midwestbramble

[midwestbramble]

The Green Witch's Grimoire Book Review

I bought this because I was already looking into different ways to keep my own book since I was at a bit of a crossroads in my practice. I liked the aesthetic of the author's previous books and thought I would give it a shot, see if there was anything new I could add to the ideas I had percolating around in my head.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Contents:

Synopsis

What I Liked

What I Didn't Like

Overall Thoughts

Conclusion

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Published 2020

"Just as the green witch's path is intertwined with the world around her, so, too, is the grimoire deeply connected to her earthly energies and spirit. More than just a record of magic, the grimoire is both a testament to and a history of your life and calling. In Arin Murphy-Hiscock's The Green Witch's Grimoire, you'll learn to craft and organize your ideal book of natural magic.

Blend practicality and beauty into your practice as you choose paper, ink, and illustrations. Record, reference, and reflect on deities, spells, rituals, and more. Embrace the power of the green witch's grimoire--her most valuable resource."

-from the back of the book

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

What I Liked

The book includes a lot of options for what to put your information in, including the travelers notebook system. I don't see this system mentioned often (though here she uses the older name "Midori"). I use this system myself so I was happy to see it here. She also talks about digital options.

There are lists for ideas on what to write about to get the brain going. She also includes the idea of a blessing charm in leu of a written book blessing. This is a little charm bag that's meant for the same purpose. If you're still having troubles figuring out what you want to put in your book, Murphy-Hiscock has many questions for you to ponder on what you want your book to be used for and how.

She also includes lots of examples for different types of entries. This includes plant information, divination records, and spell records. If this is something you struggle with figuring out layouts for, this may be helpful. Though some do take up multiple pages.

There's also instructions on how to collect plant samples and press them for keeping in your book. The author includes many little crafts along this line as well, including making paper.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

What I Didn't Like

At the beginning of the book, Murphy-Hiscock says that this book is not a grimoire itself and so she will not be including information on basic energy work... but then she does include information on basic energy work for you to copy into your grimoire. She also includes basic information on moon cycles, solar cycles and seasons, elemental associations and tool associations. This may be helpful for those who have never encountered this information, but it goes against the point of the book which is how to put together a grimoire. And she said she wouldn't be adding this information, so now it just feels like she needed to pad out the book.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Overall Thoughts

There's quite a bit in here to help you get unstuck with your grimoire work and is useful for those who wouldn't consider themselves "green witches" as well. Though I would say, you can find most of this information online for free and I thought this blog post series was actually more helpful when creating my own book. However, if you want something that gets a little more crafty with plants you may find it useful.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Conclusion

If you want to read this book it can be found on Amazon, Morgenstern Books, Google Books, and Simon & Schuster (the publisher).

[midwestbramble]

Sure! Pathworking is a term that was originally used in Kabalistic practices (Kabballah being Jewish mysticism. If you want to know more about that you can find some information here). From what I know, it was originally a way for a Kabbalist to project themselves up the Kabalistic tree of life. Now you often here this term used to describe a meditation where someone is leading you on a journey, often you'll see this used to discover spirit guides or deities. Here's another helpful link to learn the differences between meditation, pathworking, and hedgeriding.

Hedgeriding is another term for spirit flight. Some people may also call this astral projection which is similar, but can be argued that they aren't exactly the same. Spirit flight is often the term used by traditional/folkloric witches. The idea is that the spirit of the witch travels out to visit spirits in the otherworld, cause mischief or other work in this world just in spirit form, or travels to the witches meeting which is held in spirit. The source linked above that talks about hedgeriding also gives a good overview of what I mean.

It's definitely nice to see people being curious about each others views and being respectful even when they're different!

what do witches think about shifting/manifestation?

hello!! I have been very removed from these communities as a whole so I haven’t seen much.

what do witches think about shifting/manifestation because personally, I believe manifestation/shifting is a HUGE part of witchcraft (at least for me!) when I make spell jars it helps me affirm and manifest and therefore, shift realities to a one where I do have my desires, what I was affirming for.

however I know that some people think about it differently so I’d LOVE to know your views!!

