Pneumatised!

Its been over a year since I did the Myers-Briggs personality testing, out of curiosity I did it again.

Here’s what I got from the Okcupid version:

The LONG Scientific Personality Test
Your Score: INTJ -The Mastermind
You scored 9% I to E, 42% N to S, 71% F to T, and 47% J to P!

You are more introverted than extroverted. You are more intuitive than observant, you are more thinking based than feeling based, and you prefer to have a plan rather than leaving things to chance. Your type is best described by the word “mastermind”, which belongs to the larger group called rationals. Only 1% of the population shares your type. You are very strong willed and self-confident. You can hardly rest until you have things settled. You will only adopt ideas and rules if they make sense. You are a great brainstormer and often come up with creative solutions to difficult problems. You are open to new concepts, and often actively seek them out.
As a romantic partner, you can be both fascinating yet demanding. You are not apt to express your emotions, leaving your partner wondering where they are with you. You strongly dislike repeating yourself or listening to the disorganized process of sorting through emotional conflicts. You see your own commitments as self-evident and don’t see why you need to repeat something already expressed. You have the most difficulty in admitting your vulnerabilities. You feel the most appreciated when your partner admires the quality of your innovations and when they listen respectfully to your ideas and advice. You need plenty of quiet to explore your interests to the depth that gives you satisfaction.
Your group summary: rationals (NT)
Your type summary: INTJ

According to HumanMetrics I am an INFJ. I scored 44% introverted, 25% intuitive, 38% feeling, and 22% judging. According to Keirsey.com, I’m a “Counsellor Idealist”.

The Portait of the Counselor (INFJ)

The Counselor Idealists are abstract in thought and speech, cooperative in reaching their goals, and enterprising and attentive in their interpersonal roles. Counselors focus on human potentials, think in terms of ethical values, and come easily to decisions. The small number of this type (little more than 2 percent) is regrettable, since Counselors have an unusually strong desire to contribute to the welfare of others and genuinely enjoy helping their companions. Although Counsleors tend to be private, sensitive people, and are not generally visible leaders, they nevertheless work quite intensely with those close to them, quietly exerting their influence behind the scenes with their families, friends, and colleagues. This type has great depth of personality; they are themselves complicated, and can understand and deal with complex issues and people.

Counselors can be hard to get to know. They have an unusually rich inner life, but they are reserved and tend not to share their reactions except with those they trust. With their loved ones, certainly, Counselors are not reluctant to express their feelings, their face lighting up with the positive emotions, but darkening like a thunderhead with the negative. Indeed, because of their strong ability to take into themselves the feelings of others, Counselors can be hurt rather easily by those around them, which, perhaps, is one reason why they tend to be private people, mutely withdrawing from human contact. At the same time, friends who have known a Counselor for years may find sides emerging which come as a surprise. Not that they are inconsistent; Counselors value their integrity a great deal, but they have intricately woven, mysterious personalities which sometimes puzzle even them… (For more, see Keirsey.com - Four Temperaments.)

Huh? Interesting. This implies that I am more feeling than thinking now. Wonder if some of the life changes this past year have affected my personality? Interesting… quite interesting.

~~~C

I finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell and Parable of the Sower last month sometime. Both are excellent reads depending on your mood. Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell is light-hearted while Parable of the Sower is fairly dark, though probably not as dark as Titus Groan. The ending of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell might surprise a few readers, but if you understand the characters well, you’ll understand the ending.

I’ve been reading about human rights like I mentioned. Primarily I’ve been borrowing books from the library. I finished reading International Human Rights by Jack Donnelly. It is nominally an introductory to human rights (though the author writes to an American audience). Still it was a good introductory, I suppose. It was published in 2007, written just at the time when the United Nations (UN) Commission on Human Rights was being replaced by the more prominent Human Rights Council. The change is probably a good thing as the UN Human Rights Council reports directly to the General Assembly of the UN (that is, all the members of the UN) rather than just the UN Economic and Social Council (which is composed of only 54 members of the UN, albeit elected by the General Assembly). Aside from this change, the book is fairly up-to-date. The cases in the book are older cases that are of historical note. For more recent news on human rights issues, you can read reports from Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. Right now, I’m waiting for a book to become available at the library. I have it on hold.

In the meantime, I finished reading a little introductory book on hieroglyphs. It is mostly about Egyptian hieroglyphs and includes a few chapters on Mayan hieroglyphs. These systems of writing are fairly logical. Aside from learning the meaning of different Egyptian hieroglyphs, it would be useful to actually speak the language because the Egyptian hieroglyphs also consist of phonograms (that is, images that represent sounds not the actual picture). The problem of course is that ancient Egyptian isn’t the same as modern Egyptian. Thus, the problem with translation of ancient Egyptian is that even if you can determine the sound of a word, it’s in ancient Egyptian and the word may have slightly changed meaning over the years. Of course, there are many hieroglyphs that have meanings associated with them and not just sounds making it quite an interesting writing system.

I also started learning how to write Chinese. Well, I knew a bit of the mechanics of how to write Chinese characters. What I’m learning now is mostly understanding Chinese characters and trying to recognize them. In some ways similar to how hieroglyphs work though the pictures over time changed to characters. For example, the character meaning “sun or day” originated from our standard sun circle with a dot or line in the center to a square with a line in the middle. Imagine drawing a vertical line down on the left side, then the top line and right line, then the line in the middle connecting the left and right, and finally the bottom line connecting the left and right lines. Remembering what some Chinese characters mean stems from understanding how it came that way. Other characters can be made from standard characters (called “radicals”). In this way, a meaning may be derived from two or more characters joined together. For example, the character for woman is one radical. The character for child is another. Now, to the Chinese long ago, a woman with a child was considered a good thing. Thus, the characters for woman and child joined together (written close to each other from left to right) means “good”. There are, of course, radicals that have no meaning and serve simply to help group Chinese characters together for ease of organization. Characters may also represent sounds only. Two Chinese words that sound similar except for the tone can be written differently by using a different radical that indicates which meaning to give to the sound. In this way, some radicals act like determinatives in Egyptian hieroglyphs. Interesting, huh? Characters represent syllables, which means that every syllable in Chinese has a character. This means that a word spoken in Chinese may be written with more than one character. Now, there’s this little problem of learning something like 3000 characters to actually be able to read a Chinese newspaper (basic literacy). A well-educated person should know about 4000 to 5000 Chinese characters. In any case, this is something I’ve been meaning to get around to because I really should be able to read and write Chinese. Never mind that Chinese brush writing is artistic in its own way. It gives an added style dimension to writing. (Oh, and in case you’re wondering, speaking Chinese is a separate system. The characters represent syllables of a word, but do not necessarily indicate the sounds you are to say. Thus, you have to learn how to say something in Chinese and associate it with the characters. Otherwise, the characters don’t necessarily tell you what sound to say - not like in English, when you see “t” you say the “tee” sound.)

I’m also learning Dutch. It seems fairly easy so far. It has some similarities to English and hm… I’m wanting to say French and German. I’m starting to remember some words like, “Dank je” (Thank you), “Goedemorgen” (Good morning) and “Doei” (informal “Bye!”), which is reminding me that I should say “Doei!” for now. I have some more reading and studying to do.

~~~CJ

The use (or rather the misuse) of tasers by law enforcement in Canada (and also the U.S.) is a growing human rights concern according to Amnesty International (AI) Canada (please see “Amnesty International’s Concern About Tasers”). Taser-related deaths have been increasing since they were deployed amongst law enforcement officers in Canada (and the U.S.). Most recently is the case of a Polish immigrant, Robert Dziekanski, who died after being stunned with a taser by the RCMP at Vancouver International Airport (see Amnesty International Canada’s news report on airport death). (News reports at the time said that Dziekanski was arriving to meet his mother and got lost in the airport. He couldn’t find any assistance in finding his way and couldn’t contact his mother. He grew frustrated and agitated at being lost in the airport. RCMP didn’t realize he was speaking Polish and sent the wrong language interpreter to the scene.) In 2004, AI Canada published a report addressing the issue of tasers. With the report are clear cases of tasers being used excessively, in some cases ending in death (please see “Canada: Excessive and lethal force? Amnesty International’s concerns about deaths and ill-treatment involving police use of tasers”).

Instead of sitting by and allowing this misuse of tasers to continue and taser-related deaths to increase, AI Canada is calling for a moratorium on the use of tasers. AI Canada is asking that law enforcement cease the use of tasers until independent research can be conducted on them. If you believe that the use of tasers should stop until more research is conducted on them, take action and fill out the form on AI Canada’s moratorium page. I have filled out the form and added the following comment:

Addditionally, the use of tasers can be inherently dangerous if used on someone with a pre-existing health condition (such as epilepsy or heart disease). Persons with specific health conditions are at greater risk of dying from being stun by a taser as their bodies’ tolerance to being stunned is lower. I do not believe law enforcement officers are well trained enough to be able to determine if someone may have a health condition that might predispose them to dying from a taser stun.

Clearly from the increasing taser-related deaths, tasers should be considered lethal force and in the meantime, should not be used until further research and clearer safety parameters are set.

