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Rating: 
Summary: My first book of magick
Review: I bought this book years ago and to this day it is the one book that I have had the most success with. DJ Conway is one of my favorite author for no other reason than if you buy one of her books you've bought them all. But that is not to say that information is not good and easy to use. I thank Ms. Conway for introducing the world of magick to me.
Rating: 
Summary: Run away!!!
Review: I found this book offensive as a pagan. I have no problem with Wicca as a religion, nor with those that admit it when they plaster other people's gods and goddesses onto Wicca. What I do have a problem with is when one obviously did enough research on the Norse religion to know that it has very little in common with Wicca, and still claim that the Norse were Wiccan. Freya and Freyr as the main deities? Where did that come from? I guess Odin was too manly to be the principal male in her mind. The author not only ignored all research done by reconstructionists pagans, but she had to make Freyr, the most effeminate of the Norse gods, the principal male.
This was, unfortunately, the first book on the occult and Norse magic that I read. Luckily, I actually did some research on the subject, and was able to discard it as useless in under a week. I will say, however, the book is quite well constructed. I have ran over it with a truck, left it outside for weeks at a time, used it as a coaster, etc., and the cover hasn't even fallen all the way off yet.
Rating:
Summary: Not even worth [price]
Review: I would have to agree with the majority of the reviewers, this book is horrible!! Our ancestors did not practice magic in this manner, and the Celtic peoples didn't either. This author should have did more research on the Nordic people before writing this book instead of portraying them as Wiccan. Take my advice, don't buy this book!
Rating:
Summary: i'm not wiccan!!
Review: If i wanted a book about wicca, i would have looked for a book titled for wicca. as a learning asatruar, i was looking for true norse works, not wicca. Every ritual was blatantly a wiccan one, which is fine, but i'm not wiccan! I was very disappointed in this book, especially due to the fact that it was targeted to the heathen readers. Let this be a guide to all others looking into odinism, asatru, or any other true nordic path-- any writer who writes a vast amount of books on magic in many different pantheons, is probably, at best, an entreprenureal wiccan, but most likely a hack. save your $$!
Rating: 
Summary: Not bad, but not good
Review: Overall, I can't say much beyond what others have written about this book. It's more wiccan than Norse, and any Astaru worshiper would be appalled at how Conway writes. Mind you, ANYTHING Conway writes is Wiccan based, be it Norse Magick, or Dragon Magick, or any other book they have written. Nice for beginners, but beyond new ritual ideas, nothing else is any good. (I have a feeling Conway jumped on the money making wagon that other wiccan writers seem to have and lost all sense of why they are writing this stuff) However, it's not all bad, just most of it. Some of the stuff in it is not so bad, if a little basic and full of fluff.
Rating:
Summary: Good Info on New Norse Ways
Review: This book is filled with information for those who follow an earth based spirituality and are interested in adding a Norse flair to their work. The author writes in a simple and clear manner, explaining how some Norse ways can be worked into wiccan and earth based ritual. The chapter on runes is especially nice, with simple drawings of each rune and a list of correspondances for them. This book also teaches a simple way to create and read runestones. I like this book because it gives the practicioner today a gentle and simple way to follow norse spirituality without having to call themselvs "Traditional" or "Odinist"...I dont believe the author intended her work to be viewed as the only authority oon norse magic, Its just another way for people to add to their spirituality.
Blessings
Rating:
Summary: This book is AWFUL!
Review: This is undoubtedly the worst occult book I have ever read. Unfortunately, it was also my first one. This book is so bad, reading it is counterproductive to your development as a magician. The rituals that Conway describes are like something out of a movie, and any decent practicioner of the occult arts knows that the real thing is nothing like what you see in movies. Also, Conway claims that the garbage written in this book is similar to what the Norse actually practiced in their time. That is so not true. What she has done is taken a childishly dramatic twist on Wicca, filled in the places for deity names to go with Norse gods and goddesses, and added a little chapter on the runes. There's a rumor going around that this book is the exact same book as her other book, Celtic Magic, but with the names swapped out for Norse ones. And I'm sure that other book is just as terrible as this one. Reading this book really opened my eyes to the amount of false information that's out there. Conway is just trying to impress readers into buying more of her books and binding people to dogma that she made up herself. Please save a few trees, and your worth as a magician, by not buying this book. If you are/will be a Wiccan/Pagan, there are tons of better books out there, but just as many bogus authors.