[midwestbramble]

First I'll address ✨ Manifesting ✨. In my mind there is a difference between Manifesting/Manifestation and manifesting/manifestation. Manifesting/Manifestation has more to do with the new age concept of the Law of Attraction, than it does witchcraft. The Law of Attraction (abbreviated to LoA, not to be confused with the voodoo loa spirits) comes from New Thought, a new age religious movement from the 1800s originating from the mesmerist Phineas Quimby. The idea is that any positive or negative thoughts can manifest (see lower case manifesting) positive or negative experiences into a person's life. This often leads to a toxic positivity mentality where emotions that are considered good (happiness, love, etc.) are put on a pedestal compared to what are considered negative emotions (anger, sadness, grief, etc.). This also leads to spiritual bypassing of said "negative" emotions.

Lower case manifesting/manifestation is a normal term found all over. Its dictionary definition is: "an event, action, or object that clearly shows or embodies something, especially a theory or an abstract idea." Within witchcraft, you can make something happen with spellwork or ritual, thus a witch is using an action or event to embody something else. While the Law of Attraction pulls from this idea, the LoA and New Age communities have really pulled it in a completely different direction from what your average witch is doing.

Shifting, to my knowledge, sounds more like someone following a scripted journey (i.e. a pathworking). This is more of an exercise in imagination that can help change brain wave states for trance work. While this is a technique used in witchcraft for spirit flight, in my view shifting, again, goes in a different direction than your average witch is using the technique. While you can make the argument that when a witch journeys to the other world they are changing realities, this otherworld is always there alongside ours. In most of the beliefs I see among witches. While shifters seem to believe that they are literally going to a separate reality, as in they are working off of a hypotheses of timelines and/or multiverses (which are not exactly the same idea). Often I see this idea of fiction just being another universe or timeline someone can just skip to by changing their brain wave states. This is different from the idea of spirit flight. It is also important to note that neither of these are backed by science. These are simply beliefs people hold. But no, I do not believe that shifting is a part of witchcraft. I would, personally, put it in New Age beliefs.

what do witches think about shifting/manifestation?

hello!! I have been very removed from these communities as a whole so I haven’t seen much.

what do witches think about shifting/manifestation because personally, I believe manifestation/shifting is a HUGE part of witchcraft (at least for me!) when I make spell jars it helps me affirm and manifest and therefore, shift realities to a one where I do have my desires, what I was affirming for.

however I know that some people think about it differently so I’d LOVE to know your views!!

[midwestbramble]

"your god isnt real" gets honestly so funny when we start talking about polytheist animistic religion, like. i can bask in the sun, i can gaze at the moon and the stars, i can drink and party, i can make love, i can feel the rain on my flesh and the wind in my hair and the earth between my toes,

sure i might believe things about those things that you dont, but those things ARE real and they ARE what im worshipping at the root of it, you can feel what im feeling just like. go touch grass,

"it doesnt feel magical or mystical, it just feels like im standing on dirt" yep. thats the divinity in it, it IS just the earth and the sun and the sky and the bonds and joy between people, those things literally give you life. they keep you going and pushing forward, keep you happy and healthy, they also bring you hardships and horrors, we are at the mercy of nature, all im doing by practicing my religion is appreciating the world i live in,

Ra travels through the sky at day, keeping us safe by lighting our world and fighting Apep, he gets swallowed by Nut every night, where she keeps him safe and veils the sky, staring down in yearning at her brother Geb, only to give birth to Ra again the next day,

so im thankful, im thankful theres a sun in the sky to light up our world, im glad theres a sky to hold the sun and im glad theres an earth to look up at the sky,

Kemetic framework doesnt work for everyone, everyone sees nature differently, different cultures developed different associations, but nature is definitely real, and its okay to have a deeply spiritual bond with it, or a gifting cycle, or a magical practice,

so if youre fixating on the "but its not a literal allpowerful dude in the sky with omnipresence whos literally doing all of these things and communicating with u and giving u miracles", then all i can say is get your head out of the bible, youve got the wrong idea entirely about how varied religion and spirituality can be, which to be clear is okay, so long as youre aware your perception of religion as a whole might need some work if ur gonna speak on it as a whole,

[midwestbramble]

You seem like you're more familiar with the broader occult community than my scholarly shut in ass. I'm curious. If there were a few lessons you wish you could drill into the head of every prominent social media occultist, what would they be?

