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Conjure Cards, by Jake Richards

Conjure Cards: Fortune Telling Deck and Guidebook, by Jake Richards
Weiser Books, 1578637449, 64 Pages, 52 cards, May 2021

Reading fortunes using playing cards has a history as long as the history of playing cards themselves. Fortunes began to be told using playing cards soon after the cards were invented in the 14th century. This tradition has made its way into many different belief systems and practices, including Appalachian folk magic and conjure. Hence the name of the deck, Conjure Cards: Fortune Telling Deck and Guidebook, created by Jake Richards, a native of Tennessee and an expert in Appalachian conjure magic. 

I was interested in this deck because I’ve been reading playing cards for over a decade myself and I enjoy collecting playing card decks for this purpose. I had also recently read Richards’ book Doctoring the Devil.

What I did not expect was the dream interpretation aspect present in this deck. The author has melded Appalachian dream interpretations into the card meanings – an interesting addition that will probably create a bit of a learning curve for anyone that is familiar with reading playing cards but not familiar with Appalachian dream symbols.

One traditional and popular method of divining with playing cards is to generally read the red cards (diamonds and hearts) as “good” and the black cards (spades and clubs) as “bad”. I wouldn’t say that this deck’s official card meanings follow that rule in a strict way, but there are more than a few hints of it such as the Ace of Spades being the “death” card (this is a very traditional meaning), many of the diamond cards heralding good fortune, and some heart cards suggesting love and romance.

Knowing that these cards were based on playing cards, I’ll admit I was a little disappointed when I opened the box to find cards much larger than traditional playing cards. The cards measure 4.25” x 3”, which is not huge compared to most tarot or oracle decks, but they definitely aren’t as easy to move in the hands as a poker deck. Nor do they have a typical playing card finish that helps a traditional poker or bridge deck shuffle so well. The card-stock is sturdy without being overly thick and has a smooth finish.

However, the box is one of the best deck boxes I have ever seen. It is a paper box that has the look and feel of wood and a hinged top. The accompanying book is the same size as the cards and has 60 pages of card meanings along with a few spreads. 

There is a 3-card past-present-future spread, a relationship spread called The Jusem Sweet — a 9-card spread for showing “the thoughts, feelings, and stance of each person in the relationship”1Conjure Cards Guidebook2, and a 36-card spread for general readings aptly called The Bullfrog because once the cards are down you “hop” to every seventh card to read the cards in a specific order. 

I decided that to really understand the deck I would use The BullFrog spread to do a reading for a client. This was a time-consuming endeavor, but I’m attributing that to having to learn a new deck and a new spread, along with the sheer number of cards laid down. 

Several things in the spread came to light within 24 hours of the reading, and some of the things that my client has marked as goals showed up in the spread as future events that will take place in a few months. So, I counted this reading as very accurate and noticed that it had a variety of good news and a few uncomfortable items (such is life!). My client felt strongly that the reading had a few very specific items that rang true for what was happening in her life at the time. 

The addition of Appalachian dream symbol imagery creates some unique card meanings that differ from some other traditional playing card divination meanings but seeing that this author has such a deep knowledge of conjure and folk magic Conjure Cards might be exactly what some conjure magicians are looking for.  I would recommend this deck for anyone who has an interest in conjure/Appalachian folk magic or divining with playing cards.

Uncommon Tarot, by Shaheen Miro

Uncommon Tarot, by Shaheen Miro
Weiser Books, 1578637147, 64 pages, 78 cards, October 2020

I absolutely love when artists put a new twist on the classical tarot, which is just what Shaheen Miro has done with the deck The Uncommon Tarot. This mixed-media deck is filled with surprises that gently push on the boundaries of the traditional tarot cards. The imagery gently invites the reader to reimagining the tarot, as this deck has infused it visually with the symbols of diverse cultures and spiritual traditions, inviting in new wisdom to the cards.

The box this deck comes in is a lovely design. I appreciate when a creator uses a different design than a standard box where the lid separates from the bottom. The Uncommon Tarot folds open and has a magnet to keep it secure. It is small, but sturdy, and the box fits neatly within my collection of decks and ensures the cards will not start to fade in time, as happens with decks without a good box. It also has a yellow ribbon to gently guide the cards out of the deck and prevent them from getting stuck. Absolutely marvelous packaging!

It’s no wonder the box is so well designed, as the cards themselves are truly masterpieces. The cards all have an ethereal feeling to them that transcend the bounds of time and space. Some seem to have themes of Renaissance art, while others bring to mind Surrealist imagery. Interspersed is Native American, Asian, Indian, and African people and, sometimes, animals to depict the energy of the card.

My favorite card in the deck is Strength. It has a classically painted woman looking over a relaxed, life-like looking lion. The lion is crowned with a green infinity symbol. In the background is a mixture of sunflowers and painted leaves. There is a serene energy to the card. I love how the sunflowers and yellow hues remind me of the card’s correspondence to the Sun, while the green infinity symbol reminds me of the connection to the heart. While my words may not do the imagery justice, it’s as though my unconscious mind picked up on all these subtle visual cues to feel the meaning of the card within my soul.

What strikes me the most is how even though re-envisioned, every card seems to still perfectly encapsulate the energy of the traditional tarot card description. It’s as though the cards have been enhanced and are now  more revelatory because of the added element of subtle fluency and dynamic expression. Here the energy of the tarot is no longer locked into the traditional deck, and the deck comes alive through its ability to truly express the energy it’s always wanted to.

You can look at cards and still see intuitively the meaning. The minor arcana still includes the image of wands, pentacles, swords, and cups for every card, and the major arcana images still capture the essence. There’s also the name of the card at the bottom. A few names have been changed, such as the “Fool” being renamed “Wander” and “Temperance” renamed “Alchemist.” Once again though these revisions seem to magnify the energy of the card, distilling the past bias and stripping away what is excess to merge with the liminal energy of the deck between the physical and spiritual world.

