Wiccan Beliefs & Practices: With Rituals for Solitaries & Covens

by Gary Cantrell

Modern Wicca is a vibrant, uplifting nature religion practiced by hundreds of thousands of people in the United States alone. But wearing "witchy" jewelry and casting a few spells does not make one a witch, for Wicca is a lifestyle and those who walk its path have solemnly dedicated themselves to the service of the Goddess and God.

Wiccan Beliefs and Practices was written for the solitary witch or non-traditional small coven. Written by a Wiccan High Priest and retired aerospace engineer, Wiccan Beliefs & Practices includes crucial information not found in other introductory Wiccan books,

Ethics of a Witch, including the Code of Chivalry How to write and develop your own spells and rituals The physically-challenged Witch Out of the broom is it right for you? Know your the legal protection of Wicca as a legitimate religion Author Gary Cantrell speaks from personal experience with Wiccans of all ages and degrees of physical ability, bringing you an earnest examination of modern Wiccan beliefs and a practical guide to the Craft of the Wise.

In the following excerpt, the author explains why he chose to "come out of the broom closet."

I elected to reveal my practice of witchcraft publicly simply because I personally feel that the time for intentionally hiding ourselves has come to an end. We are practitioners of a kind, gentle, and peace-loving religion. We are not the bloodthirsty or depraved, orgiastic fanatics all too often portrayed by the entertainment and news media. The general public has been misled about witchcraft for over a thousand years, and now with our numbers reaching an all-time high, possibly in excess of one million people worldwide, we need to stand up and set that record straight.

We are out there by the hundreds upon hundreds of thousands. We are in the arts, the sciences, and the humanities. We are law enforcement officers, engineers, builders, doctors, and farmers. We are a legally recognized religion under the protection of the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, and our isolation from the rest of the religious community should and must come to an end. With the phenomenal growth of witchcraft since the 1970s and with the free and easy interchange of information afforded to us by things like the Internet, that time will come to pass and it will happen soon. It may be happening now.

Genres: Wicca, Witchcraft, Paganism, Nonfiction, Religion, Reference, Spirituality

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 1, 2001

Reviews

[Captain Curmudgeon · Rating 1 out of 5]

A good book to give to someone you want to prevent from taking Wicca seriously.

[J.T.K. Gibbs · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is not a book to be read all at once, but studied, savored and sustained by deep thought and reflection, much as Gary Cantrell has put into his experiences and sources for the Wiccan community. His “instruction” goes mostly to the community or coven worshippers, but he does point out where a solitary can take inspiration. Above all, he enables the reader to take small, but consistent, steps to being true to their calling.

[Julia Hinkler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. It is a PERFECT book for beginners, except that the bibliography is full of very useful links. I am in the middle of a pandemic here in Brazil and this book distracted me a lot from my worries. I'd love to know more about the author but I didn't find any information about him. I'll certainly have this book kept in my heart.

[Theo Chaffin · Rating 4 out of 5]

O único problema que tive com esse livro foi que o autor fica chamando a Wicca de "A antiga religião" (Esta teoria da Margaret Murray já foi academicamente desmentida tem tempo), caso contrário teria dado 5 estrelas.

[Halo · Rating 5 out of 5]

good book for beginners/basics

[Alexia ✨ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm going to focus mostly on the translation, since I (want to) hope that mostly name error were due to the translation.

This book is not that good. It is very commercial and the information are very vague. I know that most of the info is based on the author's personal experiences and I am no one to deny that but, in my opinion and based on my personal studies in the past years, this book is not a great one for a beginner.
In fact, I wouldn't recommend it.

An interesting thing though, that is what gives the 2nd star to this book, is the personal experiences the book provides in chapters 8, 9 and 10. And also, the range of websites, books, associations, etc given in the Appendices.

[Helen Griffus · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really great beginner book to The Craft. It has a prefect overview of what Wicca is about, including great sections on tools and Sabbats. I would also recommend this as a book to give to someone who wants to know what your religion is all about.

[Teresa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought it was quite general, and that it took too long to say what needed to be said. However, he did mention an extensive list of sources to gain more information. Also, it wasn't a bad starting point but still...it kinda left me with more questions than answers, lol.

[TJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

While visiting Salem MA I purchased this book at a shop that caters to witches. I wanted to get a better understanding of the Wiccan Religion and this book was perfect for that. i enjoyed getting to understand the Religion and the faith behind it.

[Valek O]

it's one of the most comprihensive guids to the wiccan religion I've eveer read!

[Stephanie]

Great book! This is the book that got it all started for me.

[Cecília · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eu livro tem informações basicas para iniciantes na prática da Wicca, eu geralmente recomendo quando me perguntam sobre informações basicas da mesma.