Tom Cowan (1)

I feel as though one needs to read this book with the thought “Not All Witches”.

This is my first rereading in almost thirty (!) years, as it’s just been recorded on audiobook which I checked out via Hoopla. I decided to listen nostalgically in order to remember a bit of my fourteen-year-old little weirdo self. I still have the book I picked up at Border’s in Ann Arbor (the bookmark is still in it) while visiting my aunt; I’m not sure if it would have been available in any of the bookstores in Meridian Mall near my home.

This was the first time I’d ever heard about the old goddess religions, and I remember that it fascinated me. Cabot really excels at giving an interesting history of things, but it gets a little harder when she describes her own witchcraft and seems to imply that it’s how all witches need to and do practice.

It was fun to reread this through audiobook, but I know it didn’t capture me the way it did so long ago. It’s kind of awesome that witches seem to now be everywhere (well at least online—I don’t really know any IRL), so Cabot kind of nailed that one in her “Witchcraft Tomorrow” chapter (not so much anywhere else except we do care more about the environment). I’d say check this out if you want to hear about witchcraft in 1989 as I think Laurie Cabot was the only witch in the US willing to be open and public, and that was super brave of her. I just don’t think that this is a good 101 resource anymore; there are many more out there.… (más)

On my shelf of shamanist titles, this one sits prominently figured. Cowan presents the traditional fantastic experiences of the shaman in an amazingly receivable framework. His experience of archetypes in well-known myths and legends opens one to the ability to read all things symbolically, thus, as the dynamic spiritual presences that they are. To that end I regard Cowan as a shapeshifter of symbols, not an interpreter of them. His telling of olde tales connects their spirit with a modern audience.

In this book his love and connection to the Celtic path is evident, though it is not necessarily rooted in what we know of Celtic history, itself. I feel it is important to make that distinction, as Cowan is cultivating the opening of the shamanic experience of metaphor in a Celtic context. He is not a Reconstructionist, thus this work offers, rather, an experiential opportunity in a Celtic framework.… (más)

An interesting, concise, and fairly accurate guide to shamanism as an ideal, independent of any cultural tradition. It defines what shamanism is, as distinct from other varieties of mystical/magical practice, discusses shamanism as it has been practiced, using mostly quotes from primary sources, and then shifts focus to modern shamanism as a form of alternative medicine.

Should be useful to anyone interested in modern shamanism; the emphasis on shamanism as basic principles and as pragmatic tool was very useful in world-building fantasy shamans, as well. However, take individual bits with a grain of salt; the book uses some dodgy sources, though the bibliographies are good.… (más)

I have mixed feelings about this book…on one hand I found it to be a very interesting read, Cabot is easy to read and her book is very accessible. She cites the same questionable history (and exorbitantly high death tolls) that a number of authors of beginner books seem to favor, though I suspect it’s more a product of when the book was written, than anything else. Few authors “today” cite these figures, and while she does admit that few, if any of the women who died were actually “witches” she does encourage today’s witches to claim this tragedy as their own. I also didn’t like the rabid way in which claims we all need to educate the public and to dress and act like witches…like we’re so different and special we shouldn’t ever appear as “normal” people.

Cabot loses additional credibility points from me for using the phrase “brain scientists…” I mean it just sounds, well, unprofessional of this high profile, professional witch. I also came to hate the phrase “because all witches know” and the other variations on this theme that are prevalent throughout this book. Don’t get me wrong, I think we’re wonderful, but I don’t embrace this way of thinking that says witches were and are the pinnacle of human development and we’ve “always” known the best and right ways to live, believe, and so on. It’s utter B.S. and no matter how interesting the material is, this grated on my nerves the entire time I read this book.

To me, her “science” seems solid, but I have to be honest, I don’t really know enough about physics to know if her extrapolations from the source data hold water. It SOUNDS good, but I’d have to do a lot more reading/research or asking questions of the right people to find out if what she says is true. I was intrigued by her crystal countdown…I’ve never seen this method before and would be curious if anyone has tried it or used it successfully.

Overall I liked the book, despite some of the more annoying things about it. I’ll have to do some follow up research and/or question asking though to see how much of her info really pans out based on her sources. I also would really have liked a bibliography at the end, rather than the few books she listed in the text, it’d be easier to be able to have them in one place, rather than having to scour the text if you want to look one of them up.… (más)