Review: The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault

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Review: The Last of the Wine by Mary Renault

At one point forever ago, the lady who babysat me when I was a kid (yes, I still talk to her) mentioned that the The Last of the Wine was one of her favorite books.  The cover had some Greek guys on it and it seemed like it might be vaguely Dionysian, so I put it on my Amazon wishlist then completely forgot about it. 

Every once in a while I’ll go through my wishlist and buy a bunch of used books.  I did this a lot when I got my social work text books.  I'd buy one super expensive text book and then three or four super cheap novels or Pagan books.  Somehow it made the sting of the cost of textbooks a little less painful.

So I ended up with The Last of the Wine years ago and I finally picked it up at the beginning of the summer and read it little by little over the past few months.  It’s a pretty dense book and actually took me a while to get through, and while it took a long time for me to get into it, I ended up really enjoying it and I’m glad I read it.

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MaryRenault is an English novelist known for her novels set in ancient Greece.  She’s not a trained Classicist, but she has an incredibly extensive knowledge of the ancient world that her not having formal University training in the Classics doesn’t seem to matter.  Renault is a pretty extraordinary woman, and I hope to read more of her works at some point (I’m especially interested in her stuff about Alexander the Great or Theseus.)

The Last of the Wine tells the story of Alexias, an athletic Athenian youth who becomes one of the students of Socrates.  The book describes his tenuous relationship with his father, the controversies surrounding his relationship with Socrates, politics of Athens, his service in the military, and his relationship with his lover and best friend, Lysis. 

I learned so much about Athenian culture and politics during the close of the Golden Age of Athens.  I hadn’t realized how much my impression of ancient Greece is really just my impression of Athens in the 5^th century BCE.  I think I had this monolithic perception of the ancient world because so much writing, lore, and knowledge that we have comes from this one specific and short time period. 

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But as much as I thought I knew, I really didn’t know anything.  I often had long conversations with my husband about the stuff that was happening in the book.  (As a Pagan, it’s incredibly useful to have a Classicist around.)  I didn’t want to read too much extra stuff because I didn’t want to get spoilers, but Renault isn’t the most clear with her writing so I found myself confused pretty often.  She’s really subtle about some things, which is cute and charming when it comes to two Greek athletes having sex on a secluded beach, but it can be aggravating when she makes a reference to somehuge political controversy that’s happening in the city and I have no idea what she’s talking about.  So, having prior knowledge of 5^th century Athens might be useful before reading this book, or maybe just read a lot of Plato (which I have not done.)

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Overall, The Last of the Wine was a charming and romantic story, full of realism, emotions, and tragedy.  I pretty much loved it, and I can’t wait until I get a chance to read more from Mary Renault.  Renault herself seems like an amazing woman, and I appreciate her daringness, her skill, and her artistry. 

Review: The Greek Qabalah – Alphabetic Mysticism and Numerology in the Ancient World by Kieren Barry

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Review: The Greek Qabalah – Alphabetic Mysticism and Numerology in the Ancient World by Kieren Barry

One of my tasks for this year is to learn the Greek Alphabet Oracle, which has very few resources, unfortunately.  One of my Druid Friends told me that someone else told her to check out The Greek Qabalah: Alphabetic Mysticism and Numerology in the Ancient World by Kieren Barry.  To be honest, I had my doubts about the title.  But I’ve read a lot of books that seemed dubious upon first impression but I ended up liking a lot upon giving them a chance, so I picked it up.

“I love that book, but his historical conclusions are tenuous,” my Bishop warned me when I asked about the book.  He pointed out that Barry is a linguist (and his skill is made evident throughout the book) but not a scholar or Classicist so his history can be a bit problematic.  I proceeded with this warning in mind.

First off, I’ll just say that this book has nothing to do with the Greek Alphabet Oracle, at least not specifically.  That said, I think it was very useful and I’m glad to have read it, though it was aggravating and boring at times.

I’m still not clear as to why Barry called this book The Greek Qabalah, because that’s not really a thing.  I think he’s using Qabalah as a generic term for a mystery system based off of symbols?  But I feel as if this doesn’t do the Greek alphabet or the real Qabalah justice.  "Alphabetic Mysticism and Numerology in the Ancient World" is much more descriptive of this book, but I guess that’s a bulky title, despite its accuracy. 

