Wicca 333: Advanced Topics in Wiccan Belief

by Kaatryn MacMorgan-Douglas

Divided into 12 hot topics, Wicca 333 tries to provide the level of insight and depth of material found in many "101" books without repeating the same tired introductory information that is irrelevant to today's advanced student.Touching on topics ranging from the overlooked history of Wicca to creationism, Wicca 333 provides serious information and commentary while often remaining light-hearted and fun. As always, well-documented fact mixes with anecdote, humor and even an imaginary people!Author of All One Wicca, Kaatryn MacMorgan once again relies on a text-with-tools format and a supporting website where readers can ask questions about the material and participate in in-depth discussions.Opinionated, experienced and unashamedly Pagan, Wicca 333 takes the discussion of the Wiccan Religion to the next level, where we discover-much to our surprise-that learning can be exhilarating!

Genres: Wicca

322 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 27, 2011

About the author

Kaatryn MacMorgan-Douglas is the retired leader of the Church of Universal Eclectic Wicca, a retired research laboratory manager, singer, Mom and Widow.

She lives in Central New York where she is currently in the process of a large Folklore project, called FEAST TALES FOR FAMINE TIMES, which can be found under the name MacKenzie Morgan.

She also writes sci-fi under the name D. Douglas Woods.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of those books that makes you think and encourages you to reach your own conclusions rather than just presenting you with a thesis. It's presented in the format of an advanced course on Wiccan beliefs, which is a nice way to do it. Even the abstract cover image is connected to this, which is explained in a note at the very end of the book after the appendices.

The author really-really-really doesn't like Jung and rips everything related to him apart including accusing him and his followers of being atheistic which is most decidedly not so at least in the case of him and most followers. The Jungian viewpoint can definitely be approached from the atheistic point of view that deities are nothing but archetypal entities of the deep mind. That's a very shallow way in my view too but the Jungian approach is one of the important ways to reach the deeper connections any seeker can use and I wouldn't want to deprecate it. A path such as this on which the seeker doesn't need to commit to openly religious beliefs is all to the good.

Something in Topic 5 really annoyed me. She makes a valid point about the origins of the quarters and cross-quarters in Wicca, but assumes that pre-agricultural people (who she calls nomads) would have basically no knowledge of astronomy because they're nomads, which is precisely the reverse of the case. Actual nomads often have extensive knowledge of the stars because they move around and use the stars to navigate in trackless plains and deserts. The Tuareg come to mind immediately. So does the Nabta Playa stone circle. I also checked some of my own notes on Lakota star lore and pulled out my copy of Hamlet's Mill, all of which confirm many nomadic or hunter-gatherer people are documented as having complex knowledge of astronomy. Agricultural people in settled areas certainly had to have knowledge of the effects of seasonal cycles but hunter-gatherer and herding peoples may need an even more extensive knowledge of the stars than agriculturalists. The changing seasons set planting and harvesting times for agriculturalists. To nomadic people they can dictate their seasonal movements as well. When living in marginal environments being in perfect touch with the cycles of nature is essential. The point was that the quarters and cross-quarters are basically an artificial construction with a fudged history (as are many other things in older forms of Wicca) but the point doesn't have to be made by denying the knowledge of ancient people, which is so often done thoughtlessly.

The chapter on proselytization is excellent and her personal stories were endearing. The topics on creationism and evolution, which I didn't think would ever be issues in Wicca, is explored extensively. So is the (largely non-) relationship between Wicca and Satanism. The overriding theme that comes back again and again is the connection between Wicca and science and rationality, which is one of those connections that's both essential and under explored in my view. The idea of holding practicing Wiccans to the author's high standard of intellectual honesty is something that's obviously not going to happen in the community at large any time soon but still needs to be and thankfully is explored in this book.

It's both broader and deeper than you'd expect. It's not one of those books the reader should zip through from cover to cover but rather one you should work through, delving into each subject one after another.

There is a followup title, Wicca 334, which I might consider reading also.