Title: Spirited: Taking Paganism Beyond the Circle
Author: Gede Parma
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications
Reviewer: Adrenia
Rating: 8/10

Refreshingly real and practical, Spirited gets straight to the heart of Pagan living and Pagan spirituality today. Featuring real-life stories and first-hand experiences from the author and other young Pagans who’ve actually been there, this book gives you insight into the philosophy and spirituality of current Pagan rituals and practices. You’ll get crucial advice on Witchcraft, spellcraft ethics, modern magic spells, coven and solitary work, magic theory and practice, dealing with discrimination and negativity, and incorporating your spiritual beliefs into all the important areas of your life:

Love • Sexuality • Family
Friends • School • Work

The Review:

First Impressions:

My first impression on the book when I was looking it up online was that is it just another Pagan, Wiccan, book that just talks about the basics, what Paganism is, and pretty much all the topics that has been repeated constantly in books that are published. Which we quite frankly don’t need so much of when it’s the same topics and points over and over again, just in different words.

The cover was eye catching and as I looked through the table of contents it looked promising, especially for young Pagans who are in their teens and early 20’s such as myself back then when I was 19.

The Book:

I finally managed to buy the book from Gede Parma himself during the NYC Pagan Pride Day ‘10, when I met him, but more about that meeting later.

The Table of Contents is as follows:

Part 1: The Fountain of Youth

1: The Inner Witch
A Witch’s Becoming
The Natural Witch
My Magicakal Genealogy
The Awakening
Realising the Revelation

2: Life at 4 Privet Drive

Sacred Space
Pagan Peace-Building
Magick of the Home
A note to the Nomad: Moving On

3: Schooling Pagans

Peering Pupils: Communication
The Wizard’s Apprentice: Teacher and Student Relations

4: The Pagan Socialite

Out & About: The Downtown Pagan
The Vineyard Exercise
Enchant the Masses! Spells of Glamour
Romance & Relationships
Sense & Sensuality

5: Pagan Community

Something Old, Something New: Bridging the Gap
The Curse of the Fluffy Bunny: A Social Syndrome
Teen Pagan Network
Open Circle
Pagan Meets: A Note on Cat Herding

Part Two: Beyond the Circle

6: Ethical Questions

Harm None: Ancient Pagan Creed or Modern Public Insurance?
Black and White: A Myth
Karmic Confusion
Situational Magick
Cursing
Respect
A Note on Will

7: The Spell of Witchcraft

The Skill of Spellcraft
Successful Spellcraft
Psychological and Metaphysical Understanding of Spellcraft
Ethical Considerations
Correspondence: Witch’s Code
The Power of Belief
Need over Trivial Desire
Clear Intent and Energy Input
The Active Principle
Visualisation: Magick Incarnate
Magick: The Essence of Life
Everyday Magick: The Charms of Life

8: Ritualising

Reasons for Ritual
Personal Prepartion: Harnessing Self-Awareness
Purification: Casting a Circle
Birthing a Universe: A Philosophy
Which Way Is Witch? Elemental Orientation
Quick Circle: For the Witch on the Run!
Note for the Wayward
Ritual Guidelines for the Practical Pagan
Gnosis
The Drama of Ritual
Spontaneous Ritual
Rites of Passage

9: Divinity

Painting the Gods: Defining Deity
Pantheism: God Is All and All Is God Polytheism: Legacy of the Pantheon
Animism: The Spirit Within
Ditheism: God and Goddess
The Archetype: A Universal Model
Ultimate Consciousness: God and the Self
Deity and Youth
What I Believe

10: Covencraft

You and a Coven
Forming a Coven
Joining a Coven: Things to Do
Perfect Love and Perfect Trust

11: A Craft of Solitude

Tackling Theory: A Guide for the Solitary
Nostalgic Rites: Memoirs from the Unconscious
Living Paganism: A Spiritual Integration
Aspecting the Cunning One: Serving Your Community
Shrine of the Ancients

