{"id":14080,"date":"2018-04-01T01:10:32","date_gmt":"2018-04-01T06:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/paganpages.org\/content\/?p=17600"},"modified":"2018-03-26T14:05:17","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T19:05:17","slug":"book-review-wicca-plain-simple-by-leanna-greenaway","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/2018\/04\/01\/book-review-wicca-plain-simple-by-leanna-greenaway\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review – Wicca, Plain & Simple: The Only Book You\u2019ll Ever Need by Leanna Greenaway"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

<\/b>The cover states that the book is plain and simple and, also, the only book you\u2019ll ever need. The <\/span><\/span>forward<\/span><\/span> of the book was written by Judika Illes, who is, also, an author and I quite liked it. The first chapter informs the reader about <\/span><\/span>W<\/span><\/span>itches and magic. She touches on the different types of <\/span><\/span>W<\/span><\/span>itches like Hedge, Traditional, Gardnerian, etc. It\u2019s nice because she just does a quick little description of each, but it\u2019s enough to give the reader a good idea of the differences between them. After that, she mentions <\/span><\/span>C<\/span><\/span>ovens and how they were formed when <\/span><\/span>Wiccans<\/span><\/span> were persecuted so they had to worship in secret. Then she gets into Angelic Wicca right at the end and how she has personally chosen to follow the Angelic Wiccan path. It\u2019s a great first chapter considering all that she mentions, but it doesn\u2019t seem overwhelming at any point. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Chapter two breaks down Wicca and positive thoughts. \u201cLife is like a big classroom. With each day, we learn and encounter new experience, and although at times the problems we face are hard, by going through the processes, we climb that spiritual ladder and evolve to a higher plane.\u201d Has got to be my favourite quote from the book. It resonated to me as someone who has survived a lot of abuse and it made me feel like maybe my next life may be better due to the struggles I\u2019ve already endured. She ends the chapter after going over some \u201cWiccan Ground Rules\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

As with almost all Wiccan books, there is a chapter about Tools. That\u2019s chapter 3 here. She gives a good list of typical items, touches on colour significance in the candle section and briefly talks about all the things you should have on your altar. This book lives up to its claim of being plain and simple, but in a good way. The way she just touches the tip of everything would make it a great book for a beginner. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Lunar magic is next. I think lunar magic should also be a pretty standard topic in Wicca, as a lot of what we do is based on the moon cycle. \u201cThe gravitational field of a full moon changes energy particles that reach the earth, influencing the way that we think and feel by changing the functions of our brain\u201d. She informs the reader about the various cycles and the importance of each. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Chapter 5 is a very short chapter about initiation, specifically self-dedication and initiation, with just a few steps. The following chapter is about growing your own garden, the benefits of that and some ideas on which plants to grow and why. It\u2019s one of the longer chapters of the book, and for good reason. She writes about what would be good for teas, tonics and superstitions, but again, in a user-friendly way with nothing being too complicated. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Chapter seven delves into animal magic. It\u2019s another very short chapter that doesn\u2019t get into much. I would have liked this section to be a bit better as half of the chapter is a personal story that is nice, but considering how much space if takes up, there isn\u2019t a lot on animal magic itself. The tarot magic chapter is next, and that one is much better, with a lot of good information in a short amount of space and she writes about how \u201call tarot cards hold a magic of their own, and they can all help to bring about a positive result to your spells.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I really liked chapters nine and ten. Chapter nine is about magnetic magic and chapter 10 is about the power of the pendulum. I, personally, use a pendulum all the time to help me with tough decisions and she suggested a great way to use a dictionary to help with divination, and the way she talks about the healing powers of magnets, I think a lot of readers would like it. She touches on some basic spells as well, which they are plain and simple again, so beginners can feel like these are spells they can do easily. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The rest of the book is spells specifically. There are spells for love, health, wealth, prosperity, happy families, career and willpower. All of the spells are user-friendly, and don\u2019t need much for supplies. I am a fan of casting a circle before doing certain types of magic, but the author suggests just sitting and asking for protection. I personally wouldn\u2019t feel safe enough to perform some of these spells without a proper circle, but I\u2019m sure a lot of people would be fine with it. I think once a person has had experience with darkness, they are a bit more cautious. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The book overall is only 127 pages, and so it really is \u201cplain and simple\u201d, but she touches on a lot of different topics in those few pages. I would recommend this book to anyone starting out, but not really to anyone that has been practicing Wicca for a while. I still took some information out of it, as I do every book and I was really happy with it. The book is a quick and easy read, and I know if I meet anyone who is interested in Wicca I would for sure tell them about this book. I, also, think I will be looking into more of Greenaways\u2019 books as it seems like she knows what she is talking about, and I love that she doesn\u2019t over-complicate anything. I am happy I had the opportunity to read this book and write a review for it. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Click Image for Amazon Information<\/span><\/span><\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The cover states that the book is plain and simple and, also, the only book you\u2019ll ever need. The forward of the book was written by Judika Illes, who is, also, an author and I quite liked it. The first chapter informs the reader about Witches and magic. She touches on the different types of Witches like Hedge, Traditional, Gardnerian, etc. It\u2019s nice because she just does a quick little description of each, but it\u2019s enough to give the reader a good idea of the differences between them. After that, she mentions Covens and how they were formed when Wiccans were persecuted so they had to worship in secret. Then she gets into Angelic Wicca right at the end and how she has personally chosen to follow the Angelic Wiccan path. It\u2019s a great first chapter considering all that she mentions, but it doesn\u2019t seem overwhelming at any point. Chapter two breaks down Wicca and positive thoughts. \u201cLife is like a big classroom. With each day, we learn and encounter new experience, and although at times the problems we face are hard, by going through the processes, we climb that spiritual ladder and evolve to a higher plane.\u201d Has got to be my favourite quote from the book. It resonated to me as someone who has survived a lot of abuse and it made me feel like maybe my next life may be better due to the struggles I\u2019ve already endured. She ends the chapter after going over some \u201cWiccan Ground Rules\u201d As with almost all Wiccan books, there is a chapter about Tools. That\u2019s chapter 3 here. She gives a good list of typical items, touches on colour significance in the candle section and briefly talks about all the things you should have on your altar. This book lives up to its claim of being plain and simple, but in a good way. The way she just touches the tip of everything would make it a great book for a beginner. Lunar magic is next. I think lunar magic should also be a pretty standard topic in Wicca, as a lot of what we do is based on the moon cycle. \u201cThe gravitational field of a full moon changes energy particles that reach the earth, influencing the way that we think and feel by changing the functions of our brain\u201d. She informs the reader about the various cycles and the importance of each. Chapter 5 is a very short chapter about initiation, specifically self-dedication and initiation, with just a few steps. The following chapter is about growing your own garden, the benefits of that and some ideas on which plants to grow and why. It\u2019s one of the longer chapters of the book, and for good reason. She writes about what would be good for teas, tonics and superstitions, but again, in a user-friendly way with nothing being too complicated. Chapter seven delves into animal magic. It\u2019s another very short chapter that doesn\u2019t get into much. I would have liked this section to be a bit better as half of the chapter is a personal story that is nice, but considering how much space if takes up, there isn\u2019t a lot on animal magic itself. The tarot magic chapter is next, and that one is much better, with a lot of good information in a short amount of space and she writes about how \u201call tarot cards hold a magic of their own, and they can all help to bring about a positive result to your spells.\u201d I really liked chapters nine and ten. Chapter nine is about magnetic magic and chapter 10 is about the power of the pendulum. I, personally, use a pendulum all the time to help me with tough decisions and she suggested a great way to use a dictionary to help with divination, and the way she talks about the healing powers of magnets, I think a lot of readers would like it. She touches on some basic spells as well, which they are plain and simple again, so beginners can feel like these are spells they can do easily. The rest of the book is spells specifically. There are spells for love, health, wealth, prosperity, happy families, career and willpower. All of the spells are user-friendly, and don\u2019t need much for supplies. I am a fan of casting a circle before doing certain types of magic, but the author suggests just sitting and asking for protection. I personally wouldn\u2019t feel safe enough to perform some of these spells without a proper circle, but I\u2019m sure a lot of people would be fine with it. I think once a person has had experience with darkness, they are a bit more cautious. The book overall is only 127 pages, and so it really is \u201cplain and simple\u201d, but she touches on a lot of different topics in those few pages. I would recommend this book to anyone starting out, but not really to anyone that has been practicing Wicca for a while. I still took some information out of it, as I do every book and I was really happy with it. The book is a quick and easy read, and I know if I meet anyone who is interested in Wicca I would for sure tell them about this book. I, also, think I will be looking into more of Greenaways\u2019 books as it seems like she knows what she is talking about, and I love that she doesn\u2019t over-complicate anything. I am happy I had the opportunity to read this book and write a review for it. Click Image for Amazon Information<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":135,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":1,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/135"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14080\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/paganpages.org\/emagazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}