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Rating: 
Summary: Maybe inaccurate, but worthwhile
Review: A friend gave me this book and I'm glad she did. I don't know if the specifics are inaccurate or not (as other reviews have mentioned), and to be perfectly honest, I don't really care. For me, this book was a chance to look at masculine Divinity without instintively associating it with christianity. I was raised catholic and every time I saw the word "God", it brought to mind all of the negative things I associated with christianity (disregard of women, Spanish Inquisition, etc.). But this book finally allowed me to view christianity in the context of other spiritual paths and realize that it no longer has any power over me. It's simply a path that isn't right for me. In my opinion, this book is interesting, thought-provoking, and a good place to start becoming more familiar with the masculine Divine, despite any inaccuracies that exist. It can inspire you to delve deeper into the areas that interest you and hopefully discover your own truths.
Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring.....
Review: Although this book was inspiring, and opened me up to the various possibilities of the God in my personal magic and worship, I found a major flaw in this work. I have always thought that Wicca (as this book undoubtably is)'s only anomosity towards Christianity was claiming that it was "the one true and only right way". That its God was "the true God". And here is a clearly Wiccan author, speaking confidently about her God as "the true God". The Christian God, as is any other God, is only a single way to view the divine---certainly not a "false" image. I am a Wiccan, and I find her comments offensive. I am only surprised that more people haven't mentioned this in their reviews,
Rating:
Summary: Inspiring but choppy
Review: D.J. Conway has the best of intentions with this book. She does a wonderful job of clearing up misconceptions about the God, and writes in an inspiring and beautiful manner about the various archetypes she explores. Also included are meditations for further exploration of the God archetypes.The only downfall of this book is that she tries to encompass more Gods than can be adequately dealt with in a book of this size. Once she gets past the initial explanation of an archetype, she dives into brief "capsule biographies" of the gods which embody that archetype, skimming through each god in a few sentences. The mythology is choppy, and there are a few minor factual errors. However, this probably isn't Conway's fault; there are just too many Gods to fit into a book of this size. Nevertheless, it inspired me to learn more. Use this book as a first step into pagan God spirituality, then go out and delve deeper. Addendum: Upon rereading this book, I came to a conclusion: It would have been much better if it had been presented in an encyclopedic format, like Monaghan's _Goddesses and Heroines_. It comes across as choppy because Conway segues from one god to the next without any real transition; in an encyclopedic format that wouldn't be a problem. She does include a brief compendium in the back of _Lord of Light and Shadow_, and an expanded version of that would have made a better book.
Rating: 
Summary: Horrible!
Review: I bought this because I was so glad to finally see a book about the God, but this book is a farce. Wicca is a religion that says, "All gods are one god," etc. and we are supposed to be supportive of other people's religions. So what right does Conway have to bash the Christian god and say that he is not real??? She says her book is about "the true god." Isn't that what the Christians say, that theirs is the only true god? How is what Conway says any different, and yet she bashes the Christians! I am glad to see this book out of print and hope it stays that way. Janet and Stewart Farrar's book The Witches' God is so much better.
Rating: 
Summary: D.J. Conway does it again!
Review: I have two books by this author, the other being "By Oak, Ash, & Thorn," and I must say, I found both of these books to be quite thorough and extremely accurate. "Lord of Light & Shadow" is a must-read for those Pagans who have long shied away from the male aspect of the Old Religion. You will be delightfully surprised...I know I was.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm my own Grandpa
Review: I, too, was very excited to see this book title. There is indeed a dearth of good pagan books about the god aspect. Hopefully, this is something that will change in the future. I totally agree that we are in desperate need of books on the masculine divine. That does not mean we should just meekly accept whatever dross is shoved our way with the title "Men's spirituality" stamped on it. I don't know if choppy quite covers some of Conway's scholarship in this book. I was frankly surprised as I have read other books by DJ Conway that are positively excellent. I hope this is the exception to her work. A few of the problems I encountered were the following: poor scholarship of pantheons, the throwing in of various deities at the end of chapters with the acknowledgement of a sentence and the reference to some gods as "evil." As to the poor scholarship of various pantheons, let us look at page 49 where she is discussing Middle Eastern pantheons. I would like to note here that Sinn/Nanna or Nannar is the Mesopotamian God of the Moon. Sinn is Assyro-Babylonian and Nanna or Nannar is Sumerian. Inanna/Ishtar is the Mesopotamian Goddess of the Morning and Evening Star(Venus). She is also a Goddess of fertility and sex. Inanna is Sumerian and Ishtar is Assyro-Babylonian. Finally Shamash is the Mesopotamian Sun God. Shamash is Assyro-Babylonian. His Sumerian counterpart is Utu. Okay then let's look at page 49: "Sinn...said to have been born to Inanna or Nanna, Queen of Heaven.[how can Sinn be born to his Sumerian self(Nanna)???]Sinn was the father of the Sun God Shamash and the Goddess Ishtar.[How can he be the father of his own mother???]" This sort of sloppy scholarship is found throughout the book. It was very frustrating and really annoyed me the more I read. I gave this book two stars because it is about the Masculine Face of God which is a subject much neglected in modern paganism. Hopefully, we will someday have a better selection of books.
