Title: The Inner City Path
Author: Melusine Draco
Publisher: Moon Books
Publishing Date: October 1, 2020
Pages: 88
Pagan Portals - The Inner-City Path: A Simple Pagan Guide to Well-Being and Awareness was inspired by Chet Raymo's book of similar title that chronicled his own daily urban walk to work and his observing the seasonal changes with a scientist's curiosity.
The Inner-City Path is written from a pagan perspective, for those times when we take to our local urban paths as part of our daily fitness regime or dog walk.
It is based on several urban walks that have merged together over the years to make up a book of the seasons and offers a glimpse into the pagan mind-set that can find mystery under every leaf and rock along the way.
A simple guide to achieving a sense of well-being and awareness.
A big thank you to the publisher for gifting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! I'm always so thankful to have these opportunities!
The only major issue I have with this is the author's quips on millennials right in the introduction. I don't find it to add to the conversation, and has no place in this book. I'm wondering why it was kept in.
Draco tries to spin it as we're all products of our times and places, but the thoughts are clunky here, and could be streamlined without knocking a significant demographic that is most likely purchasing your books.
About the Author
This Pagan Portals is on the smaller end, clocking in at just 88 pages. We have 5 chapters - I've noticed Draco's books seems to have around 5 chapters each. The intro chapter is titled "Getting Out There" and then the other 4 are based on the seasons of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. Each chapter also has an exercise listed that corresponds to the season - Spring has "A Sense of Awareness," for example.
The only major issue I have with this is the author's quips on millennials right in the introduction. I don't find it to add to the conversation, and has no place in this book. I'm wondering why it was kept in.
Draco tries to spin it as we're all products of our times and places, but the thoughts are clunky here, and could be streamlined without knocking a significant demographic that is most likely purchasing your books.
The section I'm critiquing found below:
"Generally speaking, witches and pagans come in all shapes
and sizes from baby-boomers to millennials and each one is
a product of their own generation, complete with all its fads,
quirks, foibles and urban myths. By and large, for an older
witch, a sense of well-being and awareness focuses on a need for
inner harmony and being at peace with what they’ve achieved
thus far in life, while looking forward to whatever challenges
the future throws at them. For the younger variety, their sense
of well-being and awareness is often preaching the gospel via
social media (in all its many forms and contradictions) that has
frequently made them appear less tolerant, more judgemental,
and possibly a tad too obsessed with bodily functions. We are
all a product of our Age ... all as different as Nature intended
... even town and city dwellers may have unconscious pagan
leanings."
After reading that I found I had to put the book away for a bit before continuing on, so that I wouldn't be reading with perpetual stink side-eye. As a book that's supposed to be dealing with Inner-City living I just don't see how this fits in. It almost reads as if the older generation is somehow inherently better, which rubs me the wrong way. Maybe I'm taking it too personally.
Oh well.
After giving this author a few tries it looks like I just don't mesh well with her style of writing and won't be reviewing any more material of hers.
About the Author
Mélusine Draco originally trained in the magical arts of traditional British Old Craft with Bob and Mériém Clay-Egerton.
She has been a magical and spiritual instructor for over 20 years with Coven of the Scales and the Temple of Khem, and writer of numerous popular books including Liber Agyptius: the Book of Egyptian Magic; The Egyptian Book of Days; The Egyptian Book of Nights; The Thelemic Handbook; The Hollow Tree, an elementary guide to the Qabalah; A Witch's Treasury of the Countryside; Root & Branch: British Magical Tree Lore and Starchild: a rediscovery of stellar wisdom.
Her highly individualistic teaching methods and writing draws on ancient sources supported by academic texts and current archaeological findings. She now lives in Ireland near the Galtee Mountains and has several titles currently published with John Hunt Publishing including the Traditional Witchcraft series.
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