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Magical Ever After, by Erica Rose

Magical Ever After: Manifesting Your Fairy-Tale Romance with Angels, Mermaids & Faeries, by Erica Rose
Muse Oracle Press, 1763586944, 200 pages, November 2025

It’s a love story, baby just say yes! Except.. Sometimes it’s a real struggle, right? For those who have wished for a bit of help from a fairy god mother, Erica Rose is here to teach you how to connect with not only fairies, but angels and mermaids too. Her new book Magical Ever After: Manifesting Your Fairy-Tale Romance with Angels, Mermaids & Faeries invites you to be the author of your own love story with a bit of magically-inspired assistance from these guides in matters of the heart.

“Manifesting love is not about using magic to force someone to fall in love with you. It’s about you, yourself, adjusting the energy you are projecting in order to match the energy of whoever out there would be your perfect partner. It’s about getting into alignment with the type of love you deserve and desire.”1

As soon as I held this beautifully bound, pink hardcover book in my hands, I could feel the soft and gentle allure of romance and magic within the pages. Beginning with “Once Upon a Time” and ending with “Your Happily Ever After”, Rose has written a potent guide for healing your own wounds, forgiving the past, and really cultivating self-love. She teaches how falling in love with yourself first creates a magnetism that brings in the love you desire. And along the way, there’s mystical helpers to aid in this process of transformative inner work.

Magically Ever After begins with an introduction to the spirits readers will be working with: angels, including Guardian angels and Archangels too, and the elementals, mermaids and fairies. Calling on these spirits gives the interpersonal and manifestation work that will be done a very mystical feeling, inviting readers to move beyond their real life concerns and frustrations to tap into a more spiritually-attuned frame of mind when calling love into their life. Rose shares meditations for readers to connect with each of these guides, opening the doorway for readers to strengthen their connection to them before setting off on this journey of love.

First, Rose teaches how to become more aware of one’s love mindset. From the media we consume to blocks around the possibility of ever finding a loving relationship, she shares ways for readers to reflect on their romantic views and shift them into a more positive mindset. Though dating can be draining, her tips bring an uplifting, hopeful perspective that encourages readers to learn from their experiences, readjust, and remain open to all possibilities.

The next topic Rose delves into is self-love. By working with the mermaids, fairies, and angels, readers have the opportunity to spruce up their self-image, tend to their inner needs with care, and honor the path they alone walk. Rose consistently reminds readers their story is unique, and there’s no reason to get caught up in an artificial sense of timing or comparison to others.

The inner empowerment developed in the self-love section gives readers the courage they need for the next part of the process. Rose’s next topic is releasing the past. To me, this felt a bit like the shadow work section, where readers are guided to look into past lives and generational influences, along with healing their own heartbreak to cleanse the slate for their romantic lives. Too often we want to move forward with a new path, but the past has not been fully honored, healed, and released. Rose provides plenty of divine tools for readers to let go of what’s been to make room for what they truly desire.

The final section is all about living a life of love. After getting in the right mindset, cultivating self-love, and releasing the past, the focus turns tapping into the love all around and manifesting dream romance. Rose shares different visualization techniques to bring this reality to life.

“Continually find ways to romanticize your life. Pretend you’re the main character in a fantasy romance novel and be swept up in the idea that you already have the love of your life. If you can constantly convince yourself, your energy will radiate with love and the Universe will match that frequency.”2

One thing I like about this book is that all throughout Rose is sharing her own story of finding true love. Knowing that she went through this process herself provides a feeling of comradery. She’s sharing all of this wisdom from personal insight and actually doing the work; she GETS it. This makes the whole book incredibly authentic. Even the most rationally-minded readers will be able to benefit from Rose’s guidance on how to find love, regardless of if they’re comfortable working with the spiritual entities, because the content is sound advice overall.

While the content might seem whimsical, Rose actually presents a very healthy and grounded approach to manifesting romance. She doesn’t ignore the inner work, offering superficial tips for finding “the one”, rather she teaches readers how to go deep into their own past in order to create a foundation of self-love in their life. From this place of healing and self-acceptance, readers then send their energy outward to find a partner who is in alignment with this state of self-love. This beautiful, Venusian journey is one anyone can undertake. While Rose offers introductions to helping spiritual guides, sharing meditations and exercises to strengthen the connection, readers still have agency over which entities they feel called to work with; there’s lots of room for freedom and personal choice in how Rose presents the material.

It’s not presented as “manifest love fast” but rather “heal your heart and align deeply for long term happiness”. Rose encourages questioning social truisms (not being married by 25 doesn’t make you a spinster!), deeply exploring one’s feelings (you WILL need to do some honest soul searching!), and finding the positive within the journey (yes, that terrible date taught  you something about what you actually are looking for!). And all throughout, Rose sprinkles in a happy dose of magic, affirmations, and rituals to keep readers inspired and optimistic about their romantic journey.

Here are some of my favorite meditations, rituals, and practices shared by Rose to help readers uncover blocks in their love life, heal, and align their mindset to attract everlasting love:

ㅤ♡ Candle Spell for Passionate Love
ㅤ ♡Archangel Jophiel Morning Beauty Routine
ㅤ♡ Mermaid Mirror Work
ㅤ♡ Fairy Tea Ceremony for Self-Love
ㅤ♡ Rewriting Your Identity Ritual
ㅤ♡ Generational Healing with Archangel Raphael
ㅤ♡ Love Intention Bath with the Mermaids
ㅤ♡Social Amplification Reflection Questions


Overall, Magical Ever After is an empowering guide to manifesting the love one desires and deserves. For those open to spiritual assistance from the angelic, fairy, and mermaid realms, this book is a wonderful resource. Rose has done an outstanding job balancing practical romantic advice with initiation to let the mystic energy of the Universe guide the path to true love.

I’m a big believer in manifestation work succeeding the most through partnership with divine entities, so I have full confidence that the bridge created between realms through the process in this book leads to readers finding their dream relationships. I recommend Magical Ever After for those who need some uplifting inspiration in their love life; there’s always love and happiness available in life, if one is willing to open up to the possibilities.

Making Tarot Magic, by Briana Saussy

Making Tarot Magic: Rituals and Remedies to Transform Readings into Action, by Briana Saussy
Weiser Books, 1578638763, 248 pages, December 2025

Have you ever done a tarot reading and found yourself wondering how to actually act on the messages the cards revealed? Maybe you journal or meditate afterward, yet the practical steps still seem to allude you. Perhaps your readings have begun to feel a bit passive, keeping you circling in the “what ifs” or lost in contemplation. Enter Making Tarot Magic by Briana Saussy, a guide that reminds us tarot isn’t just a tool for insight, but a catalyst for real transformation.

Where before there was only fate, after a good reading there should be freedom.”3

Weaving together the arts of divination and magic, Saussy reframes tarot reading as an opportunity for ritual and intention work. Readers learn how to use each tarot cards’ energy for real life healing, love, protection, abundance, and more. While many tarot books teach how to read the cards, Saussy’s focuses on what readers can do with that information to practically apply it in the world, reminding readers they can make moves to either lean into or shift the story of the cards, and use magic to do it.

