Doreen Valiente: The Charge of the Goddess

Hexagon Hoopix
ISBN: 0 9539204 0 2
£13.99

This book is the result of a promise made by John Belham-Payne to Doreen Valiente before she died: he promised to publish her poetry.

This doesn't seem at all interesting until you find out that Doreen Valiente is regarded as the Mother of Modern Witchcraft (she helped Gerald Gardner create the Book of Shadows for instance), and all the poetry in this anthology is inspired by her Pagan path. I found it highly interesting to read words written straight from the heart of this remarkable woman to whom the neo-Pagan movement owes so much.

Valiente seems to have been quite a talented poet, and many of her poems give you food for thought or conjure up amazing images in your mind. If you didn't already know, Valiente wrote the Charge of the Goddess, the infamous and widely used poem that is spoken by the Goddess, and beautifully describes Her aspects and guidance to Her children. (The Charge can be found in this book aswell, though it is also widely available on the internet and in other books on the Craft.) With titles such as 'Hymn to Hermes', 'Fire-Rhyme for Halloween', 'Widdershins' and 'The Gathering for the Esbat', I feel this book would greatly benefit anybody who wishes to take a look at the Craft from the perspective of somebody who was there at its beginning.

Many of the poems are inspiring, awesome, beautiful, and evocative, and I particularly enjoyed 'Farewell', a poem about death and departure that eloquently expresses the concept of remembrance and reincarnation. Such a beautiful book should grace every Pagan's bookshelves, though I can't help feel that it is a little pricey for a book of only 96 pages.