Ohhh the number one thing I wish I could drill into the head of every aspiring occultist and magical practitioner is that CRITICAL THINKING IS YOUR FRIEND.

Study magic but keep fact-checking! If there's a claim in a book on witchcraft that should be able to be backed up by mundane sources, look for those sources. If they're not cited in the book, that's a red flag. If the sources you do find don't support the claim, that's another, bigger red flag. This is especially true with claims about history, science, medicine, psychology, anthropology, and religion.

Also, be wary of anything New Age. There's a pipeline to anti-science, eugenics, and racism there that runs directly through portions of the modern pagan and witchcraft communities and it's brightly painted with New Age buzzwords.

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is. If something seems geared to appeal to your emotions, especially that which seems formulated to make you feel special or "chosen" or to fire up some kind of righteous anger or feelings of superiority, you should immediately be suspicious of it.

If a source tells you to disregard science, modern medicine, or recorded history, or tries to tell you that some people are inherently more special or magical or deserving of power than others, discard it immediately. That is a bad source.

Don't believe everything you see or hear online. Too many witches roll their eyes at their parents and grandparents believing everything they read on Facebook, then turn around and insist that everything they've seen on TikTok or Tumblr or YouTube is Absolute Truth.

Believing in and studying magic does not mean that common sense goes out the window. You should be supplementing your magical studies with parallel practical topics (i.e. botany, geology, chemistry, mythology, etc) and ALWAYS keep one foot squarely planted on the ground.

[midwestbramble]

Gardener Brain: Oh, the oat plants gave me little tiny cuts all over my arm.

Magic Weirdo Brain: The land calls for my blood.

[midwestbramble]

Monarch Festival

Locally there is a festival that celebrates the departure of the monarch butterflies and their travel to Mexico. Held by one of the nature centers, this festival has butterfly releases, free native pollinator plants, and activities for all ages. I said "yeah I'll adopt that into my belief system."

ִֶָ. ..𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ🦋་༘࿐

Monarch butterflies begin their fall migration as far north as southern Canada, flying thousands of miles to their winter homes in Mexico, arriving there just as the Día de Los Muertos celebrations are beginning. Normally monarch butterflies live two to six weeks, except the last generation of the year which can live up to eight to nine months, these are the one's that make it to Mexico (or Southern California if on the western side of the Rocky Mountains) and carry Mexican ancestors (specifically the Purépecha people's) home with them.

ִֶָ. ..𓂃 ࣪ ִֶָ🦋་༘࿐

My absolute favorite part of the festival is the butterfly release. As they take flight it’s like they carry our hopes that they make it to their nesting grounds in Mexico and that we will see their offspring the next spring. I hope that the ancestors for those in Mexico continue to be welcomed by the colors of the Monarch’s. Then I go home and plant more milkweed, butterfly weed, and other native pollinators in the hope that they will be helpful for whoever is passing by on their journey home, or getting ready to settle in for winter hibernation. An offering to the land to continue its protection of our pollinator species and its continued guidance of the monarch in particular will be left as the day winds down. Costume butterfly wings are put away, face paint washed off, and a continued watch for the endangered monarch coming from further north to help it on its way.

References:

Monarch Butterfly Migration and Overwintering

Monarch Butterfly FAQ

The Connection Between the Monarch Butterfly and Dia de Los Muertos

[midwestbramble]

A tornado watch and a thunderstorm the day after the storm full moon is at its peak? Who would have thought?

