Copper Moon E-zine

The Goddess is in the Details By Deborah Blake

Reviewed by Gwinevere Rain

I read The Goddess is in the Details at my lunch break over the course of two weeks. Each day I’d sample a few pages and think about the author’s message as I went back to work. One of the things that I liked about this book was the subject matter - how to incorporate spirituality into your life on a daily basis.

The author’s friendly tone and ability to laugh at herself was refreshing and relatable. The 24 short chapters were divided into six parts: The Everyday Witch, The Inner Witch, The Outer Witch, The Social Witch, The Practicing Witch and The Natural Witch.

Most of the information provided was helpful like chapter 2 “The Seven Beliefs at the Heart of Being a Witch” but some were totally unnecessary  like chapter 5 “Mindful Eating.” I don’t need yet another person telling me what to do (especially regarding dietary decisions). Even though Blake occasionally dipped into the overly basic and obvious, there were insightful gems that resonated. The “something to think about” and “something to try” found at the back of each chapter helps the reader contemplate and find a helpful suggestion for action - this small edition made a nice impact.

In the introduction Blake sums her book up well when she writes, “It is for any Witch who has mastered the fundamentals and longs to go deeper. It is for the Pagan who has been on his or her path for a while and feels like something is missing . . . but doesn’t quite know what”

Overall, The Goddess is in the Details brings something new to Wiccan book shelves.

Rating: 4 our of 5 magick wands

The Goddess Guide by Priestess Brandi Auset

Reviewed by SteelWitch

According to the back cover, Priestess Brandi Auset's The Goddess Guide is “the most complete cross-reference ever for the universal worship of the Divine Feminine.” That, gentle readers, is a pretty bold claim. What we get for our $16.95 is a small list of encylopedia entries with about three times as many pages of indexes.

Including the introduction and index the book is three hundred and twenty-three pages long. Eighteen of those pages are the introduction, and approximately eighty pages are three to seven sentence long entries describing over four hundred different goddess from around the world. The rest of the two hundred plus pages are double columns organizing the various goddesses by their correspondences: Names, Attributes, Colors, Elements, Sabbats, Regions, and Feminine Aspects (Maiden, Mother, and Crone). Those two hundred pages are predominantly white space. Its organization leaves something to be desired, as looking up a specific goddess does not tell you her correspondences without cross-referencing her name in an index on the page and then looking up the page numbers on that index to find the lists she is included on and, finally, her correspondences. I am confused about the decision to not include the correspondences in the goddesses' individual entries as it would vastly improve the book's usability.

Review: Shamanism for Beginners

by by James Endredy
Reviewed by SteelWitch

Shamanism for Beginners is a new book by well-traveled shaman James Endredy which starts with a misleading title and never really gets off the ground. I picked this book up out of a desire to learn more about the practical aspects of shamanism—there is a huge amount of overlap between shamanic practices and witchcraft, after all. While it is full of interesting shamanic anecdotes from the author's own life as well as the lives of other shamans across the globe, it doesn't ever get around to the practical business of teaching. It's a hard book to review because of this. How do you score a book which, while interesting, isn't what it says it is on the cover?

Best Tarot Practices by Marcia Masino

Reviewed by Gwinevere Rain

Best Tarot Practices is a new 300 page book on the market out to help interested persons learn the tarot. Author

Marcia Masino offers various suggested learning methods some traditional like taking a card from the deck and writing your first instinctive thoughts. And some less conventional ideas like getting together with friends and creating a tarot scavenger hunt.

Where as many books on the market seem to focus solely on  providing suggested definitions  Masino encourages establishing your own  (thought there are some definitions in the back of the text). There is also information on the actual practice of divining for others, strangers, family and friends. How-to as well as common pitfalls to avoid.

Llewellyn's Sabbat's Almanac

Reviewed by Gwinevere Rain

Recently I had the opportunity to review one of the newest annuals by Llewellyn Worldwide, it's called the Sabbat's Almanac and contains a variety of articles each covering the Wiccan/Pagan holidays. Several authors came together to contribute their individuals works detailing everything from an overview of the holiday, crafts you can make, recipes you can cook, even how the planets will astrologically influence each holiday.

I really liked the dense amount of information with a fantastic collaborators like Fern Feto Spring, Dan Furst, Kristen Madden, Silver RavenWolf and Lydia M. Crabtree and more. Our very own Gede Parma contributed a great article for Lughnasadh (page 264).

Each piece offered new information with traditions of the past and suggestions for celebration. Occasionally, there were articles that seemed to repeat what the previous had just covered, but that can happen when trying to pull multiple works together on the same subject.

