Magical and Medicinal Uses of Pine

Gender: Masculine

Planet: Mars
Element: Air
Powers: Exorcism, Fertility, Immortality, Longevity, Peace, Protection, Resilience

Magical Uses and History: The pine tree is an evergreen gymnosperm, meaning it doesn't lose its leaves during the winter months and produces cones instead of flowers. The genus Pinus evolved sometime at the end of the Cretaceous in Laurasia, a supercontinent that broke into North America and Asia. There are numerous species of pines, each with its own unique folklore, but some of their correspondences overlap heavily among different cultures. One of these correspondences includes longevity and everlasting life.

As previously mentioned, pines are evergreens, keeping their leaves throughout the winter months instead of losing them like deciduous trees. This perpetual state of vibrant life, even in the harshest conditions, gave rise to the idea that pines were a symbol of immortality, longevity, and perseverance. In Chinese culture, pine is regarded as one of the "Three Companions of Winter," as it was able to survive the harsh, unrelenting cold and wind of winter, standing upright in even the worst of conditions, leading to its association with perseverance and integrity. According to Confucius, "Only in the cold winter does one know that the pine and the cypress are the last to shed their leaves," meaning that harsh environments are a test of human character.

Across the continent in Phrygia (modern Turkey), the pine was deeply connected with the mortal-become-god Attis. According to some myths, unbeknownst to Attis, Cybele fell in love with him as she watched him grow. Eventually, Attis fell in love with another, King Pessinus' beautiful daughter, which made Cybele incredibly jealous. As punishment, Cybele drove Attis mad, causing him to run crazy through the mountains, where he finally stopped at the base of a pine tree, where he castrated himself and later died from his wounds. From Attis' blood arose the first violets, while the pine tree watched over Attis' spirit as Zeus resurrected his body as a favor to Cybele. Attis then becomes Cybele's consort, representing death and resurrection in the yearly cycle. To celebrate his rebirth, the priests of Cybele and Attis would cut down a pine tree, cover it in violet, and bring it to the shrine at Mt. Dindymus. This myth was later adopted by both the Romans and Greeks, further integrating the pine as a symbol of everlasting life.

In more recent history, the pine has become a symbol of perseverance among the Japanese as they have survived both the earthquake and the tsunami in March of 2011, which left the city of Rikuzentakata in ruin. The surrounding forest of roughly 70,000 pine trees was completely destroyed except for one lone pine, which became the national symbol of resilience and strength. Unfortunately, the tree later died due to root rot caused by excessive salt buildup, and it was cut down in September 2012, but the symbolism still remains.

Older Japanese pine myths also speak of the pine's association with immortality, more specifically with their use as homes to the kami, Shinto gods and goddesses. According to Shinto belief, the kami use the branches of pines to descend to earth and often reside in the branches. As such, it is customary to see at least one pine in every Shinto shrine. Furthermore, the pine is viewed as a watcher who brings people together and watches over their lives and souls in death. Despite the fleeting life of humans, the pine remains steadfast, fostering its association with longevity and immortality. Because of its connection to the spirit realm, pine makes a great addition to altars, spells, and rituals to honor deities or ancestors, for spirit communication, or during funeral rites.

In Egypt, pine resin was used as a component in embalming mixtures, helping to preserve bodies long after death. Across the Mediterranean, pine resin was used to waterproof ships and seal joints, while the wood of pines was prized for its ability to withstand decay. As such, pine became associated with Poseidon, god of the sea, and was often included in festivals and rituals dedicated to said deity. Needless to say, each of these uses further supports pine's correspondences with immortality, resilience, longevity, and perseverance. As such, pine can be used in spells and rituals to promote immortality and resilience, or to enhance the longevity and resilience of a spell. Pinecones collected during midsummer were believed to make a person bulletproof, and therefore can be used in protection spells as well as immortality spells. Furthermore, its ability to resist decay and water damage makes pine ideal for spells and rituals to protect travelers, particularly those who will be traveling on the water or swimming. Pinecones and needles can be fashioned into protection charms and hung about the sea vessel or given to the person to wear.

