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Wood and Water The Labyrinth of the Heart
Pagan Paths
Pete Jennings.
Rider
2002. Pb £9.99. ISBN 0 7126 11061.
The author is a former president
of the Pagan federation, so his contacts and experience make him
very well qualified to write this Guide to Wicca, Druidry, Asatru,
shamanism and other pagan practices. There are chapters running
from five to ten or more pages on many branches of paganism, and on
such topics as sacred sites and seasonal festivals. Each chapter has
a list of a few "things to do" as an indication of aspects of each
path, to help inexperienced readers gain some idea of whether that
approach may be for them; some of these things to do are of value
even to experienced pagans. There is also a valuable resource list
of books, Web sites, and magazines where further information can be
found.
In the booklist for the chapter on Male and Female Mysteries I was
pleased to see one of Melissa Raphael's books mentioned; I was not
so pleased (this is more likely to be an uncaught printing error
than the author's own mistake) that it was called Introducing
Theology rather than the correct title of Introducing Thealogy. I
was also surprised to see that, while Paganism Today, edited by
Graham Harvey and Charlotte Hardman, was in the booklist, Harvey's
own Listening People, Speaking Earth is not mentioned. At twice the
length of Jennings' book, it deepens and extends it, though with a
more academic perspective.
Experienced pagans may not get much from Pagan Paths, though they
would find useful material about those branches of paganism that are
foreign to them. But it is an ideal book to give to someone who is
asking "What is paganism about?", whether to explain one's own path
to friends or as a guide to someone who is wondering whether
paganism is for them and, if so, what form of paganism would suit
them.
Wood and Water 80,
Autumn 2002
© Daniel Cohen
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