4 reviews for:

Utopian Witch: Solarpunk Magick to Fight Climate Change and Save the World

Justine Norton-Kertson

3.96 AVERAGE

gabberwocky's review

4.75

informative inspiring medium-paced

laurareads87's review

4.0

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

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I picked up this book with some previous engagement with solarpunk fiction and having read the author’s work in a short story anthology or two. I’m always keen to pick up a book on magic / Paganism / craft practice that has an explicitly social justice angle as I want to have books like this to recommend to others when they ask. 

What I liked: Norton-Kertson has written a book that would work for a witch new to solarpunk OR for a solarpunk enthusiast new to witchcraft; the fact that they’ve done both here is, I think, impressive. They provide clear definitions and lots of supplemental reading suggestions. It is definitely a beginner-leaning text but I have some familiarity with both topics and still found interesting ideas to consider. I am grateful to Norton-Kertson for situating themselves in terms of their identities, cosmologies, and traditions, and for solidly taking an antifascist, anti-oppressive position throughout, making a number of good points with respect to how this kind of position can intersect with solarpunk + magical practice. I never thought I’d get to see the phrase ‘diversity of tactics’ in a craft book and so I’m grateful for that inclusion even if I might’ve said something different about it. I think the author strikes a good balance between openness (ie. ‘do what works for you’) and instruction. I appreciate Norton-Kertson’s emphasis on doing tangible non-magical work – picking up trash, engaging in protest, supporting social justice organizations – as vital to creating change. I also like their emphasis on ethically sourcing ritual tools. They include a lot of great citations and links to relevant sources, and they also include a resource list encompassing witchcraft, solarpunk, and social justice texts. 

What didn’t really work for me: There was a throwaway sentence early on asserting that “most witches and magickal practitioners believe” they are “bound by the Law of Threefold Return;” I do not for one second think that this claim about “most” can be supported with evidence, and I don’t think it’s needed in order for the author to state what their own ethics are. This feels like a bit of a slip-up considering the relatively consistently solid citation of sources otherwise. There are a few places where lists like “Pagan, New Age, and witchcraft” seem to conflate things that can, in practice, be quite different in ways that are meaningful. One spell suggests using a fire pit and lighting a small fire in the context of working against forest fires – where I live that’d be unlawful (we tend to be under fire bans if wildfires are a concern) and I do question how advisable it is to have any fire outside during an active fire season. Finally, this is a personal gripe, but I really wish that social justice conscious craft books would stop spelling magic with a ‘k’ given that the author who is the source of that spelling was decidedly neither feminist nor anti-racist (indeed, he was quite the opposite). 

ceplunk's review

4.0

hopeful informative inspiring medium-paced

viric's review

4.5

adventurous hopeful inspiring reflective

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It felt invigorating to read a book of shadows from a fellow radical trans witch. If you're looking for magickal ideas to intertwine your solarpunk and spirituality, this is the book for you. The magick combatting fascism easily translates to outside the American context, and I hugely appreciate that. This book has connected me with solar energy in way I'd never considered in my practice. 

Justine has erred on the cautious side by repeatedly leaving magickal structure open to the practioners preferences. Many people will likely appreciate this open endedness. 
Personal Magickal opinion:

As a gnostic and chaote myself, it feels like the instructional nature of the book could've had more oomph to it. The regular prompts to follow up one's intentions with real world action are a quality inclusion. However, this balance occasionally risks undermining the potency of magick. I've gotta 110% believe it'll work when I'm casting, and then also follow up with real world action. My castings will propagate my intentions beyond my awareness and at the same time my next actions remain important. Some beginners could possibly develop a takeaway that their magick will only work because of their next actions, when it's really both and mutually reinforcing.

I read this book on my ereader and its gained such a special spot in my heart that I'm getting a hardcopy with my christmas giftcard. Be brave, get some friends together, grow and spread solarpunk magick. We need all of us.