So, I’m back by popular demand. I know, it’s been a while since I’ve written a review, but I’ve been busy with real life stuff. I’ll try not to stay away so long next time.

So, we’re at the Druid Home website, which is on a free host. And, of course, there are things that I hate about this site. I hate the frame. I see no need to have the title graphic follow me down the page. It’s a waste of screen real estate. I hate how the top, the left, and the body look like they belong on three different sites. I hate the spinning planets. I hate the animated guestbook gif.

But… there are some actual *good* points. I like the art, although I’m not sure if they have permission to use it (no credit is given). I like that they say up front that their group is small. They aren’t painting themselves as the next ADF waiting to happen. There’s enough content on here to keep you occupied for a couple of hours. Most of it is smartly written.

I don’t know enough about the druids to say whether this is a required resource or not, but a rank amateur in Celtic stuffs (like me) can learn from it. If you’re a reconstructionist of some sort, I expect you will be disappointed.

Link: Druid Home
Score: 7/10
Reviewed by Enyo Perseus

Wow. This page took forever to load on a DSL connection. Probably because the vast majority of the front page is button graphics to get into different areas of the site.

A new window opened when I selected the “Who were the Celts?” button. I then saw a ton of stuff quoted from books. As in, there is minimal content belonging to Joelle, but a lot of content from books. Not all of these books have great reputations. D.J. Conway was among the authors quoted.

On the plus side, when I clicked on the “Celtic Art” button, I didn’t get a new page, but the first new page changed over. That’s an interesting little bit of Java Script. Nothing was quoted in that section, but it was relatively basic and easy to understand.

Onward to the Celtic deities. The default browse for the Celtic deities is framed, which normally bugs me. It’s okay here, though. She does, however, give the option to browse without frames, and that’s a good thing. Unfortunately, I don’t think her section is. Fortunately, she cites her sources, but her sources suck: Edain McCoy and D.J. Conway. I don’t like that she sites other web pages as her source, though. I’m sure that’s just a personal thing.

Much of this site relies heavily on two of the crappiest Celtic authors. I cannot, in good conscience, recommend a site with such shoddy research to “support” it.

Other complaints: the text is centered on the entire site. That’s really annoying.

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Sorry. I came across another page that made me bang my head on the keyboard. Her “Wiccan Traditions” page is complete and utter trash. She also “includes the Alexandrian BoS” on the site, blah blah blah.

I’ve had enough. Sure, there’s a lot of material on this site, but it’s garbage. This is another site that is a complete and utter waste of bandwidth, and actually is problematic of the pagan web.

Link: Joelle’s Sacred Grove
Score: 1/10
Reviewed by Enyo Perseus

I had initially reviewed this site back in 2002 for Paganetwork, but upon re-evaluation, I found even more things that I hate about this site.

Let’s start with the top. The first page is junky and cluttered with graphics. Not pretty graphics. Somet of those graphics are broken. It takes forever to download, even on my DSL connection, because there’s so much crap. The backgrounds on some pages are too hard to read because it’s got a nasty lacy texture.

I didn’t find anything of *fact*, and numerous opinions that I disagree with. (For starters, self-initiation. You don’t self-initiate, you self-dedicate. I don’t think, no matter how badly this person wishes it to be so, that the Morrigan came down and *personally* initiated this person.) She also seems to have some *serious* issues with Recons, without seeming to realize what Recon is all about. All in all, little fact, lots of opinions. Little web design, lots of overcompensation with graphics and backgrounds.

Her “link exchange”, which she states in the exchange form will not take spam, is almost entirely spam. It is, in my opinion, a complete waste of bandwidth.

I’ll give her credit for one thing, though… You have to *make* the midi file play, rather than it playing whether you like it or not.

Link: Morrigan’s Cairn
Score: 1/10

Um, okay… Where to start. The first page is junky and cluttered with graphics. Not pretty graphics. The backgrounds on some pages are too hard to read because it’s got a nasty lacy texture. I didn’t find anything of *fact*, and numerous opinions that I disagree with. (For starters, self-initiation. You don’t self-initiate, you self-dedicate. I don’t think, no matter how badly this person wishes it to be so, that the Morrigan came down and *personally* initiated this person.) She also seems to have some *serious* issues with Recons, without seeming to realize what Recon is all about. All in all, little fact, lots of opinions. Little web design, lots of overcompensation with graphics and backgrounds. I’ll give her credit for one thing, though… You have to *make* the midi file play, rather than it playing whether you like it or not.

Link: Morrigan’s Cairn
Score: 1/10
Originally posted by Enyo Perseus at Paganetwork