There’s more emphasis on the artwork speaking for itself to guide readers to discern the information coming forth than relying on the guidebook for information. The guidebook is only a short 64 pages. For every card there is a corresponding question, keywords, general theme, and reversal information. There’s no guidance on how to do a spread, just a suggestion about how to acquaint oneself with the deck and an invitation to be creative. There’s a brief explanation of elemental energy and the meaning of numbers. And that’s about all!

One could skim through the whole guide book in about fifteen minutes. But in no way do I feel like this diminishes the deck. In fact, I feel this would still be a wonderful deck for expert or novice tarot readers because it offers the ability to reconnect with one’s intuition. Rather than offering explicit meanings, these cards leave room for there to be understanding within without it need to be clearly stated. Seeing these cards is enough to prompt your intuition and send the answers you seek through your entire being. There’s no need to run back to the words to seek the validation of what you’ve uncovered, though if you want a bit of illuminate there’s enough in the guidebook to put your mind on the right track.

While the artistry wonderfully captures the energy of the standard 78 cards in the tarot, it also infuses new layers of meaning that have really assisted my readings. I have found this deck awakens the imagination, and the visual cues of the collage-like imagery draw forth intuitive information that I may not have otherwise picked up on. This happened just this morning actually in a reading with my querent when Six of Swords was drawn.

The traditional Six of Swords tarot card has an image of a hooded figure being rowed away from shore with the swords at the front of the boat. In The Uncommon Tarot, the imagery is of a yellow butterfly soaring over the top of six swords, highlighted by blue, green, and yellow background shading, looking absolutely radiant. The moment my querent saw it, she immediately intuited the meaning of this card to represent a transition from being her cocoon to emerging to be the butterfly.

It was remarkable to see her so quickly discern the energy of the card from the artwork, and her vivid excitement about it let me know that it deeply resonated. I always appreciate when the imagery on the card speaks to my querent and infuses them with the energy of the reading beyond the words I may be saying; this is what makes for the readings people remember for a long time.

For those who are collectors, The Uncommon Tarot is definitely a deck to add to one’s collection. The title aptly describes it’s uniqueness with the magnificent artistry makes it stand out among other decks. This inclusive tarot deck successfully draws upon the ancient tradition of tarot and infuses it with a modern imagination. I highly recommend this deck to anyone looking to add a bit more fluidity to their reading, as it invites the energy to flow through the imagery and guide you to new levels of awareness.

Horse Magick, by Lawren Leo and Domenic Leo

Horse Magick: Spells and Rituals for Self-Empowerment, Protection, and Prosperity, by Lawren Leo with Domenic Leo, PhD
Weiser Books, 1578636983, 208 pages, 2020

Using animals in magical practice is a familiar theme (see what I did there?) that resonates with most practitioners. Many of those who follow some form of occult practice have some type of helper to either guide them through their spiritual work or simply act as a companion. In their book, Horse Magick: Spells and Rituals for Self-Empowerment, Protection, and Prosperity, both Lawren Leo and Domenic Leo draw on their own experiences to illustrate and detail the art of practicing magick with the Horse Spirit that resides within all of us.

Both brothers have ample experience in both dealing with horses and practicing magick. Growing up, they were introduced to horses and riding and never looked back. As a psychic, Leo has authored many books and owns a metaphysical store that Domenic is head buyer for. Additionally, Domenic holds numerous degrees in a variety of subjects and is widely published. Together, they have created a unique reading experience that results in a book that is difficult to put down once started. This book is their shared experience, with one delving into the historical background of various horse deities and the other crafting specific spells designed to procure whatever it is needed.

This book is not laid out in the typical fashion. Its nonlinear approach is comforting to me personally, as I like jumping around from section to section. Here, you are not penalized for doing so; in fact, jumping around is encouraged! Here’s the difference though: in order to find the spell you want, you need to know what type of horse it relates to. The table of contents lists the different types of horses: Ancient Horse, African River Horse, Marble Horse, and so on. Not familiar with any of the horses listed? A brief skim of each chapter signals the kind of spellwork that coincides with the spirit and the spell that follows makes it crystal clear. 

The introduction is a wealth of information if you are patient enough to read it all the way through. The temptation to jump ahead and let spirit guide your reading selection a la bibliomancy is hard to resist. Case in point: when I randomly opened the book to a page I found precisely what I was looking for. Although I don’t have horses anymore I do have cats, and the spell I found on page 64 brought me to tears. Called “Spell for Bonding With, Protecting, and Remembering Animal Companions,” this beautiful ritual does precisely what it says. Maybe I’m totally reading into things but I swear my normally aloof cat was a bit more affectionate after I did this ritual. It’s hard to tell with cats, but I am choosing to believe.

Thoroughly researched horses and deities provide the backdrop for this magnificent book. While there is a lot of information presented, it’s done in such a way that you are grateful for the information. Every chapter of this book brings new ideas for personal spellwork and although I am not a high ritual type of witch, I can absolutely appreciate the amount of care and thought that each spell clearly has built into it. These are not spells to be done off the cuff: these are the type of spells that you need to prepare for and make sure you have everything ready prior to beginning. Horse spirits are akin to real horses in that they have no patience if you don’t know what you are doing and aren’t prepared. 

Having said that, Chapter One is designed to prepare you so that you are ready for the spellwork. In explaining what the Horse Spirit is, Leo offers “The essence of the Horse Spirit is freedom… the horse’s intimate relation with spirit and nature… are compelling reason to use equine magick.”2 Using equine magick involves partnering with the horse spirit within, something that many of us yearn for but simply don’t know how to access.

