Advanced Wicca

Lately, I've been feeling a bit conflicted. On the one hand, if I allow myself, I can indulge in 3 hours of nightly news plus Internet and paper news. Most of it is pretty grim. On the other hand, I have Wicca friends who are moving away from Washington to get away from all the negative energy. I feel like running away myself, but cannot. I read ADVANCED WICCA thinking I would learn new methods, rituals, and practices I could use to soothe my troubled soul. Telesco is indeed a soothsayer and has plenty of suggestions for strengthening one's spiritual life. However, she also says becoming an Adept in the craft (advanced in Wicca) requires taking steps along a path you may not be prepared to take.Like many religions, Wicca has a inward comtemplative and an outward active side. Wicca is probably the most individual religion around but it isn't about becoming a hermit. After all, Wicca is about wisdom, and what good is wisdom if you can't share it? What good does it do to only look after your own skin? You may be a solitary, but you have a responsibility to the world around you.Telesco says, "If you are walking the Adept's Path, you must leave apathetic attitudes behind you and become proactive here and now. Nothing less than a positive, mainstream future for the Craft is at stake." These are pretty scary words for folks who are just beginning to feel their way after several centuries of persecution and riducule that even today are pretty strong. Telesco says, that while most religions of the world have a symbol, such as a cross, a star or a cresent, the pentacle of Wicca sends many folks into spasms. While most religions have high holy days that are respected (or supposed to be) in our diverse culture, many still hide their involvement in the high holy days of Wicca--which are the oldest celebrations on earth. those few members of Wicca who dare to practice in the open are often ridiculed in the press. Can you imagine the outcry if the Passover, Easter, or Ramidan was riduculed? And yet, Wiccan celebrations are often viewed as puerile activities carried out by adolescents.The Path of the Adept is a spritual path, and like all spiritual paths involves a solitary walk to a divine source. Each person is called in a different way. You will know your call when it comes, and when you hear the call, you cannot not respond.These days, I would like to focus all my energy on the natural world around me, my beautiful garden and the birds that inhabit it, but I cannot. The external world intrudes into my existence because the rain does not fall, the air is not clean, and the butterflies and bees are missing. Nearby, gas-guzzling SUVs are running up and down the roads, their owners oblivious to the connection between themselves and their consumption habits and pollution and turmoil all over the world. I feel called to reach out and join others who fight to reverse the effect of the sins we have committed against our mother. Patricia Telesco challenges those w

Compared to Patricia Telesco's other books, this book takes on a decidedly more serious tone, and one which is more innately spiritual rather than practical. I sense an earthiness in Telesco's material, and I have always loved her common-sense observations on life and spirituality; this book is clearly a departure from the practical Wise Woman Telesco, and is a journey inward to ascertain the seriousness of the soul. Wicca is, first and foremost, a religion and a spiritual path, and far too much attention is given to the outward "trappings" of the craft, rather than on the committment of mind, heart, and soul which must take place in order to really and truly embrace Wicca's spiritual dimensions. I appreciate Telesco's honesty and her commitment, and I found myself realizing that what has been important to me all along is what should be important to me: the state of my inner being, rather than any outward appearance -- to share one's faith, the heart and soul must be in the right place; ritual is only "cake frosting" if the spiritual side does not enter into it: and Telesco makes us keenly aware of that. This is a completely beautiful book -- I highly recommend it.

Telesco reminds us in this book that advancement isn't about complexity or power - it's about responsibility. And there were LOTs of great ideas for advancing one's abilities in this book (in fact, it's the only book I recall that ever talked about making elementaries, effectively doing group dream work, and finding one's magickal "voice"). Hightly recommended for taking the next step forward from 101 books

There are just so many "right" ways you can learn to cast a circle, invoke the elements, quarters and deities, create a proper altar/sacred space, etc. And the correspondence tables...do you have enough of them already??? This book is what many on the Wiccan path have been pleading for...a book that goes beyond the basic teachings of the Wiccan way.Finally Pat Telesco moves the practicing Wiccan further down the path towards self-enlightenment. This is not a simple spell or recipe book. It's a resource on how to live a magickal life, to live, breathe, and sleep magick. Telesco defines what it means to be an adept in the Wiccan community. She covers such things as trancework, group dreamworking, creating amulets, talismans, mazes and labyrinths, working with elementals, and group pathworking. She also provides a number of spells, meditations, visualizations and other exercises or activities. Her community ritual, which involves putting together the pieces of a puzzle, has wonderful depth and meaning. She discusses the role for the Wiccan in the Wiccan community, and the greater community at large, whether it be as a teacher, counselor, healer, study group organizer, coven builder, or public spokesperson for the Craft. Telesco also offers wonderful guidelines for self-regulation and how to deal with difficult issues in the Craft such as the internal squabbling known as "Witch wars".Like so many of her other books (Spinning Spells and Weaving Wonders; Wicca 2000, etc.), this one is very well written and organized. It is a highly recommended addition to the experienced Wiccan's magickal library.

Oh, thank you! I have been waiting for this book to come out as a much needed adjunct to all the 101 materials out there. The best part about this title is that it stresses "Advanced" doesn't necessarily mean more powerful, but more responsible and better controlled magick. It also talks about the roles and responsibilities of the adepts, teachers, and elders in our community. Beyond this, it gives instructions into magick best suited for a more experienced student of the craft like making elementaries, group dream work, and astral temples. This is definitely 2nd generation Wicca.