Crafting a Tradition of Witchcraft

Hello hello. Are you in the mood to create a tradition of Witchcraft? I have been curious about how this gets started and formalized, and turns out one of our Pagan Elders wrote a comprehensive guide that gives you all you need to begin the process. I'm talking about Crafting a Tradition of Witchcraft: Creating Foundations for Your Spiritual Beliefs & Practices, by Raven Grimassi. Thanks to the author for the copy to review!

• Print Length: 250 pages.
• Publisher: Crossed Crow Books.
• Publication Date: October 7, 2024.
• Genres: Folklore, Mythology, Non-Fiction, Paganism.
• Rating: 5/5 stars.

Crafting a Tradition of Witchcraft will help better identify your own magical and spiritual beliefs, while showing you how to use these ideals as the building blocks for your own magical tradition. This book encourages you to reclaim your power and forge your own path to magical empowerment.

By showing you how to articulate your own beliefs as they pertain to the practical and spiritual aspects of the Craft, Raven Grimassi encourages you to break free from the constructs of preexisting or outdated magical structures. Working through this book will show you how to build your own tradition from the ground up, making you stand at the forefront of a Craft tradition that is tailored to your own personal ideologies.

Whether you are a solitary witch or a member of a new or existing coven, all practitioners will benefit from an in-depth study of their own core magical beliefs, as encouraged by the author. From exploring your beliefs on the witch’s god and goddess, the seasonal calendar, lunar and solar mysteries, as well as the practice of magic itself, each witch can rise up with a newfound sense of empowerment.

With a simple but detailed style, Raven Grimassi offers a comprehensive look into the foundations and some specifics of crafting a tradition. If not a complete book, Crafting a Tradition of Witchcraft opens the door and leads the way for those interested in understanding how the process works and/or how to start a tradition. Although there are some traditional, binary ideas, they act as examples to understand the connections between different aspects.

From cosmology to divinity and altar set up, ritual structure to roles for groups or the different aspects of a solitary practice, you learn about structure and leadership, how to ensure everything is working out, and pay attention to seemingly unimportant details. Honestly, there were aspects and roles I wasn't familiar with, but that Raven explained in such a simple way that it's easy to keep them in mind for future reference.

Now, this book doesn't mean to dismantle or change the established ones, but encourages the flourishing of those in the process of becoming. Perhaps also help the traditions that are mutating with time acquire a new shape and form. I believe that witchcraft should be useful for the time and space it is being practiced within, and so this book helps you explore the concepts that are fundamental to your practice.

All in all, a fascinating addition to any witch's library for reference and growth. Even if you are not thinking about creating a tradition, this will help you immensely to establish a personal practice, a belief system, and keep in mind those values that are your foundations. Simple yet insightful, Crafting a Tradition of Witchcraft helps you develop a critical eye when it comes to concepts and learning, something we could all benefit from.

Connect with me on Instagram and Twitter!

Remember this blog lusts after your comments and shares to grow healthy!

Memoir of a Mangled Mind

Hello, cuties. I finished reading a book recently that drove me crazy, made me gasp, rage, and smile. It's one of those readings that shows you the worst and the best of humankind in a single tome, a single story that you're so desperate to believe they are fiction. But no. Everything was painfully real in Memoir of a Mangled Mind: How Concealing My Dissociative Identity Disorder Unleashed Multiple Personalities, by Steven Simmons Shelton, MA, JD. Thanks to the author for the copy to review!

• Print Length: 388 pages.
• Publisher: SelfPublished.
• Publication Date: November 19, 2024.
• Genres: Memoir, NonFiction, Mental Health, Sexuality, Abuse.
• Rating: 4/5 stars.

When sexual predators target Steve Simmons as a child, his mind fractures into multiple personalities—alters—who give him blackouts as a protective shield.

The abuse ends when he’s fourteen, but two alters begin hijacking his consciousness to live their own lives as a thief and a gay prostitute.

Steve discovers he has multiple personalities but keeps the mental disorder a secret for fear of being institutionalized. That decision grants his doppelgangers free rein to drag him down the paths of crime and debauchery.

To maintain his freedom and reputation, Steve discards his ethical compass in order to conceal his alters’ criminal activities—even after becoming an attorney at one of the world’s premier litigation firms.

This deeply personal memoir lays bare Steve’s childhood sexual assaults and the poor judgment he exercises to hide his mental disorder caused by the trauma.

How will he navigate the road to redemption?

This is not for the faint of heart. There are so many graphic, horrible things this man went through that you have to be prepared. There are repeated rapes, pedophilia, ephebophilia, gaslighting, abuse, manipulation, suicidal thoughts, suicide ideation, attempts, and more (highlight the text if you want to know exactly what I'm talking about; I usually don't read content warnings to avoid spoilers, however.)

Steven has an impeccable style that he uses to tell a tale we don't want to believe is real because of what it would mean if it is. Humans are far from perfect, but some members of our kind make you wonder if they know the definition of being human. Steven doesn't hold back. If you think he was raw in the note at the beginning, you will agree with him in little to no time.

The best way that I can put it without it sounding morbid is that this is an amazing read about survival, perseverance, resiliency, and hope. That last one is the most fitting, in my humble opinion, because even if he wanted to give up so many times, Steven still tried to stay afloat despite what his alters did to ruin his life/their lives. It's a curious thing that they tried to "protect" him by putting him in so much danger.

My only complaint is the ending. It was abrupt, too sharp, although still effective. I wasn't expecting something that far from what happened, but something changed in the style, as if the author was in a rush to finish. However, it was still an addictive reading that shows you what it is like to have this kind of mental condition (slight spoiler censored). Awe inspiring. One of my favoirte readings of the year so far, easily.

Kinky regards, K!

Connect with me on Instagram and Twitter!

Remember this blog lusts after your comments and shares to grow healthy!