Leo takes the reader through the process of connecting with this inner guide by offering a spell to provide freedom from burdens and stress. This simple spell involves sitting, something that I enjoy very much, and a chant that can be repeated as many times as needed. The rhythmic chant is relaxing and invigorating at the same time and could bring on an altered state of consciousness called the alpha state. I won’t go into those details here as it’s something that can be easily looked up. The fact that there is no prescribed amount of times to chant or direction on how many days to chant is not by accident. This is a spell of freedom, and if being burdened is something you struggle with, this spell gives you a starting point to taking back that power and freedom to choose for yourself.

Horse Magick is perfect for those who love professionally researched subject matter that is presented in an easy to read fashion. The spells are designed to be thought provoking and deliberate, with not much room for improvisation in terms of the actual ritual of performing the spellwork. If you prefer your spellwork to be more fluid and open, these spells might be a good jumping off point for you to create your own. I feel anyone who practises any form of magick would do well to flip through this book as it’s well written and laid out in such a way to encourage the reader to find their own inner Horse Spirit.

The Ways of the Water Priestess, by Annwyn Avalon

The Way of the Water Priestess: Entering the World of Water Magic, by Annwyn Avalon
Weiser Books, 1578637249, 238 pages, January 2021

The Way of the Water Priestess: Entering the World of Water Magic is a profound initiation. As you dive in, author Annwyn Avalon makes clear the distinction between being initiated into a lineage and going straight to the source of your own channel with spirit, your own intimacy with water. This is a sacred text that attunes you so deeply to what you are mostly made of. 

Avalon is a water priestess and a water witch. She is the founder of Triskele Rose,  an Avalonian witchcraft tradition. This book called to me because I wanted to deepen my relationship to water as an act of devotion.

“The work of a water priestess is expressed in various sacred practices like enchanting the waters, facilitating rituals, creating healing ceremonies, and preparing sacred baths.”3 

Each of these rich chapters had me diving into portals of sovereignty and healing. Avalon does a fantastic job weaving together concrete practices, lineages and history, as well as myth and story. In my personal practice, this book was the first step in so much unfolding. I embraced her invitation to me, “While you cannot initiate yourself as a priestess, you can dedicate your life to the sacred waters.”4

For me, this began with building my own water altar. This first step has been potent in my work as a priestess.  And when I say priestess, I mean  being willing to show up and do the work in devotion to tend and clean the altar; to center your acts of service to the water. 

The Way of the Water Priestess is created in such a way as to offer us that sacred journey of initiation, pulling on deities and archetypes, myths, as well as daily devotional practices. This book is beautifully written with a wealth and depth of knowledge. All geared towards you, discovering your own information. Avalon creates a framework for you to foster your own intimacy with the waters. These are concrete and specific tools to connect you to your path. 

My daily devotional, as Avalon calls it, with the water has deepened. Avalon offers prayers to help guide you through every step of the journey. There’s such an incredible wealth of knowledge, rooted, most particularly like Celtic and Roman traditions. I have found myself turning to this book over and over as I’ve struggled with my human being life. “You will find that the lesson of the river is different from the lesson that floral water, a sacred bath, or a gem elixir might teach you.”5 I so appreciated being guided to discover my own sacred relationship with the river, allowing it to be my guide in surrender and flow. 

I drink so much water every day. I’ve experimented with some of the ways that Avalon offers us to bless the water. “Sound is also a good way to create healing water… You can simply start with your voice and tone the water with vowel sounds.”6 You can find a beautiful water prayer on that same page. I love this practice as a way to begin my morning and set intention for my day. The more I’ve dedicated myself to this practice, the more I’ve found my words to honor and bless the water I put in my body. My stepdaughter’s favorite practice is to charge her water with the full moon. 

Avalon’s way of being in deep ritual practice with water is an invitation to reclaim your sovereignty through devotion and service. 

“As priestesses, it is vital that we honor the water and spirits we work with. But we must also become trusted conduits for their energies by living in sacred union with them and tending their temples–our own physical temples, the temple of our bodies, and the natural temples where the water flows. When in these states of sacred union, we become a vessel through which the spirit can speak.”7

This book serves such a depth and breadth of wisdom as to belong on every bookshelf, from novice to maven water carrier. It accessibly unpacks fundamentals like working on the holy days of Beltane, Samhain, and the like. It explores the art of ritual, water divination, and the path of the priestess. For those steeped in their own traditions and lineages, it offers context and spell work. 

If you are looking for your activism in this world, I invite you to welcome your devotion and service to water as being a part of how we collectively transform the world. I feel so much more able to hear the message of the water for me in encountering these practices and tools, and the power that comes when approaching this work as a devotee. As a being in service to something so much greater than myself. Everything you need to start is in The Ways of the Water Priestess.

Sex Witch, by Sophie Saint Thomas

Sex Witch: Magical Spells for Love, Lust and Self-Protection, by Sophie Saint Thomas
Weiser Books, 1578637201, 240 pages, February 2021

The idea of a powerful woman, who is sexually liberated and enjoys her own pleasure, has always been seen as taboo and a threat to those who would seek to subjugate her. In Sex Witch: Magical Spells for Love, Lust and Self-Protection, Sophie Saint Thomas takes us on a journey of self-discovery that ultimately treads the path of self-empowerment and pleasure, with plenty of naughtiness along the way.

Saint Thomas has written about sex and the occult for years in various roles at many publications. Her distinct writing style immediately makes you want to call your friends and put her on speakerphone, which is ridiculous because this is a book. After reading this though, I know what my close friends are getting for their respective festive holiday seasons and it isn’t going to be fruitcake. 

