Living Wicca

One of the things author Scott Cunningham realized was that if Wicca was going to continue to expand, it needed to reach people who could not find groups to join. Several of the books he wrote were aimed at solitary practitioners. Is that you? Are you working on your own? For many solitary Wiccans, the Craft is something they do for magic or for celebrations. For Scott, it was something that filled his life. Now - with the help of Living Wicca, one of the vital books for solitary Pagans - Wicca can fill your life too. In this book you'll learn about magical tools, how to cast a circle, and how to raise magical power. You'll learn the meanings of over 120 Wiccan symbols and how you can magically use them. You'll discover the power of Wiccan prayers throughout the day and how you can use them to make yourself aware that the God and Goddess are everywhere. But what I really like about this book is that Scott doesn't tell you what to think as a Wiccan, but shows you how to think as a Wiccan. The book doesn't tell you what to learn, it shows you how to learn. He shows how experimentation is important. He gives you a design for considering what others say and what you think. The importance of independent thought is stressed throughout the book. Scott also discusses self-initiation, whether to do rituals when you are ill, what the real Wiccan mysteries are, and even ways for you to decide on a magical name. Over 170,000 people are now using Living Wicca. You should be one of them.

Scott Cunningham practiced magic actively for over twenty years. He was the author of more than fifty books covering both fiction and non-fiction subject matter; sixteen of his titles are published by Llewellyn Publications. Scott's books reflect a broad range of interests within the New Age sphere, where he was very highly regarded. He passed from this life on March 28, 1993, after a long illness.

Contents A Note to Traditional Wiccans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Part I: Learning 1. Tools of Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 2. Secrecy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 3. Should I Do It While I'm Sick? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 4. Magical Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 5. Self-Initiation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 6. The Wiccan Mysteries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 7. Everyday Wicca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Part II: Practice 8. Effective Prayer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43 9. Daily Prayers and Chants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 10. Prayers and Rites of Thanks and Offering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 11. Simple Wiccan Rites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 12. Magic and the Solitary Wiccan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Part III: Your Own Tradition 13. Creating a New Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 14. Deity Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75 15. Tools, Altars, Dress, and Ritual Jewelry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87 16. Ritual Design: Part I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 17. Ritual Design: Part II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105 18. Beliefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111 19. Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115 20. Wiccan Symbols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123 21. The Book of Shadows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135 22. Teaching (Widening the Circle) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139 23. Living Wicca . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145 Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147 Annotated Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 155 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161