TBP Reviews

Reviewer’s Name: Harrell, Kelley Author’s Name: Kennedy, Gerry ISBN: 1594771294 Publisher: Inner Traditions (September 8, 2006)

Literary adventurers pounce on the opportunity to become enchanted by mysterious codes, their origins and authors shrouded in secrecy. Such curiosities allow their readers to take up magnifying glasses and burn midnight oil, fancying themselves the one to provide decades-hidden insight. It is with such vigor that one approaches The Voynich Manuscript, by Gerry Kennedy and Rob Churchill. The authors deliver a thorough exploration of a potentially insightful Goddess-oriented manuscript against a paternalistic playground of men attempting to understand and exploit it. To that end, this book is more about the story of the key figures and life around the manuscript, than it is on providing a solid focus on decoding the codex, itself. Found in 1912 by Wilfrid Voynich, the legacy of the manuscript came under public scrutiny, where it remains still. Kennedy learned at the funeral of a family member that Voynich was a distant relative of his. Through that lens the introduction of the text is quite personal, though the book quickly progresses into academic detailing of the manuscript’s supposed journey into the present. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewer’s Name: Oaklight Author’s Name: Lapanja, Margie ISBN: 1573248584 Publisher: Conari Press (January 2003)

Although it technically qualifies as a recipe book, I would describe this book as an empowerment guide for the kitchen. Taking the humdrum aspect out of cooking, it reminds one of the magic and expression that can be found in the culinary arts. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewer’s Name: Harrell, Kelley Author’s Name: Frazier, Jan ISBN: 1578634008 Publisher: Weiser Books (May 2007)

In a culture saturated with fear-based living, it’s important to have torch carriers illuminating peace.  In that light, Jan Frazier’s When Fear Falls Away is a solid account of one woman’s journey from navigating frightening personal trials to realizing her power to soar above them. Written as a memoir of her transformation, Frazier does not offer her reader self help, but a grounded, realistic account of finding joy. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewer’s Name: Troemel, Eileen Author’s Name: Ardinger, Barbara ISBN: 157863332X Publisher: Weiser Books (August 2006)

Grab your journal and get ready for some thought provoking conversation.  Ardinger states she set out to cover myths, organizations, saints, rites, and zodiac signs.  She does a good job of providing a variety of pantheons and traditions to follow without any judgmental commentary.  Ardinger handles new mythos like using Barbie as a Protestant Goddess (page 69) with sardonic humor, which is lively, entertaining and fun.  Ardinger starts with January 1 and works her way straight through to December 31 including an often missed day of February 29.  This allows the reader to easily find where they are in the year if they want to read a particular day’s essay.  Or she advises readers they can randomly open the book for a tidbit of needed wisdom.  Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewer’s Name: McSherry, Lisa Author’s Name: Leland, Charles G ISBN: 1564146790 Publisher: New Page Books (August 1, 2003)

Published originally in 1899 (50+ years before Gardner, Valiente, et. al.) Aradia contains the essence of “The Charge of the Goddess,”(later reworked in Gardner’s Book of Shadows by Doreen Valiente), conjurations in both Italian and English. According to Leland (as recorded in the appendix to this book), the majority of the text of Aradia was collected for him by an Italian woman named Maddalena who he paid to collect folklore for him. He says he first heard of the work in 1886 and she was finally able to provide him with a copy in 1897. This means the true origin of the work is unknown. While Maddalena could have obtained it from Italian witches, she could have had it written to please Leland or the like. (Some even say Leland may have written it himself as a Marxist creed.) This is why Aradia is considered unreliable by modern scholars.
Despite the lack of reliable or not, Aradia has played a sizeable role in modern Wicca and it well worth reading by anyone interested in Wicca (a few traditions are even based primarily on this text). Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewer’s Name: Lone Eagle Eye Author’s Name: Summer Rain, Mary ISBN: 1571740619 Publisher: Hampton Roads Publishing Company (July 1997)

Mary Summer Rain’s first work of fiction is suspense laden, intriguing, and will keep readers engrossed. For those who have read the author’s “No-Eyes” series, you will not be disappointed with this work.