Saint Thomas makes sure the reader knows what they are getting into right off the bat in the introduction, where she describes a candle magick session for love involving a red, penis-shaped candle and a conjuration of Lucifer. While the spell didn’t go precisely as planned, she did point out the red flags she discovered in hindsight and that’s very helpful for those of us who tend to plunge ahead with only a loose idea of how it should go. The reinforcement of preparation and self-awareness is refreshing, as some authors merely give you the spell and leave you to it. Saint Thomas doesn’t and says, “To manifest what we want, we must integrate knowledge and reason. We can’t just dance under a full moon.”8

Saint Thomas writes through a lens of someone who has been there, done that, and is now sharing what she has learned. From the table of contents, a pattern emerges: the journey begins with the basics covered off in Magickal School and Sex Ed. From there, we head into subsequent chapters on self-love, seduction, and sex. Once the basics are established, we move into deeper waters of seduction, sex, love, protection. The last two chapters are perhaps the most powerful: revenge and healing. To be clear, the section on revenge isn’t about hurting your ex because they left, it’s about obtaining revenge through healing yourself and being successful, which is much better in my opinion.

The order of the chapters makes perfect sense: you need to learn how to walk before you can run. In Chapter 1: Magickal School, Saint Thomas says that “… sex magick is not just spells for attracting more sex. Sex magick is harnessing your orgasms for manifestation.”9 She also touches on Chaos Magick, which is something I personally ascribe to, as well as sections on colour correspondences and, of course, candle magick. This section is truly meant for those at the start of their magical journey, with instructions on how to cast a circle and what the four elements and their correspondences are. Still worth a read as far as I am concerned, as each interpretation reveals new knowledge.

The detail that Saint Thomas goes into is staggering. While undoubtedly meant for those not familiar with witchy terminology or supplies, Saint Thomas goes above and beyond to include nuanced tidbits for even the most seasoned of witches. I could literally write an entire review about the first chapter but since that’s not why you are here, I will tear myself away from it and move on to the rest of the book.

Subsequent chapters dealing with self-love, seduction, and sex are well written and fulsome. It would be easy to get lost in this book except for the fact that there are many spells sprinkled throughout that makes the reader want to stop and try them out along the way. There is a lot of Shadow work in here, especially in the Self-Love chapter.

There is one particular spell I tried out on page 88 called Break Toxic Cycles. It’s a cord cutting ritual involving a length of black string. You basically tie knots as you call out patterns you want to break. Things like “I ignore red flags” and “I expect people to change” and such. You go down the length of the string, calling out patterns and making knots, until you’ve called out all patterns. This is where it gets interesting: you tie the ends together to form a loop and drape it over your hands like shackles. You are encouraged to feel how toxic the patterns are, and then taking scissors, snip between each knot, freeing yourself. Take all the bits of string and knot and burn them, removing the residue from your home once done.

I’ve been in therapy for a few years now dealing with my own baggage and trying to free myself from toxic patterns that keep plaguing me. I did this spell during the waning moon and although there was no bolt of lightning at the end to show that I’d broken each pattern, there was definitely a lightness within me that hasn’t been there in some time. Simple, effective, and to the point spell casting is my jam, and this book is full of spells like that one.

Sex Witch would do well in the hands of someone who isn’t afraid to explore their sexuality or who is firmly grounded in who they are sexually. There is no room here for kink shaming or slut shaming: it’s all pleasure and it’s all normal. I especially love how Saint Thomas just dives right in and talks about things like drugs and threesomes and how to protect yourself against STDs. She completely understands that while some will be attracted to the book based on how much sex they think they might be able to conjure, others will read it and understand the nuanced messaging around self-love, protection, and freeing yourself from the expectations of others, both inside and outside of the bedroom.

Personal Magic, by Marion Weinstein

Personal Magic: A Modern-Day Book of Shadows for Positive Witches, by Marion Weinstein
Weiser Books, 978-1578637195, 240 pages, 2021

Personal Magic: A Modern-Day Book of Shadows for Positive Witches is the personal grimoire, or “Book of Shadows,” of Marion Weinstein (1939-2009). Weinstein was one of the founders of the modern witchcraft movement, an author, teacher, and media personality. She was the first to coin the phrase “positive magic” and has authored a book by the same name, as well as a number of books in the self-help genre, including books about miracles, magic, and divination methods such as tarot, and the I-Ching. This current edition was originally published under the title Earth Magic in 2003, and then updated and published again under that title in 2008. 

Weinstein’s books are considered classics, and several have been republished under different titles, which makes book buying confusing at times if one hasn’t researched whether or not this is previous material being marketed under a new title.

I had a love/hate relationship with this book (well, okay maybe not so extreme, perhaps a like/dislike relationship) at first because so much of it seemed dated to me. In fact, the datedness was why I began looking into whether this was new material, especially once I looked up the author’s bio and saw that she had died in 2009. Witchcraft and magic seem to be having a renaissance in the last few years and perhaps this re-release is an attempt to capitalize on this current trend.

There were several times when the old-fashioned manner of her words carried a loveable quirkiness that I found quite endearing – such as a short section near the very beginning of the book titled “The Inner Bell,” which the author explains is “one’s inner sense of truth and deep knowing which we all possess.’10

Something that also stood out to me immediately is that Weinstein’s “witch” definitely has a narrow, more classic definition that aligns with Goddess worship or paganism (this volume was originally titled Earth Magic), while currently the word “witch” has assumed a very wide meaning that often includes all manner of witches, magicians, and new age practitioners.

Weinstein wrote her first book of shadows in 1979 and intended it to be seen by a much smaller audience. It was her own personal grimoire and she only wanted it to be seen by other witches. But she was a media personality hosting a radio show, Marion’s Cauldron, for fourteen years, and as her audience and notoriety grew, she began to publish her works to a wider readership.

