Publisher: Watkins Publishing
Publication Date: 14 Jun. 2022
Genre: New Age/ Occult
Summary:
In a world that often feels like it makes no sense, many people have begun to reach out to the numinous for a sense of understanding and connection. Looking back to ancient wisdom, folklore and classic texts for answers can be helpful, but sometimes without the context of the contemporary it can be hard to see how these old ways apply to the here and now. Too often, depictions of witches – and indeed some contemporary witchcraft practices – perpetuate harmful racist, colonialist and culturally appropriative narratives. Gender essentialism crops up often in witchcraft circles, and #witchgoals trends proliferated by large companies and mass media raises troubling questions about the relationship between witchcraft and capitalism. The Modern Craft is an eclectic and radical collection of essays on witchcraft practice and the ethics of magic, which gives that much-needed modern context to timeless wisdom. This is a fascinating snapshot of contemporary occult practice viewed through an intersectional lens. Essays include poets on the magic inherent in language, working-class witches on the reclamation of agency through practical spellwork, and gender fluid practitioners on the necessity of breaking down traditional hierarchies in magical symbolism. Poetic, inspiring and electrifying glimpses from the brink of contemporary craft, these essays show how anyone, no matter where they live or who they are, can find positivity and the force for powerful change in the subversive unknown.
Review:
I have to start by thanking Watkins publishing because they sent me a beautiful physical copy of this book and it's a lovely thing to be able to hold and flick through.
It took me a while to finish reading this book, far longer than I normally take to read. And I think that's because it's a series of essays and each one very much give you the author's voice, which I loved, but that made it difficult to sit and read in one sitting. Each essay also gave you plenty to think about, and I didn't like moving on to the next one straight away without letting what the last author said sink in.
As it's a collection of essays with a variety of people contributing some obviously you connect with more than others but again that's the beauty of this book. It gives you the opportunity to hear other points of view and opinions but also with the ones you really do connect with it makes you feel like you're not on your own with this and there is someone who thinks or feels the same.
For me I felt like I connnected with the Mental health and magic essay a heck of a lot, it was one I really had to sit back after reading and think about.
I loved that this book made me sit and think after each essay, and yes it took so much longer to read(i received this book before publication so I really have been slow to review) but I think that it was better to take the time and thought than just skim read and review in a rush for publication.
Not only did I come away from this book having, I feel, learned a lot I came away with a huge reading list! Some of the authors mention other authors or books that I've ended up putting on my tbr pile.
It's defiantly a book id recommend to others in the community because we lack books on the subject of witchcraft ethics and this is defiantly a good one to start that section off with.
It took me a while to finish reading this book, far longer than I normally take to read. And I think that's because it's a series of essays and each one very much give you the author's voice, which I loved, but that made it difficult to sit and read in one sitting. Each essay also gave you plenty to think about, and I didn't like moving on to the next one straight away without letting what the last author said sink in.
As it's a collection of essays with a variety of people contributing some obviously you connect with more than others but again that's the beauty of this book. It gives you the opportunity to hear other points of view and opinions but also with the ones you really do connect with it makes you feel like you're not on your own with this and there is someone who thinks or feels the same.
For me I felt like I connnected with the Mental health and magic essay a heck of a lot, it was one I really had to sit back after reading and think about.
I loved that this book made me sit and think after each essay, and yes it took so much longer to read(i received this book before publication so I really have been slow to review) but I think that it was better to take the time and thought than just skim read and review in a rush for publication.
Not only did I come away from this book having, I feel, learned a lot I came away with a huge reading list! Some of the authors mention other authors or books that I've ended up putting on my tbr pile.
It's defiantly a book id recommend to others in the community because we lack books on the subject of witchcraft ethics and this is defiantly a good one to start that section off with.
Krystina x
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