Serpent Worship – anonymous

February 21, 2007 at 9:17 pm (Animal Magic, Books I Didn't Care Much For, History, Mythology)

Serpent Worship
Anonymous
Tutor Press, 1980

The full title of this book is Serpent Worship, aka Ophiolatreia: The Rites and mysteries connected with the origin, rise, and development of serpent worship in various parts of the world, enriched with interesting traditions, and a full description of the celebrated serpent mounds & temples, the whole forming an exposition of one of the phases of phallic, or sex worship, aka The Rites and mysteries connected with the origin, rise, and development of serpent worship in various parts of the world, enriched with interesting traditions, and a full description of the celebrated serpent mounds & temples, the whole forming an exposition of one of the phases of phallic, or sex worship.

It’s essentially an overview of the role of snakes and related creatures around the world and throughout history. There’s a heavy emphasis on the Classical world–Greece, Egypt, and surrounding civilizations, though a number of North and South American cultures are also featured, among others.

Now, admittedly, it was written in 1889, so the writing style is quite different from today, and as it is an academic text from the time it’s not designed to be easy reading. However, there are plenty of scholarly texts from around the same time that are much easier on modern readers, IMO.

There also doesn’t seem to be a lot of organization to the text. The information is sometimes arranged in a seemingly arbitrary way, and isn’t always tied together very well.

I’d imagine that not everyone will have as much issue with this as I did. Thanks, but no thanks–there are much better books that have the exact same information in a better format. This is officially my newest Worst Book Ever.

One pawprint out of five.

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Animal Wisdom – Susie Green

February 21, 2007 at 9:00 pm (Animal Magic)

Animal Wisdom: Harness the Power and Wisdom of Animals to Liberate Your Spirit
Susie Green
CICO Books, 2005
144 pages

This is yet another animal totem dictionary–do we really need another? Still, this one’s pretty good, for all that.

Her methods for finding totems and working with them is very much influenced by core shamanism; however, her material also includes a lot of environmental and animal-rights-based practices. She drops hints about ways to be kinder to animals, such as buying free range mear instead of factory-farmed. I did disagree with her suggestion of feeding physical represntatives of wild totems–feeding wildlife only ends up badly for the wildlife in the end, as it teaches them to not fear humans, and makes them dependent on us. Some can even be dangerous, especially if you live in an area where black bears are moving into the suburbs. In short, to keep the critters safe, don’t feed them! Still, overall, I really like her tone of environmental responsibility.

Her totem definitions are quite obviously her own interpretations of animal behavior–which is a good thing. Each author should offer their own thoughts, not just parrot the words of others. In addition, she doesn’t claim that she’s teaching anything ancient and genuine; she’s honest about her sources.

She has a GREAT variety of animals in her dictionary–there are the usuals, like Bear and Wolf and Coyote, but she also includes Armadillo, Kookaburra, Platypus and Meerkat, among others.

My only real complaint, I guess, is that it’s just another totem dictionary. There’s nothing really new here. And it’s not something I’d give to a rank beginner, just becuase she doesn’t go into as much detail with the introductory material as, say, Ted Andrews or other authors. Still, I’d recommend it for those who like having a variety of other peoples’ views of what different totems mean and what they have learned, and as a dictionary, it’s excellent.

(Note: This book should not be confused with Jessica Dawn Palmer’s “Animal Wisdom: The Definitive Guide to the Myths, Folklore and Medicine Power of Animals”, which is a bigger animal totem dictionary published by Thorsons in 2001).

Four pawprints out of five.

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A Book of Beasts – Pennick and Field

February 12, 2007 at 9:48 pm (Animal Magic, Mythology)

A Book of Beasts
Nigel Pennick and Helen Field
Capall Bann, 2003
220 pages

There are things I really love about this book, and things that I’m not so wild about–but that’s normal for me. I’m a tough crowd all by myself 😉

This is basically a bestiary for modern times. Penniock and Field detail the lore, mythology, and other relevant esoteric information about numerous animals in Europe. The great thing about it, though, is that they approach their topic in a manner that I really haven’t seen before in the neopagan market. Rather than spending pages upon pages talking about the totemic virtues of different animals (though the information they give on power animals is decent), they discuss everything from the traditional bestiaries to animal costumery to the use of animal parts in folk medicine. There’s even a section about the treatment of horses in urban areas (not as bad as one might think!). The choices in topics is truly unique, and I was pleasantly surprised.