As the title states, the author is very pointed and deliberate about her magic being positive. She stresses this again and again. 

Being the author’s personal grimoire, the examples in the book use her own personal deities – Diana, Selene, Hecate, Kernunnos, and Pan, in all the blessings, spells, dedications, consecrations, and alignments. However, she does include a list of dozens of other popular deities should the reader want to explore other options.

The book is divided into three parts (Primary Work, Advanced Work, and Afterward), which makes it practical for any level of practitioner, from the complete novice to the adept. The novice will find a veritable “how-to” guide to a well-structured practice and the adept will find a multitude of basic ideas that serve as powerful reminders along with numerous creative ideas that may serve to invigorate a stagnant or lackluster practice. The author is also careful to remind the reader that one’s practice is personal, and that each person is permitted to choose elements of their practice that are appealing to them. 

Part One of the book, Primary Work, focuses on “the basics” including deities, tools, how to form a coven (as well as how to work without one), holidays, working with the moon phases, and even how to contact the departed. Also included in Part One is a very comprehensive chapter on Protection Magic that I found to be one of my favorite parts of the book. Part One closes with a short chapter titled “Ritual,” that includes a few important rituals such as the blessing of a new baby, handfasting, and calling in the four directions. 

As a precept, all magic concerns both “inner” work and “outer” work (As above, so below, as within, so without.) Part One is mostly focused on the outer work, with reminders and teachings on how this primary work connects to our inner world, beliefs and energy.

Part Two, Advanced Work, focuses more on the inner work such as how to work with different aspects of our selves, and how to use visualization. The last chapter in Part Two, Advanced Manifestation, was another part I found exciting as it was explicit about the idea that our Magic is found within, that we are the magic. “Yes, it’s true that magic can actually transform matter and energy from one state to another, or make things seem to appear and disappear. But far more important is the fact that magic transforms the magician.”11 

Part Three, Afterward, is the part I found most fun to read, as it covers some ideas that are exciting to me personally as a magician, such as morphogenetic fields, our true selves and the roles we play, ethics, and serving the community.

The information in Personal Magic is extremely practical and written in a concerned and caring voice from someone with decades of experience. I would recommend this book to anyone that is interested in positive magic or witchcraft, with the caveat that it is not new material.   

Year of the Witch, by Temperance Alden

Year of the Witch: Connecting with Nature’s Seasons through Intuitive Magick, by Temperance Alden
Weiser Books, 9781633411876, 224 pages, 2020

Year of the Witch: Connecting with Nature’s Seasons through Intuitive Magick by Temperance Alden is a charming yet quirky little book.  I say little because the book itself is a comfortable, hand-held size with wide pages and margins roomy for note-taking.  It makes the experience of reading it more pleasurable.  I selected it thinking it would be a guide to practicing with the pagan sabbat days, like Beltane and Yule.  It is, but it takes a meandrous journey getting there.  The author’s thesis is that a witch can customize their experience of “the witch’s year” to be an authentic communion with the Earth and not limited to a conceptual celebration of holidays reflecting seasons that do not align with lived experience in one’s locale. 

For example, the author resides in South Florida, and moved there after living in Montana – so her experience of autumn has varied widely.  She wants witches and people exploring a witchcraft practice to feel empowered to claim their own sacred Earth holidays.  Therefore, her personal annual celebration of seasons includes “Shark Season” and “Avocado Harvest.”. 12

Alden makes it clear from the get-go that her aim is for fledgling witches to develop a connection to the Earth and an appreciation for local nature spirits. She goes into great detail towards what this practice entails, beginning with what I found to be the very best explanation of what intuition is that I’ve ever come by (and a message I very much needed to hear):

“The most common questions asked by those beginning their paths of witchcraft usually boil down to a variation on ‘Am I doing this right?’…. These questions often indicate that someone is going too fast down the path…and trying to run before they learn to walk’…. It is necessary to first learn how to distinguish between the voices of anxiety, ego and intuition…. Intuition is the literal gaining of knowledge without any conscious thinking or reasoning.  Intuition hardly ever comes in the form of an impulse. More often it feels like a lazy afternoon breeze flowing through our lives without any effort.”13

In Chapter 2, “Cycles, Seasons, Death and Rebirth,” she talks about hormonal cycles, the cycle of the seasons, cycles in climate, and astrological cycles as well.  Here, the book takes a sharp and unexpected twist when [TRIGGER WARNING] Alden reveals that she does not believe in climate change and cites some academic sources to back up her point of view!!!  This is not what most readers seeking guidance on how to work with earth-based witchcraft are going to expect, and frankly I don’t know what to say about this.  We are all entitled to our opinion on whether the science supporting the actuality of climate change is accurate, but in this book, her opinion stands out like a big yellow caution sign.  Everything else in this book is wonderful (if not a bit divergent at times), but throwing climate change denial at an unsuspecting reader bites a bit.

From there in Chapter 3, “Elemental Magick,” Alden goes on to explain the elements — earth, air, fire, water and spirit — and their role in magic work. In Chapter 4, “Sheparding the Land,” she comes across as a true eco-activist, insisting that students of her magical-methods make it part of their spiritual work to create ways of reducing their footprint on the earth, such as not using single-use plastic water bottles, and buying seasonal produce from farmers instead of shopping big box grocery stores. 14

My only other criticism of Year of the Witch, is that in Chapter 5, “At the Gates of Witchcraft,” Alden deep dives into a rant about being called a “plastic witch.”  She accuses witches who use this term insultingly as spiritually bypassing their privilege.

