An interesting look at an interesting way of life/religion. I like the focus on nature and the individualistic approach to things. I also like how there are few set rules or mandates and no formal worship. It's basically DIY spirituality, which is nice if you're so inclined. It's not something I'm going to go all in for, and plenty of it's just really goofy. However, it's a very well written book despite its age, and a neat look into this misunderstood belief system.

So I know this book is widely considered to be one of the best books on Wicca (and witchcraft in general) ever written, and I don’t necessarily disagree but I did want to point out a few things. Firstly, I want to acknowledge that this book was written a while ago. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s outdated, but it does pretty much stick to a “one goddess, one god” formula, though a lot of Wiccans worship multiple goddesses and gods. I am also not Wiccan, I’m an eclectic pagan witch (who happens to enjoy a lot of aspects of Wicca, but I wouldn’t say that it is my entire craft) so that could be part of why that didn’t sit 100% with me. I think this book is a perfect overview of Wicca specifically, and I especially loved Cunningham’s invocations and book of shadows section. My only real complaint is that the book assumes that you have access to nature, such as a tall cliff, and a secluded forest (among other things) and the way it is written sort of implies that if you can’t access those things you’re doing it wrong. Yes Wicca is a nature based religion, but that doesn’t mean that if you live in the city you can’t be a witch. I found myself feeling disappointed that I couldn’t do all of the spells because I can’t practice outside and don’t have direct access to nature-y areas. Of course you should follow certain rules, but that shouldn’t mean that you can’t practice Wicca unless you have all of the perfect tools and the perfect outdoors area to do it in. All in all I actually enjoyed the book, especially the correspondences and reference sections, and I think that I might enjoy Cunningham’s other books more than this one. This is a very good basis to build off of, I just want complete beginners to know that you can make your craft your own, don’t forget to read books by multiple authors to get different perspectives, and you don’t have to do everything the exact way one author says you should. It’s okay to pick and choose what resonates with you.

VF : J'ai trouvé ce livre instructif sur certains point de la Wicca, on a tout les éléments essentiels pour un débutant. Malgré tout j'ai trouvé que certaines choses étaient trop "extrême" ou un peu trop contradictoire dans les convictions et les besoins matériaux. J'ai parfois été en désaccord sur certains point mais cela reste une belle introduction à la Wicca pour les novices par contre ne pas tout prendre au pied de la lettre. VO : I found this book informative on some point of Wicca, so you have all the essentials for a beginner. Despite everything I found that some things were too "extreme" or a little too contradictory in beliefs and material needs. I have sometimes disagreed on some point but it is still a nice introduction to Wicca for novices on the other hand do not take everything literally.