When I first heard of this book, I muttered, "Do we really need another Paganism 101 book?"
After reading it, I have to say, "Hell, yes, we needed another one."
The concept behind the book is to have a 101 different pagans get together and write about paganism. Think of it as a big circle where various voices of the paganism came together to give a newcomer a broad overview of how varied the community really is. You may not agree with all the voices, but you have to remember that they are out there in the community.
The book is divided into three sections with multiple topics in each one. Twenty topics all together. Each topic has five writers committing on it. Plus there is an introduction...which is how the 101st pagan comes into the picture.
The first section is Who we are--Druid, Heathen, Witch, Wiccan, Shaman, Christo-Pagan, Goddess Follower, Eclectic Witch.
The second section is What we believe--Deities, Nature, Ethics, Afterlife, Ancestors, Past & Present.
The third section is What we do--Ritual, Magic, Prayer & Meditation, Healing, Herbalism, Celebrant Work.
No, I do not agree with everything said, but I do find it marvelous that we have such diverse set of voices in the community.
I highly recommend this book to both newcomers and to those who have been around the pagan block countless times. This is a wonderful book that I am going to end up re-reading several times, if only to remind myself how interesting our community actually is.
Five stars out of five.
[Disclosure: I received a pre-publication electronic copy of this book for review purposes.]
Tuesday, January 28, 2014
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Limited editions have to be limited
The other day, I was reading the comments on a Facebook announcement about a new limited edition book. (Yes, a Nick Farrell limited edition book.) And one of the commenters said that perhaps in the future that the author would consider reissuing the material in another edition or perhaps even in ebook form. At this point, I must admit that I sadly shook my head because I realized that the commenter was overlooking a basic fact about the limited edition book market.
If "limited edition" is being used as a sales tactic, then the edition truly has to be limited.
Limited edition sales tactics depend upon just a handful of things to quickly and completely sell out their print run--a very limited number of copies, the author's authority, the rarity of the information, and keeping one's word about the number of copies that are going to be issued.
Limited edition sales tactics also can benefit from deluxe editions (fine leather covers, signed and numbered copies), but for the most part, it is the rarity of the limited copies that drive the success of the sales tactic.
The things that can hurt the success of a limited edition include poor information and burning your previous customers (there are some publishers that I will never buy a limited edition from ever again, simply because they seem to think slapping the words "limited edition" on poorly written and formatted crap ensures a steady income). Poor economic times can also hurt the success of a limited edition (heavens knows that I currently can't afford to buy any books--limited edition or not).
But the number one thing that can hurt the success of a limited edition is for the customers to believe that you are going to print more copies in the future. (I am not talking deluxe editions here, which go hand in hand with a regular edition--deluxe editions are brought often simply because they are a luxury or better printed than the regular version--no, I am talking about true limited "only X number of copies will be printed" editions here.) If the customer believes that you are going to later republish, either with more copies, or in a cheaper form, the urgency for them to quickly buy a copy fades.
And if the customer has been burned before by an author or publisher deciding to print more copies than they originally promised to, good luck at selling them anything that you chose to label limited edition.
It is the rarity that drives the sales of limited editions. Period. End of sentence.
Now, rarity is not affected by some things. For instance, piracy does not affect limited editions. (Or at least, no one has ever showed me credible research to prove that piracy affects limited edition book sales.) The initial rarity of a limited edition is not affected by piracy because there is no promise that a book is going to be scanned and uploaded to the pirate sites. And piracy (if it actually occurs) does not affect the long term value of a limited edition either, for the physical copy is actually king when it comes to the second hand and collectable market.
(For those who are curious, I used to be in the collectable market at one point both as a seller and a collector. The rules have not changed, despite the presence of ebooks and pirate sites, as a quick hunt on eBay shows.)
So the poor soul--and by "poor," I mean that their budget is like mine, without any room for luxuries--asking if someday the author might change their mind and print more copies, is barking up the wrong tree. No working writer with knowledge of the publishing field would dare break their word about the number of copies that they were going to print, especially in a niche market such as Golden Dawn (which has a couple thousand members who all know one another). Any author daring to break their word would rapidly destroy their ability to quickly move copies of any future limited edition. And no intelligent or hungry writer would want to do that injustice to their own writing career.
