A Witch’s Book of Wisdom, by Patricia Telesco
Crossed Crow Books, 1959883542, 224 pages, November 2024
Looking for a charm guide to magic? A Witch’s Book of Wisdom by Patricia Tesleco is just for you! Telesco is a prolific author, whose other works include Mastering Candle Magic, A Floral Grimoire, and A Kitchen Witch’s Cookbook. In this book, she adapts the persona of “Granny Good Witch”, an archetypal Cunning Folk, who is happy to share their honest thoughts and practical knowledge based on decades of experience to those seeking guidance on magical topics.
“The entire purpose of this book is to provide a nurturing, sound, practical, and fun-loving outlook on magic and spirituality as they intertwine with your everyday life.”1
The book is organized alphabetically by topic. From A to Z, readers can browse the magical advice Granny Good Witch has to offer on all sorts of aspects of the Craft. From etiquette to gardening to beauty, Granny Good Witch has something to say. While a spell or incantation might be offered here and there, this book is definitely more focused on imparting general knowledge than offering “how to” advice. For those looking for specific spells with directions to follow, I’d recommend Telesco’s Spinning Spells, Weaving Wonders.
Much of this book is sharing principles, lessons, helpful hints, and methods one can use to fulfill their intention. It reads like a magical compendium. For each topic, there’s a quote and Granny’s general take on the topic. Bullet-point lists are often included too, making the material easy to absorb and remember.
Telesco notes, “The processes provided are neither over time-consuming nor do they smack of Hollywood hocus-pocus.”2 I concur that all the advice was easy to implement! The whole book is very down to earth, acknowledging the reality that many magical practitioners don’t always have the time for complex workings. All this wisdom goes to show that our practice is meant to be lived and there’s many ways to incorporate magic into one’s day.
There’s quite a few tidbits of guidance from Granny that I picked up so far, yet three things have stood out the most. The first is to draw in luck by changing one’s routine around a bit. The second is a recipe for baking bread for kindness. And the third was a list of things fire magic can be used for.
Some of my favorite advice from Granny came from the “Manifestation” section:
“The question is, how do we go about encouraging manifestation? To answer this question, Granny looks at the ancients, who often used ritualistic dance to nudge the process along. Ritual dancing consummates the connection between the spiritual and temporal. It provides an energy-generating medium, and it then offers a way for the practitioner to express magical fulfillment as realized (in symbolic form).”3
Another aspect I like of Granny’s wisdom is the balance between encouragement and a healthy caution. This isn’t a fast-track to magic, and often, the advice is to keep on trying different things, such as working alone vs. in a group, until you find what works best for you. There’s absolutely not a “one-size fits all” mentality in these pages. Rather, the advice feels like it has your best interest at heart, as the message is tread of advice often circles back to discovering what’s best for your path, taking it slow in your exploration, and then keeping an open mind for the sake of flexibility; adaptation is definitely one of the Cunning Folk’s best attributes!
Overall, I recommend A Witch’s Book of Wisdom for those who are in need of someone (yes, even if it’s a book, Granny’s advice feels very comforting!) to turn to for magical advice. While some witches are blessed with a fulfilling community, others are left to seek out other like-minds in new groups or online forums, gathering the advice they can get from books and other resources. It’s very nice to have Granny in your corner; this is absolutely a book that is worth adding to your collection to turn to for inspiration when seeking guidance on a myriad of topics.
Alanna Kali is an astrologer, numerologist, and pioneer spirit that loves to explore life through the lens of depth psychology. She has a passion for studying the humanities and social trends. Her academic work is centered upon reuniting body, mind, and spirit through eco-psychology. She loves reading, spending time in nature, and travel.