“I believe the term plastic witchcraft is twofold in its meaning. First ‘being plastic’ refers to being superficial and fake. Second, [it] refers to using plastic products. However, the term itself is very condescending and shows an aggressive amount of spiritual bypassing. [It] allows for more privileged witches to ridicule and scorn less fortunate witches.” 15

For a moment, I forgot I am a 46-year-old woman reading a spiritual book of my chosen belief-system from the comfort of my favorite armchair, and I was transported into my 16-year-old-self up in my bedroom flipping through the latest issue of Sassy Magazine and reading an essay written by the staff intern who just passed Psych 101 with a B+.  All I have to say about that is I think this book aims at a younger audience….

Finally! After all that drama, and through some delightful ideas about creating altars and building spiritual gardens outside, we get to the end of the book where Alden presents the traditional “year of the witch” and explains the eight sacred sabbaths: Samhain, Yule, Imbolc, Ostara, Beltane, Litha, Lughnasadh, and Mabon.  For each holiday she goes into traditional lore and a suggested practice for celebrating.  The chapters are brief, but they are well referenced and offer some fun ideas, such as bread-baking recipes to celebrate the harvest feast at Lughnasadh (also called Lammas).

Alden’s ending conclusion in Year of the Witch is that if you are a witch living in a region with a climate differing from the classical four-season year, you can make your own holidays and create your own personalized “year of the witch” to follow.  Adding to the overall charm, she put in a recipe to make your own Florida Water and also for cascarilla powder in the appendix, along with a calendar of all pagan holidays celebrated in different countries around the world.  Overall, this is a fun book!

Existential Kink, by Carolyn Elliot

Existential Kink: Unmask Your Shadow and Embrace Your Power, by Carolyn Elliott, PhD
Weiser Books, 9781578636471, 224 pages, 2020

How much of our behavior is driven by our sub- and unconscious minds? In Existential Kink: Unmask Your Shadow and Embrace Your Power, Carolyn Elliott, PhD, explains why we are drawn to specific situations and provides clear guidance on how to harness that energy for better uses. As an author and teacher who specializes in helping people achieve dramatic positive change in their lives through shadow integration work, Elliott has been practicing what she preaches and is proof that her method works. But what exactly is Existential Kink?

Developed by Elliott through many years of teaching her courses, Existential Kink (EK) is “an amazing, rapid-shadow integration process”16 and a “specific meditative practice … that’s all about dissolving negative patterns by being willing to uncover and celebrate the previously unconscious pleasure that we actually – paradoxically – derive from those patterns.” 17 Elliott earned her PhD in Critical and Cultural Studies from the University of Pittsburgh, during which time she immersed herself in psychology. The result of her deep dive into psychology led her to realizing one very important insight. She explains that “by recognizing and empowering the darkness of my shadow and in the end taking “pleasure” in my yucky stuff … I could completely integrate my “good” self with my “bad” self and become a whole person.” 18

As you might expect, Elliott’s method for shadow integration is not for the faint of heart. While most self-help books focus on the visualization aspect of manifestation, Elliott realized that what’s actually needed in order to break free of specific unhelpful patterns is an excavation of the psyche. To walk the reader through the process, she has separated the book into three parts that deal with existential basics, getting kinky (more on that later), and questions and answers. Interspersed throughout the sections are specific lessons that help define the practice, provide valuable information in relation to EK, exercises for the reader to engage in the material, and interludes that detail personal stories of transformative experiences had by both the author and those who have taken her courses or been coached by her.

A big chunk of the book lays out the basics, including an interesting take on the legend of Persephone. I won’t ruin it for you because I feel everyone who feels stuck in some sort of recurring negative patterns needs to read this book, but suffice to say, Elliott’s spin resonates deeply. She states that the Persephone/Hades myth is not of two separate people, but of one all powerful being who chooses to experience both positive (Persephone) and negative (Hades) aspects of the human experience. This idea of bringing together both halves of ourselves (positive/light and negative/dark) is the very essence of the work Elliott describes in this book.

Elliott doesn’t try to smooth anything over; she is quite emphatic about how hard this work is and states clearly that most people are not able to do this kind of deep shadow work because of the trauma is brings up. In addressing that, Elliott goes out of her way to mention her own mental health journey to illustrate how deep the work is and also how rewarding. There’s a level of comfort in knowing that others have successfully travelled this path and reading their experiences is helpful in setting personal expectations. Similar to physical exercise, you will get out of this book exactly what you out in terms of steadfast work and deep introspection.

So how exactly does one conduct this type of work? This is where the kink part comes in: Elliott maintains that by “getting off” on our dark desires (things like scarcity, feelings of not being good enough, seeking out those who keep us small, etc), we give ourselves permission to enjoy the sensation of being bad. We often forget that we can choose how to experience sensation, be it a gentle stroke of a lover’s hand or a rap on the knuckles for taking too many cookies. Elliott states that choosing each sensation to be pleasurable, no matter what it is, primes the consciousness for accepting its darker sibling nestled in the subconscious. And that is precisely what we need if we are to fully integrate our shadow selves into our conscious selves.

Shadow integration sounds like a lengthy process, but Elliott’s book is full of testimonials of those who have done the work and seen results within a short amount of time. Elliott refers to this specific work as solve et coagula: “to first utterly dissolve (solve) an existing form and then to carefully bring the dissolved and purified elements together again (coagula) in a whole new … permutation.”19 In terms of timing and success, I think it depends on how willing you are to burn it all down: this is serious psychological work and whenever you muck about in the mud you will get dirty. Is it worth it? I think so, but if you are experiencing some mental health issues around trauma or depression, you might want to think twice before starting this type of exercise.

