The Pagan’s Muse: Words of Ritual, Invocation, and Inspiration

Review by EmBee for The Pagan’s Muse: Words of Ritual, Invocation, and Inspiration
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I came to this anthology fresh from a beyond-words-awful book claiming to contain prayers for pagans. This was much more what I had in mind (remember Earth Prayers?). I don’t like every single entry, and I found the use of quotations from the Charge as chapter titles inexplicably irritating. But overall, it’s a lovely collection of spiritual and thoughtful moments. It’s well worth the price, and I hope it will birth some spiritual children. This kind of collection is a welcome addition to a genre – the literature of the Craft – that spawns a lot of bad writing.

Review by Jen for The Pagan’s Muse: Words of Ritual, Invocation, and Inspiration
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I was very intrigued when I heard that Jane Raeburn was editing an anthology of pagan poetry because I am a literature professor as well as a practicing Wiccan. I am not published in this anthology, but if I had heard about it before the deadline for submissions I would have summit my own work. This allows me to approach the book objectively, unlike some who are shamefully plugging their own work.
Before I read the anthology I was worried that it would be filled with the usual trite and didactic verse one would in find half rate newsletters, as well as Ravenwolf books, but I was pleasantly surprised to find a large variety of talent. I was also excited to see reprints of Yeats and Wordsworth published in the book; however, I was a little surprised to see them over William Blake, who often used paganism in his writing.
Though many poems in this anthology are quite good, there were still the inevitable cliché poems in which every line began with “goddess of.” Despite the triteness of a large number of the poems, some poets were remarkable. A few that remain in my mind after finishing are Dennis Saleh, Sarah Brown Weitzman, Charlotte Hussey, Art Schwartz, Danny DiCrispino, and Nattalie J. Case. These six poets are among my favorites and have a great future in poetry. There are a number of other great poets to read as well.It is worth the buy

Review by J. Robertson for The Pagan’s Muse: Words of Ritual, Invocation, and Inspiration
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The Pagan’s Muse is a very enjoyable collection of pagan-oriented writing, presented in a quality hardback format. The writing is approachable &, I believe, ultimately something that even your run-of-the-mill non-pagan poetry aficionado will be able to appreciate. I agree with another reviewer that, as a result of having multiple poems on the same page, things do feel a bit cramped; however, you quickly acclimate to the format & it is not an unusual one for a poetry compilation of this type.I think my only real disappointment with this book is that there isn’t more editoral commentary to tie things together a bit more…::Contents::
“Thine Inmost Divine Self”: An Introduction to Pagan Poetry 1. “I Have Been with Thee from the Beginning”: Poems of Ritual & Devotion
2. “Beauty of the Green Earth”: Poems of Nature
3. “Thou Who Thinkest to Seek for Me”: Poems of Invocation
4. “Power and Compassion”: Rites of Passage
5. “To Me All Things Return”: Poems of Grief and Remembrance
6. “All Acts of Love and Pleasure”: Poems of Passion
7. “To Learn All Sorcery”: Poems of Magic
8. “Mirth and Reverence”: Poems of Laughter
9. “Dance, Sing, Feast”: Chants and Songs