If "limited edition" is being used as a sales tactic, then the edition truly has to be limited.
Limited edition sales tactics depend upon just a handful of things to quickly and completely sell out their print run--a very limited number of copies, the author's authority, the rarity of the information, and keeping one's word about the number of copies that are going to be issued.
Limited edition sales tactics also can benefit from deluxe editions (fine leather covers, signed and numbered copies), but for the most part, it is the rarity of the limited copies that drive the success of the sales tactic.
The things that can hurt the success of a limited edition include poor information and burning your previous customers (there are some publishers that I will never buy a limited edition from ever again, simply because they seem to think slapping the words "limited edition" on poorly written and formatted crap ensures a steady income). Poor economic times can also hurt the success of a limited edition (heavens knows that I currently can't afford to buy any books--limited edition or not).
But the number one thing that can hurt the success of a limited edition is for the customers to believe that you are going to print more copies in the future. (I am not talking deluxe editions here, which go hand in hand with a regular edition--deluxe editions are brought often simply because they are a luxury or better printed than the regular version--no, I am talking about true limited "only X number of copies will be printed" editions here.) If the customer believes that you are going to later republish, either with more copies, or in a cheaper form, the urgency for them to quickly buy a copy fades.
And if the customer has been burned before by an author or publisher deciding to print more copies than they originally promised to, good luck at selling them anything that you chose to label limited edition.
It is the rarity that drives the sales of limited editions. Period. End of sentence.
Now, rarity is not affected by some things. For instance, piracy does not affect limited editions. (Or at least, no one has ever showed me credible research to prove that piracy affects limited edition book sales.) The initial rarity of a limited edition is not affected by piracy because there is no promise that a book is going to be scanned and uploaded to the pirate sites. And piracy (if it actually occurs) does not affect the long term value of a limited edition either, for the physical copy is actually king when it comes to the second hand and collectable market.
(For those who are curious, I used to be in the collectable market at one point both as a seller and a collector. The rules have not changed, despite the presence of ebooks and pirate sites, as a quick hunt on eBay shows.)
So the poor soul--and by "poor," I mean that their budget is like mine, without any room for luxuries--asking if someday the author might change their mind and print more copies, is barking up the wrong tree. No working writer with knowledge of the publishing field would dare break their word about the number of copies that they were going to print, especially in a niche market such as Golden Dawn (which has a couple thousand members who all know one another). Any author daring to break their word would rapidly destroy their ability to quickly move copies of any future limited edition. And no intelligent or hungry writer would want to do that injustice to their own writing career.
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
A prayer for the asylum seekers down under
 |
| To magically affect the conditions in Australia. |
 |
| Night time satelite view of Australia. |
 |
| Australia--the land down under. |
Tuesday, December 24, 2013
The real problem with Christmas
 |
| Spock discovers the real problem with celebrating Christmas. |
Sunday, December 22, 2013
How to start a GD argument
 |
| On this week's episode of Star Wrecked--the Next Face Palm. |
3: "I am not even a Neophyte, and I know more about Golden Dawn than the rest of you do."
4: "All Golden Dawn writers, except ABC, write books about the Golden Dawn only to make large bags of money and/or destroy all other GD Orders except their own XYZ Order."
5: "The only real genius/magician in Golden Dawn was member ABC."
6: "Adepts should act only in the following manner..."
7: "Members of XYZ Order are abandoning ship because the actions of ABC."
8: "Unicorns and glitter are the future of Golden Dawn."
9: "The form of alchemy that Golden Dawn taught was..."
10: "The Secret Chiefs are/were real, and this is the form that they take/took, and this is the esoteric Order that they currently/previously guided."
11: "The Order of the Golden Dawn never closed its doors. Member ABC became its leader, and only Order XYZ is its only legitimate descendant."
12. "The proper work of the Second and Third Orders of Golden Dawn is as follows..."
13: "All Golden Dawn Orders, except XYZ, are money making scams."
14: "I have decided to change ritual QRS."
15: "All members of Order XYZ are involved in big-ass-impossible conspiracy against ABC and/are Neo-Nazis."
