Isaac Bonewits - Witchcraft A Concise Guide (copyrighted book, review only)
This book is the product of many years of reading scholarly works, some of them well respected by their colleagues, some heretical (then or now), and a few genuinely ground-breaking ones here and there. Just as important in many ways, however, have been the words and actions of those brave women and men who have founded, invented, stolen, modified, mutated, and otherwise perpetuated the many old and new systems of magic and religion that I have been informed for forty years were what "Witchcraft" was really all about.This bo... More >>>Book can't be downloaded.
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This book is the product of many years of reading scholarly works, some of them well respected by their colleagues, some heretical (then or now), and a few genuinely ground-breaking ones here and there. Just as important in many ways, however, have been the words and actions of those brave women and men who have founded, invented, stolen, modified, mutated, and otherwise perpetuated the many old and new systems of magic and religion that I have been informed for forty years were what "Witchcraft" was really all about.
This book would not have been written for another twenty years, if not for the encouragement of Douglas Clapp of PocketPC press and my old friend Mark Bartel/Marcus Barccani of Virtual Publishing Group, neither of whom wanted to wait for the 1,000 page tome I've been writing for the last twenty. I know it's traditional for an author to accept responsibility for all the errors that may have crept into his or her work, and to excuse those who may have just been thanked, and I really should do that... but, really, it's all their fault!
About Author:
Isaac Bonewits (born October 1, 1949) - author and scholar of several Druid and neopagan related books and articles, is an author and occultist of some repute, deeply involved in American Neo-druidism. One of the very few (only one?) possessing a bachelor of arts degree in magic (from UC Berkeley).
Publications:
* Real Magic, 1971, revised edition 1989. (Published by Red Wheel/Weiser http://www.redwheelweiser.com/ )
* The Druid Chronicles (Evolved), editor and partial author, 1974. (Available as part of "A Reformed Druid Anthology" http://orgs.carleton.edu/Druids/ARDA/ )
* Authentic Thaumaturgy, 1978, revised edition 1998. (Published by Steve Jackson Games)
* Witchcraft: A Concise Guide, 2001, revised edition 3.1 2002. (Published by Earth Religions Press http://www.erpress.com )
* Rites of Worship: A Neopagan Approach, 2003. (Published by Earth Religions Press http://www.erpress.com )
Ordained priest (1968) in the Reformed Druids of North America; founder and participant of several magical organizations, among them the Aquarian Anti-Defamation League (founder 1974, leader 1974-1976), Ordo Templi Orientis (member, 1977-1982), Ar nDraiocht Fein (founder 1983, leader 1983-1996, member 1983 to date, ordained priest 2003). He is also an ordained Wiccan priest of both the Gardnerian and New Reformed Orthodox Order of the Golden Dawn traditions.
His "Advanced Bonewits Cult Danger Evaluation Frame" at http://www.neopagan.net/ABCDEF.html is one of the most widely quoted pages on the Net concerning the topic.