You can read AI Canada’s latest report (in pdf) on this issue - “Canada: Inappropriate and excessive use of tasers (May 2007)”.

~~~Cass

Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake is the first novel in a trilogy, the follow-ups being Gormenghast and Titus Alone. The trilogy is nominally an epic, which tells the story of the 77th Earl of Gormenghast, Titus Groan. In the first book, Titus is born to Lady Gertrude and Lord Sepulchrave to the initial dismay of his older sister, Fuchsia. The first book basically tells how Titus becomes the 77th Earl of Gormenghast before he’s even two-years-old. The world of Gormenghast is dark, quite gothic in feel. Fuchsia has the temperament you would expect of any fifteen-year-old girl - she does whatever she wants and rebels against even her childhood nursemaid, who she professes to love with all her heart. The book is well-written and leaves a remarkably fantastical world imprinted on your mind. Although I initially wasn’t planning on reading the whole trilogy and despite criticism that the next two novels aren’t as impressive on the imagination as the first, I’m intrigued enough to want to find out what happens to Titus Groan in his later years. The next two books will be on my reading list.

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley written in 1932 still scarily reflects on modern society, even in this new millenium. What can I say about it that hasn’t already been said? Obviously, there’s a strangely polarized danger to trusting in either science or religion too much. Yet, in many ways science seems to be the new religion of the modern world, as it seems to be in Brave New World.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer (season eight) by Joss Whedon et al. is the comic/graphic novel version of Buffy. It continues the story after Sunnydale is blown up at the end of season seven. Volume one collecting issues one to five in graphic novel format is now available. There is also a continuation of the Angel serial. Look for Angel: After the Fall - it should be in graphic novel format once the comic gets to issue five.

I mentioned Fables before, I’m sure. I have pretty much caught up with the series I’m up to volume nine now, but I’ve taken a break from it to finish up some other books on my reading list.

If you’re interested in manga, some interesting ones are Blame!, Tsubasa, xxxholic, and Chobits.

I’ve been plodding my way through Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. Quite an amusing read! It’s 1006 pages so it will take me awhile to finish it, especially since I tend to change books every so often for variety. Unfortunately, I don’t have the ability to finish a 1000-page book in five hours like a certain person I know.

I haven’t gone back to Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time yet. I find his serial quite absorbing and there are many plot lines to follow, so it’s best for me to read it when I have a good block of time available and I don’t have to think about doing anything else. I’m thinking I will get back to the Wheel of Time (book seven) when I’ve knocked down my reading list a bit.

I’ve currently gone back to reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It’s been a few weeks and I want to know how Strange is doing overseas as a magic advisor. I think the novel is wonderfully written.

I also started reading the much shorter novel Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler. It’s listed as science fiction and like Brave New World is a commentary on modern society and where it may lead. Well written in the first person narrative, it’s easy to get drawn into the story. It’s told through the eyes of an empath who must learn to control her abilities.

Other fiction books on my reading list are:

The Ghatti’s Tale - Book One: Finders-Seekers by Gayle Greeno
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Lady of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley (I didn’t think I would read the rest of Bradley’s novels in this series, but something keeps drawing me back to them. Having read Mists of Avalon and The Forest House already, the next in the series are Lady of Avalon, Priestess of Avalon, Ancestors of Avalon, Ravens of Avalon, and Sword of Avalon (to be published in 2009). The last three books in this series are written by Diana L. Paxson rather than the late Ms. Bradley. I’m thinking if I like Ancestors of Avalon, I’ll continue reading the rest of the novels written by Paxson, but I’m sure I’m going to read up to Ancestors of Avalon.)
Gravity’s Rainbow by Thomas Pynchon (a recommendation by Nathan (see his blog))
Artemis Fowl (books two and three) by Eoin Colfer (This is such an amusing children’s fiction series. You can’t not like it. )
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling (Yes, I’m a little slow. Haha. Actually, it’s more that I’m not overly excited about the rest of the serial and I also don’t like reading hardcover books if I can avoid it. It’s an amusing children’s fiction serial and since I started it I thought I’d finish reading it. When the last book in the serial is available in paperback, I’ll read this one.)
Vampire Hunter D by Hideyuki Kikuchi (Ever since I read Battle Royale, I have no hesitation about reading another Japanese novel, especially one that Nathan’s picked up. This book should be amusing.)
The Diamond Throne and The Ruby Knight (books one and two of The Elenium) by David Eddings (I found these down in our laundry room where people recycle books. Thought I’d read these sometime. I read David Eddings’ other serial before and thought they were amusing, although Nathan doesn’t like Eddings’ writing so much.)
The Tower on the Rift (book two of The View from the Mirror) by Ian Irvine (Nathan read both books one and two and lost interest because Irvine’s writing isn’t the greatest. I have to agree. The story sounds interesting, but I found it hard to finish the first book. I may read this book at some point, but I’m in no rush too. Maybe if I really, really want to know what happens to the main characters…)
Dhampir by Barb and J.C. Hendee (I don’t have this book yet, but it actually does sound interesting and the writing I’m assured is pretty good. The book is the first in a series.)

Aside from reading fiction, I’ve been studying various subjects still and still have a pretty hefty list of non-fiction books to read. For the most part, I’ve been studying astrology (Western and Chinese astrology) and topics related to reiki and healing. I’ve also finally gotten a chance to delve into human rights like I wanted (gee, that wasn’t obvious with the last few posts). I’m more interested in international human rights, which is why I’ve been researching Amnesty International. There is a new human rights book that will be published and released later this month (International Human Rights: A Comprehensive Introduction by Michael Haas) that I want to read. I’m in the middle of writing a few pages on human rights for my website. It’s a work in progress and won’t be available until I get through a few source materials.

~~~CJ

Many people are still unclear about this not necessarily being a human rights issue (as posted below). Today, I posted the following comment on my own facebook note to help clarify:

The following excerpt from the OHRC website may make things clearer:

“You have the right to be free from discrimination that is:

* in a specific social area such as jobs, housing and services, and

* because of a ground protected by the Code, such as race, handicap or sex.

Your rights under the Code are not violated if you only have a social area or only have a ground. For example, the Code does not apply if a stranger on the street insults you by making a racist comment because this did not happen in a specific social area. The Code will also not apply if you feel you are being treated differently in your job due to a personality conflict with your manager because there is no ground.”

(source: http://www.ohrc.on.ca/en/resources/Guides/
GuideHRcode2?page=GuideHRcode2-PART.html#Heading53):

Based on this, I would say Ms. Conover only has a ground (religious practices and beliefs) and not necessarily a social area (such as employment).

Additionally, I’ve addressed the idea that since the pageant is a public event, then this is a human rights violation by not allowing Ms. Conover to be a judge. Here were my comments on this:

No one’s disputing Ms. Murray’s actions. What you have to understand is that it is not a “public service”, which is a service offered through a governmental body or agency (a few examples would be government housing and employment insurance). Therefore, it does not necessarily fall under a human rights violation. The fact that the event is offered to the general populace and takes place in a public venue does not mean it is a “public service”. (Many people often confuse the meaning of “public” as it is used to refer to some businesses - not all businesses are “public corporations” - as well as government services.)

Again, I must state that being invited to be a pageant judge is not the same as being hired. It is as yet unclear if she was being offered a job or simply being asked to attend as a “honoured judge”, the latter being cited in news sources as the case.

Here’s clarification on the meaning of the word “public” as it is used in different legal contexts:

1) public service - refers to a service offered through the government, whether municipal, provincial, or federal

2) public corporation - refers to a business that has become “incorporated” (incorporation gives a business certain rights, one of which is that the incorporation is considered a “person” under the law) and has offered shares of the corporation to public

Not all corporations are public as not all offer shares to the public. Where a business becomes incorporated and does not offer its shares to the public, it is a “private corporation”.

Non-profit organizations (NPOs) may become incorporated. They do not offer shares to the public, though they may provide services to the public. They operate slightly differently and are governed by a different statute than profit corporations . Some people mistakenly call NPOs “public organizations”, which is not a useful term.

This is a follow up to “Human rights or not - reactions to the Ms. Conover issue”.

“Local witches are fired up and ready to picket
in support of Miss Toronto Tourism Pageant judge ousted for Wiccan beliefs”

Ms. Murray is going to have a rude awakening.

Though I wonder if in some way this is adding more fuel to the fire that originally sparked Ms. Murray to write a nasty mean letter to Ms. Conover regarding her hobbies, reiki and tarot card reading. While I agree that what Ms. Murray wrote to Ms. Conover was bigoted, we must realize that although the letter has been made “public”, it was a private letter to begin with. Much as I support the cause of religious freedom, a cause dear and near to the hearts of my pagan/Wiccan acquaintances, I also support all forms of human rights. Ms. Murray has the inalienable right to express her opinion, which she did (although in one of the more nasty ways possible towards a Wiccan) in her originally-private-made-public letter to Ms. Conover. If we as a society are going to vouch for one form of human right, we must also hold to other forms as well. Otherwise, why bother having them? Sadly, this does mean that in private correspondence, Ms. Murray can write what she wishes, even mean and nasty words. Had she gone and written this on a public message board forum or blog, there may have been more legal recourse possible. This is not the case. Ms. Murray’s letter was originally private. (At this point, I must ask, “How did the letter become public? Who made the letter public?”)

