I bought the Kindle version of this back in February 2021. Although I’m not a seeker or beginner when it comes to witchcraft and Wicca, I find that the seekers I do engage with are often reluctant to read the books I started out on from 20 or 25 years ago. However, I can’t recommend newer books that I haven’t read (unless the recommendation comes from a trusted friend who HAS actually read it), so I’ve been picking up some new “101” level books here and there and giving them a try.
Thorn is a High Priestess of a Gardnerian coven, but the book is not solely about Gardnerian Wicca itself. The book is really for any seeker who is curious about any type of initiatory, lineaged, coven-based Wicca. I could see a lot of the same ideas and practices I’ve learned in Amber Rose Wicca in what she writes, and while we are an initiatory, lineaged, coven-based tradition we are very much NOT Gardnerian.
The book does a very good job of setting out, in plain language, exactly what is generally meant by “initiatory, lineaged, coven-based Wicca” and how that is different from many other forms of Wicca and Witchcraft one might run into on the pagan internet. Part III, especially, would be of value to a seeker, as she talks about how one might find a Traditional coven and work towards initiation in such a group. I found a lot of good resources for future reading in her “Further Reading” appendix.
Throughout the book, Thorn relates anecdotes and advice from various Traditional Wiccans. Some are outer-court students of a coven, some are initiates, some are coven leaders, and some are Thorn’s own stories. I always enjoy hearing about how other pagans practice, so these little scenes kept me engaged with the material. As I said a few paragraphs ago, I can see a lot of how my own Tradition is structured in the stories presented.
Speaking of “outer court”, I did find the section on the history of the concept of the “outer court” in chapter 2 to be very interesting. It answers a lot of my questions about why my own eclectic Tradition is so similar in places to openly shared Gardnerian practices and other early Traditional offshoots. It isn’t always easy to find information on the history of paganism in the mid-20th century that isn’t academic, but these pages were informative without putting me to sleep!
A word of caution: this book is NOT a grimoire or a Gardnerian Wicca “how to” manual. There are no ritual scripts, spells, correspondence tables, or other practical information about Traditional Wicca. For many Traditional groups, much of that material is oathbound anyway (private to the individual coven or Tradition and not meant to be shared with outsiders). Plus, Traditional Wicca is a coven-based practice. One would get their “how tos” from the leadership and elders of the coven they study with, not from commercially published books.
I’d recommend this book to any seeker of information on Wicca or Witchcraft, whether they are curious about initiatory, lineaged, coven-based Wicca or not. It’s a strong counterpoint to the breadth of eclectic, solitary, “do whatever you feel like” type of Wicca that one can find on the pagan internet. I’d certainly require it of any of my own future students early on in their studies.
Have you read the book? What did you think?
Thanks for the review. I’ve been interested in Wicca for a long time but haven’t dove in yet. Maybe this will be a starting point.