"Wicca by Anastasia Greywolf" is a comprehensive guide to the practice of Wicca. It provides readers with a detailed overview of this ancient pagan religion, including its history, beliefs, and rituals. The book also delves into the various tools and practices that are commonly used in Wiccan traditions. One of the main ideas of this book is the emphasis on the natural world and the interconnectedness of all living things. Wicca is a nature-based religion that recognizes the sacredness of the earth and the importance of living in harmony with the natural cycles and rhythms. The author highlights the significance of respecting and appreciating the environment, as well as engaging in practices that promote sustainability and ecological awareness.
That scene, and so many others in this movie that's celebrating its 20th anniversary on July 14, speak to not only Donahue's pushy, arrogant documentarian and the emotional tourists it indicted, but the behind-the-scenes making of a widely influential, low-budget horror classic. Famously, its actors were dropped into the woods and encouraged to improvise while being regularly fucked with by the filmmakers, which led to scenes of terror so authentic and pulse-pounding that Blair Witch sits among the greatest showbiz hoaxes of the 21st century, from Orson Welles' War of the Worlds to cult flicks like 1980's still-shocking Cannibal Holocaust.
Its status as an iconic horror film and cultural touchstone is so solidified and secure that not only can you not build upon it, you can t destroy it either. It constantly switches up its pacing in an attempt to align multiple creative visions but gives no thought to any of them, and any attempt to give service to Berlinger s satirical mission statement is interrupted by a garish and awkward flash-forward or scare.
The author highlights the significance of respecting and appreciating the environment, as well as engaging in practices that promote sustainability and ecological awareness. Another key aspect of Wicca explored in the book is the concept of magic. Wiccans believe in the power of intention and the ability to manifest change through ritual and spellwork.
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 (2000)
By the time the 90s were coming to an end, the horror franchise landscape as the public and producers had known it was changing. The established icons – Freddy, Jason, Chucky, and ol’ Michael Myers – were still relatively strong coming out of the 80s, but towards the end of the next decade things had taken an obvious downward turn. Friday the 13th had stayed long past its welcome, A Nightmare on Elm Street had ended then started up again to mixed results, Don Mancini was beginning to take Child’s Play in interesting but slightly alienating directions, and Halloween was simply flailing for any kind of direction at all. The only new horror properties to make an immediate impact on the scene in the 90s were Scream , with its meta-slasher commentary resonating greatly with a newly media savvy generation, and horror’s preeminent Cinderella story, The Blair Witch Project . So, when documentary filmmaker Joe Berlinger presented the idea of a Blair Witch sequel that would serve as a meta-satire of its own success and controversy, the folks at Artisan Entertainment were probably seeing cartoon dollar signs at the idea of combining two of the decade’s biggest money-makers.
If you’re reading this, or if you’re even kind of a horror fan, I doubt I need to explain what the whole deal with The Blair Witch Project is. You probably also know that what it achieved with its marketing and blurring of the line between reality and fiction was a lightning in a bottle event that doesn’t really lend itself to sequels or franchising. In fact, Berlinger wasn’t even considering making a Blair Witch sequel until he was approached with the idea during a meeting for an entirely different project, and one can only imagine the studio tapped him, a documentarian, for the film because his breakout feature about the West Memphis Three included murder, a forest, and (falsely assumed) satanic pretenses. Berlinger accepted the job anyway, and given the fact that his documentary background led him to be both disgusted and intrigued with the original Blair Witch’s assertion of itself as legitimate “found footage”, his vision for a sequel involved him analyzing and satirizing that aspect of the film and the public’s reaction to it.
Of course, when you actually watch the finished product, you would have no clue that this was the original intention. There are bits and pieces of Berlinger’s original ideas to be found in Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2 , like the film opening with interviews with the townsfolk of Burkittsville who have been affected by the town becoming a tourist attraction after Blair Witch’s success, and the main cast being Blair Witch obsessives from different backgrounds as they collectively lose their minds in their own hunt for the Witch. Everything else, though, is positively, absolutely miserable.
The credits open with “Disposable Teens” by noted monster Marilyn Manson, who also ran an internet contest where the grand prize was watching the premiere of the film with Manson himself; The film, which is meant to comment on the original’s manipulation of its non-fiction facade, was preceded by a short “documentary” that insisted the plot of Blair Witch 2 were based on real events; The structure of the plot is so nonlinear that it practically makes no fucking sense; There’s a limp-dick version of an ARG on the DVD releases where the viewer is meant to catch hidden words throughout the film, decode the words into a sentence, and enter the sentence on a website to be rewarded with an extra scene from this dipshit movie.
The Marilyn Manson-headlined soundtrack is gaudy, but of the time; The documentary and the ARG are downright insulting. I understand that the advent of the internet meant there was a new marketing space to play in for parties of interest, but attempting to recreate the mystery surrounding the first film while using an obviously fictional story reeks of desperation. Artisan figured that the thing that made The Blair Witch Project so successful was the fact that people got to play a little game with their movie and neglected to take any lessons from the idea that the ominous and ambiguous marketing of it worked because it went hand in hand with the tone of the film. Like a lot of companies at the time, they thought that incorporating the internet into your campaign was toner for the money printer, but having a spooky website for your movie doesn’t work if the movie’s no good.
