Kirsten Riddle

I have mixed feelings here and I need to be pretty clear about that to avoid being irresponsible in either direction.

For reference, I am speaking as an extremely novice witch, and at this particular moment in time something like this book is exactly what I needed. And it was very helpful! It helped me understand what a Wiccan path can look like and helped clarify that yes, this is the right path for me. And I don't want to understate the importance of that. I wrote so many pages of notes from this.

I need to be equally frank about its shortcomings, though, and explain why while this was a very important book for me personally it is difficult to recommend it without serious qualifications.

I know this is a problem often encountered in Neo-Paganism, but I would be remiss if I didn't say that this book is rife with cultural appropriation. The most egregious of this is that it frequently cites "Native American" spirituality. Never once is a specific tribe or nation referenced, which A) homogenizes disparate people and B) makes it pretty clear that no actual indigenous people were consulted about whether they were comfortable with their beliefs being used in this way. At one point the author even suggests buying items used in indigenous people's rituals "from a magical supply or specialty store." This is the most basic and unacceptable form of cultural appropriation, directly profiting off of other people's cultures. I cannot state in clear enough terms that this is completely unacceptable, and I am very upset to find this kind of thing being recommended to people who, like me, are new to the Craft.

Before we move on from racism, this book also uses the G-slur to refer to Romani people. It only happens once, but yeah. Worth noting, and fits into the larger pattern described above.

Finally, this book mentions weight loss and dieting and other related concepts numerous times, and just... sigh. It casually endorses a moralistic view of food by describing sweet food as "naughty but nice" and indicates that they "may not be good for the waistline." And this sort of thing is just littered throughout the book. Can we just... please not?

In spite of all these issues, this book really was invaluable to me, and the good far outweighs the bad in my opinion. And it does follow the tenants of Wicca in saying that your path is your own and you don't need to include things that don't work for you. Obviously I will not be including any of the above-mentioned in my practice, but I am nevertheless dismayed to find these kinds of messages in a book that is explicitly aimed at beginners like me.… (plus d'informations)