Status Updates From The Witches' God

The inclusion of Latin that the High Priest has to say is an example of why people think magic has to be worked in Latin. It's not even a wise idea to include another language unless you are actually fluent in it.

All the unecesdary old English sounds so cringey. Like an edgy child roleplaying.

I would not recommend to any asexual friends as the fivefold kiss thing is uncomfortable. I don't want to watch a guy kiss a woman's breasts and right above the genital region. The feet kissing is kinda BDSMesque too. Seems more like an intimate ritual for two, not for the whole coven to watch.

It's concerning that they use swastikas as one of their magical weapons corrospondence with zero context. I get it's from Crowley's book but that absolutely requires an explanation for newer pagans/witches. This is some people's first introduction into the subject.

Went out of their way not to include Dionysus amongst the Olympians because of their Wiccan bias. Yes, Hestia is also an Olympian. But she was replaced by Dionysus among the major twelve. Which they fail to include because of their female preference and need to gender balance everything even in a book about MALE deities.

Calls The the son of Odin rather than of Hymir. Though both versions exist, the former seems less likely to be the case.

Apparently, according to them...Thor is the father of Odin. Let's just let that sink in for a moment. This is just how poorly researched into other forms of Paganism they truly are.

Murugan, a Hindu God was attended by Faeries? How is that when Faeries are Celtic in origin?

They keep calling transgender deities bisexual. Wasn't misgendering female deities enough? Cishet Wiccans write dumb book very poorly. Demonstrate they know nothing about queer folks. Gross.

Yeah, they are conflating Dryads with Vila/Vily. Different spirits have different folklore, culture, context and nuance. It's important to be accurate by presenting things authentically.

How is the Slavic Prince Marco's mother a Dryad if Dryads are from Greek Polytheism?

Claims Skadi is the mother of Freyr and that Freyja is a Moon Goddess. How many stupid, wrong, things can they make up out of thin air?

They think Khaos/Chaos is a MAN! They also think SHE married her daughter, Nyx. They literally have absolutely no idea what they are talking about!

When they mention Apollo, they fail to mention any of his traditionally sacred animals such as corvids (ravens & crows). They mention his weapons being the furnace, rosy cross and lamen. Uhh, no? I don't care if this was originally a part of Crowley's book, you are quoting. You decided to include it, you are responsible for passing on the misinformation.

Half the book are appendixes. Said appendixes have multiple typos such as, "diety" under the Brahma paragraph. Under Cadmus, they say that his wife, Harmonia is the daughter of Zeus. This is one of the versions but it less popular than her being the daughter of Ares in my experience. Which given how badly they hate on him, it's no surprise that they avoid naming him or giving him credit for anything positive.

In the Zeus play, they also make Aphrodite out to be petty, vain, and anti-feminist. She is a war Goddess in her own right as well as a patroness of prostitutes in a time where women's professions were extremely limited. Being about beauty and love does not make her some bimbo barbie and that stereotype is extremely reductive and offensive.

So they even go so far as to confuse and conflate Phanes/Primordial Eros with Daemon Eros (son of Aphrodite) because they are so incompetent and poorly researched they cannot even grasp that these are two entirely different beings. So many examples of why Wiccasplaining Greek Mythos is bad, leave it to the actual Hellenic Polytheists.

Their play for Zeus is super cringey. All of the Gods are portrayed horribly. It's extremely uncomfortable to read. They also take the time to not only disclude Ares but also smack talk him, because that is necessary for some reason. They have shown their extreme bias for him on multiple occasions. Also, claiming that Athene was named for Athens and not the other way around is bogus.

Why does the person for the Loki ritual have to be a man? Loki herself is a trans deity. This is reflected in the lore. Their ignorance is showing by assuming the ritual representative needs to be male. Clearly, they have no idea what they are talking about or doing. Knowing the generic archetype of a deity is not enough, they are not aspects, they are fully developed individual beings deserving of respect.

Claiming Loki had Baldr killed because, "he was jealous" is trash. Again, projecting your own bias. I don't even recall the myth ever expressly explaining WHY he did it...Do not assume, do not present your interpretation of his motivation as fact. *slams head and screams*

They now claim that Baldr is the son of Odin and FREYA...no. Just no. The idea that Frigg and Freya are the same is debatable. Even if you do think they are the same, I still think it would have been important to use the correct name in this context for clarification for those new to Germanic Mythos. Wiccans shouldn't be the one retelling it through their bias in the first place though.

They literally said Loki was originally a fire demon...I'm internally screaming because of how stupid, wrong, and baseless that claim is. This is why Wiccans need to stay out of other religions. Being a Wiccan does not make you an expert on all forms of Paganism. They also mention that he is Aesir...which is correct, but no mention of him being Jotun, which I think is equally if not more important.

Sour as I am...I like their incense recipes. I also like the, "Apollo Golden Coins" recipe. Those are pretty neat. I really do feel that even a Lisa Chamberlain book is more useful. *sigh*

If you insist on taking on a sex negative view, maybe do not mention Crowley or various sex positive Deities? They also act like they are anti-ditheism...like that is inherently patriarchal. But with Wicca being about a God and a Goddess...that is exactly what it is?? That with a dash of soft polytheism that comes with heaps of cultural appropriation. Do not take Gods from other religions and force them into yours.