book review

Paganism, An Introduction to Earth Centered Religions
by Joyce and River Higginbotham
published by Llewellyn Publications
1st Edition
7th printing, 2007

If you have family or friends that you would like to introduce to Paganism or answer their questions about your choice of a path, and you would like to do it in an academic way, this is the book.

Much as I love Cunningham's basic works and recommend them freely, even they are too much for some people. Some born-again Christians that I know would not be able to get past the altar setup and so would never make it to the spiritual part.

Paganism, An Introduction to Earth Centered Religions, is a text book. It is not a how-to or primarily a book to explore your spiritual path. It is a frank and informative discussion about Paganism and its many paths.

Some of the topics covered that I believe many people are curious about include:
--why so many people are drawn to earth based religions
--why there is no dogma
--why so many divergent views can get along
--how modern science and the pagan view of the cosmos are converging
--what exactly is the difference between Pagan and Satanist
--why is there a cultural prejudice against pagans, witches and magick

There are exercises at the end of each chapter that the easily put off can just skip over, but the more curious or those finding themselves drawn to Paganism can work on.
These are not spellcasting 101, but rather questions about beliefs, attitudes and why you believe or don't believe certain things.
You might want to try these exercises yourself, they are quite thought provoking.

This is a book that anyone, from long time Pagan to the mildly curious devout Christian, will find educational and interesting and an excellent text for someone new to the path.