The other thing that makes this book really valuable is that it’s an in-depth exploration of the lore of a particular region, rather than attempting to be a book for the entire world. This allows the authors to go into greater detail. The book is more slanted towards the United Kingdom, though Germanic, French, and even Slavic mythologies and histories end up referenced. This is what I’d really like to see more of, honestly.

Now for the quibbles ‘n bits. The book uses the exact same pseudo-Celtic font for the section and chapter headings that they’ve used in every book I’ve gotten from them, which leads to bland layout. There are numerous typos throughout the book, as well as spacing errors (especially neglecting to put a space between sentences). This really makes me wonder about the rumor I heard that Capall Bann makes authors edit their own work instead of having in-house editors. Also, the book lacks in-text citations. While the bibliography is quite solid from all appearances, there were a number of pieces of information that I questioned and I really would have liked to have access to where, exactly, the authors got the information. Still, the biblio itself is lacking in known bad sources, so it’s in a much better position than a lot of books I’ve skewered for this reason.

Finally, a couple of personal disagreements. First, they’re quite upset about laws against feeding wildlife, birds in particular. My counter to this is that any time you feed wildlife, you A) teach it to be dependent on humans, something which gets passed on to the young, and B) teach it to lose its fear of humanity, making it more vulnerable to human-borne harm. We have problems with Canada geese here in the States because of available food and artificial ponds, and the geese often no longer migrate (which is decidedly unnatural). Also, the authors seem to think that if you work with predatory animals in a spiritual manner for too long, particularly invocation, you’ll lose touch with your humanity. This goes directly against my own experience as both a wolf therianthrope and an animal magician. Predators are no more “wild” than prey animals like deer, rabbits and squirrels. The danger is in the human perception of those animals becoming an excuse to be an idiot, IMO/IME.

Still, these are pretty minor complaints in light of the fact that this is the first book on animal magic I’ve read in a good long while that truly has something different to offer. If I ever expand my Top Ten List of the Most Underappreciated Books on Animal Magic, this one may be a strong contender for a spot.

Four pawprints out of five.

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Your Spirit Animal Helpers (no author given)

January 27, 2007 at 2:29 pm (Animal Magic)

Your Spirit Animal Helpers: The Divine Guardians of Your Happiness
No author given
International Rights, Ltd., 1997
190 pages

This rather obscure book was one I found at Powell’s City of Books in Portland. It’s oneof the earlier totem animal dictionaries, and not one I’ve seen much information on. It’s a shame, because it’s actually pretty good for being a 101-level dictionary.

The information in it pretty much covers the basics of neopagan totemism–how to find your totem, how to work with hir, how s/he can help you in everyday life, etc. The author(s) was very creative, and conveys the information in a friendly, approachable tone. The anecdotes and other information are mixed in with some good practical exercises. The dictionary contains 30 animals, most Big Impressive North American Birds and Mammals, though a few smaller critters thrown in as well. In short, it’s a decent introduction to totemism. Additionally, the illustrations by Marc Brinkerhoff are absolutely astounding! This is definitely one of the best-illustrated totem books I’ve ever seen.

I do have a few complaints. The information in the dictionary is rather sparse, and definitely could have used more fleshing out; additionally, the animals are pretty much exclusive to North America. There are also hints of cultural appropriation in there; the author(s) keeps referring to “Native American” this and that, without any real details, though s/he doesn’t go so far as to say “this is genuine Native American totemism!”. Finally, some of the supporting evidence (such as the idea that Beaver is a Masonic totem) could have used citations to back them up; this book lacks citations and a bibliography entirely.

Still, overall, it’s an introduction to totemism that I’ll be hanging onto for workshops. I would recommend supplementing with other books, but there are much worse introductions out there. I’m docking it a few points for the flaws, but other than that, a nice basic book.

Three and seven-eighths pawprints out of five.