While many cultures view the pine as a symbol of immortality, others regard it as a symbol of peace and prosperity. In North America, the Haudenosaunee, known in the West as the Iroquois, recount the story of Dekanawidah, who united the five warring tribes with the aid of a white pine known as the Tree of Peace. According to the stories, which combine both reality and myth, Dekanawidah called the warring tribes together to meet under the Tree of Peace, which was uprooted so all who attended could cast aside their weapons into the gaping hole left behind by the giant white pine. An underground stream carried their weapons away as the tree was replanted. Its roots stretched far and wide out into the cardinal directions, while its branches grew to encompass all those below. The needles grew in groups of five, representing the five nations that had come together in peace. On top of the tree perched an eagle who acts as a protector of the Peace. If any other nation wished to join the League, they would have to follow these Great White Roots of Peace to the source and shelter beneath the tree. As such, pine, specifically white pine, has become associated with peace.

Because of the pinecone's phallic shape, some cultures viewed the pine as a symbol of sexuality and lust, particularly masculine sexuality. The Greeks and Romans used pinecones to tip thyrsus wands or staves of the maenads, or women followers of Dionysus, the god of prosperity, fertility, and hedonism. These wands and staves were used during sacred religious rituals and fêtes, and are believed to have represented Dionysus's potent masculine sexuality. Across the continent, pine was commonly planted after a couple was wed, sometimes near the door where the wedding was taking place, to encourage a healthy and fruitful marriage. As such, pine needles and cones can be carried to increase fertility and sexual potency, particularly for men, or used in spells and rituals for similar purposes.

Finally, the pine is associated with protection. While I cannot find specific lore detailing where this lore originated, it is likely because of the pine's association with immortality. If the pine encourages an extended life, then it stands to reason that it can protect the user as well. Pine needles are often burned or scattered on the floor to drive away evil or unwanted negative energy, or used in baths to cleanse. Pine needles can also be burned to reverse spells and even send them back to their caster. Placing pine needles above one's bed is said to prevent illness, or placing them above doors, windows, and fireplaces to keep unwanted entities out. Because of its association with protection, it is partially believed that the pine was brought inside during Yule or Christmas, not only as a symbol of joy and immortality, but also to protect the inhabitants of the home during the long and dark winter months when untoward spirits were said to roam freely in the night. Needless to say, pine is the perfect addition to protection spells and rituals.

Pine can be used in a number of spells, including:

      Lust Spells

      Protection Spells

      Exorcism

      Immortality Magic

      Peace Spells

      Fertility Rituals

Medicinal Uses: Many varieties of pine can be used in herbal medicine, but for the sake of this article, I am going to focus on the medicinal properties of Pinus sylvestris, also known as Scots Pine, Scotch Pine, Baltic Pine, or European Red Pine. If you wish to use a different pine variety, please consult reputable sources or an herbalist before creating any remedies. Scots pine needles, young buds, and twigs can be used to treat respiratory infections such as bronchitis, upper respiratory infections, and sinusitis, and some studies have found it useful in treating asthma symptoms. This is due to the needles' anti-catarrhal properties, which help relieve inflammation of the mucous membranes and reduce and remove mucous from the body. Its stimulating nature also makes it good at treating arthritis and rheumatism, both internally and externally. Traditionally, Scots pine needles have been added to baths to relieve fatigue, anxiety, and insomnia. It is also naturally antiseptic, making it a great wash for minor cuts and scrapes.

Preparation and Dosage: To create an infusion, combine 1 cup of boiling water with 1/5 teaspoon of needles. Allow to infuse for 10 to 15 minutes. Drink up to three times a day. As a tincture, take 1-2 milliliters up to three times a day. To create a steam inhalant, bring 2-3 cups of twigs to a boil with 4 pints of water. Simmer for 5 minutes before draping your head with a towel over the pot and inhaling the steam for 15 minutes. Repeat as needed. To create a bath tea, combine 3 handfuls of twigs and needles with 1.5 pints of water and soak for one hour. After an hour, bring the infusion to a boil and simmer for 15 minutes before adding it to your bathwater.

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Book Review: Tarot Spreads by Meg Jones Wall

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Seems like tarot is experiencing a boom this year, which isn't entirely surprising given the state of the world. People often turn to divinatory practices, such as tarot, in times of uncertainty, seeking answers in the chaos. While I am not super into tarot myself, I have read enough tarot books and own enough decks to have a fairly decent understanding and respect for the art. Furthermore, it is through my experiences reading tarot that I have a pretty good idea of what makes a good tarot book versus a bad tarot book, and Tarot Spreads: How to Read Them, Create Them & Revise Them by Meg Jones Wall is among the good ones. Not only did I have the joy of reading Wall's work in Tarot in Other Words, but I got to enjoy an entire work featuring her expertise and unique perspective.

