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| The Witch Book | 
 enlarge | Author: Raymond Buckland
Publisher: Visible Ink Press
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95 (58.73 RON)
Buy New: $16.47 (38.77 RON)
You Save: $8.48 (19.96 RON) (34%)
Avg. Customer Rating:  26 reviews
Sales Rank: 407580
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 624
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.8
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 7.3 x 1.6
ISBN: 1578591147
Dewey Decimal Number: 133.4303
EAN: 9781578591855
ASIN: 1578591147
Publication Date: November 1, 2001
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Product Description
With 560 entries, a resource section, and 114 photos and illustrations, this is an exhaustive A-to-Z exploration of people, places, events, literature, and other matters related to this ever-timely and popular topic. It defines both the darker Christian concept and the true concept of Wicca, concentrating on the Western European and later New World versions of Witchcraft and magic.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 21 more reviews...
 A Witch's Pot Boiler,Bubbling Over with Errors- October 27, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I really wanted to enjoy this encyclopedia of modern wicca and neo-paganism.Yet,it's full of questionable sources and no page numbers.For example,Aleister Crowley is listed as being the son of a wealthy brewer,named Edward.Also listed is Emily,as his meek mother.Most sources list Crowley's parents as the abstemious reverend John Crowley and the goodwife Sarah Bishop,no mentioning of a family beer business whatsoever.It's hard to believe that a fiery theologian,would also be a beer-master ,to boot.Buckland has so many interesting tidbits of wiccan information,that it really makes it interesting reading though.However,i would recommend that you stay wise to the fact,that Buckland fills in questionable ideas,where the truth maybe lacking.Whether he does this to embellish or poor proof-reading,is beyond my understanding and control.There are some unique sketches and pictures throughout the book.The stories on Monique Wilson and Leo Martello are interesting,yet i hope it's fact not fiction.The witch-finder General ,Cotton Mathers is mentioned,as well as his father,Increase Mathers.Yet,no mentioning of Samuel Mathers,ironically a latter-day high priest of the Golden Dawn.It's hard to give this book,a passing thumb's up of approval.A much better wiccan encyclopedia around is the ,'The Complete Illustrated Encyclopedia of Witchcraft & Practical Magic',by Susan Greenwood and Raje Airey. Yet, that too has some errors and myth-making.Such as ,stating that Anton LeVay was a former SFPD crime-scene photographer and also played the 'Devil' in the 'Rosemary's Baby' film.Both claims have been refuted and discredited upon inspection.If you can obtain a cheap copy of ,The Witch Book,it's an entertaining resource on the various wiccan-pagan people and the many amusing gothic films associated with christianised witchraft.Yet,when you asperge your altar stone,for some late night antidotes, please take Ray Buckland's enchanting tales with a few dashes of salt.
An A-Z encyclopedia of witchcraft, wicca and neo-paganism October 11, 2008
This is quite a comprehensive encyclopedia on witchcraft, wicca and neo-paganism which is presented in an A-Z format. There is an index at the end for those seeking certain entries or topics of interest. Also most useful is the list of resources for further research. I'm not a practitioner but have always had an interest in the occult and supernatural, and found the entries well-defined. This is not really a primer for those hoping to gain insights into how to go about practising witchcraft but more of an informative text on the different aspects found in witchcraft, wicca and neo-paganism. It provides historical background, covers the major players in the occult world and provides lots of insight into this world. I found it an interesting and enlightening read and would recommend it to all those who are interested in the subject, as well as for research purposes.
 A Great Novelty May 9, 2008
As the book states, it is an encyclopedia and you wont find any "how-to" information here, so if that is the type of book you're looking for this isn't the one for you. I consider this a novelty item to own and it has a lot of information about witches and paganism gathered from all over the world. It's also an interesting read, containing every piece of information that even "advanced" pagans and others new to Paganism or wicca/witchcraft would find interesting and learn from. Some inclusions are the Knights Templar, Knot magic, Astrology, aspergillum, many types of herbs and their lores and uses, besom, etc. This book is also great for quick references. This is the first of this type of book that I found in this genre and I love it. I definately dont regret my purchase.
The Witch Book Whitch's dictionary August 24, 2007
An excellent book with thousands of things of interest and very accurate information. A book worth getting if you need history, and very useful notes about the Craft.
There is some useful information here. August 11, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Unfortunately, there are also a lot of irrelevant entries; entries discussing various movie plots that involved "witches", for example. But what's worse is that in his attempt to dispel the popular misconceptions about witchcraft, Buckland transparently sugar-coats things. By his own (accurate) admission, there is no controlling body that defines what witches believe, what practices are accepted, or what one must do to be entitled to call oneself a witch. There is no equivalent to the Catholic pope or even a council of elders. Therefore, when Buckland proceeds to make pronouncements about what witches DO NOT believe or do (practice dark magic, use curses, etc.) he is patently whistling in the dark. What he is saying in such instances, of course, is that neither he nor any witch he acknowledges as a witch uses such practices, but since he has no authority to excommunicate any self-proclaimed witch who does, he cannot say honestly that "no witch" does such things. Since he does in fact make such statements, one must recognize that he is being dishonest when he does so, and if he will be dishonest to that degree, one is left with the question of just to what further degree he might be being dishonest. This serves to weaken all of his claims, and the value of the book in general.
Overall, the book is not a bad introductory primer on witchcraft, so long as one recognizes its flaws and overlooks them. But do not take anything in it as "gospel"; it is far from that.
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