16: "The only part of Golden Dawn that matters is..."
17: "The only way to properly initiate a member of the Order is..."
18: "Bleep. Peace. Harmony. Victory. Bleep."
Saturday, December 21, 2013
Lux e Tenebris
[Welcome to the last Tarot Blog Hop of 2013. The theme of this Tarot Blog Hop is "Turning Darkness into Light." The following is an excerpt of a poem that I started to work on when I saw the topic...it has fifty-six more stanzas.]
Lux e Tenebris
Light from darkness
Seventy-eight steps
A compass on the path
Crazy young fool
Smell the roses
Tame the wolf
Beware the thorn-ed abyss
Magician of the spheres
Gild yourself with power
Channel the gods
Balance the elements
Priestess of the Silver Star
Bearer of the holy chalice
Sacred scroll of the law
Embrace ebb and flow
Daughter of the Mighty Ones
Descending dove
Pregnant with potential
Best curse is mercy
Chief among the Kings
Gaze upon your domain
Beware of upstart goats
Re-invent your power
Expounder of tradition
Long unending scroll
Cryptic runes and starry letters
East looks upon the West
Twin souls of Metatron
Dreamers of the illusion
Hero is the prisoner
The prisoner is the monster
Juggernaut triumphant
Bellowing cloud of dust
Clamor of beaten swords
Keep sight of the center
Daughter of the Flaming Sword
Mankind is the beast
Red omens signal redemption
Mind, rose, blood, storm
Lonely prophet of the Gods
Circle of light illuminates
Emptiness all around
The oasis far away beckons
Spinning forces of life
Monkey silent as a squirrel
Goal and beginning far apart
Ouroboros dancing between
Holder of the scales of Maat
Large feather, large pans,
Swift sword, fox eyes
Forty-two principles to guide
Sacrificed eye of Odin
Hidden in the dark
Rippling depths revealed
Whole world upside down
Lord of the Gates of Death
Hades' seed and harvest
Both elite and the oppressed
Underworld claims all
Daughter of the Reconcilers
Blazing fire and icy water
Stand in the place between
Life, creation, and magic arise
Lord of the Gates of Matter
Master of the horned ones
Absolute necessary evil
Prisoner holds the key
Shattered tower of the Mighty
Blazing flash of light
Nature's gravity captures
We are all in free fall
Daughter of the Firmament
So above, so below
Dust of stars animate
Small doses fortify
Ruler of ebb and flow
All started out wild
Howling, clawing, biting
Tetragrammaton is the tamer
Blazing spirit of the crucible
Arcs of influence descend
Dark wings, horned skull
Children know the maze
Spirit of the Primal Fire
Spirits cross the Bifrost
Trumpeter of the end
Rebirth comes from the ashes
Great One of the Night of Time
Four celestial watchers
Magic from Arabic image
The wands merely point
A compass on the path
Seventy-eight steps
Light from darkness
Lux e Tenebris
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Pagan Portals--Runes by Kylie Holmes (Book Review)
There is an old saying that there is only one book about the Tarot and that each writer only publishes a few pages from it. I feel the same way about books written about the Elder Futhark--the so-called Norse runes. (Actually, the runes used by the Vikings were the abbreviated sixteen rune--Younger Futhark.) And just like one encounters the same information over and over again in Tarot books (or for that matter, books about the Golden Dawn), one reads the same material over and over again in books about the runes. Therefore, when one reviews a book on one of these subjects, one tends to only focus on the few pages of unique material that the writer includes (because the base-line is almost always the same--as in if you have read one book on the subject, you have read them all).
Pagan Portals--Runes by Kylie Holmes is your typical book on runes--containing historical information on the runes, runic divinatory spreads, how to make your own rune set, basic meanings of the runes, and suggestions of how to use the runes in magic.
So ignoring the standard stuff that finds its way into every book on the runes, what sticks out?
The book is written in a conversational tone, which is common with all the books that I have read so far from this particular publisher--Moon Books. I will admit that I spent too much time in academia to be completely comfortable with the style when it comes to regular books, despite the fact that I spend a lot of my time in the blogosphere (both as a reader and a lunatic with a soapbox). Think of the style as a conversation or a letter to a friend--some people will like the tone; others won't.
