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Witchcraft From the
Inside: Origins of the Fastest Growing Religious Movement in America ISBN
1-56718-101-5 I always thought I liked Raymond Buckland. I enjoyed Complete Book of Witchcraft and defended it to many who claimed it could "get newbies into trouble." I liked the obscure Magic Cauldron that consisted of many of his rambling ruminations. I started not enjoying him after viewing his video, "Witchcraft Yesterday and Today" and it is continuing into this book. The book was originally written in 1971, before it was revealed the full extent to which Gerald Gardner, Buckland's friend and mentor, invented the religion of Wicca, whereas he (Gardner) purported it to be the ancient work of Witches gone by while he lived. Buckland continues this ruse, not bothering to correct it when the book was re-released in 1994. He's abject worship of Gardner is extremely apparent and makes one wonder of his true objective in writing the book: to educate or to pimp the memory of Gardner. His discussion of the Witch trials is quite good, as is his sociological discussion of the time and environment in which they occurred. He again pushes the act of working skyclad as being an important part of Craft, even going so far as to quote himself extensively (on this and other subjects). Buckland berates the use of computers or typewriters in Craft writing (I'm sure he sent a handwritten text of this book to Llewellyn, mmm hmm), as well as the use of any type of drugs in ritual or otherwise. I found him to be judgmental, locked in the past and unwilling to allow the Craft to grow, evolve and progress. My thought upon finishing this book is that he might be more of a detriment to the evolution of Craft than an asset. Maybe I need to read Complete Book again to be reminded of what I ever saw in this guy. I'm starting to believe he's closer to his friend Gardner than I originally expected and is using the Craft to see the women in his coven naked and maybe give the naughty girls a good scourging. *full body shudder*
Review by Katrina Rasbold |
