Ann Moura

Table of Contents:

Witchcraft - Reviewed by Mike Gleason
Origins of Modern Witchcraft - Reviewed by Mike Gleason
Grimoire for the Green Witch - Reviewed by Mike Gleason

Title:	Witchcraft
Sub-title:	An Alternative Path
Author:	Ann Moura
Publisher:	Llewllyn Worldwide
ISBN:	0-7387-0343-5
Pages:	213 pages + Appendices, Bibliography and Index
Copyright:	2003
Reviewer:	Mike Gleason
Contact Information:	gleason.mike@verizon.net
Category:	Witchcraft, Wicca
Review:	I’m not sure that Ms. Moura’s perceptions of "Perfect Love and Perfect Trust" would be shared by many Wiccans today. On the other hand, I’m sure that there are many Wiccans who would not share my perceptions, either. Different people have different understandings and all that can be fairly said, in my opinion, is that someone doesn’t agree with a particular point of view. Her perceptions of the experiences between incarnations are very different from my own, and have caused me to devote some extra time to considering what I consider to be the reality of such time. I’m not sure what the results of that reconsideration will be at this time. One position of Ms. Moura’s that I have trouble reconciling with my, admittedly, very different training is that Dedication follows Initiation. Most of the traditions I have worked with see Dedication leading to Initiation. Ms. Moura comes from a tradition with which I am unfamiliar, but I do feel that she should have indicated that other traditions follow different sequences. Ms. Moura, like many authors, writes as if her particular tradition is the ultimate reality. That doesn’t make her writings wrong in any way. It simply makes them slanted, as are most authors. I tend to favor authors who remind their readers to trust their own judgment a bit more frequently than she does. A few of my own teachers have had slanted views, and one was honest enough to remind me that "No one person; no one book is the ultimate authority on any one subject." I’m not sure I agree with some of the procedures and correspondences she uses. For being a Celtic-Iberian individual with Brazilian ancestry, some of her statements seem very Northern European to me. And more than a few of them strike me as "pop witch" type (purifying a container with incense for thirteen minutes, for example). She frequently states "how" things should be, without making any effort to explain the "why". It is a lack I find particularly irritating. It isn’t until page 66 that she tells the reader to trust their intuition. In my opinion, this should have been stated much earlier, before she began describing color correspondences and ritual formats. The invocations and dismissals she uses are classic British Traditional Witch-style. I have heard them used in dozens of circles. The self-initiation she provides calls for the individual to take their measure at certain points on their body, but fails to explain the procedure. When explaining such an important procedure for people with no one to help them understand, one should be very clear on each step of that procedure. She makes the statement (on page 149) "you can only use the knife, not the wand, in the chalice during the Cakes and Wine ritual." While this may be true in her tradition, it does not necessarily hold true for all traditions. I know some groups who don’t permit blades during Handfasting rites, for example, who would use the wand at such a time. Perhaps a small qualifier would have been appropriate here (i.e., "In many traditions, you can only use the knife, not the wand, in the chalice during the Cakes and Wine ritual". When she addresses the symbolic meanings of things she does remember to point out that individual interpretations and experiences will vary, so it is good to trust your instincts in such matters. This book is not necessarily something I would recommend without reservations to a newbie. It is an excellent book, within certain parameters. It certainly would be useful for person beginning their journey into the religion of Witchcraft, so long as they have at least one, more experienced, individual to bounce ideas off of.
Review submitted:	17 March 2003

