Sylvan, Dianne 1977–

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Sylvan, Dianne 1977–

PERSONAL: Born 1977, in TX. Religion: Wiccan.

ADDRESSES: Home—Austin, TX. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Llewellyn Publications, 2143 Wooddale Dr., Woodbury, MN, 55125-2989 E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Blessedways Temple, Austin, TX, founder; teaches workshops and classes in Wiccan observances.

MEMBER: Circle of the Vine coven, Tribe of Ancient Ways.

WRITINGS:

NEW AGE BOOKS

The Circle Within: Creating a Wiccan Spiritual Tradition, Llewellyn Publications (St. Paul, MN), 2003.

The Body Sacred, Llewellyn Publications (St. Paul, MN), 2005.

Contributor to Circle magazine.

SIDELIGHTS: Texas-born writer Dianne Sylvan has been a Wiccan and a practicing Witch since she was a teenager. She founded Blessedways Temple, a cross-traditional Wiccan fellowship in Austin, where she holds workshops and classes as well as offering public Sabbats. Through her books, Web sites, and online newsletter, Sylvan offers not only information on the Wiccan lifestyle, but essays, chants, and spiritual thoughts she has developed through her own experiences. Her first book, The Circle Within: Creating a Wiccan Spiritual Tradition, offers advice on how to create a spiritual existence according to Wiccan philosophy and ethics, and includes prayers and rituals that may be performed either alone or in a group. Her follow-up volume, The Body Sacred, addresses the ways in which society separates the physical being from the emotional and spiritual entity that the body contains, and looks at ways in which the body and those negative images may be eased back into harmony with a person's spiritual side. Dina Komuves, in a review for Library Journal, found the book to be "written in a very personal and approachable style," and remarked that it includes "the author's hard-won self-respect and perspective." A contributor for Publishers Weekly wrote that "what distinguishes this book more than anything is Sylvan's sense of humor."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, November 1, 2005, Dina Komuves, review of The Body Sacred, p. 82.

Publishers Weekly, September 1, 2003, review of The Circle Within: Creating a Wiccan Spiritual Tradition, p. 2; August 22, 2005, review of The Body Sacred, p. 61.