It is worth noting that even though this is labeled as an almanac, there aren't any datebook style pages with spaces to fill in your appointments. Neither are there day by day assessments of the moon's course or astrological annotations.

However, I think this annual will really appeal to those who enjoyed Edain McCoy's Sabbat book . . . only they may find more variety in Llewellyn's Sabbat Almanac. Finally, the beautiful gender neutral cover and delightful interior art complete out a well rounded 300 page guide.

Rating: 5 our of 5 Copper Cauldrons

The Good Cat Spell Book By Gillian Kemp

Reviewed by Gwinevere Rain

The Good Cat Spell Book is a beautiful hardcover, smaller-sized book with enchanting illustrations. The text is colored with deep purple and brown and the layout is easy to navigate. Spells are divided by chapter. Topics include; love, happiness, luck, wealth and health. There is a section on “Feline Divination” where along with your cat’s assistance and a helpful oracle map, you can find the answers to your burning questions. 

Chapter Two: Cats as Objects of Worship and Fear made an interesting read as it covered a history of our feline friends. Many of the spells require your cat’s assistance (or presence). Those of us with cats know that they often have their own agenda and may not want to assist you with your goal. 

Sacred Paths for Modern Men by Dagonet Dewr

Reviewed by Steel
 
Sacred Paths for Modern Men is a book about the pagan man and his roles in both magickal and mundane life.  It begins with the premise that we as men have lost our connection to the true, sacred nature of manhood and instead replaced it with toxic, faux-manly images ripped from beer commercials and Jackass.  From there, the author provides us with twelve archetypes to work with in reclaiming our masculine nature.

The archetypes (The "Sacred Paths" from the book's title) are the real meat of this book.  From the Green Man to the Magician, the Lover to the Warrior, these are archetypes we can all relate to.  The author explores these archetypes with tales of deities, anecdotes from his own life, and a Babylon 5 quote or three.  Each archetype chapter comes with a personal magickal working, a group ritual for a circle of male pagans, and follow-up questions which encourage us to examine our own lives to help us realize our masculine nature.

The Witch's Shield by Christopher Penczak

Reviewed by Abel R. Gomez

Christopher Penczak's `The Witch's Shield' is a marvelous and practical guide to protection magic. A rather short book, at least compared to his other works, it is packed with a myriad of protection techniques that range everywhere from meditation and spells to potions, charms, and ceremonies. Penczak also guides readers to work with personal power and connect to their gods, totem spirits, angels, and guides for added magical support.

Like Penczak's other works, `Witch's Shield' is highly accessible and useful. Combining practices from across Occult traditions including Witchcraft, Ceremonial Magic, and Shamanism, Penczak creates a definitive guide to protection magic that covers such diverse topics as psychic attacks, protection shields, hauntings, and psychic wellbeing. His unique approach to protection magic is rooted in the Elements of Life--Earth (grounding), Water (compassion), Air (understanding), Fire (power), and Spirit (purpose).

If you've never read about protection magic, after reading `The Witch's Shield', you won't need to. The text is so comprehensive and so complete that you will refer to it for many years to come. It gives the reader down-to-earth techniques on daily protection and advice on dealing with more bizarre situations, should the situation arise. The rituals, meditations, visualizations and spells present all the tools needed to become a magical black belt. Highly recommended!

Rating: 5 out of 5 magick wands!

The Little Book of Hindu Deities

From the Goddess of Wealth to the Sacred Cow
By Sanjay Patel
Reviewed by Abel R. Gomez

“The Little Book of Hindu Deities” by Sanjay Patel is a witty, fun, and refreshing guide to the goddesses and gods of the Hindu tradition. After a traditional opening blessing from the elephant headed god, Ganesha, Patel jumps right in with explanations on the Hindu trinity of gods, forms of the god Shiva, and manifestations of the Goddess.

What makes this book truly unique, however, is Patel’s colorful interpretation of the gods. Each deity discussed has a full color cartoon-like counterpart. Drawing from his work at Pixar, Patel creates playful and whimsical images of the Hindu divinities that are both adorable and full of life.

Sweep: The Coven

By Cate Tiernan
Reviewed by Gwinevere Rain

Book #2 in the fiction book series Sweep picks up where the first installment Book of Shadows leaves off. In The Coven, Morgan, a newly practicing witch finds out she is adopted. Her birthmother was a witch too and this adds to Morgan’s desire for Wicca as it connects her to her birthmother.

Set over the course of a few weeks shortly after Halloween, Morgan goes on a quest for answers as to why her mother gave her up for adoption and why her parents never told her.