Books

The Modern Craft is our October book club pick! You can find more details about the book club here, or sign up to join us here. 

Galvanizing and electrifying glimpses from the brink of the contemporary Craft

This eclectic collection of essays on responsible witchcraft is a fascinating snapshot of contemporary occult practice. Essay topics include the ethics of decolonization, meditations on what it means to honour Mother Earth during the Anthropocene, the reclamation of agency for working-class and queer witches through practical spellwork, a gender-fluid perspective on breaking down traditional hierarchies in magical symbolism, a day in the life of a disabled Pagan Irish practitioner, and so much more.

These essays show how we can all find inspiration and a force for powerful change in the modern Craft.

Featuring contributions from: Claire Askew, Lisa Marie Basile, Stella Hervey Birrell, Jane Claire Bradley, Madelyn Burnhope, Lilith Dorsey, AW Earl, Harry Josephine Giles, Simone Kotva, Iona Lee, Briana Pegado, Megan Rudden, Sabrina Scott, Em Still and Alice Tarbuck

A practical, modern-day exploration of one of the oldest, most universal, and storied forms of folk magic.
 
Antonio Pagliarulo explores the phenomenon of the Evil Eye: what it is, its origins and causes— and, most crucially, how to avoid, repel, and remove it. Rich with cultural anecdotes and traditions, mystical lore, and modern concepts, The Evil Eye offers practical advice for shielding yourself from the destructive and lingering power of this mysterious and persistent force.
 
The book:

• Defines the Evil Eye and traces its roots into antiquity and across an extraordinary breadth of cultures and traditions
• Shows readers how to diagnose the Evil Eye, how to cure it, and how to cast it on others
• Explores the use of amulets and talismans bearing the “Evil Eye,” including its remarkable prevalence in popular jewelry designs
• Includes the history and use of various talismans such as the Hamsa; the Italian cornicello and mano figa; the azabache stone; the Kabbalah red string; mirror pendants; and many others

For much of the 20th and 21st centuries, women’s sexuality was an uncharted territory in science, studied far less frequently—and far less seriously—than its male counterpart.

That is, until Emily Nagoski’s Come As You Are, which used groundbreaking science and research to prove that the most important factor in creating and sustaining a sex life filled with confidence and joy is not what the parts are or how they’re organized but how you feel about them. In the years since the book’s initial publication, countless women have learned through Nagoski’s accessible and informative guide that things like stress, mood, trust, and body image are not peripheral factors in a woman’s sexual wellbeing; they are central to it—and that even if you don’t always feel like it, you are already sexually whole by just being yourself. This revised and updated edition continues that mission with new information and advanced research, demystifying and decoding the science of sex so that everyone can create a better sex life and discover more pleasure than you ever thought possible.

A thoughtful, accessible, hands-on guide to the increasingly popular practice of candle magic. Author Phillip Cooper offers techniques for training your mind and working with the energy of candles. The Power of Candle Magic shows how the magical use of candle energy can brighten your attitude, help focus your attention, create abundance, help you with healing, and draw more love into your life.
 
“The Power of Candle Magic contains practical information that can be put to excellent use by anyone. Transcending just burning candles, Cooper presents an entire system of magic with candle burning as its centerpiece. For those new to magical practice, Cooper’s system is effective, and you may find it a good place to begin. For adepts or those already on their paths, pan for the gold within these pages: take what works for you and integrate it into your magic.” —Judika Illes
 
The book explains:

• how to choose candles for magic
• the basics of creating candle rituals
• how to make and work with incense and anointing oils
• the importance of color correspondences
• how to use the planetary correspondences so you can harness the right energy for any endeavor

Previously published as Candle Magic, this new edition includes an extensive new foreword by Judika Illes, author of Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells and Pure Magic.

“Lessons from the Empress offers a hands-on guidebook to better mental and spiritual wellness. When the world needs these lessons the most, Snow and Plouff come through for us all.” —Benebell Wen, author of Holistic Tarot

 
The Empress tarot card is the key to understanding how creative expression is the foundation of true self-care. Our authentic self, this abundant space, is not something we go find—it’s something we create. Lessons from the Empress will guide you on an exploration of the five phases of self-care: Major Arcana—spiritual self-care; the Wands—self-awareness; the Swords—self-expression; the Cups—self-love; the Pentacles—self-confidence.
 
