January 26th, 2016

I've had an almost-unnerving amount of free time after my last few days of class in which to sit and read, so I've been working my way through my new books. The first one I picked up was Moon Magick, which I've seen recommended on a few different Pagan and/or witchcraft channels I watch on YouTube. I'll be honest right off the bat: I did not love this book. My review of it, therefore, may be a bit rant-y. You have been warned.

Title: Moon Magick: Myth & Magic, Crafts & Recipes, Rituals & Spells

Author: D. J. Conway

© 1995

I was first intrigued by this text because it sounded like it should be extremely comprehensive, and the formatting reinforced that impression. Also, the artwork throughout the book is quite beautiful. 

The first chapter examines accounts of the moon's effects on human behavior, while the second examines beliefs relating to the lunar year. From there, the book breaks down every lunar month into its own chapter, and lists a ton of information corresponding to each one.

These chapters begin with a quick breakdown of which lunar goddesses around the world have festivals in that particular month. It follows this with a bit more elaboration on the purposes of these festivals and the deities they are associated with. Each month also has a list of magickal correspondences, including stones, herbs, colors, animals, and etc. Conway provides surviving bits of folklore attributed to that moon, and then several simple recipes to try. Each chapter also has ideas for small crafts, incense or potpourri blends, and summaries of the myths of the relevant goddesses. She even provides sample rituals honoring those deities.

It may sound pretty decent, and I cannot deny that there are parts of this book which were quite good, and which I will use. However - I have a few pretty significant complaints to lodge against this text which prospective readers may want to be aware of. Possibly these are related to the age of the book (it turned 20 last year), but as modern Pagans continue to read books like this, the associated issues continue to persist in our community.

First: this text does a great job further solidifying the gender roles which are often assigned to women in ritual, specifically the idea that women can only relate to moon goddesses (one of the other books I'm reading at the moment is doing a marvelous job at arguing against this premise), that feminine always equates to passive, receptive, and/or negative energy, and that masculine and feminine energies are the only kind which exist. As a woman with several friends and acquaintances who do not subscribe to the gender binary, this strict adherence to the male/female division strikes me as cissexist, especially when one considers that there are many deities who are agender, genderfluid, or otherwise neither specifically male nor female. On a side note, some of her cologne or herb blends are specifically listed as being "for men", because apparently Conway's notion of gender is outdated enough that she thinks men cannot enjoy lighter scents, and that women won't like something spicier or more savory.

Another issue I take with this is that it is at times very Eurocentric. While I have no issue learning more about Artemis, Diana, and Selene, there are moon goddesses all over the world, and I would have liked to learn more about them, especially as this book is making the claim to be a global representation of moon worship. There was little information from Africa or Asia, and virtually none pertaining to North or South America. Not only that, but what information there was about non-European cultures was at times just plain incorrect. I cannot claim to be any kind of expert on mythology, but there were some instances where even as a layman, I could tell that Conway's information was wrong. In one instance, she has a "Japanese friendship branch" craft, which she claims is given for weddings, birthdays, and new homes. In six and a half years of studying Japanese language and culture, I have never heard of anything remotely like this, and google does not turn up any results which remotely resemble what Conway is talking about.

Additionally, I found several instances where the language pertaining to other countries and peoples is objectifying at best, possibly tending towards racist by today's understanding of language. For instance, it strikes me as being inappropriate to take a drink based on Indian recipes and refer to it as "exotic", and I also am not thrilled by her practice of adding cinnamon or sandalwood to an incense and thinking that somehow makes it suddenly "middle eastern". If there are actual historical precedents for any of her blends, she did not list them. She could easily have named them something else without any stereotypical overtones. 

Moreover, I object to Conway just taking traditional practices from existing cultures and re-writing them for Wiccan-flavored rituals. While I do think people should work with the deities that call to them, I think that that should in all cases be done respectfully. Appropriating bits of somebody else's culture and pantomiming their religious practice does not in any way strike me as respectful. 

Of less importance, but still irritating to me, Conway cites herself a couple of times, which from a scholarly perspective is a problem, especially as I don't think any of her other books can be considered especially authoritative in their fields. Not only that, but she also interrupts herself a few times to recommend other Llewellyn products. I can't decide if that was her choice, or something Llewellyn advised her to include, but in either case, I don't need to be marketed to while I'm trying to read.

TL;DR: If you're looking for very general, beginner information about lunar deities, it might be worth skimming through Moon Magick and seeing what appeals to you. However, I would take what Conway says with a grain of salt, as her historical information in this text strikes me as very suspect at times, and her treatment of South and East Asian deities in particular is often exotifying. It's definitely the sort of thing I'd borrow or buy used, rather than paying full price.