Anyways, I first became aware of this book because the webmistress of a Pagan website I frequent recommended it. I flipped through it at the store a few times, noticed some interesting passages, and decided it was worth bringing home. It was indeed worth bringing home.

The book's title alludes to its main focal points - ritual structure and the elements of Wiccan (as well as other Pagan and occult) lore. Each portion of a typical Wiccan circle casting is analyzed from each element's perspective, which facilitates practical (Earth), mythical (Water), theological (Air), and mystical (Fire) approaches to the ritual. This book essentially illustrates how the Wiccan circle encapsulates and embodies Wiccan philosophy. There is as much consideration given to the "why"s of each aspect as there is to the "how"s of it.

As one might expect from a Gardnerian High Priestess, she includes more traditional, duotheistic, coven-oriented means of performing ritual, yet she also addresses the needs of solitaries and those who choose to relate to the divine in different ways than the strictly duotheistic and polarity-driven model. She gives examples of invocations and entire rituals which utilize sound and movement instead of words, as well as providing sample rituals devoted to specific deities which do not fall neatly into a generic Wiccan ritual construct. An especially interesting segment involves a ritual and invocation to the Goddess believed to be represented by the "Venus" of Willendorf. In this case, since this Goddess was originally revered in pre-history, there is no literature from that period to reference. Yet the author demonstrates how other information, for instance, archaeological findings, and intuition can be used to learn about this Deity and construct an appropriate ritual dedicated to Her.

I was particularly impressed with Deborah's writing related to offerings and sacrifice within Wicca, such thoughts on those topics are typically hard to come by. As a matter of fact, I was gladdened by her overall respect for the Gods which shines through the work as a whole.

The only flaw I personally noticed was a minor error in mythology on page 145: "'Ra, who rides in his Sun Chariot daily.'" Ra, the Egyptian Sun God, rode a solar barque (i.e. a boat) through the sky, not a chariot. She probably got Ra confused with either Apollo or Helios from the Greek mythos. But all things considered, this is a teeny-tiny flaw, and I only brought it to attention as the only flaw I perceived in order to demonstate that I really had to be nitpicky to find anything wrong with this book! Deborah's emphasis was proportionally on religion, there isn't a single "spell" within its pages, and she does not tout Wicca's pseudo-history as fact (truthfully, I do not even recall her directly addressing Wicca's roots at all). I would most definitely recommend this book, even to the serious beginning student (although a having a good grasp on ritual construction before reading it would be beneficial).

Sabina begins with a general introduction to Neo-Paganism which especially emphasizes the role of art and the artist within a Pagan worldview:

The creation of beautiful and pleasing art objects becomes in this context a sacred act in and of itself. Several scholars have noted the importance of creativity in the movement and the imaginative and artisitc nature of many Pagans. Pagans value creativity hightly. The central metaphor in many Wiccan rituals is the Great Rite, the symbolic union of male and female principles in nature in what many Witches interpret as being the fundamental creative act. Pagans feel that creativity is central to one's spiritual development and ability to contribute to society. Because creativity and artistry involve transformation, thses processes become analogous and equivalent to magical acts: the artist is by definition a magician.(7)

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in art created by Neo-Pagans or in the context of Neo-Paganism. The written content, illustrations, and color plates serve as great inspiration. Hopefully this will not be the only book that really explores this subject and others will follow.

The author addresses the expected basics ("Do Witches worship God?"), but also approaches some of the deeper spiritual ideas held by Pagans and Wiccans as well ("Why do Witches place so much emphasis on nature?"). It also considers Wicca's recognition by the U.S. government as a valid religious option, as well as showing that Wiccans have the same rights as followers of other religions do.

Something I find very wonderful about this book is that it reflects some of the more varied opinions within Paganism (and Witchcraft in particular) without becoming boring and overly lengthy (in other words, while still making the information understandable to those who are just being introduced to Paganism). For instance, Carl does make it clear that evidence shows that Wicca is a relatively new religion, yet he also acknowledges that there are still people within the community who believe it is ancient. He also covers the question of the differences between Wiccans and Witches concisely without condemning those who do (or do not) see a difference in the terminology. In this way, he gives the reader a broader and more honest look at what individual Pagans believe instead of simply presenting what he believes and projecting those beliefs onto the community at large.

