The Keeper's Path

Title: Roadmap By Moonlight: A Guide to Wicca for Life
Author: Deborah Lipp
Genre: Wicca; Witchcraft & Spirituality

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I did not receive any sort of payment for this review. This is my opinion of this author’s work and not a paid advertisement for this book.

I have read a lot of Deborah Lipp’s work. I regularly use it for coven lessons for my students, practical applications for meditative work and ritual crafting, and as a reference for information from a serious, educated Witch who really knows her stuff.

This newest book does not disappoint in any of those areas.

Personally, I have had to dig through years of resources, old interviews of Craft Elders, researching history, and coming to terms with a fair amount of regurgitated fluff that has only been getting tamped down within the last ten years or so. Deborah gives an honest and clear understanding of what Wicca’s roots are, where many misunderstandings originated and how they sometimes even happened intentionally! It’s still all about balance, intention, and personal responsibility, and she illustrates those concepts well. I was delighted to see her provide real insight into what Wicca is in a more historical and traditional sense, and that she wasn’t afraid to let it have teeth again.

Then, there are the parts that have the more “Wicca 101” information to them: gathering tools, establishing an altar, constructing your personal practice, and really solid basic charts for correspondences that will provide solid backing to a newcomer.

In what I would call ‘later newcomer’ or branching into intermediate practices, she has an entire collection of rites and ceremonies for various occasions — including a collection of seasonal sabbat rituals and naming ceremonies.

Then, from the intermediate practices into stuff that gets more advanced, she includes things like baby blessings and handfasting ceremonies.

This doesn’t cover everything she goes into in this book, but I hope it’s enough of a description to explain why I think it’s definitely one worth getting and utilizing for yourself or your group. I will be purchasing a hard copy when it is released (as I was given an e-book for the purposes of this review) and I can’t wait to have it on my shelves!