Hello, pornies. I hope you are doing well! Today I don’t come with good news about books, because not every reading you get will be good, which is okay, but doesn’t make the experience any less bitter. This time, I’m speaking about Outside the Charmed Circle: Exploring Gender & Sexuality in Magical Practice, by Misha Magdalene. Thanks to the publisher for sending this copy!
- Print Length: 288 pages
- Publisher: Llewellyn Publications (January 8, 2020)
- Publication Date: January 8, 2020
- ISBN-10: 073876132X
- ISBN-13: 978-0738761329
I doubted if I should review this book at all, to be honest, because it was the total opposite of what I expected it to be. The synopsis promised me a new approach to witchcraft outside the gendered protocols, methods and understanding that have left many witches out. It seemed so amazing that I asked for a copy right away and started as soon as I got it.
However, what I found was something different. Outside the Charmed Circle is mostly a theory book about the meaning and history of terms related to gender and sexuality, and how they could and should be applied in witchcraft. There’s little to no practice in it, and I found the style odd and heavy, since it mixed academic tone with whimsical explanations.
I really wanted to like this book because there are some ideas I liked. Misha Magdalene came to a couple of interesting conclusions, but I found it exhausting to go through all the descriptions, as if everything was vitally important. Hint: No, it wasn’t. The fact that there are almost no practices and exercises made it even harder to finish this book. I ended skipping whole sections at the end, just to be done with it.
If you’re interested in a detailed examination of theories and histories behind genre and sexual terms, perception, conception, and maybe some of the popular slangs that we hear, mostly in the LGBT+ collective, Outside the Charmed Circle: Exploring Gender & Sexuality in Magical Practice, by Misha Magdalene, is your kind of book. It just didn’t work for me.
About Misha Magdalene:
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| Photo by Isabel Dresler |
Misha Magdalene (they/them) is a multidisciplinary, multi-classed, multiqueer witch. They are an initiate of three lineages of traditional witchcraft: Anderson Feri, Gardnerian Wicca, and Central Valley Wicca. They hold a degree in gender, women, and sexuality studies from the University of Washington. Misha is the recipient of the Leslie Ashbaught Feminist Praxis in Education Award. They live near Seattle, Washington.
Have you read this book? Would you recommend it or not? Let me know in the comments! Kinky regards, K!
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