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The Animal Wise Tarot – Ted Andrews

January 23, 2007 at 7:52 pm (Animal Magic, Divination)

The Animal Wise Tarot
Ted Andrews
Dragonhawk Publishing, 1999
256 pages plus 78 cards

I realized that I’ve been working with this deck since they first came out in 1999, and never reviewed it.

In short, I LOVE it.

One of the things I love about Ted Andrews’ work in general is that he works with a variety of animals, not just North American large mammals. There’s a great variety of critters to work with in this deck–mammals, birds, insects, amphibians and reptiles. He did a great job of matching animals to the various tarot cards as well. And personally, I love the photographs; they’re very evocative of the individual animals.

The great thing about this deck, too, is that is can be used for totem or tarot readings. My deck and I figured out our own reading style for totemic divination. It’s a very versatile tool.

I’m also really pleased that Andrews doesn’t try to sell himself as a “genuine Native American” anything. These aren’t the Medicine Cards, created by plastic shamans. Instead, Andrews draws from many wells, adn concentrates primarily on observation of the animals themselves for his information, rather than playing Indian. I really respect him for that in all of his work.

The book is a decent helper for getting started, but I found that this particular deck is excellent for intuitive totemic readings; it allows the totems to communicate with you, acting as a focus, rather than saying “This animal always means THIS, while that one must mean THAT”. I’ve given two or three readings in a row where one animal kept popping up, and each tme s/he had something different to say. It’s a wonderfully flexible deck.

Five pawprints out of five.

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Chinese Power Animal Stamps – Wu Xing

January 5, 2007 at 8:31 pm (Animal Magic, Artwork, Chinese Zodiac, Magic/Spell/etc. Kits)

Chinese Power Animal Stamps
Wu Xing
Red Wheel/Weiser, 2002
48 pages, 12 stamps, stamp holder, ink pad

Okay, now this is a kit I can get into!

This is a perfect example of why less is more. In the last kit I reviewed, my biggest complaint was that the overall quality was bad because there was just too much “stuff” in there. This kit, on the other hand, solves the problem by offering fewer “extras”, but making them a much better quality.

The kit includes a 48 page booklet and supplies for creating and using stamps of the twelve animals of the Chinese Zodiac. I’ll start with the stamps themselves, since they were my favorite part. When you open the box, you’ll find a sheet with all twelve rubber stamps on it. Each one has a sticky backing to it so you can mount it on a small rectangle of faux-wood resin. One you’ve done that you can slide the entire thing into a stamp holder/handle shaped like the Emperor in the story of the twelve animals, sitting on a pedestal. This is also made of a nice quality resin, about the best you can do with mass marketing.

I tried out one of the stamps; the design came up really nicely, especially with the red ink pad that was included. And the nice thing is since the stamps can be easily taken out of the holder, and because they’re backed on resin instead of wood, they’re incredibly easy to clean. So the stamps get five pawprints.

The booklet, on the other hand, left plenty to be desired. It’s very, very basic information on the Chinese Zodiac; relatively accurate, at least as it pertains to my Horse and my husband’s Dragon years of birth, but it’s still pretty shallow. I think they could have made a longer, more in-depth book to go along with this and still been able to sell it.

I also think using the term “Power Animal” is a misleading marketing ploy. Your power animal is not your zodiac sign in any astrological system. It is an individual animal spirit and/or aspect of a totem animal that is very personal and isn’t limited to twelve animals. I docked this a few points because of the title.

But I absolutely love the stamps, and the great thing about this is that it makes an awesome gift for just about anyone–artists, scrapbookers, children (over the ages of 3–you don’t want them swallowing the stamps or eating the ink pad), pagans, etc. It’s a bit pricier than most kits, but it’s well worth it. And because the author didn’t try to add in all sorts of little extras, most of the initial cost was put towards nice stamps and a book that, although short, is printed on nice paper.

So I’m going to give it a 3 3/4 pawprints out of five.

