Full Contact Magick: A Book of Shadows for the Wiccan Warrior

Rating:
Summary: The Heart of Wiccan and Magickal practice...
Review: An excellent book for beginner or seeker (experienced but still gathering). If you have been reading your way through the book lists, gleaning a bit from each, this may be the book you were looking for. Kerr Cuhulain presents (in brief) sound advice for energy developement and use, the principles of personal assessment and growth, practical Wiccan and earth Magick and many related issues. His presentation is straight forward and personable, honest, accessible and perhaps deceptively simple. Don't be mistaken, the wisdom of many practices and methods come together in this book with advice on how to cultivate it in your life. I can highly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Be Mislead: If You're Wiccan, You Want This Book
Review: Being a Warrior doesn't involve inflicting harm on others. A true Warrior wages her battles against herself, challenging herself, meeting her lessons head on, and making the choice to live with responsibility and integrity through right action.

From the preface: "There is an old saying in Karate: Chi ("energy", pronounced "chee") follows I ("intent", pronounced "eee" to ryme with "see"). This is also a definition of magick: "Causing change by directing energy with one's will. Since the perfect striking technique is 80 to 90 percent chi, one could say that martial arts are really full contact magick."

And that is the point of this book: to help you learn how to raise, channel, use, and ground energy, something everyone, Wiccan or not, could benefit from. The more energy you have available to you, the more effective you will be with your magick. The book is not, as one other reviewer mistakenly implied, a book to teach you how to be a pacifist in contrast to inflicting harm on others. Only weak, immature cowards feel the need to inflict harm on others in an attempt to achieve their goals. It's a lot harder when you're fighting with yourself instead. Sun Tzu said, "Complete victory is when the army does not fight, the city is not besieged, the destruction does not go long, but in each case the enemy is overcome by strategy." It's not necessary to fight others to be a Warrior.

Cuhulain divides the book into five smaller "books" each focusing on one of the five elements of the pentacle. He discusses tools, techniques, gives examples for you to work through, touches on other belief systems like the Hindu chakras, and he sums up what was discussed and hopefully learned at the end of each chapter, right before his footnotes and a list of sources from which he obtained some of his information. Very well documented, as he draws from a number of different sources.

This is more of a book to work through than Wiccan Warrior was, hence it feels like you've really accomplished something. While I enjoyed Wiccan Warrior, it left me feeling a bit empty afterwards, as though I was being led to believe there was more, but there never was. This book makes up for it! The Book of Shadows part of the title, while far from just handing you a pre-made one that does no one any good, offers hints and guidance for making one that is truly your own. Cuhulain will occasionally discuss something then state, "Write your impressions in your Book of Shadows."

Overall, this is one of the best books I've come across in on my path, and I highly recommend it. I have found it to be indispensibly useful.

Rating:
Summary: Guidebook for the 'Wiccan Warrior'
Review: Kerr Cuhulain is a Wiccan police officer, based in Vancouver; he's been in the field for the past 24 years, and a Wiccan for more than thirty. I've not read his first work, The Wiccan Warrior, so I can't compare the two, but from what I've read in this book, I like his easy style, and the general applicability of what he writes.

It's written as a guide to beginning your own Book of Shadows, to be worked through as you go along. It's broken up into five parts, one for each element (Spirit, Earth, Water, Fire, Air - the reasoning behind the order explained near the end of the book). Cuhulain gives comprehensive exlpainations behind each point he brings up, which is a refreshing change, whether I agree with them or not. It shows that he has thought carefully about what he believes and I respect that.

Cuhulain states that one cannot be Wiccan if they do not adhere to the Wiccan Rede - I'm sure this will generate mixed reactions among readers. His explaination of karma isn't terrible (pg. 38), and he does acknowledge the destrutive tendancies apparently inherent in human nature and it's purpose, noting the adage 'In order to heal you have to be able to hex' (pg. 39).

He makes apt parallels between dicplies such as martial arts and magick, manipulating ki and ritual mindset, etc. bringing his style of Wicca and neo-pagan magick in line with an inspiring warrior tradition.

There are a couple minor things that are an annoyance more than serious problems. The first, incorrectly stating that Litha occurs on the autumnal equinox (page 176). The correct date is noted as being the summer solstice in the gloassary, but those new to Wicca could easily become confused by this misrepresentation. As well, the anti-drug stance he takes toward magick and ritual is disapointing, but then again, he is a cop, so it's somewhat expected.

There were a few little things that impressed well upon me, such as Cuhulain's use of CE/BCE to refer to dates rather than the Christian date system, which is often paradoxically found in some Wiccan and neo-pagan texts. As well as his uses he or she throughout the book. I love that it has footnotes, and attributes quotes and information correctly. Small things, but they make a difference.

Though this is written as a guidebook for the 'Wiccan Warrior', many concepts and ideas presented within are applicable to magickians of any style. Overall, it's an excellent start for any novice.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad.... but not good...
Review: Kerr Cuhulain's new work has me quite torn - in many areas it is much better than a great number of recent "101"-type books... but there are also a great number of contradictions, a rather dismissive attitude toward those who view a Warrior's path differently from the author, and personal views touted as Wiccan bedrock.

