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From:	IN%"IMC@vax2.utulsa.edu"  "I. MARC CARLSON"  1-DEC-1993 12:09:01.20
Subj:	Book Review

I was recently forced to write this review and promised to send it to
all the E-pagans I could find.  I wans't sure if it was appropriate
for the Pagan list or not, so I'm sending it to you (assuming you are
still the coordinator thereof).

IMC
======================================================================

Broch, Janice and MacLer, Veronica.  Seasonal Dance, How to Celebrate the
     Pagan Year.  York Beach, Maine:  Samuel Weiser, Inc.  1993.
     ISBN:0-87728-774-0 $11.95.

     It has been my experience, over the years, that the quickest way
to antagonize a member of the Pagan and Neo-Pagan community is to tell
them that "You" have "The Way" to do anything.  To be honest, when I
was handed this book to review, my deepest suspicions were that it was
going to try and do just that, try to detail "The Way" to celebrate
the "Pagan" year, based on the rituals of an obscure tradition that
would not merely offend my sense of independence, but my desires for
decent scholarship as well.
     I must confess that these somewhat pessimistic expectations were
disappointed quite badly. 

     While it is true that the book does detail the rites and
practices of the authors' particular Path, these are presented more as
set into the greater design of the text, rather than as some suggested
_Book of Common Prayer_.  The book's goal, as I read it, was to give
suggestions for people, regardless of their tradition or path, who
were wanting to create their own rituals and ceremonies.
      The book has chapters devoted to the "standard" Quarter and
Cross-Quarter days, which give something of the histories and meanings
of these days.  To be honest, I can't always agree with the
interpretations of the holidays, that the authors elected to present,
however, those interpretations _do_ point out clearly the sorts of
understandings needed for creating a celebration based on a particular
holiday.
      Furthermore, tha appendices give suggestions for the sorts of
songs, dances, games, recipes and so forth that this particular group
has found meaningful or useful.  The appendices also give suggestions
for research materials and readings for the someone interested in
designing their own rituals, as well as information on the various
Divinities that such a student is likely to run into in their studies.
      I feel it necessary to mention, as someone for whom the word
pedantic is a compliment, the level of research they use in their
examples shows an unfortunate bias toward a balance between
scholasticism, and the more popular beliefs about the Deities and
their rituals.  On the other hand, I found great pleasure in the
authors' taking time and page length to admit that there is a
tremendous amount of fallacious scholarship in this particular field,
as well as pointing out their belief that a ritual's historic
provenance is often less important than that ritual's desired effect
or outcome.

     In all, I was extremely pleased by this book, and the authors'
approach, and would, will, and am suggesting it for anyone who would
like to create their own rituals and ceremonies, as well as anyone who
might be looking for a pre-designed ritual to use or adapt for those
times when a Sabat just seems to sneak up on you.


Marc Carlson
IMC@VAX2.UTULSA.EDU

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Copyright crap:  The author of this review retains full copyright of the
material, while hereby granting full permission for it to be reprinted
in any format whatsoever, with the provisos that his name be forever
attached to it, the text of the document be forever unaltered, and if
anyone manages to figure out how to make big bucks off of it, the above
mentioned author wants a cut.  Oh, yes, and lest I forget, this notice
must remain attached to the main text.