a note in leaving for work...

[azurelunatic]

At least one of Scott Cunningham's teas for psychic ability does not mix well with alcohol. When meditating, you go right under ... and stay rather far in, even after going to sleep briefly. Takes at least 3 hours to clear out your mind.

Comments

[mojo-iv.livejournal.com]

When I was a practicing Wiccan, other pagans used to make fun of Cunningham, calling his books "Dick and Jane discover Witchcraft", etc.
Yet, every other book on Paganism and witchcraft I read really didn't give me much more information than his books, even though the "O.G." pagans spoke so highly of them.

--m4

[azurelunatic]

OK, just gotta ask -- what's an "O.G." pagan anyway? Never run across the term before.

Cunningham came highly recommended to me -- in fact, before I knew what I was doing was technically witchcraft, one of my longtime friends handed me his Wicca: A Guide for the Solitary Practitioner without any sort of comment or explanation. It provided a better, more readable outline of the way things worked than any of the flashier, more popularized manuals I've seen since.

Some of the people I know do sneer at the books that have every single simple step spelled out explicitly -- and I remind them that less than a year ago, I needed things explained to me that way, because I just didn't know, the same way I have to spell everything out when it comes to computers -- and then they shut up fast. It's amusing.

[iroshi.livejournal.com]

Cunningham's books are excellent for what they are, which is basically magical recipe books. They're lousy on philosophy, ethics, and a good grounding in the religion itself. They're fabulous as reference works to have on your shelf if you happen to be of the same Path and/or Religion that Cunningham is. (I'm neither, actually, but I have several of his books because quite a bit of the information is adaptable to other Paths.)

I treat them like I do my herbals -- I don't take any of them as "gospel", and I read through all of them before deciding on my own path.

And it's really a good idea to not mix alcohol with any medications, be they herbal or synthetic, whether intended for healing or trancing. Combining drugs (which herbs and alcohol both are) can quite frequently lead to effects you did not intend.

Ro

Mixing drugs

[azurelunatic]

Yeah... I seem to have discovered this. I *asked* the person who mixed the stuff how they would interact, and she said it ought to be fine.

"Fine", yes. "Intended effects", no.

I guess I got most of my ethical groundwork from Mercedes Lackey's fantasy novels.

[little-one-meg.livejournal.com]

What are your favorite resources for philosophy, ethics, and a basis of the religion if you don't like Cunningham? Titles and authors would be a great help....makes my poking through used bookstores more efficient.