Since getting back on the blog train, I have been trying to develop a ‘template’ for book reviews that both makes sense and can be essentially universally applied to any occult books I read and review for this blog. I did a fair amount of thinking, and came up with five general questions that I think get answered with every book. Each of these roughly fits into 20% of a total 100%. So that is basically a system that I am certain I will come back and change at least twice. 

Is it clear?

I joked on Tumblr that there are usually only two kinds of occult writers: people that talk down to their readers by treating them like babies who cannot breathe on their own, and people who talk down to their readers by only writing the most dense, purposefully obtuse, text that is designed to just make people give up. I consider both of these writing styles to be masturbatory, and designed to stroke the author’s ego more than actually communicate a concept. 

And before someone comes on here with a ‘well it is important to only let people in the know have the information!’—then there was no fucking reason to mass-produce the book in the first place. Keep your secrets or share your tools. You can’t have it both ways. 

Is it necessary?

This is another pet peeve of mine—and dare I say it might be considered a Luke-warm take. But, there is no fucking point in making yet another ‘Wicca for beginners’ book when there are dozens of them on the market, still in print, full of information you can…get for free with a quick google search. 

So much of the occult section is the same wad of grass getting chewed and vomited back up in a different cover because people either want to feel legitimized by publishing a book or because publishing companies want more money. A book like that doesn’t have much of a reason to exist. It’s hard to give anything a good grade if by design it requires people to pay money for something that is already available for free. 

Is it fun? 

The longer I am involved in magic and the occult, the more I believe that enjoyment, play, and a sense of wonder are inherently necessary to the practice. Or, to put it through the lens of ‘Changeling the Dreaming,’ a book for Changelings should not give you fucking banality while you read it. If it reads like a ‘how to do your taxes’ document, I cannot be fucked. I am not of the opinion that there should be more suffering than necessary to study the occult. Yes, the mysteries do require sacrifice. But, to make a text purposefully a pain to get through out of some misguided delusion on the author’s part that they must be The Almighty Gatekeeper to the Arcane? Bullshit. Just more literary circle-jerking. 

Is it actionable/inspirational? 

In theory, books should be constructed to add something to the lives of its readers. Does it change something about their thought process? Does it make their life more enjoyable? In essence: does that text inspire change? I think this is the most undefined out of the five criteria I am using. But, I think it is an important one. In essence: the question is if it was worth those minutes of your life that you will never get back to read this text. 

Is it inclusive?

Yes, yes, this is actually quite important. And this goes back to points 1 and 3. If you wrote a book that is only meant to be read by one specific lineage of people that you are a member of—then why the fuck did you make it available on Amazon? I’m fucking done with witchcraft that cannot acknowledge the legitimacy of other minorities. Witches and magicians by nature are transgressive and exist on the outskirts—they are outsiders to ‘polite’ society. So acting like magic is only for the ‘in’ group is rank hypocrisy. And, no, you all know very well I am not talking about closed practices. I may as well deduct points on any books that Sea Lion as well. 

At this point, I’ve encountered too many Wiccans who get squeamish when you bring up gay people, or trans people, and I’m just sick of it. 

So there you have it, my generalized book review system moving forward. Let me know if you have any comments, questions, or concerns.