Arin Murphy-Hiscock

Picked it up for free and spent a couple hours paging through it.

All the things that bore me about "witchcraft" books are nicely contained herein:

- wiccan-influenced without understanding just how much so it is. "In general, witchcraft acknowledges a god and a goddess (sometimes solely a goddess)" p. 14; oh, *does* it now?

- vague claims of continuing a tradition multiple hundreds of years old; no exploration of how it continues from european witch/pagan traditions of the last 150 years. (Or show more a vague claim that all those traditions actually come from it?? (p. 23)) Bonus points for invoking the image of "midwives, wisewomen, and healers who live on the edge of town" repeatedly. Hey, an intriguing quote from actual medieval scholarship about how the main function of "cunning-folk" was removing curses/evil eye, and how that dried up as belief in curses/evil eye did! But no further information there, or acknowledgement that those cunning-folk wouldn't recognize anything about white north american green witchcraft including the name.

- but really, where *does* the author get all this stuff about the green witch path? I get that the real history is much less important to witches than the mythical history (p. 21), but I care! I hate the false, insulating sense of timelessness and culturelessness it creates. If it's her own creation or that of a community located in spacetime she should say so.

- puts "earth" and "humanity" before "yourself" as the focuses of green witchcraft (p. 16), but then all the spells/crafts/rituals are about things you can do for yourself and maybe your friend circle and/or customers of your small business. That's not much of a definition of other humans, much less the earth.

- much too brief reference to "Pennsylvanian pow-wow" as a type of "spellcasters who performed folk magic particular to a region" (p. 19). I wish there was more info here, as it's hard to internet search: most of the references that aren't to horror fiction are back to this book. Seems to be some kind of christian faith healing thing with a name appropriated from Native people to make it exotic and dangerous.

- lists of plants and gems with uses/correspondences, but *zero* interest in botany or geology. This is overwhelmingly common, and so self-centered! Not finding things beautiful or fascinating for what they are and how they came to be that way, only concerned about what they can do for you.

- where do gemstones come from? IDK, the store?? Seems a little disconnected from the earth. The quartzite, mica, and feldspar you can probably find in your backyard or park don't merit a mention.

- exclusive focus on harmony, abundance, and other positive emotions/states of being. (p. 31) Where does justice enter this picture? Productive conflict? Economic scarcity? Other people's needs and feelings? show less

This is a charming little book that frames self-care in terms of witchery. The subtitle: Magical Ways to Pamper, Soothe, and Care for Your Body and Spirit. It delivers as advertised. I am just starting my spiritual exploration and have been struggling for quite a long while to engage in self-care. I thought this book might be an engaging way to push over two tile cascades (dominoes FTW!).

It's divided into 5 chapters: self-care and magic, mental and emotional self-care, physical self-care, show more spiritual self-care, and household self-care, bookended by the introduction, bibliography, and index. It's got kind, compassionate advice and suggestions for developing habits to build self-esteem, reduce stress, and bring meaning into daily life. And lots of recipes! For personal care products, food, teas, aromatherapy blends, incense, craft projects. And spells/rituals, which are basically recipes with a spiritual dimension, to go along with an assortment of mindfulness practices. My only frustration with the book is that all of these recipes and rituals call for an assortment of materials, and it would have been nice to have included those in the index. Instead, I added sticky notes to the inside cover creating ad hoc indices for stones, oils, herbs, and incense ingredients. Based on these, the most useful items are bergamot, clear quartz, frankincense, jasmine, lavender, rose quartz, sandalwood, ylang ylang, and rose. Plus, lots of different colors of candles.

This is a very hands-on book that offers lots of things to try out. I've already started doing some of them and look forward to trying out more. The food recipes are probably the least interesting to me as I already have an extensive cookbook collection and am very comfortable with feeding the body--I really need help with feeding the soul. Hopefully, this little guide will continue to nudge me toward more intentional daily practices. It might help you too, or at least give you ideas to think about. show less

I came into this book with low expectations. I'd read The Way of the Green Witch: Rituals, Spells and Practices to Bring You Back to Nature, also by Murphy-Hiscock, had been underwhelmed, sold the book, and then kicked myself when I realized I owned another book by her. I put off reading it for years until I finally decided to get it over with and get it off my bookshelves. Surprise: this book is quite good! (So good in fact, that I looked up The Way of the Green Witch to see if I'd show more misremembered the author).

The book's subtitle might be a bit confusing if it leads readers to think that this is a beginning book on Wicca. This is a Wicca 201 book, intended for people who already know the fundamentals and are wondering what happens next. The author goes over all those fundamentals, discussing them in more depth, and pointing out distinctions that tend to get blurred in beginning texts (the differences between creating sacred space and casting a circle or between consecrating an item and dedicating it, for example). She offers variations in circle-casting (triple-axis: whee!), drawing down the moon, and other techniques. The author also breaks down the steps of creating a ritual in order to explain each part.

The last part of the book covers more general Wiccan topics, including rites of passage, aspecting deities, and spiritual archetypes. Many of these topics could be books on their own, so here her discussions do become more general. Other helpful features of the book: each chapter begins with a summary of the contents, which makes the book easier to look things up in as a reference work. The appendix contains many of Wicca's basic texts, conveniently brought together in one place.

By the way, despite the title, I'd recommend this book for Wiccans who work with groups. What, you're not going to need to know the difference between consecration and dedication just because you're in a coven? show less

The Green Witch: Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils and More by Arin Murphy-Hiscock is a primer on the practice of green witchcraft. The author goes beyond the basic connection to the Earth and nature magic and covers the power of nature magic in healing through herbs, crystals and other natural products. The book is a holistic approach to not only healing, but also living in harmony and balance with the Earth.

Rating: 4/5 Stars

Recommendation: I loved show more that this book was more of a holistic approach to healing through herbs and oils, rather than just a book of recipes (there are some recipes in the book). There’s a nice grounding exercise I’ve already used, and the product recipes (sprays, oils, etc.) have detailed instructions around the process, not just what go into the product. I can’t wait to try making one of the flower syrups. My book is wildly tabbed with things I want to try. While most appropriate for a baby witch I think intermediate and more experienced practioners would also find benefit in some of the rituals and recipies. show less