There are many books that may tell you how to cast a Wiccan circle, but none really bother to explain why. After you finished reading The Elements of Ritual, you'll know what each step of the circle-casting ceremony means, why it's there, and what it accomplishes. You'll learn several alternative approaches to each step, and you'll be empowered to write your own effective ceremonies using sound magical, theological, and pragmatic principles.

Advanced, sophisticated Witchcraft philosophy and practice
Delves further into the theology and theory of every phase of ritual, along with practical how-tos and how-not-tos, and much esoteric, hard-to-find information
Every step of ritual has at least two sample scripts, including an avant-garde example
Provides detailed instructions for writing your own ritual
Includes meditations on the deeper meanings of each phase of ritual ( )

Whether you want this book depends on what you want. If you're a practicing witch who really wants to dig in to the classic approach to ritual structure, by God(ddess), this is the book for you. If you're not a witch but you're intrigued by what I just said, you coudl give it a skim. If you're not deep into witchcraft already, this will probably read as dense, esoteric nonsense.

This will be a five-star book for the beginner or casual witch who isn't sure they really understand the rituals they read about online. ( )

This is a fabulous book! With in-depth information and exercises and rituals about the elements, it's a must-have for every witch's library. ( )