Rating: 
Summary: A must for anyone interested in Wicca
Review: When I first read this book, I was 15 and extremely confused spiritually. The more I read, the less confused I was. Reading this book changed my life. Turning the pages I realized that I had finally found a religion and way of life that I truely believed in. Four years have passed since then and "The Spiral Dance", is still the book I treasure the most. I thank the Goddess for sending me this wonderful gift! Starhawk wrote this book in an easy to understand way, yet it contains so much information on tools, study, sabbats, and just about anything else you need to know about Wicca. I highly recommend this book for anyone who would like to learn about witchcraft.
Rating:
Summary: every witch should read it
Review: I was stunned when I read some of these reviews that were critical of Starhawk's celebration of the female (feminism, the earth (ecology), and political action. The backlash against women's liberation is upon us surely....and as someone who runs a battered women's shelter, I know what the backlash looks like..No, you cannot separate Starhawk's feminism or devotion to preservation of the earth, the rivers, the ocean, and other species from her witchcraft. Nor should you. This is part of her dynamic, fascinating, compelling message that has drawn countless people into becoming a witch. The first book I read was Margot Adler's Drawing Down the Moon. The second was Z Budapest's the Holy Book of Women's Mysteries (which IS female centered and exclusively female). The third was the Spiral Dance. The Spiral Dance is very specific about spells, rituals, and how to practice. It's a basic book about witchcraft. I keep returning to it, when I need to dedicate an athame, or practice grounding. Every witch should read it. Thank the Goddess for Starhawk. Otherwise, I would have been stuck with having to have male/female polarity in my rituals. I would have been told (as I have been by others) that if I don't circle with men I can't be a witch. Etc. etc. etc. Ironic, isn't it, that Starhawk is in a mixed gender coven, now practices with her husband, etc. etc. But to the anti-feminists, all focus on the female must be anti-male. It does get tiring. I also highly recommend Truth or Dare to all witches. Blessed be!
Rating:
Summary: this book got me hooked on Wicca
Review: This is one of the first books I read on Wicca, and it blew my socks off! Every third or fourth page, I thought, "This is me! This is how I feel about things. I'm not alone anymore!" For me, this book was transcendent. It changed my life for the better. That it centers on the Goddess is not an issue for me, and should not be for others either, IMHO. Her idea of Goddess encompasses the God. Anyway, I don't like attaching a gender to Deity, but that is just me I guess. Excellent book. I highly recommend it to those seeking information on what it _means_ to be a witch.
Rating: 
Summary: An all together "OK" book I guess...
Review: The information given in "The Spiral Dance" really isn't anything extrodinary. Most you can find in any other basic pagan book (notice I never said wicca....). To tell you the truth if this had been the first pagan book I has stumbled upoln I probable would not be pagan today. From the start the author doesn't really draw you in. In other words, I could put it down and really didn't learn much....
Rating:
Summary: Great book... even if it is focused towards women
Review: I'm surpirsed that people are complaining about Starhawk's use of psychology, as if it were a bad thing. Unlike other authors, she presents Witchcraft in a way that doesn't make it sound like a bunch of trollop. She gives a much more practical version of the Craft. As far as her focusing on women and the Goddess... while the female aspect does tend to take a center role in her writings, it can certainly be over looked. Men can gain just as much as women can, for Starhawk provides tools for encountering those powers which are best suited to the individual, male or female. Those areas that are Goddess-focused can be tweaked a little and provide wonderful methods for connecting with the God force. The only part that's a huge put-off for males is her tendency to refer to Witchcraft as "Goddess-religion" instead of "nature religion."
Rating:
Summary: Liberates Goddess worship from the English "traditions"
Review: This is the book that really made the modern Goddess movement possible by giving people permission to look beyond the Gardnerian/Alexandrian model to create a path that worked for them. I have nothing against the English traditions or any other traditions for that matter, but to live a religion must be free to evolve. That's whats wrong with Christianity; its evolution into something fit for the 21st Century is being hindered. It would be a terrible shame if the same fate befell Goddess worship, but as long as people are free to try out new variations on the age-old themes that won't happen. The exercises in this book help people get in touch with their innermost selves to come up with something both new and authentic.
Rating:
Summary: wonderful book for beginners.
Review: has full details for spell, charms, incantations, i would love to share more info with someone else and their point of view!
Rating: 
Summary: Maybe not the best book for a beginner...
Review: About 3 months ago, I met someone who recommended this book to me. Truthfully, I've been studying Wicca for about two years, and have always craved more knowledge than each book I read can offer. Starhawk's "The Spiral Dancer" can be confusing at times and even lose your interest. Some blame this on her writing style as it takes a dip towards psychological expressions, but Starhawk's message is still relevant no matter the depth of her words. "The Spiral Dancer" discusses the God deity, but focuses mainly on the Goddess deity (and Starhawk warns you of this, early on in the book), so if you are seeking knowledge as a male, you could feel slightly uncomfortable reading this feministic work. I must admit that I did feel uncomfortable at times, but after reading this book I feel much more connected to the Goddess than ever before, as well as a sense of understanding feminists' and the futures they strive for. Anyone seeking further knowledge in Pagan ritual and/or Wicca should definitely attempt to read this book. Starhawk offers exercises for you to practice growing closer to the Goddess and God. If you have problems reading books deep of thought and detail, you may require pushing yourself to read this book. The first time I attempted to read "The Spiral Dancer" I quickly lost interest mid-ways through. My second attempt though, gained my undivided attention and opened up my mind to the Goddess and Pagan/Wiccan beliefs. Maybe there are better books to read for beginners of Wicca/Pagan paths, but at some point in your studies you may find (as I did) Starhawk's "The Spiral Dancer" interesting and helpful. I give this book four stars for Starhawk's efforts, but I would suggest she either update and republish this book, or start anew.
