The Circle Within is an entirely appropriate title for this book, which is undoubtedly why she chose it, since its overall focus is creating a personal, devotional Wiccan practice in order to draw closer to the divine during everyday life. The circle is generally the arena where Wiccans chose to invoke Deity formally and where transformation is wrought, and if we can encourage such a reverent state in daily life, then we are in essence carrying such a circle within. This book is completely focused on spirituality and connecting with the Gods, and as such there is no section on magic within its pages, although Dianne does make a telling comment:

Magic - or at least spellcasting - is given very little attention in my own life, but I'll share a big secret with you right here and now: if you live a magical life, one filled with spirit and in contact with Divinity, you won't need so many spells. Think of the people you know who really seem to have it together in the religious department. They may have their fair share of misfortune, but they are better equipped to handle it without having to break out the Big Book of Badass Mojo. Wicca is a part of who they are, not just something they do eight times a year or once in the month. Magic fills their lives from head to toe to pinkie finger.(15)

It is divided into two main parts. The first part contemplates various ways in which Wiccans can nourish their connection with the divine. Dianne breaks down the process of creating personal rituals into its essential components which will be of great help to those who may find the idea of creating their own rituals from scratch a bit intimidating. As opposed to transcribing yet another method of erecting a temporary ritual circle, Dianne includes ways in which to make one's home a sacred place. The topic of ethics is given much more thoughtful consideration than in many other Wiccan books. Although she does make mention of both the Wiccan Rede and Threefold Law, she recognizes that our ethical system is (or truly should be) based upon a respect and love for all created things as everything is filled with Divinity instead of merely trying to avoid bad karma:

[I]f you are of the mindset that everything on Earth is a part of the Goddess and God, and that all things are connected, you won't be the sort of person who will need the Law of Three to tell you how to behave. You will see the world as sacred and all beings as sacred and will try to treat them as such. you will understand that for every action there are consequences, and that we make our choices to the best of our ability with the knowledge we have at the time.(47-8)

I would highly recommend this book to anyone seeking a deeper Wiccan practice. Congratulations to Dianne on her first book ! (And congratulations to Llewellyn for publishing something of actual literary and spiritual merit!)

Included is the typical Witchcraft 101 information: the Wiccan Rede, Threefold Law, Goddess and God, Sabbats, descriptions of various Wiccan Traditions, basic ritual construction, tools, etc. plus a few extra features one is not likely to find in similar introductory books. For instance, it has a page or two dedicated to the Pagan notion of Darkness and its necessity for balance in the Universe. It also has an interesting segment on Pagan culture (common values, festivals, and information on covens) which is rather illuminating. Being a fairly small and inexpensive book, it might be a good buy for those of you who are curious about Witchcraft and don't have much cash (or room) to spare on books. It can also be used a nifty reminder of Sabbat dates, basic correspondances, etc. For a book that is part of a series (i.e. the 'Pocket Guides'), it is rather good.

There are already a number of books which are composed of interviews with Pagans (e.g. Wiccan Wisdomkeepers, People of the Earth/Being a Pagan, etc.) as well as books which feature major sections of Pagan interviews (e.g. Drawing Down the Moon, Rocking the Goddess, etc.) but this particular volume differs from those in a few important ways. For one, the interviewers of Modern Pagans are rather obviously biased, whereas most other interviewers attempt to and seem to be relatively neutral. Both V. Vale and John Sulak seem to share many of the ideas of the Pagans they interview, and they do not appear to be very fond of Christianity and modern American consumer culture. In addition, this set of interviews addresses topics that other collections of interviews do not.

As opposed to such interview compilations as Wiccan Wisdomkeepers (and more in keeping with books like People of the Earth/Being a Pagan), Modern Pagans delves into some of the less-discussed realms of Pagan thought, namely a Pagan view of sex and Pagan aesthetics. Initially, I was a bit taken aback at the summary on the back cover which states that "Represented are Reclaiming, Gardnerians, Druids, [. . .] orgies and more!" This gave me the impression that the book might treat Pagans frivolously, trying to hook readers with sex while virtually ignoring the religious aspects. I was actually rather wrong. Although I found a small handful of the interviews very superficial and somewhat banal, by and large, those interviewed had compelling things to say about a Pagan approach to sex. Many of the Pagans interviewed are polyamorous, and they provide an interesting perspective of how that lovestyle fits within a Pagan context. It was really refreshing to hear about the sexual/spiritual element inherent in Paganism as it is often dissmissed by more "mainstream" Pagan books and publishers. The topic of Pagan aesthetics is also one rarely apprehended by interviewers or authors, and although there was less spoken of aesthetics than of sex, it still provided a perspective not found elsewhere. Pagans spoke of their own tattoos, piercings, and other body-modifications as symbols of their faith and rites of passage. Choice of jewelry and manner of dress were also mentioned.