“A tarot reading told you a story…and told you what you needed to do to change the story, to give it a better ending, to create more spice, adventure, and depth.”4

As an experienced diviner, Saussy has organized the book into chapters based on top topics people most seek advice about: love (marriage, romance), prosperity and abundance (personal wealth), career and business success, healing, court cases and legal issues, fertility/pregnancy and manifestation, baneful work, and protection and divine blessings.

For each intention, she provides an introductory overview, special considerations to note in regard to the Major Arcana and suits, descriptive meaning for all Major Arcana and Court Cards plus corresponding magical techniques and intentions, short meaning of the Pip cards (Ace-Ten), and then tasks for further development and relevant spells.

I absolutely LOVE how Saussy goes through each chapter and provides a different interpretation of the cards based on the specific intention of the chapter. Too many tarot books give only one general interpretation for each card, leaving it up to readers to apply the energy of the card to the specific focus of either the reading in general or the card’s placement in a spread. The way Saussy goes above and beyond interpreting each card through a different lens is both an enlightening way for readers to see the mutli-faceted nature of the cards as well as a quicker way to find a more specific answer to your question by focusing specifically on the relevant interpretation.

And on top of this there’s a magical component too, of course, which opens a whole other doorway to interacting with one’s reading too. For those new to either tarot or magic, Saussy provides a great foundation in “Chapter One: Tarot and Magic Basics”. Topics covered in this chapter include how to work with tarot cards, specifically focusing in on how they relate to magic, reviewing magical intentions, exploring different magical techniques (candles, incense, spirit work, lodestones), magical timing, color magic, how to deploy and dispose of magic, and personal concerns (things that carry the DNA of a person).

One thing I will note though is that Saussy doesn’t go too much into how to do all the different magical techniques. While she lists them in chapter one, there’s not much guidance on how to actually do textile magic; the information given more describes how it involves working with knots or fabric. For those who have no idea how to work that type of magic, me for instance in regard to textile magic and sacred vessels (witch bottles, mojo bags), I would need more specific spells with exact ingredients and instructions. So while Saussy can point readers in the right magical direction, there’s definitely going to be a bit more work to do for follow up.

This might just be because I read the books back to back, but I think Tarot Spreads by Meg Jones Wall would be a great compliment to Making Tarot Magic because it teaches readers how to intentionally structure their readings to get to the heart of their question. While I absolutely love all the different interpretations of the tarot based on the overall topic that Saussy provides, I initially felt like I could only one-card pulls that corresponded with my intention to then draw on the magical insight Saussy provides for the card in the relevant chapter.

It wasn’t until I thought to put to use what I’d learned in Tarot Spreads about creating spreads that I started to see how I could layer different topics from Making Tarot Magic (ex. Healing, romance, and divine messages) into one reading. And once I started doing this, I became enthralled with mixing together the different messages from Saussy’s perspective in this book.

Here’s an example of one of my readings I did to find a way to feel unstuck. I had been creatively blocked and worrying about money. I wasn’t in a state of flow. I crafted my own spread with the intention of reading each card from the corresponding chapter in Making Tarot Magic:

Card 1 – How am I holding back my own abundance?
Four of Coins from “Chapter Three: Money, Honey! Part One: Personal Prosperity, Wealth, and Abundance”.

“The querent refuses to give up the best part of themselves and so does not have as much security or abundance as they otherwise might.”5

Card 2 – What messages are there from the divine that can help me overcome this?
King of Pentacles from “Chapter Nine: Full of Ourselves: Safeguarding Vital Energy and Opening to Divine Empowerment and Blessings”.

“There is a need to connect to family members, ancestors, and history. Personal history, world history, history of place–any or all of these are relevant now.”6

Card 3 – How can I apply my creativity to create a new path?
Three of Cups from “What Are You Expecting? Fertility, Pregnancy, and the Work of Manifesting”.

“Female friends will come around to support and bless someone so that they may go forth and be fertile.”7

Overall interpretation: I’ve been spending too much time on my own, in my head, declining social invitations, and being a bit of a grump, which is to say I haven’t been sharing myself with others much. This reading reminded me that I light up when I am around people I love, especially my good friends who have been there through thick and thin throughout the years.

Wouldn’t you know the next day one of my good friends invited me over and I gave into a day of pure relaxation. I didn’t think about work, food prepping, or the upcoming holidays. We watched Wicked, sang and danced to Taylor Swift’s new album, and got caught up on life with each other. And I was absolutely rejuvenated! It felt like a clean slate. My reading ended up being spot-on in what I needed, and I’m glad it gave me the awareness I needed to accept my friend’s invitation instead of pushing it off for the sake of productivity.

Overall, I’ve very much enjoyed Making Tarot Magic for the variety of card interpretations. For those with a magical background, there’s a lot of room to apply your craft in regard to tarot readings. Saussy provides not just tarot insights, but a magical roadmap for creating meaningful change, gifting readings the opportunity to transform their reading into practical real-life action.

Whether readers are seeking to work magic related to their relationships, healing, manifestation, money, career, legal matters, or protection,this book gives you the tools to discern the messages of your readings more clearly and then utilize magic to pave the way forward. Saussy’s guidance helps readers move from “what the cards say” to “how I can act with the cards’ energy?”. This is truly a gift of freedom, as readers ultimately hold the cards and have the ability to do what they will with the information presented. Saussy’s lists of magical ways to work with each cards’ energy is a truly a useful addition to any magician’s book collection.

Talismans and Tarot, by Lori Lytle

Talismans and Tarot: Magical Tools to Amplify, Attract, and Manifest, by Lori Lytle
Weiser Books, 1578638755, 248 pages, September 2025

Tarot cards and talismans both serve as bridges between the seen and unseen world, one offering insight into the unknown and the other embodying mystical energy in a special object. In Talismans and Tarot: Magical Tools to Amplify, Attract, and Manifest, Lori Lytle shows how combining these two practices creates deeply personal and powerful results. Within these pages, Lytle teaches readers how to handcraft talismans to encapsulate the essence, wisdom, and energy revealed in tarot readings, transforming spiritual guidance into tangible form.

“Humans have always turned to these touchstones when fearful or in need of comfort, or when inspired and ambitious and wanting to believe that anything is possible in this life.”4

Divided into two parts, the book begins with “Part One: The Basics”. In this section, Lytle provides an overview of the foundation of talismans and tarots. She shares about amulets, popular symbols used for luck and protection, and the importance of intention when creating your own talisman. She then moves onto tarot, teaching the fundamentals of suits, structure, and numbers in the tarot, along with a bit on court cards.

A lengthy portion of this part is focused on Lytle sharing her insights on each tarot card. Moving through the whole deck, for each card there’s a picture (Rider-Wait-Smith imagery), description of the card’s meaning, talisman intention themes, affirmation, and musings to further reflect on. For those already familiar with tarot, the most novel information in this section is the guidance on cards’ themes in regard to talisman creation. For instance, intention themes for a 10 of Swords talisman include “surrender, transformation, rebirth”8, while some intention themes of Wheel of Fortune are “Good luck, good timing, risk paying off”9.