Rating:
Summary: An exceptional book on feminist Witchcraft
Review: First, this book comes from a tradition of feminist witchcraft heavily focused on creating positive change not only in the individual, but in the greater society as well. If that offends you, go read some white-light Wicca 101 fluff. This book is beautifully written and is a very useful resource for both the beginning and experienced Wiccan. It definitely makes you think, and inspires you. My only complaint is that it leans too heavily towards group, or coven, work and not enough to individual, solitary work. I consider this a Craft must-read for its focus on creative, rather than static, ritual, magic, and exercises and its focus on a personal relationship with the Goddess and God. Too few beginners' books do that. Even if you are not a feminist pagan (and this book is *not* overly feminist, no matter what the other reviewers may say) or do not share her political views, you can get a great deal out of this book anyway, because those aspects of her practice are not the main influences on the book. She shouldn't be ostracized for having opinions, especially since she does not try to present her opinions as the one-and-only truth. Her personal beliefs instead add a very human touch to the book.
Rating:
Summary: Why do some people attack this book?
Review: This is a very interesting book, yet in some parts (and I have never said this about a book about WitchCraft) it gets a bit boring. I didn't read word by every word like I usually do. I like her update and it's nice to know how she changed and how she has developed spiritually, but she has so many new things to point out maybe she should have re-written the whole book, but she does put her updates in an interesting to read manner of being. Her book really doesn't talk a lot about modern Wicca, but more about Feminist religion and WitchCraft. Yeah, before you read this you should know that Starhawk is a political ecofeminist, and she seems to write this book specifically to women, but she doesn't constantly put down men and she doesn't constantly put women above men. Remember once again, she is a FEMINIST. In fact, she knows men so well, that it's incredible. She has some interesting exercises in this book, some which are actually appliable! She knows WitchCraft very well, but I think I should point out that there is something experimental about this text and she has a different way of doing things. In fact, and I know this may sound strange, in the book Starhawk reminds me of how I would be if I was writing a book on Wicca. I am still a beginner, and in this book, although she stands firm on her beliefs, it seems to be noticeable that she might still have a lot of learning to do in some areas or may still be new in some areas. Also, as I said the way she performs rituals is a bit different than the way a lot of authors put in their books. It seems like there is a lot she if forgetting in her ritual process, but there's not, she just does it in a different way. I'm actually glad she included some spells and correspondence information. Some spiritually based book like this one on WitchCraft seem to leave out any spells or correspondences all together. But she does have some spells, and once again, they are bit different than the kinds of spells you have probably read about or seen before. She has some nice spells though including some topics other authors either forget about or avoid all together. She has a spell for loneliness, one for self acceptance when one has done wrong, binding an enemy, even becoming friends with your womb. As you can see, she explores some interesting topics in her spells. They are good spells too, just have fun finding a SHARK'S TOOTH *laughs* or other similar grindable object. I once told a woman I know about that spell and she honestly knew a man who had access to a lot of shark teeth. *laughs* Incredible. On to something else....I see her points about the power of group environment, but I don't think joining a coven is as important as she thinks it is. She seems to claim that one cannot raise the power they do in a coven as a solitary. She focuses heavily in this book on covenwork when she needs to realize the possibility of the majority of readers being begginning solitaries. She gives many examples of rituals, yet they are all for covenwork, which a solitary is not in. I think she probably realized when she was writing this book that many solitaries would be reading this, I think she just chose to focus on what she liked and was interested in, covens. Her information on the god and goddess are pretty good, I think she could have done a little better on explaining the concept of the Triple Goddess of the Cycle of Rebirth, but she has a whole chapters on both aspects of divinity, so I don't think she does really a bad job. Her information on Trancework isn't bad either, but she doesn't really do a good job explaining about Astral work or techniques of Astral Projection. If you like Trancework itself, then this book will defineatley get you going! I like her chapter on Creating Religion, a philisophical topic that either authors avoid or see no reason to write about. And they a point, most authors aren't striving to create a specific tradition and ways of being. In this chapter she speaks about Feminist Religion, it's aspects, and what it has already and what needs to be done to make it stronger and interesting to more women. As you can tell, Starhawk belongs to the Dianic tradition, which focuses specifically on the Goddess. The end of her book is mainly correspondences as well as a nice glossary and a very interesting bibliography. If you want to make this your first book on WitchCraft that is fine and I don't exclude this on men, but I think there is better material out there for absolute begginers! Happy Reading! Bye.
|
