Study Guide: Alexandrian and Gardnerian Book of Shadows

Alexandrian and Gardnerian Book of Shadows

by Athena Gardner

Study Guide

*As a note, I have some concerns on the information in this book, and on verifying any information about the author.

1. The book focus's on covens, and working in a group setting. What do you think the benefits of working in a structured setting would be? Do you think there would be drawbacks?
   
   
2. One of the topics discussed is security(pg 9). How important is security in modern culture?
   
   
3. Payment for the use of ones art is discussed on page 18. Why do you agree or disagree with this?
   
   
4. The Wiccan Rede (pg 23) stands as a guideline of conduct. Does this rede reflect your beliefs? Why or Why not?
   
   
5. This book reflects how certain traditions may run their coven. What guiding principal/rules do you firmly agree with? Why? Which principle do you find you could not accept. Why?

This next questions may require some research.

6. The title refers to two different traditions in Wicca. What are the differences between these two? What are the similarities?

Alexandrian and Gardnerian Book of Shadows- Book Review

Alexandrian And Gardnerian Book of Shadows

Athena Gardner

ISBN 0-595-12845-9

1999, 2000 Authors Choice Press

an imprint of iUniverse.com, Inc.

$9.95 US

“Bide the Wiccan Redes ye must,

In Perfect Love and Perfect Trust;

Live ye must and let to live,

Fairly take and fairly give;

Form the Circle thrice about,

To keep unwelcome spirits out;

Bind fast the spell every time,

Let the words be spoke in rhyme.” pg 23

From the title I can assume this book revolves around the Alexandrian and Gardnerian school of thought. However there is no forward, or personal information on the author to assist in confirming this.

This book is based heavily on ritual presenting the roles of the different Coven members.

The small black book is compiled from several different personal and published Book of Shadows. From the rules of Covens down to ritual, this could possibly be a handy reference guide for a group looking to start a Wiccan coven. Where as many solitaries have never experienced working in a group setting, it gives a window into how some Covens work. There appears to be a lot of information packed into these ninety pages, including the following topics:

The Old Law

Security

Disputes

New Covens

tools

Conduct

Use of the Art

Training

Punishment

Casting the Circle

The legend of the Descent of the Goddess

First, Second and Third Degree initiation

Blessings

Invocations

The Witches' Wheel

This list represents only a sampling of the information provided.

However I have a few concerns. My first is some of the  information in the Bibliography was incorrect, including a book title by a well known author. Also I could find little on the Author herself. 

There is a lot of information listed in the contents portion, yet personally I found the chapters too brief. Someone new to the craft might even find some of the references confusing. 

After reading this book, I realize while it has it's place...much of the information I can find in other more detailed sources. This is a bottom shelf book for me, being a solitary, however someone interested in starting or joining a Coven might find this useful.

For a list of the author's other books visit:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgQmsoL9_ZR3dExpbVYzeDdnM3hxRXMwaVZmcUVlR2c#gid=0

Random Thoughts: The importance of a bibliography

The importance of a bibliography:

The bibliography of a book is one of my favorite parts. Admittedly after reading the list of chapters, before I even dive into the contents of the book, I flip to it. To me this is a little journey into the authors mind and heart. These are the books that helped inspire him or her to write

the book in hand.

While people like myself do not follow a book religion, we certainly enjoy a good read...and it is in the bibliography of many a book that I have found treasure waiting to be discovered.

Next time you open a book, don't neglect the bibliography.

Happy Reading,

Nicole

AKA BookShelf

Night Battles - Study Guide

Night Battles- Study Guide

by Carlo Ginzburg

1. Explain the term 'Good Walkers'.
   
   
2. Why were the Benandante considered part of a fertility cult? What supports this belief? How many years did this change take?
   
   
3. Discuss the assimilation of the Benanadante to Witch's and being associated with devil.
   
   
4. Did the gatherings the Benandante confess to actually take place? What information supports this?
   
   
5. “the witches confessions as a result of hallucinations by the use of drug-containing ointments, or from pathological states especially hysteria.”. (pg. Xix) How true do you think this statement is? Why?
   
   
6. In what areas of Europe is it believed that the belief of the Benandante were widespread? What were the cultural influences?
   
   
7. The mildness of the Friulian inquisitors may be due to what?
   
   
8. What is the 'caul' and why was it important?
   
   
9. It is said the Benandante would go out upon or shape shift into small animals. What would you have chose? Why?

Update: Moving My Library

My home has a loft, and two additional floors.  On the main floor is the library.  This is a cozy one window room, painted in Autumnal hues, with a rich brown, red and orange patterned carpet.  A lovely little area with a rocker and a desk.  We have shelves of baby books for my daughter, shelves of teen books and books my son has grown out of, cook books, Gardening books, art books, drawing books, romance novels, Warcraft novels, history books, animal books, puzzles, magazines, but the biggest section is my collection of 'Spiritual Books'.

Under this category one would  find books on Wicca, Paganism, Norse Mythology, Familiars, reference books, Reiki books, kitchen witchery, mythologies, a copy of the Kuran, a copy of the Bible, etc.. I'm a firm believer in read alot and take a little from everything.  My tastes are eclectic.