The final chapter in this part is dedicated to reading tarot cards. Lytle covers all the steps of a reading from preparing for a reading, choosing your spread, formulating questions to weaving the story that emerges together. She even shares sample readings to show readers how to interpret the cards to create a meaningful story of wisdom and guidance. While engaging, this section seems aimed for beginners, as it’s the starter information; those who have even a bit of experience reading tarot will most likely be able to move through this chapter quickly.

Once readers are familiar with the basics of tarot and what talismans are, in “Part Two: The Process”, Lytle shares how to combine the two. While I’ve worked with tarot cards for the sake of manifestation before, specifically working with the card through visualization or meditation to call in the energy of the card, Lytle’s process is different and more open to the card’s intuitive guidance. She leads readers through crafting an intention and then doing a reading about the intention. Based on the story the reading tells, whether it’s just a one card pull or a full spread, Lytle teaches how to create a talisman from “what you have discovered about your intention.”10

I love this approach because it leaves room for the wisdom and spontaneity of tarot to illuminate new information about your intention, pointing you in the best direction. Rather than someone picking the card they think is best for boosting their intentions, this method leaves room for surrender to the tarot’s wisdom, opening space for unrealized insights to emerge. Just like divination with tarot, where you don’t know what will appear but choose to trust the guidance, this process of talisman creation also lets the cards lead the way.

As far as creation of one’s talisman, Lytle shares how to choose the material that aligns with your intention. She covers a wide range of crystals for different intentions, metals, symbolic representations, animal representations, and even found objects or things with personal significance.

Once the material is picked out and prepared to be turned into a talisman, this is where Lytle brings in the tarot. She shares a spread to find clarity around one’s intention, offers multiple sample readings to study, and then details how to craft an affirmation based on the story the tarot reveals. This affirmation is then used in the ritual process to consecrate one’s talisman, which Lytle leads readers through. The final chapter then focuses on working with the consecrated talisman and what to do when it’s time to release the talisman.

While this book is filled with novice tarot information, the talisman process created by Lytle is something very unique. It invites readers to use the tarot not just for reading, but for creating, consecrating, and carrying something that extends the energy of a reading into everyday life.  By translating an intention into a physical talisman, readers anchor them in the material world, boosting the manifestation process as well as aligning their intention with the mystic wisdom of the tarot.

Overall, Talismans and Tarot is a good read for those looking to add something fresh to their magic toolkit. While the tarot content is beginner level, the talisman process is a new way to interact with the cards, making this a fun read for all levels. Many look to tarot for insights about the future, but this process of focusing on one’s intention and bringing it to life in the physical world through talismans is a way for readers to be more co-creative in the manifestation process. Plus, Lytle leaves a lot of room for personalization too, from choosing the best time for their ritual to picking out materials that feel symbolic to them, making the process both an intuitive and empowering method for creating a talisman.

I’d recommend this book to those looking for a new way to manifest their intentions. The combination of connecting with tarot and then consecration a symbolic talisman is a two-fold magical method, adding double the boost of alignment. Lytle presents an accessible  way to work tarot as a living, active magical tool. As someone with many talismans, I know the potency of being able to physically hold your imbued intentions in your hand keeps your mind focused and spirit receptive to our heart’s desires also coming into physical form.

A Traveler’s Guide to Making Magic, by Lisa McSherry

A Traveler’s Guide to Making Magic, by Lisa McSherry
Crossed Crow Books, 1964537460, 220 pages, September 2025

Travel is a journey through thresholds, both seen and unseen. Every new landscape, culture, and experience becomes a portal, inviting us to step outside the familiar and into the realm of possibility. In these liminal spaces, where the routines of daily life are left behind, magic finds fertile ground to awaken. A Traveler’s Guide to Making Magic by Lisa McSherry teaches that travel itself is a magical act, offering endless opportunities to adapt our practice, expand our awareness, and discover parts of ourselves we may never have met without crossing those borders.

I’ll admit that I started this book feeling disenchanted with travel, a rare feeling for this Sagittarius moon. For the past year, I’ve been studying astrocartography, which over time transformed locations worldwide, rich with their own culture, traditions, and history, into astrological lines on a map. Focusing on the technicality of my readings diminished the more intuitive resonance I usually felt when thinking about traveling to faraway places.

For all the talk of travel in the astrocartography circles I’m in, no one seemed to really be addressing the actual experience of traveling, especially for magically-minded folks. It felt more like people were thinking in terms of what a location can offer them based on astrology (Where can I go to find the right job? What location will bring love?) rather than how they could open themselves up to fully experience the depth of location, embracing the genius loci.

And it’s for this reason that McSherry’s keen insights, practical advice, and magical know-how in A Traveler’s Guide to Making Magic were an absolute breath of fresh air! This, THIS, is the book that I was craving and needed to reignite my love for seeing and experiencing new places, especially while keeping my magical practice flowing and open to new revelations. McSherry has created a wonderful guide for those who are seeking to keep their practice alive, grounded, and meaningful while traveling that also includes the reality of travel (delayed flights, packing, being aware of other culture’s attitudes towards magic, ecological impact, etc.).

The beginning of the book really lays the foundation for the spells that come later. In her introduction, McSherry shares her view on magic, sharing that she perceives it “as a spiritual practice rooted in transformation, awareness, and responsibility.”11 She offers resources to plan sustainable travel, emphasizing the need to respect the ecology, limit one’s impact, and support local businesses that are sustained by tourism rather than larger chains that tend to be more exploitative. This was a great overall reminder of the need to center our travel within our belief systems, ensuring we are respecting the land and people we choose to visit.

The first two chapters cover the basics of magic and correspondences. McSherry covers the four main steps in her model of magic–intent, creation, raising, and sending–along with energy work, breathwork, and sympathetic magic. Then the next chapter on correspondences is packed with useful bullet-point lists and tables. The information McSherry provides is thorough! She provides lists of correspondences for animals, colors, metals, plants, seasons, stones, and tarot cards. Then there’s tables for the four elements, planets (yes, including Pluto!), and playing card meanings. For those traveling, this chapter is perfect for quick reference!

Now that readers have the basics of magic down, McSherry focuses on preparing to travel. This is one of the longer chapters in the book, which I appreciate because I feel preparation is key for a successful journey. From deciding where to go to picking out how to actually spend your time in that place, McSherry offers both pragmatic and magical guidance.

She teaches how to leave offerings at sacred sites and communicate with the divine both while planning and once at  your destination. For those in need of inspiration, she shares lists of sacred places around the world, along with a spell to manifest the travel desired. She goes in-depth about what to pack, even including types of packing storage and good-to-have items. This chapter definitely grounds the travel experience both magically through intention and realistically with the material items needed to make it as smooth as possible.

The remaining chapters focus on the actual travel experience. McSherry has a chapter on magical tools, guardian spirits and deities, locational magic, and spells and charms. There’s guidance on creating signals, enchanting one’s clothing, creating a portal ritual kit, along with elemental spells for connecting with air, earth, wind, and fire within a landscape. The list of travel deities is quite long, and readers are sure to find one that feels aligned with their energy while traveling.

