Review: Grimoire for the Green Witch by Ann Moura
I'll start with the overall look and design. The cover, as you can tell, is super cheesy. But I prefer to ultimately let the words inside be the true representation of value. Flipping through the book I saw that it had a very nice simple setup, everything was arranged in the same fashion under simple categories Like a Grimoire, each page contained single topics instead of bleeding everything together. Fonts are decorative and easy to read. Plus the book is large, so it seemed very reference friendly.
The content varies. The first chapter outlines Moura's own philosophy about Green witchcraft, some of which seemed a bit hokey and unlikely to apply to everyone. For example her Creed of the Green Witch contained a lot of Wiccan beliefs, such as dualistic divinities, and an overall belief in a universal "SPIRIT" that rules the cosmos. She also speaks of the Oak King and the Goddess Mother, and of Summerland and the Underworld which leads one to believe the philosophy is derived partly from Celtic sources. She also includes rules of conduct which have questionable application to some practitioners.
The second section is on casting the circle, which would be helpful information for beginners but again not really applicable to my own beliefs, as a pagan witch. However for those looking for such information, Moura's circle casting information is concise and provides many alternative methods of casting to specific purpose.
The third and fourth sections are on esbat and sabbat rituals and general information and ideas. Though the rituals and holidays here come with a Celtic flair, they are simple and easy, and could easily be adapted to a variety of pagan belief systems. She also includes chants, songs, and activity ideas geared to the sabbats, some of which are incredibly cheesy but hey, no one's perfect.
Section five is on recitations, in common terms a collection of chants, prayers, and invocations. These include commonly known invocations such as the Charge of the Dark God and also some simple affirmations and prayers that might be of interest to witches in general.
Section Six is a comprehensive list of rituals to different purpose. I confess I just skimmed this section but overall it looks like a good solid list of ritual that could be adapted to a variety of witchy needs. Section seven is meditation, a series of 8 purpose driven guided meditations which seemed interesting enough if you practice meditations.
With Section 8 we move into the Book of Shadows section of the text. Section eight is the main reason I purchased the book. It is a comprehensive listing of correspondence charts and information. There are sections on herbs, trees, stones, smudges, feathers, astrology, basic symbols, runic and other alphabets, etc. This section is an amazing resource for the witch and is set up in a manner which makes finding information very simple. I <3 this section.
Moving on...Section 9 is Basic Spells, and contains outlines for different spells and spell crafts which would be of some use to the beginner and maybe even an inspiration to the more seasoned witch. Section 10 was another favorite, Teas, Oils, and Baths, a collection of recipes for magical crafting in these areas. Section 11 is on Divination, and contains a large section on Tarot including individual card meanings. It also outlines scrying, use of the crystal ball, palmistry, and sections on the runes and ogham which also include individual meanings and casting information. Overall I thought this section was a great addition to the BOS and is an extra that you don't always find in many similar grimoires. The section on divination concludes the book.
The Verdict
Overall, I feel the book was a decent investment. Some sections are definitely better than others. I think the book would have been better served if geared toward practitioners of a Celtic bent or if the mythological context had been left out entirely in favor of a more adaptable format for ritual, invocation, etc. Yet these problems are redeemed by the comprehensive amounts of information, particularly the correspondence sections, which will serve any witch well. I would definitely recommend this text to beginners and non beginners alike, as each will find something of interest within the book. In just a week I have gotten alot of use out of the correspondence sections, and am still very happy with the format and setup of the book in general. It is user friendly and I am happy to have it as part of my collection of magical references if you will.
Outer Design : D
Text Design/ Book Format: A+
Readability: B+
Relevance: C
Usability: A
Quality of Information: B+
OVERALL: SOLID B/B+
In Frith
Cena
I bought my copy several years ago, and only for content such as sections 8 and 10 :) Can't say I've been using it as much as some of my other books, but it's been dog eared for future use.
ReplyDelete