Customer Reviews

The Way Of The Green Witch: Rituals, Spells, And Practices to Bring You Back to Nature

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I'm writing this review for two reasons. The first is to add my advice to skip this book. If you are new to Green Witchery there are other books far better and if you aren't new to it this book will be a waste of your time at best and piss you off at worst. My second reason is to make sure those not familiar with her other books don't miss out on her truly wonderful books because of this unfortunate misstep. I can't recommend Power Spellcraft and Solitary Wicca enough. Power Spellcraft is a wonderful book on pure Spellcraft(not High Magick) sans religion. Solitary Wicca is clear, concise and encourages the reader to think about why you are doing something instead of just learning how to do it. If you are in the market for a Wicca 201 book or a book on spellcraft seperate from religion, please read the reviews for the aforementioned books for more info. The glowing reviews are well earned.

I didn't think this book was as horrible as the previous reviewer thought it was. But I do agree, there are much better books on the market that cover the topic of green witchcraft.

The book does contain some incorrect information. The author seems a bit confused regarding what a real essential oil is and she recommends using vanilla flowers to make an infused sugar - I think she means vanilla beans. And she says that regular marigolds are not edible, not entirely true, the flowers of gem series marigolds, Latin name Tagetes tenuifolia, which are sold under the name lemon gem are edible. And I've been growing Mexican mint marigold AKA winter taragon, Latin name Tagetes lucida, in my gardens for years, again this is another marigold with edible flowers.

If you receive this book as a gift I wouldn't throw it away. But I wouldn't recommend going out and buying a copy. If you are still curious about the book I would see if your local library has a copy that you can borrow.

The worst 'Green Witch' book I've encountered. As a huge fan of incense I was shocked to read what this unenlightened author had to say on that particular topic. She routinely suggests using inferior products and poor techniques. She obvously did her research (assuming she did any at all) using New Age books from the 1980s or earlier. Back then selflighting charcoal, saltpetre, and frangrance oils were all acceptable for majick. To see an author in the 21st century recomend using this kind of garbage in a book about Green Witches is shocking. Hasn't she read the current research about saltpetre and frangrance oils? Who would tell a Green Witch to use some junk made in a labratory rather than using natural materials which is the focus of Green Witchcraft. Some of the information was stupid. Grind up stones and add to your incense? Some minerals can be added to incense but why-oh-why would you tell someone you can add 'stone' to incense. She gives no reason for this but throws the information out there as a recomendation. In this book she also continues to spread the old 'wisdom' of how hard simple things are to do. Its hard to extract oils at home so dont waste your time. Burn incense on cheap, offensive charcoal that will drive the spirits out of your circle and insult them. What about her 'stone lore' section? It was a few pages of the names of some stones and her idea of their majick use but there was no lore anywhere. Where was the historic references? Where was the classic use of these stones? The section continues to get worse as she repeated the same old bad information from other poorly written books. Cleanse stones in moving water is a good idea for some minerals but that will damage or destroy some crystals. No warning about that, just a generic and incorrect instruction. The herb information is just as bad. She talked very quickly grinding herbs. She said that 'some people' (never says who) thinks that using metal containers for herbs will majickly taint them. As if that isnt bad enough to make such a giant generalization she never mentions that metal can checmically react with some herb and oils and actually change them. My review is to leave this book behind. Dont buy, dont sell it. If you must read it you can borrow my copy until I decide to throw it away or sell it at a tag sale for $.25. Its a total waste of time written by someone who knows next to nothing about the topics she claims to be expert in. There are many GOOD Green Witch books out there. This writer clearer is trying to jump on the bandwagon and make some quick money off the popularity of the GOOD books on this topic. I wont ever waste my money on another book with Ms. Murphy-Hiscocks name on it. If she has such a lack of ethics as to publish this worthless trash then I cant buy into anything she endorses. In light, James

the reviewer who was spitting bile can't be a green witch...if he is, he isn't in a position to judge the merits or lack thereof here...

the book is succinct...not as deep as rae beth's or s romani's...by far. but this is a great intro...

some folks new to this might not want too much detail. this seems balanced.

i like the simply, gentle approach...

not GREAT, but i don't it was designed to be such.

it's perfect for what the author intended.

and how many really good witches DON't know of a certain marigold that IS edible......??

quite a few, i am sure.

:)

I really enjoyed this book. When I first picked up this book I had no idea about Green Witches or even that there were different kinds of practices. This book opened up a wide world for me and introduced me to many different ways to do things without ever being preachy or insistant that one way was the only 'right' way. I came to understand that my path is mine to decide. I highly recommend this book to other beginners.

Although this book was not one of my top 25 books on this subject, it was delightfully written. If you are just starting out on this or a similar path, I wouldn't recommend this being the only book that you read on the subject. I wouldn't say never ever read this book, but there are plenty of in depth and enjoyable books on the shelf.

Note: Other books by this author are enjoyable. Don't avoid this author based upon one book.

An Excellent starter book for those wishing to learn the ways of the green witch. Was as listed, shipped very fast. Very pleased with the transaction.

Great book. I really felt this book was written for me. In one way this book helped give me validation on things I was already doing. I felt like the book did give permission to practice your craft any natural way you wanted. There is no you must do it this way or it is not considered a craft. That was nice. It also helped me come out of the "broom closet". The second half of the book was directed more for beginners.

Good beginning book on green witchcraft. I quite enjoyed reading it and found it to be a good overview of the craft. I was also pleased to discover that some of the exercises for getting in touch with the natural energies of the earth and seasons were things I already instinctively knew to do. Instructions for bath and kitchen crafts helped to round the book out.