For those a bit hesitant or nervous to travel, rest assured McSherry provides lots of spells for protection and safe travels. There’s a whole section called “Don’t Panic! Coping With (Inevitable) Trouble” where she teaches how to make due with common items (soap, mints, matches, napkins, etc.) for magic-on-the-go. McSherry offers ideas for a DIY first aid kit that can all fit within a prescription pill bottle to keep handy. And she even shares the phone number to contact the U.S. State Department, if needed, along with a list of specific scams to avoid and safety measures to take in case your belongings are stolen or lost.

The many specific spells and charms even further amplify readers’ magical protection. McSherry has spells for overcoming anxiety, clear communication, charm bags, vehicle protection, and multiple for safe travel and travel success. Plus, spells to manifest travel and divine where is best to go.

The final chapter, “Travel is a State of Mind”, reminds readers that you don’t have to even leave home to travel. McSherry has a whole list of ways to explore other locations without even walking out your door, ranging from taking virtual tours of museums worldwide to learning a new language. And since most people do leave home at least once a day, she offers magical ways to enhance the journey of stepping outside the comfort of home even when they’re not going far. Additionally, at the end are four appendices with additional magical guidance, a glossary, reference and resource list, and bibliography.

What I like most about this book is McSherry’s writing style. She often uses humor, bringing a smile to the reader’s face, but just as often she has a commanding tone that reflects her travel experience and accumulated wisdom. I really enjoy reading all the anecdotes in the book of her travels or her friends’ travels. Travel stories are always so interesting to me and hers really bring to life the context of what she’s talking about. I loved this one story of how she felt a man sending her negative energy and she pulled out a compact mirror to send it back to him, ultimately with him feeling ill and leaving the restaurant. Quick magical thinking!

Overall, A Traveler’s Guide to Making Magic is the single book I would bring with me on a trip, aside from a fiction novel to keep me occupied! This book is more than just a manual; it’s a companion for the road, offering wisdom, encouragement, and practical tools to weave enchantment into every step of the journey.

McSherry does such a great job covering all the bases of travel from the preparation to the safe return home and all that’s in-between. Whether or not one is a skilled magical practitioner, McSherry’s approach is accessible and easy to implement. Plus, her practical guidance is superb and akin to reading a travel guide. Her advice is much appreciated and definitely something I plan on making use of for my next big trip.

There’s a great blend of spellwork, divination techniques, elemental magic, and deity work for readers to pick and choose from as they adapt their travel magic on the go. And McSherry’s focus on cultural sensitivity, sustainability, and responsibility while traveling expands the awareness of readers, reminding them that actions have impact and it’s important to be a mindful global citizen.

McSherry shows that travel isn’t just about reaching destinations, but about opening ourselves to transformation, connection, and deeper awareness along the way. With this book in hand, even the most ordinary trip becomes an opportunity to explore new realms and carry your magic wherever you roam.

Kitchen Magic, by Laura May

Kitchen Magic: Over 65 Enchanting Recipes and Rituals for a Cozy, Witchy Kitchen, by Laura May
OH, 1035429659, 208 pages, September 2025

Ah, my kitchen witch heart is absolutely singing! Kitchen Magic: 65 Enchanting Recipes and Rituals for a Cozy, Witchy Kitchen by Laura May is such a wonderful addition to a cookbook library. Within these pages, May shows how each meal can become a spell, ritual, or act of sacred nourishment. Featuring delicious recipes and magical insights this is a wonderful cookbook for creating a warm, enchanted kitchen where food and magic come together.

As witches we love to share recipes, often including them in our grimoires, spellbooks, and even the community newsletter each month! But a hardcover cookbook filled with thematic pictures, culinary folklore, and delicious recipes takes on a life of its own. Flipping through the pages of Kitchen Magic, you can see the time devoted to infusing each page with reverence for the food we create, whether this be teaching readers about the magical correspondences of ingredients in the cupboard, blending herbs into a brew, or making pancakes for mindfulness.

May begins the cookbook by inviting readers into her world. In first-person style, she sets the stage of her daily life during the seasonal transition into autumn, living in a boat and baking her recipes in a stack stove, creating a cozy sense of intimacy as we glimpse her routine. We get to know May through her morning coffee ritual, spellwork, and tale of what drew her to the path of being a kitchen witch.

“The philosophy behind my recipes is to give you a sense of meaning and consideration to everyday cooking – even the smallest acts can impact the way we live and see the world. The rituals aid us in discovering what we really want out of life and align our daily consciousness in order to get it.”12

The introduction also covers topics like what it means to May to be a witch, symbols of the witch, core aspects of ritual (opening and closing a circle, moon phases, spoken word, sigils, etc.), foraging in nature, and a list of magical correspondence of the herbs and spices commonly used in kitchen witchery. Overall, this section is very grounding, preparing readers to move ahead and test out May’s recipes.

As for how the recipes are sectioned, May has divided the chapters into the following: “Folk Medicine”, “Botanical Bakes”, “Ceremonial Recipes”, “Menstrual Magic”, “Broomstick Brews”, and “Practical Magic”. There’s a good variety of recipes to make, ranging from coffee syrups and protection cake to pumpkin gnocchis and tahini blondies.

Each chapter is unique and May has made the content extremely engaging and interesting to read. In the chapter “Folk Medicine”, she gives a history of all the elixirs she shares. One that I found fascinating is Four Thieves Vinegar, “a tonic for protection”13,  that is based on the legend of thieves “who used it to protect themselves against plague while they robbed the dead or dying” but was also “used as a disinfectant or immunity tonic.”14 May suggests readers now use it as a salad dressing, health tonic, or cleaning spray. I will definitely be making this one soon!

Then in “Botanical Bakes”, May “explores the folklore, histories, and personal stories” around seven of her favorite plants, focusing on the power and meaning of the ingredients specifically. “Menstraul Magic” teaches how to use food to nourish biological rhythms, where May offers insight into the four menstrual phases and a recipe to support each one. 

“Ceremonial Recipes” offers recipes for each turn in the Wheel of the Year, starting with Imbolc. She provides a bit of background about each sabbat and the recipes correspond to the magic best attuned to that season, such as Store Cupboard Soda Bread for spring cleansing during the equinox and Memento Mori Rosemary Soul Cakes for Samhain. Sometimes she includes rituals to do or words to say outloud, always explaining along the way the magical significance of the recipe as an introduction.

“Broomstick Brews” gets into the herbal liquid alchemy, which is something I am particularly excited to explore since I often forget this type of magic can be done in the kitchen, opting for cooking or baking instead. May teaches about witch bottles and how to carve your initials into fruit peels to bind the magic to you in her recipe for Witch Bottle Sweet Vermouth and offers a variety of coffee syrups to call in specific intentions for the day that can be amplified with candle magic too. She also offers variations of Moon Milk to manifest different goals ranging from attracting wealth to calming anxiety.

