Pagan Book Reviews

Animal Spirits: An Illustrated Guide
Nicholas J. Saunders
Little Brown and Co., 1995
256 pages

Here’s another book that ended up on my Top Ten Most Underappreciated Books on Animal Magic list.

It’s not aimed specifically at pagans; rather, it’s a more general audience text on the symbolism and folklore surrounding various animals from around the world. While a lot of the information is historical rather than modern, it’s still rather easy to translate it into practical usage.

The text itself is easy to read without being fluffy, and is punctuated well with a variety of lovely full color pictures. The material is preossionally presented and well-organized.

I’d really recommend this as a more high-quality totem dictionary of sorts; while it doesn’t have the same formulaic feel, it’s good basic information on both wild and domestic animals that animal magicians may find useful in their studies. It’s a part of the “Living Wisdom” series, and there are several other books in this series I’m looking forward to reading.

Five pawprints out of five.

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