Hex Appeal

[dreamer_easy]

Heh. The SMH's Spike column nailed the downside for women of the popularisation of witchcraft:
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Ladies, forget feminism. It seems all you need to succeed in life these days is a few nifty spells. A copy of a new book, Hex Appeal: Seductive Spells for the Sassy Sorceress, landed on the Spike desk yesterday, and boy did it make for some interesting reading. Did you know that if you want to make your man call you, all you have to do is light incense, carve an arrow into a candle and recite the following: "Hear my will, I am in your heart, I am in your mind, I am in your thoughts, you need to call me, you want to call me, you will call me," nine times. Or then again you could just call him. The book also advises how to stop men falling asleep after sex, curb a boyfriend's bad habits, and turn an ex into a toad. Very useful.
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Wicca and Paganism can teach women the confidence to find and use power, but it can also divert us into games of powerlessness. Spells, like prayer, are only part of achieving your goals - as in the familiar story of the chap on the roof of the flooded house who refuses rescue because God will save him, or the oft-quoted Buttprints in the Sand.

Comments

[alryssa.livejournal.com]

I've often sat in Borders with a bunch of pagan friends and sat and mocked these books.

The worst example that comes to mind is 'Five Easy Steps to Becoming A Witch' by Fiona Horne, I believe.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Having worked in a bookstore for years, I can testify to the fact that many clueless teenagers are drawn to the books and really think that they speak the truth. After the senseless horror movie "the Craft" came out there were groups of kids in every day or so to ask if we had a book that had a ceremony to "call the corners". *sigh*

A few of the books make for interesting reading, recanting much older lore and traditions that have nearly died out, and explicating our modern Christmas and Easter traditions (I love the Campanellis' books), but most of the latest crop are laughable. Some of them seem to have sprung from the articles of Cosmo magazine.

[barrington.livejournal.com]

Not wanting to start anything nasty, but I'm curious: most Wiccans and Pagans I know despise Fiona Horne. What's your opinion? Has she done more harm or good for Wicca?

(I found an interview with her via a Vampire web site (roleplaying game...yes, yes, move along) at www.bitememagazine.com (http://www.bitememagazine.com), though the site was doen when I wrote this.)

[antikythera.livejournal.com]

Believing in spells to do anything more than bolster up your confidence and focus your mind is just as bad as believing that prayer will cure your little girl's meningitis and you don't need to take her to the hospital.

Any faith or tradition is best served in moderate portions.