Books and cars
I just finished reading "Triumph of the Moon" by Ronald Hutton ( I know...years out of date, but I just got around to it.) All in all I found it sadly disappointing. Quite pedantic and missing the larger points, imo. It did contain some interesting references to early gardnerian history/ hearsay, but the overall impression one gets was quite a sad one: that it's all been one witch war after another since the beginning of modern recorded wiccastory. Rival practitioners denouncing one anothers' claims to primacy and/or legitimacy. Egads. I've never been able to understand the rivalries among occultists...it all seems so silly to me. "'Witch queen of the universe' are ye? Well, that's nice, dearie. That and a metrocard will get ye on yon subway."
One of the things that struck me though was that various people (including Doreen Valiente, who I've always admired) spoke of the "wild magic" that occurs when a circle is really revved-up and working, especially outdoors. This feeling, which is hard to describe, is what I think draws people to the nature religions and keeps them coming back. It's analogous to that "perfect buzz" that drinkers seek. It's elusive, but eminently attainable, given the right set of circumstances, and once you've felt it, you're willing to suffer through a lot of substandard evenings for the chance of catching hold of that particular dragon's tail again.
I also recently read "The Book of Lost Things" by John Connolly, about which I will simply state that it was absolutely the best Neil Gaiman novel not written by Neil Gaiman. Loved it. It was light and fun... just a kabibble, but a gloriously fun and well-turned kabibble.
And in daily-life news...I finally settled on a car. I'm getting a honda accord V6 in black with black leather interior. I test-drove it last week, and may I just say...Vroom! ;>
One of the things that struck me though was that various people (including Doreen Valiente, who I've always admired) spoke of the "wild magic" that occurs when a circle is really revved-up and working, especially outdoors. This feeling, which is hard to describe, is what I think draws people to the nature religions and keeps them coming back. It's analogous to that "perfect buzz" that drinkers seek. It's elusive, but eminently attainable, given the right set of circumstances, and once you've felt it, you're willing to suffer through a lot of substandard evenings for the chance of catching hold of that particular dragon's tail again.
I also recently read "The Book of Lost Things" by John Connolly, about which I will simply state that it was absolutely the best Neil Gaiman novel not written by Neil Gaiman. Loved it. It was light and fun... just a kabibble, but a gloriously fun and well-turned kabibble.
And in daily-life news...I finally settled on a car. I'm getting a honda accord V6 in black with black leather interior. I test-drove it last week, and may I just say...Vroom! ;>