Of Witchcraft and Whimsy: A Beginner's Guide to Basic Witchcraft

The information here was really helpful and I like how it was laid out for easy scanning. I could probably find myself referring to this every so often when I have a quick question, or if I want to explain something to a friend interested in witchcraft. At the same time, I'm hesitant to show other people. Why?There are glaring copyedit errors on *nearly* every page. Aside from being distracting, these issues deserve a second (and third) look because it shouldn't go to print in this state. Call my complaint petty if you want, but that alone keeps me from wanting to share what is potentially good information with other people.

Witchcraft and Whimsy is a fantastic witchcraft 101 book. It gives a great introduction to many of the foundational basics of the practice, defines many terms not always covered in similar texts, and addresses many common misconceptions found in the more easily accessible publications out there. I will absolutely be recommending this book to many looking for a basic introduction of witchcraft along with my usual suggestions. Not only was the information sound, but the author repeatedly used inclusive language to shut down many discrimitory arguments found within the community while also reminding the reader to be respectful of closed traditions and of their local laws.There were a handful of times I felt the author could`ve taken more time to go more in depth on certain topics. I think these same topics could have been better supported with sources or a "further reading list" to present why some of the misinformation often addressed and argued over within the community is incorrect. I also feel that a disclaimer should have been included at the beginning of this book outlining that when reading any occult book, including this one, the reader should always be critical and discerning.Finally a note on being self-published and in e-book format. This book did not escape the basic self-publishing grammatical errors. There were several incorrect words such as "or" instead of "of", missed capitilizations for new sentences, and a few sentences that need some editing to clarify the meaning and/or create better flow. I'm also very unsure how I feel about the use of links. If the reader is reading while connected to the internet this makes a much more interactive and informative experience, but an Internet connection is required and if the author changers their Tumblr URL or deletes their blog the book suddenly finds itself lacking where it depending on links to detail a topic.

Now I am at the age of 29 going on 30 and have been practicing witchcraft since the age 14 self initiated witch and I would love to say this book is a great for me it taught me a few new things and at the same time confirmed others. This book is fabulous straight to the point and give you a few humorous moments but it's excellent

I'm not a beginner, but it was so affordable, I had to give it a try. It is refreshing to read a book on the craft that reassures beginners what they DON'T have to be [insert witch aesthetic expectation here] to be a 'true' witch. Being a witch of color, it was also very endearing to see a book that condemns cultural appropriation right from the start. This is something that I do not see often. The definitions are concise and this book is an overall great addition to anyone's Craft library.

Having been my first book about Witchcraft, I'm not sure what I expected, except that I expected... More. Even though it was for beginners, there was a lot of stuff that wasn't explained. It would talk about 'moon water' and not explain what that was, suggest that one 'charge' things but not say how to charge - the word 'charge' itself was even explained, saying there are many methods of charging, but not one single method was mentioned... I guess there were terms that were obvious for the author, who didn't realise that if you really don't know anything, it's not so easy.Otherwise, I did really like the content. It was interesting and I now have many more ideas for my Dungeons and Dragons game and how to roleplay. I really liked all the correspondences, that was very helpful, and the general basic ideas for spells and potions. I, personally, could have used a lot more explanation and step-by-step advice for all of it, though.Lastly, the thing that really threw me off was the general editing. Some words repeated themselves, there were typos, there were formatting errors... I guessed quickly that it was a self-published book, and good for the author, that's incredible! But still, just reading a print-out yourself, or even easier, a run through a grammar and spell-checker would have cleared the biggest problems up. For some readers it might be okay, but I'm a grammar geek and it kinda threw me.This book definitely has aspects I'll show to friends, but I'm not sure I'd recommend that they buy this book as it is now.

good for beginners. Some spelling errors and a bit of repetitiveness but I think that was the author just trying to make sure she didn't miss anything. Kinda glad that wicca doesn't seem to be the main focus here. That's usually what drives me away from a lot of books

I'm giving two stars for the author being motivated enough to write a book, but the execution is all over the place. It lacks consistency both in the writing style as well as the delivery of information. I wanted to stop reading when I got to the part about denying true herbalism and the craft of tarot which was shortly and hypocritically followed by an explanation of rain divination. How is it logical to deny herbalism (which is a combination of chemistry, biology and botany....none of which is diluted for the sake of herbalism) and cartomancy, but then promote open-interpretation of raindrop divination?? I just don't understand.All of this is not to say that this book doesn't include good information, it's just that it would only be a blog post's length if extracted.

I think this book is a good introduction to witchcraft and unlike many others, it is inclusive of LGBT+ people (many other witchy books can be alienating since they use so much gendered language) and warns against cultural appropriation. It's a great book for modern witches as it doesn't promote one path over another and emphasises the huge amount of room for creativity and autonomy in your practice.I was surprised at some of the things missing such as a basic overview of moon phases, sabbats and divination methods. However, I really enjoy the Seasonal Magic section of the book.The Spells section could be a little more organised but generally the spells included are quite easy to perform. However, there are a couple that I wouldn't consider suitable for beginners. Most of the spells ask you to gather different materials and some of these could be quite difficult to get hold of (especially out of season) such as strawberry leaves, holly, and a rose burnt to ash.The cover looks quite pixellated and low-quality, and I have noticed a few typos and punctuation errors, as well as some inconsistent formatting. But for the price I do think this book is good quality, and a nice way to support someone who puts lots of free resources online.

Plenty of information for a beginner.

Fun book

This book is incredibly basic and really just includes a bunch of lists. I didn't find it useful.

This book is lovely, very sweet and very useful.