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Animal Powers Meditation Kit – Farber and Zerner

January 5, 2007 at 3:24 pm (Animal Magic, Books I Didn't Care Much For, Magic/Spell/etc. Kits, Meditation)

Animal Powers Meditation Kit: Spiritual Guidance from Your Totem Teachers
Monte Farber and Amy Zerner
Zerner/Farber Editions, Ltd., 2006

43 pages, 12 cards, 1 CD, 12 pendants

I have found the totemic answer to the “Teen Witch Kit”.

There has been a recent fad ever since Silver Ravenwolf came out with her kit in 2004. A number of authors have come up with similar prefabricated spell kits, meditation kits, and similar “everything you need in one box!” kits since the TWK came out (despite the fact that the reviews on it were largely negative).

Farber and Zerner have found their own niche in this fad with the Animal Powers Meditation Kit. It includes a small booklet, a number of cards with pictures of the animals on them, a CD to go along with your meditations, and twelve pendants, one for each animal covered, with a cord to hang them on.

At first I thought “Hey, this is a great idea!” The authors don’t claim that this is the do-all and end-all of totemic work; it’s their own system that they created, based on their own meditations. It’s obvious that they put a lot of thought into it, and that it’s very personal to them. They also avoided the bulk of cultural appropriation that so many totemic authors fall into.

The artwork is absolutely beautiful; woodcuts by Zerner’s mother, and Zerner’s own collages, illustrate the kit with vibrant colors and vivid representations of the animals. And the idea of the kit it self isn;t so bad; a book to help you learn meditations while focusing on the card that represents a particular animal whose qualities you want to emulate, listening to a CD with music and affirmations associated with that animal, and wearing the pendant of the animal to help remind you that you do have those qualities.

Unfortunately, the actual execution wasn’t all that great. The booklet is only 43 pages long, and while the material is good, I was lefting wanting to know more. How did they develop this system? Do they have any anecdotes as to how it has helped them or other people? Has the kit been “road-tested” by other people?

Additionally, because of the structure of the kit, it’s limited to only 12 animals, and most of these are some of the more “popular” ones–bison, horse, cat (cougar), etc. Only one insect, butterfly, and dolphin represented all aquatic life. While there’s variety compared to, say, the books that try to be more Indian than thou, it’s still pretty limited. Their writings on those animals are decent, but I think they could have gotten away with about 30 animals in this format. If making the pendants was an issue, they could have done 15 double-sided ones.

And that leads me to the “extras”. The CD, while well-intentioned, wasn’t all that great. I was enjoying the music–until the people (I’m assuming the authors) started talking. Gods love them, I’m sure they put a lot of effort into writing just the right affirmations, but the only thing I could think of was “New Age Animal Totem Spoken Word”. I don’t know if it was just the way they recited them, but it just did not work for me at all.

The cards that you contemplate during meditation are quite lovely, and I like the concept. Part of the cardboard packaging is designed to stand up and display an individual card, which is a nice way to keep from wasting even more cardboard and plastic (these kits tend to require a lot more packaging than you’d think). The pendants had nice little designs based on the woodcuts, but the plastic used was incredibly cheap. They’d look a lot less tacky if good quality resin had been used.

This is why mass-manufactured “kits” aren’t really my favorite thing in the world. I like handmade spell kits made by individual pagans and shops; because the items inside are of a good quality and often given blessings by the creator. This, and all manufactured kits, falls far short of that level of quality.

All in all, as I said, the idea was a good one, but the execution really wasn’t all that great.

Two pawprints out of five.

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The Oak King, the Holly King and the Unicorn – John Williamson

January 3, 2007 at 5:33 pm (Animal Magic, Artwork, Mythology, Paleopagan Cultures)

The Oak King, the Holly King and the Unicorn: Myths and Symbolism of the Unicorn Tapestries
John Williamson
HarperCollins, 1987
260 pages

This book is a must-read for neopagans. Williamson details a large portion of medieval symbolism that, while superficially Christian, is at the core Greek, Roman, or Northern European in origin, shown through the multilayered iconography of the seven Unicorn tapestries.

He draws from sources thst are generally respected, if sometimes somewhat dated–Frazer, Campbell, Eliade, Graves–as well as lesser known scholars like Ananda Coomeraswamy. This is academic work, not neopagan, though the writing style is incredibly accessible.

