scott cunningham

[Vigdisdotter]

Hi everyone,
Just wondering if someone could give me an opinion on wicca for the solitary practioner by scott cunningham... i want that book so bad... finially found but the asking price is like $45 and just want to know if it is worth it or not!!

Unless it's a pristine first addition and you're a book collector....no, it's not. You can get a copy at a used book store for $10. Never mind ebay.

But in regards to the worth of the book, I'd strongly advise that you wait to read it until AFTER you have a solid foundation in Pagan thought and practise. That book has a lot of holes that a newbie wouldn't be able to spot but where retard their spiritual development because those gaps would make it very hard to piece things together into a working whole.

What it gives is a shallow version of the authors personal practise. And honestly there are better books out there.

[Sobek]

"If you wanted a book and had the choice of buying it at $3 or $45 I think I know which you'd pick"

you know li, i'd prob go $45 anyway. not that its a choice because i can't buy over the net, but if i could i would be very wary of it.

[jcrowfoot]

A friend of mine, as a newbie, found that book to be very confusing. I'm still reading it. There are much easier books to start with.
The irony is that there are other books written by Scott that are much better for beginners. But frankly, what I like best about Scott Cunningham is his stuff on magical herbalism. He does pretty good research on that stuff. In later editions he gets abit obsessive about warnings. For example: cloves? Dangerous? Well... don't put the essential oil undiluted on your skin, (which goes for ANY essential oil) and don't burn lots of it without adding it to a base, but that seems like well duhh stuff. However, I was raised by a cook.
And his book on Natural Aromatherapy is very good. Don't have the money for essential oils? Look no further than this book, but if you do, it's also a good guide.

My reccomendation is to get older editions with Robin Wood's illustrations. The new illustrator is lousy and his style doesn't really go with Scott's writings.

I'm miffed at Lewellyn for not renewing their copyrights on her stuff.
Again, I use his stuff mostly for reference on herbalism and folk magic.
But then, I tend to write all my own spells and rituals.