Devoted to You: Honoring Deity in Wiccan Practice

by Alexei Kondratiev, Alexei Kondratiev, Geoffrey W. Miller

Book by Harrow, Judy

Genres: Wicca, Religion, Paganism, Occult, Nonfiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Alexei Kondratiev was an American author, linguist, and teacher of Celtic languages, folklore and culture. He taught the Irish language and Celtic history at the Irish Arts Center in Manhattan, New York from 1985 until his death on May 28, 2010.

Wikipedia

Reviews

[Alan]

From this book, I learned that it is okay to view Deity in many different ways, even as an individual, single person. We don't have to hold one view of Divinity all the time, and we don't have to follow a single mannerism for devotion. It is good practice to many different perceptions and practices in one's own "tradition" in order to experience the Divine in as many ways as possible.

[Starlight]

The book has 4 authors. Each of them goes into a deep dive on one particular deity. For that deity they explain the things they’ve done to get to know, honor, and work with said deity.

I was hoping for a more general, not deity specific book. The actions that they offer up are mostly deity specific and don’t translate to other deities.

The book is well written. If you are a beginner and want to get to know more about any of these deities: Anubis, Brigit, Aphrodite, Gaia this would be a good place to start.

If you are already well read, this book might not be much help to you. Especially if you already have some knowledge of these deities, many of the recommendations are just plain common sense.

[DW Rowlands]

Despite the title, only about half of this book is actually Wiccan. It consists of four essays by pagans about deities who are important to them: two of them, about Anubis and Mother Earth, are by Wiccans, and two, about Brigid and Aphrodite are by Reconstructionists (Celtic and Hellenic respectively). The chapters by Wiccans weren't very interesting to me, and at some points were even kind of annoying. On the other hand, the chapters by Reconstructionists were pretty interesting. I particularly liked the one on Brigid because one of my friends is devoted to her, and it was interesting to learn more about her goddess.

[R.E.]

Though featured prominently on the book's cover, Judy Harrow is one of four authors who contributed to Devoted to You. Each author describes how they connect, honor, pray, and conduct ritual to the Deity they follow. Geoffrey W. Miller shares his study of the mythology surrounding Anubis and the rites and rituals he follows. Alexei Kondratiev brings information on Celtic mythology and spiritual practices in honoring Brigit. Marueen Reddington-Wilde, a consecrated priestess of Aphrodite, explains Aphrodite's place in the Greek pantheon and discusses correspondences and suggestions for home devotions. And, finally, Judy Harrow explores Gaia's place in myth and offers ideas for nurturing a Gaian spiritual practice.

As a whole, the ideas presented by each author are very tradition specific, which can make the reading at times very slow when you don't related to a particular god or goddess. However, followers of Anubis, Brigit, Aphrodite or Gaia will find a wealth of information to enhance their own spiritual practice.

[Melissa]

I have only read the chapter on Aphrodite.