Spellwork & Magic

Witchcrafting: A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic

Witchcrafting:  
A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic
by Phyllis Currott
Broadway Books

 

Having recently attended Phyllis Curott’s workshops at the Starwood festival, I looked forward to the release of her second book, Witchcrafting: A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic with anticipation, and I was not disappointed. Written in the same engaging, conversational style as her first work, Book of Shadows, her second effort is a book about “Witchcraft without rules,” an interesting concept that might help Pagans think more and spout dogma less.

Read more: Witchcrafting: A Spiritual Guide to Making Magic

How to Enchant a Man: Spells to Bewitch, Bedazzle and Beguile

How to Enchant a Man:  
Spells to Bewitch, Bedazzle
and Beguile  

by Ellen Dugan
Llewellyn, 2008
(See below for ratings)

 

Editor’s Note: We got both of these reviews more or less simultaneously. We’ll let you decide whether this book is a bomb — or a blast.

All women must be in love, asserts Ms. Dugan on the first page of Enchant. “Think about it… every woman is either in love, working to keep the flames burning, looking for love, denying that she needs love, recovering from a relationship… or bemoaning the lack of a good man in her life.” My partner Dami read this passage aloud to her 17-year-old daughter, to which both responded: “blink blink blink, No.” Dugan might claim they’re in denial.

Read more: How to Enchant a Man: Spells to Bewitch, Bedazzle and Beguile

Magick on the Edge: An Anthology of Experimental Occultism

Magick on the Edge: 
An Anthology of
Experimental Occultism  

Edited by Taylor Ellwood
Immanion Press, UK, 2007

 

Noted occult author and editor Taylor Ellwood’s latest project is a compilation of cutting edge magickal practice and theory, written by some of today’s most provocative Pagan voices. Magick on the Edge: An Anthology of Experimental Occultism delivers exactly what its title advertises — perspectives on magick that are fresh, creative, audacious, at times a bit scary — all pushing the envelope on more traditional forms of magickal practice.

Read more: Magick on the Edge: An Anthology of Experimental Occultism

Kink Magic: Sex Magic Beyond Vanilla

Kink Magic:
Sex Magic Beyond Vanilla  
by Taylor Ellwood & Lupa
Immanion Press, 2007

 

Taylor Ellwood and Lupa have attracted attention for their smart, sophisticated writing in books like Lupa’s Field Guide to Otherkin and Ellwood’s Pop Culture Magick. Here they combine forces for Kink Magic: Sex Magic Beyond Vanilla, a frank, mature, cutting-edge discussion of sexuality, magic, and their various intersections which should prove useful and entertaining whatever your pleasure or perversion.

Read more: Kink Magic: Sex Magic Beyond Vanilla

Composing Magic: How to Create Magical Spells, Rituals, Blessings, Chants and Prayers

Composing Magic:  
How to Create Magical Spells, Rituals, Blessings, Chants and Prayers  
by Elizabeth Barrette
New Page, 2007

 

Whether you’ve just begun to write rituals, or have lots of experience, Composing Magic is a must-read that will provide you with a wealth of insight about the writing process and how connected it is to the magical practices you pursue. Even better, this book is a good primer on how to improve your writing skills in general.

Read more: Composing Magic: How to Create Magical Spells, Rituals, Blessings, Chants and Prayers

The Art of the Craft

wp-23_columnists01-01Four Steps to Bringing Artistic Imagination to Your Magic

We magical folks are artists. Our greatest work is our life experience, and we paint it by dipping the brush of our intentions into the pigments of the Universe: starlight, song, a fresh sprig of rosemary, a lock of a loved one’s hair, an ecstatic dance, or a gentle wafting of fragrant smoke.

My mother, a visual artist, taught me that in order to truly see a cloud, one must recognize that it contains all the colors of the rainbow, not simply white or grey. They may be mixed in so much that you can’t necessarily discern one from the other, but they’re all there. Though I never achieved any sort of expertise at painting or drawing, this revelation taught me so much. Not just about how to look at clouds, but about how to look at everything: deeply, and with an awareness that there are almost always veiled and intricate dimensions to any given facade.

Read more: The Art of the Craft

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