Returning back to the fire… clearly Ms. Murray has strong opinions against reiki (though I feel I must state here that there are Christians who also do reiki; “Ms. Murray if you happen to read this perhaps you should do some research before you start venting your views”) and tarot card reading. Clearly, she lacks knowlege of what is really involved in either of those practices. That being said, would picketing her precious little pageant change anything? Not sure. She may very well be one of those die-hard (emphasis on “die”) Christians who relish the thought of being a martyr for their god. For all we know, this is her biggest battle and it’s her chance to show her faithful duty to her god. Lovely. Then what we have is another Christian martyr for others like her to look up to. The flip side, of course, is that pagans/Wiccans and most sane people out there will think Ms. Murray is well… just a little insane (not that people don’t already think she is).

In any case, what I see here is something spiralling hopefully not out of control - yet. Let’s hope it doesn’t.

In the meantime, I choose to sit back and let my dear friends do what they must do. I must do what I must do. I believe in human rights. This means that I must see both sides of this issue and I cannot take sides. Doing so would mean that I believe that one human right (right to freedom of religious choice) outweighs another (right to freedom of opinion), which is not the case. I believe in both equally. (Think about it? I’m a pagan who also loves writing!)

Here’s hoping that something good comes out of all this and not the scenario I presented above. Mediators be ready, this is a tough one.

This is my facebook status recently, “Well, much as it sucks for Ms. Conover, being an invitee to be a pageant judge isn’t a human right like employment. Question: Were they hiring her???”

Such is the heart of the issue. Was she being hired? Sadly, many Wiccans and pagans do not understand what constitutes a human right and what doesn’t. Employment is deemed a human right because without employment a person would starve and their life would be in ruins. Being a invitee to an event, however, is not a human right. It’s a privilege. It is an honour to be invited to an event. Unfortunately, it was an honour that the Miss Toronto Tourism pageant didn’t want to bestow on Stephanie Conover because she practices reiki and reads tarot cards. As it turns out, Ms. Conover is a Wiccan. (See link at the end of the blog for the news article regarding Ms. Conover.)

Most pagans and Wiccans know that they have a fundamental freedom to follow any religious belief system they choose and have a right to practice their faith so long as it does not condone acts which infringe on others’ human rights. However, many do not know what exactly constitutes a human right, nor have they taken the time to understand human rights - something they are quite fond of talking about when they perceive an “injustice” against their religious beliefs. This is, to my chagrin, the case with many pagans I know. It saddens me in many ways. People overall have a tendency to react without thinking when something feels like a personal attack. Religious beliefs are very personal. Thus, people react without thinking when something feels like an attack on their religious beliefs. This is what I’ve observed with the Stephanie Conover issue, like similar issues - a reaction based totally on emotion without thought, one that many people simply need to “ride out”.

Then, they try to take me along for the ride. Next, they wonder why I don’t feel like it. Nope. Sorry. Much as I love some of my pagan friends and acquaintances, there’s a bigger issue here for me (as there should be for other pagans), which is representing myself as an intelligent and upstanding pagan and not making a fool of myself by reacting to something without thought. Sadly, I fear that many pagans will be seen as overly emotional and hyper-sensitive about their religion. Others will think that pagans are an overly emotional group of people, and being so overly emotional, they were clearly drawn to paganism simply due to its emotional appeal and without any intellectual basis. Sorry, that’s not me. I have a brain that I use (perhaps too much, some may say ). It has always been my goal to represent myself as an intelligent person (nevermind pagan), but being that I am pagan… Yes, I suppose I’m trying to represent myself as an intelligent pagan. Hopefully, it’s an example other pagans will follow.

It’s not my intention to give everyone a primer on human rights, but I do think people should try to understand it as best as possible. First, one should read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), which governs the United Nations and all its member countries. Canada and the U.S. are members of the United Nations and are therefore governed by the UDHR. Next, one should look for the the relevant federal law covering human rights in their country. In Canada, we have the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which covers the rights of Canadians. You can also read the Wikipedia article on the Charter. Having read both the UDHR and the Charter (if you’re Canadian; I don’t know what laws the U.S. has), you may also want to research Amnesty International, which deals with human rights cases worldwide.

In regards to the Stephanie Conover issue, IF the Miss Toronto Tourism pageant had hired her and then fired her, she would have a human rights case, as it is a human right to not be discriminated against by an employer based on religious beliefs. The Ontario Human Rights Commission (OHRC) deals with discrimination and human rights cases. Information regarding religion and human rights can be found on their webpage “Religion and Human Rights”. If, however, Ms. Conover was only extended an “invitation”, there is only so much that can be done legally. Of course, that’s not to say that she may not get an apology from the Miss Toronto Tourism pageant organizers. I believe the human rights tribunal involves mediation and some things may be settled before reaching the tribunal or courts.

In the meantime, well… life moves on. I write this blog hoping that someone will actually understand the thoughts I’m conveying here. I sympathize with Ms. Conover. A snub is a snub is a snub - it stings, then goes away. However, there’s still lots of work to be done if pagans and Wiccans want to be taken seriously and thought of as intellectual and upstanding rather than overly emotional and hyper-sensitive. Understanding human rights and how they actually apply to our religious beliefs and practices is a starting point.

Links: Toronto Star article, “Not in the Cards”

http://torontoist.com/2008/01/miss_toronto_to.php

Since I recently reviewed two books on candle magic (see the previous one on Natural Magick), I thought I should review this book that I had lying around in my closet. I read this book in my early days of researching witchcraft and Wicca. For the most part, the book is in the format of a “cookbook” where you simply look up something, such as a spell, ritual, or candle colour correspondences. Written in that manner, you can’t argue with the book too much. You either agree with the way the author does things or you don’t. However, I would recommend to readers to see if they can find a reason for the way the author does something. For example, why does the “Ancient Gypsy Love Spell” involve onion or garlic? Essentially, before doing something based on this book, try to understand why it’s done the way it is. I would also recommend that readers think of their own colour correspondences and see if they fit with the author’s. (Perhaps yellow makes you think of love instead of pink?)

There some things I’d like to comment on.

On page 22, the pentacle. The pentacle is a symbol in the shape of a five-pointed star with a circle around it. A pentagram is a five-pointed star. This author makes the common mistake of calling the pentagram (the five-pointed star without a circle) a pentacle. Many people make this mistake these days because of early authors making this mistake. A pentagram is a five-pointed star. A pentacle is a a pentagram surrounded by a circle. If you study the tarot, you may recall the pentacles suit in the Rider-Waite tarot deck. The pentagram always refers to the symbol itself. The pentacle however isn’t just the symbol. The pentacle may also be a circular object with the pentagram inscribed on it, such as a dish or a coin. This an important difference. (Please see Wikipedia articles, “Pentagram” and “Pentacle”.) To further clarify things, a six-pointed star is properly called a “hexagram”, a seven-pointed star is called a “septagram” or “heptagram”, an eight-pointed star is called an “octagram”, and so on. See the pattern here? There is a consistency in the names for the various star symbols so it’s quite easy to remember what they are called. Can you guess what an eleven-pointed star is called? It’s actuallt a hendecagram!

Returning to the pentagram, the five-pointed star, it does not necessarily become a symbol of black magic or Satanism when its top point (the apex) is facing downwards. While it’s true that Satanists use the inverted pentagram as one of their symbols (they also use the inverted Christian cross), the inverted pentagram has other meanings as well. One meaning of the inverted pentagram is a mastering of the elements earth, air, fire, and water. This is in line with the idea that pentagram with its apex pointing up represents spiritual pursuits as the apex itself is associated with spirit while the remaining four points represent each of the elements earth, air, fire, and water.

On page 23, the author discusses the “Eye of Horus” symbol and says that it “represents both solar and lunar energies”. This isn’t entirely accurate. It depends on whether the symbol is the left or the right eye. The left eye of Horus was gouged out at some point. Thus, the empty socket of the left eye is said to represent the moon as the light from that eye is dimmer than the right eye, which is said to represent the sun. The “Eye of Horus” is also called the “Eye of Ra”. (However, since Ra is the Egyptian sun god, the “Eye of Ra” is properly said to be the right eye of Horus.)

Further on page 23, the author states “The triangle, equivalent to the number three (a powerful magickal number) is also a symbol of the Triple Goddess: Mother, Warrior, Crone. Inverted, it represents the male principle.” The commonly known triple aspect of the goddess was written about in D.J. Conway’s book Maiden, Mother, Crone. Maiden, mother, crone is the triplicity you will hear of the most. I have not heard of “mother, warrior, crone” as a triplicity although I suppose it’s possible. Additionally, the upright triangle does not always represent the female. Actually, the upside-down triangle more accurately reflects the female as on the female body the upside-down triangle can be seen by the connection of the female sexual organs. The male is represented by the upright triangle for the same reasons.

The swastika is a controversial symbol because of its associations with the Nazis in Germany prior to and during the second world war. The swastika is indeed a “good luck” symbol and is often considered to be a symbol of a sun wheel representing success. (Yes, the Nazis were likely using it for these reasons). Wikipedia has more information on the swastika that may wish to read about.

