babywchronicles - Tumblr blog

[babywchronicles]

Review: The Witch-Crafting Handbook

To be honest, I feel like I don't have a lot to say (though it won’t seem like it) about The Witch-Crafting Handbook by Helena Garcia. It was a little underwhelming, not at all what I expected, and feels like it doesn't quite belong in the 133.4 Dewey Decimal call number on the spine (forgive me, I work in a library).

This book is fun in a DIY sense, but didn't have much else going for it otherwise, even if it wanted to appear like it did in places. More under the cut.

So, when I picked up all my books for this batch of reviews, I wanted to get things that were really appropriate for what I wanted: more information about being a witch, witchcraft in general, and how best to proceed with my witch journey. In short, this is not one of the books that will help me with that. Perhaps it was the fact I assumed it would be going into this project that it left me disappointed.

I thought that it would have practical things, or more than it does, maybe involving charms, or tools, or something like that. And, while the first “craft” in the book is a besom (albeit more a “high-end fashion besom” to make a useful tool less boring), and Altars are touched upon (in a decorative way, though she briefly mentions what an altar is), a good portion feels like it is all aesthetic. This book is all Looks with no Magic, even if it pretends to be at times. A lot of the Real With Stuff™ feels like it came from a quick online search.

The book starts out with some anecdote with her grandmother with some her recipes for this like burns, removing stains from tea cups, and putting candles in the freezer so they last longer when burning (I’m skeptical), along with a section of “Interesting Facts” about the history of witch craft that make it feel like this is more of a Halloween Party Decoration manual that it is. Honestly, if I had read the introduction first (a bad habit of mine is to skip it to dive into the actual meat), I may have been a bit forewarned. Note to Self: read the introduction from now on.

The book is then broken up into three sections: The Witch’s Wardrobe (spooky clothes), Home Accessories (self-explanatory), The Witch’s Apothecary (hair and skincare products mostly), The Witches Cauldron (baked things that look spooky), and The Tipsy Witch (alcohol). At this point, even without having read the introduction, the table of contents was giving me a little bit of an off-putting feeling. But, I was writing a review, so I pressed on.

I should say here I made none of these things, so I don’t know if they’re even well done recipes or craft instructions. I read it, and am giving my opinion based on that alone, because I am uninterested in everything in this book. It is also worth mentioning that throughout the book, the projects either have perfectly staged, full page photographs, odd doodles representing the item, and sometimes no picture at all. It makes it feel like some of this was really just filler.

The Wardrobe section is… not my thing. It’s clearly a “let’s look Halloween” section, and some of the items in it are, honestly, ugly to me. Some of them honestly strike me as something you’d wear to a costume party and never again. But, maybe it’s just me. Some of it is admittedly cute, like the mushroom hat for a child, but it’s not something I would seek out. A lot of the items also have an expansive list of craft stuff you need to make them, which I have, but nothing I would sacrifice for this.

The décor is also disappointing. It all feels like Halloween decorations to me. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Halloween decorations: Some may have seen my plastic skeleton in my witch corner in previous posts. I lived for visiting Spirit Halloween every October as a kid. It’s just not what I wanted from this book.

It is in the Home Accessory section that we find the short entry about altars. I had small hope going in, but while it touches on what Altars are for, it really does feel like a how-to on adding a little more witch onto that corner dresser you have room on. It is also somehow made less impressive because on the next page, on the other side of a glorious photo, is a craft item called “Vintage Halloween Hangers” that are just decorated clothes hangers with a doodle of hangers with a cat and a clown(?) themed witch on them. I wasn’t going to show pictures from inside the book, but this…

Anyway. The Apothecary section I skimmed, honestly. At this point I wasn’t interested, and I’m not a skin care kind of girl anyway. I did notice something for beards, so good on her for being gender inclusive and body-hair positive. For cooking, I looked at the pictures and felt disappointed at the Halloween party or making your kids happy vibe. I feel like at this point, the book had kind of given up any pretense of being more than what it is. I didn’t even look at the alcohol, completely bored and beyond ready to close it. Maybe it never did take itself seriously, but I really expected more Magic from a book in the Magic section of the library.

I’m beginning to feel like whoever put the call number to this book lied to me… But then, books are published constantly, and I don’t think this one was looks at very closely. Maybe the publisher billed it as a witch craft book and not something that belongs slotted next to the Christmas Crafts books. Maybe the title was confusing. Has the Dewey Decimal system failed me for the first time? No, wait, the call number for “Halloween – Handicrafts” is 745.594. This is just misplaced. Whatever.

Overall, it’s a cute enough book (even if I don’t personally find much of it aesthetically pleasing, with a wasted pair of socks thrown in for good measure), and perhaps perfect for someone looking for a witchy look, a Halloween look, but not seeking something witchcraft-related. You’re not going to get any spells or charms between the covers of this one, but I suppose if you need the vibe to get in the head space for your craft, it might work for you. It’s not for me, but some DIY-er might like it much better. Look at other reviews or check out our from your library if given a chance, though. It’s not one I would immediately buy.

My fancy new rating image is below. I hope you’re all having a good one, and will see prosperity in the future. It’s a rough time in the world right now. I know I’m struggling a bit, which is why this took so long. My other books are going to be so overdo, haha. Thank goodness for a library that doesn’t charge late fees. I count myself lucky there.

[babywchronicles]

Hey all. I have that big stack of books but not sure where to start. Is there anyone who has an opinion?

Here are some cover images!

[babywchronicles]

Review: The Junior Witch’s Handbook

Here's a review of The Junior Witch’s Handbook: A Kid’s Guide to White Magic, Spells, and Rituals, By Nikki Van De Car and Illustrated by Uta Krogmann.

