Book Review: Folk Witchcraft by Roger J. Horne
The Book: Folk Witchcraft: A Guide to Lore, Land, and the Familiar Spirit for the Solitary Practitioner by Roger J. Horne
Source: I purchased this book because it looked great!
My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ (see my review on Goodreads)
I picked up this book in mid-2020, back when I was eager to dive deeper into witchcraft folklore and wanted to ramp up my practice in earnest. I remember reading this book around the same time that I read another witchy book, and noticing the stark difference between them. While the other book felt very academic and detached (as if you were reading about witches like we're an object for study), Folk Witchcraft felt like I was sitting around a campfire in the woods with my coven, sharing secrets. In fact, this book begins with that very idea, and the intention truly carries through every page. I loved how intimate this book felt, how the author was sharing so many pieces of their own personal history, practice, and creation with the reader. This book taught me some methods for making unguents that I have since used and recorded in my own personal grimoire. There is a lot of verbal spellwork in this book that isn't really my style, but I really appreciate the vulnerability in sharing these within the pages. I also enjoyed that the practices laid out in this book are very in tune with the author's local surroundings, and they encourage you to connect with your local habitats to do the same.