I realized i outgrown my allotted space when I was double shelving my books.  They covered my desk entirely, and the pile was becoming unmanageable. So it was time for a change.

 I just couldn't part with my much beloved books.  That was simply not an option .  My son has also inherited this trait.  Once he unintentionally dropped a copy of Harry Potter in the toilet.   I told him it was trash and I would replace it.  He directly began sobbing.  That was when he was around 8, I'd like to think he's grown since then.  But I imagine if it was myself in his position, despite my age,  I might cry too if it was a book I loved.

We plan on eventually redoing the library with larger shelving and a better set up.  As with all home repairs it is currently not a financial priority.  In the meantime, my books are relocated in the loft, and I couldn't be happier.  I spend many nights up there once my daughter is asleep.  My new desk in place, the desktop computer nearby, and plenty of shelving to fill with my wonderful books....I'm content to type or read away my nights up there.

Happy Reading,
Nicole
AKA BookShelf

Night Battles: Witchcraft & Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth & Seventeenth Centuries

Night Battles: Witchcraft & Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth & Seventeenth Centuries

Carlo Ginzburg

ISBN 0-14-007688-3

1983

Penguin Books

$10.95

Carlo Ginzburg is currently a professor at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and has taught at the University of Bologna and University of California. He is credited with writing a letter in 1979 to the Vatican requesting that the Inquisition Archives be open, later allowing researchers access to that material.

“I am a benandanti, and I have gone out with the other benandanti called by their captain,.......I went with him and with the other benandanti twice a week, every Wednesday and Thursday night for the space of a whole year..........On one side were the benanadanti and on the other the witches. The witches had staves in their hands like those for scraping ovens, and we benandanti had stalks of fennel or elder......many times combat ensued between the benandanti and the witches, but sometimes not, and then everyone went back home.”,”(pg 130, Bastiano Menos)

Imagine leaving your body while asleep to attend nocturnal battles where you might ride upon a hare. Such are many of the accounts in Night Battles, a book recording the interviews/confessions the church had with the Benandanti. The accounts help create a record of European Witchcraft beginning in March of 1575.

The Benandanti are seen both as hero and villain. The stories vary slightly but some themes are common, such as a Benandanti wore the caul at birth and traveled abroad in their sleep to meetings where they do battle. They are defenders of the harvest and the field, a fertility cult with German and Slavic traditions. Their meetings eventually was said by the church to be the devil's sabbat.

If history is important to one, this book is a must have. The reader watches as the stories of the Benandanti evolve and change over time. One can only wonder at the pressures put upon the people confessed. Some questioned change their story in an attempt I believe to end the intensive questioning and give the Interviewer the information they wanted to hear. Some might call the beliefs of these folk superstitious, but when you consider many did not live in the same areas....and the many similarities in their stories, it does arouse the curiosity.

I believe history is just as important as present. I see very little on the modern book store shelves that is equal to Ginzburgs 'Night Battles'. For many of us unable to historically trace back so many generations this may be our only link to what went on.

Ginzburg has published the following books:

Threads and Traces True False Fictive

Routledge Library Editions Witchcraft the Night Battles, Witchraft and the Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century

Vivre Le Sens(French)

Hexensabbat

Wooden eyes Nine Reflections on Distance

Ectasies Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath

Historia Nocturna Las Raices Anthropolicas Del Relato

Rapports De Force histoire Rhtorique Preuve

Der Kse Und Die Wrmer Die Welt Eines Mllers Um 1600

The Judge and the Historian Marginal Notes on a Late-twentieth- century Miscarriage of Justice

The Enigma of Piero Piero Della Francesca

Spurensicherung Die Wissenschaft Auf Der Suche Nach Sich Selbst

Wooden Eyes 

No Island Is an Island

 Das Schwert Und Die Glhbirne Eine Neue Lektre Von Picassos Guernica

History Rhetoric and Proof the Menahem Stern Jerusalem Lectures

History Rhetoric and Proof the Menachem Stern Lectures in History 

Holzaugen Ber Nhe Und Distanz

Der Knoten Und Der Nagel Ein Buch Zur Linken Hand Die Andere Bibliothek

 Le Juge Et L'historien Considrations En Marge Du Procs Sofri

Les Batailles Nocturnes

Die Benandanti Feldkulte Und Hexenwesen Im 16 Und 17 Jahrhundert 

Ecstasies Deciphering the Witches' Sabbath

Le Sabbat Des Sorcires 

 The Night Battles Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century 

 Clues Myths and the Historical Method 

Myths Emblems Clues 

Enigma of Piero 

 The Night Battles 

 The Cheese and the Worms the Cosmos of a Sixteenth-century Miller 

True to the Letter 800 Years of Remarkable Correspondence Documents and Autographs 

Night Battles Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries 

The Enigma of Piero 

Un Seul Tmoin 

Die Venus Von Giorgione 

Mitos Emblemas Indicios -morfologia E Historia 

El Queso Y Los Gusanos / the Cheese and the Worms 

Ojazos De Madera - Nueve Reflexiones Sobre La Dist 

El Queso Y Los Gusanos 

El Queso Y Los Gusanos El Cosmos Segun Un Molinero Del Siglo XV 

Pesquisa Sobre Piero

Jean Fouquet Ritratto Del Buffone Gonella 

Crones Book of Magic-Study Guide

Crones Book of Magic

Valerie Worth

1. Why and how does the term 'old magic' apply to several of these spells? Discuss which spells 'old magic refers to.
   
   
2. Some of the authors poem list recipes. Interpret these poems and write them out as you would a recipe card Including the information on Ingredients and Instructions. Does the effect change?
   