[midwestbramble]

The Green Witch's Garden Book Review

I'm an avid gardener and I read this book when it first came out. Having gardened my whole life but not been a witch that whole time, I thought it would be interesting to see what gardening was like from another witch's perspective and see if I couldn't pick up any new ideas.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Content:

Synopsis

What I Liked

What I Didn't Like

Overall Thoughts

Conclusion

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Published 2021

"The green witch’s garden is the site of deep, rich, and meaningful connections with the earth—the source of the green witch’s power. In Arin Murphy-Hiscock’s The Green Witch’s Garden, you’ll learn to work closely with nature and reap your own magical harvest.

As you care for your garden during its magical life cycles, you’ll develop personal bonds with your plants, and glean spiritual riches from the process. When it’s time to harvest, you’ll discover how to incorporate your bounty into your practice, and manifest healing power from the magical herbs and plants you’ve grown. This guide also contains the lore, traditions, and spells passed down through generations of green witches to help you grow in your role of naturalist.

You will work hands-on with nature’s healing energies, cultivate your own sacred space, and experience the joy of overseeing life. Allow your magical craft to flourish beyond what you thought was possible—with your own green witch’s garden.”

-from the back of the book

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

What I Liked

There’s a lot talked about in this book but one of my favorites is the discussion of decomposition in the garden and in witchcraft. Specifically discussed because of composting, the idea that things have to break down once they’ve died to then give new life doesn’t seem to hit a lot of people.

There are so many suggestions for those who have room for a nice big garden and those who don’t have any space at all. Indoor gardens, window boxes, terrariums, and so many more ideas for those with limited space but still wish to grow something. And those with existing gardens will find new ideas on how to incorporate magic into it.

There’s a lot of fun ideas for planting gardens based on planetary correspondences, elements, moon phases; as well as gardens specifically for the moon and sun. The illustrations to go along with these gardens plans are also very beautiful.

There are plant profiles for indoor plants, succulents, vegetables, herbs, flowers, etc. that include some correspondence work but also guides on how to care for each plant. These are short columns for many different plants but a good starting place nonetheless. Included is also a suggestion for what to include in a journal for plant profiles, whether that’s a grimoire or gardening journal.

There’s a section on mushrooms! It’s not extensive and is mostly a reminder that they belong in the garden and how they work in the ecosystem. There are also tips on how to get mushroom kits.

There’s a good place to start when contacting the spirit of the garden and the land and how to begin working with it in your garden. The gist is, communication is key. This is included among suggestions on different ways to magically protect the garden.

I really liked the discussion around, what the author calls, “surprise plants.” These she uses as omens and goes through her research process to figure out if 1 it truly is an omen and 2 if it is what does it mean? I think this is something that many beginners can benefit from.

There are many ideas on how to honor different energies within your garden. Everything from altars and shrines (which she describes the difference between) to decor items to represent the elements.

There are so many ideas for magic done in and with the garden. You’ll find something you may not have thought of before.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

What I Didn't Like

I wish the winter gardening section was more than what to do indoors to keep growing. Discussions of cold frames and milk jugs would have been fun.

The author claims that a vegetable, along with a fruit, is a visible seed container. But this is not true. A vegetable is any part of the plant that you eat, including a seed and fruit.

The author also claims that beet juice can be substituted for blood in spells but I don’t agree. Blood is generally used to tie the practitioner to whatever the working or sacrifice is. Beet juice just does not have the same properties that blood from a body does.

She also talks about cleansing plants but I just don’t feel that’s necessary outside of a good rinse. Energetically cleansing plant seems counterintuitive as I’m trying to employ the energy/spirit of said plant in the first place.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Overall Thoughts

This is a great start for anyone interested in incorporating gardening into their magical practice. I don’t think I saw anything in here that could be considered “passed down from generation to generation of witches,” unless your grandma practiced witchcraft in the 60s and is really into gardening by the moon (something people have done witches or not). I would even say the magical practices tend to be a bit more modern. Though I would still recommend this book.

⸙༄𓆤𓆩𓆪❁𓇢𓆸🏵

Conclusion

If you’re interested in this book it can be found on Amazon, Book Shop, Abe Books, Google Books, Astoria Bookshop, and more.

Other reviews:

A Well Read Woman

The Great Book Wyrm

[midwestbramble]

I’ve seen a lot of cool shit in my time but boy, does a full moon surrounded by heat lightning really make its way up there.

