Hey, bookworms! I’m back with another book review. This time it is the book Witch: Unleashed, Untamed, Unapologetic by Lisa Lister. This isn’t the only book by Lisa that I own, I also have her book Code Red which I’m still reading and planning to write a review on, so I have a bit of an idea what her writing style is like.
WITCH is a book about, you guessed it, Witchcraft. Not the type you see in movies, but the actual real spiritual lifestyle which I’ve been living myself for half my life at this point. If you want to read more about that I suggest you read my blog about The Witches Path.
Lisa Lister
I wanna start with a bit on the author herself because I feel it’s really important to understand why she wrote it the way she did. Lisa is what I call a passionate feminist and not in a necessarily bad way. Her focus is largely on female support and accepting and embracing the femininity. You can see this theme in her social media, but also her books like Code Red, which is about the spiritual side of menstruation, and Love Your Lady Landscape, which I haven’t read but seems to be about embracing femininity.
I personally find her very brave to write about these things the way she does. In this day and age where we are experiencing and breaking a lot of social taboos. I think Lisa is doing great on her part on breaking some of those concerning the female body. Talking about things that are not often talked about in simple, sassy and honest ways. I’m aware not everyone likes the way she does it and that’s totally okay. I just happen to be one of the people that feels a lot of respect for what she does.
First thoughts
Like I said I think this is important to know when reading this book. It definitely is a more feministic approach to witchcraft, and if you are Transgender or Male you might not feel like this book is for you. At the start of the book, she does mention why it is such a female focus because that’s the work she does. She mentions that she doesn’t mean to exclude anyone from the craft, but she simply couldn’t write it all-inclusive cuz that’s not the focus of her message. I’m not saying you can’t read or like the book if you are not a cis woman, but it definitely is something to take note of.
At first, that put me off, I personally try to be as inclusive as I can be with what I share, to embrace both the feminine and masculine within myself and others because I do believe we are both regardless of our biological gender. But understanding why she wrote this the way she did help me look past that feminist feeling. I’m all for helping women embrace their femininity however they can, so in that regards, I’m all in. It just isn’t a book for everyone, which may not necessarily be a bad thing, but it should be mentioned.
A Little on Design
I’ll quickly mention some on the design. First off, I got the boring version of the book. As it turns out, there’s a print version with moon phases on black sides of the book which looks super cool. Not gonna lie, I wish I had that version, mine is a boring plain white. However, from what I understand, both feature a silver printed title on the front and spine which looks really fancy.
As you can see in the image above, mine has shows some signs of wear. It’s an A5 sized paperback which to me is the ideal size. It’s not too thick or thin, just right with 275 pages. There are even 2 pages in the back for taking notes which I didn’t see till I finished it. The pages are simple yet fitting and read well. The start of chapters are marked with a black page and ended with a very nice quote.
About the Content
So what you’re most probably are here for is what does this book cover and is it any good. So I feel half this book goes on about Lisa’s story, how she sees femininity in the craft, how the patriarchy has hurt our feminine spiritual ways in the past but also today… It’s a lot of helping you understand why she’s writing it, why it matters and what it means to her and can mean to you. I like that she’s sharing personal stories within the book as well. How she lost touch with herself and found it back by claiming her roots, her power. When she talks about the patriarchy she’s not bashing men or Christianity or any of that, but the things that fear equality in rights and power and in the end basically screwed everyone over.
Apart from the frequent inspirational quotes, which I absolutely love, she also shares a few spells, rituals and recipes. A few at the start more personal to her own path. The second half of the book touches more on the basics of the craft. Working with a solar cycle (wheel of the year) which also mentions ways to celebrate each Sabbat, the lunar cycle and how it ties into your menstrual cycle, and some more basic tool, altar, book and spell casting and creating tips. It’s pretty basic, but what I like about is that she gives a basis to start with, to help you look into it further, but also the fact that you DON’T NEED anything but yourself in the end. She can’t tell you what you NEED, only you can, and that’s something I don’t often see in books to be entirely honest.
After the basic craft things she goes into more focused sections called Oracle, Healer, Sorceress and ends with the Witch has Woken. In these sections, she goes over things like divination, self-healing, herbs and self manifesting. At the end of the book, there are a few books and other things that may be interesting to look into.
Conclusion
Was this my favourite book on witchcraft? No. I didn’t feel like the craft was that much of a focus for this book, but more the feminine power and how claiming the witch within can strengthen our feminine selves. I felt it was very female-focused which as stated before isn’t necessarily a bad thing but does narrow down the audience for this book.
Do I recommend this book? Hell yes. Especially to my female readers but I also encourage my trans or male readers to give it a chance. Maybe borrow it from someone and just try read through it openminded. It gives certain insights into the female perspective and how certain things in history haven’t just damaged the women among us but essentially EVERYONE, just in different ways.
If you’re looking for a female-specific approach on the craft, this is likely one that should be on your reading list.
Besides that, it’s very basic and should be a good starting point for if you want to start in the craft but I definitely encourage you to read a lot more than just this book. This is a perfect introduction, especially for my feminist friends, but for someone looking for in-depth information, this may not be what you’re looking for.
Path of Ashes 