The final chapter, “Practical Magic”, is where the rituals get a bit more complex. May offers guidance on the moon phase, day of the week, candle color, incense, and crystal best suited for working the ritual. She shares incarnations and actions to do during the creation process, requiring a bit more of an energetic and time dedication in this magic making. All throughout, she offers tips and tidbits that add to one’s understanding of the spellwork.

Throughout the book, some of the recipes call for ingredients that I personally wouldn’t have on hand and would have to figure out how to acquire. For instance, Dandelion and Burdock Root Beer (I’ve never even heard of burdock yet I am learning so much from Kitchen Magic) calls for sarsaparilla root, burdock root, liquorice root, and dandelion root and petals, along with more common ingredients such as brown sugar, molasses, and cinnamon. This would definitely require a bit of planning to make, but I always feel like the hunt for the right ingredients in spellwork is part of the process.

While the recipes in Kitchen Magic do include quite a variety of ingredient, which at first makes the titles a bit intimidatingly fancy (Nettle Leaf Spanakopita Pie, Blueberry and Heartsease Cream Bread and Butter Pudding, Rose Hip Harissa Roasted Chickpeas), overall, a good portion of the recipes could easily be recreated by following May’s directions, whether you’re a novice or professional when it comes to the kitchen. As someone who thoroughly loves kitchen magic but is not a talented chef, May provides instructions that are detailed and simplified enough that even I’d have the confidence to follow along and see what I can create. Plus, venturing beyond my typical palette makes it feel even more ritualized and intentional for crafting these recipes.

Beyond all the wonderful text, the photographs in the book are absolutely mouthwatering. Nearly every page has a decadent image of the finished culinary delight set against a dark background with beautifully set tables. Sometimes there’s candles to set mystical ambiance; other times it’s a snap shot of ingredients, utensils, and flowers. Occasionally, we see May in action stirring or adding final touches. The texture of the food and the beauty of the presentation is just incredible. I could flip through this book over and over again just for the visual feast it provides!

The book is brought to conclusion with parting words from May, a list of ingredient suppliers, further reading, and a handy index. I love her sentiment when she writes:

“Remember, magic is not something far away or difficult to grasp. It lives in the ordinary moments – in the quiet stirrings of a wooden spoon, the fragrant herbs you sprinkle on a dish, and the warmth of a home-cooked meal shared with loved ones. The magic is always there, waiting for you to notice, to invite it in, and to make it a part of your life.”15

Overall, Kitchen Magic is by far one of the most impressive magic cookbooks I’ve come across. The way May weaves together ritual, folklore, personal insights, and delicious culinary crafts makes it a must-have for those who love to infuse intentions into their food. More than just a recipe collection, this book celebrates the kitchen as a sacred space where nourishment, magic, and ritual seamlessly come together to create meaningful revelation and transformation.

Whether a reader seeks to gain a stronger relationship with spice and herbs or nurture themselves through the seasons, May offers edible ways to support one’s intentions. May has shared her recipes with readers to be an opportunity to manifest our desires, foster connection, and honor nature’s cycles. Her philosophy towards culinary witchcraft is a heartwarming reminder that every meal can be more than just food—it can be a spell, a celebration, and a devotional act of everyday magic.

Magic Spells Oracle, by Judika Illes

Magic Spells Oracle, by Judika Illes
Weiser Books, 1578639220, 128 pages, 26 cards, October 2025

Looking to infuse your oracle readings with a dash of magic? Magic Spells Oracle by Judika Illes blends practical spellcraft with intuitive guidance, perfect for readers looking to add a bit of ritual to their reading. Illes brings her decades of experience, combining expertise in spellcraft, aromatherapy, and folklore, to this deck, offering readers an opportunity to use their divinations to set their intentions into the world through manifestation.

This deck includes 36 full-color cards along with a 128-page guidebook. Illes has structured the deck based on the elements (earth, air, fire, and water) with two additional balancing cards. Within each elemental suit, individual cards then have a magical correspondence reflective of the elemental energy. As an example, there’s Broomstick in the Air suit, Candle Magic in the Fire suit, Crystal Ball in the Water suit, and Amulet in Earth suit.

In the introduction, Illes explains:

“Magical energy radiates through everything–colors, sounds, fragrances, botanicals, natural phenomena, creatures, and human beings–including you–although how it manifests differs.”14

As someone who enjoys working with elements, believing attuning to them is a powerful way to enhance one’s spell work by grounding the ritual in the rhyme of nature, I appreciate Illes’ sentiment that magic can be found within everything.

The way Illes has offered different facets of each element by having the different cards in the suits further amplifies her explanation that everything carries its own distinct energy. By understanding these magical correspondences, readers gain the opportunity to connect with an elemental is a special way through spellwork and ritual. The cards become a bridge between the physical and spiritual world, creating a clear pathway for one to work their magic.

The deck’s aesthetic feels both enchanting and modern, blending mystical symbolism with a clean design. Each card features a central magical image—daggers, crystal balls, animals, or symbols—encircled within a dark cosmic backdrop, accented by golden details that add a touch of sacred shimmer. To me, the inner black circular design reminds me of peering through a portal! The archetypal symbols on the cards definitely open deeper layers of meaning for those who look closer.

For those who are just discovering their magical power, Illes provides ample information in the guidebook, including guidance on how magic and spellcasting works, how to prepare and cleanse one’s deck, how to create an altar space, and how to use the cards (with layouts). At the start of each elemental section, she also gives an overview of associated deities, what the element does naturally in the world, its spiritual power, and magical uses.

For each card entry, there’s an image of the card, the name and element at the top, an overview of its magical significance, and then a spell or ritual one can do. Most of the spells and rituals can be done with things on hand, but a few might require a bit of planning, prepping, and ingredient gathering.

This is definitely a deck for those seeking to learn more about magic and how they can cast spells to make desired changes rather than a deck that provides specific insight about what energies a moment in time holds. While Illes’ guidance is fascinating and practical, it is not a concrete answer like other oracle decks offer. The focus is less on inner reflection and divine wisdom and more on magical information that one can then apply in their spellwork.

Magic Spells Oracle teaches readers how to shape their own future rather than passively giving them insight into energies of their present circumstances. I’d recommend it for those looking to enhance their foundational knowledge of magic and focus on grounded inspiration about how to bring their desire to fruition. People who like traditional, straightforward oracle advice might find it hard to discern clear messages from the guidebook.

This being said, I do still think the cards can provide super accurate insights. I asked the cards what I could do to prepare for my upcoming labor and delivery (baby #2 is due any day now!) and I pulled Crocodile. This card is part of the Water elemental suit. Part of Illes’ guidebook description reads:

“Crocodiles are simultaneously deadly, dangerous creatures and magical animal allies–in particular, for pregnant and laboring women. In many legends, crocodiles have taught the birthing process to humans. Images or toys of crocodiles in a birthing room are a protection against danger.”16

I was honestly flabbergasted with the accuracy of this card pull! Can you believe the exact situation I asked about is discussed in the guidebook? Prior to this reading, I had no idea crocodiles were a magical birth ally! Now I’m planning on taking the card with me when I head to the hospital.