Tarot Spreads is divided into parts or chapters, each of which dives into topics needed to create and use your own tarot spreads, as the title of the book suggests. Part One opens with a basic introduction to tarot, from its history to the card meanings themselves. Wall makes it clear, however, that tarot is not a closed practice and therefore open to all walks of life. However, she does mention that some interations are closed and that respect should be given to those practices and traditions unique to the Romani people. I loved the inclusion of this statement right in the beginning because, just a few years ago, everyone was all up in arms about whether or not tarot was culturally appropriated. To err on the side of caution, I briefly stopped including tarot spreads on my full moon ritual worksheets, as well as some other places, but after some additional research, I decided this caution was largely unfounded. Wall does include a brief history of tarot, being sure to mention that much of what we believe today is based on lies, much like witchcraft itself. It's a shame so many occultist opted to make stuff up to legitimize their claims and practices, instead of being honest.

Wall approaches the read through conversation, with headings being questions the reader might be asking her. I thoroughly enjoyed this approach as it makes it easy for a reader to find the information they are looking for quickly. If you already know tarot is for everyone, you can jump ahead to more pertinent information, such as how to read tarot for yourself or for others. This approach also makes sense in light of Wall's view of tarot. Wall states that "tarot is a language," one that takes practice to learn.

The following parts or chapters then delve into reading and creating your own tarot spreads, which is really the heart of the book after all. Wall makes it clear that spreads are not necessary for reading tarot, but they help clarify our thoughts and questions, allowing us to dig into what we really want to know. Tarot spreads, whether they were written by others or yourself, offer insights into the questions we want answers to and how we want to receive those answers.

What I found most interesting, however, was that Wall argues the shape of the spread ultimately doesn't matter, at least in most regards. Instead, the shape offers structure to the reading, not necessarily insights into the meaning of the cards themselves. Obviously, there are exceptions, specifically if you built meaning into the placement of the cards, but at the end of the day, you could read all your spreads in a straight line and get the same answers. The spread is really there to offer clarity, discovery, insight, advice, and support, not to direct the meaning of the cards. Just like tarot is a language, a tarot spread is a conversation between you and the cards. They support a richer and nuanced conversation, but aren't required to read tarot. Wall makes it clear that sometimes spreads aren't needed, especially if you are unsure of what you actually want to know and ask.

Not only does Wall offer insights into when and why you should create your own spreads, she also details how to do it yourself. She opens Part Three, however, by making a note that you do not have to write your own spreads to be a great tarot reader. There is nothing wrong with using spreads written by others, and I appreciate her including this. It's not cheating to use other people's spreads, and it doesn't make you less of a tarot reader or witch to use what others have created. Besides, we have so much we can learn from each other, so why not take advantage of what others have already done? However, writing your own spreads is a skill and can help you develop as a tarot reader.

Wall offers three different methods or approaches with examples for writing your own tarot spreads: Magician, Hierophant, and Priestess. My personal favorite was the Magicina approach, which is chaos unleashed. Basically, you lay everything out there, dumping everything from your mind into one spot, and then basically fitting things together until it works. I am not going to lie, this is often my approach to life. I have a plan, but I have to get everything out before I can put all the fine details together. The Magician approach is just that.

The Hierophant, however, takes inspiration from others, looking at spreads you have already found and favors, and mashing them together into something that is useful to you. I also love this approach, and it's one I often use when creating lessons for my classroom. There are so many amazing resources out there, but they very rarely cover everything exactly how I need them to, so I beg, borrow, steal, and heavily modify to make things right for my classroom. This same approach can be used when writing your own tarot spreads.

The last approach, Priestess, is much more complicated and relies heavily on the tarot cards themselves. This is definitely an approach that should mostly be used by those already adept in tarot, but that doesn't mean it's closed to novices. Basically, the reader uses tarot cards to help determine the question they answer or how they help you answer your question. This seems too unstructured to me, but I can definitely see the whimsical approach working for certain people; I, unfortunately, am not people.

