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kendermouse's Reviews > Teen Witch: Wicca for a New Generation
Teen Witch: Wicca for a New Generation
by
by
A bit fluffy, but not horrible like some people say.
The thing so many people don't seem to get about this is that it's mostly geared toward younger readers who are coming into their curiosity about wicca from christianity, and that a lot of the other 'beginner' books have things in them that they naturally assume everyone would know, but someone coming from a fundamentalist christian type home might never have even heard of, or been told about. It fills that niche nicely.
Do I recommend that this be the ONLY book a younger person (from that type of situation, or otherwise,) read while learning about wicca or paganism? Of course not. That would be incredibly silly. There are very few (if any) subjects in this world that you only need one book to learn all about it. Even christians use more than just the bible for study. (And no, I'm not saying this is a 'bible for wicca'. If anything, it's more like those study guides christians use to understand the bible better, by putting key items into language they can better understand.)
So yeah, it's a bit fluffy, but it helps those who have been 'sheltered' from anything but fundamentalism some of the basics they might otherwise be struggling to understand.
If you're coming from a home where you were raised wiccan or pagan, or otherwise can openly ask someone for help understanding some of the stuff in other books, without fear of reprisal, then yeah, give this a miss. But for those who are the target audience I described, go for it. Get this, and another book, like True Magick, by Amber K, or one of the other beginner books. Teen Witch will get you through some of the concepts in the other one that may not make sense to you.
Oh, and regarding some of the major complaints I've seen:
1) For those complaining about the way it represents christians... yes, I've known good christians, who are tolerant, loving, etc. But I've also known the type who would mistreat someone for practicing, or being different in any way they don't approve of. It's not uncommon, and they shouldn't be lied to, and told it is.
2) For those saying it's too simple/it's insulting/it talks down to the audience- then obviously, it's not the book for you.
3) For those raising objections about her saying what a 'real' witch is and does, and how she cuts out several other paths/religions... valid, to some degree. But again, this book likely isn't for you. She's trying to explain the falsehoods behind some of the boogeyman theories that fundamentalists toss around about witchcraft and paganism, and I think she does that nicely. and really, if you're a scared kid questioning your faith for the first time, and wondering about what the right religion is for you, the things she covers are reassuring.
The thing so many people don't seem to get about this is that it's mostly geared toward younger readers who are coming into their curiosity about wicca from christianity, and that a lot of the other 'beginner' books have things in them that they naturally assume everyone would know, but someone coming from a fundamentalist christian type home might never have even heard of, or been told about. It fills that niche nicely.
Do I recommend that this be the ONLY book a younger person (from that type of situation, or otherwise,) read while learning about wicca or paganism? Of course not. That would be incredibly silly. There are very few (if any) subjects in this world that you only need one book to learn all about it. Even christians use more than just the bible for study. (And no, I'm not saying this is a 'bible for wicca'. If anything, it's more like those study guides christians use to understand the bible better, by putting key items into language they can better understand.)
So yeah, it's a bit fluffy, but it helps those who have been 'sheltered' from anything but fundamentalism some of the basics they might otherwise be struggling to understand.
If you're coming from a home where you were raised wiccan or pagan, or otherwise can openly ask someone for help understanding some of the stuff in other books, without fear of reprisal, then yeah, give this a miss. But for those who are the target audience I described, go for it. Get this, and another book, like True Magick, by Amber K, or one of the other beginner books. Teen Witch will get you through some of the concepts in the other one that may not make sense to you.
Oh, and regarding some of the major complaints I've seen:
1) For those complaining about the way it represents christians... yes, I've known good christians, who are tolerant, loving, etc. But I've also known the type who would mistreat someone for practicing, or being different in any way they don't approve of. It's not uncommon, and they shouldn't be lied to, and told it is.
2) For those saying it's too simple/it's insulting/it talks down to the audience- then obviously, it's not the book for you.
3) For those raising objections about her saying what a 'real' witch is and does, and how she cuts out several other paths/religions... valid, to some degree. But again, this book likely isn't for you. She's trying to explain the falsehoods behind some of the boogeyman theories that fundamentalists toss around about witchcraft and paganism, and I think she does that nicely. and really, if you're a scared kid questioning your faith for the first time, and wondering about what the right religion is for you, the things she covers are reassuring.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
September 10, 2000
–
Finished Reading
September 20, 2012
– Shelved
You're not actually denying that it's insulting and talks down to the audience, though. Saying "It's not for you" doesn't invalidate the point that a book for teens should address them with respect.
"It's not uncommon, and they shouldn't be lied to, and told it is." Nobody's saying that, though. Nobody's saying we should lie to kids. What people are saying is that it's wrong to make false, exaggerated claims about how many people were killed because of witchcraft accusations. Saying that millions of people were killed because of witch hunts, when a more accurate number is less than one million, is not okay. That's an exaggeration of over a million people. It's as if I were to claim that John Wilkes Booth murdered one million people. (Silly example, I know, but I think it gets the point across about how wrong things get if you add a million non-existent victims.)
There are intolerant fundamentalists out there. This is true. That doesn't mean that RavenWolf should just make fake statistics up, as if she likes the idea of millions of victims.