Author: Yasmine Galenorn
Trade Paperback, 240 pages
Publisher: Crossing Press
Publication date: September 2003
ISBN: 1580911552
Price & More Info: Click Here
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Guided meditations have long been a tool of esoteric study. They allow an experienced guide to take a group of students through an otherworldly experience (for example, an exploration of the Qabalistic Tree of Life or an element) that ensures the student is in the right place, but allows each student to experience and interact on his or her own. In Magical Meditations: Guided Imagery for the Pagan Path, Yasmine Galenorn has attempted to provide a series of guided meditations that less experienced guides can use.
Except for a few pages of introductory matter and a short chapter on meditation, this book consists of the text of 18 guided meditations ready for the reader to read for a group or to record with a tape recorder for individual use. Each of the meditations comes with guidelines for its use (including a pronunciation guide, if necessary) and some suggested exercises for futher work.
The first two meditations deal with cleansing and protecting and grounding and centering. These are generally useful regardless of ones religion. These two are followed by meditations on each of the four elements, each of the eight Wiccan Sabbats, and meditations Artemis, Pele, Taliesin, and the Underworld. Despite the "for the Pagan Path" in the title, the meditations in this book are mostly aimed at Wiccans or those following a Wiccan-like religion. An Asatruar or a Kemetic Pagan, for example, does not celebrate the Wiccan sabbats or deal with any of the deities from this book.
The meditations themselves are well thought out and and generally well-written. They are designed to be spoken aloud. This seems obvious, but I've seen guided meditation texts where the author seems to have forgotten this important point. For the most part, these meditations seem to flow nicely and should work well if read by someone skilled at reading aloud. Those who use these guided meditations will be affected by them.
If you are part of a Wiccan (or Wiccan-like) Pagan group and would like to use guided meditations in your group work but don't really have the skills to design and write your own, Magical Meditations: Guided Imagery for the Pagan Path would be an excellent way to start. For solitaries, I don't really know what to say. I've never had much luck recording a meditation and then listening to it as I dislike the sound of my voice. If you don't have this problem (or have a friend who could record them for you), you might give this book a try as well. Note, however, that this book is a revision of Trancing the Witch's Wheel. I don't know how much was changed, but if you have that book, you may not need this new edition.
Reviewed by Randall
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