The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
kaimilby's review
medium-paced
2.75
It has some pretty good spells but the issue is is that the ingredients arnt exactly readily available or things that you would just have on handÂ
annarella's review
3.0
I think it could be an interesting resource if you are new to the craft even if some of the ingredients are quite expensive.
I found some interesting parts but it wasn't my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I found some interesting parts but it wasn't my cup of tea.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
jnikolova's review
2.0
I fell in love at first glance with the cover and title, and had requested this book on NetGalley faster than you can say "request". One can never read too many witchy books, right?
By now I've read my fair share of beginner books on the topic (I continue reading those because witchcraft seems an ever so expensive of a topic and I never feel like I've actually grasped the practice fully), and I can separate and judge which ones I found helpful, and which ones not so much.
Unfortunately, "The Book of Shadows" falls into the latter category. Despite the good intentions - spells with the ingredients list, explanation of the steps, as well as prompting questions as to the results - the book felt like an endless and extremely expensive shopping list.
Witchcraft books seem to fall into two categories: a) ones where the ingredients are very simple, the correspondences are explained thoroughly and encouraged, b) ones where you need to own an apothecary of the rare and macabre. Okay, minus the macabre.
I just felt extremely overwhelmed by the amount of herbs, flowers, crystals and oils that are required for each and every spell. To quote p. 45 (Antidepression spell): glass jar; coarse sea salt; eggshells from three eggs; orange zest from half an orange; 7 drops orange essential oil; rose petals from three roses; 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary; 3 drops rosemary essential oil.
Another spell calls for at least 3-4 different crystals, a third - for a handful of ivy.
That's not only a lot of ingredients, but a lot of money, too. I would still like to believe that the craft is not a way for new-agey entrepreneurs to sell herbs and crystals for exorbitant prices, but hey...
And also from that perspective, spell after spell, smudging is necessary/recommended, which is just another topic of profiting from things that should not be profitted from. Smudging is a very controversial ritual, which is not attributed, especially when it comes to white sage, to non-Native people, and appropriating it from the Native Americans has done it no service - the trendy Instagram smudging has caused overharvesting of white sage, which makes it unavailable for the Native Americans who not only use it for rituals and prayers, but also for medicinal purposes. What's more, smudging is used to clear bad energy, but in the belief of the Native Americans, the process of buying sage, in itself, is loaded with negative energy, passed down from the hands which harvested the sage through all the people who handled it until it was delivered to your doorstep.
By now I've read my fair share of beginner books on the topic (I continue reading those because witchcraft seems an ever so expensive of a topic and I never feel like I've actually grasped the practice fully), and I can separate and judge which ones I found helpful, and which ones not so much.
Unfortunately, "The Book of Shadows" falls into the latter category. Despite the good intentions - spells with the ingredients list, explanation of the steps, as well as prompting questions as to the results - the book felt like an endless and extremely expensive shopping list.
Witchcraft books seem to fall into two categories: a) ones where the ingredients are very simple, the correspondences are explained thoroughly and encouraged, b) ones where you need to own an apothecary of the rare and macabre. Okay, minus the macabre.
I just felt extremely overwhelmed by the amount of herbs, flowers, crystals and oils that are required for each and every spell. To quote p. 45 (Antidepression spell): glass jar; coarse sea salt; eggshells from three eggs; orange zest from half an orange; 7 drops orange essential oil; rose petals from three roses; 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary; 3 drops rosemary essential oil.
Another spell calls for at least 3-4 different crystals, a third - for a handful of ivy.
That's not only a lot of ingredients, but a lot of money, too. I would still like to believe that the craft is not a way for new-agey entrepreneurs to sell herbs and crystals for exorbitant prices, but hey...
And also from that perspective, spell after spell, smudging is necessary/recommended, which is just another topic of profiting from things that should not be profitted from. Smudging is a very controversial ritual, which is not attributed, especially when it comes to white sage, to non-Native people, and appropriating it from the Native Americans has done it no service - the trendy Instagram smudging has caused overharvesting of white sage, which makes it unavailable for the Native Americans who not only use it for rituals and prayers, but also for medicinal purposes. What's more, smudging is used to clear bad energy, but in the belief of the Native Americans, the process of buying sage, in itself, is loaded with negative energy, passed down from the hands which harvested the sage through all the people who handled it until it was delivered to your doorstep.
amullen03's review
4.0
This book was totally cool. The beginning is an intro to crystals and herbs and stones and candle colors all the things that you need to know at the beginning to get started. Then after that it starts dividing into different spell areas and magic. It gives you different spells to do and space to write about it and your intentions. Since I had an ebook I wrote down everything in my own journal. I really learned alot and found myself going back and re reading and trying different parts
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