Read the original in 1991 to add to my NRM studies collection, it certainly turned some seekers away from wicca, and angered many wiccans. This is the one book you'll ever need to understand the early history of Gerald Gardner's wica, later wicca. You will learn how and why he, with help from Doreen Valiente, invented his new "old religion". You will learn that the other denominations of wicca can be said to be "Gardnerian", meaning the core ritual elements (circle casting, etc...) are taken from Gardnerian practices. This book is certainly known to have angered some wiccans because of it's objective straightforwardness. Some wiccan authors were ridiculously upset that the author had gone back to the Catholic faith, and expressed this in writing. Why recommend this book to wiccan readers? Because everyone should know about the origins of their chosen spirituality.
There is very little in the early wiccan material on the subject of ethics. The common recited phrase is, "If it harms none, do as you will". Unfortunately although it looks similiar to the golden rule, it is not. The golden rule has a safeguard whereas the wicca phrase only appears to have one. ( )

Dr. Kelly makes many questionable assumptions about the early history of Garderian Wicca. He has also been accused by other scholars of distorting cited material by selective quotations. He blames his editors for not allowing him to include citations that would clarify his work and demonstrate its accuracy, but that account has been disputed as well. Take this work with a grain of salt and supplement research with other scholars such as Ronald Hutton and Philip Heselton, among others.

Review located at http://lupabitch.wordpress.com/2006/12/19/crafting-the-art-of-magic-aidan-kelly/ ( )