The author, in my opinion, also handles relating to Christians and Christianity rather well. Since this book is written for non-Pagans who are in contact with Pagans, and since (like it or not) Christianity is the primary religion of the U.S., the book would not fulfill its purpose if it did not address the concerns Christians may have about Paganism. Although the author obviously does not approve of the bigotry exhibited by certain Christian (and other) fundamentalists, he does not condemn or insult Christians who may be uncomfortable with Paganism. He does acknowledge the ideas held by such fundamentalists concerning non-Christians, but he does so without becoming rude, angry, or spouting off about the injustices of the Burning Times, which as true as some of those accusations may be would not help his cause of easing the discomfort of non-Pagans when it comes to Paganism.

He has some wonderful suggestions on how to deal with the Pagans in one's life, especially if that Pagan is your own child and you do not agree with his/her spiritual decision. In addition, there are also comments on etiquette when observing a Pagan ritual, enterning a Pagan's home, or even when conversing with Pagans.

The only real criticisms that I have about this book is 1) at times it reads like a Saturday morning kids' special (i.e. it can get a bit cheesy), and 2) when it comes to ethics it only references the Wiccan Rede and the Threefold Law. Otherwise, if I had to choose from the several books intended for non-Pagans who are not interested in becoming Pagans themselves about the beliefs and practices of Pagans, this is the book I would recommend. I would especially recommend it to non-Pagan parents with Pagan children.

Simple Wicca is a part of a publisher's series of Simple Wisdom Books, and generally I have found that such books intended to be part of a series tend to be terse, overly-simplistic, and not particularly accurate. I am also a bit wary of all books which aim to take a significantly deep topic, such as a religion or philosophy, and market an "easy" or "simple" version of it to the public. On account of these factors I was already somewhat doubtful as to the book's quality. And yet, the author immediately starts off by addressing my concerns by stating that, despite the title, "[i]n truth, there is nothing simple about Wicca." The prognosis was looking up, but alas, within the first three pages there were already some problems. She states that Wicca is "centuries older than Judeo-Christian philosophy" and that the "heart of Wicca is the law 'Harm None'." Hopefully I do not have to go too in depth to cover what is wrong with these assertions. For one, Wicca itself is fairly modern even though it could be argued that some of the ideas within it are quite ancient. On page eighteen she contradicts her statement in which she claims Wicca is much older than Judeo-Christianity: "Although the Traditions practiced today are relatively young compared to Wicca's pre-Christian Pagan roots, they are based upon the Old Ways." Secondly, while she is obviously referencing the Wiccan Rede when she cites "harm none" as Wiccan law, she grossly misinterprets both the role of the Rede in Wicca as well as its actual meaning. The word 'Rede' actually means 'advice', not 'law', and the Rede itself consists of more than the two words "harm none" and thus its meaning is a great deal different than merely those words in and of themselves. Strangely though, on page ten, she includes the whole Wiccan Rede (I am referring to the couplet, not the longer poem truly known as "The Rede of the Wiccae" yet erroneously called by the same name) and interprets it in a much better way. Her section detailing the Burning Times is particularly not encouraging. She clearly seems to believe that actual Witches, in the sense that she uses that term to refer to modern Wiccans, were being put to death and torture during that time period. She also presents that "anywhere from half a million to 13 million men, women, and children were tortured and put to death" in that era [emphasis mine]. In addition, while 'witch' may be a powerful, magnetic word, in times past even before the Inquisition it still had somewhat negative connotations which is contrary to what she implies on page fifteen.

Remarkably, she does acknowledge Darkness in a Pagan context which is something generally not apprehended in beginner books. What I also found interesting was where she briefly tells of a version of the generic Wiccan sabbat cycle myth where the Goddess' changing is the main focus, not the God's. Simple Wicca utilizes a lovely, personal aspect of writing, and the author is indeed capable of imparting certain concepts of Wicca with beauty and meaning, but unfortunately that does not make up for inaccurate information. It's a shame that such a potentially nice introductory book could be spoiled by glaring contradictions. If it were revised to include better information, it could be pretty darn good, but in its current state I would not recommend it for beginners.