[midwestbramble]

Fighting for my life here...

[midwestbramble]

Also a reminder that it’s a good day to pick up litter if you can get out.

Yes, your fireworks are harming wildlife

Trigger warning for graphic descriptions of injured and dead wildlife.

When a fireworks display occurs near a wild bird roost, the birds simultaneously explode into the night skies in utter panic, which can lead to huge numbers of deaths, usually because these birds either smash their skulls or break their necks as the result of flying into trees, fences, billboards, houses and other solid objects that they cannot see in the gloom and ensuing chaos.

Many of the startled birds who take flight fly at much higher altitudes and for much longer durations than they’re used to to escape the noise, which is energetically costly and physiologically stressful.

Small birds and bats can be knocked from the air and killed by the sonic shock. In 2010, 40 dead sparrows were discovered dead under a roost in a nature reserve after a local fireworks display. The manager of the reserve witnessed a tawny owl fluttering and convulsing on the ground after a particularly loud explosion. It died shortly after.

In Arkansas in 2010, some 5,000 red-winged blackbirds, European starlings, common grackles and brown-headed cowbirds suffered blunt-force trauma after colliding with cars, trees and buildings, an ornithologist from the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission would tell National Geographic.

In 2008, federal officials showed that seabirds in the northern California town of Gualala abandoned their nests after a fireworks show, leaving their eggs vulnerable to predators.

Each year in Austin, Texas, the Congress Bridge bats can be seen fleeing the fireworks display en masse on weather radar, and emergences from their roost diminish noticeably in the days following the Fourth.

In 2018, the Galapagos banned the sale and use of pyrotechnics. According to the BBC, conservationists said that fireworks caused elevated heart rates, trembling and anxiety in many animals. 

The threat to wildlife doesn’t stop at startling lights and sounds; fireworks also have the potential of starting wildfires, directly affecting wildlife and destroying essential habitat. Litter from firecrackers, bottle rockets and other explosives can be choking hazards for wildlife and may be toxic if ingested.

So what do you do if you want to watch fireworks responsibly? Experts say municipalities are more likely to be aware of these dangers than private consumers. Their best advice is to stick to the shows put on by professionals and local governments, which tend to follow guidelines put forth by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, among others, about animal safety.

The National Audubon Society offers similar guidelines: “Commercial fireworks are concentrated in one location, rather than in several locations at once, which is what often happens in neighborhoods. This allows birds to take off and land again in a ‘safer’ location rather than continuing to flee noises coming at them from all directions.”

(Sources: x x x x x)

[midwestbramble]

Witch Blood Rising Book Review

I went back and forth on whether I wanted to get this book or not. What ultimately made me decide was the intriguing chapter titles. come along with me as I share my thoughts

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

Contents:

Synopsis

What I Liked

What I Didn't Like

Overall Thoughts

Conclusion

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

Published 2025

"Growing up in the endless sea of California suburbs, Asa West spent her childhood chasing visions she didn't understand. When she found a guide to witchcraft in a tiny bookshop, she knew she'd found her calling. But it's not easy to awaken your witch blood in a culture that laughs at magic and renders women powerless.

Bringing warmth, humor, and insight to a spiritual path that's at once immeasurably ancient and continually reborn, Witch Blood Rising explores all the ways Witchcraft bubbles up from the blood of its devotees, from ancient myth to the glittery stories of Hollywood. Asa explores the art of living a witch's life in all it's magical aspects.

Witch Blood Rising is a celebration of witchcraft and how it stubbornly kept itself alive in Western culture-and a call to action for all seekers who yearn for a witch's life."

-from the back of the book

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

What I Liked

The author put words to how I feel about the movie The Craft. While I do enjoy the movie, it's almost a warning to giving teenage girls power, or women in general. But that's a whole different review.

I did like her talk about the importance of breath in various spiritual practices including witchcraft. It felt like she was trying to go somewhere with that.