Once you've created a tarot spread, Wall suggests testing it on a hypothetical person with a hypothetical question that is far removed from your own and then revising as needed. What is so great about all of this is the inclusion of examples, exercises, and practice. Wall doesn't just tell us how to create our own spreads; she invites us to practice creating and reading spreads before sending us off into the world on our own. These exercises are lengthy and well worth the work through. Honestly, these are some of the best exercises I have seen in a book in a long time, and I highly recommend spending time doing them before jumping into writing your own spreads.

If you are interested in reading tarot or taking your tarot reading to the next level, I highly recommend picking up a copy of Tarot Spreads: How to Read Them, Create Them & Revise Them by Meg Jones Wall. This will likely become a tarot staple in the future because it offers so much more than traditional reading. Instead, Tarot Spreads invites readers to chart their own course in self-discovery, spreading their wings to find clarity and peace in this chaotic world.

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Book Review: Tarot in Other Words edited by Cassandra Snow

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

We are nearing the end of my book review blitz, but I promise there are several more books still waiting on my shelf, awaiting their chance. I am very excited to share my review today of Tarot In Other Words: An Essential Anthology by Leading Queer Tarot Writers edited by Cassandra Snow. When Weiser reached out asking if I would like to review a copy, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to support and uplift queer voices.

Tarot in Other Words is an anthology of essays written by, for, and about queer people and tarot. There is a beautiful array of authors, some of whom you may be familiar with, including Cassandra Snow, author of Queering the Tarot, Meg Jones Wall, author of Tarot Spreads, and my absolute favorite, Maria Minnis, author of Tarot for the Hard Work. There isn't a single author featured that isn't (or shouldn't be) a household name in the tarot community.

As for its contents, Tarot in Other Words is divided into two sections: Finding Ourselves in the Tarot and Finding the Tarot in Ourselves. I loved this division of articles, as it focuses on two "issues" within the queer tarot community. Society is still catching up in regard to supporting equity and inclusion, and being able to see one's self represented in the tarot is an important part of connecting with and understanding your cards. This is followed by more practical applications of tarot and how to queer it even further to better fit our needs as a community.

Since this is an anthology, it's hard to write an all-encompassing review without reviewing each article. I think that would make this review post a wee bit too long, so I am going to hit the major highlights. If you aren't interested in reading my thoughts about the articles as a whole, then at least walk away knowing I highly recommend Tarot in Other Words. Go pick up a copy now, whether you are interested in tarot or not. This is about so much more than divination; it's about community. This book is sure to revolutionize your practice, tarot or otherwise, expand your mind, queer your world-view, and build the empathy you need to be successful in your craft and interactions with the community at large.

Without further ado, let's dive into my thoughts. The very first article felt like a personal attack, and I sobbed through the entire thing, and I mean ugly cried. Now, this isn't a bad thing. Asali Earthwork opens this book with an article titled "The Grieving Fool," which details how the major arcana represent the different phases of our grief journey. Earthwork, who writes about grief often, reminds us that grief is not a linear journey, but a spiral with highs and lows, setbacks and leaps forward. She includes a tarot spread to help readers manage their grief and determine what might be blocking them or steps that should be taken to heal. I pulled my cards and cried some more. My grief has felt like a long walk through a dark forest, and Earthwork's wisdom allowed me to see some semblance of light through the trees. So yeah, we definitely started off strong.

The second article, however, felt like a warm embrace after the storm as it covered coming out and tarot's role in the process. This story was told from the perspective of Rebecca Scolnick, a bisexual woman turned queer. Scolnick argues that tarot can and should be an integral part of our coming-out journey, as it teaches us to slow down and enjoy the growth and change. Not everyone's coming out journey is the same, and that's okay. Through the tarot, we can find and discover ourselves in a truly meaningful way. Scolnick's story sounds so much like my own, and for the first time, I felt truly seen. I have also struggled with my sexuality most of my life. I knew by 4th grade that I liked people in general, despite their recognized gender. I was harassed and bullied for years after admitting this to peers, and stuffed that part away deep down to avoid the pain and rejection. I am now 36, almost 37, and it wasn't until really the last year that I felt comfortable enough to explore my sexuality with my partner (now husband), who is incredibly supportive and accepting. It was nice to see I am not alone in this, and no matter how long it takes, your journey is valid.