Full disclosure time: I have taken a couple of Elliott’s courses and this book is a wonderful accessory to the information already provided through the lessons. Personally, I think everyone can benefit from a little soul searching, especially when it means that you can potentially dump some of the unhelpful patterns that you’ve been stuck with through adulthood. By choosing to break down our inner psyche and fully examine our desires, and then completely accepting them as a vital part of ourselves, we can reconnect our divided wills and reunite ourselves in a way that helps us move forward with less baggage and more happiness. Honestly, the sheer delight of being able to accept personal darkness as an integral part of the whole is what pushed me forward into pursuing this type of integrative work.

While Existential Kink is geared towards those who might lean towards the left-handed path in magical terms, the concepts presented are easy to digest and relatable. I personally would not recommend this book to anyone who has strong religious views as it might be potentially upsetting to them to see their doctrines disassembled and reformed into a new version of reality. Although, come to think of it, leaning into discomfort is kind of what this book is about so perhaps Great-aunt Martha should get a copy.

Queering Your Craft, by Cassandra Snow

Queering Your Craft: Witchcraft from the Margins, by Cassandra Snow
Weiser Books, 1578637218, 288pages, November 2020

From now on, whenever someone asks to me to recommend a book about getting started in witchcraft, this is the book I am going to recommend, whether or not that person is queer.  I say this because Queering Your Craft: Witchcraft from the Margins by Cassandra Snow breaks the practice of witchcraft down into simple components that can be picked up by anyone, anywhere and used however they wish, making the craft of magick much more of a personal celebration of creativity, passion and power.  To make the craft of magick-making accessible to a diverse, marginalized population, Snow guides their readers on how to customize their craft so that it can hold meaning and be powerful, even when practiced individually, on a budget and with limited resources. 

This is a “how-to” book on making magick and living a magickal lifestyle. First though, Snow tells us why we need a specifically “queer” magic textbook. The two most influential craft-based magical lineages in the West, Gerard Gardener’s Wicca and Alistair Crowley’s Thelema use symbolism and themes strongly rooted in gender-binaries, which can be alienating to the growing population of the magickally inclined who identify as non-binary. 17

For Snow, queering magic is recreating symbols, themes, and sacred space for a wide variety of gender and sexuality variance.  Their first step on this path is offering a “Queer Witch Manifesto” in the introduction of the book, which Snow refers back to repeatedly throughout the book as an ethical framework for practicing magickal craft and identifying as a witch.  Snow’s “Queer Witch Manifesto” acknowledges (in sum):

✨Infinite genders and sexual identities. (Throughout the book Snow uses the abbreviation LGBTQIA2SP+ whenever referring to queer-identified individuals)
✨The need to dismantle white supremacy and patriarchal power and the need for this dismantling to come from the non-white community.
✨The positivity of all expressions of consensual sexuality.
✨That anyone can invoke Goddess energy regardless of whether they have a uterus.
✨Physical, emotional, and mental disabilities do not make a person unable to practice magic.
✨Personal healing is a precursor to collective healing.
✨We must protect and heal the Earth.
✨We are all equals in magic.
✨All bodies can be magical, regardless of ableism.

I kind of want to needlepoint this onto a pillow! How about you?! 

Laying out this list (with much clearer articulation and more detail than my summary here) at the beginning of the book, the rest of the book is about practicing the craft of magic-making.  Snow knows history and as a result is able to deconstruct magical rites, rituals, and practices from their origins in order to present them as something simple anyone can start to practice. For example, they note the transformative magick of making lists, ““My money magick usually… starts with a list of my financial goals and immediate needs and then I add a list of long-term goals.” 18. Then for the the transformative magick of prayer to a spiritual being, Snow writes “Prayer is so easy, free, and accessible that anyone can do it…. A quick prayer that is literally just ‘thank you’ when you get unexpected luck or a despairing “please help” when you’re feeling your absolute worst is enough.” 19

Snow strongly advocates a DIY Witchcraft, which is making your magickal craft out of what is available to you and infusing your magick with intentions specific to you.  While she does discuss some examples of collective magick, such as covens or working spells in a group context for political aims, Snow acknowledges that for queer people, the most powerful accessible magick may be that which they create on their own from their own hodge-podge of wisdom, creativity, desire, and power. Snow even offers a “how-to” worksheet for designing one’s own spells.

My personal favorite parts of Queering Your Craft is the section on “Fashion and Style Witchcraft” where your magickal intentions can be enhanced by dressing a certain way. Snow writes, “I might pull out a purple outfit for creativity.  I also might pull out a long pencil skirt and a button-down to give myself that “professional writer” feeling.”20 Then later in the book, I also really like Snow’s list of LGBTQIA2SP+ aligned gods and goddesses, including Athena, Loki, and my personal favorite discovery — a Drag Queen God from the Voodoo tradition named Ghede Nibo.21

For the seasoned practitioner, this book may seem elementary.  Snow summarizes common methods of divination such as tarot, astrology, and runes.  They explain the significance of the Four Elements (five including “Spirit”) and how to call them in. They offer a guide to the Lunar phases and Sabbat holidays. This is truly an inclusive essential starter handbook, inclusive on all fronts! However, the manner in which Snow explains the cornerstones of witchcraft and presents them in regard to the Manifesto outlined in the front of the book widens the lens through which these practices are understood and used — and this is exactly the point.  For the purpose of this book is to make magick accessible to anyone and to make magick empowering to those who may not feel at so at home in straight cis-gendered spaces. 

Queering Your Craft concludes with a queer grimoire, including spells “A Protection Spell for Trans People in Small Towns,” “A Protection Spell for QTBIPOC,” A Spell of Protection Against the Patriarchy,” “An Anti-Gatekeeper Spell,” and “A Spell to Protect Activists,” plus many more spells to fill all categories.