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

What I Didn't Like

There were a couple things here in there that I found annoying; such as tarot is not automatically witchcraft. You do not have to read tarot to be a witch and you do not have to be a witch just because you read tarot. It's probably not how she meant it but that's how it came across to me.

There's an entire chapter describing her neurodivergence and the entire chapter to equates it to making her a monster. As someone with a similar neurodivergence to what she described, it was kind of offensive. Like girl it's not a monster, chill. I think by the end of the chapter she was more accepting of it but she still seemed to think of herself as a monster for being neurodivergent. Sincerely hope she gets help with that.

Each chapter ended with a "spell," but most of them were more like pathworkings and at least one was more like a non-magical craft or a walk around your neighborhood. While these things can be part of a witchcraft practice, I personally wouldn't call them spells. Also the instructions were pretty vague.

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

Overall Thoughts

I'm not sure what the goal of this book was supposed to be. It seemed more like the author was just rambling/ranting about her life, witchcraft or otherwise. I really didn't walk away with anything from this book, other than the author's vague life story. It's one of those books that I won't necessarily recommend but if you want to read it then ok. Maybe you'll get more out of this if you're into Popculture Paganism/Witchcraft as she does draw a lot from movies like The Craft and shows like Loki.

⛧─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ───⛧

Conclusion

If you want to read this book it can be found on Amazon, Google Books, Red Wheel/Weiser (the publisher), Divine Sanctuary, Hamilton Books, Facing North, and more! Some local libraries have it as well.

Other Reviews:

Flying the Hedge

Foreword Reviews

[midwestbramble]

I would love to have a nice apothecary cabinet but as it is my stuff is scattered to where it is convenient and will fit. I have jars of different herbs that I reach for for medicine and magic. We employ a lot of goldenrod, elderberry (Sambucus nigra), raspberry leaf (Rubus ideaus), wild rose (Rosa arkansana), plantain (Plantago major), garlic (Allium sativum), among several others. Some I keep dried and hanging in the small dining room before they get put into a jar with the rest of the dried plants that are employed in various ways including infusions. I have plantain oil that is kept on top of my fridge until I can get tins to make it into a salve, elderberries are turned into syrup to keep colds away, etc. Most of the jars are kept in a foldable box thing (like for those cubbies you can get at big box stores) under my altar, some are kept in the kitchen with the teas for if someone needs to pull some out and I'm not home to sift through everything.

Apothecaries of the Wild

What’s Inside Your Home Apothecary? 🌿

As I deepen my journey into herbalism and holistic healing, I find myself enchanted by the idea of the home apothecary. Not just the tidy jars and pretty labels (though I adore those), but the living, breathing energy of it—built slowly, lovingly, according to intuition, experience, and a pinch of ancestral wisdom.

I’m in the process of shaping my own. It’s part cabinet, part altar. A place where plant allies gather, teas steep, and tinctures whisper lessons under moonlight.

But here’s the thing—I don’t want it to be just my own thoughts. I want to learn from others walking similar paths.

So I’m asking you: What’s inside your home apothecary?

Which herbs do you reach for again and again?

Do you keep dried plant bundles, salves, oils, tinctures—or maybe a bit of everything?

Are there spiritual tools among your jars (crystals, written charms, ancestral items)?

How do you store and organize your herbal companions?

I’d love to hear from you. Whether your apothecary fits in a basket or fills an entire shelf, I believe there’s magic in the way each of us builds our sacred space for healing. Feel free to comment, share, or send me a photo of your setup—I might feature some in a future post (with your blessing, of course).

In the spirit of plant-powered curiosity, 🖤 Haili

[midwestbramble]

About to have words with my money jar.

[midwestbramble]

I see people say stuff like “put coffee in the spell for it to work faster” but what if because I’m ADHD it does the opposite? Like the idea is that because the caffeine helps keep you awake by giving you energy it will energize the spell but for us with ADHD caffeine can put us to sleep so like… if I want something to go to sleep shhh Shhhh go to sleep, would I put coffee/caffeine in the spell?

