Book Review: Wild Witchcraft

Nonfiction guide by Rebecca Beyer, published 2022

240 pages

Bewitching & Enlightening

Over the last few years, I have become much more introspective and focused on better understanding who I am as a person. A large part of that journey has dealt with health as a whole - exercising, paying attention to what I choose to use as nourishment, and gaining knowledge on how the Earth can provide healing. I've always been pretty active and generally healthy, but I want to truly lean into that because, as cheesy and cliché as it sounds, my body is in fact my temple.

This past fall I started researching gardening and plan to start my own small garden in the next few weeks. I have several herbs that are absolutely thriving in my house, and I have gotten into essential oils. All of this background to say, when I stumbled across Beyer's new book, Wild Witchcraft: Folk Herbalism, Garden Magic, and Foraging for Spells, Rituals, and Remedies, I knew that I absolutely had to read it. Especially when Beyer is writing about her expertise specifically in the Appalachian area, since I also live there.

While some nonfiction is snooze-worthy, Beyer did an excellent job making this read entertaining throughout. It's easy to see how much she loves educating on nature, how to treat the Earth with respect, and sharing her experiences. As a novice in the area of using plants and herbs in remedies, Beyer provided some incredibly helpful insight. There are even recipes, of which, I have already used one for a cough syrup that worked wonderfully! The skeptical part of me continues to wear away as I see for myself how well much of this works.

I also enjoyed how she tied in historical elements when describing different plants and their uses. Again it was particularly enlightening for me as I live in the area she is describing. For someone non-secular like me, the spells and rituals sections were still intriguing. If you are secular though, what she illustrates could certainly be a great launching point for your practices. Foraging is something that I have not tried yet, but if I do get to that point I will totally be revisiting Wild Witchcraft for her advice and guidance on safety and uses.

4.5 out of 5 Stars

Overall this guide was easy-to-read with beautiful artwork. I wouldn't necessarily recommend this for someone with lots of knowledge in the area, but for someone newly interested like me, this is a perfect choice! Beyer gives a thorough overview of many topics, so if you don't own a copy, I'd also recommend taking plenty of notes - I sure did.