šŸ“– Weekly Witchy CHALLENGE- Books, Tomes, and Tales

I decided to go back to my Bewitching the Elements by Gabriela Herstik and then I picked up The Toltec Way by Susan Gregg.

Bewitching the Elements is about all about empowering yourself using, can you guess lol? Earth: Ground it, Air: Breathe it, Fire: Burn it, Water: Feel it, Spirit: Embody it.

One thing that stands out is the various rituals for each said element. The author puts her own spin on them and itā€™s refreshing to read! (Pssst: she includes insights into Sex Magick as well.) Along with the rituals, at the end of the book which is called In Connection, she has a quiz type thing to help you discover your Elemental Makeup. It allows you to see which Element(s) are dominate and also shows you which Element(s) you are lacking in. She also adds in a worksheet to create your own ritual practice using the Elements.

And what kind of book would it be without an appendix of various correspondences?!

The Toltec Way is something I stumbled upon at B&N. Iā€™ve been feeling so out of sorts lately despite grounding myself and my energy, cleansing here and there, etcā€¦

To be honest I am only about a chapter in but it is fascinating.
ā€œThe power of the Toltec is the ability to transcend ordinary human awareness and achieve personal freedom- to stop simply reacting to the events in your life and instead make deliberate choices about your actions.ā€

I promise I will update more on this book later!

I hope everyone gets inspired by these two reads! I highly recommend Bewitching the Elements.

7 Likes

@christina4, Iā€™d love to check them out! I love vampire novels too. Ann Rice is one of my favorite writers. Her vampires to me are the legit ones . When I watch other vampires in moviesā€¦In my head I go thatā€™s not a real vampire! Lol

4 Likes

Sounds very interesting! I feel the same , been out of balance last week or so! And not sure why!? Almost like feeling drainedā€¦

6 Likes

I believe Mars is retrograde and Mercury is about to be as well. Turning everything topsy turvy!

7 Likes

Right? Iā€™ve been feeling weird too! :confused:

3 Likes

@walter @janelle yes guys :blush: Mercurys last retrograde of the year coming upā€¦

October 13 to November 3 : The pre-retrograde shadow begins September 23, post-retrograde shadow ends November 19

ā€¦ The more sensitive among us will be picking up vibes from the pre shadow period.

Also have Mars, Neptune and Pluto still retrograde with Saturn turning direct tomorrow :ringer_planet: :grin:

5 Likes

Iā€™m so glad you are loving your book, Tamera! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: Thatā€™s just the best feeling- although it actually gets hard as you approach the end, because you want to keep reading but donā€™t want to finish the book! :joy:

Ohhhhh such a pretty cover! Thanks for sharing, @Susurrus :blush: Did you have some time over the weekend to read a bit more? Hope you are loving it! :open_book:

This looks like such a great book, @SilverBear! :heart_eyes: I love the strawberry design on the cover too :strawberry:. Good luck with the spell- treat yourself to some luxurious self-care! Enjoy :two_hearts:

Ohhhh moon magick! :sparkles: Sounds like a great audiobook, Marissa! Will you be using any of the information in the book to celebrate the upcoming Full Moon? :full_moon::two_hearts:

The Crystal Bible really looks like a great resource! It has information on so many stones :gem::star_struck:

You are very welcome, Dee! It sounds like the books gave you a lot of inspiration and encouragement for your practice- Iā€™m so happy you enjoyed reading them! :open_book::blush: Thank you for sharing the insight from the books, they really sound lovely. Do you have another book in line that youā€™d like to read next? :grin:

Congrats on finishing your class, Jill! :partying_face: Wow, it sounds like the class covered so many great topics. I hope you enjoyed them! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

Thereā€™s something special about hard covers- I only have a few, but they are usually my most favorite books that were worth splurging on the fancy covers! :grin: The Dark Hunter series sound really interesting and are clearly very inspirational for you, Christina! :two_hearts: Thanks for sharing your recomendation and favorite book series. Enjoy reading the fourth book! :books:

That sounds really fun- and very unique! :star_struck: Both books sound like they are full of useful information and worth a read- Iā€™m looking forward to your updates about The Toltec Way! Thanks for sharing, Janelle- happy reading! :books:

@Abs53 to the rescue with amazing astrology insights! :milky_way::blush: Looks like more sensitive folks will be feeling it for quite a while if the post-retrograde shadow is all the way in mid-November, wow! :astonished:

8 Likes

Thank you so much for the information, it is great to find so much, in one place.