Kerr's writing is very conversational, and many points are illustrated with real-world examples that make it much easier to grasp Kerr's viewpoints. The material is well-organized, and well-footnoted for further reading. The Rede is discussed much more rationally than I have seen it in a majority of newer books, care is taken to distinguish Wicca from the many other Pagan religions, and he defers to Ronald Hutton on many matters of documentable history. There is a great deal of information about energy work that can be useful - particularly to folks who may not perceive energy in the visual ways most commonly referred to.

On the other hand, Kerr also exaggerates situations and paraphrases portions of his source material to make them fit his personal ideals (something he criticizes in both of his books), a number of elements are not identified as opinions of the author but are instead inaccurately presented as general views of Wicca, and several elements that do derive from Traditional Wicca are changed, but the changed form is presented as the Traditional form without any note of how or why they have been changed.

There is much here that may make this worth purchasing... but brush up on your critical reading skills beforehand, and follow up with some of the source works noted in the footnotes and bibliography.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad.... but not good...
Review: Kerr Cuhulain's new work has me quite torn - in many areas it is much better than a great number of recent "101"-type books... but there are also a great number of contradictions, a rather dismissive attitude toward those who view a Warrior's path differently from the author, and personal views touted as Wiccan bedrock.

Kerr's writing is very conversational, and many points are illustrated with real-world examples that make it much easier to grasp Kerr's viewpoints. The material is well-organized, and well-footnoted for further reading. The Rede is discussed much more rationally than I have seen it in a majority of newer books, care is taken to distinguish Wicca from the many other Pagan religions, and he defers to Ronald Hutton on many matters of documentable history. There is a great deal of information about energy work that can be useful - particularly to folks who may not perceive energy in the visual ways most commonly referred to.

On the other hand, Kerr also exaggerates situations and paraphrases portions of his source material to make them fit his personal ideals (something he criticizes in both of his books), a number of elements are not identified as opinions of the author but are instead inaccurately presented as general views of Wicca, and several elements that do derive from Traditional Wicca are changed, but the changed form is presented as the Traditional form without any note of how or why they have been changed.

There is much here that may make this worth purchasing... but brush up on your critical reading skills beforehand, and follow up with some of the source works noted in the footnotes and bibliography.

Rating:
Summary: The Way of the Wiccan Warrior
Review: Our own "Wiccan Warrior" presents us with a book on working with energy and the elements in his own style of everyday language and well thought out examples.

The book is broken down into sections dealing with the elements and spirit. Starting with spirit, the book explores each of these elements in relation to the warrior aspect and interaction with the Wiccan path. The Wiccan Rede, the Witch's Pyramid, three-fold law and all the aspects of each are carefully explained, discussed and taken in context of being a warrior. Reading and living the precepts as laid out in this book will place you on the path of the warrior and enable you to work with the energies associated with this aspect of Wicca.

I found Kerr Cuhulain's Warrior Precepts to be a wonderful basis for this book. Adapted from various writers, philosophers and common sense, these are what constitute the ground work for being a warrior. These are excellent words to live by. Add to it Kerr Cuhulain's special ability to explain them all with practical examples and you have a great beginners book that will also speak to those who have been on this path for a while.

Kerr Cuhulain discusses tools, ritual, rites, the elements, working with energy, self discipline, martial arts, the seasons and so much more. There is a glossary of terms in the back of the book as well as an interesting bibliography and an index.

For those who are considering the path of the warrior, for those who are struggling along their chosen path already or those curious as to how Wicca and the warriors path can be melded into a singular path, or those who are just curious about energy workings, this book can explain much of what you are looking to explore. This is a great beginner's book as well as a book that those who have been on their path for a while may want to read.

Rating:
Summary: The Way of the Wiccan Warrior
Review: Our own "Wiccan Warrior" presents us with a book on working with energy and the elements in his own style of everyday language and well thought out examples.
The book is broken down into sections dealing with the elements and spirit.  Starting with spirit, the book explores each of these elements in relation to the warrior aspect and interaction with the Wiccan path.  The Wiccan Rede, the Witch's Pyramid, three-fold law and all the aspects of each are carefully explained, discussed and taken in context of being a warrior.  Reading and living the precepts as laid out in this book will place you on the path of the warrior and enable you to work with the energies associated with this aspect of Wicca.
I found Kerr Cuhulain's Warrior Precepts to be a wonderful basis for this book.  Adapted from various writers, philosophers and common sense, these are what constitute the ground work for being a warrior.  These are excellent words to live by.  Add to it Kerr Cuhulain's special ability to explain them all with practical examples and you have a great beginners book that will also speak to those who have been on this path for a while.
Kerr Cuhulain discusses tools, ritual, rites, the elements, working with energy, self discipline, martial arts, the seasons and so much more.  There is a glossary of terms in the back of the book as well as an interesting bibliography and an index. 
For those who are considering the path of the warrior, for those who are struggling along their chosen path already or those curious as to how Wicca and the warriors path can be melded into a singular path, or those who are just curious about energy workings, this book can explain much of what you are looking to explore.  This is a great beginner's book as well as a book that those who have been on their path for a while may want to read.