So, as you can see, the card didn’t give me a specific answer, such as “release fear” or “focus on gratitude” like many oracle cards. Instead, it provided me with a magical way to prepare for what I asked about. This deck calls for readers to be proactive in creating their own outcomes by believing in their magical prowess and utilizing the wisdom that comes through in the reading.

Overall, Magic Spells Oracle by Judika Illes is a well-structured oracle that stands out for its elemental clarity and practical magical guidance. The organization into four elemental suits provides clear, intuitive themes that are easy to engage with. The guidance is ideal for beginners looking to learn more about magic, especially if they have an interest in spellwork. Illes bring decades of experience to life within these cards, offering a wealth of information for those seeking to expand their occult knowledge.

Magick for All Seasons, by Marla Brooks

Magick for All Seasons: A Grimoire for the Wheel of the Year, by Marla Brooks
Weiser Books, 157863850X, 256 pages, September 2025

Looking to follow the path of the Wheel of the Year more closely to celebrate the eight pagan sabbats? Magick for All Seasons by Marla Brooks is a hands-on, welcoming guide to weaving magic throughout the year to mark the shifting energies of the seasons. Brooks’ use of multigenerational wisdom coupled with her decades of experience as a witch create the perfect blend of a traditional and modern spin on magic.

In the book’s dedication, Brooks introduces readers to her Great-Grandma Sophie, a wise woman and witch. Throughout the book, Great-Grandma Sophie offers her own insights, providing readers with an additional point of view. Brooks even warns readers they might feel Sophie’s presence as they move through the book, as the grimoire of seasonal magic is both influenced by her and dedicated to her. I enjoyed this spiritual connection and made a point to thank Sophie and welcome her energy each time I started a new chapter!

“The Wheel of the Year is a term that is used to refer to the changing of the seasons. Each season is marked by a series of holy days called sabbats to honor the qualities of each time of the year, life’s lessons as revealed through nature, and our relationship with the god and goddess.”17

Starting with Samhain and moving through Mabon, Brooks guides readers through the energies of the sabbats, along with a variety of ways to make use of the energy of each season. While every sabbat has its own energetic rhythm, as reflected in the content of each part, Brooks has a general format that stays consistent throughout.

She begins by sharing background information about the sabbat, including its significance, history, and magical practices good to do at that time. She also includes a list of symbols, activities, incense, spell works, deities, gemstones, trees/fruits/herbs, animals, and colors associated with the sabbat. From here, she further goes into seasonal activities, spells, and concludes with recipes.

My style is quite mix and match eclectic, so I especially appreciate the variety of ideas Brooks shares. Her multi-faceted approach to working with seasonal energies, from practical things to cleanse the home to delicious treats that can be made, provides plenty of avenues for magical practitioners of all kinds to find something that resonates with how they want to honor the sabbat. With so many options, readers will easily be able to draw new inspiration year after year, picking out what’s speaking to them most at that time.

I began reading this book right before Lughnasadh/Lammas, so it was this part I dove right into. In this section, Brooks guides readings in crafting a magical wand, offering the personality and use of many types of bark, along with how to make a manifestation box. Aligned with the energy of this season, many of the spells focus on attracting money and decluttering one’s mental/energetic space.

As I mentioned before, Brooks has a playful sense of humor and often incorporates modern holidays into the spellwork. Apparently, August 26th is National Toilet Paper Day in the United States, so she shares a spell to flush your troubles away! I absolutely plan on doing that one tomorrow!!

As a natural planner, I’ve also picked out some of the spells from the book that I am excited to do now through the end of the year (trying not to get too ahead of myself!):

Mabon 🍂

• The Magickal Apple (to welcome the season)
• A Nutty Prosperity Spell
• Autumn Leave Wishes
• Keeping House Spirits Happy
• Bake Saint Jan’s Bewitching Banana Nut Tree Bread

Samhain 🎃

• Jack-O’-Lantern Spell
• Samhain Renewal
• Thanksgiving Spell of Appreciation
• Create an Ancestor Candle

Yule 🎄

• Wish upon a Pinecone
• Holiday Protection
• Throw the Snow!
• Leave the Year Behind

And all of my current picks are only a few choices within each section, leaving plenty of other things to try out another year!

What I really appreciate about this book too is how Brooks writes about different topics throughout, so it’s an interesting read even if you’re not in the current season. For instance, all the birthday magic spells are in the Samhain section (I’m guessing because it’s the first section?). I was glad that I took the time to go through all the sections, even though I’m in a different time of the year, to discover the gems hidden within.

For instance, at the end of the Mabon section, there’s a few pages dedicated to historical witches where Brooks shares a mini-biography of these spiritual ancestors. Within Samhain, Brooks covers different types of divination, such as cartomancy, and offers an overview of astrological signs. Ostara teaches how to cleanse, consecrate, and charge magical tools. And Yule has a whole list of birthstones for readers to find out more about theirs. These magical insights are useful year-round, so the text makes for a good read regardless of season.

Overall, Magick for All Seasons shines as a warm, accessible, and inspiring seasonal grimoire. Brooks strikes a lovely balance of infusing folklore, magical activities, and ready-to-use spells with seasonal depth. Almost all the ideas in this book can be done with a few tools or ingredients, making it easy to integrate magic organically into daily life and seasonal observances. The approachable recipes, spellwork, and exercises offer a fresh take on natural alignment, providing inspiration on how to make the most of each sabbat.

This book is definitely a kitchen-table companion: one reader can return to again and again as your seasons shift and your practice evolves. I know it’s going to continue to be one of the books I reference each sabbat when planning out my magical intentions for celebrating and working with the energy of each season.

The Altar Within, by Juliet Diaz

The Altar Within: A Devotional Guide to Liberation, Revised 2nd Edition, by Juliet Diaz
Rockpool Publishing,1923208624, 256 pages, September 2025

In this revised 2nd edition of The Altar Within, Indigenous Taíno Cuban-American author Juliet Diaz presents a radical devotional guide designed for inner and collective liberation. This inspiring read frames spirituality as a revolutionary act of healing deeply intertwined with justice, mutual aid, and ancestral wisdom. Within these pages, Diaz offers readers the opportunity to discover their sovereignty, finding a path that blends personal healing and community care.

“The journey towards building a life of sovereignty starts by recognizing the inner altar we each hold within, the center of our power, the seat of our wisdom, and the home of our deepest truths.”18

In an author’s note, Diaz describes how in this 2nd edition she changed the layout and flow of the book “with the intention of supporting those who are actively using this work in their personal and professional practices, in community settings, and within social movements.”19 There’s also an additional chapter for readers to delve deeper into the work of “inner and collective liberation”20.

Diaz has sectioned the book into four offerings, each one focusing on an aspect of liberation work. Within each offering are subsections that she refers to as devotionals.​​ In a traditional mindset, one might liken these devotionals to chapters, however the amount of content within does make them feel like spiritual opportunities for readers to reflect on their own journey and integrate what comes up for themselves. I really like the wording Diaz chose for her content because it invites an openness when approaching the content; moving through each devotional is an act of offering oneself to a higher power for the greater good.