I have been trying to go to the library when they are open, and I print out a lot of great information from here.

I am having a very hard time, choosing one thing to focus on!

Thank you again

7 Likes

You are very welcome, @jackielynn! :heart: I know there is a lot of information and it can be overwhelming. My advice is to take it just one thing at a time if you can- choose just one article/book/course on one topic and see it through. When itā€™s finished, then you can pursue the next topic of interest! It can be tricky to stick to it when there are many distractions, so be kind and forgiving to yourself if other things take your attention away. You can always pick it back up later and continue where you left off :+1:

Good luck and happy learning :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

4 Likes

I took a really long time to choose a book for this challenge! :joy: I ended up going on quite a hunt through the internet looking for possible choices. ā€¦ and was able to find a lot of totally free digital books on Green and Kitchen Witchery! :green_heart::woman_cook:

For anyone interested, the list of free books can be found here in Recommendations:

I talk more about it over in that post, but I ended up reading a short but sweet ebook on herbal remedies to prepare for the upcoming flu season :sneezing_face: I think I will try to make a batch of Fire Cider :fire::wine_glass: for the first time this year!

In addition to the herbal remedies book, Iā€™m also reading the fantasy romance novel Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon. For anyone who loves amazing characters, crazy twists, feminism, creative magic, dragons, and an all-around really well-written story- I highly recommend it! :tangerine::blue_book:

8 Likes

I loved this book. I love his writings too. I have a couple of his books actually. Once I started working with Brigid I started the book on Celtic Gods and Goddesses. I think you will enjoy reading that book too! Itā€™s a very easy read.

7 Likes

I have a few sitting in PDF form including some that @BryWisteria suggested that I will get around to reading. Also have drawing down the moon and one other on audible.

5 Likes

They both have been added to my list of books to get! They both seem really good :slight_smile:

4 Likes

Ann Rice is a great author, too! And thatā€™s funnyā€¦thatā€™s not a real vampire! :joy:

5 Likes

Hi
My name is Julie and Iā€™m a bookaholic :sweat_smile:
I buy lots of books. I donā€™t always get time to read but I do flick through and find the interesting parts and of course earmarks pageā€™s.
All my books have post it note sticking out of them for quick reference so I can go back to.
I am also on Kindle and Audible. I mainly use Audible under subscription that way I can download titles each month and listen to them while I drive. I find this the easiest way to read a book.
One of my favorites was ā€œWitchcraft Into the Wildā€ by Rachel Patterson. It has inspired me to create ā€œan enchanted forestā€ in my yard.
I live on acreage. I saw this as a huge extension to my herb garden for my apocathary by being able to incorporate trees and shrubs, obviously a very long term project.
Another book Iā€™m currently reading at the moment is ā€œThe Lost book of Herbal Remedies, the healing power of plant medicineā€ by Nicole Apelian Ph.D & Claude Davis. This book is fantastic because I get to use for herbs out of my garden in my apocathary. Ps I am only just learning by the way.
Thank you for the opportunity to share. :pray:

7 Likes

Hiya Julie!
Thank you so much for sharing!
I think I speak on behalf of the entire Spells8 population when I say:
PLEEEEEEEASE can we see the ā€˜enchanted forestā€™ youā€™re creating?! :heart_eyes:

5 Likes

I will send a pic in 10 yearsā€™ time when Iā€™ve created it at the moment it is only a few trees my first tree was a eucalyptus and an ash but I will send a picture of the area Iā€™m putting it in thank you

5 Likes

Haha I got a bit over-excited! This sounds like such a great project :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:

4 Likes

@julie8, thatā€™s great! Thatā€™s my dream some day! Have my own acreage and grow all sorts of herbs for food and medicinal purposes. BTW, and enchanted forest sounds amazing!! What a great project of love.

6 Likes

So many great book recommendations!! Iā€™ve been adding them to my wishlist! And I made my own review in this new topic: The Spiral Dance by Starhawk

Welcome, @julie8!! :wave: Thanks for the book recommendations! Iā€™m also adding my name to the 10-year wait list to visit the enchanted garden!! :rofl:

@Missa Iā€™m so glad my review inspired you to start reading Drawing Down the Moon! I loved how much information it has!

8 Likes