Lora OBrien - Irish Witchcraft from an Irish Witch: True to the Heart

Lora OBrien has written a book that is both dead serious in tone and punctuated with her Irish wit. This is not a book for fluffy bunnies, wanna-bes, Charmed fans, et al. This is the experience of a woman who is Irish and a witch, and lives it. She pushes aside layers of blatant and not so blatant misinformation on being Irish and being a witch. While realising we cannot all move to Ireland and pick up the language, we can understand the experience she shares with us on being as authentic as possible.

In a lot of ways, her approach is akin to Ray Buckland in his groundbreaking books, The Complete Book of Witchcraft and The Tree. Buckland had to dispel stereotypes and Rumours of orgies, drug/alcohol consumption, black mass, etc. As that has largely been cleared away thru the pagan/witch community, the new stereotypes-instant gratification, fancy, meaningless titles, spinning burning times icons, and using magick indiscriminately have to be dispelled to see the real soul of the Witch-not the trappings of Pentacles, Inc.

OBrien covers sabbats, stages of the Witchs life, persecution, sacred sites, and deities. This book is a serious look at herself, her tradition and her future. Its also worth a look as your future, too.

I cannot recommend this book enough. If you are a serious witch, youll see some of yourself here and find new doors in your soul to explore. If you are looking to become a serious witch, and are ready to drop the party games, this book will help you map your escape route. I read a lot of books. I attend lectures, teach, and just chat with others about our faith and craft. This book is destined to become a modern classic. You may not agree with everything, but youve got a real friend in this opus.

This is such a refreshing and inspirational take on understanding what it is to be a witch. OBrien gets to the point and lets readers know that this is not the fluffy path of new agers, and that being a witch takes work and dedication to understanding the world around you. She lets people know that you can just pick and choose what you like and dont like until you understand the significance of all aspects of witchcraft. New Age Wiccans are apt to call themselves eclectic when, it seems, they just dont want to make the effort to know why some things work for them, and some dont.

OBrien makes things simple for the reader: know the history, know the things from which you draw power, understand why we celebrate certain times and not others, and make this a part of your everyday life.

Reading this book has focused my path and given me better understanding of what I need to learn, and what I didnt know. For me, in this book, OBrien was like the teacher who said, forget all those books; go out and learn what its really about. If I ever get the chance to thank her in person, I will happily buy the pints.

I read OBriens Irish Witchcraft from an Irish Witch in the mid-00s when it came out, and that as well as the later book A Practical Guide to Irish Spirituality, and found both to be essential in shaping my personal practice.

Its no secret that I started in neopagan witchcraft in the early 90s, segued into Celtic Reconstructionism with an Irish focus in the later 90s, and by the later 2000s had moved into a witchcraft that incorporated aspects of Reconstructionism with the fairy faith.

But prior to reading Irish Witchcraft From An Irish Witch I had always kept my CR and my witchcraft compartmentalised, something that caused me a lot of unhappiness if Im being honest; it was this book and its follow up that began opening my eyes to the idea that it was possible to find a respectful way to blend all of the aspects of my spirituality into a cohesive whole.

Oh this book.

Its the end of 2018 as I write this preface, and Ive had the publishing rights back from the original publisher for quite a while. To be honest, Ive been dragging my heels on getting it in print again, despite it being one of the most frequent requests I get.

Dont get me wrong, I dont hate it or anything. Its just, I was so VERY young when I wrote it. 26 years old when it was first published, and in such a different place in my life. Of course Ive grown and changed since then. Of course my personal practice has changed significantly it would be really weird and kinda sad if it hadnt, right?

Going deeper into the original lore of Ireland gave me a connection I didnt have then, even after growing up here and wading through the magic of Ireland my whole life. Digging through digital manuscripts and academic papers and books that weighed more than my kids did, all gave me an insight that shifted my personal practice into a thing that is almost a part of the land itself. And then I spent a good number of years working professionally as a Guardian (manager, they called it, but whatever) at Cruachn - Rathcroghan - and that changed me even more.

So yeah. Im in a different place right now.

For a long time it made me ashamed of this work. Like Id done something wrong, or at least - not good enough - in writing it. I mean, that probably says as much about my mental state and issues back then as it did about anything else, but there you go.

I began to travel to teach, and people would rave at me about how this book changed their perspective, their practice, their life. And Id be mortified, because I thought I should have written it so much better, helped them so much more.

Until one of those conversations that stops you in your tracks, or maybe derails you a little. But in a good way, because the tracks were laid all wrong. I met a woman called Victoria at PantheaCon in California, my first year out there, and after a long day of feeling that embarrassment as folks talked about this book, I confessed to her that I didnt like it. That I should have done better. That Id like to take it back and re-write it completely.