Thursday, July 19, 2012

Book Review: To Fly by Night: The Craft of the Hedgewitch by Veronica Cummer


To Fly by Night: The Craft of the Hedgewitch
Edited by Veronica Cummer
ISBN: 978-0-9827263-7-2
2010 Pendraig Publishing

According to her Facebook Fanpage Veronica Cummer is the author of three books, as well some poetry and several essays. She was also a staff writer and an artist.

She has been a witch twenty plus years and currently is a teacher at the occult shop 'Eye of Horus'.

You can email Veronica directly through the following website.


“The Journey across the Hedge can sometimes be a daunting one. By understanding and utilizing the tools that you have at your disposal, it can be a little bit easier. There is no easy button to make you a proficient hedgerider. That takes practice, skill and wisdom. There are no substitutes or shortcuts to cultivating these things.” pg 75 Elige Stewart

This book was written as a series of short essays discussing the definition and purpose as well as the techniques of many different types of Hedgeriders. This book is definitely for someone with an intermediary knowledge of the craft, and may appeal more to Witches more eclectic in their practices.

There is a smattering of Invocations and spells, enough so to make it interesting but not take away from the main focus of the book. There is a small amount of black and white artwork, page 66 being a particular favorite of my own.

Each author has a varied opinion on how to proceed in developing this skill, however the reader will find that, at the core, many have similarities. The influence range from Italian Witchcraft to Volva Stav Carrier. This in and of itself was enlightening. Biographies about each author where provided at the end of each chapter giving us a window into the writers life, jobs and path.

To Fly by Night is a must have for anyone new on the path of the Hedgewitch. The essays show an outline of the differences and variety of life styles attracted to this practice. Someone new might benefit from the information. At the least, they might find a direction that suits them more-so than another and be able to use that information to pursue the best path for them. However I think someone who has been on the path for a while might have a better grasp of the full meaning of the authors content.

This is a book worthy of a place in my personal collection. I found reading it enjoyable and enlightening and perhaps one day my own children will find the same pleasure in it.

Please refer to the below site for a complete list of Veronica Cummer's other books.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?

3 comments:

  1. Might want to point out that it's an anthology with many different authors. Veronica is one of the authors and the editor.

    ReplyDelete
  2. No problem Juniper, Also...if you'd like to list any other work you've done I'd be glad to read it sometime.

    ReplyDelete