That’s just the stuff that happens outside of the film. The movie itself is a corny mishmash of tropes and aesthetics that doesn’t even hold value for an “ironic” watch. It constantly switches up its pacing in an attempt to align multiple creative visions but gives no thought to any of them, and any attempt to give service to Berlinger’s satirical mission statement is interrupted by a garish and awkward flash-forward or scare. The surface level meta aspect of the film is absolutely toothless, and any message about the exploitation of the Blair Witch moment becomes squashed by the film and its marketing’s own obvious exploitation of the Blair Witch moment. It’s just a mess, and not a fun one either.
It probably wouldn’t surprise you to know that absolutely none of this aligned with what Berlinger had originally created, right down to the opening credits song. Berlinger’s original cut was linearly told and focused on the psychological spirals of the main characters, who themselves were symbols of the different kinds of Blair Witch obsessives: an opportunistic merchandise monger, academics with a historical interest in the Blair Witch , a wiccan slighted by the original’s presentation of witches, and a goth girl (I’m not as sure where this one fits, I guess the goths love Blair Witch?). The studio decided, however, that this was not going to work, and mangled the film in post-production at the eleventh hour. This not only included completely mutilating the plot sequencing but also adding in more “horror” elements, like having the main cast brutally murder another group of tourists to fulfill the gore quotient that Artisan felt it needed.
Blair Witch 2 is so hilariously antithetical to everything that made the original successful and beloved that it feels mean-spirited, and not just in the bleak corporate way. It almost becomes its own work of satire by virtue of its own mere existence; Its grotesque use of 2000s horror tropes and the sham attempt at a copycat marketing gimmick put it on the verge of parody. The version of the film we got is like if you asked the most jaded horror fan to write their nightmare idea of a Blair Witch sequel, the absolute worst case scenario for a corporate cash-in. It says next to nothing about the legacy or social phenomenon cause by the original, but it inadvertently says a whole lot about how the money-movers of the industry view horror as a vessel for trends and cultural signifiers, playing incompetent prospector mining for gold in dry rivers and mountains that are stripped bare the moment something fresh and original makes waves at the box office.
Ultimately, you have to feel sympathy for Joe Berlinger. He tried to tackle an impossible task with a creative angle, and rather than try and capitalize on the original’s aesthetics he decided to try and do something new. It’s unknown whether Berlinger’s original cut would have been any good or not, and there have been a few fancuts that have sought to confirm or deny this, but at the very least it would have been something unique with a vision to be fulfilled. The venture was really doomed from the start, but as the name behind the project, Berlinger was left holding the bag when the critics started baring their teeth. He was the fall guy for an entire prospective franchise evaporating before the world’s eyes.
Because of that, though, I almost have a sort of gratitude for Blair Witch 2 . Its critical lashing and lukewarm return not only cemented this as Joe Berlinger’s one and only foray into fiction filmmaking but also slaughtered any notion of turning Blair Witch into a legitimate horror franchise. It’s such a shameful cultural product that there’s probably a lot of people that don’t know it even exists, let alone that it fucking sucks. The property would lay dormant until Adam Wingard’s aggressively mid 2016 reboot/sequel/whatever and a 2019 video game, but neither of those products have been able to make lightning strike twice. It makes you appreciate The Blair Witch Project that much more as a singular, gargantuan entity. Its status as an iconic horror film and cultural touchstone is so solidified and secure that not only can you not build upon it, you can’t destroy it either.
I think there will be a point where people look back at this movie and try to do that thing where they try to call it misunderstood or prescient or underrated, but make no mistake: Blair Witch 2 is bad. Very bad. So bad that it doesn’t even work in retrospective viewings as a charming piece of late 90s kitsch; It’s got nothing and it’s an absolute bore. The only redeeming qualities in this work are purely theoretical, a great “What If” for the horror genre but nothing more. Its presence as a cultural document is interesting if only as a warning for any bright-eyed filmmakers who want to try and do something with this franchise. You can give credit to Berlinger for his original idea, but anything further than that is essentially carrying water for a production company that seemingly hated that idea in the first place. The Blair Witch Project is always gonna be there, so just appreciate that instead.
That’s just the stuff that happens outside of the film. The movie itself is a corny mishmash of tropes and aesthetics that doesn’t even hold value for an “ironic” watch. It constantly switches up its pacing in an attempt to align multiple creative visions but gives no thought to any of them, and any attempt to give service to Berlinger’s satirical mission statement is interrupted by a garish and awkward flash-forward or scare. The surface level meta aspect of the film is absolutely toothless, and any message about the exploitation of the Blair Witch moment becomes squashed by the film and its marketing’s own obvious exploitation of the Blair Witch moment. It’s just a mess, and not a fun one either.
Greywolf provides in-depth explanations of different magical techniques, such as visualization, meditation, and spellcasting, enabling readers to understand and incorporate these practices into their own spiritual journey. The book also touches upon the significance of the Wiccan holidays and celebrations that mark the changing seasons. These festivals, known as Sabbats, are observed throughout the year and provide opportunities for Wiccans to connect with the natural world and celebrate the cycles of life. The author provides guidance on how to honor and celebrate these Sabbats, including suggestions for rituals, spells, and correspondences. In addition, "Wicca by Anastasia Greywolf" addresses the importance of personal growth and self-discovery within the Wiccan path. It encourages readers to explore their own spirituality, develop their intuitive abilities, and empower themselves through the practice of Wicca. The book offers guidance on connecting with deity, finding personal symbols and correspondences, and cultivating a deeper understanding of oneself and one's spiritual journey. Overall, "Wicca by Anastasia Greywolf" serves as a comprehensive resource for those interested in exploring the practice of Wicca. It provides a wealth of information and practical advice, enabling readers to deepen their understanding of this ancient religion and forge their own spiritual path based on its principles..
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