The Wiccan Rede: Couplets of the Law, Teachings, and Enchantments

by Mark Ventimiglia

The Wiccan Rede is the heart and central tenet of the ancient Wiccan religion, and contains all its fundamental teachings. This pocket-sized edition will show you how to extract the Rede’s wisdom and put it into practice, and how to live by its underlying principle, "an ye harm none, do as thou will." Each of the Rede’s twenty-six verses, beginning with "Bide the Wiccan Law ye must; in perfect love, in perfect trust" is interpreted separately and in depth to give the reader a comprehensive and practical understanding of the most esoteric pagan beliefs and practices. In a straightforward and personal style, Mark Ventimiglia contexts the Rede with a fascinating account of the history of pagan religion and the beginnings of Christianity. This handy book gives you a complete philosophical learning system that is easily translated into daily life. A work of integrity, scholarship, and devotion, The Wiccan Rede should be the dear companion of every dedicated, responsible practitioner.

Genres: Nonfiction, Wicca, Religion

160 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2003

Reviews

[Chelsea · Rating 4 out of 5]

i really liked the fact this book went over the rede by giving each line its own chapter. i feel as if this better explained the meaning of each saying as well as the rede itself. with that being said i also believe the saying " each to their own" along with "an ye harm none do as thou will." with this being said together is the most basic way i can put wiccan/pagan religion (of course everyone has their own path, to each their own.) the author wrote this in a THIS IS FACTS kind of way by repeating "you do not eat meat, you do this not that and live this way ,etc. also one thing that stuck out was the whole wiccan do not at all ever use blood magick! this is so not true, that may be his way and how he chooses to live but thats not a fact. (moving off him to the book) i gave this book 4 stars because of the prayers, spells, and the explanations of runes/herbs ect. i enjoyed reading this well put together book although nothing gos in to deep their are reference reading list of book for each chapter that do. looking over the authors options of facts, this book was tastefully done.
an' ever mind the rule of three:
what ye sends out comes back to thee.
follow this with mind and heart,
an' marry ye meet, an' merry ye part.

[Victoria Holtzman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Want a short sweet take on what earth religion is about? Then this book is a must read. Short and to the point, explains line by line what wicca is, and how its practioners live it.

[Kyrstin Holmes · Rating 1 out of 5]

Far too opinionated, only useful part was the break down of the Rede

[Kerstin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just randomly picked this book up in the library as I knew next to nothing about the wicca faith/traditions and it was a small enough book. It was interesting to go through the actual rede and there were a few interesting bits of information about the wiccan faith.
On the whole, however, and despite his own protestations, the author is very opinionated and some of the "interpretation" of the separate couplets of the rede were unnecessarily drawn out and downright rambling. I skimmed quite a few pages and ended up skipping a few more for good measure.
Still, I guess the book has given me a general idea about the wiccan belief system, but if I decide to read more in future, I will definitely look for books by other authors.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was good to see the full Rede and have it broken down but I found the author wanted only his interpretation to be the correct one. There were little digs at people who support abortion, and just a lot of judgemental comments about things he didn't agree with. A few of the chapters were really reaching for something to talk about. The book could have been a lot shorter and still made it's point. I don't pick up a book like this for lessons on numerology, divination, etc. I pick it up for an analysis of the rede. After the first three or four chapters the book basically became useless and boring. It's worth owning for the first few chapter's but only if I ignore the judgements.

[Patrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this just to study up on my knowledge for religions. I found this book to be a great book for references and a pretty solid source of information. Although, there are some judgmental opinions that I find a little contradictory to what the author was trying to get across. Everyone has their opinion and should.... But this book (IMO) shouldn't be the place.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good perspective! However I didn't really like the huge promotion of being a vegetarian. It's very easy to see past the bias in this book, but the other information is very well stated.