Wiccan mysteries are like advertising: they’re so ubiquitous as to be invisible. Or, as said by Raven Grimassi: “The function of the Mythos within Witchcraft is to reconcile what the conscious mind cannot accept with what the subconscious mind cannot ignore.” Grimassi makes an honest attempt to explore the spiritual and mythical reality the average Wiccan filters unless clubbed with the great Cosmic Two by Four.
Initial chapters read almost as incoherently as some of Gerald Gardner’s nonfiction, in part because of an attempt to draw parallels between Aegean/Mediterranean and Celtic myths. Grimassi, however, does redeem his writing skills when his chapters become organized discussions on modern magical topics. Particularly intriguing are his theories on divinity forms. He brings up the concept of a Triangle of Manifestation, followed by how he perceives the divine to mingle with human consciousness. He also offers one of the more intelligent and less gender-burdened explanations of how male and female energy differs and operates within every human being.
Grimassi’s clambering all over the writing walls trying to make connections between divinities of two completely different cultures is forgivable when he moves on to new topics. The merit of his work is that he brings his audience’s attention to classic Theogeny by Hesiod, and that he dares to discuss some of the hidden mechanics of magical practice. Grimassi is certainly versed in the scholarship of Karl Jung and Joseph Campbell, but what he has to offer as a scholar comes from a subject not discussed intelligently or enough in Wiccan writing: magic, its mechanics and its execution. There are other authors for the mythical connection, but not nearly enough for the magical connection in Wicca.
~ review by Diana Rajchel
by Raven Grimassi
Llewellyn Publications, 2004.
pp. 267, $14.95
