Book Review

Backyard Witchcraft:
The Complete Guide for
The Green Witch,
The Kitchen Witch,
and the Hedge Witch

Written by Cecilia Lattari
Illustrated by Betti Greco

Publisher: Ixia Press

160 Pages

Release Date: September 14, 2022

 

 

 

 

Backyard Witchcraft is a lavishly illustrated book that focuses on modern homespun witchcraft with an emphasis on herbal cunning tradition. In the Introduction, we learn all about the author’s approach to magic as an expression of plant relationship, and the three types of witchcraft that she will be discussing: green witchcraft, kitchen witchcraft, and hedge witchcraft. A bit like a witchy internet meme in book form, the book includes a short quiz at the end, to help you determine which of these three types of witch you are.

In chapter 1, Lattari discusses the tools of the three types of witches; this is a nicely illustrated section, but it doesn’t really go into much depth about any of the tools or how to use them. Taken together with the next chapter, which talks about the witch’s home, it is a set of general suggestions for witch-ful living. Some of the tools mentioned are very basic (who doesn’t have a wooden spoon?), but some are pretty involved (a functional alembic isn’t a casual investment, and this book doesn’t tell you how to use it).

In chapter 3, Lattari explores plants in the garden and how to work with them through meditation and visualization practices. In chapter 4, she talks about twelve useful plants, divided up according to their elemental associations, and how to work with them magically. Only a few herbs and types of preparations are explored, and there really isn’t enough in the book to make a complete herbal practice, but there are still plenty of good suggestions here. One of the problems with dealing with herbs casually, though, is that you can wind up glossing over serious issues; the section on St. John’s Wort, for example, discusses its energetic properties and its use for depression, but contains no warnings about the undesirable ways that the herb can interact with various medications. There is a generic disclaimer about the medicinal herb use given at the beginning of the book with the copyright material, but it still seems like there’s important information missing here. 

In chapter 5, the author touches briefly on poisons, but only just to introduce a few, and advise against any direct contact; we are meant to draw inspiration only from learning about them. This is a perfectly acceptable approach to plant shamanism, but it doesn’t reflect the practices of witches both modern and ancient, many of whom have used, ingested, and interacted with these plants and fungi. 

In chapters 6, 7, and the Planner chapter, the author discusses how to make basic tea and medicines from plants, how to care for these plants in your garden, and how to plan your year of gardening and harvest. The calendar was one of my favorite parts of the book, and contained good recommendations for engaging with the plants discussed at different times of the year. Finally, the book concludes with ten stories about herbs and witches and a nice bibliography for finding further information on green witchcraft.

Herbalism in witchcraft is a large area, and this book touches on many topics, but doesn’t go into much depth. It feels like it’s trying to do too much for the number of pages in the book, and there seem to be a lot of claims of what “all witches” do or “every witch” does. I don’t know every single witch, but from those I do know, I would venture to say that there is almost nothing that all witches do. Witches are a very diverse group, so it makes these types of statements seem a bit silly to me.

Elements of the practice explored in this book are taken from Wicca, the indigenous traditions of the Americas, ancient Greek mythology, and other sources; it’s an eclectic blend that doesn’t present any of these attitudes or practices in its entirety. Intuitive, magical, and mythological information are presented side-by-side with medicinal information and folklore. I suspect this presentation will be most attractive to those who are new to herbal craft, but I fear that the book does not quite live up to its subtitle The Complete Guide for the Green Witch, the Kitchen Witch, and the Hedge Witch. It didn’t feel like a Complete Guide. It felt more like a survey course with a sampling of different studies within the field of herbal witchcraft. It’s an enjoyable selection, but I felt like there was a lot missing; with a narrower focus and more thorough exploration, this book might have had a bigger impact. As it is, it’s still a beautiful book that will probably appeal most to young witches who are just getting introduced to herbal craft, especially if they have an older herbalist to help them.

About the author:

Cecilia Lattari is both an herbalist who studied at the University of Bologna and a professional actress who graduated from the Theater School of Bologna. She is a teacher of social pedagogy who works in both tangible and imaginary education through various media: writing, theater, contact with the natural world, and relationships of support. She works in the area of relationships, stimulating people’s contact with their most authentic self through theater performance and the sensory experience of interacting with the world of plants. She lives in a small town in the Tuscan Apennines in Italy, near the woods. The light of the moon shines right on her doorway, and quite often she can be found having long chats with the moon and her cats.You can find out more about her on her website. https://www.cecilialattari.com/

Betti Greco is an illustrator and graphic designer who works in publishing and communications. Her visual, colorful, and fantastic approaches are digital but have a solid background in painting and are constantly being experimented with. She lives in Salento, Apulia, Italy, and she loves spending time in nature, where she re-energizes between jobs and finds major artistic inspiration. Her wand is her paintbrush, and her magical power is her imagination. Reality is just a starting point for exploring the senses and drawing new worlds!

 

Backyard Witchcraft on Amazon

 

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About the Author:

Sarah McMenomy is a visionary artist, author, and witch. Pulling inspiration from trance states, dreams, auras, psychedelia, and the natural world, she weaves together themes of nature and the occult in her artwork and writing. She has created art and written for books, magazines, games, and more, as well as producing digital fine art prints and acrylic paintings. 
She is the creator of The Entanglement Tarot, a hex-shaped occult Tarot deck designed for spell-craft. 
She is co-runner of Pagan Pages, for which she also writes articles and book reviews, and she also publishes art on her Portfolio site and other work on her Tumblr.