Witchcraft: A Concise Guide or Which Witch Is Which?

by Isaac Bonewits

Bonewits writes of Witchcraft from its disputed origins, to the Inquisition, to its re-invention in the 20th century. A scholarly, pungent, witty and sometimes personal account. The book is a succinct guide to the many ways the term "witch" has been used over the centuries, and includes a preface by Ashleen O'Gaea (author of "The Family Wicca Book"), a detailed recommended reading list, and an analysis of the standard ritual design used by most Wiccan traditions. It is the fruit of the author's over thirty years of Wiccan research and practice. Bonewits, says O'Gaea, "knows Wicca from the inside out, and in this work he shares the definitions and distinctions he's developed from his intimate experience and original research. When you're talking about Neopagan Witchcraft, Bonewits is an author, advisor, and scholar you want - no, let me be he's someone you need on your side." "Bonewits has made it easy to understand Wicca's history and structure meaningfully. Beyond that, he offers one of the best bibliographies I've seen - his reading list alone makes this book indispensable on any serious priest/ess' bookshelf. But there's something else that makes this book special, and that's how reader-friendly it is."

Genres: Witchcraft, Nonfiction, Crafts, Paganism, Wicca

206 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 2002

About the author

Phillip Emmons Isaac Bonewits was an influential Neopagan leader and author. He was a liturgist, speaker, journalist, Neo-druid priest, and a singer, songwriter, and independent recording artist. He had been heavily involved in occultism since the 1960s.

Reviews

[edwyge · Rating 4 out of 5]

wicca being welcoming of outsiders and queer people, preaching growth and kindness, the idea that the earth is a living being, the flexibility of gender (balance and the spectrum represented by feminine and masculine energies), the worship of the universe, especially the moon.. these are all things i have been subconsciously doing and thinking. i grew up with an attraction to the occult, i literally always talk to the moon when i'm sad, i am someone who needs to grow, kill and renew notions of myself constantly, i believe in giving back and taking care of the earth. i love astrology and tarot and i don't know why it took me so long to be open to the idea that i may be religious. i think i needed to grow first, leave my trauma behind, shed my skin and transition to open up to it.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. Bonewits does a great job of cutting through the crap a lot of Pagans like to believe about the past.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bonewits, Witchcraft a concise guide - „Certainly does what it says“
In his usual entertaining manner, Bonewits details the history of witchcraft from the very beginnings right into the 21st century, debunking a lot of Craft Myths as he goes along. It’s really enlightening to find out how (and why) witchcraft came to be regarded as a kind of religion rather than a collection of “techniques”; Bonewits draws not only a clear line between shamanism and witchcraft, but also between paganism and witchcraft, making clear that the former is by no means an indispensable prerequisite for the latter, thus straightening out the wild mixture of influences a bit you find so often in (supposedly incredibly ancient and authentic) craft traditions. After reading this book, I gradually began to better understand the real implications certain modern branches of witchcraft bring with them in their specific form, their benefits as well as (sometimes) their potential for misuse.
It’s a nice twist to find out that Margaret Murray was the first to coin the term “Dianic” witchcraft (by which she meant something rather different than Z Budapest) and that her idea and definition of a global-scale “underground” witch-cult even went into the Encyclopedia Britannica (by her own hand, since she wrote the entries for several editions herself) , that the term “Gardnerian” was actually invented by Gardner’s most keen opponent, Robert Cochrane (then meant as a derogative), that important parts of the roots of modern pagan witchcraft were really “mesopagan” Theosophy, Rosicrucianism and Spiritualism, and that there actually was keen competition in introducing (or, as Bonewits says, inventing) Wicca.
I also like the way how he lists pagan and craft values and defines magic vs. religion including their intersecting areas, as well as providing a feasible definition of the word ritual, dividing them into theurgic (for spiritual growth) and thaumaturgic (for “working wonders”, aka changing the immediate conditions in which one is living). There is also a quite useful “common worship pattern” spelled out, listing the standard parts of Craft rituals, some suggestions regarding music and poetry in ritual, and appendices with etymological notes, glossary and reading list. Bonewits’ definition of paganism, as applied to various groups of people, is certainly spot on as well as hilarious to read…
In a nutshell: this book gives you a good grounding, making it much easier to understand the essentials of a given tradition, facilitates talking about the craft with interested parties, pagan and non-pagan alike, and simply delectable because of its easy-going manner. Hardly being outdated by now, 18 years later, considering, doesn’t make it less worthwile reading.

[Heather]

My copy is signed by the author, who had given a talk in St. Louis a few years ago.

[Friday Gladheart · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent!