Books

In this enchanted sibling to the cult classic Modern Tarot, literary and tarot icon Michelle Tea returns to her magical roots, offering stories, little-known history, traditions, rituals, and spells for any witch seeking a deeper spiritual practice.

A self-described DIY witch and professional tarot reader, literary and feminist icon Michelle Tea provides a fascinating magical history and spiritual traditions from around the world, giving us the tools, spells, and rituals to navigate our stressed-out, consumer-driven lives. Witty, down-to-earth, and wise, she bewitches us with tales of how she crafted her own magical practice and came into her own. She also shares enchanting stories from her earliest witchy days as a goth teen in Massachusetts as well as insights from her adult practice. Modern Magic gives us the tools to tap into a stronger, distinctive magic that lies within us, one that incorporates queer, feminist, anti-racist, intersectional values. These include:

• Love Magic for the 21st century
• Hexes for when you really need them (and an exploration of magical ethics)
• Sleep Magic, from dream interpretation traditions to prophetic dreams
• Thoughts on why magic practice is spiritual practice

Michelle shares her truth and observations about the world around us as well as her vision for what it could be. For novice and seasoned witches alike, Modern Magic is the essential guide for defining and deepening a practice that aligns with our individual political and spiritual values.

A Rebirth of the Ancient Religion of the Goddess: 20th Anniversary Edition•PB••The twentieth anniversary edition of The Spiral Dance celebrates the pivotal role the book has had in bringing Goddess worship to the religious forefront. This bestselling classic is both an unparalleled reference on the practices and philosophies of Witchcraft and a guide to the life-affirming ways in which readers can turn to the Goddess to deepen their sense of personal pride, develop their inner power, and integrate mind, body, and spirit.

Witchcraft on a Shoestring by Deborah Blake will take the reader through a fun and engaging journey of magical practices without breaking the bank. You’ll have a magical time creating spells, divinations, and even recipes that cost little to no money, all to remind you that you don’t need fancy tools to practice the craft; all you need is a little imagination!

We’ve always believed that Witchcraft should be accessible to anyone brave enough to answer the call, and fortunately, Deborah Blake has created a wonderful resource for tapping into the powers of the craft without the need for excessive investing, making the craft once again attainable. Contained herein are instructions for making oils, runes, candles, charms, and more using easy-to-obtain materials while showcasing over fifty methods of working magic that cost little to money.

A full-color guide to fortune-telling with the Lenormand oracle

• Explores the meanings of the 36 Lenormand cards and their playing card insets to help build a resourceful, interpretative vocabulary

• Provides instructions for many spreads, starting with 3 or 5 cards and building to the Grand Tableau spread, which uses all 36 cards

• 416 pages and full-color throughout

• Reveals the origins of the Lenormand oracle from both coffee-ground symbols and playing card cartomancy

More than 200 years old, the 36 Lenormand cards are an oracle combining standard playing cards with images from the everyday world, such as key, book, animals, and flowers. Their simple, predictive, and non-esoteric nature opens the realm of fortune-telling to all, offering a traditional cartomantic divination where card combinations fuse together to give clear answers.

In this complete guide to Lenormand card reading, Caitlín Matthews explains the multiple meanings for each card, providing keywords so the reader can quickly build an interpretive vocabulary for Lenormand fortune-telling. She details how to lay spreads, starting with 3 or 5 cards and building to the Grand Tableau spread, which uses all 36 cards. She explores the significance of the playing card pips and suits on each card and how cards combine to create a variety of meanings. Matthews enables readers to learn the Lenormand card keywords so they can both read for themselves and express their interpretations to clients. Providing real case histories for readers to interpret, she also includes self-tests and practice exercises with answers to check at the end of the book.

In addition to her comprehensive practical introduction to the Lenormand oracle, Matthews delves deeply into the history of cartomancy to reveal the mythic blueprint that underlies this simple deck, the key to which lies not in their imagery but in their connection to playing cards.

Spice up your love life with the stars! Learn about fantasies, favorite positions, and more from the guide to the sexual Zodiac.
Includes steamy full-color photos!

Perhaps the pick-up line “So, what’s your sign?” is more important than most people in search of truly cosmic coupling may have realized.

The Astrology of Sex is the ultimate illustrated guide to understanding your own sexual desires and the sexual needs of your partner based on your horoscopes. Whether you want to unleash the lust of a Leo, tame a Taurus, seduce a Sagittarius, or break the ice with a Virgo, this sexy guide will help you navigate your love life using the stars.

The book includes a sexy introduction to the zodiac and how you can make it work for you. What then follows is an in-depth description of male and female sexual preferences for each star sign with tips on erogenous zones, preferred positions, and favorite fantasies. More than 350 atmospheric and sensual color photographs—including photos of steamy sex positions—pepper its pages. The Astrology of Sex provides a visually seductive and out-of-this-world experience.

