Book Review
Title: The Path of the Witch: Rituals Practices for Discovering Which Witch You Are by Lidia Pradas
Genre: Non-Fiction/Religion
Rating: 4 Stars
I didn’t know anything about The Path of the Witch before jumping into it, but I was inspired to read it by WitchTok as I see tons of videos about real life witchcraft but I don’t understand them and I want to. The first chapter of The Path of the Witch introduces us to some of the key terms and information that will be referenced throughout the whole book and it was really needed for someone like myself that knows nothing about witch craft in any sense. The first type of witch we are introduced to are green witches, these are like the naturalist of the witch community as they are deeply connected to the Earth and Mother Nature and that is how they centre themselves and where they draw the majority of their energy from. It goes much deeper than this however, as Pradas introduces us to the tools that a green witch might employ including but not limited to trees, herbs, stone and crystals, their properties, uses and how they can be used safely by a green witch. So far, despite being a non-fiction book, I was very intrigued to learn more about the different types of witches and the artwork scattered throughout these chapters alone is absolutely divine. Pradas also provides different meditation methods and healing recipes that might appeal to a green witch and how to know if this is the right path for you.
The second type of witch we are shown is a kitchen witch, which really intrigued me as I have never heard of a kitchen witch before. The kitchen witch is exactly what it sounds like, a witch was sacred domain is the kitchen and creates spell through cooking and eating. This initially sounded like the kind of witch I would be but as I read more I realised this wasn’t so despite my love of food, mainly because I don’t have the patience or the connection with nature that kitchen witches have. It was interesting to see there is some debate in the witch community as to whether kitchen witches are a subsection of green witches or whether they are the own path in witchcraft. I agree with the author, from what I read green witch and kitchen witches do have some similar traits such as there connection with nature and Mother Nature but they are drastically different in some elements as well and should be considered a separate path because I have a feeling someone who is a kitchen witch would necessarily be 100% comfortably as a green witch.
The next type of witch we are taught about is the Wiccan witch, which for a horror movie fan like myself if mentioned in a lot of movies and I want to see if any of the lore mentioned in those movies is accurate. The Wiccan witch is the one path of witchcraft in this book that many people might be familiar with and I have certainly heard of Wiccan celebrations like Yule, Samhain and Beltane before but just never connected them to Wiccan witches before although I did know it was connection to the Wiccan religion. Learning more about Wiccan witches and how they celebrate the cycles of the sun and moon, the deities and their history was so interesting and so far it is the path of witchcraft that I most identify with if I was to choose one especially since it seems to be the most structured form of witchcraft so far and I will definitely be looking more in the Wiccan religion in the future.
The next type of witch is the Cosmic witch, I think many people may have encountered cosmic witches without even knowing it as they are deeply connected to the cosmic realm. They play close attention to astrology and astronomy which as most people will be aware is where we get out zodiac signs and horoscope from but it is much more in depth than that. It was interesting to look up my natal chart and see how accurate the information was and while I still identify more with a wiccan witch, a cosmic witch would be a close second for me personally.
The next type of witch is the Elemental witch, which is a bit more complicated than the simple name suggests. The way the author explained elemental relationships and how the elemental witch might access these made me think of the nature transformations in Naruto and how everyone’s power is linked to an element but they can master more with practice. I really enjoyed looking into some of the practices like water scrying and lucid dreaming and I might try both of them at some point in the future.
The next type of witch is the Sea witch, not the Disney kind though. Reading through this chapter I could see the slight differences between an Elemental witch and a Sea witch but to me personally, a Sea witch seemed like a highly specialised Elemental witch that focused on one element more than the others but still needed to incorporate the other elements to achieve balance and to not be imbalanced themselves. I did like the rituals and mediation guides that appear at the end of every chapter but anything involving water or fire I find really relaxing.
The next type of witch is the Eclectic witch, which as the name suggest is a path of witchcraft that has more freedom and takes elements from other paths of witchcraft in order to form a new one, often unique to the witch creating it. There isn’t much on this type of witch as it is very individualised but the author does touch on some less popular branches of witchcrafts along with some tips and advice right at the end of the book. Overall, I really enjoyed path of the witch and there are two branches I will be delving further into and those are cosmic witchcraft and Wiccan witchcraft in my spare time but I don’t see myself becoming a witch in the near future.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
I received this review copy from Edelweiss
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