Pagan Book Reviews

Animal Spirit: Spells, Sorcery and Symbols from the Wild
Patricia Telesco and Rowan Hall
New Page Books, 2002
221 pages

It’s nice to see a book on animal magic that actually goes into new territory.

The authors start with some biology, a definite nice touch. They discuss how habitat, behaviors and physiological adaptations all contribute to an animal’s “medicine,” which is largely formulated from human interpretation of biological observations.

I did like the variety of areas of study and practice that were discussed. While totems and spirit guides were covered, so were such topics as animal-based feng shui and working with animal parts in magic, as well as the legalities thereof. This makes it a good 101 intro to the subject of animal magic.

I do have a few complaints. There are NO in text citations, and only a select bibliography. I want to know where they get evidence for “Shamans do this” or “The Ancients did that”–how about some qualifying citations? Or at least references to which culture(s) they’re talking about?

I also got tired of the usual lists of animal qualities in each section–that hits my Too Many Totem Animal Dictionaries button.

For the most part, though, it’s a good starter’s book, and unique in the field.

Four pawprints out of five.

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Animal Wisdom: The Definitive Guide to the Myth Folklore and Medicine Power of Animals
Jessica Dawn Palmer
Thorsons, 2001
368 pages

Normally I really don’t care for animal totem dictionaries, just because there are so many of them. But this book ended up on my list of the Top Ten Most Unappreciated Books on Animal Magic. I wouldn’t call it “definitive,” meaning “ultimate”, but it is very thorough.

This is an incredibly detailed animal totem dictionary. There’s no spellwork, no instruction–it is purely referential. However, it’s very well executed. Palmer starts with physical characteristics and environmental factors of the species, then discusses world lore and mythos surrounding it. Next she goes into more neopagan magical correspondences, and finally a paragraph or two of her obsrvances of people associated totemically with that animal. All in all, very thorough.

It’s not perfect; occasionally she gets a fact wrong or stretches an animal’s inherent magical qualities a little farther than I’d agree with. And the discussions of the people involved are just too limiting. I don’t recommend reading it cover to cover; after a while the format does get a little tedious, though her writing style is excellent.

Still, overall this is a high-quality book that any animal magician should own. It’s a really good exception to my “I’m tired of totem animal dictionaries!” rule, and I highly recommend it as a good reference book.

Four and a half pawprints out of five.

Note: This should not be confused with Animal Wisdom by Susie Green.

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Animal-Wise: The Spirit Language and Signs of Nature
Ted Andrews
Dragonhawk Publishing, 1999
438 pages

This is a pretty typical neopagan sequel. Once again, Andrews presents us with a totem animal dictionary with some supporting material. It’s basically Animal Speak all over again, except with new exercises and a whole new slew of animals.

This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Fans of his work will enjoy the new ideas to work with. And this time he goes into some pretty varied animals, including Mole, Lark, Woolly Caterpillar, and dozens more. As always, his writing is inviting and never confusing, though it is 101 material, of course.

It doesn’t really work as a stand-alone book for a newbie, just because some of the foundational information is in Animal Speak. However, they do complement each other nicely. The cover, again, is rather wannabe Native, but that’s marketing for you–many people still have the idea that totemism is primarily an American indigenous thing.

Four and a half pawprints out of five.

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Animal Speak: The Spiritual & Magical Powers of Creatures Great & Small
Ted Andrews
Llewellyn Publications, 1996
383 pages

This is pretty much the classic neopagan totem dictionary. It gets more recommendations to newbies looking for totemic reading material than any other, and there’s good reason for this. It’s a thorough introduction to finding and working with totem animals, and had, at the time of its publication, the most complete listing of animal totems available.

Rather than just sticking to Big, Impressive North American Mammals and Birds, Andrews gives the totemic qualities of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and even insects from around the world. He gives a number of excellent exercises designed to help the practitioner strengthen the bond with hir totem once the connection has been made, and the entire book is written with respect for this relationship.

I do think he sometimes goes overboard on specific details. For example, he makes a bigger deal out of the fact that certain animals have the color red on them instead of blue, and then pulls in the human associations of red. I interpret it instead as red being the best color for attracting a mate or scaring off predators, depending on what animal we’re talking about. But he does rely heavily on interpreting animal behavior, which I think is a much more solid area of study.

I also like that he didn’t pull a Medicine Cards and talk about how he was teaching “genuine Native American totemism” and throwing around “medicine” and “all my relations” and so forth. I have talked to at least one other person whose opinion I respect who thought that Andrews was still a little too much on the side of cultural appropriation, but I think this is still a big improvement over previous (and later) works that try to be “noble savage totemism”.  The cover is probably the worst of it, IMO, but I can see arguments otherwise.

Overall, it’s pretty easy to see why this book is so popular. It’s not the only alternative out there, and a lot of people have tried to copy it. I’d recommend it to beginners along with Yasmine Galenorn’s Totem Magic.

Four and a half pawprints out of five.

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