Witches, sun and stars

Press, 10 March 1984, Page 18

Witches, sun and stars

Kerry Kulkens’s Witch’s Tips on Love, Sex, and the Stars. Published by 1963. 213 pp. $8.98 Ann Petrie’s Sun Signs. Fontana Paperbacks, 1983. 219 pp. $5.50. (Reviewed by Barry Holland) It is hard to say a bad word about "Kerry Kulkens’ Witch’s Tips” — because who wants to upset anyone with Miss Kulkens’s knowledge of witchcraft? Her book should provide any aspiring witch or warlock with a good start. It is hot particularly well written, but is loaded with advice on magic, omens, numerology, spells, herbs, cards, astrology, and other information essential to the superstitious. Before page one, Miss Kulkens advises that her spells have been tried and tested and she suggests that, with faith, the proof of the potion or the worth of the witchcraft is in its effectiveness. Half a dozen pages later she sets the nervous reader more at ease by explaining that the magic in the book is white, not the more sinister kind, though her book is speckled with a few “mischief-making spells.” So that readers do not take it all too seriously, the book is liberally illustrated with .tongue-in-cheek drawings. For those who decide to try the suggestions of Miss Kulkens, the ingredients will usually be readily available although a few could be hard to find. Silver bullets will be needed to dispose of a werewolf, the urine of a large white wolf is necessary in a

formula for rendering oneself invisible, and a cure for baldness requires liberal ■■ amounts of goose dung rubbed into the t scalp. Kerry Kulkens’s volume is more than a witch’s recipe book. Nearly half -is devoted' to astrology, mainly compatibility guides, with the usual descriptions of positive and negative features of zodiac signs. Her book over-all is certainly different and should entertain those who are {iredisposed to black cats, clover eaves, and the ominous nature of salt. It may lead to some strange sights — such as people walking backwards till they have passed the spot where a black cat crossed their path. For the more sceptical, and the religious, the book may have a surfeit of spells. Kerry Kulkens seems serious enough about the mystic arts and she endeavours to portray them in a positive way. She urges people to “soar towards the positive” as. she has done. While Kerry Kulkens can apparently mix a potion with the best of them, Ann Petrie sticks to astrology and a much more conventional path in her “Sun Signs.” She writes columns for publications in Britain and her book has undertones of. this. All about love, and complete with chapter headings from song titles, it outlines characteristics of sun signs and their seeming contradictions. A paperback like Kerry Kulkens’s, Ann Petrie’s book is heavier going and tends to be repetitious. *