This is followed by my stories and representations of all bodies, genders, and sexualities, including Snow's article on the minor arcana. I loved that the minor arcana was included, as it is so often overlooked in the presence of the major arcana. It was a pleasure to read what she had to say about how the suits showed up in her own life and the stories they tell us.

By far my favorite article in Part 1, however, was by Maria Minnis titled "Queering the Lichens, Queering the Cups." Minnis never ceases to amaze me, weaving tarot seamlessly with ecological symbiosis, relating the card's interdependence to the interdependence of life we see all around us, from lichens to our gut biome. Not to mention she has such banger lines, including:

"Nobody is an island."

"...but we are like lichens: many things at once. For every single societally normative relationship one may see in the Cups, there are many more possible depictions and interpretations of self-acceptance, collective unity, acts of service, creative collaboration, reciprocity, empathy for the oppressed, unique family structures, heart healing, community care, acceptance, and platonic intimacy. There is ample space for queerness."

"We need water, we need each other, we need connection. We belong to each other."

Bravo, Minnis...bravo. I cannot begin to express how thought-provoking, stunning, and eye-opening Minnis's work is. You just have to read it.

While Part I focuses on seeing ourselves within the tarot, Part II is the reader doing the work of tarot; it covers the technical and practical uses of tarot and queering it to make it work in our lives. Snow teaches us how to ask good (queer) questions, Wall has us explore numerology, while Burgess teaches us about interstitial elements. Wall's approach to numerology and "queering" the numbers opened my mind to so many new possibilities and gave me so much to think about in my own practice. Three and six, in particular, were beautiful representations of the true meaning behind the numbers. Often, we only associate 3 with the Holy Trinity, but for those of us outside the heteronormative, Christian community, those associations just don't work. Instead, Wall presents arguments that 3 and 6 alike represent chosen family and the community we build for ourselves. "What does love in action look like?"

However, it was Burgess's queering of the elements that was of particular interest to me. I had an epiphany reading this article and ended up having to read and reread it multiple times to put all my thoughts together. In the back of my mind, I also knew interstitial elements were a thing, the combination of two elements corresponding with North-East, North-West, etc. At one point, Burgess describes the feelings behind each of these element combinations, with Air-Fire taking my breath away entirely. I read this passage out loud to my husband twice. Forgive me, but I would like to quote it in its entirety here:

"Air-Fire is the element of revelations and epiphany. This is the crack of heat lightning flashing across the sky, the ominous rumble of danger approaching, the cataclysmic flash that illuminates a vision that can never be unseen. This is the Tower's conflagration that razes dynasties and paradigms to the ground, that tears a fiery portal in the fabric of reality, initiating new worlds. If fire is the divine spark and air is speech, Air-Fire is the Word of God. This is the element of holy belief, of prophets, saints, martyrs, and zealots. It's also the element of mystics, visionaries, and all those who dare to conceive of other realities than this. Air-Fire is the element of activists, of fiery speeches that rouse the masses to action, of civil disobedience, and scathing polemics. Air-Fire is also the flashpoint when a rational debate becomes a screaming fight, when a peaceful protest becomes a riot. This is the smokeless fire burning on nothing but air. This is ball lightening and wll-os'-the-wisps, jet fuel and bullets. The combined power of air and fire can change the world or destroy it."

Breathtaking...I don't know about you, but this spoke to my soul. I am a Libra Sun with a Scorpio Rising, a perfect combination of Air and Fire. This description explains so much of how I feel about and view the world, my part in it, and my desire to bring about dramatic change. I hope this article is able to do the same for you.

I loved every minute of Tarot in Other Words...except for the very last article on queering symbols that had none of the first letters in a sentence capitalized. This made it so incredibly hard for me to read and follow the sentences that I gave up and stopped. Sorry, not sorry. I know I will not be alone in this feeling. Despite this, I cannot recommend Tarot in Other Words: An Essential Anthology by Leading Queer Tarot Writers edited by Cassandra Snow enough. Please pick up a copy, and I promise you will not be disappointed.

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Book Review: Naturally Psychic by Karen Harrison

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I am back today with another book review, and while I overall enjoyed most of Naturally Psychic: Awaken Your Intuitive Abilities by Karen Harrison, there was one thing that left a pretty sour taste in my mouth and dropped my overall star rating.

