The Ultimate Guide to Witchcraft: A Modern-Day Guide to Making Magick

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.<br /><br />This book is an amazing guide to a number of topics related to Making Magick! <br />Beautifully designed and full of beautiful photography, I love it and definitely want a paper copy when it comes out! <br />This book talks about the different types of witchcraft and gives clear to follow instructions. It covers things such as palmestry, crystals, tarrot, runes and astrology too. <br />I found this book a fantastic read and an even more fantastic guide!

What I liked: <br />This books doesn't spin tales or romanticise when it comes to the history of modern witchcraft. It's a sad truth that in 2019 many people are still telling grand stories about an unbroken cult of witches and taking Gardner as an academic source. The history in this book is brief but honest.<br /><br />When talking about gender in magick, the author makes sure to address the fact that masculine/feminine energy need not be taken as men and/or those who don't menstruate can't do moon magic and that women and/or those who do menstruate aren't able to work with the Sun. Furthermore, if you happen to be uncomfortable with the binary model as an increasing number of Pagans are, you are welcomed to adapt the words you use to describe these energies to suit you.<br /><br />What I didn't like:<br />Any time a book describes itself as an "ultimate" anything I become a bit apprehensive. Everything in this book is something you can find in 5 seconds on Google. It's the same basic information that already exists in hundreds of beginner books and on thousands of websites. As a result, it feels redundant in the genre and I was quickly bored.<br /><br />The pictures, though gorgeous, take up more than half of an already very short book and feel like filler. The selling point seems to be the aesthetic and not the content. If someone asked me for a good introduction to witchcraft book I wouldn't be handing this one out.

I adore this book. I'm a beginner in all things magick and witchcraft despite the fact that I have been studying and practicing it for years. I just feel that I can never read enough about it and I can never practice enough to move on from beginner. There is still and always so much to know.<br /><br />I still don't know what kind of witch I want to become even though I am very strongly leaning towards the Green Witch variety and the plants I grow seem to agree with me.<br /><br />This is a book and a guide with amazing pictures that illustrates its point and is perfect for novices like me who want to explore and learn more about the craft.<br /><br />Each chapter was a special surprise and I absolutely love that it includes Seasonal Magick and how to charge crystals which has always been a challenge for me. This will definitely be a book I personally purchase for myself in the future.<br /><br />Thanks very much to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy of my ARC.

The information I found in "The Ultimate Guide to Witchcraft", by Anjou Kiernan to be both creditable and enlightening. You will find a deep connection to witchcraft through the wonderful writings of this author. I was surprised at how much I learned from this book, as I have been practicing the craft for 20+ years. You will not only want to read through the entire book but use it as a valuable reference. I think I filled eight pages of my grimoire from notes I had taken from this book. As a practitioner of the craft, I highly recommend this book.<br /><br />Blessings

Complete, filled with useful details for newcomers and rookie witches. Kiernan has a good, easy-to-follow style that you don't see so often. You will find almost everything you will need to get started in Pagan-oriented witchcraft, or "natural witchcraft" as it is named in the book. I only wish this book had been better edited since there were a lot of empty spaces that could have been used.

A great jump off point and introduction to variety of topics in witchcraft. Great for beginners if unsure where you want to go or what you might be interested in. Some interesting looking rituals placed throughout too.

