Living Wicca: A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner (Llewellyn's Practical Magick)

........if you enjoyed Cunningham's "Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner", you'll love "Living Wicca", a guide for solitaries which further brings Wicca into our everyday lives and experience. Cunningham further delves into the topics of learning (tools, secrecy, self-initiation, Mysteries, and everyday Wiccan spirituality) and practicing (prayers and chants, offerings, rites, magic, deities) Wicca and to establishing your own traditions (from ritual design, to the Book of Shadows, adopting beliefs and rules). This book, like the first, is really for beginners like myself and reflects the "newer" Wicca and not the Old Ways or any particular modern Wiccan path. This allows the solitary practitioner to be more eclectic while still holding onto basic Wiccan traditions, albeit not strictly. I particularly enjoyed Cunningham's ideas for bringing Wicca into my daily life.........those long stretches that occur between the esbats and sabbats. His ideas for daily prayers make Wiccan expression a regular, daily experience. I also like his practical ideas for enhancing spirituality: gardening, volunteering time, meditating, etc. Cunningham shows us how to add to our rituals with our own ideas that are meaningful to us, making Wicca a more personal experience. He also shows us how to better write our Book of Shadows, by adding in basic beliefs and rules as well as our own rituals and magic.This book is also one that I can see drawing beginners into Wicca, helping them love their new religion (as has happened to me) and thus compelling them to delve much further into it, be it by exploring more about more modernized versions of Wicca, by seeking out the Old Ways and our origins, by searching for a coven and a teacher or all of the above. I highly recommend this book to eager beginners who are just learning about Wicca and just starting to practice.

This book was very instructive when I first began my exploration of Wicca. As it suggests, I read it after Cunningham's "Guide for the Solitary Practitioner." This book has a little overlap with the first one, but for the most part, it picks up where the other left off. You will essentially learn how to make your own tradition in Wicca. Cunningham recognizes that many of us are solitaries and that we may not feel comfortable being bound to worship in the way a particular coven or individual dictates. For many of us, this is what helped drive us away from "mainstream" organized religion. Thus, in this book, you will learn some of the traditions of Wicca, the meanings behind certain rituals, elements, etc. Upon learning these things, you are encouraged to take in and, if you like, modify the traditions to your particular comfort level or ability -- e.g., it's difficult to hold a rite on a mountain top if you live in a high-rise apartment in NYC. To be sure, this is an introduction. Should a student of the Craft want more detail and is ready to move on, I would recommend Eileen Holland's recent publication, "The Wicca Handbook" and Raven Grimassi's superb award-winning book, "The Wiccan Mysteries." Both are excellent sources of information in your study of the Craft.

I am grateful that Scott Cuningham has written so many wonderful books to assist us with our journey towards a focused and personal relationship with our spiritual Deities. I love books with indexes because I like to study the same subjects in many books all in one session. Most of Scott's books are indexed. This book has helped me develop a meaningful and comfortable circle-casting. I use both this book and "Wicca, a Guide for the Solitary Practitioner" the most of all the books I have. I believe that more study and knowledge by reading many books on the subject has helped me to develop my Wiccan practice in accord with my intuition. Scott promotes intuitive practice. The seasonal festivals are not complicated which I appreciate. I also use "Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Crystal, Gem & Metal Magic" quite often. Thank You, Scott for your contributions.

While this book doesn't break any huge new ground from his previous "Guide For The Solitary", I think Cunningham's intent was to, once the reader has digested this tome, have you decide if the Wiccan way is for you or not. Even considering buying it, the reader is obviously delving deeper into the subject matter, and Cunningham's prose, enticing in its simplicity and honesty, makes that decision-making process easier. I'd recommend this book to any almost-Wiccan deciding whether to take the final step, and dedicate yourself to it.