In Lessons from the Empress, with the Empress as your guide, you’ll learn how to practice self-care and self-discovery in several ways:

• See the Empress as a metaphor for your personal journey
• Get in touch with who you are at your core
• Take an active role in protecting your own well-being and happiness
• Use easy-to-follow magical rituals, tarot spreads, and creativity exercises to embrace your true self and express that self to the world

A practical guide for bringing magic into your life using plants and herbs, the seasons, and the natural elements

A “wild witch” is someone who has discovered the true source of magic. She finds her magic in the elements of the earth, the ways of healing herbs and scented flowers, the ocean’s tides, the cycle of the moon, and the energies of the planets. By becoming intimate with nature, a wild witch comes to see the living spirits in all things—everything is alive. She learns that these spirits must be honored and then they will act as trustworthy guides. In essence a wild witch is a child of nature, a wise woman, a lore master, and a healer.

In this book you will learn how to use:

• Herbs, plants, and trees

• The element of fire through candle magic and spell casting

• The hidden spirit of water through purification, dosing, and scrying

• The language of flowers and scents

• The rhythms of nature, the seasons’ cycles, and rituals of sacred day

Embrace your wild witch and rediscover the natural magic in your life.

Unfamiliar Familiars is a comprehensive and humorous handbook to finding and caring for the unconventional animal companion.

This guide will help you find the animal best suited to your personality and particular magical needs.

Animals include a narwhal (strong in clairvoyance and fencing), an albatross (best for sea-faring witches), or an earthworm (for garden-based magic and fish summoning).

• Features real-world facts with a playful, magical spin
• Includes a helpful quiz for finding your own familiar
• Brimming with suggested names, strengths, weaknesses, and more

Forget the toads and black cats: Every witch is unique, so shouldn't you have a familiar as one-of-a-kind and extraordinary as yourself?

Unfamiliar Familiars is an entertaining and educational guide to a menagerie of magical, less-appreciated creatures that may just become your ideal partner in the arcane arts.

Out of Darkness Comes the Light of Transformation

Each of us has a shadow that darkens our inner and outer lives. In Tarot for Troubled Times, Shaheen Miro and Theresa Reed show us how working with the shadow—facing it directly, leaning into it rather than away—releases power that can free ourselves from negative mental habits and destructive emotions to find healing ourselves and others. Tarot, as the authors show, offers a rich and subtle path for this profound transformation.

Through this book, you will discover a different approach to tarot, life, and self-empowerment.

• Befriend our shadow by working with the archetypes of the Major Arcana
• Discover—through affirmations, tarot prescriptions, and other healing modalities—how to empower ourselves and find our true voices
• Take our newly found powers and speak out so that we can become a helpful ally for the light and begin to do your greater work in the world

Tarot for Troubled Times is not just another book on how to read the tarot—the authors provide specialty readings and suggested practices for issues such as grief, addiction, depression, fear, anger, divorce, illness, abuse, and oppression, and provide practical suggestions for stepping up as an ally or leader so that you can shape social policies. With a selection of mindful, introspective tarot spreads, you’ll learn how the Tarot can help you rewrite your healing story and change your life, and help transform the world.

A beautiful, hardcover gift edition of what Arin Murphy-Hiscock describes as a “fantastic collection of historical and magickal lore from a variety of sources that informs and inspires. I wish it had existed when I began my own journey as a green witch.” --Arin Murphy-Hiscock, author of The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More

The art and practice of herbal magick is an ancient tradition, rooted in pagan lore and tradition. In Herbal Magick, Gerina Dunwich—the author of dozens of books on Wicca and witchcraft—shows how to use the roots, flowers, leaves, and bark of common plants for practical magick. It reveals the well-guarded secrets of herbal enchantments and the history of herbal folklore, along with a satisfying easy-to-follow guide to herbal spells for many purposes. Both an herbal and a grimoire, Herbal Magick is an invaluable reference for beginner and advanced students of the magickal arts.

