NMR ISSUE 8

Astrological Forecast 8
Book of Troth
Coyote, Flicker & Sturgeon
Editorial
Futhark Edred Thorsson
Gimli
Here We Go Again
Holaf Festival Lammas
Invocation to Artemis
Invocation to the Goddess
Lady of the Moon
Lazaris: A Question on Magick and Wicca
Letters 8
Rune Might Edred Thorsson
Support a Hebrew Pantheon
The Alchemy of Basic Ritual
The Magic of Chocolate
The Oldest Magick
The Witches' God
The Zodiac Star
Was Jesus A Pagan?

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Book Reviews
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Reviews

The Witches' God
by Janet & Stewart Farrar

(Phoenix, $13.95)

If you already own The Witches God, I expect you will be falling all over yourself to get this book. It is a slightly expensive book, but one of the best buys around. Once again the Farrars have produced a welcome addition to the craft. One of the more trying jobs in paganism is either sifting through mounds of research, or desperately hunting through the library for scraps of information about your favorite deity. The book does not replace this entirely, but it can save much legwork. The entries cover a broad range of the information available. After checking this book, you can either skip the research or have a better idea of what you're looking for. The bibliography can give you some idea where to look; though it would have been welcome to see more references in the text.

The Witches' God covers both specific and general cases. There are chapters for a dozen different gods, offering history and a short ritual for each. There are also chapters on thirteen different god archetypes. In addition, there are short entries describing over 1000 gods world wide, including some remarkably obscure ones; however, the list is "`selectively comprehensive'" so you will not find every god.

In addition to the above, there are some other rituals, "recipes" and a little more topical information. It is a wonderful reference. Unfortunately, typical of the Farrars' work, it is a little difficult to read. The sections are often more like fleshed out notes than flowing prose. It skips around, you must pay attention and fill in transitions yourself. But the information is well worth this minor effort. I would expect anyone in the Craft to love this book (with the possible exception of Dianics). Those outside the craft would probably find it interesting as well, but for $14 they might want to thumb through a copy first. I consider this a `must have' book in a Craft library.