Crow Stone

by Jenni Mills (Author)

Review by Payam Nabarz

If you live in Bath, this is a must book for you to read. This is a thriller-fiction based mainly in the mines under city of Bath. I purchased the hardback when it came out because of the Mithras content in it. The hardback cover is a good one, its shows the sun’s crown from Heliodromus (sun runner) 6th grade of Roman cult of Mithras. The paper back cover is different, and I prefer the hardback cover.

The Mithraic content plays an interesting role in the story, and it was fun to see my own work being mentioned. The central plot is around the Kit Parry coming in terms with loss of her mother and the arrest of her father and generally growing under difficult circumstances. The book has lots of flash backs to her childhood, and then back to modern day Bath dealing with her working in the mines as a woman engineer.

I enjoyed reading the book very much and its gripping at times, however I was somewhat disappointed by final revelation about what had really happened to her mother. In a way all the subplots and flash backs and side stories were more interesting than the climax of the story.

It gets 3/5 raven feathers from me.

Product Description from Amazon:
A compulsively readable thriller that skilfully weaves together past and present to uncover the sinister secrets buried in the ancient stone quarries under Bath. Kit Parry is a woman with a past, albeit one she’d rather forget. Now a successful engineer, she’s spent all her adult life trying to erase the memory of what happened over the long, hot summer of her fourteenth year. When she takes a job shoring up the ancient quarries under her hometown of Bath, however, the secrets she tried so desperately to bury threaten to work their way to the surface. For beneath its sleepy facade, the old spa town is as riddled with unwanted memories as it is with Roman ruins! But if Kit’s past holds untold terrors, her present has its own problems. Her ex-husband is tapping her for money, the miners resent her and someone is making it menacingly obvious that she isn’t wanted in Bath. To top it off, her burgeoning romance with Gary, the quarry foreman, is threatening to force open doors to the past that Kit is determined to keep shut. When she stumbles across evidence of what could be the archaeological discovery of the decade — a lost Roman temple dedicated to the mystery cult of Mithras — the enigma in her past becomes entangled with a present-day race to discover the secret at the heart of the stone mines, a quest that turns into a dangerous obsession. As Kit’s story plays itself out in the dark labyrinth of tunnels beneath the ancient city, events race to a chilling climax in which past and present collide with disastrous effect. For when the walls Kit built to protect herself come crashing down, she must face the truth she’s spent her whole life avoiding — and which threatens to destroy her.

• Hardcover: 496 pages
• Publisher: HarperPress (1 May 2007)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 0007247125
• ISBN-13: 978-0007247127

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: HarperPerennial (6 May 2008)
• Language English
• ISBN-10: 0007247133
• ISBN-13: 978-0007247134

Beyond the Broomstick
Thoughts on the philosophy of Wicca
By Morgana

Introducing major concepts such as Polarity, the Triple Goddess, the God and the Elements; Morgana has presented Wicca in a friendly, easy-to-read manner.

This is an excellent primer for beginners but is also a handy source of information for the already interested, to learn more about what Wicca is rather than what it isn’t.

‘I remember writing the series with great enthusiasm, and I hope this enthusiasm continues to inspire newcomers to see the truly life-changing possibilities Wicca can offer. As a ‘religion of self expression’ I wish everyone an inspiring quest on this path called Wicca. I can only say - it is worth it!
Blessed be, Morgana.’

Morgana: Beyond the Broomstick * 100p. softcover
To order visit: Saga Whyte Press

Morgana is a Gardnerian Wiccan High Priestess and the International Coordinator of the Pagan Federation International, an international Pagan organisation. She is British and has lived in the Netherlands since 1974.

Over the years, she has facilitated a variety of Gardnerian Wiccan groups. She is co-editor of the international and bilingual magazine Wiccan Rede, which was launched in 1979, and together with Merlin, runs Silver Circle, a Wiccan network in the Netherlands.

Morgana travels extensively giving workshops. She represented the PFI at the World Parliament of Religions in July 2004 in Barcelona, Spain. In cooperation with the National Coordinator for PFI Turkey, she lead a PFI delegation in a cultural visit to Turkey in September 2005. She also gave workshops in Uppsala, Sweden, and Milan, Italy. In 2006 she visited Hungary and Bulgaria and represented PFI at the EU conference Intercultural Dialogue, Best Practices in Brussels, Belgium. In 2007 she presented Wicca Intensives in Turkey and Hungary, and lectured in France & Germany.

Hekate Keys to the Crossroads

Edited by Sorita d’Este, published by Avalonia

Available directly from Avalonia Books or from outlets such as Amazon, B&N and good bookshops.

———–

A collection of personal essays, invocations, rituals, recipes, artwork from modern Witches, Priestesses, Priests who work with Hekate, the Ancient Greek Goddess of Witchcraft, Magick and Sorcery.

This review is from WICCAN REDE magazine, reproduced here with permission.  For information on The Wiccan Rede see www.silvercircle.org - it is a bi-lingual magazine, produced quarterly in Dutch and English and focussed on Wicca, Witchcraft and Paganism.  This from the Samhain 2008 edition.

“As the title suggests this is a collection fo essays covering a wide range of subjects concerning the worship of Hekate.  In Part 1 “Her History, Myths and Powers” Sorita writes a foreword and includes her own encounter with Hekate and the formation of the magical group VITRIOL Grove (VG) which is now a network.

In Part 2 in “Hekate’s Witches” various people offer their experiences and a number of personal altars and other photos are included.  It is interesting to read how everyone works with Hekate in her different aspects.  Most people seem to work with the Greek Hekate but the one thing this books illustrates iseh vast differences that exists even within the Hellenistic setting. And most if not all refer to blood sacrifices in one way or another.  In any event working with Hekate is a life-changing experience.

I can certainly attest to that, thinking of the changes in my life after the Hekate experience in Caria, Turkey at Lagina, the oldest sanctuary to Hekate in the world.  The essays are a source of inspiration and as I read them, I could feel myself wanting to get out and do something!

As key-bearer or matron of childbrith Hekate is the guide to our own underworld, the “dark side of ourselves” (Ouch, how I hate that term..) in any event the place where we take charge of our life.

In the last part there are practical tips, making preparations for the rituaps, recipes for incense and food… and including a “modern mystery play” written for Lapis Companions - David & Sorita’s outer court group or “open learning circle”.

An excellent book for anyone who is interested in strengthening his or her connection with Hekate!”

———–

* Esoteric Review Note: Lapis Companions was dissolved in 2006 , after many years of facilitating training and ritual in London, as Sorita and David moved to Wales and was unable to continue running the group.

The Wiccan Rede is a great magazine, and there is plenty in there for anyone interested in a different and less mainstream read, with plenty of interesting topics covered.  Details can be found at www.silvercircle.org (check out their forums too, for some excellent discussions)