In the historical section, the author includes a diagram that shows the graphic difference between the Long Branch (Danish) and Short Twig (Swedish-Norwegian) Younger Futhark runes. That is a plus. And she mentions a few historical figures who studied and kept the lore of the runes alive--figures in rune history that I was not aware of. That is also a plus.
But she also mentions the myth of Odin as if it is historical and not mythical--which touches upon a bugbear that I wish authors would not do, and that is the mixing of mythology with historical fact. And in the section where she talks about the basic meanings of the runes, she mentions on more than one occasion what the Norse ("our ancestors") believed about the runes...without ever stating her source. I suspect that her source is intuition and not a document (because I have never heard of a document covering this information--the field of runelogy is made up of best guesses)--if it is an actual document, I wish that she would have came out and cited it by name and number. The fact that I think that she is playing fast and mixing her opinions with the historical facts is a negative. (Remember that I suffered though a Bachelors in both literature and history--it tends to make me frown at the mixing of personal belief and historical facts without the writer coming straight out and stating which is which.)
Holmes also includes the Anglo-Saxon, Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems (both in their original language and their English translation) in the historical section (this is important and/or nice if you are just want to read a single book on the runes, and not have to collect rune books like I do). And I will admit that she is the first writer on the subject of runes that I can remember coming out and stating that we do not have a poem for the Elder Futhark itself (the aforementioned poems deal with the Anglo-Saxon and Younger Futharks.
Overall, if you are after one book on the subject of the runes, this book is a four out of five stars. If you are like me and own two boxes of books on the subject, it will depend upon on how important the unique bits are in filling holes in your knowledge base.
[This review was based on a pre-publication e-file copy given to me by the publisher for review purposes.]
Pagan Portals--Runes by Kylie Holmes is your typical book on runes--containing historical information on the runes, runic divinatory spreads, how to make your own rune set, basic meanings of the runes, and suggestions of how to use the runes in magic.
So ignoring the standard stuff that finds its way into every book on the runes, what sticks out?
The book is written in a conversational tone, which is common with all the books that I have read so far from this particular publisher--Moon Books. I will admit that I spent too much time in academia to be completely comfortable with the style when it comes to regular books, despite the fact that I spend a lot of my time in the blogosphere (both as a reader and a lunatic with a soapbox). Think of the style as a conversation or a letter to a friend--some people will like the tone; others won't.
In the historical section, the author includes a diagram that shows the graphic difference between the Long Branch (Danish) and Short Twig (Swedish-Norwegian) Younger Futhark runes. That is a plus. And she mentions a few historical figures who studied and kept the lore of the runes alive--figures in rune history that I was not aware of. That is also a plus.
But she also mentions the myth of Odin as if it is historical and not mythical--which touches upon a bugbear that I wish authors would not do, and that is the mixing of mythology with historical fact. And in the section where she talks about the basic meanings of the runes, she mentions on more than one occasion what the Norse ("our ancestors") believed about the runes...without ever stating her source. I suspect that her source is intuition and not a document (because I have never heard of a document covering this information--the field of runelogy is made up of best guesses)--if it is an actual document, I wish that she would have came out and cited it by name and number. The fact that I think that she is playing fast and mixing her opinions with the historical facts is a negative. (Remember that I suffered though a Bachelors in both literature and history--it tends to make me frown at the mixing of personal belief and historical facts without the writer coming straight out and stating which is which.)
Holmes also includes the Anglo-Saxon, Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems (both in their original language and their English translation) in the historical section (this is important and/or nice if you are just want to read a single book on the runes, and not have to collect rune books like I do). And I will admit that she is the first writer on the subject of runes that I can remember coming out and stating that we do not have a poem for the Elder Futhark itself (the aforementioned poems deal with the Anglo-Saxon and Younger Futharks.
Overall, if you are after one book on the subject of the runes, this book is a four out of five stars. If you are like me and own two boxes of books on the subject, it will depend upon on how important the unique bits are in filling holes in your knowledge base.
[This review was based on a pre-publication e-file copy given to me by the publisher for review purposes.]
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