On page 30, the “Voodoo-Witch Oil” lists as an ingredient “powdered bat’s skull”? It’s optional for the oil, but where does one get powdered bat’s skull? The author seems to dabble a little in dark magic. Indeed, chapter 8 is “Voudoun Candle Magick”, which is known mostly for its black magic forms. (I personally haven’t worked with Voudoun (also spelt “Voudun”), so I can’t comment on anything the author has written regarding this form of magical practice. If you are drawn to Voudun, I would recommend you undertake your own research.) Additionally, I’m not sure what she is recommending if you were wanting to use animal blood in the oil. I suppose you can go to the butcher and buy some cow blood. I personally can’t prick my own finger or thumb. I’m a bit of a wuss about that. Don’t ask why. I’d much rather punch some pine boards.

Regarding the candle colours for deities listed on pages 36 to 58. I’m not familiar with all these deities, and it is a nice list. I would suggest (only because it’s what I would do!) that readers become familiar with a deity first and decide for themselves which colours to use. Sometimes the colour to use is fairly obvious as in the case of the Celtic war goddess Morrigan. The choice of colour for Morrigan comes straight out of the mythology. Yes, this means read some mythology. Reading and studying mythology is the only way to research deities. Then you can work with them and see what works for you.

Regarding the names of the sabbats, I use the following names - Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Lady Day/Ostara, Beltane, Midsummer, Lughnasadh, and Harvestide. Dunwich uses Candlemas for Imbolc. Candlemas is a conflation of the words “candles” and “mass” (as in a Catholic mass). At some point, witches adopted the Catholic term for Imbolc in order to hide their often labelled heretical practices. Imbolc may also be refered to as St. Brigit’s Day as the Irish Celts celebrated their goddess Brighid on that day. When Christianity arrived in Ireland, worship of the goddess Brighid could not be extinguished. The Christians adopted the festival and simply made claim she was a Christian saint (pretty much as a way to suage pagans to Christianity). Dunwich also uses Lammas for Lughnasadh. Lammas is short for “loaf” and “mass” and has similar origins as Candlemas.

Candle colours for sabbats (see page 33)? My recommendation is the same as for determining candle colours for deities. Research the sabbat. Then decide what theme the sabbat should have, and then decide the candle colour. If you are familiar with a deity already and that deity is associated with the sabbat, you may use the colour you associate with that deity.

On page 59 Dunwich writes, “Herbs should also be used in all homemade candles crafted especially for healing spells and rituals.” You don’t need to use herbs in your healing candles if you don’t want. It’s a nice touch. Similarly, you can anoint your healing candle or not. I like to anoint candles when I think I have an appropriate oil for the magical purpose or deity.

Regarding the list of herbs to use in candles for magical purposes on pages 60 to 63. Since this list of herbs is for using with candle magic and they are not to be ingested, a warning on potentially dangerous herbs isn’t necessary. I would, however, double check the magical purposes for each herb. Magic done with the wrong herb may not necessarily make you sick, but it can be a pain to have magic go awry.

Regarding stones for magic and healing (pages 76 to 87), again do your own research and double check the information you are given. See what works for you.

Chapter 5 is “Sabbat Candle Rituals” where Dunwich gives a ritual for each sabbat. She gives dates for the sabbats, which you may use or not. There is nothing wrong with the dates as given. I have already posted elsewhere the dates for the sabbats that I prefer based on the Chinese lunisolar calendar which is based on astronomical observations.

For you own reference, Gardner in his book Witchcraft Today lists on page 130 the following sabbat names and dates as “Samhuin (November 1), Brigid (February 1), Bealteine or Beltene (May 1) and Lugnasadh (August 1).” On page 24, he mentions Yule and says “This in theory should be on December 22, but nowadays is held on the nearest day to that date that is convenient for the members.” He is, of course, here speaking of the winter solstice, which falls sometimes on December 22. In Gardner’s second book, he mentions the sabbats again. On page 82, “Now, the four great festivals the witch cult celebrates are Halloween, May Eve (the old “Walpurgis Night”), Lammas, and Candlemas (February 2nd).” Gardner connects the witches’ sabbats with the Druids’ by explaining some of the Druidic festivals. August 1st he notes as “Lammas” (page 81), November 1st he notes as Samhain and “our Halloween” (page 82), “May 1st was Bealteinne (Beltane)” (page 82), and February 2nd he explains is tied to the Christian festival, “The Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary”. He further comments that the Christian festival “is actually derived from the rites of the Roman goddess Februa, who was worshipped with lighted torches. Oimelc, the festival of the moon goddess Bride among the ancient Celts and Gaels, was February 1st. Bride has in modern days been Christianised as “St. Bride” or “St. Briget”…” He finishes off by describing the festival on Bride’s Day (note that “Bride” is pronounced “breed”).

Thus, we have from Gardner the following as the sabbats:

Samhuin (November 1) also spelt “Samhain” and called Halloween;
Brigid (February 1) also called Oimelc, Candlemas if on February 2;
Bealteine or Beltene (May 1) also spelt “Beltane” and called May Eve or Walpurgis Night;
Lugnasadh (August 1) also called Lammas;

and one additional festival, Yule (December 22).

Of additional interest, there was a small book published in 1989 by Rhiannon Ryall called West Country Wicca: A Journal of the Old Religion where the author shares the tradition with which she grew up. In the first few pages of the book, she explains why she wishes to share her knowledge (simply because it may be of interest to those studying Wicca) and that there were only five festivals celebrated in the “West Country”, the area the author grew up in England. The five festivals and dates she lists are:

Lady Day (March 25)
Beltane (April 30/May 1)
Summer Solstice/Midsummer (June 21)
November Eve/Samhain (October 31/November 1)
Winter Solstice/Yule (December 21)

Ryall says they did not know of the equinoxes, although now we can see that Lady Day was celebrated close to the spring equinox. The reason for this she claims is that the equinoxes are supposedly Greek in origin and that “West Country people of that time knew nothing of the Mediterranean customs, and therefore did not celebrate either Equinox.” Ryall says that the festivals Lammas and Imbolg were not celebrated because those were extremely busy times of the year and the West Country folk were practical people, so those two festivals would go unnoticed.

Contrasting and comparing the information from Gardner and Ryall shows quite a difference of festivals being celebrated. It seems it wasn’t until more modern times that a “Wheel of the Year” with eight seasonal festivals was created. Combining Gardner’s list with Ryall’s list, the only sabbat you are missing is the autumn equinox (which I learned is called Harvestide, supposedly a name that came out of the Gardnerian tradition later on - this was mentioned in my previous book review). Interesting, isn’t it?

Returning to the book, Wicca Candle Magick, on page 106, the author mentions Easter Sunday in relation to the spring equinox. She states incorrectly that Easter Sunday is “the first Sunday following the Vernal Spring Equinox.” (As a sidenote, isn’t Vernal Spring Equinox redundant? It’s either Vernal Equinox or Spring Equinox as “vernal” means “spring”.) In the most simplest terms, “Easter is observed on the Sunday after the first full moon on or after the day of the vernal equinox.” This is only a rule of thumb, supposedly the calculations for the date is more complicated (see Easter on Wikipedia). Thus, Easter can actually be as early as the first Sunday after the spring equinox or as late as approximately a month after the spring equinox. (Because the full moon can be the day before the spring equinox, the next full moon will be approximately another twenty-eight days later possibly pushing the festival back another six days if the full moon is on Monday. Sorry, if that hurt your head, it hurt mine trying to write that out.)

The sabbat candle rituals in the book are nice and simple. I haven’t had a chance to deconstruct these, but nothing strange jumped out at me.

Chapter 6 is titled “Candle Magick”. Here the author gives a definition of magic and explains the reasons for spelling it with a “k”. The definition she gives is actually paraphrased from Aleister Crowley who wrote “Magick is the science and art of causing change to occur in conformity with the will.” It was actually Crowley who popularized the spelling of magic with a “k” in order to distinguish it from stage magic. (See Wikipedia article on magic.)

On page 125, regarding “moon magick” Dunwich writes, “It is extremely important that magick spells and rituals be performed during the proper lunar phase of the moon.” This isn’t necessary, although you may find that magic timed with the moon phases to be more effective. There may be times when you feel it is the “right” moment to do magic and you should do it then. You don’t need to wait for the right lunar phase. There are other magical timing methods that will help with magic. To coordinate your magic with every timing method would be nearly impossible. So, pick the time that’s best for you to do magic. If you can wait to time it with the lunar phases, go ahead. For your reference, you may also time your magic according the astrological sign the moon is in, as well as the signs the other planets are in. (The book, Astrologickal Magick by Estelle Daniels discusses this in more depth.)

