A Witch's Guide to Faery Folk by Edain McCoy ©2007 Llewellyn
Worldwide
ISBN 978-0-87542-733-1 383 pages Paperback $16.99 (U.S.) $18.95
(Canada)
The works of Edain McCoy evoke much the same reactions as those of another
prolific writer, Silver RavenWolf. People either swear by them or condemn
them based solely on the author's perceived reputation. I have never been
an extremist. I like to actually READ a book before deciding if it is
worthwhile. While I may take a pass on a book based on my personal
reaction
to an author's style, or the subject matter, I wouldn't recommend or
condemn
such a book without actually reading it.
Personally, I've had some good experiences as well as some not so good
ones
with Ms. McCoy's books. So I looked forward to reading this one. Being
of
Irish descent, and with strong ties to the Good Folk, I wanted to see what
she had to say on the subject.
There are some things she says about astral projection and meditative
techniques I disagree with on a personal level, but they apparently work
for
her, and they may very well work for you.
Her casual equation of astral being and faeries (i.e., that if you create
a
protective being on the astral, you have "created" a "faery") bothers me
on
many levels. I have created several thought forms, for various purposes
over the years and they have all been created for one specific purpose and
were not given independence, which (it seems to me) a faery must display.
Of course faeries are normally focused on one area of existence, or one
goal, but they are capable of reacting to unexpected stimuli without
needing
to get further instructions. Astral entities and faeries certainly
coexist,
but they are not (at least in my experience) the same.
On a related, but slightly different note, I'm not sure I would consider
griffins, incubi and succubi among the ranks of faeries. Where do you
draw
the line? No, really, where do YOU draw the line? I can only state my
feelings and impressions. You need to decide for yourself what
constitutes
a faery.
Basically, the last half of the book is the promised "Guide" to faeries.
With over 200 primary entries it is one of the most extensive I have seen
in
quite a while. The lack of illustrations is a little frustrating, to me,
however. I understand the desire to keep the book to a reasonable size
and
price, but a few illustrations of some of the more obscure entries would
have been beneficial.
I have to give this book a mixed review/rating. The section on the
faeries
themselves (in spite of my personal questions about the inclusion of
certain
entities) gets high marks from me. This is because, quite simply, it
contains a lot of useful information. The other parts of the book don't
fare so well, in my opinion, because Ms. McCoy's personal prejudices show
through too extensively - without being acknowledged as being personal.
She presents them as prevalent attitudes without providing any kind of
background.
This is a reasonably good, but not a "must have" book, in my opinion.
Don't
rely on it as your only source of information, but definitely consider
what
Ms McCoy has to say.
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