Book Review

The Anticonsumerist Druid

How I Beat My Shopping Addiction

Through Connection With Nature

by Katrina Townsend

Publisher: Moon Books

168 Pages

Publication Date: December 1, 2022

 

 

Most of us participate on social media either curating content about our own lives or following the curated content of others, or both. These moments shared are typically the happier and more positive side of the human existence, and even when they are not, they are still not usually any deep struggles that someone might face. This book is not that. It is an honest introspection regarding the author’s shopping habits, the impact these habits have on her family, and the ways she (as we!) contributes to consumerism, capitalism, and the endless pursuit of being “enough.”

The Anti-consumerist Druid by Katrina Townsend if first off, not a book about Druidry (the author states it clearly from the start). It is instead a memoir of the past few years of the author’s life that details how she went from a social media creator and shopaholic to a druid and consciousness consumer who “stopped over consumption from consuming” her, and all the challenges and frustrations felt in between. Townsend takes us, the readers, along her journey with detailed stories of the obstacles she encountered and the feelings she had that make it feel like we were there with her with her.

The journey begins in Dec. 2019 when Townsend has to come to terms with her spending habits. As a new mom about to get married, she spends all her money on cloths, books, and other items. This was the breaking point which drove her to start paying attention and recording her habits and the feelings behind them in a journal. Soon after she decides to not shop for one year (she allows herself some flexibility, such as replenishing items she uses regularly and buying gifts, and eating out. Townsend’s telling of her journey shares her successes, her slip ups, and the ways she went a little far is something that many people would be afraid to acknowledge for themselves let alone share with another person, let alone publish in a book. The author’s bravery to share her journey and process is refreshing, encouraging, and inspiring for anyone who has difficultly cutting out detrimental habits from their lives.

The author shares what she has learned about consumerism and “throwaway culture.” How we are all trained to spend our money on items that will make us feel like we are “enough” – a Sisyphean cycle that is intended to leave us wanting and insecure to ensure we keep spending our money on the next item with the promise that it’ll make us “enough.”

During her journey she begins learning about Druidry and finds it to be a way to treat her mundane responsibilities as sacred. She joins an environmental movement called Extinction Rebellion to help do her part as an environmental activist, creates goals for the type of life she wants to have for her and her family, and reaches out to her community which becomes a pillar of support. She connects the historical and arcane roles of the druid – bard, priest, arbitrator, diviner – to the mundane roles someone can play in their communities.

Townsend also takes the reader through the first couple years of learning about Druidry. She learns to pay attention to synchronicities and listen to her gut as she explores deities to begin working with. Again, the author shares the disappointing moments when she hoped for feeling of connection to spirituality but wasn’t met with the picture perfect moments we see in the media, which is an honest reminder that our connection to the divine isn’t always going to be something we feel.

This book was quick and easy for me. I recommend it to anyone who is trying to better understand consumerism, capitalism, and activism, especially if you find it difficult at times to move away from the habits that entrap you and would enjoy reading about the experience of someone who has gone through, and still is as we are all enmeshed in these perpetual systems.

**

About the Author:

Montine is an astrologer, tarot reader, and occultist living on unceded Duwamish land that some call Seattle. A forever student, journalist, and queer gender-nonconforming femme, she spends her time listening to the stories people tell with the hope of understanding many more perspectives than her own. Recently diagnosed with ADHD and self-diagnosed as autistic, she is rediscovering the world through a neurodivergent lens and transforming her life to work smarter and not harder. She writes an annual called Book of My Shadows which explores different ways to use the energy of New and Full Moons for personal growth and exploration and one of her current hyperfixations is studying the Greek Magical Papyri.