#basic witches

By Alicia Furness

Basic Witches is a game of teen femmes casting spells with pumpkin spice lattes and making sigils with liquid lipstick to hex high school sexual predators and ace exams.

Just to get it out of the way, no, this book is not really on actual witchcraft or magick. However, I did enjoy reading it and some of its advice. If you want to read this, I'd recommend borrowing it from a friend or library rather than a full-on purchase. I checked out an ebook of it from my local library!

Basic Witches covers the concept of witchcraft from an agnostic and vague psychological perspective—in a perspective of self-care without needing religious belief in what practices are being performed. This book is moreso a self-help book rather than focused on actual religious or spiritual witchcraft. However, although it is not the point, I believe it gives a perspective onto how an atheist might practice witchcraft. It also effectively communicates the self-care involved in witchcraft, if you choose to use it more genuinely. This book does not cover genuine Wiccan or other religious beliefs associated with witchcraft.

Basic Witches is good for very early 'baby witches' and introducing them to the concepts of how witchcraft can be used as well as wonderful uses of modern magic such as clothing, makeup, and more. However, it really does focus more on the self-care, feminist, and "badass" ways to use witchcraft.

One of the major flaws with this book is that it acknowledges witches that aren't female or may be queer in terms of their gender experience but doesn't seem to consistently do this, making it seem not very serious.

There are many critiques on it by witches and those who use magick with a k, however I do find it a great introduction at least to new ideas or ways you might want to practice. I would not take this book with any spiritual intent behind its words. This book is comes across as a teen or young adult self-help book, which I enjoyed.

I would reccomend this book to anyone interested in grasping some uses for witchcraft as well as for easy incorporation of things that might be magick-adjacent for daily life. The introductions in the first few pages making it clear that the author and their friends are not Wiccan, pagan, nor a magick practicing witch.

This book is not for those who do not believe witchcraft can be a broad spectrum. The title is very descriptive yet deceptive—it is about basic witches and forms of witchcraft yet does not cover what many view as legitimate witchcraft.

TLDR; This book does introduce some things about how you might use witchcraft, especially modern ways. However, it is mostly a self-help/self-care book and isn't about actual witchcraft/magick. You will not learn about magick, secular or not secular in it. The art in it is totally charming, though!

I wouldn't call all of the spells in it actual spells, however I think they are totally easy ways for baby witches to do their first magickal steps if they're scared or unsure.

I just finished this book.