   
3. Choose a poem that you found particularly useful and explain how you might construct a ritual to accompany the poem.
   
   
4. Explain how words can shape reality. Give examples.
   
   
5. Page 34 “to Protect a Garden from Pests” and “and against Weeds in the Garden”, Would these verses have the same reaction without an action to physically remove the pests and weeds? Why or Why not?
   
   
6. Do you believe these spells are meant to be followed exactly? Why or Why not?
   
   
7. Create a spell or poem, whether you intend to use it or not. Begin by choosing a favorite recipe (Kitchen Witchery or herbal cure is fine). Put it to rhyme. Does the effect change?
   
   
8. 'Against the Domestic Demons' pg 39. Read aloud then discuss the meaning of the spell and symbolism used.
   
   
9. 'Of Poisons to beware' pg. 130-131. Rhyme has always been a useful way to remember things. Choose your favorite herb and put its purpose into at least a four line poem.

Crone's Book of Magical Words- by Valerie Worth

Crone's Book of Magical Words

Valerie Worth

ISBN 1-56718-825-7

1971

Llewellyn Publications

$7.95

Valerie Worth was a writer of children s poetry and fiction. She received the Poetry Award for Excellence in Poetry for Children. She also enjoyed astronomy, meditation and gardening. In 1994 she passed on to the other world.

“Words that Run

Before my pace

And carry me

Beyond this place,

Please the eyes

That greet thee next,

And work my will

Within thy text.” (pg. 59 'For the Efficacy of an Important Letter”

Imagine yourself wrapped in a cozy blanket, warm in front of a fire, warm cup of tea and outside the leaves are turning twelve shades of red. The perfect time to sink into the Crone's Book of Magical Words.

The poems weave spells that stir the old magic inside the reader. Spells, recipes and incantations dance upon the tongue in the most pleasurable of ways.

However, as her husband George Bahlke notes, some of the charms are not meant to be practiced, only read. For example, “ To Afflict Another's Garden,”. He claims she would be distressed to think that these words would bring harm to another.

The author believed that words had 'emotional control' over the shaping of reality. Spells or poems or to assist with aspects of life that as she puts are 'too simple and too complex'(preface X1) for another type of approach.

Her words are timeless. They capture a rustic simplicity. The reader can easily imagine our predecessors using the same words to affect change in their lives. The purpose of the spells as simple as addressing day to day needs or more complex. A reader of any level would find the charm in her words. Although I do imagine that it would take someone on an intermediate level to turn them into ritual.

This book is not a hard read and I finished it in about an hour, but it is the type of book that draws you back. Depending on your personal belief system some may or may not want to incorporate the poetry into ritual. However I believe this work can be enjoyed for the poetry alone. While it doesn't incorporate history, the reader gets an idea for how magic may have been used by our ancestors. For entertainment purposes this would make a great Samhain gift. While it may not be a top shelf read, it definitely deserves to be among my selections I would want my kids to choose from, in. In fact it is something my thirteen year old would definitely enjoy reading now.

Many of the authors works would be categorized as Children s and young adult. These include:

All the Small Poems and Fourteen more

Animal Poems

At Christmastime

Curlicues, the fortunes of two pug dogs

Fox Hill

Gypsy Gold

Imp and Biscuit

More Small Poems

Peacock and other poems

Practicing Translation in Renaissance France

Small Poems

Still More Small Poems

Gypsy Gold

However her other Pagan themed books can be found included in the following list:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AgQmsoL9_ZR3dExpbVYzeDdnM3hxRXMwaVZmcUVlR2c#gid=0

Her obitiuary was listed with the New York times:

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/03/obituaries/valerie-worth-60-is-dead-a-novelist-for-young-readers.html

Happy Reading,

Nicole AKA BookShelf

Update: Happy Saturday Morning- The Garden Calls Me

Happy Saturday morning,

The sun has arisen and so have I. Looking out my kitchen window I'm itching to get to work in my garden. I have new plants waiting to go in the ground, lettuce that needs harvested, a pool that needs refilled after some wildlife helped in emptying over half of the water, and some houseplants that need repotted.

While I'm waiting for my daughter to wake up however I'll find a few quiet moments to work on my every growing book list, perhaps delve into the new book I'm reading Singing The Soul Back Home by Caitlin Matthews, or contemplate my latest book review.

I feel honored that so many authors have willingly accepted my friend requests, I look forward to reading the tomes of knowledge you have shared with us.

To my readers, your awesome.

So....let's get this day started.

I hope your day is filled with sun and joy.

Nicole

AKA BookShelf