While each section differs in topic, there’s a seamless flow to the book that guides readers through shedding layers of their conditioning to discover the magic within. Diaz includes incantations, lessons, reflection prompts, writing prompts, and practices for readers to embody the information. This is definitely not a read-through-and-then-be-done-with-it type of book; it’s a text that readers can continually come back to as they learn, experience new things, and change internally as a result.

There’s even a whole devotional that honors self-discovery in which Diaz reminds readers it’s not about having a “static identity; it’s about connecting to a deeper essence, one that evolves as you grow.”21

This devotional is a great reminder that people will always be finding out new things about who they are, shifting their creative expression, discovering new gifts, and redefining their relationship with the past. This ultimately leads to uncovering more layers of the Self, and as a result, can be a journey that is celebrated and cherished rather than feared, controlled, or stifled. Continual reflection, exploring values, and  redrawing boundaries is part of the process that Diaz aids readers in undertaking.

One of the best aspects of The Altar Within for me is how the text is very grounding, allowing for the wisdom we discover to find its home within the body and move outward from there. One of my favorite sections was about decolonializing wellness, where Diaz reminds readers “that wellness is not a luxury or privilege, but a right, tied to social, environmental, and cultural factors.”22

In this way, wellness becomes something relational, non-commodified, and Earth-centered. Diaz encourages readers to examine wellness in their own life, reassess beauty standards, and offers a practice called “Honoring Authentic Beauty Through Self-Connection”, which I highly enjoyed doing.

I also highly enjoyed the offering “Centering Collective Liberation”, in which Diaz teaches readers how to co-create community, engage in mutual aid, rebuild society through collective visioning, and protect our Earth through environmental justice. After moving through the first two offerings, focused more on internal work, this section really made me aware of how I could branch out and extend myself to make a difference in the world, which sometimes I think I forget I have the power to do.

The final offering, “Magic for the Revolution”, provides even more hands-on ways for readers to participate in societal change. Diaz writes:

“Revolution requires not only a willingness to envision a better world but also the courage to destroy what stands in its way.”23

Spells and rituals for doing things like cutting out the roots of white supremacy, dismantling capitalism, weakening systems of oppression, banishing colonialism, and calling in ancestors to support the uprising make for some potent magical workings. Luckily, Diaz has made them all quite accessible in regard to material needed and easy to do with step-by-step instructions. This offering also includes prayers and incantations for readers, if this is more their style, for inner libration, collective liberation, ancestors, and future generations.

Overall, The Altar Within stands out as a spiritually and politically resonant book, woven from ancestral memory, social justice, and honest self-care. Its strength lies in guiding readers toward self-worship—not in narcissistic terms, but as reclaiming one’s divinity amidst trauma, colonization, and cultural erasure. Diaz ties personal healing to collective liberation, offering a much-needed community-based, intersectional, and decolonial approach to magic and spirituality. 

There’s a perfect balance of Diaz’s raw, honest, and grounding writing style that guides readers through acknowledging the shadows of the individualistic, colonial, capitalistic, predatory and oppressive systems of the Western world that have had a hugely detrimental effect on so many people worldwide. She holds space for readers as they acknowledge how far off course society has gotten and awakening to what can be done both personally and collectively to rebuild a society that is based on equity, justice, and love.

Like all great teachers, Diaz gets readers thinking for themselves. She unveils these uncomfortable truths without preaching or shaming others into believing them. The many prompts, practices, and rituals offered are for the reader to move at their own pace in this process. Unpacking shame, acknowledging ancestral trauma, overcoming spiritual by-passing, are tough things to do on your own. Diaz understands this wholeheartedly, and it’s clear this book was written for readers to know they are not alone and do have the power to face these things.

As someone who spent the morning fretting about current events in the United States, it was such a relief to remember I could do something proactive for myself and my community: reading The Altar Within. This book would resonate most with those who are seeking support in being an activist/advocate, looking to decolonize their spiritual path, longing for connection between their personal healing and community care, and feeling ready to do the inner and outer work to create a more inclusive, loving, and healthy world for the future.

“Our innate magic is amplified when we unlearn the conditioning of oppressive systems and reconnect with our authentic selves. By shedding layers of colonialism, capitalism,and white supremacy, we reclaim the sovereignty of our Spirit.”24 

Wicca for Everyday Life, by Silja

Wicca for Everyday Life: Celtic Spells, Chants, and Rituals for Busy Witches, by Silja
CICO Books, 1800654316, 144 pages, August 2025

Life moves quickly. Between work, home, family, and the constant hum of modern demands, finding time for deep, elaborate rituals can feel challenging even for the most dedicated witch. Yet magic is not something that exists only in moonlit circles or hours-long ceremonies; it is a living, breathing part of the everyday world. It can be stirred into your morning tea, whispered as you lock the door, or woven into the moments between meetings.

In Wicca for Everyday Life: Celtic Spells, Chants, and Rituals for Busy Witches, Celtic Wiccan High Priestess Silja opens the door to a practice that fits into even the most hectic of schedules. Through simple spells, chants, and rituals, she shows that witchcraft is not about having the perfect altar or rare ingredients—it’s about intention, connection, and the quiet power of aligning with the natural cycles that flow all around us. Packed to the brim with ideas of how to infuse your day with magic, this book has plenty of spells for enhancing the mundane aspects of one’s daily routine.

This book is divided into six chapters, each focusing on an area of life where the reader can apply their magic: tending to the home and garden, working, commuting/traveling, nurturing their well-being, creating a schedule, and seasonally living. This well-rounded approach to different types of spellwork allows readers to tap into magic at any point in their day, either for a specific intention related to one of these domains or just for overall alignment with the energies of the moment. The variety of spells shared by Silja give plenty of creative inspiration for how readers can craft their intentions and hone their focus for meaningful, magical transformations.

One of the best parts of this book is the colorful illustrations throughout. They offer a gentle visual ease to the book, giving the eyes plenty of space to wander and take in the tranquility they provide. The colorful layout of the book also makes it easy to find what you’re looking for and follow along with the spells, as there are different color blocks, text sizes, bullet points, and other features that make for a pleasurable read. This isn’t a bland textbook of spells; this book is a creative fusion of pastel color, text, and illustration that draws readers into the magical energy.

Here are some of Silja’s wisdom from this book I’ve tried out so far:

• Working with a potato to achieve my goals by cutting it in half, carving a symbol of what I wish to achieve, putting it back together and microwaving, and  then eating the baked potato with sour cream. Yum! A delicious and quick spell.

• Taking a purification soak where I put dried chamomile in a muslin bag and took a special bath to release unsettling feelings.

• Setting up my  work space with tips from Silja about decorations and crystals to infuse the energy. I also followed her suggestion to write a sigil on a sticky note (you can choose the corresponding color that matches your intention!) and putting it behind my computer.

• Taking more time to connect with nature as I’m walking outside, noticing the clouds, plants, and animals around. Silja gives insights into the messages we get from different types of plants and animals, assisting readers with deciphering nature’s communication with us.