First and foremost, this is a release of the original publication from 2013. While I have not read the original 2013 printing, it doesn't appear much, if anything, has changed since the first printing. This is slightly disappointing because I think a group of sensitivity readers could have caught a couple of the issues I had. However, let's start with what I did like, because there was a lot of information here that was great!

Harrison opens with an introduction explaining her views on intuition, psychic abilities, and the like, mentioning that she is of the mind that diving into the future can be used to alter it; that your future is not set in stone. "If the likely outcome that is sensed psychically could not be altered or diverted, I don't think there would be much use in knowing about it." I agree, although sometimes it's okay to let things unfold as the Universe has intended, even if they are upsetting. There are lessons to be learned during struggle, grief, and hard times, often valuable ones.

Each chapter then focuses on different ways to access and hone your psychic abilities, including the clairs, contacting spirits, accessing past lives, dreaming, automatic writing, and psychometry. While Harrison suggests working through each chapter and its exercises in order, you don't necessarily have to. Yes, the skills are built upon previous chapters and exercises, so it's beneficial to work through them in order, but each chapter also stands on its own. Much of the information and skills are repeated in each chapter (which is slightly annoying when you are reading it straight through in one sitting), but it's certainly helpful for those reading chapters as needed.

Harrison references a lot of science throughout, including electromagnetic energy, ley lines, homing animals, beta, alpha, thetic, and delta states, and dreaming cycles. While science cannot currently explain psychic abilities, there may very well come a time when we can. Because the brain uses electrical and magnetic impulses, why couldn't it sense things outside of it that are also sending such impulses out into the world?

The first two chapters are reminiscent of other beginner psychic books, covering the skills necessary to develop your intuition. These include cleansing, grounding, centering, energy balls, sensing auras, energy shields, and space clearing. There is nothing really new here that hasn't been presented before, so if you are already familiar with basic psychic techniques or have built your intuition, these chapters would not be particularly useful to you. She does, however, define your "inner voice" in a more inclusive light in chapter 2, creating a definition that is more neurodivergent friendly. Harrison states your inner voice can be a literal voice, as well as images, colors, a sense of knowing, dreams, scents, tastes, or even feelings in a specific part of your body. She states, "Everybody is a born psychic," and all you have to do is develop it like any other skill. What I found particularly helpful was Harrison's suggestion of acknowledging your inner voice each time you receive information. This is done to strengthen your intuition, and I can see how that works on multiple levels. First, it is a way to say thank you to that part of you or the guide responsible for aiding you. Second, even if it's all "just in your head," you are tricking your mind into doing what you want it to do. Either way, it is a powerful tool!

My favorite two chapters by far were chapter 4 on spirit guides and chapter 10 on psychic etiquette. If you are interested in hedge riding, astral travel, or working with spirits, Harrison offers excellent information and exercises on contacting spirit guides of all shapes and sizes. She includes warning signs that the entity you have encountered may not actually be your guide, but a spirit attempting to deceive and use you. This is extremely helpful and valuable information any budding hedge witch should know, especially when it comes to cleansing and ridding yourself of entities. As for guides, Harrison offers exercises to contact ancestral guides, ascended masters, teacher/mentors, and angelic guides. She does not cover animal guides until chapter 9 and takes a different approach to animal guides than I do. Her focus with animal guides most includes pets and potentially familiars. I will warn you that chapter 9 includes animal death and grief, so go into that chapter prepared.

Okay...so what bothered me so much that I dropped my rating? It's one big thing surrounded by a couple of little things. These little things include the blue font, which would be very difficult for someone who is visually impaired to read, the use of karma and karmic debt, and the lack of discussion of potential cultural appropriation. Harrison does a great job including multiple different cultures and faiths to ensure she is meeting a broad audience, but I believe she should have included a mention that some practices are closed or partially closed and therefore not open to everyone to use willy-nilly. The biggest issue, however, was Harrison's retelling of her own past life.

