I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
Let’s get this out of the way first off. I’m solidly Gen X. Sigh. I do not understand the lack-of-capitalization-in-prose trend. It’s not a criticism of this book: Amanda Lovelace is known via her (utterly fabulous) poetry, which I’ve reviewed on this blog more than once in the past, for not capitalizing or using much punctuation. It’s just worth noting up front that were I a new witch picking this book up as a Gen Xer now, it would be distracting. However, I suspect it fits right in perfectly with most new witches in Lovelace’s audience, so this is basically me being an unnecessarily curmudgeonly curmudgeon.
That said, Make Your Own Magic (GAH! See? I can’t help myself!!) is a wonderfully gentle, welcoming, all-inclusive introductory book for folk interested in the active aspects of witchery. Unlike the intro books I grew up with, this focuses not on finding a magical pantheon to worship but on finding the magic within yourself. This is not to say Lovelace ignores the moral and ethical discussions that often end up couched under religious rules: instead she covers ethics, compassion for self and others, and agency as important aspects to develop as both self-care and a sort of “do unto others” ideal.
Lovelace does say more than once that a witch is responsible for determining their own way, and she’s not there to give them “rules” to follow, but to be a guide as they empower themselves on their path. The book includes a thorough explanation of tarot and incorporates tarot pulls into spells and journaling exercises, suggestions on the big hitters for magical cycles (weekdays, moon phases, sabbats), and a lovely variety of exercises and spells that are intended to help a new witch grow their skills, intuition, and self-confidence. As a wonderful bonus, new poems pepper the chapters, and Lovelace’s poetry is consistently a delight.
There are a few things I didn’t quite agree with from a philosophical perspective, but the glorious thing in witchcraft and Paganism is there is plenty of space for multiple perspectives. make your own magic (that hurt a little, but I refuse to be a stick-in-the-mud) teaches nothing harmful and everything empowering, which I wholeheartedly agree with even if there were some bits that didn’t click for me personally. Isn’t that a lovely thing? I, who have been in this witchy game for quite some time now, learned some fun new skills and ways of looking at Tarot, and some excellent self-care spells.
Overall I highly recommend make your own magic by Amanda Lovelace (I need to capitalize the author’s name…I just can’t jump that fence) for both beginners and those who wear more experienced hats. I enjoyed her easy conversational tea-and-cookies approach combined with deeper journaling prompts and exercises that encourage real growth. Not a thing wrong with cozy learning, and any practice that includes this book can only be beneficial to a person’s self-compassion and confidence.
No Pithy Phrase 