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Title:	Origins of Modern Witchcraft
Author:	Ann Moura
Publisher:	Llewllyn Worldwide
ISBN:	1-56718-648-3
Pages:	256 pages + Appendix, Glossary, Bibliography and Index
Copyright:	2000
Reviewer:	Mike Gleason
Contact Information:	gleason.mike@verizon.net
Category:	Witchcraft, Wicca
Review:	Dust off your history and anthropology texts before you start reading this book. The first chapter is devoted to the earliest civilizations known, and what many of us remember from school is seriously challenged. This is a book which will force you to look at things from a perspective which many of us do not find "normal." I’m sure that some people will be put off by the premise that the origins of Witchcraft can be traced back to the Indus valley. There has always been a Euro-centric bias in the Craft as it has been practiced in the last half-century or so. It takes a conscious effort to step outside of that box. This book is not going to be appealing to the large majority of the, for lack of a better term, "Buffy Witches." It assumes a level of intellectual honesty and open-mindedness which is, unfortunately, lacking in many of the current generation of Wiccans. It also assumes an ability to work through parts which are as stimulating as a sirocco. This is a book aimed at a relatively limited audience. I do not recommend it to newbies, but do most heartily recommend it to those Elders concerned with teaching the newbies. Many of the ideas need to be presented to the newcomers to chew on, but I fear the vast majority of them would become discouraged with it and put it aside long before finishing it. While I’m not sure that all the entomologies she puts forth hold true (that’s not a field I am overly familiar with), they nevertheless make for interesting speculation. Ms. Moura, at one point makes a convincing case regarding the "shock value" of mixed gender covens meeting in the nude, in the eyes of a population only slowly emerging from A Victorian way of thinking. She shows how it may have been an attempt to "demonize the stifling effects of the Victorian Age", even as it attempts to continue the male dominance which was, and still is, prevalent in Western society. Thus she makes a case doe the primacy and validity of solitary practice of the Old Religion. This book will undoubtedly upset some initiatory-based traditionalist. Ms. Moura is definitely a believer in, and advocate for, finding what works for the individual. She clearly states that, in her opinion, there is no need for an established priesthood, because of the innate equality of all people. Her explanation of Green Witchcraft is simply putting a different name to the phenomenon of eclectic Paganism. Whether or not you agree with her premises and/or conclusions; if you are open-minded and honest, you have to admire her approach to the history of the development of religion. I found this book to be one of the best I have read in a very long time. It was challenging to many concepts I thought I had given a lot of consideration to, as well as being intellectually challenging. Many of the books dealing with the development of the Craft ignore all the religious thought which must have preceded the emergence of the religion on the European continent. Obviously, mankind did not originate in medieval Europe, so there must have been other influences. Do not read this book if you are not willing to work at it. It is not an easy read. It IS, however, a stimulating, interesting way to expand your consideration of what Paganism and the Craft evolved from.
Review submitted:	30 March 2003

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Title:	Grimoire for the Green Witch
Author:	Ann Moura
Publisher:	Llewllyn Worldwide
ISBN:	0-7387-0287-03
Pages:	337 pages
Copyright:	2003
Reviewer:	Mike Gleason
Contact Information:	gleason.mike[@]verizon.net
Category:	Witchcraft, Wicca
Review:	The tradition of Green Witchcraft is one which has not received a lot of publicity until recently (the first appearance in print was 1996). It is, apparently, a family-based tradition. It is, in my opinion, simply a subset of the "tradition" known as Eclectic. Any deity names are acceptable and rituals may be composed or devised as needed/desired. This is not to downplay its validity (although Brazilian/Celtic-Iberian is a rather unusual combination). This book is intended to provide a foundation for individual practice. It contains many symbols and tables of correspondence. Each chapter has a blank page at the end for personal notes (if you are one of those folks who doesn't mind writing in books) as well as generous amounts of margin and blank space. There are plenty of recipes and basic rituals for the reader to start with. They are easily modifiable as you grow in experience. For those of you who have come, or are coming, to the Craft from Roman Catholicism, this book is designed to be used in a manner similar to the missal used by the Priest in saying Mass - you go through ahead of time and mark the pages you will need (with a bookmark or a ribbon), so you can flip back and forth as needed. There are assorted glossaries throughout the book, and Ms. Moura emphasizes "The Three Styles of Green Witchcraft": As Folk Art (as a part of a mainstream religion), as Personal Magic (religion plays no part), and as Religion (features a self-initiation as an introduction and a self-dedication as a complete union). While the glossaries are handy, the division of Green Witchcraft seems strange to me. Each Sabbat is treated in depth and includes suggestions for activities appropriate for each of them. She includes readings and recitations, some of which are fairly well known, and some of which are more obscure. This section (Chapter 5) is a welcome addition, as there are numerous references to many of them in other books, often without the actual reading being included. Chapter 6 gives sample rituals, including Initiation and Dedication, Handfasting and Handparting, Passing Over and Wiccaning among them. Each ritual also includes suggested appropriate times to be performed and appropriate offerings. Starting with Chapter 7, we begin to see tables of correspondence - Colors, Herbs, Trees, Incenses, etc. She gives basic instructions for constructing sigils, but an illustration of a finished sigil or two would have been helpful. Her instructions for determining the planetary hours include the important information that these "hours" are not necessarily 60 minutes long. They also include clear instructions for determining these hours. She includes page after page of basic spells, diagrams and symbols. As this was an uncorrected proof, I am hoping that some of the formatting may be "prettied up." Some of her interpretations are unusual, but since interpretations of any form of divination are highly individualistic, that is not unexpected.
Review submitted:	26 August 2003

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