Witchcraft on a Shoestring: Practicing the Craft Without Breaking Your Budget [Paperback]

Deborah Blake (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 8, 2010

Practicing Witchcraft doesn't have to cost an arm, a leg, and a broomstick!

From homemade tools to frugal feasts to thrifty home decoration, Deborah Blake offers economical tips and suggestions for stretching your dollar while enriching your practice. She gives clear, simple instructions for making your own magickal oils, runes, tarot cards, candles, jewelry, charms, and wands, all using inexpensive materials. Choose from over fifty ways to practice Witchcraft that cost little or no money, and try more than forty recipes for tasty sabbat dishes that cost ten dollars or less.

With a sprinkling of imagination and a touch of magick, you can add to your inner wealth of spirituality. After all, the best parts of being a Witch are always free. 

 

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Deborah Blake is the author of Circle, Coven and Grove: A Year of Magickal Practice (Llewellyn 2007), Everyday Witch A to Z: An Amusing, Inspiring & Informative Guide to the Wonderful World of Witchcraft (Llewellyn 2008), The Goddess is in the Details: Wisdom for the Everyday Witch (Llewellyn 2009), Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook (2010) and Witchcraft on a Shoestring (2010). She has published numerous articles in Pagan publications, including Llewellyn annuals and has an ongoing column in Witches & Pagans Magazine.

Her award-winning short story, "Dead and (Mostly) Gone" is included in the Pagan Anthology of Short Fiction: 13 Prize Winning Tales (Llewellyn, 2008). Deborah had been interviewed on television, radio and podcast, and can be found online at Facebook, Twitter and www.myspace.com/deborahblakehps.

When not writing, Deborah runs The Artisans' Guild, a cooperative shop she founded with a friend in 1999, and also works as a jewelry maker. She lives in a 100 year old farmhouse in rural upstate New York with five cats who supervise all her activities, both magickal and mundane.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (September 8, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0738721360
• ISBN-13: 978-0738721361
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #368,545 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a writer living in beautiful Upstate New York. Llewellyn Worldwide has published five of my books on the topic of modern Witchcraft and I am currently working on a number of novels.
I also manage an artists' cooperative shop a friend and I started in 1999, make jewelry and do a few other esoteric things on the side.
When I am not writing, I love to read (Jennifer Crusie, Katie Fforde, Tamora Pierce and Candace Havens are among my favorite fiction writers, and I read a lot of non-fiction about Witchcraft, spirituality, gardening and cooking).
I love to hear from people who read my books.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brainstorming ideas to improve your craft, September 18, 2010

By 

HedgeWaerlog - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Witchcraft on a Shoestring: Practicing the Craft Without Breaking Your Budget (Paperback)

When i saw this book i knew had to get one...

Honestly all these years i never thought practice Witchcraft was that expensive, maybe because i used one of the book's concepts - quoting: "making the most of what we have " for instance i never had to buy any tool. i just found them on my grandma's house. No she was not a Witch but happened to have some witchy stuff, lucky me i guess...
Deborah goes to the core of witchcraft on chapter One and explores three essential tools where you dont have to expend a single penny.
My Favourite part of the book was chapter five - 35 crafty projects to augment your witchery. and for me this is what is really important if you are going to call yourself a Witch.. Know how to practice your craft !

There's also a delicious part of the book you dont want to miss - 45 feast dishes and deborah's corn casserole is totally approved for this years Mabon.. lucky me again !
On chapter seven you'll find 50 gems on how to expand your pagan practice.
If you know Deborah from previous books you already know her humor and in this time of economic constraints, a good laugh will be the best medicine
So.. only five stars ? when the Book totally deserves Six stars!!!
Well...
I'm using the last tip to practice witchcraft for little or no money - Wish Upon a Star.
So i kept a star to myself and right now i'm wishing that Deborah keeps writing books for many years.

p.s. - Sorry my exotic english.
p.s2 - i miss Magic the Cat
p.s.3 - i wish there was a hardcover edition!
p.s4- i know you wrote two this year but when is the release date for a new Book ?
p.s5 - Big hug from Portugal

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poor Skills Mixed With Awesome, February 7, 2011

By 

Aletta - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Witchcraft on a Shoestring: Practicing the Craft Without Breaking Your Budget (Kindle Edition)

A lot of this (but definitely not all) seems to be common sense and poor skills, but it's definitely a good thing to have all of those linked with witchcraft and put into a book (not everyone has poor skills or even common sense, especially in the Pagan community). The book comes stocked with everything: from links to websites, to DIY instructions to inexpensive meal recipes that I wouldn't have been able to find on my own. None of the projects or recipes in the text seem unnecessarily complicated or difficult, either, which is more than most can rightly ask for.

I especially commend the author for her honesty mixed with the conversational tone she wrote the book in. It's a very refreshing book, especially compared to the amount of commercialism that other books preach in the effort to sell products. (As a general rule, I don't trust any book that emphasizes objects/tools and where to buy them more than it emphasizes the possibility of someone making their own tools or even forgoing tools altogether. This book emphasizes personal power and knowledge over tools and objects.) In a society that emphasizes the "necessity" to spend money, this is a very good book for any cash-strapped (and otherwise) Pagan/magician/witch/shaman/Wiccan/etc. to have.

I can't wait to try out the DIY projects and the recipes.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's okay to be cheap, December 13, 2010

By 

Tabby Sweet "Schweetie" (Pennsylvania) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Witchcraft on a Shoestring: Practicing the Craft Without Breaking Your Budget (Paperback)

Deborah Blake is one of my favorite Witchy authors. Everything she writes is done with a light hearted sense of humor that makes reading enjoyable and relatable.
Witchraft on a Shoestring is not only enjoyable, but practical as well. For many, a lot of the everyday items the ideal Witch may own, may not always be what the common Witch has avaliable. And some items can be pricey. Deborah Blake gives useful tips on how to make your own supplies cheap, or to find them for free! However, she also reminds us, that you don't have to be a well stocked Witch to practice your craft.
This book is a definit must have for any Witches' library.