An engaging exploration of what it means to be asexual in a world that’s obsessed with sexual attraction, and what the ace perspective can teach all of us about desire and identity.

What exactly is sexual attraction and what is it like to go through life not experiencing it? What does asexuality reveal about gender roles, about romance and consent, and the pressures of society? This accessible examination of asexuality shows that the issues that aces face—confusion around sexual activity, the intersection of sexuality and identity, navigating different needs in relationships—are the same conflicts that nearly all of us will experience. Through a blend of reporting, cultural criticism, and memoir, Ace addresses the misconceptions around the “A” of LGBTQIA and invites everyone to rethink pleasure and intimacy.

Journalist Angela Chen creates her path to understanding her own asexuality with the perspectives of a diverse group of asexual people. Vulnerable and honest, these stories include a woman who had blood tests done because she was convinced that “not wanting sex” was a sign of serious illness, and a man who grew up in a religious household and did everything “right,” only to realize after marriage that his experience of sexuality had never been the same as that of others. Disabled aces, aces of color, gender-nonconforming aces, and aces who both do and don’t want romantic relationships all share their experiences navigating a society in which a lack of sexual attraction is considered abnormal. Chen’s careful cultural analysis explores how societal norms limit understanding of sex and relationships and celebrates the breadth of sexuality and queerness.

Looking for coffee table books that do more than look great on your table? Bad Girls Throughout History: 100 Remarkable Women Who Changed the World, delivers on both counts. Featuring 100 women who made history and made their mark on the world, it's a book you can be proud to display in your home.

Aphra Behn, first female professional writer. Sojourner Truth, women's rights activist and abolitionist. Ada Lovelace, first computer programmer. Marie Curie, first woman to win the Nobel Prize. Joan Jett, godmother of punk. The 100 revolutionary women highlighted in this gorgeously illustrated book were bad in the best sense of the word: they challenged the status quo and changed the rules for all who followed.

•  Paran maps, star maps, star phases, and mythologies for over sixty stars,
• New insights into the natal use of fixed stars, as well as their use in mundane astrology,
• Extensive appendices of graphs and tables to help astrologers find rising or setting dates for any given location,
• And a listing of 176 stars with their 21st-century positions.

Originally published by Weiser Books in 1999, this Weiser Classics edition includes a new foreword by Chloe Margherita.Learn a straightforward method for using astrological terms to interpret the correspondences of the planets, zodiac signs, cardinal axes, houses, and aspects.

Astrology is the language of the cosmos. For anyone interested in “reading”—that is, interpreting—a birth chart, understanding the language is key. As in any language, there are rules and patterns to follow.
 
Authors Hajo Banzhaf and Anna Haebler take the mystery and confusion out of astrological interpretation. The authors begin with a concise breakdown of the horoscope, presenting the reader with a solid but easy-to-grasp foundation on what reading a chart entails. They cleverly compare the horoscope to a play with the planets as actors, the signs as their roles, the houses as stages of life, and the aspects as how the players interact with one another.
 
Keywords for Astrology is more than just a simple reference list of astrological terms. It explains all the essential configurations in a horoscope, offering a remarkably straightforward method for using keywords to interpret the correspondences of the planets, zodiac signs, cardinal axes, houses, and aspects. It weaves together the relationships between each of these elements and then expands on them by highlighting harmonious and discordant qualities. The interpretations readily apply to natal placement as well as transiting influence. This approach allows new perspectives and insights to emerge in your interpretations.
 
Banzhaf and Haebler combine their vast knowledge with humor and compassion, making this book a pleasure to read, and a must-have reference for your astrological library.

Go beyond the stereotypes of mercury retrograde and dig deep into the planetary cycles, discovering how they can affect your everyday life from day to day and year to year.

Every planet except Earth goes into retrograde at some point, and each planet has its own bundle of joys and pain points that come with it. The Retrograde Guidebook aims to take the mystery out of planetary retrogrades, providing an overview of what retrograde means astrologically and its basic principles. It offers a breakdown of every planetary retrograde’s function and effects—and why three main celestial bodies, the Earth, sun, and moon, don’t ever go into retrograde.

You’ll also learn how planetary retrogrades will affect you as an individual, tips on coping with resulting effects, and how to maximize the benefits so the planets work on your behalf to improve your life.

The Retrograde Guidebook includes calendars through 2030. These calendars include the dates each planet goes into and out of retrograde, and the astrological signs each planet is leaving and entering. Don’t get caught unawares—with all the information this guidebook arms you with, you’ll never fear a retrograde again!