“The Ultimate Guide to Witchcraft” is a beautiful and substantial book of full-color (and sometimes full-page) photographs, detailed and thoughtful charts and diagrams, and clearly expressed, well-thought-out explanations of basic witchcraft systems, ritual, and practice. Its focus is to be an introduction to beginner witchcraft, but it’s one which more experienced witches may enjoy enough to use as a reference as some of the diagrams are particularly pleasantly-designed and easy to use.<br /><br />While none of these craft practices is explored in very great depth, the book offers fairly involved summaries of lunar magick (how to work with the phases of the moon, and special circumstances), elemental magick (the five Western elements of spirit, earth, air, fire, and water), astrology (the planets, houses, and signs of the Zodiac, and reading natal charts, plus how to work with planetary influences), seasonal magick (the named full moons, the solar calendar, the quarter and cross-quarter sabbats of Celtic and Germanic tradition), crystals (shapes, types, uses, correspondences, and substitutions, as well as cleaning methods, and how to work with them), herbs (common herbal allies, associated intentions, harvesting, basic medicine-making, and ritual use), and divination (working with the ether, cartomancy, palm reading, dowsing, rune reading, scrying, tasseomancy, spirit and animal guides, dream work, spirit work, and astral travel). The book wraps up with some suggestions for personalizing practice, sigil and grimoire creation, working with familiars, adapting Northern correspondences to the Southern hemisphere, and a short but mighty set of basic rituals for the solitary witch. The rituals are generally pretty simple, with standard tools and ingredients appropriate to a beginner witch.<br /><br />I usually don’t like “generic witchcraft” books that much, because they tend to regurgitate the same material (lots of tried-and-true correspondences and associations) while making actual practice seem inaccessible to newcomers by forgoing explanations, putting forward difficult spells without teaching anything about the traditions, systems, or energetic work behind them, or putting too much emphasis on coven and initiation work, even though many new witches are solitary. This is what sets Kiernan’s “Ultimate Guide to Witchcraft” apart from the others: with plenty of photographs, tables, diagrams, and explanations to guide the reader, the mysterious and esoteric world of witchcraft actually opens and blossoms in this lovely guide. It’s the sort of book I’d happily recommend to any new witch looking for a solid introduction to Western modern witchcraft practice, as it contains most of the fundamentals of Western craft without emphasizing a particular path.<br /><br />While there are a few Western deities mentioned in the book, it predominantly focuses on Western magical systems, drawing especially from Celtic, Germanic, and Wiccan tradition. Religious freedom is happily reconciled with witchcraft in Kiernan’s open-minded introduction, and the rest of the book supports this idea by focusing on craft without delving into much religion. This makes it a good introductory book especially for Atheist and Animistic witches who may wish to study craft but aren’t interested in working with deities. <br /><br />Anjou Kiernan has been practicing witchcraft since the mid-1990s, working with herbs, divination, and craft. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology and a minor in Anthropology, and enjoys history, art, ecology, botany, literature, painting, writing, gardening, reading, and antiquing. She can be found on Instagram under @lightofanjou and online at her website, Light of Anjou: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://www.lightofanjou.com/">https://www.lightofanjou.com/</a><br /><br />Reviewed by Sarah McMenomy of PaganPages.org<br /><a target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow" href="https://paganpages.org/emagazine/2020/09/01/book-review-the-ultimate-guide-to-witchcraft-by-anjou-kiernan/">https://paganpages.org/emagazine/2020...</a>

“Witchcraft is the belief that the universe weaves an indescribable magic, through the stars. It is the knowledge that the linear thought processes of human consciousness are but one facet of our existence. By its very definition, witchcraft is not meant to be confining or rigid, stagnant or stale. It is meant to encompass the vastness of our experience, including that which we have yet to understand.“ <br /><br />I really enjoyed The Ultimate Guide to Witchcraft: A Modern-Day Guide to Making Magic. I did not get this book because I wanted to become a witch or cast spells, but rather as a writer, I wanted to use this as a reference book. While the book is beautiful and contains many photographs and illustrations, it is packed full of information. I also loved the presentation as well as the legible font size. <br /><br />The book contains 11 chapters, a resources list, and an index. 1. The Modern Approach to Witchcraft provides a great introduction, explaining the basics such as the origins, the differences between Wicca and Witchcraft, and between magic and magick. Other topics include natural witchcraft and ritual-based practice. 2. Empowering Your Craft is about making the practice personal using different paths, preparing a sacred space, ritual preparations and tools. 3. Moon Magic looks at leveraging the power of the moon, for example, a waxing moon is best for constructive magic and bringing positive things into one’s life, while a waning moon is best for destructive magic, such as releasing negativity and quitting addictions. This chapter also examines ritual moon magick and the divine feminine. 3. Elemental Magick examines the five elements of nature (fire, water, air, earth, and spirit/aether) and how to harness them. 5. Astrology goes deep within the zodiac including astrological houses, signs, and planets. This chapter also explains planetary retrograde. 6. Seasonal Magick explains the seasonal full moons and solar magick. 7. Crystals &amp; Vibrational Tools discusses the science of crystals and the common crystals used in witchcraft, including how to charge and care for them and create vibrational tools such as talismans, amulets, and wands. 8. Herbalism for Magick looks at extracting magick from common herbs. 9. Divination, Dream Magick &amp; Parting the Veil examines divination tools such as tarot cards, tea leaves, runes, and techniques such as dowsing, scrying, and lucid dreaming. 10. Personalizing Your Practice is done using signals, grimoires, and more. 11. Rituals, Charms, &amp; Enchantments includes a several rituals and spells.<br /><br />This book can be used as a research tool, as a primer for an aspiring witchcraft practitioner, or for anyone who wants to know more about witchcraft or individual topics such as crystals, astrology, divination, etc. I enjoyed the comprehensive scope of the book and user friendly construction and layout. I appreciated the beautiful photography. This book is good for someone with a little knowledge of the subject or a lot.<br /><br />I voluntarily read and reviewed this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. <br /><br />Thanks to Amazon and Fair Winds Press, an imprint of The Quarto Group for providing a review copy.<br />

