Not in Kansas Anymore: Dark Arts, Sex Spells, Money Magic, and Other Things Your Neighbors Aren't Telling You

In 'Not in Kansas Anymore' author Christine Wicker takes the reader on a personal exploration of the history of witchcraft and occult practices and the various ways those roots are manifesting in contemporary American culture. This is not a textbook study, it's more a really riveting conversation with someone who had a lot of great experiences in the field firsthand. The tone is very gripping and as a reader I discovered I was learning an awful lot and having a very entertaining time doing so. Quite well done and perhaps the most glowing praise I can give is that it prompted me to buy Ms. Wicker's previous book, 'Lily Dale'.

This book is entertaining, witty, informative, and thought-provoking. It's also a bit distracting--no less than three times, I checked the cover to look for Sarah Vowel's byline. The same tongue-in-cheek style and keen insight that make Vowel's books so enjoyable characterize Wicker's writing. Once I settled down into the subtle differences between these two outstanding authors, I was able to focus on the book and enjoy it. I've always found it interesting that one group can look at another group and snicker at how silly they are. That ancient tribe that smears animal entrails on their arms? Yeah, they are backwards and weird. But we are somehow blind to how silly many of our own beliefs are. And even more startling is how unaware most of us are about the beliefs of people who may be living right next door. The subtitle "Dark arts, sex spells, money magic, and other things your neighbors aren't telling you" gives the reader a clue about what the book holds. Wicker takes us along on her research for the book, chronicling one interesting encounter after another. She begins by bringing us along to the Vampire and Victims Ball. The attendees are mostly people who believe they are actually vampires. Through Wicker's eyes, we meet people who are obviously deluded (what else would you call folks who actually think they are vampires, elves, or werewolves?). Wicker doesn't take cheap shots at these people, but lets them speak for themselves and lets us hear what they have to say. Each of them has fairly complicated "background" to justify, explain, and "make real" their delusions. This would all be an Alice in Wonderland experience, except these aren't metaphorical characters. They are real people. What may prove especially valuable to the astute reader is comparing the delusions of the "obviously odd" people to the beliefs that are accepted as truth among many mainstream religions. It's a healthy exercise for anyone to broaden his or her horizons a bit and ask some fundamental questions. Wicker asks a few of her own, and shares some lessons she learned during her adventure of researching this book. She doesn't claim to be right or have a patent on the truth. She merely claims to listen to what people say and to reflect upon it. Any reader who does the same would benefit. Following the main part of this book is a four-part "plus" section: 1. A Note from the Author. She provides some personal thoughts on magic in America. 2. Do You Believe in Magic? This 20-question quiz may produce results that surprise you. 3. The Stats. Are you normal? Compare your beliefs to the statistics and see. 4. Power Foods. You may recognize some of these food myths, cherish some, and simply laugh at others. The title is obviously a reference to the Wizard of Oz. Recall that Dorothy and Toto left "normal" Kansas and had their adventure in a magical land. But I have spent the last decade in Kansas and know magic and delusion are very much alive here. That explains the "18t

Well, before the regular readers of my online reviews think I have gone bananas for even considering a reading and review of a book about this sort of subject, please allow me to explain and attempt to justify my decision to take on this project. I have spent my entire intellectual life studying human beings and their behavior both as individuals and within a social context. This study has been personal, of course, in the sense that I have always been intellectually attracted to individuals who seem to live outside what would ordinarily be considered the "norm" or the "ordinary." I find such people very interesting as well as challenging and such individuals have always appeared to be rather comfortable around me because, I guess, I tend not to judge them or try to force them into arbitrary categories. I have argued this matter over the years in a series of essays called "The Psychiatric Game." On the other hand, a great deal of my study has been traditionally academic. My college studies were primarily in philosophy and the social sciences, from politics to psychology to human history. Generally speaking, I doubt there is much out there in the "real" world that I have not seen, read about, or heard about sometime during the past sixty-plus years. This does not mean, however, that there is nothing new to learn about, particularly when it comes to the details about some aspects of what many of us refer to as the "human condition." That's why, I have always argued, the study of human beings is far more complex that the study of nuclear physics, molecular chemistry, or microbiology. While the social sciences have often been considered the so-called "soft" sciences, this is not true; indeed, the complexities involved in the study of human beings far exceed that of the so-called "hard" sciences, such as physics, chemistry, and biology. And so we come (finally!) to my brief review of Christine Wicker's "Not in Kansas Anymore," a book about the dark arts, sex spells, money magic, voodoo, vampires, and a lot more "sinister" things. Wicker is a journalist and former religion reporter and not an "academic." Her book is about her own "personal" investigation into the subject and does not pretend to be an academic inquiry into the "darker sides" of human experience. Wicker is not just writing about some arcane subject from an "objective" point of view; she actually "lived" within the subject and reports what she saw, felt, heard, tasted, smelled, and thought. Take what one will from her experiences with witches, voodoo priests, self-proclaimed vampires, and so forth, one can't deny her "subjective" analyses of the encounters she experienced. One can, of course, choose to ignore what she reports or claim that it doesn't really matter or that it is simply a narrative about a "fringe" element which exists in our society but doesn't have any real influence. You'd be dead wrong on the latter two points. Let's consider a few statistics that Wicker gives us i

Magic is taking hold in modern American society, as evidenced by widespread interest in the supernatural from ghosts to voodoo magic and good luck chants: the movement receives close inspection in NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE: A CURIOUS TALE OF HOW MAGIC IS TRANSFORMING AMERICA. From practicing Wiccan communities to the increasing presence of magical interests in standard American settings such as the suburban family, NOT IN KANSAS ANYMORE comes from a religion reporter who searches for what's authentic and what is fake in America's new magical involvements. A most intriguing study blends history, sociology and spiritual investigation.

I teach philosophy and religious studies at the university level and have been encouraging my students to pick up Wicker's book. It is such a fascinating (not to mention, at times, hilarious) book about the role that non-traditional religious expression often plays in the lives of individuals. At a time when only 22% of Americans go to church on a regular basis (even though over 80% claim to be Christian), Wicker's work seems to suggest that people are seeking something that traditional Christianity cannot offer (or refuses to offer, or has forgotten, or has chided, etc). I, like Wicker, used to scoff at the "obvious" inanity of such belief systemts. And while it is true that many of these individuals still come off as being "out there", I have a much greater appreciation for the enchanted world that these people live in.