Notions And Potions: A Safe, Practical Guide To Creating Magic & Miracles (Paperback)

by Susan Bowes (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
This is one of those books that guests always pick up and "wow" over. Notions and Potions is an attractive collection of tidbits on all sorts of magic and witchcraft throughout history. The text is enhanced by a series of lavish, captivating illustrations. This is a wonderful gift book for anyone curious about the occult or who has a love of art.

Product Description

Magic can bring you love, health, protection for yourself and others, and even financial security, as long as your intentions are pure. Cast spells and conduct rituals with candles, incense, the grimoire, the besom, the athame (magical knife), and the all-important wand, and enhance your work with the magical and healing properties of herbs, trees, crystals, colors, numbers, and astrology. These secret recipes will steer your life in a positive direction-turn the dream of controlling your world into a reality. 112 pages (all in color), 7 1/2 x 8 1/2.

Product Details

• Paperback: 112 pages
• Publisher: Sterling (June 30, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0806996021
• ISBN-13: 978-0806996028
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 7.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,538,006 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fun and interesting book, November 5, 1999

By A Customer

I liked this book because it's easy for the novice witch to understand. It doesn't go in depth and has a little bit of information and history of a lot of things. It answers alot of questions that a novice witch like myself is asking and it is not intimidating, in fact, Ms. bowes makes you feel welcome to try spell casting etc.. It is also entertaining and fun to read even if you aren't searching to learn more about witch craft.

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok, but I've got better books in this genre., March 22, 2000

By	StephaMe (Northern CA) - See all my reviews

This book is ok, has a little bit of everything in a very eye-pleasing format, the tables and talisman info were good as were some other tidbits.

However, overall my beef with this book was that it has what seems like Christian morals and beliefs peeking through, and in a book about Witchcraft it just struck me very odd, and I have *many* books in this genre that are not this way. For example, in one part where Ms. Bowles talks about black magic(k) since it is often associated with Witchcraft, she states something to the effect of (and using these words) "those who practice the black arts will find their souls in a very dark place indeed" which just sounded an awful lot like what my dad preaches. There are other things too, like she talks about doing a 10 percent tithing each month, this is not to a church or anything but more for yourself or for charity which is great, but the terminology turned me off with the use of "tithing." In my experience this is a fundamentalist religious practice and not a Pagan one, but hey, to each their own I guess. This book is very positive and extols only sweetness and light, which is fine for some but was just a little too saccharine for my tastes (the love spells part was a bit much also), but for someone new to Wicca (and although it is not stated it explicitly, this is definately a Wiccan book, not Witchcraft in the more traditional sense for lack of a better explanation) it's not a bad introduction and is very non-threatening. I know there are other more well-rounded and more traditional Witchcraft books out there that don't carry over Christian concepts or terminology. (The author states in the end she studied Catholicism among other things in her spiritual path, this could be why.)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is a stunningly beautiful little book!, December 23, 2001

By	Rue of Rue's Kitchen - See all my reviews

Having studied dozens of books on the this and related subjects, I find this to be the ultimate witchcraft 'coffee table book'. The artwork is beautiful and the text reads smoothly and poetically. It is a pretty little book that can be read over and over. It contains a good dose of art and a smattering of politics, sociology, anthropology, history, religion and magic. It is not a 'how to become a witch in 13 easy steps' manual like lots of the drivel in print lately. It is a book that pays homage to those of us who already are and welcomes those who wish to become.

My only criticism is that I bought it at a pagan bookstore when it was first released and paid nearly (...)Canadian for it. However of the dozens of books I've bought, read then sold, this is one of the few I've kept.

The binding, cover, and pages are all extremely durable.