the Witch Trials.

Edit: Yeah, actually, I looked at the statment of faith- they don't contradict the scripture or the Assertion of Faith founded and revised at CoN I & II.

Meaning- they don't believe that they are all going to hell.  

[maenad nuri]

wicked_faery

TeaDidikai

quote]

I think the real insult would be the fact that a heathen was living in what was once a Puritan Community.

But then, said Puritans are "in heaven" and likely don't really care- for that matter, I wonder how they are getting along with the Native Americans they displaced in the afterlife.

puritans didn't believe they were going to heaven. they "knew" they were all going to hell except for a chosen few that were "pure". that's why they lived so pure & were hence called puritans. they hoped that they were a chosen person so they didn't want to lose the chance to go to heaven.

I'm pretty sure that thats the Calvinists, not the puritans.  

[TeaDidikai]

Nuri

wicked_faery

TeaDidikai

quote]

I think the real insult would be the fact that a heathen was living in what was once a Puritan Community.

But then, said Puritans are "in heaven" and likely don't really care- for that matter, I wonder how they are getting along with the Native Americans they displaced in the afterlife.

puritans didn't believe they were going to heaven. they "knew" they were all going to hell except for a chosen few that were "pure". that's why they lived so pure & were hence called puritans. they hoped that they were a chosen person so they didn't want to lose the chance to go to heaven.

I'm pretty sure that thats the Calvinists, not the puritans.

Predestination was a b***h. But even then the Calvinists asserted that it wasn't possible to know for sure who was going to make it to Heaven and who was not.  

[Operation Shoestring]

Dunno how good Margot Adler's scholarship is, but she does say some questionable stuff, and seems to share some of SRW less positive attitudes.

can someone advise? There's a copy of Drawing down the Moon at a local bookstore...  

[wicked_faery]

TeaDidikai

wicked_faery

TeaDidikai

quote]

I think the real insult would be the fact that a heathen was living in what was once a Puritan Community.

But then, said Puritans are "in heaven" and likely don't really care- for that matter, I wonder how they are getting along with the Native Americans they displaced in the afterlife.

puritans didn't believe they were going to heaven. they "knew" they were all going to hell except for a chosen few that were "pure". that's why they lived so pure & were hence called puritans. they hoped that they were a chosen person so they didn't want to lose the chance to go to heaven.

Source for that?

I'm working largely with statements taken as record for the Witch Trials.

Edit: Yeah, actually, I looked at the statment of faith- they don't contradict the scripture or the Assertion of Faith founded and revised at CoN I & II.

Meaning- they don't believe that they are all going to hell.

i learned that in school while studying the puritans. so if u have a problem w/ that take it up w/ my old teacher.  

[TeaDidikai]

wicked_faery

i learned that in school while studying the puritans. so if u have a problem w/ that take it up w/ my old teacher.

I'd be happy to. PM me with the name of said teacher, the name of the class, and the address of the school.  

[natas_kitty420]

On the website about books to be avoided Sivirs posted, http://www.thecrookedheath.com/bewarenf.htm, Scott Cunningham and Raymond Buckland were there. Ive read books by both of them. They dont scream FLUFF!!! to me. Can anyone explain why they might be on the list? Thanks. Even if Cunningham was an inspiration to Ravenwolf, thats not really a reason to blacklist him, is it?  

[Operation Shoestring]

natas_kitty420

On the website about books to be avoided Sivirs posted, http://www.thecrookedheath.com/bewarenf.htm, Scott Cunningham and Raymond Buckland were there. Ive read books by both of them. They dont scream FLUFF!!! to me. Can anyone explain why they might be on the list? Thanks. Even if Cunningham was an inspiration to Ravenwolf, thats not really a reason to blacklist him, is it?

Buckland is pretty much an eclectic, not so much a wiccan, and he mostly just wants your money anyway. He did study some wicca, but left long before he leanred the secret stuff.  

[maenad nuri]

AyanamiRei

natas_kitty420

On the website about books to be avoided Sivirs posted, http://www.thecrookedheath.com/bewarenf.htm, Scott Cunningham and Raymond Buckland were there. Ive read books by both of them. They dont scream FLUFF!!! to me. Can anyone explain why they might be on the list? Thanks. Even if Cunningham was an inspiration to Ravenwolf, thats not really a reason to blacklist him, is it?

Buckland is pretty much an eclectic, not so much a wiccan, and he mostly just wants your money anyway. He did study some wicca, but left long before he leanred the secret stuff.

Oh, Buckland (As did Cunnigham) learned the mysteries. He just didn't include them in his seax-wicca.

I'm starting to get wary about the crooked heath. Robin isn't exactly my favorite of people (moreover, he's really just an a**) and his focus is on a family trad of witchcraft, not Wicca (and then only the most strict of ideas for Wicca).  

[Pelta]

natas_kitty420

On the website about books to be avoided Sivirs posted, http://www.thecrookedheath.com/bewarenf.htm, Scott Cunningham and Raymond Buckland were there. Ive read books by both of them. They dont scream FLUFF!!! to me. Can anyone explain why they might be on the list? Thanks. Even if Cunningham was an inspiration to Ravenwolf, thats not really a reason to blacklist him, is it?

One of the problems with Cunningham is that what a lot of what his books are about isn't actually wicca, even though he says it is. Personally I just detest his style of writing. Any writer who gives anecdotes of scantily clad ladies twirling in the moonlight and throwing pearls into pools of water tread dangerously in the realm of fluff. His natural magic books had some decent ideas, if you could get beyond the initial "bleccch" factor. But again, those specific books are NOT WICCAN. That's a different tradition entirely.
And DJ Conway just angered me. There was nothing original or authentic in any of her books. She rehashed the same things over and over again, pretending they were different traditions. People starting out could be dangerously misled by some of her tripe.  

[crystal_raye]

Morrison's pretty good, imo.