Penny Billington

This is a critically acclaimed book among Druidry circles. I can see why, in some ways, and I think for many people it is a useful book to promote deep and engaged study. I think it raises some interesting points, gave me some things to put down in my workbook, and its explanation of Celtic myths, along with their useful breakdowns, is very valuable.
My major critique re: this book, is as a disabled person from Australia:

Like many (most) Druidic material, it suffers from forgetting that disabled people, and people with chronic illnesses exist in the world, and that many of them - indeed so many there's a Serious Ilnesses OBOD group online - cannot do daily walks, and daily praxis, in the way that Billington INSISTS you do. There is absolutely no sense of forgiveness towards frail or sick bodies, there's not even an awareness they exist.

I - like many tens of thousands of other pagans - am too sick for daily praxis in the way advised in this book. I've noticed Druidry, more than other pagan groups, seems to forget disabled people exist. If you are a sick person, you may find yourself excluded in this book. Of course you can pick and choose whatever is useful to you (though the book strongly recommends, repeatedly, against doing this).… (más)

The Keys to the Temple: Unlocking Dion Fortune’s Mystical Qabalah Through Her Occult Novels

The non-fiction works of Dion Fortune, occultist, writer, and one-time member of the Golden Dawn, have mystified, educated, and enthralled readers for many years. Her common sense and winning personality shines through the pages of her books and somehow makes readers feel she is speaking to them. Many of her readers no doubt wonder what her works of fiction are like and why she decided to write fiction at all. Was it just to entertain, or was it to further educate her readers via an alternate vehicle? Luckily for those who would like to answer these questions and do not have time or ability to analyze literature, Billington and Rees have done the work for them.

Both authors are well qualified to analyze Fortune’s works. Ms. Billington is a druid and a writer. Ian Rees is a psychotherapist, which comes in handy since Forture’s works so often harken back to the tenets of Jung and Freud.

The authors guide readers by discussing elements of Fortune’s life and non-fiction and then as they state: “Find their reflections in the stories.” In addition, they draw comparisons to how these same issues are reflected in the lives of Fortune’s readers.

It would be impossible for the authors to analyze every one of Fortune’s tenets and every one of her books in this one text. However, they do offer readers examples of how to read Fortune’s novels by supplying them with the basic knowledge needed and by modeling the procure so that readers can create their own knowledge. In addition, the authors include a bibliograpny and footnotes to scaffold the readers learning process.

This book meets a need that has been lurking in the shadows for many years. However, to take advantage of this learning process, readers must first read and study Fortune’s non-fiction writing so that they have a baseline of knowledge necessary to participate in the learning experience.

Rougeski Reads… (más)

This is a fantastic book full of information and lessons to help the reader understand Druidry from a daily and practical level. Its not designed to be read through like a novel - which is the way I read it. So, I will be spending a second time through, taking each of the chapters very slowly and handling each lesson as intended. This is a very well thought out and extremely well written book. If you're interested in Druidry from a practical application perspective - I would suggest to start here with Penny's book.… (más)