Product Description

A valuable & enjoyable contribution to contemporary Wicca. There is no title for this system since the author was taught before the current revival groups formed. Rhiannon provides us with a direct path back to the Old Religion in the British Isles and the west country in particular. 104 pages. 15 illustrations.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1634186 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 100 pages

Review
Her writing is like the conversation of an old family friend, her voice as warm and familiar as that of a dear relative. This is how it was, she tells us. This is the way I remember it. Both the content of what she remembers, and the form in which she tells us, are straightforward, homespun, and thoroughly unaffected. This is a real gem--it is the best book on witchcraft I have ever seen! -- Marion Weinstein

Customer Reviews

A fine work of Fiction
There is not a shred of historical authenticity to this book. The well-known bits and pieces of folklore in the book from the West Country that ARE authentic have nothing to do with any secret "witch" religion. I think that Rhiannon Ryall probably tossed them in to make the other information (that she clearly fabricated) seem more legitimate.

Her "old craft" invocations and ceremonies are extremely new-agey, cheesy, pink and fluffy. This is not from the Old West Country. Bad rhymes, lack of meter or structure, the same old tired "secrecy" oaths and ludicrous claims of a very large and organized underground craft-religion in England, and the OBVIOUS Gardnerian loan material all make this one of the least serious books I've ever seen on the craft.

Without a doubt, some of the recipes and such may be real, but old wives' recipes from Somerset and Devon are not a "secret witchcraft" that we need yet ANOTHER book about, making silly authenticity claims, to give itself a validity and marketability that it does not deserve.

I belong to a Traditional West Country Crafter group. I can promise you that not a single word of this so-called "pre-gardnerian" tradition that Ms. Ryall claims she was taught is from anywhere else but the West Country in her own imagination.

Welsh Witch
I am of Welsh descent and have been a practicing witch since I was 10 years old,I will be 48 next month!Believe me when I say this lady knows what she is talking about!This is a must have book for anyone who is interested "The Craft",adepts as well as beginners.It is so refreshing to know that there are a few of us that still retain the knowledge of the old ways!There are so many variations and corruptions going on that this is the one true book that I have ever read on the subject.Rhiannon puts it simply and frankly just as it should be told and taught.It is a natural thing,and it is also simple."The Craft" is not a stage show.There is no reason to make it all complicated and formal, as if one where acting out a play rather than a way of life!This is the the way of the Cymry or so I was taught.Hazzah!Rhiannon!

Maybe it's accurate, maybe not....
I don't really care if the things in Rhiannon Ryall's book are accurate, or if they're not. All I know is I enjoyed the book and got quite a bit out of it. I'm now in the middle of my second reading of the book and it is a real pleasure. Her writing style has been criticized by some reviewers but, frankly,
it's quite pleasing and relaxed. It's the writing style of someone who is more comfortable talking to people than writing to them. If you wish to make comparisons, you might say the style of Wicca she describes in comparison to modern day, over
elaborate Wicca, is the same as the difference between an old fashioned country Baptist church and the over elaborate Catholic church. In religions of all types there is the simple, direct communion with your god contrasting with the overbearing pomp and flash who's main objective is to be seen and heard by others. I'll take the simple and direct every time. I like "West Country Wicca". It's a good book and a worthwhile read, no matter which direction your path takes.