Skillfully woven, the story revolves around four central characters that are from varying walks of life. All of whom are surreptitiously drawn together for varying reasons by forces unbeknownst to them. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewer’s Name: Rajchel, Diana Author’s Name: Sutton, Komila ISBN:067089379X Publisher: Studio; 1st American edition (November 6, 2000)

This book might be passed around as a conversation starter at a party when people have not quite exhausted the line, “Hey, baby, what’s your sign?” However, an astrology student wishing to divine the mysteries of Vedic tradition needs a better source than this book to cast a chart or interpret any information. In fact, a would-be Vedic astrologer might read this book before embarking on years of study necessary to glean even the most basic understanding of the divination form. Ultimately, Vedic astrology must be learned through oral tradition and experience; to learn the astrology requires that a student first learn an entire, highly complex culture that still allows for the role of astrology in its mainstream.

Sutton’s book gives a cursory overview of the basics of Vedic astrology and a cursory view of the philosophies behind it. The bulk of the content addresses the Nakshatras, roughly the equivalent of Western astrology’s sun signs. She provides a basic explanation of Hindu beliefs and how they apply to nakshatras, and then the book charts each sign and characteristics associated with the sign. At the back of the book is a compatibility chart indicating which signs can enjoy positive relationships and which signs should avoid each other. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewer’s Name: O’Meir, Olivia Author’s Name: Owens, Gayle ISBN: 0974466891 Publisher: TurnKey Press (August 1, 2004)

The Feminine Connection, by Gayle Owens, truly defines the phrase don’t judge a book by its cover. This small book, with its plain and tasteful cover, hides radical inspiration inside. Its focus is inner revolution, with the goal of encouraging women to seek out and reclaim the sacred feminine within. Owens looks to introduce us to the feminine and suggests how women can bloom when the feminine is valued

Owens begins by discussing the state of women today, showing how we have been hurt by the repression of the feminine. Next, The Feminine Connection moves on to defining the feminine As Owens points out: “The feminine is an archetypical idea, a thousand different images, an infinite concept. Although we can experience her, we can never find the right words to describe her.” She observes the feminine from many different angles, such as yin and yang, gender, sex, matriarchy/patriarchy, and The Great Goddess. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewer’s Name: Rajchel, Diana Author’s Name: Cowan, Douglas ISBN: 0415969115 Publisher: Routledge (October 25, 2004)

All those neopagan websites of plagiarized material, all those underage neopagans assuming false power personas and the capitalization of this niche by con artists publishers and the generically shameless have finally risen from their graves of inattention to haunt even the most innocent seeker surfer. But like any haunting, some invitation must be set forth. The book must be opened. The book must be read. And a book like Cyberhenge will likely not be read by it’s subjects.

Just as was lamented about Dizerega’s Pagans and Christians, the audience that most needs to read this book is more likely miss it completely. Neopagans need to read this book, perhaps as part of a program entitled “so you’re thinking of starting a Pagan website, cybercoven, or other Internet pagan community venture.” In subtext, Shovelware: Please Don’t. Neopagans are viewed sans glamour in this sociological venture. The unattractive angle stems from Internet behaviors every web surfer has seen — from ridiculous claims to flaming to naked snobbishness. Read the rest of this entry »

Reviewer’s Name: Rajchel, Diana Author’s Name: Cowan, Douglas ISBN: 0415969115 Publisher: Citadel (May 3, 2005)

I’m wary of inspirational books. My jaded eye inspects these little wonders of pop-fiction and pseudo-nonfiction for soccer moms, and tosses them aside, forever on a quest for some idea, some piece of writing, some clip of film, some defining incident that moves me. Rarely, if ever, am I moved. I’m impervious. The emotional has been so abused in modern literature,even in some Pagan literature, that I largely ignore it in favor of some intellectual pursuit. When I practically jumped up and down waving my hands requesting this book for review, I thought it might be some chapter-by-chapter exposition of modern Paganism a la Phoenix from the Flame and I was surprised to find a more “chicken soup-esque” book in my overeager hands instead. With fresh trepidation, I opened up the book and began my journey, bracing myself for the “Wicca” soccer mom’s sentimental outlook. Instead, I found a shining gem, and some of the best Pagan writing I have ever read. These contributors are no soccer moms and dads from a Pagan Rockwell painting. These are real people, living the Pagan religions with life and grit. I might even reread favorite anecdotes, comforting myself after a trying meditation on a winter’s night. This time, I’m moved. Read the rest of this entry »