In her story, Harrison describes having a vivid dream one night in which she was watching her past self sneak through a house at night. She describes herself as a black man with "knotty hair" who is stealing from the slave owner's home and is later shot in the face with a shotgun. Reading this was incredibly disturbing, and the word choices were....a choice. I cannot believe that she or Weiser allowed such blatantly racist language to be published. Like...were there no sensitivity readers? White woman to white woman, I would have kept this story to myself, Karen. I understand she may have thought she was connecting with her readers on a personal level, but it left such a sour taste in my mouth that I struggled to read the last three chapters objectively. This is such a shame because up until this point, I was planning on fully endorsing Naturally Psychic.

On one hand, I still want to recommend Naturally Psychic: Awaken Your Intuitive Abilities by Karen Harrison because most of the book was just fine. For some of you, her story may not bother you or have any bearing on whether or not you purchase the book. That is perfectly fine. Personally, there is nothing so groundbreaking here that you can't find it somewhere else. The choice is entirely yours.

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Book Review: Naturally Modern Magic by Lacey Burbage

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While I may not have loved my last read, I certainly loved Naturally Modern Magick: The Essential Compendium of Spells and Rituals for Health, Happiness, and Prosperity by Lacey Burbage. This absolutely gorgeous spellbook is an excellent resource for new and old witches alike, offering a plethora of well-researched spells for every occasion, and I mean every occasion. The elaborately illustrated pages remind me a lot of my two books, and, like my books, Naturally Modern Magick doesn't skimp on information.

Like most spellbooks, Naturally Modern Magick opens with the very basics of spell casting, covering everything from casting a circle, cleansing, and grounding. There is the assumption that the witch has some background knowledge already, but the refresher is nice all the same. Burbage also makes it clear that the plants and other spell ingredients are not just tools, but "spiritual kin." I absolutely love this approach, which is a stark difference from my last book review of A Witch Alone. Animism is a key tenet of my practice, and finding like-minded authors is always a pleasure.

This brief introduction also mentions the importance of consent in witchcraft, especially when it comes to spells being cast for or on another person. There is nothing worse than trying to start a relationship with a kidnapping. Be mindful of what you are doing and whether or not you have asked for proper consent. This also goes for keeping your pets safe, ensuring they are not present when using potentially harmful or toxic ingredients. There is no list or mention of which ingredients could be toxic, so it is up to you to do your due diligence when working any of the spells found in Naturally Modern Magick.

I genuinely love the spells Burbage has created. There are spells for grounding, cleansing, love, luck, manifestation, and so much more. There is even a spell for meeting your spirit guides and protecting yourself while traveling to the Otherworld. I love the inclusion of such spells for us hedge witches. There are also several spells that use cinnamon sticks for divination, rice for a spell base, and clay to bind herbs to make talismans, amulets, and charms. All of these are such clever ideas and have given me much to think about when it comes to future spell writing. I cannot stress enough how important it is to read others' spells. The creativity of others never ceases to amaze me and has influenced more than a couple of spells found on my blog. In fact, Burbage has inspired me so much that I have already started writing some new spells that include rice, clay, magical inks, and even magically-infused paper!

Burbage not only offers an enormity of spells, but also includes how to make base ingredients such as moon water or magical rice that can be used in a plethora of other spells. For these magically charged ingredients, she offers a list of potential uses in other magical spells, even referencing their use in some of the full spells and rituals she offers later in the book. I love that Burbage did this and wish more authors would take note.

Two of my favorite spells, apart from the spell for protection during hedge riding, include a spell for an accessory charging station and a charm to stop replaying situations in your mind (I am notoriously anxious and often replay moments over and over and over and over and over again...) The accessory charging station works the same way as a phone charging station, except for jewelry, charms, amulets, crystals, and other such objects. It is such a clever idea!

The only true downsides to Naturally Modern Magick are that many of the spell ingredients are not commonly found at your local grocery store and will, therefore, require a trip to a specialty shop, and there are no substitutions or modifications for the spells. This makes some of the items expensive and therefore out of reach for many witches. Furthermore, without modifications, some spells that require walking or other movement, access to the outdoors, ecetera, may not be accessible to all witches. I realize there is a page and word limit in such books, as I have written two similar books, but this is something to consider if you plan on picking this book up.

Overall, I deeply enjoyed Naturally Modern Magick: The Essential Compendium of Spells and Rituals for Health, Happiness, and Prosperity by Lacey Burbage and highly recommend picking up a copy if you are interested in expanding your spell repertoire!

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