The Rede of the Wiccae by Robert Mathiesen and Teitic © 2005

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The Rede of the Wiccae  by Robert Mathiesen and Teitic  © 2005  Olympian Press  ISBN  0-979013-2-1   Paperback   167 pages             $22.95  (U.S.)

I could claim that I have waited for this book to be written, and that would be true in general.  Thirty years ago, as I began my studies of Alexandrian Craft, I had seen Lady Gwen’s original article in Green Egg (I was a member of a CAW Nest in Chicago, and my nest-mate, fellow student, and friend John P. gifted me with a batch of back issues of the  Egg and I carried on from there).  At the time the “grandmother story” was starting to become a cliché and, since most such claims could not be verified they were taken with a grain (or more) of salt.

The first quarter of this work is devoted to the background of Lady Gwen Thompson and her ancestry. Last half of the book is devoted to the genealogical records supporting the work laid out in the first part of the book, so only about one quarter of the book is actually devoted to the “Rede”.

The meat of the book addresses the potential sources of the information contained in the “Rede”.  There are no hard and fast conclusions possible, since family histories are, most often, carried down by word of mouth, and errors can creep into the telling.  It is shown that Lady Gwen’s family had the potential of having connections which could have led to them being considered witches.  They definitely had the chance to follow such pursuits.

If you want a book which will give you the history of “Rede”, I’m afraid you will disappointed.  There is no one history of the “Rede”, since there is no one “Rede”.  Each tradition may have its own particular take, and each family tradition will have their own bits of wisdom which will be passed down.

Having said that, I found the book fascinating.  The fact that I am interested in genealogy may have helped me to form that opinion.  Still, it would be nice if more groups would work with academically qualified individuals to document their history before the information disappears.

There is a paper listing errors that have been caught between the printing of the book and the mailing out of it.  There aren’t a whole lot them, and I only found one that the editors had missed.

This is an excellent book, which deserves to be read by students of the Craft, Traditionalist, fam-trads, Solitaries and New-Agers all.

 

 

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