The bulk of chapter 6 consists of spells and various other ways of performing magic, such as making mojo bags and witch bottles. Some of it I consider for curiosity’s sake, such as a love philtre from the Middle Ages described on page 132. It involves the heart of a dove, the liver of a sparrow, the womb of a swallow, and the kidney of a hare - not really something I think modern witches would like to deal with or feel comfortable dealing with. Another spell is fairly simple such as the “Candle Love Spell” on page 134. It involves a candle, rose water, and honey. There is also a list of lucky birth charms, which you may use or not. A final note regarding spells, it is considered ethical to receive permission from someone before doing a spell for them and to never do a spell on or against someone. Generally, it is better to concentrate on doing spells for yourself. Yes, this means the bulk of traditional love spells shouldn’t be used (as they were often done without letting the other person know). Revenge spells are a particularly nasty business to get involved with. Remember, what you send out may come back to you greater than you sent out. (This is referred to as the “Threefold Law”, though there is no measure of how much something returns to you.) On rare occasions, binding spells may be used in the case that not binding someone will allow more harm to continue to be done. Obviously, for binding spells you do not need the permission of the person you are binding.

Chapter 7 “Magick for Hearth and Home” is a nice short chapter consisting of a “House Blessing Ritual” and some spells for the home.

I’ve already mentioned chapter 8, “Voudoun Candle Magick” earlier when discussing the “Voodoo-Witch Oil”. This chapter probably serves as a decent introduction to Voudun, but as mentioned earlier if you are interested in Voudun, you should research this more. The “hoodoo doll” mentioned in this chapter is in comparison to the “voodoo doll”. Hoodoo is another form of magical practice that can be found in Southern U.S., notably Louisiana. Supposedly, it is a mix of Voudun with local magical practices. (See Wikipedia article on Vodou.) There is a book on Hoodoo by Ray T. Malbrough called Charms, Spells & Formulas if you are interested in reading further about Hoodoo. (I haven’t read it yet, so I can’t give you any comments on it, except that it exists.)

Chapter 9, “Candle Omens and Superstitions”, is amusing. Interestingly, on page 175, “It is considered unlucky to fall asleep with a candle burning.” I have fallen asleep with a candle burning. Perhaps that might explain my strange luck and lack of fortune?? Bah, humbug!

Finally, chapter 10 is “Resources”. It is invariably out-of-date since this book was originally published in 1989 (re-published 1998). However, with the internet the way it is today, you don’t need a book listing resources. Google!!!

Overall, I thought this book was straightforward and practical. I have no major objections to the material in the book. (There’s some misinformation, but sometimes people make mistakes and learn later that the information might have been wrong.) As I said at the beginning of this blog post, you either agree with how this author does things or you don’t. It’s presented in a somewhat “cookbook” format, and like any cookbook you may pick and choose what you like. Regarding love and revenge spells, it’s up to you to decide if you will use those. It isn’t up to me to tell you what you can or cannot do. All I can say is keep in mind the Wiccan Rede and the Threefold Law (unless you think you’re invulnerable and things won’t come back and bite you in the butt).

My rating from 0 of 10 (5 is average): 7

Cassandrah
Brigid’s Flame

Yes, another book on “magick”. Yes, this was sent to me for free. So I read it. Now, here’s a review. (See my other book review - Exploring Candle Magick by Patricia Telesco.)

Sally Dubats is a solitary. She is likely not trained in traditional Wicca. Therefore, her practice is strictly her own, with nothing to base it on but her own feelings and whims. That’s all fine and good, but you still need to have good explanations for the way you do things, especially if your book is an attempt to teach others. I found that although her book appears comprehensive (only because of her herbal guide and stones guide, which take up nearly half of the book) and indepth, it is lacking any real (theoretical and practical) understanding of the subjects presented.

The writing is at a higher level than Patricia Telesco’s book on Advanced Candle Magick (not necessarily a hard thing to do), but this doesn’t mean the writing here is necesarily better. The writing is poor in some places. For example, on page 54 Dubats writes, “Because Sagittarius rules the thighs and liver, doing magick for these purposes is also fruitful.” Huh? For what purposes? The thighs and liver are not “purposes”. Strangely, she corrects this for some of the other astrological signs she writes about. For example, on page 57 “Because Taurus rules the throat and neck, doing magick for the purpose of healing these is also fruitful.” Unfortunately, she only uses the corrected sentence in five out of the twelve descriptions of the astrological signs. Another thing to note is the difference in meaning of “effect” and “affect”. “What affect does Air have on Fire?” (page 60) “Affect” is used in this sentence is a noun; however, the meaning of the word as a noun is “the conscious subjective aspect of an emotion considered apart from bodily changes; also : a set of observable manifestations of a subjectively experienced emotion” (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/affect). The example given by Merriam-Webster shows the proper use of the word as a noun in a quote by Oliver Sacks “patients…showed perfectly normal reactions and affects.” Contrasted with “effect”, “effect” is a noun which means “something that inevitably follows an antecedent (as a cause or agent)” (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/effect). You can use “affect” as a verb such as “This movie affected me strongly”, but contrast that with “What effect did this movie have on me?” The proper question Dubats is asking is “What effect does Air have on Fire?”

There were more than a few things I would like to comment on in this book.

The name of the sabbat that falls on autumn equinox has been debated. According to Gardner’s books, the autumn equinox wasn’t even a sabbat. Later on perhaps after Gardner had his own coven, the name “Harvestide” was brought to North America. “Harvestide” is notably used in the Odyssean tradition and at the WCC. The name Mabon for this seasonal festival is common in the United States (see Wikipedia article on Mabon (the festival)) although the god Mabon does not have any connection to the autumn equinox (as far as Celtic scholars know).

The author mentions “astral tools” on page 10. I have to ask why would you waste time visualizing a tool to use for magic when you can just concentrate on visualizing the magic that needs to be done? For example, Dubats says that if you don’t have a wand, you can then just visualize a wand to use for casting your circle. This is just silly. You don’t need tools to cast a circle. Period. End of discussion. The tools help you focus, that’s it. They aren’t required for you to do magic or direct energy. You are doing it. Yes, you. So don’t worry if you don’t have the “right” tools to do magic, just do it. It’s all visualization. So don’t waste time trying to visualize a wand in your hand and then cast your circle. Visualize casting a circle with your hand.

On page 11, the author says the cauldron is an earth tool??? Because it relates to Mother Earth? Generally, the cauldron relates to the womb, which is associated with water. The cauldron represents the vessel that gives birth. It is a vessel that contains water. Birth is associated with water (as in, “My water broke!”) Thus, the cauldron is associated more appropriately to water than to earth.

On page 13, the author writes “The athame is a double-edged knife or sword…” An athame is not a sword. Swords are longer. As for naming your athame? I don’t know anyone who does. I suppose maybe some people do and I just don’t know about it. I think the idea of naming your athame simply comes from the legend of King Arthur and Excalibur. I did say that the athame is not a sword right? Face it, we’re not heroic royalty in a story where we can spend time naming our tools. But hey! If I name my athame, I guess I should name my chalice as well. Then I’ll have “Dick” and “Kitty” present for their blessed union, The Great Rite.

Furthermore, why conflate the athame and the sword while at the same time viewing the cauldron and chalice as separate tools? The athame is paired with the chalice during the wine blessing (or the symbolic Great Rite). The sword and the cauldron can be substitutes for the athame and the chalice in the symbolic Great Rite when the chalice is not a large enough receptacle (for practical reasons). If a sword is also an athame, the author implies that the sword may be used with the chalice during the symbolic Great Rite. She does not mention using the cauldron for the symbolic Great Rite; thus, you would have a huge sword being dipped into a small vessel (proportionally). (Not that this hasn’t been done before, It’s been known to happen when there has been no choice, such as the athame being broken, but it is still preferable to have proportional tools.)

Imagine the following:

Goddess to God, “Where do you think you’re putting THAT?!”

or alternately, can you imagine using an athame with the cauldron?

Goddess to God, “Um, honey, I can’t feel a thing…”

Oh, and if you are a solitary like this author is, who are you doing the Great Rite with?? You kind of need a partner for it. Otherwise, you’re just blessing the wine and not performing the Great Rite.

Pink for a robe colour? “Pink-robed fluff bunny” comes to mind. I guess you can wear the bunny costume Anya wore in Buffy, but aw… pink connects with the heart. I have not seen anyone wear a pink robe. I suppose as long as it’s not “hot pink” or overly bright (unless it’s Beltane - for that sabbat, wear whatever makes you feel sexual); otherwise, it might be too distracting if you are in a group or public ritual.

By the way, a ritual broom is called a besom (beh-ZEM).

In regards to the necessity of a candle snuffer (page 19), blowing out a candle with your breath does not offend the fire element. It is said to offend fairies, so if you have a fairy shrine have a candle snuffer if you believe this. Otherwise, it’s fine to blow out a candle with your breath. Traditional Wiccans (stemming from British Traditional Witchcraft (BTW)) have been doing this for a long time now. Using a candle snuffer is handy for any candles that get a little out of hand because you don’t want to accidentally blow any embers onto something that may catch fire, but having a candle snuffer isn’t strictly necessary.

I found the candle colour associations in this book peculiar (pages 23 to 26). The author writes that “the colours of the rainbow are also the colours of the seven major chakras.” Yet, the colours she lists for the seven chakras are not all rainbow colours. She lists white as the colour for the seventh chakra, but white is not a rainbow colour. Later on in the book when discussing stones, the author returns to discusssing chakras and their associated colours. I’ll explain then why white is not a colour.

The elemental colour associations seem like an incomplete system with no real explanation. The author associates red with earth, which may be fine if you live in places where the earth is reddish. However, red is traditionally associated with fire. If you associate blue with water and the astrological water signs and green with earth and the astrological earth signs, why isn’t red associated with fire and the astrological fire signs and yellow associated with air and the astrological air signs? If you are giving colour associations with a system, please complete the system. Otherwise, it just looks like you didn’t give much thought to your colour associations but rather cut, copied, and pasted associations together for each colour. For reference here are colours and astrological signs for the elements:

Air: yellow (physical), grey (mental), violet (spiritual); Gemini, Libra, Aquarius
Fire: red (physical), orange (mental), white (spiritual); Aries, Leo, Sagittarius
Water: blue (physical), aqua (mental), indigo (spiritual); Cancer, Scorpio, Pisces
Earth: green (physical), brown (mental), black (spiritual); Taurus, Virgo, Capricorn

Following are explanations for the elemental colours:

Air has the colours yellow, grey, and violet as these are the colours you see in the eastern sky at sunrise.
Fire has the colours red, orange, and white as these are the varying colours you see in a fire.
Water has the colours blue, aqua, and indigo as these are the colours of the ocean from different distances.
Earth has the colours green, brown, and black as these are the colours of a field, soil, and cold earth in the winter.

I did learn one thing! Oh my! An awl (mentioned on page 26) is normally used to punch leather but can be used to scribe onto candles. Usually I just call these “candle scribes” or simply “scribe” for one.

Here comes the fun stuff - chapter 3, “Magick and Candles”. On page 20, the author writes that “Candle magick consists of projecting the essence of an individual into a candle… ” and later reiterates on page 27, “The candle must contain the essence of the person for whom you are working magick…” Not all candle magic requires this. You may use this technique, but it is not required. Based on this, every time I do candle magic for myself, I have to project myself into the candle. (Why would I want to be in such a confined space?) Then I burn the candle down. What happens then? Am I released? Where does my essence go? And while my essence is projected into the candle, what happens to my body? Then on page 30, the author states that the person’s essence must be projected into the candle along with the essence of the magical intention, allowing both essences “to mingle together, perhaps for the first time”. She states that this is important because if the person’s essence does not contain the essence of the magical intention, then they will never experience it (the intention or goal). She then gives an example stating “if an individual has never truly experienced prosperity, there is no prosperity intention within their essence.” This is a negative perspective to explain why someone has not become prosperous. On top of things, this statement is made after her section on writing positive magical phrases to use in ritual. A little hypocritical in my opinion. If you are going to use positivity in ritual, you should try to use it outside as well. Just because a person isn’t properous doesn’t mean it has anything to do with their intention. It could be bad luck, or maybe the gods don’t think it’s time for them to be prosperous, or maybe it just isn’t meant to be. To summarize, I really don’t think putting a person’s essence into a candle is a great idea. The author does state in her book that you should ask permission before doing magic for someone, but if someone wants to put my essence into a candle to do magic for me, I’d say, “No, thank you, I like my essence where it is, and please don’t do this to me.”

Generally, candle magic involves imbuing the candle with a specially focused energy (such as energy to bring you success in your endeavours). Then when the candle is burned down, the energy is released to spirit (or deity, if you call on deities) carrying with it your desired outcome. That is at least one explanation for how candle magic works. One often recommened book is Spells and How They Work by Janet and Stewart Farrar.

On page 34 under the section “Finishing the ritual”, the author writes “Do not extinguish the candle. Allow the candle to burn and extinguish naturally.” I think she means to let the candle burn continuously until it is completely finished. This is a nice idea, and if you are a solitary, something that can be done. However, if you are part of a coven or a magical working group, this is not practical. For one thing, you are more than likely taking your candle home with you to burn down. Sometimes the candles will be lit during the ritual and each person takes his/her candle home to burn down later. There is nothing wrong with blowing out a candle and then re-lighting it later. The magic has not left or gone anywhere. Consider that the magical energy is imbued into the candle. Thus, if the candle has not burned down completely, there is still magical energy to be released from re-lighting it and burning it again. There really is no reason why candles need to burn down continuously for magic to work. Also, some candles are timed candles which means that you burn it down in sections. For example, a candle can be divided into seven sections for each day of the week. You would burn down one section for each day. At the end of the week when the candle is completely burned down, the magical energy is released and your work is done.

Chapter 3 overall is badly conceived. On page 20, the author writes “The steps to take during simple candle magick… are as follows” and then follows a complicated list of what to do - decide on magic, when to perform magic, select candle colours, gather items, have a… wait… no… luxuriate in a ritual bath, prepare the candle, create a magical phrase, perform the ritual, imprint the candle, release energy, and finish the ritual. This is simple?? Then, following this is a section called “Simple Candle Magick”. Okay… um, I thought the previous list was supposed to be simple candle magic. Did this author read her book before having it published? Make up your mind, what’s the simple method?? Page 20 should really say, “steps to take during candle magick” (remove the word “simple”) or even better yet “steps to take to do candle magic during ritual…”

Moving into chapter 4, “Divination”, the author mentions the infamous blank rune. The blank rune is, in fact, a creation of Ralph Blum, who overlays Christian ideas on the Norse runes. The blank rune is not used in traditional Norse runes, and is considered to be redundant as the meaning Blum ascribes to the blank rune is encompassed throughout the set of Norse runes. For those interested in learning more about the Norse runes, I recommend reading about runes at www.tarahill.coom. You can also buy a set of runes and a book expanding on what is written on the website. Another good author on runes is Nigel Pennick. Dubats further associates the three aettir of the runes to the trinity of maiden, mother, crone. Sorry, this doesn’t work for me, especially since some of the runes are associated with Norse gods.

Next, the author makes a serious error. She states that “the moon travels through each of the signs approximately twice per month…” Ah, no! The moon is in one sign for about 2.45 days. The moon cycle is properly 29.5 days. There are 12 astrological signs. Do the math. 29.5 days divided by 12 signs equals 2.4583 days (where the 3 repeats). The moon travels through each sign once in a month. The only sign that the moon would travel through twice in a month is the sign at the beginning and near the end of the moon cycle. For example, the new moon and waning moon before the next new moon would be the same sign. In a solar month, the moon will travel through the signs at the beginning of the month again near the end of the month. However, this is far from saying the the moon will travel through each of the signs twice per month. (Seriously wondering if the author has ever looked at a lunar calendar or an astrology book, and not to mention an astronomy book!)

In this book, the author has personified each astrological sign as a way for people to understand each sign. I don’t think this is necessary for understanding each sign. I suppose it’s cute, but whatever… to each her own, I suppose. Either way, it isn’t necessary to personify the astrological signs.

I love numerology. Unfortunately, there’s no consistency to it as there are various methods and forms of numerology. The method of calculation in this book is more difficult, although your final reduced number will always be the same. For the system I like to use, each individual number should be written as separate digits. (The reason for this is because there is a form of numerology that also interprets the final two-digit number before it is reduced to one digit.) The example in the book is January 1, 1960, which is reduced as 1+1+1960=1962, then 1+9+6+2=18, and finally 1+8=9. It is actually much easier to reduce it this way: 1+1+1+9+6+0=18, then 1+8=9. This makes a difference for dates such December 31, 1989, which is easier to calculate and reduce using the second method versus the one shown in this book. Written as 12.31.1989, reduce it by starting with 1+2+3+1+1+9+8+9=34, then 3+4=7. This is much simpler than 12+31+1989=2032, 2+3+2=7 (which by the way doesn’t give you a two-digit number before arriving at the one-digit number). Surprisingly, the author does suggest that people continue to study numerology.

I disagree with some of the meanings for numbers. For example, “Threes are excellent at manifesting through patience. In the story of the Tortoise and the Hare, the three would be the Hare.” (Yes, she didn’t put quotes around the title of the story.) Um, if I recall the Hare is not patient. The Hare didn’t finish the race because it was easily distracted. The Tortoise was the patient one, plodding along slowly until it finished the race. According to this author’s meaning for the number three, three would be exemplified by the Tortoise. However, three is not about manifestation, but about expansion and diversity, although sometimes this can become distraction as displayed by the Hare. (So, yes, the Hare exemplifies three but not because of the meaning this author gives for the number three.)

Here is a quick keyword list of meanings for numerology:
1 - beginnings
2 - partnerships
3 - expansion
4 - foundation
5 - change
6 - harmony
7 - spirituality
8 - power
9 - completion

The meanings of numbers change somewhat for the tarot as the numbers one to ten are used, not just up to nine.

This author claims the tarot deck used to have two fool cards. I have been studying tarot for almost twenty years now, and I’ve never heard or seen of two fool cards in the deck. Perhaps she means the two Joker cards in the playing card decks, but that’s not what she claims - on page 71, “At one time, some Tarot decks had two Fool cards, one at the beginning and one at the end.” (By the way, tarot is not capitalized unless you are referring to a specific tarot deck. Note also that she quotes someone near the bottom of page 71, but she does not specify who or what book she is quoting from. I guess I’m supposed to assume she’s quoting from the Robin Wood Tarot, which is the deck she seems to be endorsing.)