Rating: 
Summary: WHY NOT ??
Review: We are living in the 21st Century and have the freedom to dive into the big pool of different traditions. So I do not understand why so many people hardly critizising this lovely book for not being "norse" enough. To combine modern wiccan elements with the deitys of the northern and german traditions is something that shouldve been done before! The Celts and the Northern Folks were very close to each other, sometimes only parted by a river and our ancestors were known for always taking elements of other spiritual systems, deitys and even including them into their own believs. So what D.J.Conway did with this book is to combine celtic, norse and wiccan elements and it works. I personally work mainly with the norse gods/godesses, but also include some celtic thinking. My ancestors had elements of both so I feel very comfortable with the two ways and I like this book, because of that. So dont let the harsh critics scare you away, this book is not the best (Conway shouldve study the Runes and the Deitys a little less superphiscious), but it is good from the idea and the intentions and it harmonizes two old paths creating wonderful new magick. But still, for BETTER informations about Runes and the gods, check out the books of Jan Fries and Freya Aswynn.....
Rating:
Summary: A good start with a failed ending...
Review: While Conway's idea may have been in the right place, she unfortunatly did not do the required research. I am "Norse Wiccan" but luckily I did not base my Tradition on this book!
(I was forwarned before doing so!)
For those interested in building a Wiccan Tradition that is Norse or Germanic based I suggest the following books:
1) Wiccan: Beliefs and Practices by Gary Cantrell
- Not Norse, but a very good Wicca 101 book to serve as
a blueprint.
2) Witchdom of the True by Edred
- Shows how Gardnerian Wicca has its roots in Traditional
Old English "Wiccecraeft" and the Cults of the Vanir from
Scandinavia who worshiped the "Lord and Lady" (Freyr
and Freyja)as there primary deities. YOU HAVE TO READ
THIS BOOK!!! It's availible from Runa Raven Press:
http://www.runaraven.com/
3) Hammer of the Gods by Swain Wodening
- This is a book Anglo-Saxon Heathenism, but if read the
above book, you see why it is nessesary.
4) Germanic Heathenry: A Pratical Guide by James Hjuka Coulter
- This is the ultimate book on Germanic Paganism. A must
read!
5) Northern Mysteries & Magick by Freya Aswynn
- Aswynn is Asatru but with a Wiccan past, so her stuff
tends to be more on the "Vanic" side. Worth a read.
Using the above books, one can build a "Norse Wiccan" Tradition that is based on the historic folk traditions of Norse/Germanic Paganism, instead of the "fluffy bunny" and "New Age" stuff that Conway does with this book, which is basically a reprint of her Celtic Magic book with the names changed to Norse Gods and Goddesses.
Rating:
Summary: Why do Wiccans want to be..............
Review: Why do Wiccans want to be everything but of their own belief system? Was Gardners original Wicca so appalling that would-be (or is that want-to-be) Wiccans need to dismantle other belief systems in order to shore up their own? Why do wiccans show little regard for other belief systems? The reason this book is so bad is simply because it is not Norse. It is hardly Wiccan, and even to a lesser extent, Pagan. The reason why so many get ruffled feathers over this book is because it takes no skill or knowledge to dismantle another system and glue these pieces onto something else. If you have any clue, most Heathens today take great pride in the fact that what they do is based largely on scholarly sources, not just what feels good. The Heathens of today (like most Druids today) take a great amount of time and effort to reconstruct the old ways. They believe in reviving the old ways through accurate information gathering, something Wicca has sadly forgotten. This book does not do that. It is (barely) Norse myth pasted onto modern Wiccan practices. It is simply written and touches on little of anything that is Norse. Please Conway, do us all a favor and stop littering in the Pagan section of the book store.
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