I thought to myself as I was browsing through my local library’s catalogue: “Why not start basic?” And to me, when I saw this book on witchcraft for children, that seemed about as basic as you could get. “Speak to me like a child,” I told this book. “Talk to me like I know nothing.”

The books isn’t long, about 100 pages, but it is Junior Fiction, so one shouldn’t expect anything grandiose. Though, there are some books for adults on witchcraft that don’t top that, so who am I to judge? More important than length is that this book packs a lot of information in it for the page count.

There are a range of ideas, spells, and rituals in this book—as one would expect—but it’s all kept simple. The language is age-appropriate, which means it is very concise and easy to understand. The book doesn’t complicate things the way some “adult” witch books do. That is a very good thing for kids, but I think I also got a lot out of it. There was the information I wanted to know, written in a way that was easy to understand, and was accessible to me as someone who is, though I started looking into it years ago, still very new. A “Baby Witch” as it were. Read on under the cut.

The book is separated into sections: An introduction, a list of things needed for witchcraft—so far, so standard—and then breaks the spells and rituals following into those of “Friends”, “Fulfillment”, and “Family”. A glossary sits at the end, which I love for all informational books, honestly, and feel as though I am rarely granted.

The “Things You’ll Need” section goes over tools and supplies: Altar, Crystals, Herbs, Essential Oils, all that good stuff. It also has a table of different things you can substitute in for other things. Like, this is the best thing ever. I’m sure some out there will insist that you have to have THE right ingredients every single time, but I have no money, so this sort of thing is a life saver. I don’t necessarily need permission to mix and match, but having a handy little table there for me to reference is amazing. Takes the pressure off.

Breaking the book down into the three main components—friends, fulfillment, and family—is so good. To kids, those things are very central to their lives (And non-kids too, let’s be real here).

In the friends section alone, the book goes through sending out energy to invite new friends, how to connect with friends through witchcraft, strengthening friendships, but also—and this is so cool to me—has a while subsection called “Healing” that goes through meditations for anger, compassion, and letting go of hurt feelings. There is acknowledgment here that friends and life sometimes go wrong, people fight, feelings get hurt… And the book stresses this, and then gives methods of handling it positively. How cool is that!?

In the “Fulfilment” section, there is a good amount of self care talked about, and how to accomplish that through witchcraft. There is talk of luck, creativity, courage—but there is also a ritual for loving yourself when things go wrong; how to center yourself so you can try again. It also talks about making your own oracle deck, which sounds like the best idea for me, honestly. I just can’t get one to work for me. Thank you, witchcraft for children book. You the grace I needed right now.

The book further goes into things like cleansing, having a guardian for your home, celebrations (wheel of the year type stuff) in the “Family” section. All good stuff.

And you want to know WHAT ELSE is good about this book? The rituals, spells, and the like are often 1 or 2 pages of information. This is the sort of non-complicated, simple, PLEASE-talk-to-me-like-I’m-11 stuff I need in my life. It’s undaunting. It’s useful. It’s accessible. I want o hold this book to the moon and scream in relief and thanks.

This books teaches about magic, while also acknowledging key importances around making friends, being with your family, and loving yourself. And, as I have said before, it talks to you like you are new, like you don’t know the detailed concepts, big words, or complex ideas… And for someone who is so easily put off by complexity when I know nothing, this is so good for me.

Take note, Adult Witchcraft Books: Stop being so serious and complicated. A little care and gentleness for your friends, your family, yourself, and your readers is good for the soul. Well done.

Two thumbs up from me. How do rating systems go? I might buy this book.

[babywchronicles]

I have rediscovered the library. I have here 9 witchy books and more on the way. I am going to throw myself into this. My goal is to write some reviews. Wish me luck!

[babywchronicles]

Things have been slow, fast, up, down, turn me around... I haven't been doing as much "witch stuff" as I want to, as I feel like I should. It eats at me sometimes. I don't know the right way to go about anything. I feel like this journey I chose for myself... I'm failing.

But today, while I was taking pictures of plants along my driveway, I saw this: a feather I put in the ground many months ago when I felt the need for more positive energy, more protection. I had just felt compelled, maybe somewhat desperate for something. It's still there; I'm still here.

Things keep going, but that's okay. The magic is still here. My little spontaneous raven feather charm, though no longer pristine, is still there. I took a good picture today... I guess there is a certain magic to that.

[babywchronicles]

I updated my witch space. I feel more conifdent than before, than ever before, about this journey. It's been on hold for so long.

[babywchronicles]

Happy Beltane for those of you in the Southern Hemisphere like me, and happy Samhain if you're in the north! For my celebration I made lemon-lavender shortbread using lemons strait off the tree.

[babywchronicles]

Making a little travel box with essentials. I need a small book of matches and a little bit of salt, I think. Any other suggestions?

[babywchronicles]

Bought more than I should have at the witchy shop. I went in for some quartz. Not pictures here are the other crystals.

[babywchronicles]

I also found a friend the other day. Doubled back to pick them up. For some reason the camera on my phone chose to blur as I took the picture, but it is still alright.

[babywchronicles]

Drying some some rosemary for a portable alter. Am I doing this right? >>

[babywchronicles]

Found this on a Wicca/Pagen website! Thought I'd share it with you <3333

Oh thank you! That helps for the northern hemisphere for sure. =3 

[babywchronicles]

[babywchronicles]

YOU ARE THE MAGIC.

[babywchronicles]

100%

[babywchronicles]

This is a site that I found that talks about Australian-specific things as far as like witch craft goes. I've given it a cursory look, and it seems really helpful, especially in regards to the Sabbats!

[babywchronicles]

Reference