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Hour of the Witch
A guide to the Harry Potter novels describes their themes of witchcraft and wicca from a spiritual perspective.
217 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 31, 2012
The author, Steve Wohlberg, had a booth at a convention I was attending with my family. I picked up this book because, as both a Christian and a Harry Potter lover, it promised to be amusing.
Amusing didn't do it justice. It was downright hilarious. I laughed over it, and then I read it to my family and they laughed over it as well. Good old Mr. Wohlberg was obviously grasping at straws, trying to find all those hidden evils of satanic Harry Potter. He was direly warning us that if we let our children read the horrible books, they would immediately become converts to Wicca and, I don't know, do witchy stuff. While I don't claim to know anything about real Wicca, I highly doubt it's anything like Mr. Wohlberg's idea of Wicca.
If you're a devout, "do not allow a sorceress to live" type Christian, this book is for you. If you're anyone else with a sense of humor, this book is also for you. Enjoy it, don't over-think it, and slip it into your humor section when you're done.
Amusing didn't do it justice. It was downright hilarious. I laughed over it, and then I read it to my family and they laughed over it as well. Good old Mr. Wohlberg was obviously grasping at straws, trying to find all those hidden evils of satanic Harry Potter. He was direly warning us that if we let our children read the horrible books, they would immediately become converts to Wicca and, I don't know, do witchy stuff. While I don't claim to know anything about real Wicca, I highly doubt it's anything like Mr. Wohlberg's idea of Wicca.
If you're a devout, "do not allow a sorceress to live" type Christian, this book is for you. If you're anyone else with a sense of humor, this book is also for you. Enjoy it, don't over-think it, and slip it into your humor section when you're done.
May 12, 2016
The very fact that the author is grouping in, on any level, Wicca and Harry Potter, should have been your first warning sign.
Honestly, any author that groups Harry Potter with the neo-pagan religion of Wicca is assuming one or more of the following:
a). That Wicca and witchcraft are interchangable- all witches are Wiccans and all Wiccans are witches. Wicca is one religion, with no various traditions, and witchcraft is simple the arte of Wiccans.
b) Wiccans and other pagans are just weary spiritual seekers, seeking solstice in the occult after a string of bad experiences with Christianity.
c) Society's focus on the "occult" is clearly a sign of greater, more sinister forces at hand, and represents a clear attempt to lure your innocent God blessed children from their beds at night.
d) All Wiccans are being deceived by evil spiritual entities, and depend on Christians to lure them to the light of God
**Edited May 12, 2016, for minor grammatical errors
The authors attempt to link various magical practices to underlying, sinister forces is laughable, as is his obsession with spirits. He does not seem to understand that not every pagan practices magic, or worships a Pagan deity, as well as showing over and over again and emphasis on a Bible that most pagans could care less about while overemphasizing Christian propaganda and little white lies. It makes me sad that anyone would read this book and take it as genuine confirmation that Wiccat is an evil religion. not because I am pagan, but because of the clearly visible logical fallacies and the lack of knowledge to which the author has.
Steve Wohlberg has a very poor understanding of the nuances between witchcraft, paganism, Wicca, and the occult in general. He fails to understand that Wicca is a diverse religion containing many different traditions, practices, deities, and beliefs. There are Wiccans who worship many deities and Wiccans who simply worship the Lord and Lady. There are Wiccans who cast spells and Wiccans who do not.
Honestly, any author that groups Harry Potter with the neo-pagan religion of Wicca is assuming one or more of the following:
a). That Wicca and witchcraft are interchangable- all witches are Wiccans and all Wiccans are witches. Wicca is one religion, with no various traditions, and witchcraft is simple the arte of Wiccans.
b) Wiccans and other pagans are just weary spiritual seekers, seeking solstice in the occult after a string of bad experiences with Christianity.
c) Society's focus on the "occult" is clearly a sign of greater, more sinister forces at hand, and represents a clear attempt to lure your innocent God blessed children from their beds at night.
d) All Wiccans are being deceived by evil spiritual entities, and depend on Christians to lure them to the light of God
**Edited May 12, 2016, for minor grammatical errors
The authors attempt to link various magical practices to underlying, sinister forces is laughable, as is his obsession with spirits. He does not seem to understand that not every pagan practices magic, or worships a Pagan deity, as well as showing over and over again and emphasis on a Bible that most pagans could care less about while overemphasizing Christian propaganda and little white lies. It makes me sad that anyone would read this book and take it as genuine confirmation that Wiccat is an evil religion. not because I am pagan, but because of the clearly visible logical fallacies and the lack of knowledge to which the author has.