Chapter 5 is “Visualization and Ritual” where there are many things I simply must (MUST, I tell you) comment on.

On page 78, she writes “Even a four-hour fast is helpful.” I’ve gone without food or drink for more than four hours, believe me it’s not a fast (not unless you are used to eating all the time, like every hour or two hours). It’s actually normal to wait about four hours before eating again. Consider, we have breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We have breakfast in the morning around 8 to 10 a.m. Then around 12 to 2 p.m., we have lunch. Then later, maybe around 6 or 8 p.m., we have dinner. There’s at least a four-hour gap before eating again. There are occasions where you may eat at 10 a.m., then at 12 p.m. depending on how much you ate the night before. Perhaps it would have been better to state that you don’t need to fast before doing a ritual, but it’s best not be full when doing ritual. Let’s not kid anyone, four hours without food or drink just isn’t a fast.

The author also suggests having a ritual bath before doing the ritual. This is fine, but I suggest you select your ritual location before you cleanse yourself. Actually, it’s best to decide before anything else whether you are having your ritual at home or elsewhere, indoors or outdoors. If you are having your ritual elsewhere, you can have a ritual bath before you leave, then bless (cleanse) yourself later. It doesn’t make sense to bless yourself, get yourself so relaxed, fight your way through traffic to get to your ritual location, and then have to bless yourself again because the traffic got you all frazzled. (Clearly, this author has never had to fight her way through a city’s rush hour traffic.) When indoors it also doesn’t make sense to have a relaxing bath, then have to set up the altar. When indoors, I recommend you clean up the area and set up the altar first. Then, have the bath, come out, and do the ritual - you’ll find the ritual runs smoother and you’re nice and relaxed right from the start of it. A suggestion… when indoors, consider the ritual bath as part of the ritual, not separate.

A common question for people new to the craft is “What hand do I use for magic?” The author of this book is incorrect to say on page 81, “As your right hand is the hand which sends energy, your right hand is the preferred hand to use” (regarding cleaning the area of negativity). This is fine, if you’re right-handed. If you’re left-handed, use the left hand. The choice of which hand to use for magical purposes and to send energy depends on hand dominance. The assumption that the right hand sends energy is only valid if you assume everyone is right-handed. (Obviously, not everyone is.) Since I myself am left-handed and I know another person in the craft who is left-handed, I can attest that using the left hand (if that is your dominant hand) for sending energy and performing magic is perfectly fine.

Where to place your altar? On page 81, the author writes “…due north marks the direction your altar should face” without giving a reason for this. Like with many things in Wicca, the direction your altar faces depends on many things. It depends on your tradition and most of all your perspective. Some people have altars facing the east. The Wiccan tradition I studied for the past eight years places the altar facing north-east. The reasoning is that the north is a place of endings, such as death, while the east is a place of beginnings, such as birth. As you look at the path of the sun during the day, the sun rises in the east, sets in the west and is hidden in the north. Thus, the north-east is considered the point where the transition from endings to beginnings occur, the point of conception. One reason to place the altar facing north is because it is facing the magnetic north pole. You may feel there is a connection to the earth’s energy this way. One reason to place the altar facing east is because the sun rises in the east. Perhaps if you lived in the southern hemisphere you may consider placing your altar facing south. Whatever you decide, make sure you have a reason for it. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a “proven” reason, it can simply be that you feel you work better when your altar is facing one way over another. See what works for you and see if you can come up with a coherent system for how your do your rituals and perform magic.

We’re back to candle colours again on page 81. This time we’re discussing candle colours for the directions. The author doesn’t explain why she specified the colours for each direction. I suppose she assumes people know why, but if you’re a beginner to the craft, here’s the associations for the directions:

North - earth, green (as the earth is green in the spring)
East - air, yellow (a colour you see in the sky during a sunrise)
South - fire, red (as the fire is red)
West - water, blue (as the sea is blue)

There are reasons for why north is earth, east is air, and so on. The major reason is geographical location. These associations likely come to us from British witchcraft where travelling north you would see more land, more green. Thus, north is associated with earth. Travelling south there is more warmth; therefore, south is fire. Travelling west you would see the ocean (Atlantic); therefore, west is water. Finally, travelling east would bring you closer to the time of dawn where you would notice the colour of the sky (the air) being yellow during the sunrise. Perhaps you might consider how your location might change your elemental and directional associations.

On page 82 is described the circle purifications (although the author doesn’t call it purifications, but this is indeed what she is doing in this section of the ritual) with earth in the north. Again depending on your perspective, you can start your purifications in the north. In the tradition I studied, east is beginnings represented by air; therefore, the purifications start with air in the east and not with earth in the north.

On page 82 to 83, consecrating the circle and leaving a sacred space after it has been consecrated (”sealed” is the term in the book) is discussed. You do not need to “cut a doorway with your athame” in order to leave the circle and then re-enter. There really is no real purpose for doing this, and I have found that those who like to do this are drawn to theatrics and over-drama. You can safely leave the circle and re-enter as long as you do so in a quiet and smooth enough manner. It is all about intention. If you leave the circle with peaceful intentions, the circle will remain peaceful. Along this note, pets can move in and out of a circle with no repercussions. Since you created your own circle, you should be perfectly fine entering and leaving it at will. If you attend a group ritual and are concerned about the protocol for this, you should ask the group leader (usually the High Priestess of the coven or group, but it may be a student of that tradition). For public rituals at the WCC, people can leave and enter ritual space if they need to without needing to cut a doorway. The Priestess leading the ritual is quite adept at handling any energy fluctuations resulting from someone leaving the circle. Generally, it is preferred that people stay throughout the ritual instead of leaving in the middle of it, but there is never any need to cut a doorway. (I should also point out that no one but the WCC Priesthood, the Handmaiden, and the Summoner is allowed to carry an athame into public ritual. There is generally too many people enclosed in a small space.)

Regarding the visualization when “sealing” the circle (on page 83), it does not need to be a bubble going into the ground. If you live in an apartment and are doing a ritual there, you don’t want to include the people in the floor below you in your sacred space. Additionally, you do not want to include the people living above you. Thus, it is sufficient to intend that the outer boundaries (such as the walls, ground and ceiling) of your area be the limits of the sacred space if you live in an apartment and are performing ritual there. If you are outdoors, a circle with a high enough ceiling surrounding your area is fine. I note here that the sealing of the circle as done by this author is also the method normally called “casting the circle”. It seems that she has combined casting the circle with the consecration of the circle.

On page 83 to 85 we are told the “next step is to call the watchtowers.” This is technically not correct. You should be calling the “Guardians of the watchtowers”. There is a slight difference. The watchtowers are inanimate objects; however, the Guardians are entities you can call upon. It doesn’t make sense to call an inanimate object into your circle. I don’t know why the “Guardians of the watchtowers” have been shortened to “watchtowers” or changed as this author writes in her calls “Guardians and watchtowers…” You don’t have to call the Guardians for your ritual. Alternatively, you can simply call on the elements. There are creatures associated with each element. These are sylphs for air, salamanders for fire, undines for water, and gnomes for earth. You also do not need to use astrology in calling on the elements or Guardians of the watchtowers (whichever one you like), but there is nothing overtly wrong with using astrology. You may use it if you like and if it suits your purpose. If it doesn’t suit your purpose, then don’t use it. As an example, I can say with a certain degree of confidence that using (Western) astrology in the elemental calls for an Egyptian-based ritual won’t work. To keep things simple, get to know the elements well (this is Plato’s system of elements), then try writing calls to the elements. There are different systems of elements and you need to use what is appropriate to your ritual purpose. Returning to my example, the Egyptian ritual would require Egyptain elements, not the ones discussed above. Otherwise there isn’t anything terribly wrong with the elemental calls in this book (aside from the “Guardians and watchtowers…”).

I suppose at this point I should discuss a little bit about ritual and writing rituals. It’s not always easy. Sorry, that’s the truth of it. It can be made easy if you know what you’re are doing to begin with, but it isn’t easy as this book and many others make it seem. First off, you need to know your ritual purpose and make sure that the purpose of the ritual is clear. You may even write your elemental calls specific to the purpose. Secondly, if you are working with deities, get to know them and the culture where they come from. In keeping with the above example of an Egyptian-based ritual, if you are doing a ritual to… hm… let’s say Ra and Hathor, you need to get to know Ra and Hathor and what they like. You can’t just do what you like. You might just do something that will feel “wonky” because you have inadvertently offended Ra or Hathor or both. Additionally, as stated earlier, Egyptian rituals use different elemental associations. You will need to adapt to that idea. You should never mix and match your pantheons (some just don’t get along, so you’re better off being safe than sorry), the exceptions being where a deity is known by a different name in another pantheon (e.g. Cernunnos, who is a Celtic god, but “Cernunnos” is actually a Roman name for the Celtic horned god; thus, it is okay to use Cernunnos in a Roman-based ritual). You should also be aware of which deities within pantheons don’t get along. For example, Hades and Demeter might not be such complementary deities since Hades kidnapped Demeter’s daughter Persephone. Though you might get away with calling Demeter, Persephone, and Hades since Persephone is there to mitigate any conflict between Hades and Demeter. Basically, if you’re going to work with deities by name you need to get to know their myths well. If you need a starting point, Larousse’s Encyclopedia of Mythology is a great starting place. One last tip about doing rituals, you close down the ritual in reverse order of what you did to open it. In the tradition I studied, to open you cast the circle, sweep the circle, purify, call the elements, consecrate the circle, and call the deities. Then to close down, you say goodbye to the deities, say goodbye to the elementals, and de-cast the circle. The main part of the ritual is in the middle between the opening and the closing of the circle. There are various ways to handle the wine blessing and the blessing of any food in ritual. Some think the energy is different if you bless and libate the wine (offer some to deity) right after the deity calls. It is probably a good idea and good manners to do so. Think of it as something akin to inviting someone over and not offering a drink right away! (No, you don’t need to have “cakes” in ritual every time, but it’s ideal to have at least a beverage. You do not need to have wine - juice works well too and a variety of other natural beverages. No soda/pop, whatever you call soda pop. Regarding the “libation”, the offering of drink and food to the deities, if you are outdoors, you can simply leave some behind on the ground. If you are indoors, you simply use a libation plate or bowl. After the ritual, you can find a place outside to leave the libation. Finding a nice tree is a good idea.)