Tarot No Questions Asked, by Theresa Reed

Tarot No Questions Asked: Mastering the Art of Intuitive Reading, by Theresa Reed
Weiser Books, 9781578637133, 304 pages, September 2020

Theresa Reed is clearly on a roll! Tarot No Questions Asked: Mastering the Art of Intuitive Reading, published in September 2020, is her third book published in a fourteen month period. Tarot for Troubled Times: Confront Your Shadow, Heal Your Self & Transform the World, co-authored with Shaheen Miro, was published in July 2019, and Astrology for Real Life: A Workbook for Beginners (A No B.S. Guide for the Astro-Curious) in October 2019. I enjoyed this third book so much I ordered the first two immediately after starting to read it!

Here’s why I loved Reed’s book. First, I vibe with her attitude of empowering others. She wants her readers to benefit from all her experience and generously offers the nuggets of her experience. Second, she expresses herself clearly and simply, without oversimplifying or underestimating the reader. Third, she gives you clear directions throughout. (To begin, she instructs you to get a deck and a journal or two and to journal daily.) Finally, her style of writing makes her easy to read. She uses short sentences — often, very short. She does not hold back on her personal anecdotes. And she lets her sense of humor shine.  All this makes her very easy and very entertaining to read. 

The book is divided mainly into three parts. Part 1: Tarot Basics covers the 78 cards. I like how she discusses each card – what it is and what it is not — and then offers three additional exercises that really teaches the meaning of the card: (1) embodiment practice, (2) a question to ponder, and a (3) Tarotcise (a tarot exercise). For example, for the major arcana card Death (my favorite, apt since I have my Sun in Scorpio), she gives two examples where other cards meant death, while Death card itself primarily means change or transformation. For the embodiment practice for the major arcana card The Star, she invites you to not complain for 30 days. “Sounds easy? It’s not! But it will change your world, I promise. Pick a day and start.”22 (I’m going to start today!) The question to ponder for the major arcana card Judgement is “What makes you feel reborn?”23

The Tarotcize for the major arcana card The Fool is as follows:

“Sit with the Fool card for a few minutes. Which symbols stands out? Take out your journal and begin to riff on that symbol. Make a note of anything that comes to mind. Let your words flow without stopping to edit. Just write what you feel. Put this away and then reflect on your words on a later date. What did you uncover? What kind of connection did you make to this card?”24

I found that if I do the journaling, the fruits of the practice are obvious and convincing. 

These three exercises tailored to each card can really help seep the cards’ meaning into the reader’s body and consciousness. At least, for me, they really did that in such a profound way that learning about the cards for the past several years on my own had not done. The power of a good book by a good teacher!

The same format of explication applies to the 56 cards of the minor arcana cards. In addition, her description of the arc of the progression in the suit cards, from Ace to King, is helpful to show you how one leads to the other. For the Six of Wands, she writes “[a]fter the battle, the victory parade!”25 For the Seven of Wants: “[a]fter the sweet victory dance of the Six of Wands, we now see that the win was short lived.”26

Though I enjoyed Part 1, what makes me heartily recommend this book to others is Part 2: Intuition Basics and Part 3: Road Testing Your Skills. That’s where she distills four decades of her own experience into less than 120 pages. “[I]ntuitive tarot reading” means “you’re relying on your intuition – not the guidebook or manual that came with your tarot deck – to interpret the cards lying in front of you.”27 Intuition for her is “when you understanding something immediately, without any facts, logic, or reasoning”28 and it is like a muscle: “[t]he more you exercise, the stronger it gets!”29  She says something simple but crucial to her method: “A quiet mind hears better. Period.”30 That means the techniques for quieting the mind are essential. That led to the delightful surprise of a five page summary on how to do that. I’ll leave each reader to discover it  —  let me say that with my background of three decades of spiritual practices of various sorts, I loved her summary! 

Part 3 is the how-to section and includes Preparations (setting and intention matters!), three kinds of spreads (one card, Past Present Future, Celtic Cross), Methodology. This part includes her tips on details: Numbers, Timing, Significators, Missing Suits, etc. Reed succinctly offers her insights that she has earned through a lifetime of study and practice in some FAQ-type tidbits. Just the titles alone make me laugh: “That Reading Was Boring AF!,” “That Reading as Totally Wrong!,”  “Can I Ask the Question Again If I didn’t like the Outcome?”31 The book ends with a chapter on “Going Pro” that provides a pretty sweet blueprint for doing just that. 

To put my learning to the test, I did a few readings. I told my friends I’m trying out a new method of reading more from my intuition and impression of the cards than relying on a particular interpretation of the cards. I did a Celtic Cross reading for a friend regarding a worrisome work situation. Simply having read this book gave me a greater sense of confidence in my own interpretation and flow; I spoke what leapt out to me in the imagery as much as “the meaning” of the card.

When the Hierophant appeared in the spread as card 8 (environment, surroundings, and other influences), I said, someone with authority may be able to provide guidance that could resolve the situation. My friend brightened up and said, in fact, she had reached out to someone in such a position and was hoping that her boss would take that person’s input seriously. That gave my friend a sense of confidence that her reaching out to that person had been a good idea and that she could participate more assertively in the resolution of a sticky situation. I felt as though Theresa, through her book, had offered a transmission of her own confidence and years of practice. 

For its breadth and depth, I would say that Tarot No Questions Asked is good for anyone from beginner to experienced. For the beginner because it is easy and entertaining to read, while it can also be truly be a treasure trove of information. For the experienced as well because I deeply respect the depth of “living the tarot” that Reed provides through her embodiment exercises and Tarotcize suggestions. Though her ideas are described simply, they invite practices that can continue to deepen and enrich your readings for a lifetime.