Of particular note are the ways the author traces the nonmedicinal meanings of herbs and other plants and why those traits are applied to animals as well. There are some definite surprises–even the Unicorn represents a multitude, from Christ to other dying vegetation deities, from the Sun to the Moon. He weaves in the cycle of the Oak King and the Holly King, supported by the constant presence of those plants in the tapestries at key points. This is sure proof of that particular motif so beloved by many neopagans.

My only complaint is that he recycles quotes throughout the book, but this is an incredibly minor stylistic detail compared to the solidity of the text. This book is essential for those curious about the origins of herbal and animal properties from medieval times, as well as proof of the Oak King/Holly King symbolism as something older than the 20th century.

Five pawprints out of five.

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Enchanted Cat – Ellen Dugan

December 29, 2006 at 11:30 pm (Animal Magic, Mythology, Wicca and Witchcraft)

Enchanted Cat: Feline Fascinations, Spells and Magick
Ellen Dugan
Llewellyn, 2006
165 pages

This is one of several books on the market that specifically deal with cat magic. Unfortunately, so far from what I’ve seen they all seem to follow the same basic template and include the same basic information. This newest one is no exception.

Granted, there’s only so much material on the topic, and Dugan does make a valiant effort to make this book stand out. It’s more practical than some of the other books on the topic, involving more spells and simple rituals. Of course, some of the connection these spells have to cats is a little stretched–a number of the spells simply have a few cat hairs involved.

Additionally, she has one of the better chapters on feline familiars from a practical standpoint. She explains some of the ways you can actually work magic with the cat, and gives us more than just a naming ceremony and a blessing. The feline power animals chapter has some decent working material in it as well, though it shouldn’t be taken as a substitute for an entire introductory book to totemism.

But for the most part, she falls back on the usual–cat mythology and lore, cat correspondences, and even cat astrology and feng shui. It seems like she was really fighting for content here. And she falls back on the idea that certain colors of cats are better at specific types of magic–if that were true, then shouldn’t red-headed people be better at some types of magic than blondes and brunettes?

This would be a cute book to give to your friend who likes cats quite a bit and is just getting started in witchcraft. It’s a 101 book and it’s limited by its subject matter. It stands out in some ways from similar books on the market, but it’s nothing earth-shaking.

Three and a half pawprints out of five.

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Your Magickal Cat – Gerina Dunwich

December 29, 2006 at 11:18 pm (Animal Magic, Mythology, Wicca and Witchcraft)

Your Magickal Cat: Feline Magick, Lore and Worship
Gerina Dunwich
Citadel, 2000
169 pages

In recent years there have been several books out detailing the magical and religious lore surrounding cats throughout history. This is one of the older ones, though not the first. However, it follows pretty much the standard formula–after all, there’s really only so much you can dig up on one particular animal. Cats seem to get all the books, though, simply because they’re the animals most associated with witches, the target audience.

The book is about 2/3 mythology, folklore and superstitions from various cultures. There’s the prerequisite discussion on Egypt, Bast and Sekhmet, as well as the Inquisition-era feline familiar. It’s pretty standard material that you’d find in just about any book on animal mythology; the one advantage is that it’s all collected in one place.

Dunwich does add some of her own original work throughout the book, mostly consisting of–you guessed it–spells. Her chapter on familiars isn’t particularly practical, though she does mention that not all pets a witch owns are familiars. Still, most of the information is vague, and a large portion of the chapter deals with how to name your familiar.

The chapter on feline totems is similarly basic, and this is one of the downfalls of the glut of 101 material–it skims over a bunch of topics without really going into any real depth. There’s really not enough in any of the “practical” material to really do much of anything beyond a couple of spells.

Then there’s the cat astrology section. Dunwich basically takes sun sign astrology and turns it into a kitty horoscope. You don’t need astrology to tell you what sort of personality your cat has–that’s what observation is for.

Overall, I’m not particularly impressed. The research on the historical end was good, but the practical material left a lot to be desired. Get it if you need a quick reference to feline lore, but otherwise feel free to spend your money on toys for your cat instead.

Three pawprints out of five.

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