Dark Moon Mysteries: Wisdom, Power, and Magic of the Shadow World

A good book with a lot of things to practice. A few of the stories are re-namings like Rumpelstiltskin but the guided meditations are great!Over all I would recommend this book to others.

This was for my wife to read, and she was glad to get it, on time and as advertised. Thank you.

As a Wiccan High Priestess and pagan bookstore owner with decades of experience, I have seen many Wiccan books/authors come and go. But this book, Dark Moon Mysteries by Timothy Roderick, is a staple on my bookshelf. This is not a book that can be accurately assessed simply by reading it. It must be experienced by actually DOING the exercises within it. Like all truly good and informed books on Wicca, Dark Moon Mysteries contains many mysteries that are not spelled out. They can only be realized by, for instance, making the mask, wearing the mask, dancing the mask, having an ongoing dialogue with the mask, etc. There are several other exercises in the book, and once again, they must actually be DONE in order to perceive the mysteries they hold. So this is not a book for the spiritual "tourist", but rather for true seekers who are willing to dive into the work of transformation and benefit by its power. Our Initiates have to work through this book once before 1st Degree, again before 2nd Degree and a third time before 3rd Degree. Each time, further mysteries are experienced and perceived. This book is not the "baby food" you'll find in hundreds of other "how to be a witch" books. Dark Moon Mysteries is the real deal. It is another great example of hiding the mysteries in plain sight, where only the earnest, diligent and perceptive reader can find them. I challenge you to dig deep with this book. You will most certainly be rewarded.

...but there's just not enough meat to it. The book is split in three parts. The first part is basically psychological and about claiming your "dark side". Throughout there are fairy tale inclusions a la Women Who Run With The Wolves and messages from "The Sage". My biggest problem is how Roderick uses many different definitons for your shadow which often conflict and contradict each other. He says your shadow is the part of your personality that you keep completely hidden from everyone including yourself. Then it is destructive actions that all can see. Then it is simply living in a way that run counter to your society's norms. I was so distracted by trying to reason out what Roderick was trying to say, and it seems like there is something worthwhile there, that nothing ended up resonating with me emotionally. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out how I could make this mean something to me and trying to get something out of it. Another problem I had was that it seemed Roderick was writing for an audience that had never done any self-analysis whatsoever or had delved at all into the darker side of spirit. I can't help but feel that most of that intended audience would not seek out this book. Those that might be attracted to it may find it too redundant or simplistic. You do have to be into new-agey, pseudo-shamanic activities to enjoy this. There are many guided meditations and arts and crafts activities incorporated. For example, first you are told to create a physical mask that represents your shadow self (I drew a sheild instead), then you make a bracelet with rattles to wear and shake whenever you catch yourself doing something negative (I adapted this into wearing a black hair band on my wrist and snapping it accordingly). Then there are parts describing the negative aspects of Wiccan-type workings, such as to the four directions, the seasons, moving widdershins, making a magic mirror, banishing spells. This can all be found in other books and won't be new to anyone except beginners. There are several pages for appendices, with lots of unused space for padding - natch. Here there are such items as recipes for "dark" oils and incenses. Wisdom oil contains cinnamon, myrrh, and lavender - buy why? Why are these ingredients used? This is what I want to know when I'm told to use them. That's not here. There is however a note to buy Cunningham's book on the subject, from the same publisher of course. If this all sounds like it might work for you, go ahead and buy it. It's not bad to have if you can get it for a big discount, simply because having all this information in one place can be a good reminder to acknowledge these energies. Otherwise, I'm sure much more detailed information can be found elsewhere.

When I first saw this book on the shelf, my first thoughts were, "Oh no, another book about casting dark and evil spells". However, upon flipping through it, I found it to be quite a different story. Upon taking it home and actually reading it, I found it to be a wonderfully different outlook on magic and the psyche.While Timothy Roderick does follow Wiccan principles such as the Rede ("Harm none"), this is a far cry from the usual light-and-faerie-dust fare of many Wicca books out these days. He uses Jungian archetypes, psychology, and historical mythology (with liberal quotes from the master of mythological studies, Joseph Campbell) to delve into the shadow self of the psyche and bring about healing and acceptance of this darker side of one's human nature. This does not mean that he is condoning evil or negativity...but is merely showing the reader how to get to the shadow self and work with it to help deal with negativity instead of supressing it.The format is a step-by-step process in which the reader is introduced to an aspect of the shadow self through a guided meditation with a fairy tale for an example, then rituals are given for each new moon to further enforce what has been learned. Later in the book, more advanced workings are introduced.Timothy's writing style is easy to follow and very straightforward while still being lyrical and very intelligent at the same time. One won't find white light workings here, but as we are reminded in this book, everyone has a dark side and balance is not achieved without working with it as well.

The truth is, I don't recall this book. I don't recall seeing it, ordering it, or reading it, much less recieving it.

This was an interesting read. I know people who criticize Roderick, but I think it's more of a writing-style issue, than an information-based criticism.Jungian tendencies, with exercises designed to encourage exploration of the Shadow.

I enjoyed reading this book and will read other books by this author!