[midwestbramble]

The Four Elements of the Wise Book Review

When I bought this book, I was already familiar with the basics of the elements. I wanted to know why it mattered in magical practice since I didn’t seem to really use the concepts in my own. So before throwing the baby out with the bath water, I thought I would read more deeply about it.

🌊⛰️🔥🌪️

Contents:

Synopsis

What I Liked

What I Didn't Like

Overall Thoughts

Conclusion

🌊⛰️🔥🌪️

Published 2021

"The four elements are the pillars that uphold the manifest world and anchor spirit to matter. They are associated with diverse spiritual entities, ranging from small elementals to divine beings. The four elements also comprise a system of understanding that supports most of the magic in the West and paganism.

Longtime practitioner and respected teacher Ivo Dominguez Jr. discusses the use of the elements in a wide range of systems and presents the information in a way that is accessible and significant to newcomers and experienced practitioners alike. In this definitive work, Dominguez provides an in-depth exploration of the elements and their lore, history, correspondences, and use in spellwork and ritual. Each of the four elements is covered in detail, including the fifth element--quintessence. Practical applications for working with the elements are woven throughout the book."

-from the back of the book.

🌊⛰️🔥🌪️

What I Liked

This book is designed to make you think, literally. Within the paragraphs of information are exercises that make you stop, observe, think about what you're observing and how it connects to the text (or doesn't), and come to your own conclusions through experience. The history is also really fascinating. You hear about people you may have first heard of in Math class or Chemistry. The way the four elements were used along with the Four Humors in medieval medicine through to early chemistry and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

While many beginner books that include the elements make mention of the elementals, this book talks about what they actually are, how they're different from other spirits, who the monarchs (normally called Kings) are, as well as their realms.

There's a section where Dominguez talks about how to construct spell work and ritual. This is in the context of using the elements within these structures of magic, however even without the elements these would still be good things to keep in mind when writing your own work.

Platonic solids in relation to elements are given their own chapter. While I had heard of these concepts vaguely in scientific terms, the metaphysical properties here were new to me (though the shapes just mostly remind me of ttrpg dice). There's lots of suggestions on how to use them in ritual and spell work or even as stand ins on altars. Hope you like shapes!

Another idea I don't see talked about often is the idea of elements within elements; aka sub-elements. Everything from glyphs, tables with astrological inclusions, a ritual to connect you to all four forms of water, as well as invocations to these sub-elements written by the author and some covenmates. This leads into chapters dedicated to a single element each, going over the previous topics in more depth (except for elementals) and different places to look for them.

The last chapter is dedicated to finding the elements within the landscape. This isn't your average "earth is the mountain" type elemental landscapes though. It looks to the liminal places, the spirits of place and nature spirits. Making things just slightly more tangible.

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What I Didn't Like

There is no bibliography to this book. While Dominguez references different sources there is no list in the back of the book that shows when and where the sources were accessed. It's meant to be an easy reference of where the author got their information. There is a recommended reading list, however this does not serve the same purpose as that is just what the author feels you should read next. Not a way to check over the veracity of the information being presented, or if it's being represented accurately, or the author's of the sources being referenced being given proper credit.

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Overall Thoughts

This book is very ceremonial which is to be expected, much of our metaphysical understanding of the elements comes from alchemy and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which Wicca (the practice of the Ivo Dominguez, Jr., Alexandrian Wicca specifically) draws much from. Overall this book has a ton of information and rituals to get you working with the elements in more depth, so much so that I didn't touch on half of what's inside. If you're really interested in this topic, I highly recommend this book. It's pretty easy to fact check despite the bibliography. Ivo Dominguez, Jr. is very clearly knowledgeable on the subject and cares about what he is writing.

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Conclusion

If you want to learn more about Ivo Dominguez's ideas and some of his practice, I suggest checking out the Assembly of the Sacred Wheel. If you want to read this book it can be found on Amazon, Thrift Books, Book Shop, Google Books, Red Wheel/Weiser (the publisher), Shamans Market, Brooklyn Public Library, and more!

Other Reviews:

Aerik Arkadian

Flying the Hedge

Major Arqueerna

Mat Auryn on Patheos