Steve Wohlberg has a very poor understanding of the nuances between witchcraft, paganism, Wicca, and the occult in general. He fails to understand that Wicca is a diverse religion containing many different traditions, practices, deities, and beliefs. There are Wiccans who worship many deities and Wiccans who simply worship the Lord and Lady. There are Wiccans who cast spells and Wiccans who do not.
October 29, 2011
Would have given it 3 stars if I would have agreed with more of the arguments he made using the books as a main source, I'm sorry, but I always thought butter beer was more like root beer or butter scotch than it was like actual alcholic beer...
July 23, 2017
I never hate on books, and to this day there are only two books I can say I actually hated and regret reading because they both wasted my time. This book, and Animal Farm= horrible books. This author is a joke and I will never read another book by him, he should just stop writing. He was to repetitive and preachy with the Bible aspect (he's obviously a huge bible thumper). He knew nothing about Wicca, and he used the same like seven sources throughout the entire book. There are plenty more sources out there he could of used if he really wanted to do more research into the Wicca aspect. He picked like two authors of Wicca based work and a few testimonials from used to be "witches" who practiced Wicca till they converted to Christianity after witnessing demonic possessions in their friends. C'mon dude your writing had no real arguments and the entire book was made up of mostly quoted word for word material from the Bible and the Harry Potter books. Seriously this book sucked.
Not to mention that I despised the last chapter the most because he basically said if you listen to Rock & Roll or heavy metal or anything that isn't hymnal or Christian music, your basically going to hell because that type of music just screams Satan worshiping. Like really dude, shut the f*ck up. On page 212 he stated that demonic forces dwell inside us because we opened the door for Satan by, "...playing with Ouija boards, reading occult books, playing games like Dungeon and Dragons, watching sinful movies, visiting occult or pornographic web sites, or even through listening to Satan-inspired music like heavy metal and Rock & Roll." Sorry, but I like my heavy metal music, it reflects my true feelings and I actually connect with that type of music more over that "I'm a forgiven sinner, so I'll sing myself into righteousness" type music.
Puh-lease! I love Harry Potter and heavy metal music and I will be that way till the day I die. #Potterhead
Seriously don't read this book, it's just a waste of time, unless your bible thumper than you'll enjoy it.
Not to mention that I despised the last chapter the most because he basically said if you listen to Rock & Roll or heavy metal or anything that isn't hymnal or Christian music, your basically going to hell because that type of music just screams Satan worshiping. Like really dude, shut the f*ck up. On page 212 he stated that demonic forces dwell inside us because we opened the door for Satan by, "...playing with Ouija boards, reading occult books, playing games like Dungeon and Dragons, watching sinful movies, visiting occult or pornographic web sites, or even through listening to Satan-inspired music like heavy metal and Rock & Roll." Sorry, but I like my heavy metal music, it reflects my true feelings and I actually connect with that type of music more over that "I'm a forgiven sinner, so I'll sing myself into righteousness" type music.
Puh-lease! I love Harry Potter and heavy metal music and I will be that way till the day I die. #Potterhead
Seriously don't read this book, it's just a waste of time, unless your bible thumper than you'll enjoy it.
May 10, 2018
Dont't waste your time. No premises, no logic, no arguments. Just rants of hidebound fanatic.
December 20, 2018
I enjoyed the book because the author actually decided to put all of the backup information so that the reader their selves can go and find it out in different books or magazines. Some points were good while others not so much. I do think that some of the points in Rowling's books were a connection sometimes, but I think that the author went overboard with connecting the Wicca religion and Harry Potter, I think that this book should have been like "comparing Harry Potter to the Bible" and the author could have made a different book about Wicca religion and the Bible. I think that this would give a bit more of specific details about Harry Potter and the Bible.
November 27, 2021
Let's turn from Harry Potter to Holy Bible!
September 18, 2022
harry potter has its problems; but it’s not in the way that this author seems to believe
November 20, 2009
This was an amazing book! I never knew that much about Wicca or Harry Potter before and now...wow. Try reading the Bible before Harry Potter. It will probably help you in the long run.
March 10, 2010
It's a really good book to help get someone away from Wicca, but for me it was kind of hard to make myself wanna read it
May 21, 2015
Some interesting information and insights into behind the scenes of Harry Potter. It can get a bit preachy, though.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews