Simple Spells for Hearth and Home : Ancient Practices for Creating Harmony, Peace, and Abundance

Rating:
Summary: Simple & Useful with a Disturbing Undercurrent
Review: "Simple Spells for Hearth and Home: Ancient Practices for Creating Harmony, Peace, and Abundance" delivers exactly what the title promises--something not many books do. I enjoy the inclusion of various goddesses who can assist with magickal house work--especially the Roman goddess Vesta. The spirit of "Simple Spells for Hearth and Home" is light and inspirational--the spells are easy to accomplish. My only quibble with the book is shared with another reviewer--she constantly tries to "hard sell" the concept of using spells to people faithful to Judeo-Christianity. There isn't a problem with this, since magickal books need not and indeed should not be exclusive. I do however suspect that her core audience come from Earth-based paths (Wicca, Witchcraft, Hoodoo, Shamanism, etc) Dolnick's hard-sell routine comes off as a book selling tactic; her otherwise gentle voice becomes brassy. In the future, if Dolnick let her gentle voice lead the way rather than allowing it to be overpowered by the pursuit of personal abundance, her books would be even stronger.

Rating:
Summary: Simple & Useful with a Disturbing Undercurrent
Review: "Simple Spells for Hearth and Home: Ancient Practices for Creating Harmony, Peace, and Abundance" delivers exactly what the title promises--something not many books do. I enjoy the inclusion of various goddesses who can assist with magickal house work--especially the Roman goddess Vesta. The spirit of "Simple Spells for Hearth and Home" is light and inspirational--the spells are easy to accomplish. My only quibble with the book is shared with another reviewer--she constantly tries to "hard sell" the concept of using spells to people faithful to Judeo-Christianity. There isn't a problem with this, since magickal books need not and indeed should not be exclusive. I do however suspect that her core audience come from Earth-based paths (Wicca, Witchcraft, Hoodoo, Shamanism, etc) Dolnick's hard-sell routine comes off as a book selling tactic; her otherwise gentle voice becomes brassy. In the future, if Dolnick let her gentle voice lead the way rather than allowing it to be overpowered by the pursuit of personal abundance, her books would be even stronger.

Rating:
Summary: More Fun than Fung Shui
Review: The title and subtitle sum up what this book is pretty well. A little bit spell book, a little bit decorating book, she talks about making a house a home through some effort on your part.

It's a nice little book with some nice ideas, but she seems to try a little too hard to take Pagan ideas to non-Pagan readers. Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, for instance, presented in a Pagan way might appeal to many Pagans, but not to many Christian or Jewish readers. It has a feel of effort to it, like she's trying to sell the book to a group that never visits the "New Age" section of the bookstore.

Still, things are presented in a very clear way, suggesting materials and moon phases for the most appropriate times for the spells. None of the materials are very exotic, so the spells are indeed accessible to anyone who is of a mind to try their hand at a little magic.

The index is quite good, but unfortunately no bibliography. Not a bad book if Hestia/Vesta-type rituals are important to you.

Rating:
Summary: More Fun than Fung Shui
Review: The title and subtitle sum up what this book is pretty well. A little bit spell book, a little bit decorating book, she talks about making a house a home through some effort on your part.

It's a nice little book with some nice ideas, but she seems to try a little too hard to take Pagan ideas to non-Pagan readers. Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, for instance, presented in a Pagan way might appeal to many Pagans, but not to many Christian or Jewish readers. It has a feel of effort to it, like she's trying to sell the book to a group that never visits the "New Age" section of the bookstore.

Still, things are presented in a very clear way, suggesting materials and moon phases for the most appropriate times for the spells. None of the materials are very exotic, so the spells are indeed accessible to anyone who is of a mind to try their hand at a little magic.

The index is quite good, but unfortunately no bibliography. Not a bad book if Hestia/Vesta-type rituals are important to you.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant book for wiccans!
Review: This brilliant book focusing on spells and rituels for your home and holidays, is a must see for all wiccans! Plus, it is a series book!