5 Reasons Why Wiccan Books Suck

As you can see from my Amazon profile, I both read and dislike a lot of pagan and Wicca-themed books.  Why I persist is an entry all of its own, but as a writer and a spiritual person who believes in the value of reading, I sometimes will pick up (i.e. download) a few of the most popular Wiccan books just to gauge the cultural climate and see what the new and young people might be reading.

I’m very rarely impressed.

With that said, I present to you: five reasons why Wiccan books suck.

1. Introductory Material—AGAIN.

Wicca is an unusual religion inasmuch as most of its adherents are adult (or teenage) converts, so it’s no surprise that there are a lot of introductory texts out there that are addressed to an adult audience.  Conversely, the basic tenants of mainstream religions are usually taught in infancy and childhood, so it’s more common to see these issues of “who we are” and “what we believe” put down in picture books and cartoons.  That said, this rehashing of the same material—what is a circle, what is magick, what are the Gods—needs to stop.  Unless you have some wild new take on these subjects (and from what I’ve read, very few new authors do), than cite your source and move on.  Astute readers might notice that not every book about Christianity has 33% of its bulk devoted to explaining who Jesus was--unless it is a Christological text, in which case, it better have something new to say (but not too new—that’s heresy).

Check out Sorita d’Este and David Rankine’s Wicca Magickal Beginnings for a well-researched history of Wicca—something every new student should read.

2.  Stop it with the recipes!

This goes for spells, chants, and invocations, too.  How often have I ordered a hefty book on Wicca (420 pages!), had it delivered, opened it up, and realized most of the pages are half-filled with recipes for incense, chants to say in the shower, candle magick spells, and on and on?  Very often.  Most of the time, even.  Authors: stop it.  This is filler material and we’re all aware of it.  Unless you are specifically publishing an encyclopedia on spells, incense, oils, and what not (which has already been pretty definitively done by Scott Cunningham), don’t pepper your text with these page wasters.  Most people I know prefer to compose their own anyway, and they really distract from whatever message you might have been trying to relay in the meantime.

Check out Scott Cunningham’s Amazon page!

3.  This pattern looks familiar…

It might be the Wheel of the Year, but more often it’s the four elements.  Please stop using the pattern of earth, air, fire, and water as a structural device.  It has literally been done to death.  (Even Starhawk has done it!)  I get it; I really do.  Using the basic elements allows the author to explore a given topic from four different perspectives.  Only now, every one in three books that I read has used this as a layout for the message they want to convey.  I usually don’t get past “air.”  Please stop.  If your content is good, then you don’t need a gimmicky frame for it.  If you DO feel the need to frame your work, try and use something original.

Jane Meredith uses mythological descents into the underworld to frame her self-help work Journey to the Dark Goddess, which is pretty effective.

4.  Feels, not Reals

Oh boy, this one is huge.  Unless you are writing a personal account of your experience with a given topic, do not tout your Unverified Personal Gnosis above actual historical/cultural research.  This is how newcomers get confused when first starting out, especially when their UPG does not jive with yours.  Start with the confirmed socio-historical facts and branch out from there if you must.  Even better, encourage your readers to seek out their own UPG!  When the market is cluttered with everyone's own brand of Wicca, it gives the community a negative public image (like we can't get our shit together) and scares away interested people who can't make heads or tails of the fifteen different "traditions" Amazon keeps recommending them, most of which are built on UPG.

Instead, check out Thracian Magic by Georgi Mishev, who builds his tradition Threskeia on solid historical research.

5.  Who edited this?

This is more of an issue with ebooks than physical books, but please make sure that your punctuation, spelling, and grammar are sound.  And for the love of all that's holy, do NOT use emoticons in an actual published work, electronic or not.  It's fine for your blog, but we are trying to look professional here!  I can't believe that this is as big a problem as it is.  Winky face.

For an alternative, check out literally any book published before 2000.