The Twelve Wild Swans: A Journey Into Magic, Healing and Action, by Starhawk and Hilary Valentine.

Review
by Georgie Dennison
first published in Reclaiming Quarterly, Winter 2001

In the television show "Charmed" -- about three beautiful Witchy sisters living in San Francisco -- there is an old, tattered, heavy, and battered Book of Shadows. In this book lies all the secrets and training the sisters need for reclaiming and right usage of power, and saving humanity (though saving humanity only happens every third episode or so).

If this fictional spellbook were ever to be made real it might be the The Twelve Wild Swans: A Journey to the Realm of Magic, Healing, and Action. Billed as "Rituals, Exercises & Magical Training in the Reclaiming Tradition," it's written by long-time Reclaiming priestesses Starhawk and Hilary Valentine. One of the book's strengths is that it draws on the knowledge of the entire Reclaiming community. There are exercises from a number of Reclaiming teachers that add to the amazing depth of magical knowledge presented.

Those exercises allow the reader, or a coven, to practice whatever level of magic feels right. Written with compassion, humor, support, respect and love, it's perfect for beginners and those with many years of Craft experience.

The book outlines an initiatory journey by using an ancient story, "The Twelve Wild Swans,'' as its theme. It's a difficult, complicated and challenging story of a young princess, Rose, whose mother made a wicked vow that caused all of Rose's brothers to be turned into swans. After Rose asks many hard questions, she discovers the truth about her mother's wicked vow and pledges to free her brothers. Rose then leaves the castle on an initiatory journey to find the strength, guidance and courage to right a terrible injustice. As the story unravels, she discovers a guide in the Old Woman, her connection to the Wild via her swan brothers, her true self, and inner and outer powers.

The book is patterned after Reclaiming's Witchcamps, which are weeklong magical intensives offered in the U.S. and Europe. Just as at Witchcamp, there are different paths within the book: Elements, Inner and Outer. Each path mirrors an aspect of Rose's journey, with story comments setting the stage for that chapter's work, and exercises allowing the work to penetrate the reader's psyche.

Hilary Valentine wrote the Elements and Inner Path. Her surefooted voice and compassion well up as she describes the process of discovering the Elements: Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Center. Hilary is a professional gardener and her deep understanding of the natural processes shine through, as in this passage from Chapter 2, "Wandering in the Wilderness."

"For those of us trying to establish a spiritual practice based on Mother Nature, we must follow Rose's example. We do not have a book or sacred text or commandments to obey. We must 'follow our noses.' In the growth habit of every plant, in the wheeling stars, in the life patterns of every bird and animal we can find insights and lessons about the nature of our green world and of our green selves." This Elements Path is for those new to Reclaiming-style magic and those wanting to deepen their spiritual commitment and connection to an Element.

The Inner Path offers a guide to profound personal healing, to transforming those wounded place within each one of us that can block us despite our best efforts. As Hilary writes: " Magic gives us tools for self-knowledge and change.''

One of the Inner Path exercises in Chapter 3, "The Wicked Vow," offers guidance on how to break "the negatives patterns from the past." It's a ritual that uses fire to burn away those blocks. "Each person should try to write down her 'wicked vows' that never should have been made, as clearly and simply as possible, on a piece of paper that she is willing to part with. When you are all ready, prepare to burn the papers. Sing over them, chanting songs of fire, of purification, and of freedom."

The Outer Path was written by Starhawk. Its task is to "help us take our power out into the world, to offer service to our communities, and to find the strength, courage, and faith we need to confront the larger structures of domination that shape our society.'' Starhawk offers concrete guidance on answering the age-old question: Yes, but how? How to handle power issues within groups, how to handle criticism, how to let the magic carry us away to arrive safely on the opposite shore. Gender issues, diversity issues, no sacred cow is left untipped or unexamined.

The Outer Path exercise on "Anchoring to Core Worth" in Chapter One, "Leaving the Castle," is one I use repeatedly, especially in my mundane life as an editor. "In sacred space, sit, stand or lie in a relaxed position. Breathe deeply and let yourself think of the times and places in which you feel most relaxed, most yourself, when you are in touch with your inner power but don't need to use it, when you can truly let your hair down and just be who you are. Pick one situation, one place, and slowly let it fill your awareness." The exercise continues, asking you to place the situation in your body, hold it in your mind's eye and find a word or phrase that reminds you of it. Using this technique allows you to access your core state of being, where you're reminded of your core worth, with a word, a breath, a touch. This one exercise has allowed me to sidestep thousands of hours of drama in my work and home life.

The final chapter, "The Transformation," holds out the promise that each one of us can be a walker between the worlds, a voice for the wild. Rose's youngest brother still has one swan wing. He carries the mark of the Shaman, and can listen, humble and restore himself in the arms of the wild. We, too, after making this initiatory journey, will have the freedom and the power to decide if we wish to do so as well. And if some of us use this beautifully written guide to Reclaiming-style magic to choose that path, well, as we say in ritual, what is between the worlds changes all worlds.

I don't think of myself as psychic, but I do venture this prediction: This book will certainly rock many worlds. And it may even play a part in transforming our society into a more just and humane place.

copyright © 2001 by Georgeanne Dennison, all rights reserved. Reprint courtesy of Reclaiming Quarterly -- for subscription information, visit www.reclaiming.org

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