“The Ultimate Guide to Witchcraft: A Modern-Day Guide to Making Magick” by Anjou Kiernan is a great reference book for people just learning about modern day witchcraft. Kiernan gives a good, broad spectrum of topics with enough detail to give the reader a reference point for further study. <br /> Kiernan covers several topics of witchcraft through the book. He includes moon and elemental magick, basics in astrology, crystals and herbalism, as well as working with seasonal magick and divination. Some simple spells are listed throughout the book and the final chapter is simply basic spells and enchantments. (There is one spell that belongs to the closed practice of hoodoo which would a witch should not be practicing unless they are raised or invited into that culture, but the book is structured for anyone to get basic ideas out of.) <br /> I have already done some research on my own into witchcraft, but this was still a good solid book for reference. It went into more detail on some topics I was still uncertain on like astrology and the crystals. It gave me a starting base in those practices so that I know what to research further when I’m ready to delve deeper into those aspects of witchcraft. It was a solid book for a beginning witch or for someone trying to understand more about witchcraft. If you are an experienced practitioner however, this is all going to be redundant for you.

I realized recently that many of the books I’ve been reviewing lately focus on an intermediate or advanced approach to the Craft. I may not be new to witchcraft, but many folks are, so I wanted to provide some resources for them, including book reviews. With that in mind, I requested The Ultimate Guide to Witchcraft from Netgalley.<br /><br />In all honesty, a large part of this book goes into unprecedented detail for a newbie magic book. The author gives us a quick tour of our history, peeks at natal charts and astral projection, and even includes instructions for reading a Lenormand Grand Tableau, in addition to the usual Tarot spreads. Of special note: I found Ms. Kiernan’s briefing on spagyrics very readable and easy to understand.<br /><br />Ms. Kiernan is explicit when she says that she’s writing from a non-denominational, non-religious perspective in this book. She does, at several points, reference a pseudo-karmic “law of return,” and also describes the notion of a threefold law, as is popular with Wiccans. <br /><br />Now, personally? None of that is part of my Craft, and it would’ve been great if the author had acknowledged in the book that not all modern witches view things that way. Much of what she says about ethics and especially the concept of a return gets presented as universal. This will be controversial, and I would not have included it myself, but it doesn’t really ruin the book or me.<br /><br />Despite that, though, The Ultimate Guide to Witchcraft does mostly read as pretty non-denominational, which is refreshing. Ms. Kiernan actually explains that some witches are secular or just non-Wiccan. That was a very positive part of the book, and I hope it will be illuminating to those just starting out and pondering the connection between magic and religion.<br /><br />Much of the actual technique the book expresses has a strongly Wiccan flavor. I mean this mostly in terms of correspondences and the style of ritual it portrays. <br /><br />Nevertheless, Ms. Kiernan is upfront about the Wiccan influence when it appears, and even discusses a bit of the relevant history with regards to Wicca’s influence on the modern Craft. I’m quite pleased to have found a beginner book willing to tackle history like this!<br /><br />I don’t really mind that so many of the techniques in the book were developed in Wiccan traditions - they work just as well for non-Wiccans. While I’ve never really been a Wiccan myself, my own witchcraft developed alongside a healthy appreciation for Wiccan ritual and techniques. <br /><br />The author clearly knows the current situation in the Craft community, and thankfully, this book does discuss cultural appropriation and provides thoughtful cautions for the burgeoning witch. This is rare to see in a beginner’s book, though such considerations are becoming more common with occult authors. <br /><br />Over all, I give this book four out of five stars. It contains a wealth of basic information. It would be a great first book for a beginning witch. It tackles topics in detail that other beginner-friendly books just skim over or ignore. While I didn’t really come across anything new to me in this book, I definitely recommend it to newbies!