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erinray82's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
rachellynnmcguire's review against another edition
I learned a lot about paganism from this book, and I learned enough to realize it's not for me. So I didn't need to keep reading it.
choirqueer's review against another edition
5.0
I really enjoyed this anthology! It includes a very broad range of non-theist Pagan perspectives, some of which spoke to me more than others, but all of which gave me a great deal to ruminate over, in terms of my own beliefs and how I carry them out in the world. I haven't considered myself a non-theist before, but this book is really making me think that label might be a better fit for me than I thought it was. I certainly love any book that gives me as much to think about as this one has!
tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
4.0
An incredibly far-ranging collection of essays, reflections, and practices from a wide array of nontheistic Pagans. It was of course impossible to agree with every piece in it, because we're all coming from such vastly different perspectives and drawing such vastly different conclusions. But even the pieces I disagreed with gave me a lot of food for thought about why I disagreed and what that disagreement might teach me about my own life and practice.
I also couldn't help but wish that Halstead had employed a better copy editor. Or any copy editor at all. I understand that he wanted these essays to stand as-is, without editorial intervention. But there's a big difference between substantive content that might mar the author's original intention, and copy editing that makes the actual mechanics of the writing less jarring.
Ultimately, as with other collections I've read recently, what matters most is that this collection exists. This anthology might not convince devotional polytheists that what nontheistic Pagans do is "acceptable," but it very neatly lays to rest the tired old argument that "it can't exist."
I also couldn't help but wish that Halstead had employed a better copy editor. Or any copy editor at all. I understand that he wanted these essays to stand as-is, without editorial intervention. But there's a big difference between substantive content that might mar the author's original intention, and copy editing that makes the actual mechanics of the writing less jarring.
Ultimately, as with other collections I've read recently, what matters most is that this collection exists. This anthology might not convince devotional polytheists that what nontheistic Pagans do is "acceptable," but it very neatly lays to rest the tired old argument that "it can't exist."
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