Living Wicca: A Further Guide for the Solitary Practitioner

by Scott Cunningham

Overview

Selling more than 200,000 copies, Living Wicca has helped countless solitary practitioners blaze their own spiritual paths. Let the wise words of Scott Cunningham guide you toward a new level of practice.

Living Wicca takes a philosophical look at the questions, practices, and differences within Witchcraft. You'll learn how to create your own rituals and symbols, develop a book of shadows, and even become a high priest or priestess. Also covered in this Scott Cunningham classic are tools, magical names, initiation, the Mysteries, 120 Wiccan symbols, and the importance of secrecy in your practice.

• New edit
• New interior design

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780875421841
Publisher:	Llewellyn Worldwide, LTD.
Publication date:	09/08/2002
Series:	Llewellyn's Practical Magick Series
Edition description:	1st ed
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

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. His seminal work, Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner, is one of the most successful books on Wicca ever published. He passed from this life on March 28, 1993, after a long illness.

Read an Excerpt

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.

Table of Contents

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

Interviews

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.

Editorial Reviews

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.

From the Publisher