Which One's Witch (Witch Amongst Us: The Autobiography of a Witch - Lois Bourne)

Member Name: Mad_Wicca

Product:	Witch Amongst Us: The Autobiography of a Witch - Lois Bourne
Date:	30/08/01 (108 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Dispels many myths, A positive message to all

Disadvantages: I think it may be hard to come by

I'm one of those people who believe that if you wait long enough whatever it is you need will find it's way to you. So, when my sister knocked on my door one day and said, 'I thought you might be interested in this,' and thrust a book into my hands with the title 'Witch Amongst Us: The Autobiography of a Witch, by Lois Bourne', I knew it was just what I had been waiting for.

That night I settled down to read it, and was still reading it at 4am in the morning! In fact I got prescious little sleep that night, finding myself unable to stop turning page after page. What I found was not a guide to spell making, nor even a tale of how Mrs. Bourne herself became a witch, but a warm, witty, thought provoking insight into what it is *really* like to follow the path of Wicca day to day.

In fact, witchcraft and Lois's thoughts on it are not even mentioned until chapter 13, and the book only contains 17 chapters! But this certainly doesn't go against the book, or detract from what it can teach you.

We learn that Lois had been able to see and communicate with spirits from being a young child, and a lot of her tales are about how she has helped people with this aspect of her powers, either through her work as a nurse with dying patients, or with those who have lost loved ones. She's lifted curses, seen off satanists and given hope to many who had lost it. All this not by holding rituals, or casting spells, but by taking the time to listen to people's problems, to talk with them and help them find that extra bit of strength, that we all sometimes need, to carry on.

Lois Bourne is a woman who seems to go out of her way to help people, whether they be hammering on her front door and making her late for work, or just suddenly creeping into her thoughts while on holiday. Whatever she is doing, day or night, is put to one side while she deals with the lost soul presented to her. She is a witch in the truest se
nse of the word, not because she was initiated into the craft, nor for her psychic abilities; but because she uses the gifts she has been given to help her fellow man.

As Colin Wilson says in his foreword to the book, 'It gives me a pleasant, warm sensation just to know that people like Lois Bourne exist.' And I'd have to agree with him there. Witch Amongst Us was first published in 1979, when Lois was already a grandmother, so wether she is still out there, or has passed on I'm not sure. One thing I am sure of though is that, wherever Lois is now, she has given us a book that can not only guide witches, but anyone at all, on how to live a more thoughtful, helpful, selfless life.

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Witch Amongst Us was first printed in 1979 and reprinted in 1985 and 1989. The copy I own was another corking charity shop bargain, but the price guide on the back of the book was £5.95, so this is what I have put for price. However, I have seen it on the net for a bit more than that, so it can vary.

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