Read with a Critical Eye
"It was in the newspaper," my grandmother would say, her face set, eyes hardened to declare any discussion regarding the validity of her most recently acquired factoid over…fini! If it was in print, it was fact, simple as that. Her theory was that if it wasn’t true, they wouldn’t be allowed to put it in a book (non-fiction, of course), magazine, or heaven forbid, the newspaper which she read daily from page A-1 to the inserted circulars. Her theory should be correct, but the sad fact is that it is not and that is why it is so important to read with a critical eye.
Always question what you read, or are told for that matter. Facts can be researched in additional sources and don’t just settle for one other source. Try to find a source on the same topic by an author from a different field. Pagan history or a culture’s history and way of life, for example, are written about very differently depending on whether the author is pagan, a historian, a Christian or an archeologist. Always know the perspective from which the author is writing and take that into consideration. Bringing a variety of sources together would probably give the most complete picture.
Go for the first-hand account. Reading Doreen Valiente’s autobiographical account of her time as Gardner’s High Priestess and her life as a witch is far more revealing of her than reading a biography written by someone else. The biographer may have an agenda but even if they do not, they can not describe how she felt, the images that came to her mind, her personal experiences, simply because they do not know. Realize too, that even a first person account is colored by the individual’s impressions, prejudices, memories and time.
Read the original in the original language if at all possible. Translations come close but they are never exact. If you’ve ever had someone say to you, “there is not an English word for it, but it sort of means ___”, you will understand what I mean about translations. Not only that, but reading the translation forces the reader to rely on the scholarship of the translator and the amount of understanding of the original language acquired at the time the translation was done. For example, E. A. W. Budge’s work on the Egyptian Book of the Dead is admirable and at the time he was an authority on Egyptian antiquities, but 100 years later some of the passages are being disputed and their meanings changed. Another example is the object commonly referred to as the Star of David, scholars have now declared that the more proper translation is Shield of David, though this may seem a semantic difference it is distinct and meaningful if it is understood.
An author’s opinions are, of course, difficult to research, but there are occasions in which quality authors will footnote their conclusions or opinions with explanations or, even better, the sources that influenced their viewpoint. Check these sources out for your self and draw your own conclusions or find out where that author got their information and begin working backward. Many times, it is left solely to the reader’s discretion whether to accept the author’s opinion or not, but their opinions should never be blindly accepted simply because they have a book in print. Never form your final stance on an issue based on the information offered by a single author. As an additional complication and also as a warning, intentional misinformation, commonly called "blinds", are often inserted into magical texts especially high magic texts to protect the information and the casual seeker.
Finally, expand reading and research beyond pagan authors. The topics covered by pagan authors are often fields of study in their own right…anthropology, archeology, religious studies, sociology, naturopathy, gardening, folklore, history, mythology, psychology, etc, etc.
A quick note about the internet. In some cases, the internet is a wonderful resource of information but in most instances it is not. Just as with print, a guardian of quality does not exist on the net, the difference between print and the net is that any fool can create and globally disseminate a website in mere hours.
Read everything, read anything, read things you normally would not, but always read with a critical eye.