Returning back to this book, some comments regarding pages 86 to 88. You don’t have to introduce yourself each time you do a ritual. I don’t recall ever really introducing myself to the deities. The deities will know who you are. You do not have to raise energy every time either. (See “Raising Power in Group Rituals” on my website, which I think applies also to solitary work.) You can simply sit and enjoy the time in sacred space. The author says to bid farewell and then extinguish the goddess candle. You can if you like. I think it’s nicer just to wait until after the ritual to blow out any candles you lit to deities. Farewells to the elements should be done in reverse order as you opened. In this book, the elemental calls started in the north, the farewells then should start in the west and end in the north. In the tradition I studied, the elemental calls are east, south, west, and north. The farewells are then north, west, south, and east. (Remember to do a full circle when doing your calls and farewells. If you started in the north, you should complete a circle in the north.) Essentially, you open the circle travelling in one direction, then you close the circle travelling in the opposite direction. The reason is simply that to reverse something you would do the opposite. In this case, it’s walk the opposite direction around the circle. In general, the tradition I studied opens the circle clockwise and movement within the circle after opening remains clockwise until the circle is closed down by moving counter-clockwise. In the middle of a ritual, always walk a full circle clockwise to return to your spot. Doing otherwise disrupts the flow of the energy that is contained in the circle. (Trust me, it is noticeable when someone moves around the wrong way.) There are occasions where the circle is opened counter-clockwise, this means that movement during ritual should be counter-clockwise until closing where it would then be clockwise.

Regarding “astral circles” on page 88, see my comments about “astral tools” above. This just seems silly to me.

Okay, there are many allowances I will give to a solitary who just wants to do her own thing and what she does works for her. However, on page 94, I read “And ye harm none, do what ye will.” First of all, this is misquoted. (See the Wikipedia article on the Wiccan Rede.) Although there are two versions of the “Wiccan Rede” or “Rede of the Wiccae”, both versions do not use “And ye…” Doreen Valiente wrote “An it harm none do what ye will.” Lady Gwen Thompson’s “Rede of the Wiccae” attributed to Adriana Porter is “An’ it harm none, do what ye will.” Both versions use the word “an”, which is an archaic word meaning “in the event…” or “if”. This then translates in modern English as, “If it harms none, do what you will”, which conveys a different meaning entirely from “And ye harm none, do what ye will” as Dubats writes. Phrasing the Wiccan Rede as Dubats does, it says that you can only do something if it does not harm anyone and also prohibits you from doing something that may potentially cause harm. However, the meaning and intent of the Wiccan Rede proper, “An it harm none, do what ye will”, simply guides and advises on what to do in the case that your actions do not cause harm. It does not dictate that you should never cause harm nor does it tell you what to do in the case where your actions will cause harm regardless of which choice you make. You are left to decide perhaps which course of action causes the least harm or which course of action provides the most benefit (to you and others). The word “an” meaning “if” makes the statement conditional and provides for options. Incorrectly using the word “and” joins the two phrases in the statement and turns the Wiccan Rede into a command. In Wicca, there is no dogma (at least there shouldn’t be, there’s always someone out there wanting to be dogmatic about things). Stating the Wiccan Rede incorrectly as “And ye harm none, do what ye will” is dogmatic. “Do not do…”, “thou shalt not…” - sound familiar??

Some years ago, the Wiccan Rede came up in on a message board discussion about “harm” from a philosophical perspective. There I also had to clarify the meaning of the Wiccan Rede. I wrote:

It was not intended to be something that MUST be followed but ADVICE. The words “an’ it harm none, do what ye will” simply refer to what one should do if one’s actions do not result in harm. However, if one’s actions result in harm, the Rede does not say what one should do in that situation. It is unfortunate that human nature has lead to reversing the final phrase of the Rede of the Wiccae into “do as you will and harm none”, which in effect turns the phrase into a command. In interpretation, “an’ it harm none, do what ye will” means if one’s actions results in no harm, then you are free to do what you are intending to do, but if your actions result in harm, you are left on your own to decide what to do. Hopefully, for the most part, people would choose the path of “least harm”.

In case you might be wondering, there have been debates as to what should be considered “harm”. I shall not get into that discussion here, but shall leave it for another time.

Returning to Dubats’ book, chapter 6 is “Herbs” and provides a “Guide to Plants and Herbs”. Here she discusses the use of herbs for magic. Notably, I would like to comment on the subsection on oils and whether or not to use essential oils or synthetic oils for magical purposes. Essential oils are condensed essences of a plant. Some are irritating to the skin or may have other negative side effects when using. When this is the case, for magical purposes, it is better to use the synthetic oil. For example, cinnamon is irritating to the skin, if you are planning on anointing you should use the synthetic oil. There are also essential oils that should not be used by any woman who is pregnant as it could cause pre-mature labour. These are just some examples of how careful you need to be when it comes to essential oils. If you don’t have the time to learn about the various health warnings for each essential oil, I would recommend starting out with synthetic oils if you’re only using them for magical purposes. Additionally, some essential oils are just too expensive and the synthetic is easier to obtain costwise (athough some synthetics are more expensive because of the complicated process involved - cinnamon unfortunately is one synthetic that may be more expensive). While I agree that using essential oils for magic may have a better effect overall, it is not necessary to use essential oils. I disagree with the author’s statement on page 100, “Many synthetic oils are on the market which smell great but have no magickal value.” The magical intent is not just in the oil, but in the person. For that matter, the magical intent comes from the person. You can charge a synthetic oil just as well as an essential oil. Synthetic oils work just fine, and I have done magic using synthetic oils with good results. The reason they are called synthetic oils is simply that the scent of the oil is made up from a variety of other scents, not because the oil isn’t produced from natural sources. Synthetics are just made up in a lab rather than being found naturally in one plant. (See Wikipedia article on “aroma compounds”, the ingredients making up a synthetic oil.) However, if you are doing healing work, I would recommend using essential oils assuming of course you know enough of healing with essential oils. There are many good books on using essential oils. One good book is Encyclopedia of Aromatherapy by Chrissie Wildwood.

Regarding the “Guide to Plants and Herbs”, double check the information as you would with any guide. Do so especially for any herbs which you may want to ingest as it may not be edible! For example, I looked up mistletoe. Mistletoe is toxic and poisonous if ingested. (I happen to know this.) This author does not indicate this potential risk of ingesting mistletoe. Instead she states that “At one time, mistletoe was used as an antidote against poison.” This may possibly be true, but we now know ingesting mistletoe isn’t a good idea. Wikipedia states, “In Celtic mythology and in Druid rituals, it was considered an antidote to poison, but it is now known that the fruits of many mistletoes are poisonous if ingested, as they contain viscotoxins.” (See Wikipedia article on mistletoe.) A good book on herbs is John Lust’s book and it comes highly recommended from a Wiccan lady I know who’s been doing herbology for probably over 20 years. It’s a small paperback book, but filled with lots of information. Get it if you see it.

Chapter 7 is “Stones and Crystals” where we are told on page 136, “In order to know more about healing with stones, you must first learn the chakra system.” It isn’t necessary to learn the chakra system to use stones with healing. The system of chakras comes from East Indian spiritual practices and has been adopted into Western New Age thinking and practices. Many people use stones without any knowledge of chakras. The system of chakras is one system that you may wish to add to your practice of healing with stones if you like, but it isn’t required as this author seems to think. I might just bet ancient witchcraft used stones for healing without any knowledge of the chakras (though it may have encompassed its own ideas about the spiritual body).

The author also reiterates on page 136 (she previously mentioned this on page 23) that the chakras are “made up of colors, which correspond to the colors of the rainbow, which are red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and white.” White? First of all, white is not a colour, it is light. All colours come from a beam of white light. If you shot a beam of white light through a prism, you would see the rainbow colours - red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet reflected off a wall. The author is correct in saying that the chakras are associated with the rainbow colours, but the colour white isn’t one of them. I will almost bet that she read a few books on the chakras wi