Rating:
Summary: God/Goddess- balanced and blended in Man and Universe
Review: This is not a trivial, "new age", potboiler- it is a book of deep spirituality. Conway has succeeded in showing the proper, traditional interrelation of Goddess and God. Of course, she also points out the patriarchal distortion of the male and female roles in the mainstream Western religions, which no doubt explains the attacks she has drawn from both Fundamentalists and academics that reject the whole matriarchal/patriarchal approach to history. It should be noted that Joseph Campbell raised the same points about western distortion and imbalance in religion. I cannot think of a better book for focusing on the natural balance of male-female energies in the universe. Conway shows that the true, original God was a complex deity, as opposed to the sterile, one-sided, authoritarian idol that was erected in his place. The original God is examined in all of his aspects: divine child, lover and consort, lord of creation, lord of the forest, hero and warrior, trickster, judge, lord of the waters, etc. The examination of his role as sacrificed savior (long before Christianity) is especially interesting. It is enlightening to find that the concept of double birth is symbolized in Dionysus. He who seeks and finds a true spiritual path is granted a second birth- or is "born again." These are not separate, distinct, non-overlapping aspects of different "gods", but are all aspects of the one. Indeed, it is shown that even in individual human beings, not only do we all contain these various aspects, but we also contain all the various aspects of God AND Goddess, for each person is fundamentally both male and female to some extent. As for accusations of errors in the supplemental appendix', anyone can use a bad source now and then. Agrippa's three books are full of such errors, yet no one dismisses them. Just take a look at the excellent and extensive bibliography- Conway is a true scholar of understanding and depth.
Rating:
Summary: God/Goddess- balanced and blended in Man and Universe
Review: This is not a trivial, "new age", potboiler- it is a book of deep spirituality. Conway has succeeded in showing the proper, traditional interrelation of Goddess and God. Of course, she also points out the patriarchal distortion of the male and female roles in the mainstream Western religions, which no doubt explains the attacks she has drawn from both Fundamentalists and academics that reject the whole matriarchal/patriarchal approach to history. It should be noted that Joseph Campbell raised the same points about western distortion and imbalance in religion. I cannot think of a better book for focusing on the natural balance of male-female energies in the universe. Conway shows that the true, original God was a complex deity, as opposed to the sterile, one-sided, authoritarian idol that was erected in his place. The original God is examined in all of his aspects: divine child, lover and consort, lord of creation, lord of the forest, hero and warrior, trickster, judge, lord of the waters, etc. The examination of his role as sacrificed savior (long before Christianity) is especially interesting. It is enlightening to find that the concept of double birth is symbolized in Dionysus. He who seeks and finds a true spiritual path is granted a second birth- or is "born again." These are not separate, distinct, non-overlapping aspects of different "gods", but are all aspects of the one. Indeed, it is shown that even in individual human beings, not only do we all contain these various aspects, but we also contain all the various aspects of God AND Goddess, for each person is fundamentally both male and female to some extent. As for accusations of errors in the supplemental appendix', anyone can use a bad source now and then. Agrippa's three books are full of such errors, yet no one dismisses them. Just take a look at the excellent and extensive bibliography- Conway is a true scholar of understanding and depth.
Rating:
Summary: Male path
Review: When I saw this book title I kind could not believe. We're always reading about the path, female witches, the Goddess, and it's hard to find some information about the God and "male Witchcraft". Some books and people do not recognize God's value and importance... D.J.Conway's LORD OF LIGH AND SHADOW give us a lot of legends, histories and Story about Goddess' son and lover, and make us see a side of the Craft that have been denied: male's. Both man and woman are extremly important in Witch's cult...their rites and their "ways" could be (and are) diferent, but if we do not see that the Masculine is as sacred as the Feminine, we'll never be able to understand the paganism. LORD OF LIGH AND SHADOWS can help both men and women that are searching for information and culture, and give male witches the support that have being missed in pagan literature.
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