And these few things I’ve done so far are only a tiny fraction of all the ideas Silja shares that I look forward to doing in time! From easing sibling tension to purposely picking out the scents of body care items, there’s a lot of directions this book takes the readers. The whole last section on seasonal magic is a great chapter to refer back to throughout the year as the wheel turns and we enter a new phase. Additionally, the section on how to best use days of the week for their magical potency is a great way to map your days and plan accordingly.

One thing worth noting is that I am personally not Wiccan, yet all of the magic in this book is still relevant to me. Aside from an introduction to Wiccan magic in the beginning, Silja doesn’t overly focus on the Wiccan aspects of the content. The material is super adaptable to fit your own magical lens. I wouldn’t let the title deter you from exploring all the wonderful guidance in this book if your craft path is not traditionally Wiccan or Celtic in nature.

As for the level of magical experience best suited for the reader of this book, I feel it’s welcoming to everyone. It’s been well over a decade that I’ve been honing my craft, but when I’m busy and my mind is scattered and I’m short on time, it’s nice to have a quick reference guide. I absolutely love having this book on hand to find an appropriate magical working in a pinch, which the index makes very easy to do. It’s a book that I have been keeping around to ease my day and provide inspiration when I don’t have the energy to come up with my own workings.`

Similarly, those new to magical workings will appreciate the simplicity of the many spells, divinations, and tips for infusing magic into one’s life. Most can be done within a few minutes, teaching readers to feel empowered in their ability to shift energy and call in their intentions with just a few moments of dedication and focus. Silja even suggests working with this book before seeking out a Wiccan coven, for those interested in that path, to familiar oneself with the concept of magic and ritual workings.

Overall, the pages of Wicca for Everyday Life are filled with magic you can work in a few minutes, using what you already have on hand. Whether it’s summoning calm before a stressful day, choosing ingredients for a magical meal, or honoring the changing seasons in subtle ways, Silja invites you to discover that every moment holds the potential for enchantment. This is witchcraft for the real world—practical, joyful, and deeply rooted in the wisdom that reminds us that nature, spirit, and daily life are never truly separate.

The Tarot Architect, by Lon Milo Duquette

The Tarot Architect: How to Become the Master Builder of Your Spiritual Temple,  by Lon Milo DuQuette
Weiser Books,  978-1578638543, 368 pages, May 2025

“Who is this book for? It is for those who desire a set of seventy-eight cards that serve, not just as pieces of cardboard, but as vital forces embodying the mystery and magic of the universe within and without. Such a set can be used to both mirror and manipulate one’s own experience and even the world around you. It serves as the key that unlocks the ability to create change in accord with will.”20

The quote above by renowned Tarot master and author, Mary Greer, summarizes the intention of The Tarot Architect: How to Become the Master Builder of Your Spiritual Temple by Lon Milo DuQuette. This is not a book an easy pass for a quick study of Tarot, and does not reduce Tarot to its use as only a tool for divination and oracular arts. Rather, it takes the foundational basics of Tarot and expands its reach to be inclusive of the magic of creation, leaning into the Qabalistic, Ceremonial Magick, Enochian systems and more.

The Tarot Architect is organized into eleven chapters contained within two sections: “Book 1: Laying the Foundations” and “Book II: Creating Your Own Deck”. In the style that is uniquely that of Lon Milo DuQuette, there is also “Prologue – A Job Offer” and “Epilogue-The Job is Yours” as the start and finish to the  depth of information in-between. The Appendices 1, 2, and 3 provide the reader with quick look interpretations of the cards, correspondence tables for the Trump (Major Arcana ) cards, and an extra offering for those familiar with Enochian magic: an Enochian Tablet of Union.

Throughout the book, there is a plethora of graphics adding to the visual approach of absorbing the information contained. As a nice addition, large black and white images of the tarot cards discussed can be colored as part of the suggested modality of study and engaging the visual kinesthetic approach. Of note, the cards are not the traditional Rider-Waite, which allows for suspension of pre-ordained interpretation based on imagery and prescriptive colors.

As the title alludes, each section of the book uses as analogy the process much like an architect or builder would go through in steps towards the masterful creation of a building of great value. “Book I: Laying the Foundations” does exactly that, preparing the reader for crafting their own scaffolding using Qabalistic principles overlayed and underpinning the Tarot keys themselves. Use of the Tetragrammaton and the Cube of Space round out the concept of having Working Tools of the finest quality as any skilled builder would. This section is replete with meditations and ritual to begin the process of crafting a skillset and the necessary knowledge to inform your crafting of a spiritual Temple.

“Book II: Creating Your Own Deck” comprises more than half of the title and is the deep dive into Tarot from a lens most will not even consider in application. This section begins with “ A Little Background Information” that provides the reader with just enough of the relevant history of Tarot and the overarching revelation of the inherent link of creative reciprocity between the seventy-eight cards of the tarot as alternate expressions of the Hermetic Sephira and paths of the Tree. Discussion  of the impact of human consciousness in directing the formation of the cards aligned with  specific patterns offers a thoughtful approach to the journey you are embarking on.

This section is a quintessential text book of instruction, theory, practicum, ritual, meditation, and more. Black and white large images of specific cards are displayed, ready to be colored as reinforcement of what you are internally building as a solid foundation for all of your magical endeavors. Each chapter holds a deeper mystery of synthesis contained within the cards of focus and their use in creating a sustainable and evolving magical practice inclusive of more than just Tarot. 

Would I Recommend?

The Tarot Architect is a difficult book to review because it’s hard to provide a full impression of the magnitude of the material contained within its pages. And, let me qualify that statement by saying that it is not because of any lack within this title. Actually, quite the opposite, in that this title is exactly what would be expected of a Lon Milo DuQuette book.

The text is steeped in a knowledge base that is expansive in its approach and thoroughly grounded in sound technique honed from years of dedication and study of the hermetic arts, Tarot, Qabalah, and Enochian Magic, to name a few. I would not entirely agree that this is a book that is reader-ready for the complete novice, but that being said, it is valuable at every turn in allowing for exposure to more complex ways of thinking around Tarot and its related hermetic companions.

It is structured in a way that it would be difficult to “avoid” the exercises, meditations, and homework to simply skip around. As is true of any magical discipline of worth–“discipline” being the key word here–you will dramatically short change yourself by not putting in the work, of which there is a substantial amount.

The greater lessons of take away are not only the overt lessons and information, but more importantly, the author’s subtle lessons of guiding the reader towards questioning, exploring, and finding the suitable roads that will be of their own creation, regardless of magical focus. For those reasons, this is a title that should be in every magician’s library and work to aspire towards.

About the Author: Lon Milo DuQuette

Lon Milo DuQuette is a bestselling author who lectures worldwide on such topics as magic, tarot, and the Western mystery traditions. He is currently the US Deputy Grand Master of Ordo Templi Orientis and is on the faculty of the Omega Institute and the Maybe Logic Academy. His books include The Magick of Aleister Crowley, Understanding Aleister Crowley’s Thoth Tarot, and The Chicken Qabalah. Visit him at londuquette.com.