Barry starts with a little introduction and then a useful chapter that overviews the history of the Alphabet, including Egyptian hieroglyphs, linear B, cuneiform, and even proto-Sinaic symbols.  This chapter was fascinating, but brief.  It also helped that my husband is a Classicist, so I kept him on hand throughout most of the book (I only read it when he was home) so he could answer any questions I had.

Next, Barry talks about how letters have been used as numbers, then he dives into the Pythagoras, the Emerald Tablets, Egyptian steles, and the Greek Magical Papyri.  I was vaguely familiar with a lot of the stuff that Barry talks about.  I’m Neo-Wiccan, and that comes from more traditional Wicca, which comes from the Masons and the Golden Dawn, which comes from medieval alchemy, which comes from Jewish Kabbalism, which is related to early Christian Gnosticism, which comes from late Mediterranean mystery traditions, which comes from ancient Egypt, so pretty much all of this stuff is connected in one way or another.  

So, through my various studies throughout the years, I’ve come across a lot of these concepts, but never in a way that was so linear and thorough.  For example, I’ve read and studied Graeco-Egyptian Magick by Tony Mierzwicki.  This book deals with a lot of this stuff but when I first read Mierzwicki's 's book I thought he was maybe pulling that stuff out of nowhere (which is how I sometimes feel about a lot of Pagan stuff) so after reading The Greek Qabalah, I see this isn’t always true. 

Barry talks a lot about the sacred vowels and the planets and ancient numerology.  He includes chart after chart of associations that I would originally copy in my journal but then I realized that he has it all in the back, which is super cool and very useful and I appreciate it.  He then talks about the Gnostics(and I didn’t get offended!), the Romans, Christians, Neoplatonists, and Jews.  He overviews how each of these groups of people (or belief systems) used the Greek Alphabet in regards to mysticism and numerology, which was really cool but eventually got tedious. 

I appreciate this book for the foundation it gave me, but I have yet to see if it has anything to do with the Greek Alphabet Oracle.  I do appreciate the dozens of pages of charts that Kieren Barry included, though.  And I appreciate the depth of his survey of Mediterranean mysticism, magic, and numerology.  This book isn’t for everyone, but I’d recommend it to a geek who wants to learn more about some foundational occult lore.

Review: Dionysos – Exciter to Frenzy by Vikki Bramshaw

Review: Dionysos – Exciter to Frenzy by Vikki Bramshaw

This past winter I took a short online class that focused on how to build a devotional relationship with Dionysus.  It was a pretty good class, facilitated by a pretty well-known Dionysian, Sannion from the House of Vines.  While taking the class I read a lot of books I had on Dionysus that I had been meaning to get to for years.

When I first downloaded the book, I actually hadn’t been too excited about Dionysos: Exciter to Frenzy.  I had been pretty convinced that the book had been self-published and I’ve read some really ridiculous self-published books (the one I’m reading now, Spirituality from the Stars, is a doozy).  But I found out later that Exciter to Frenzy is published through Avalonia books, an independent publisher that looks like it has a few cool titles.  

from Dionysos: Exciter to Frenzy

And I'm sorry if it's mean but some of the sketches that are included in Exciter to Frenzy are a bit goofy looking.  I was really expecting a shitty book that was full of UPGs and shenanigans.  But Exciter to Frenzy had recently been published (December 2013) and it was generating some buzz in some of my on-line stomping grounds, so I figured I’d give it a chance. 

I wasn’t too impressed with the introduction.  I didn’t want to read a book about someone’s experience with Dionysus when there are five billion blogs out there I already follow who all talk about the same thing.  But as I got into the book, I was so glad that I had given it a chance!  All of my initial misgivings were unfounded, and Dionysos: Exciter to Frenzy, ended up being the perfect book to compliment my other Dionysus studies and round out my knowledge of the God.

from Dionysos: Exciter to Frenzy

Vikki Bramshaw tells a thorough story of Dionysus, including his ancient origins, animal and food associations, cults, myths, names, birth, life, death, family, and even calendar and holidays.  Each chapter includes a wealth of quotes and information from ancient source materials, and her bibliography is quite extensive and impressive.  She pretty much does a huge survey of Dionysus in Ancient Greece, and she manages to present the wealth of information in a useful linear narrative. 

This book took me a while to get through, probably because it was so dense.  But it was easy to read a chapter here and there, which extended my time with the book but really gave time for me to sit with the material.  I hadn’t been looking for something to drastically change my devotional practices, and this book gave me exactly what I wanted without me even realizing that sit was exactly what I needed.  I know so much more about Dionysus and the people who worshiped him.  I have a much better idea about the ways that he was worshiped.  I understand his names and associations so much better than I did before, and most of all, I really appreciate Bramshaw’s use of source materials for this book.

