Dorothy Louise Abrams - Identity and the Quartered Circle: Studies in Applied Wicca

From the basics of Harm None to the intricacies of working with spirits, elementals, divination, sacred geometry and so much more with a strong moral code of ethics, this is a must have book for the library of any witch! I wish I had this book 40 years ago!

Marie Snow Taber, aka the Ditch Witch

Herbalist, owner of Earthcraftyr Handcrafted Gifts From Natures Bounty

Identity and The Quartered Circle is a watershed book for advanced students (and a challenging one for some new seekers). It leads us from the ordinary manner of being into a world of glorious possibilities using all our faculties, not just our spiritual aspects.

Elspeth Odbert, co-founder of The Haven Way in West Virginia, teacher and storyteller, author of Gylantras Journey, The Challenge, and related audio CDs: Out of the Forest and Gylantras Legacy.

To all seekers of their authentic Selves and lovers of Earths magic and mystery, there is no better way-shower than Dorothy Abrams. In Identity and the Quartered Circle she has distilled years of metaphysical and spiritual teaching into a comprehensive and accessible guide to the deep re-membering of who we are. No matter if one is new or seasoned on this path, what awaits the reader is a treasure trove of information, engaging stories, compelling practices

Carol Ohmart-Behan, is a writer and teacher of Earth-wisdom through Labyrinth and Sacred Pilgrimage with resonant connections to Glastonbury, UK the ancient Isle of Avalon. Her website is http://goldenspiraljourney.com

Dorothy Abrams brings all the wisdom and insight of a shamanic practitioner and Wiccan priestess into the modern world with computers and the internet. This form of paganism is all-inclusive, humanistic and traditional, as well as very modern; focused on spiritual evolution of the soul and enlightenment of the self. Is it honest, is it helpful, is it kind? Yes, Identity and the Quartered Circle is all that and so very much more!

Virginia R. Waldron, director and founder of the RoseHeart Center, Fayetteville NY, certified consulting hypnotist and accredited instructor in past life regression through IBRT. Virginia is also certified in Life Between Lives and Spiritual Regression, through The Michael Newton Institute. She teaches classes in Angelology, Reincarnation and Past Lives, Self-Hypnosis, Meditation, and Working with Your Spirit Guides and Angels.

In Identity and the Quartered Circle: Studies in Applied Wicca, Dorothy L. Abrams brings her extensive experience in teaching to the written page in a way that systematically introduces us to the world of Wicca. The book encourages us to go deeper into a relationship with ourselves, Gods and Goddesses, eventually completing the circle. Through multicultural examples, stories and ritual she walks us through the spiral of Wicca Life.

David Bennett, author of Voyage of Purpose: Spiritual Wisdom from Near-Death back to Life. www.DharmaTalks.com

Speaking to the reader in terms which explain, reassure and entice, Dorothy Abrams plentiful academic and historical references illuminate the ground rules of this mysterious and complex subject.

Mano Mannaz, Avalon EarthKeeper in Glastonbury, visionary artist and author of The Truth Sings in Circles

No book is written in a vacuum. No writer does this by herself. In my quest for identity, my education and support team comes mostly from the Web PATH Center, the spiritual community I founded in 1994 with my partner Merlin and some other brave souls who shared in the dream. Some people involved in the Web PATH Center have left, returned, joined in as newbies, started their own groups, and broken away to do other things. Each one of them has a piece of this book. We started this community as a teaching circle, and that is what it still is. A teaching circle in the Pagan world is a church in the Christian world. We come together to celebrate sacred events; we love and support each other; we teach our children and each other; we explore what it means to be human and spirit; and we embrace the Divine. None of us are finished learning yet. I am grateful for every single soul who came through the Web. Every one of you brought a blessing. Every one of you taught me something. There are hundreds of you. By these words I honor every single one.

I told Sapphire, our Web Council Chair, in 2012 that I did not dare mention any one by name in the acknowledgments because as soon as I did, others would be left out. Still, a few names need special mention because they have helped in the specific construction of this book.

Let me start with Sapphire, Diane VanNorman, who helps me keep hearth and home together so I can be free to write. There would be no book without her. She is also one of the individuals who stepped up to assume leadership duties in the Web PATH Center because it needed to be done. Amber and ehLorhylii are two other Council officers, but only two of many who have taken on the Webwork while I write.

Teachers for Web classes also played an important role in making this a book. Ditchy, Ravija, Pegqua, Satira, Elise, Leviathon, Shadow Dancer, Stonelight Weaver, Galadrial, SoftMoonRising, Silver Lightning, and many more brought their own insights to classes taught in our sun room while I wrote this book in the office. Before that, Soft MoonRising, Avian, Snowfire, Equinox, Lilith, Akosua and others helped design parts of the original teaching modules. Some of your ideas are in this book. I appreciate that contribution and recognize this was a common dream.

I also thank Katrina Schell who read my manuscript and gave me praise and advice on how to improve it. I respect her academics and know it is a better book with far fewer capital letters because of her.

I want to recognize Lydia Rosell from Auburn NY. She was our first teacher when Merlin and I asked the first questions about Witches and celebrating the moon. She took Merlin and I into her sacred circle and encouraged us to trust our instincts. She pointed us to books and answered our questions. She modeled magical living. She taught us how to conduct a ritual. She lives openly as a Witch and never blinks. She is a friend, a mentor and a teacher. This book would not have been a glimmer in my imagination if it were not for Lydia.

That is also true of my partner Merlin aka Eric Anthony Reynolds. He has been my priest in ritual, my man-in-black, my co-teacher, a healer and ethicist from the beginning of our path. I thank and praise him for his wisdom in our work. He has supported me in the hard times, evaluated my writing, proof-read and given me feedback. He offers brutal honesty when a turn of phrase rings false or flowery. He puts big question marks in the margin if my writing is too obscure. He insists on shared power, polarity and the balance of male and female energy, and he fixes things. He fixes cars. He repairs plumbing. He maintains equipment, welds, woodworks, and makes the computer printer talk to the computer. He dreams big. He discusses ideas in the hot tub and pushes them farther when they need to grow. He slows my rushing thoughts down when I am ready to take off on a tangent. He asks questions and answers them. He trusts me and he loves me. I am a lucky Witch and I know it. Now you do too.