I didnāt bother looking at the dimensions when I bought it, so I was surprised to see that itās actually textbook size. Thatās pretty neat.
Itās a lovely book from what I can see. Iāve only read some of the parts on projection so far and I like how well itās explained.
The only thing that I feel compelled to add so far is that there seem to be a lot of people who think they donāt have their own culture. But I would argue that they do. Maybe itās just that itās so normal where they are that they donāt see it as ārealā culture. Maybe because it doesnāt feel exotic or something. I donāt know; I canāt speak for them.
But there definitely are many different white American cultures across the country, even without diving into personal ancestral ones. Donāt sell yourselves short. Thereās nothing for people to feel inadequate, or whatever it may be, about. Modern culture is still culture.
Anyway, that wasnāt addressed at you in particular or anything, Megan. Just a general thing that reading about appropriation prompted me to talk about.
That part was pretty important to me because of the space needed to fill out the journal prompts I hate those little books, that have tiny spaces to fill out the prompts. Thereās never enough room Iām glad you like it!
This is something Iāve personally grappled with, honestly. Iām glad you pointed it out because I feel like I could have explained it a bit better in the book, though if one were to explore that part of their shadow they would find their own answersā¦ itās hard for me to see āWhite American Cultureā because of the history of white America and how we even came to be. Looking back, though, itās interesting to see little bits of European and Irish culture that have been passed through my family without even realizing it. Of course, I never would have known this without researching that part of my family history.
Iāve come to realize that my experience with white American culture is things like football and sports, casseroles and cakes, and so many things in between. I think itās also difficult because the US is so huge that every state has its own āmini cultureā. Thereās a saying that says something like people on the West Coast are nice but not kind, and people on the East Coast are kind but not nice. Then you have the mishmash of culture scattered in-between. Itās funny because the things other people say are āweirdā about the US are just part of our culture here yet we donāt even realize it. One thing that immediately comes to mind is our ability to smile and talk to random strangers on the street. Iāve heard that in some other countries thatās a big taboo and something that just isnāt done. Here, though? It happens all the time Anyway, Iām rambling on. Thank you for sharing your thoughts on that because itās super important for people to realize!
And Iām sure it isnāt good for the spines of the books, either. I like how you did it, even though Iāll probably never write it in it. It feels too precious toāIāll copy the questions into my journal instead.
Iām curious what that means. Does one version mean theyāre superficially nice but not truly nice, and another that theyāre truly nice but they might come off more abrasive?
This probably isnāt that normal here, but maybe itās also generational. I know of people engaging in random conversations, but I donāt personally have much or any interest in a 15-second conversation with a stranger, so itās hard for me to gauge. The last time I remember randomly talking to people outside the apartment complex was when I was carrying some board games home from the office in the city, and in the elevator, two random dudes talked to me about them until we parted ways on the street. I guess you donāt see copies of Talisman, Netrunner, and Battlestar Galactica walking around every day!
Anyway, itās great topic for a shadow work book. I canāt say Iāve read a lot of them, but itās nice that youāve included it.
That happens here. But it depends where in the UK. Up north itās super friendly, and Birmingham is great. Londons not bad once you get out the tourist areas, but Bristol is brilliant for this, we just chat, doesnāt matter what generation you are. Mind you, you canāt always figure out the āBrizolā, āthat be Gert lush that is, hark at he!ā
This is the third shadow book I have tried working with. They have all infuriated me as they are all Christian based, until now.
I love how you have made this one for people like us @MeganB ! Iām loving working through this one. Itās awesome having a shadow work book that actually talks about how it helps our witchcraft.
Amazing book! I highly recommend this book for anyone who needs or wants to do shadow work.
Yeah, thatās kind of it! Itās hard to explain but I found someone on Twitter who explained it pretty well.
Niceness is saying āIām so sorry youāre cold,ā while kindness may be āUgh, youāve said that five times, hereās a sweater!ā Kindness is addressing the need, regardless of tone. So often, we West Coasters think that showing sympathy or feeling empathy is an act of kindness. Sadly, itās really just a nice act.
