ellen dugan

[whiporwill-o]

i have 4 of her books, but only read 2 of them completely:

garden witchery - read
cottage witchery - read
natural witchery
7 days of magic

any thoughts on her? i enjoy her writing style and she seems like a person i would enjoy having lunch or coffee with, but is there any merit to her information?  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

I haven't really read her. I've had a flick through of a couple of her books on amazon to see if they were worth buying and they didn't seem particularly special so I moved on. Way too much of her stuff was just spells and so on. Dugan's books appear to be just general ENP witchcraft, but not new or interesting enough for me to want to read through them. I'm not really fond of her tone personally, and from what little I've flicked through she seems to go out of her way to make witchcraft clean and palatable. I mean, there were reasons people used belladonna and not a substitute. And she seems way too into faeries, which is always a bit of a red flag. But you know that people do this and probably that this is what she's doing, so I mean, take what you will from it, discard the rest, as with all ENP witchcraft books. I mean, I trust you to read critically at this point. You seem a sensible person. You know when to disregard if she starts spouting crap about "invoke this deity" or Lilith or whatever. I wouldn't use her as a source on faerie lore or on herbalism, but then I'd suggest cross-referencing on those subjects anyway regardless of who the author was.  

[whiporwill-o]

Sanguina Cruenta

I haven't really read her. I've had a flick through of a couple of her books on amazon to see if they were worth buying and they didn't seem particularly special so I moved on. Way too much of her stuff was just spells and so on. Dugan's books appear to be just general ENP witchcraft, but not new or interesting enough for me to want to read through them. I'm not really fond of her tone personally, and from what little I've flicked through she seems to go out of her way to make witchcraft clean and palatable. I mean, there were reasons people used belladonna and not a substitute. And she seems way too into faeries, which is always a bit of a red flag. But you know that people do this and probably that this is what she's doing, so I mean, take what you will from it, discard the rest, as with all ENP witchcraft books. I mean, I trust you to read critically at this point. You seem a sensible person. You know when to disregard if she starts spouting crap about "invoke this deity" or Lilith or whatever. I wouldn't use her as a source on faerie lore or on herbalism, but then I'd suggest cross-referencing on those subjects anyway regardless of who the author was.

thank you. i always try to cross-reference anything and everything, which can sometimes get confusing when every reference you check says something different, lol. she does have kids and pets, so i'm sure she would want some less dangerous alternatives for some things (though she should probably not be casting spells that required it in the first place if that were the case). i personally have no interest in faeries outside the artwork of brian froud and at this time have no religious standings and no need to invoke anybody. that being said, i actually enjoy books that contain spells so that i can kind of get a feel for what methods i prefer and such.  

[doistu]

I was given a few of her books as gifts and was pretty underwhelmed. Perhaps it's her writing style that I don't like but it did seem to just be spell after spell.
When it comes to books on paganism I always look for reason behind spells, not just a list of them.
She's not as bad as some authors but I'd definitely cross-reference.  

[too2sweet]

This was the review of one of her books that I wrote several years ago...

Quote:

BOOK REVIEW 6/08

TITLE: Natural Witchery: Intuitive, Personal & Practical Magick
AUTHOR: Ellen Dugan
PAGES: 262 pages
YEAR PUBLISHED: 2007

SYNOPSIS (from the back cover):
A natural Witch has an appreciation of nature and an awareness of the magickal energies present in all things. This kinship with the unseen world is at the heart of Witchcraft. It is also the foundation of all magickal work.

You will enhance your spell crafting, empower your witchery, and add richness and depth to your everyday life by developing your intuition and psychic skills. Natural Witchery features straightforward how-to’s, first-hand stories, spells, rituals, fun quizzes, and creative exercises to help you live a more magickal life:

Learn how to tune in to many different kinds of energy, such as the cycles of the moon and the energy of the seasons, and use it to fuel your spell work.
Explore different types of psychic abilities, and discover your own elemental strengths and challenges.
Use natural witchery to create more harmony and balance in your home, workplace, and circle.

This friendly guidebook also includes a Book of Witchery with magickal correspondences and a handy journal section for keeping track of your progress.

