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1. Rio
   Posted July 3, 2009 at 9:08 pm | Permalink

   I bought this book in the early days of my interest in Wicca. At that point in time, I gobbled up anything with the mention of the word in the title, and in a small bookshop to my misfortune, this was it. I had quite a strong reaction to this book – and not a very positive one at that – and now I bet you are wondering what the heck it is about it that caused me to feel this way. I can sum it up in one word: hypocrisy. This is simply the most hypocritical “Wiccan” book I have ever discovered.

   The book opens with an incredibly fluffy and feel-good description of Wicca in its introduction: “Wicca is respecting and living in harmony with all living things. Wicca is light. Wicca is love” (ix). Chapter One, entitled “Gerina’s Grimoire,” begins directly with the Wiccan Rede in italics, and she follows by explaining its implications,”It is imperative to bear in mind the Wiccan Rede before performing any magickal spells or rituals, especially those which may be considered unethical or of a manipulative nature. [. . .] If you deliberately harm or manipulate another person through black magic or any form of evil, you will pay for it by having the evil returned to you threefold” (1-2). Perhaps Ms. Dunwich should take her own advice since she apparently believes it is wrong to violate the free will of another, yet has no problems blatantly supplying spells that do just that.

   This type of spellwork that Gerina has previously denounced is especially present in the section devoted to love magic. For example, one spell begins, “to gain the affections of [. . .]” (15). Another spell intended to make a love secure requires a lock of hair or fingernails of one’s spouse or lover (10), and one to reunite parted lovers instructs,”write his or her initials next to yours and then draw three circles of blood around both initials” (17). All of these spells aim to coerce another human being, the “object of your affections,” into loving or being sexually attracted to you against their will (13). One spell even calls for the blood of a white dove, and Gerina follows this with a caveat suggesting that in order to gain this ingredient one should,”find a dove that is already dead. Never kill a live dove! [. . .] Most Wiccans and modern day Pagans agree that the deliberate taking of life in unnecessary and [. . .] is in violation of the Wiccan Rede” (14). I live in a forested area, and have all my life, and I can say that I’ve never come across a dead dove. I wonder how some young person interested in completing this spell intends on obtaining dove’s blood – I can just imagine some fourteen year old going to their local petshop and asking if any of their white doves have passed to the Summerlands recently and then requesting if they can “borrow” the feathered corpse. But I digress….

   The next section that clearly provides spells that do not respect other living things are “spells to deal with an enemy.” Yet again, Gerina states that black magic violates the Wiccan Rede and stresses that despite one’s anger at another, one should “never resort to the use of black magick or sorcery” (32). Amazingly, the next few pages contain spells that require the use of photographs, names, and birthdates of enemies which are all used to bind them (31-4). Overall, the book presents this statement to the reader: Never, ever resort to black or manipulative magick because it’s evil and violates the Rede, but here are all the spells you need to do so anyway!

   There are Witches and Wiccans (not necessarily the same thing, mind you) who fall under all shades of the spectrum in regard to hexing, binding, and all other forms of magic that may interfere with another’s free will. But even those who have absolutely no qualms about using magic in the defense of themselves and their loved ones, in other words, those who are willing to use magic as an assertive means of protection in extreme and grave situations, would not resort to doing so to curb something as petty as a gossiping neighbor! Admittingly, gossip is an annoyance that can have an effect on one’s reputation and can cause much social discomfort, but if one is immature enough to feel that they must resort to magic to bind their gossiping peers, I don’t believe he or she is mature enough to perform magic at all. And yet, The Wicca Spellbook provides such a spell, as well as similarly petty and/or impractical ones including how to break a curse placed upon you by a sorcerer (can we say paranoia?), and how to force someone you dislike to move away. It contains nothing to handle a situation that may actually warrant something like a binding or hexing, and nothing to deal with a serious threat to someone’s life.

   Gerina went through all the trouble to stress the evils of manipulative magic and seemed careful to document the consequences of violating the Rede (all in classic fluffy-bunny, white-light style) and then proceeds to contradict her own warnings with blatantly manipulative magic. To make matters worse, when she did insist upon breaking with her own philosophy of “harm none” as stated earlier in the book, she did so for some really stupid reasons!

   I suppose this book got on my nerves because it identified itself specifically as a “Wiccan” spellbook, which implies that it is intended for those who follow Wicca. Obviously, not every person or group that engages in magical practice is Wiccan or follows the Rede so if this spellbook had not indentified itself as such, it probably would not have affected me in such a negative way. As stated earlier, not even all Wiccans/Witches concur on the interpretation of the Rede and how far it should be taken. However, Ms.Dunwich made such a big deal throghout the book about following it and not participating in any form of negative magic – and so there is no excuse for such an arrant discrepancy between what she apparently believes and what she does.

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