Kindness is making sure the baby has a hat. When you translate this to institutions or policy, youāll see alot of nice words being used, & West Coast liberals/radicals are really good at sounding nice. But Iāve seen organizers & activists from other places get frustrated because nothing happens after ALOT of talk. Nothing happens after the pronoun check-ins and the icebreakers. Itās rare we make sure that peopleās immediate needs are addressed.
Thereās no kindness. You have people show up to meetings hungry, or needing rides home, and watching those with means freeze when asked to help. As we begin to āget back a sense of normalcyā or āre-calibrateā to what people in Blue Statesā¢ think is Rightā¢ and Justā¢, I want us to keep in mind the difference between Niceness and Kindness. If something sounds nice, doesnāt mean that its kind.
It could be generational - I never thought about that! Iām finding now (through everyone here lol) that it may be more common than I thought in other countries.
Itās good to know it happens there, too!
Iām so happy to hear that you love the book! Making it inclusive to spiritual people and witches while not excluding people was super important for me!
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much! Yes, itās definitely part information and part workbook I should probably include that in the book description! I hope you enjoy it!
Ohh, I see! Yep, the niceness thing is something my partner and I complain about to each other all the time.
Youāll probably get very different answers from people even in the same city based on how they behave, too. As I implied, Iām basically never going to start a conversation with a random person, but I will talk to someone who talks to me. My partner is a lot more likely to talk to random people. Theyāve had entire 20-minute conversations with random people on the train before. Itās wild to me, but maybe I will also become more comfortable with that the more I leave my life of social anxiety in the dust.
I read these posts out loud to my partner while we had dinner and when I got to this one, we had a lot of fun. After they asked the initial āWhat is gert lush??ā they told me about Scottish Twitter and how people type/spell how they speak. So I spent the next fifteen minutes readinā them oot loud.
Me new fave thing tae quote noo comes from either "paper straws can sook a fart oot me arse." or āobviously (a want a cupholder) ya fooking reprobate am no a fooking octopus.ā (A plan oan swapping oot they proper nouns fur whitevur am feelinā likā.)
A loue that thay seem tae drap c-bombs as often as we dae.
I laughed till my sides hurt. This alone is a reason to get Twitter . If Iām ever depressed I play this. I love northerners theyāre accent is fabulous.
Itās funny to experience because I grew up in California (on the West Coast) and now I have lived in two different places on the East Coast (Florida and Maine) ā both places on the East Coast also have their own strange little cultures, and I find the kind vs. nice thing is very apparent up here in New England versus what I experienced in Florida!
Thatās true, too Hopefully, one day I have the opportunity to travel outside the country and experience different things like this first-hand!
My partner asked me to do an Aussie bogan* accent and I couldnāt. They kept saying I was saying things too properly. But they said my Scottish accent is good. Iām a fraud! Why is the bogan accent so hard?!
* I tried Googling for an alternative term, but that seems to also be the actual name of the subculture.
Congrats and wow what an achievementā¦ It is never too late and trust me coming from an individual where i know i have what it takes but it is fear holding me back you have inspired me greatly
I hate those little books, that have tiny spaces to fill out the prompts. Thereās never enough room 
Iām glad you like it!
itās hard for me to see āWhite American Cultureā because of the history of white America and how we even came to be. Looking back, though, itās interesting to see little bits of European and Irish culture that have been passed through my family without even realizing it. Of course, I never would have known this without researching that part of my family history.
Does one version mean theyāre superficially nice but not truly nice, and another that theyāre truly nice but they might come off more abrasive?
The last time I remember randomly talking to people outside the apartment complex was when I was carrying some board games home from the office in the city, and in the elevator, two random dudes talked to me about them until we parted ways on the street. I guess you donāt see copies of Talisman, Netrunner, and Battlestar Galactica walking around every day!
Mind you, you canāt always figure out the āBrizolā, āthat be Gert lush that is, hark at he!ā 
congratulations 
Why is the bogan accent so hard?!