As added bonuses to the interviews themselves are some black and white photographs, visual indications of the Pagan aesthetic. Many of those interviewed also provided lists of recommended reading, websites, and films. Of special interest are recommended reading lists for Pagan children and a massive list of book titles pertaining to classical Pagan philosophy and survivals. There is also a condensed, but useful glossary of Pagan terms, an illustrated timeline of Gerald Gardner's life and influences, and a short history of the Neo-Pagan movement.

The author has addressed a number of points that I feel are well worth noting, and yet which are seldom mentioned in many other books. For one, she encourages research into the nature of the Deities one wishes to invoke or evoke beyond resources that only contain a few descriptive sentences per God/ddess:

It is also magickally important to have a deep understanding of the context which gave rise to the God-form and the reality of how It related to Its people. I have noticed that many people have only a surface familiarity with the myth systems they use. They get a passage or two out of some children's book on myths and go with it. Sometimes they read a modern interpretation of mythology - perhaps with a psychoanalytical slant or maybe a "world consciousness" framework - but they never really study the texts from which those books are derived. This is like reading a distant acquaintance's obituary and claiming that you knew him well based on that newspaper account - even though you hardly knew him at all.When you are invoking the Gods, that superficial relationaship will not work.(49)

Lady Maeve Rhea has a number of very strong opinions, and she is decidedly not concerned with being politically correct. Depending upon one's own viewpoint, one may or may not regard this as one of the book's faults. For instance, she has a number of less than pleasant things to say about certain monotheistic religions, a transcendent view of God, ceremonial magic, and vegetarianism. Though I personally found some of her comments to be a bit harsh, and she was rather apt to generalize complex ideas based on a handful of personal experiences, I respect the fact that she is unwaivering in her views; it is somewhat refreshing in light of the wishy-washy writing of some other authors who cannot seem to form a coherent opinion. In addition, she does present a caveat in her preface: "Don't believe anything I write in this book simply because I write it" (ix). However, even if one does not agree with the conclusions she has drawn, it does not invalidate all of her instruction and advice.

First, I would like to address the introductory chapter on Wicca. In regards to Wicca's history, Marion essentially presents the entire Murrayite theory, and, in fact, she quotes Margaret Murray a few times. The author states that Wicca is "an ancient Celtic magic-religion," that it is a hereditary tradition, that there are Witch-families who have passed down the religion for thousands of years, and she actually quotes the figure of nine million (which is printed in all caps) as the number of those killed during the "Burning Times." So, from the perspective of accurate Wiccan history (and, I imagine, other sections of history she presents), this book fails miserably. I should bring up the fact that this book was originally published in 1978 when much of what we now know of Wicca's history was not yet known, however, the edition I own is copyright 1994 and at this point in time there was certainly information available to challenge Murray's theory. In addition, a more recent version has been published, and although I have not read it in its entirety to be absolutely sure, when I opened to the Wicca chapter it began the exact same way with the same atrocious account of our history. Perhaps in the newest edition she placed her revisions at the end of the chapter or at the end of the book (much like Starhawk has done with her Spiral Dance) in order to preserve her original text, in which case she may be let off the hook. If one neglects the sad history lesson, the actual introduction to the ideas behind Wicca are not too bad. Marion briefly addresses Wicca's odd position as both poly- and monotheistic, the Goddess and God, the Wheel of the Year, the elements, the Circle, the Cone of Power, among other things. Throughout this section and the rest of the book, Marion's dedication to ethics is nothing less than rigorous, however, her dedication to positive work seems largely backed by the Threefold Law and fear of karmic repercussions rather than for the ultimate purpose of respecting other beings and their autonomy.

As far as the rest of the text is concerned, again, the history lesson is mostly misinformation, and unfortunately the basis for ethical behavior is mainly avoiding bad karma. Interestingly though, Marion is the only author I know of to have a reasonable explanation for why it is the Threefold Law as opposed to being the Four-hundred-twenty-three-and-a-quarterfold Law (or any other -fold law, for that matter!):

"The number three symbolizes one of the magical processes involved: 1. the spell is said and sent out into the Invisible; 2. the spell comes back into the World of Form to manifest in the desired way; 3. the spell reverberates in the life of the person working the magic (as the "side-effect")" (70).