REVIEW: I always say that all knowledge is worth having, so in that sense this book isn’t a complete waste of space, but overall I think it is a little bit too “fluffy”. There are some good practical exercises that might be useful to those who are just starting out, or for those who are seeking a deeper insight into their own “magickal” personality, and some interesting information on various correspondences - including a whole sections on moon phases and elements. The book also covers how to incorporate your “witchiness” into your daily life. I think what bothers me most about the book isn‘t so much the information in it, but how it’s written. While this may just be a personal issue, it seems to me that the book is just filled with cutesy witchy stuff/buzzwords and not as much practical info that serious seekers might want to know (no one needs to spell magical with a “c“ and a “k“…if we are reading a book on witchcraft - we know what you are talking about without the extra letters). A lot of the information in this book (and much better) can be found with a quick Google search. Is it nice that she includes a journal section (insert cutesy title…“Book of Witchery“…need I say more)? Yes, but a true BOS should be your own, not part of someone’s book. So overall, I have to say that this one is not going to be high on my recommended reading list - if you find it cheap (or at the library, as I did), then you might give it a glance, but otherwise definitely not worth the $17 cover price.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Ellen Dugan has been a practicing Witch for over 20 years and has published several other books on the subject of witchcraft. For more info on her or her books you can check out http://www.geocities.com/edugan_gardenwitch/

 

[whiporwill-o]

doistu

I always look for reason behind spells, not just a list of them.

what do you mean? i understand wanting to know the reason behind a spell, but wouldn't the reason be pretty much covered by what it says it's supposed to do along with the items used in it, assuming that the correspondences are accurate?  

[whiporwill-o]

too2sweet

This was the review of one of her books that I wrote several years ago...

Quote:

REVIEW: I always say that all knowledge is worth having, so in that sense this book isn’t a complete waste of space, but overall I think it is a little bit too “fluffy”. There are some good practical exercises that might be useful to those who are just starting out, or for those who are seeking a deeper insight into their own “magickal” personality, and some interesting information on various correspondences - including a whole sections on moon phases and elements. The book also covers how to incorporate your “witchiness” into your daily life. I think what bothers me most about the book isn‘t so much the information in it, but how it’s written. While this may just be a personal issue, it seems to me that the book is just filled with cutesy witchy stuff/buzzwords and not as much practical info that serious seekers might want to know (no one needs to spell magical with a “c“ and a “k“…if we are reading a book on witchcraft - we know what you are talking about without the extra letters). A lot of the information in this book (and much better) can be found with a quick Google search. Is it nice that she includes a journal section (insert cutesy title…“Book of Witchery“…need I say more)? Yes, but a true BOS should be your own, not part of someone’s book. So overall, I have to say that this one is not going to be high on my recommended reading list - if you find it cheap (or at the library, as I did), then you might give it a glance, but otherwise definitely not worth the $17 cover price.

thank you for this, i haven't read that one yet. the cutesy, fluffy buzzwords annoy the hell outta me, but it's something i've come to expect and accept when reading anything from llewellyn. dugan was one of the first authors i'd ever read on the subject (i guess i was really lucky that it wasnt srw) and every now and then i flip back through her books. i finally got around to asking if it was worth it, lol. she does give me a great sense of nostalgia from when i first began practicing, so i guess it's not a total loss.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

whiporwill-o

doistu

I always look for reason behind spells, not just a list of them.

what do you mean? i understand wanting to know the reason behind a spell, but wouldn't the reason be pretty much covered by what it says it's supposed to do along with the items used in it, assuming that the correspondences are accurate?

Reason, not a reason. She means she wants an explanation of why this or that was chosen. It means one is able to substitute this or that depending on what works for them. Very few books mention anything like that with their list of spell ingredients, they just give a list, as if correspondences were the same for everyone in every situation. A spell isn't a cake. You can follow a cake recipe exactly without knowing why this or that ingredient is used and you'll still get a good cake. You can't do that with a spell, because everything has to be keyed to your own mind. If you don't know why you're doing something, why do it at all?

But as I say, few spell books involve anything in the way of "why". They just parrot the same stuff. So their readers never learn anything as far as how to write and perform their own spells.  

[whiporwill-o]

Sanguina Cruenta

whiporwill-o

doistu

I always look for reason behind spells, not just a list of them.

what do you mean? i understand wanting to know the reason behind a spell, but wouldn't the reason be pretty much covered by what it says it's supposed to do along with the items used in it, assuming that the correspondences are accurate?

Reason, not a reason. She means she wants an explanation of why this or that was chosen. It means one is able to substitute this or that depending on what works for them. Very few books mention anything like that with their list of spell ingredients, they just give a list, as if correspondences were the same for everyone in every situation. A spell isn't a cake. You can follow a cake recipe exactly without knowing why this or that ingredient is used and you'll still get a good cake. You can't do that with a spell, because everything has to be keyed to your own mind. If you don't know why you're doing something, why do it at all?

But as I say, few spell books involve anything in the way of "why". They just parrot the same stuff. So their readers never learn anything as far as how to write and perform their own spells.

oops! totally misread that. i think my mind automatically inserted "a." sorry, my mistake.  

[Sanguina Cruenta]

Np, we all do that sort of thing, all the time. blaugh