“Working with spirits can be some of the most dangerous yet some of the most gratifying work a magickal practitioner can engage in. With Jason as your guide in this book, you are in some of the best hands out there when it comes to approaching and working with spirits. This is a book I wish I had fifteen years ago when I began working closely with spirits.” —Mat Auryn, author of Psychic Witch
 
Throughout history, humans have sought power and knowledge from spirits. Learning how to conjure, communicate, and negotiate with these unseen powers is one of the keys to success in magic.

Consorting with Spirits presents a detailed explanation of what spirits are, their different classifications, and how they exist in relation to the world we normally perceive. The reader will then learn a system of practices that will cultivate three main skills: The capacity to perceive spirits clearly, the ability to interact with them effectively, and the tools to deepen your relationships. It is this focus on deepening relationships and increasing clarity in communications that has been missing from much of the material about spirits.  
 
This book will teach you different ways of interacting with spirits, from offerings and invitations to forceful conjurations. With these tools in hand, you can work with your spirit allies to achieve any goal, from protection, to wealth, to vast knowledge.
 
Consorting with Spirits shares:

 

• Proper training necessary for calling and conversing with spirits.
• How to evaluate the messages you receive.
• A full view of different modes of contact and what situations each mode lends itself to
• Why the best sorcery is local.
• The tools to establish and maintain a long-term relationship with spirits (consorting).
• The 6 different manifestations of spirits and their corresponding magickal operations, qualities, benefits, and drawbacks.
• The 4 methods of interacting with spirits: prayer, conjuring, compelling, and evocation.

Rest easy with this collection of over 50 powerful restorative techniques.

Good sleep—the kind that leaves you with increased mental clarity, steady energy, and excitement for the day ahead—can be elusive. But it’s within reach: vibrational energy healer and meditation instructor Valerie Oula has put together over fifty rituals for winding down, drifting off, and improving the quality of your rest. Her practice includes:

•    guided meditations and visualizations to help you center yourself 
•    breathwork for calming an anxious mind 
•    tapping, or working with meridians, to cleanse your energy centers 
•    mantras and intention-setting practices for clear focus and an easier wake up routine 
    
Rest Rituals is an easy-to-use guide for anyone who wants to sleep with tranquility and ease.

A positively rebellious take on a traditionally negative philosophy offers an antidote for our anxious times.

Career success, a beautiful life, a beautiful Instagram account—what's the point? In a world where meaning has become twisted into a form of currency that everyone is very keen to cash in on, journalist Wendy Syfret invites you to change the way you think about the way you think.

In her seminal work, The Sunny Nihilist, Syfret presents the optimism in Nihilism, encouraging us to dismantle our self-care and self-centered way of living and accept a life more or less ordinary. Syfret re-examines the meaning of worth, value, time, happiness, success, and connection, and guides us towards the alternative path of pointless pleasure.

When you let go of the idea that everything must have purpose, you will find relief from stress, exhaustion, and anxiety. Most importantly, you can embrace the opportunity to enjoy the moment, the present, the chaos and luck of being alive at all. The Sunny Nihilist is an inspiring call to action and survival adaptation for modern life.

A unique fusion of tarot and astrology dedicated to lightworkers and individuals working in service and conscious activism, including tools, contemplative questions, and rituals.

Healing Burnout with Astrology & Tarot is a tarot-astrology devotional of sorts for the helpers and healers of this world—including lightworkers, starseeds, intuitives, creatives, teachers, and other changemakers—who seek to manage the realities of burnout while remaining engaged in creating a more just, peaceful, and equitable world.

It does so by introducing the decan system within astrology—in which signs are split into three detailed sections, based on degrees—and explaining how to use them for self-care and personal growth. It also introduces the concept of tarot correspondences, which can be used alongside the decan system in a detailed yearlong journey of reflection that meets readers where they are—searching for answers—and guides them to a place of intuition, wisdom, and integration.

Full of tools, contemplative questions, rituals, and tarot exercises—in addition to appendices providing at-a-glance information on the decan system in astrology, tarot meanings, signs, planets, and houses—this book will heal, inspire, and sustain burnt-out lightworkers so that they can, once again, engage in joyful advocacy for justice, peace, and liberation.