So, overall, this book was excellent and useful, and I’d recommend it to anyone who wants to deeper their knowledge and understanding of this enigmatic deity  Vikki Bramshaw is a true scholar who pays attention to detail but still approaches Deity with respect and reverence.  I can't wait to check out some of her other books, especially her piece on Hecate!

Be sure to check out my other Dionysus-themed book reviews!

The Story of Bacchus by Andrew Dalby

Dionysus: Myth and Cult by Walter F. Otto

Review – Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions by Richard Smoley and Jay Kinney

 Review – Hidden Wisdom: A Guide to the Western Inner Traditions by Richard Smoley and Jay Kinney

I’ve been reading this book literally for years. It’s not very long or dense, but we picked it up for our Pagan Book Club back in the day. For some reason or another I was never able to finish it, until now. Aside from my 1-billion-year hiatus (I started it in July of 2011) from this book, I actually really adored it. Loved it, in fact. I’d recommend it to anyone!

Hidden Wisdom basically looks at many Western mystery traditions and offers a short survey of their history, basic beliefs, controversies, and mythology. The authors point out that in modern Western society, we often look to the East for our mysticism (India and China, mostly.) While they recognize that lots of great things have come from the East, they encourage Westerners to examine their own mystery traditions, too. There’s so much there to be proud of!

They also wanted to write a book to help people within the New Agey communities to understand the roots of the modern mystic movements. Smoley and Kinney did a great job of keeping their book on track with these goals, and because of this, I think it would be fabulous as a foundational or beginners book to those who are interested in Mysticism or the spiritual side of New Age thought or even Paganism. They really do a great job of laying out the basics, adding a lot of context and history that is otherwise missing from many New Age or Pagan resources.

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They introduce the book with a discussion about mysticism, mystic movements, and trends in mystic spirituality. Next they dive into some of the foundational roots of modern mysticism – Carl Jung, Gnosticism, Esoteric Christianity, Sufism, the Kabbalah, and Ceremonial Magic. They then move into Neo-Paganism and modern Shamanism. Things get really interesting when they start to introduce some of those mystic and New Age movements that were quiet influential, but perhaps not well-known. I personally loved reading about Hermeticism and Alchemy, G. I. Gardjieff, and Secret Societies.

All of these movements have been incredibly influential on modern mystic thought. I personally knew a bit about most (but not all!) of the chapters. Through spanning so many topics, there’s something in Hidden Wisdom for everyone. Those chapters that were familiar topics to me (Gnosticism, Jung, Neo-Paganism) offered a great review and refresher. When it came to the chapters on Ceremonial Magic, G. I. Gardjieff, and Hermeticism, I found every word and concept to be fascinating. These thoughts were totally new to me, and it was great to read about something that I’d never heard of before.

Smoley and Kinney did a great job of offering lots of information without bogging the book down. And while I’m sure they missed some key ideas here or there, I didn’t feel like anything vital was lacking. There’s just enough to get the general idea and to gain an appreciation of the topics being discussed. Furthermore, each section has quite an extensive list of sources and resources, which is quiet excellent for those who would like to learn more about a specific topic.

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As a minister, I’d recommend this book for those who don’t understand where I personally come from spiritually. I have a heavily Gnostic foundation to my outlook on mystical matters, and this has been confusing for some people. Hidden Wisdom would be a great book to clear up some of the confusion, without overwhelming someone with Gnostic dogma (for any Gnostic who is reading this, it made me laugh to type out the words “Gnostic Dogma.”)

As a Neo-Pagan Priestess, I’d love to use this book with people who I am mentoring. While most of the mentoring I’ve done has been basic Pagan 101 stuff, this book would be a good one to explain the more mystic and spiritual aspects of where Neo-Pagans are coming from. Furthermore, it offers a very good history of the roots of modern Neo-Paganism. We’re not just modified Wicca. We have roots in all of these mystery traditions – in the philosophies of Jung, in the ideals of Gardjieff, in the dreams of the Alchemists. And yes, we even have very clear connections to Gnosticism and Mystic Christianity.

So, I pretty much loved this book. I’m a little embarrassed that it took me so long to read, but that’s my fault, and not the fault of Smoley or Kinney.