Brothers of the Sun: Pagan Men's Mysteries

by Terry Riley

A book that takes an indepth look at the personal challenges and triumphs of the role of men in Goddess based religions. This book examines how modern Pagan men experience the God force through rites of passage and initiations and in so doing learn how to commune with the Goddess within.

238 pages, Paperback

First published March 28, 2011

About the author

Terry Riley was ordained by The Aquarain Tabernacle Church in 1993 and currently is the Regional Elder for the ATC in the mid-south area of the U.S. He is the founding High Priest of The Southern Delta Church of Wicca - ATC, https://www.sdcw-atc.org/ established in 1994. He is a professor teaching at Woolston Steen Theological Seminary. http://wiccanseminary.edu/
Terry has been an active promoter of Wicca/Pagan religions. He has been featured in Newsweek Magazine, TV shows, The Jane Whitney Show and Inside Edition. Terry has been featured in hundreds of newspaper articles around the world.
Follow him https://www.facebook.com/terry.m.riley

Reviews

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not because Terry and I are friends, but because the book has great information, is well researched and reads as if you were sitting at the kitchen table listening to him talk.

[Perry · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought this book was a poorly written attempt at what could have been a very interesting topic.
Mr. Riley's major thrust is to be had from simply changing the female to male in this book and touted as new information(teachings)and add filler to the rest. Maid, Maiden, and Crone = Rove, Father, and Sage. Replace the male aspect with the female and you will get the gist of what I mean.
There is no new information in this book and there are many other books published that do a better job explaining the separate stages of men and women, how they relate to Wicca or Paganism, as well as the Wicca 101 filler in general that creates the rest of up to 70 percent of the book. This book (after reading over 100 additional Wiccan, Clergy, and related titles) compares as a guide "to help them come to know and understand the God within themselves" (Mr. Riley's purported reason to publish), fails miserably.
I would not be the Sage that I am without giving an honest opinion of this book. I was very disappointed in the books lack of information, the misspellings, and misquotes [One would expect the author would get the person or author's name that he quotes correctly beginning with Doreen Valiente pg.25]. This book begins on page 45 and ends on page 79. The rest of the book is filler. It could easily been covered in a newsletter.
In conclusion, I was again disappointed realizing that those listed reviewers of this book or persons that commented on it were personal friends or subordinates of Mr. Riley (several being Clergy and having their own Churches, personal students, or former guest speakers that were paid by Mr. Riley for Church functions). They stated that theirs was a true review and reported no biases, some of them very good authors, rating the book highly. I doubt all of these people actually read the thing or their "unbiased" opinions would be quite different.
My review is save your $13.49 and buy another book.

*Date start/finished is approximate but close.

[Davin Raincloud · Rating 5 out of 5]

Note: This is an old review I did on my old Good Reads account.

'Brothers of the Sun' is a spiritual gem of a book. It is the first book in a while that I couldn't put down. I think this book will appeal mostly to Wiccans such as myself, but can provide valuable perspectives to all practising neo-pagans. As much as this book contains technical elements, it is largely commentary and teachings based on the experience and spiritual insights Rev. Terry has gained over many years as an ordained priest, founding his own Wiccan church, and performing over 180 Rites of Passage for his local pagan community.
It provides really intriguing ideas and insights on the inter-play between the divine feminine and masculine and it's interaction with both men and women. The book is of course chiefly about Male spirituality, but it is framed within the context of Wicca which is a religion that honours the divine feminine.
If you are after spiritual teachings from someone who lives what he talks about then this is your book. If you are after a dry academic text that takes a neutral stance, then you will not be satisfied. Please understand what this book is about before judging it. There are too many guidebooks out there written simply to sell a book. Instead this is real wisdom and teachings from a recognised sage pagan elder.
The book is self published, and the physical size was smaller than I thought. Much closer to the classic small paperbacks. There is only a little over 200 pages so I read it within a day, but really there was little padding. This was straight to the point and stimulating. I will definitely be coming back to this book for future reference and a second reading.

[Perry Parsons · Rating 1 out of 5]

Very poorly written. This book offers nothing new to the literary Wiccan world and I would say skip this one. What it does offer is one person's insight. Mr. Riley tries to inform in a precursory way, a look at male roles in a Goddess based religion. This book has an oratory feel and implies the author has new knowledge. Unfortunately, the information in this book can be found elsewhere in better texts. Two thumbs down Mr. Riley.

[Terry Riley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: "Men's Mysteries have traditionally been a intricate and important part of the male rites of passage, sadly these have been largely ignored by society. Terry Riley has done a wonderful job in presenting and explaining these long-forgotten mysteries, bringing them forth from the darkness into the light." -Kevin Gardner- author of The Handbook for Wiccan Clergy.

[Alfred Willowhawk · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book that details the stages of manhood for Pagans and non-pagans alike. It is informative, easy to understand and very thought provoking. I truly enjoyed this book.


Note: The author and I are friends and associates. This review is based on my actual reading and utilizing the information in this book.

[Jonathan · Rating 5 out of 5]

wonderful book a must read for any pagan man