12: Evaluating Tradition

Pre-Spell Jitters
Tools of the Trade
The Tools
Eclectic Trends

13: Into the Future

An Era of Change
The Greening Crew
Obligations: Tomorrow’s Leaders
Power & Privilege
Song of the Youth/Weaving the Web
Dance of Life, Song of Youth Ritual
Last Words: An Open letter to the Global Pagan Community

Thoughts:

Now I recommend this book for those who are young either in their teens or early 20’s, as this book is specifically written for the youth. If you are looking for a basic, step by step on how to be a Witch, Wiccan, with spells, rituals, correspondences, and the like then forget it this isn’t the book for you. If you are looking for a book that goes in depth with Paganism, not specifically focusing on Wicca but on general Paganism and Witchcraft, sharing experiences from the author himself and other Pagans, and looking for something else than the general books that are published today then I recommend this for you.

The way the book is written is very mature despite the audience the book was meant for. He goes onto the aspects of spirituality, living your life as a young Pagan, and talks about Paganism through the eyes of a teen or young adult. For parents it’s also a way to better understand the younger generation in Paganism, whether they are Pagan parents or parents of Pagan children who want to better understand their children.

It’s very refreshing from other books I’ve read who just go straight to the facts and history, which is good don’t get me wrong, but for me the reason why I love this book so much is because it’s geared toward the younger generation who are pursuing Paganism, have been practicing Paganism, and is written just for them. It is written to not only talk about the spirituality and Witchcraft in Paganism, how it involves other aspects of our lives such as family, friends, school, relationships, and peers, but it expresses these points through examples from Gede’s experiences and others who are young adults as well. Now some may think his experiences and life involving his path is irrelevant in this book but I think it’s wonderful because it better connects the author with his readers and shows how another fellow Pagan goes through his spiritual life.

The first part of the book goes into Gede’s experiences and the younger generation. From dealing with your peers, school, teachers, relationships, going out and knowing your Pagan community both local and online, getting to know and accepting one’s identity, casting aside the stereotypes of Pagan. That a Pagan can be any race, gender, sexuality, economic background, and be interested in different music and fashion styles. The second part of the book is on living a Pagan lifestyle beyond spells and rituals. It goes into the spiritual side such as the Divine, such as the different theism’s such as polytheism, duotheism, animism, and pantheism.

For me the book is not as much as a Wicca 101 book but a Neo-Paganism 101 book. As much as it goes into other topics it still is lacking a bit of more detailed information and explanation. I do like how it’s organized and to the point however I feel it was lacking in something. Probably like what I just mentioned, how it lacks detailed information on topics besides experiences, but all in all it’s a highly recommended book for those who are in their teens, are young adults, and are starting to get involved in Paganism or have been practicing.

On the Author:

I actually was lucky enough to meet Gede during NYC Pagan Pride Day ‘10 when he was there for a workshop. It was funny because I did know about him prior to our meeting, but it was only recent and I read about him through his blog and other reviews. I found him inspiring and have been meaning to buy his first book, Spirited, for awhile. So during Pagan Pride Day I was with a couple of my friends and was meeting new people who were Pagans that I met online who were around my age there for the first time. With one of my friends who I also met that day, he met up with Gede while waiting for me to arrive. Being the type of person who takes awhile to recognize a person, I didn’t recognize Gede at first when my friend was introducing me to him. I kept staring at him thinking in my head why does he look so familiar? At first I thought he was another guy I knew from a friend of mine from school, who I only met online, because they do look really similar. But then when he started introducing himself more, that he was from Australia and is here to do a workshop a light bulb went up in my head and I excitedly exclaimed, “Oh you’re Gede Parma? The author of Spirited?” Oh it was amusing especially how even after he said his name it took me about 10 min. to realize who he was and why he looked so familiar.

Gede was actually a really nice guy and he seemed like a person who is really spiritual and dedicated to his path. He wasn’t arrogant or anything like that, he was actually very soft spoken and by the way he talks he seems like an intelligent person. All in all he was a really wonderful person to talk to and meet and I’m glad I was able to get to know him a bit that day.