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A review by theescapistreader
The Witch's Book of Self-Care: Magical Ways to Pamper, Soothe, and Care for Your Body and Spirit by Arin Murphy-Hiscock
1.0
0.5 out of 5 stars
Can I really be disappointed when my expectations were next to non-existent? Debatable.
Let's start with the self-care part of the book. There's nothing revolutionary about the things the author suggests we do as self-care pactices: naps, baths, journaling, meditation, teas, scents and the like. Trite, all of it. You can cover all that with a quick google search. You don't actually need this book to tell you how to look after yourself. It is common knowledge at this point that the aforementioned practices are soothing and helpful.
Now that that's out of the way, let us discuss why this book is c o n f u s e d . While reading it, I distinctly felt that a big chunk of it was just jumble of spiritual undistilled ideas. The "worshipping" portion of this book (prayers, spells, incantations) comes off as self-indulgent in the sense that I found it to be rather shallow and not attached to the Craft. "Witch" is a word heavily associated with neopaganism, but other than some vague animistic notions -that at times were appropriating Native culture-, I don't think I learnt anything of value about modern day witches. Moreover, I'm somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of using a belief system and one's faith solely for aesthetic purposes, which was exactly what I think happened here. What makes me think that? Why, the mental calculation of all the MONEY one would need to apply some of the crafts and ideas presented in this book in their every day life . I wasn't aware that witchcraft practices were so vastly commercialised. The self-promo doesn't help to convince me otherwise.
However, it wouldn't be fair to say all that without aknowledging my own bias. As an atheist and a firm believer in healthy scepticism, I found the pagan/wiccan/call-it-what-you-want portion of this book unecessary, especially considering the points made in the previous paragraph. As a student in the STEM field, I couldn't have suspended my disbelief enough to accommodate for all the unscientific waffle in this book. All that being said, I have a great and active interest in religions and belief systems and the symbolism behind their dogmas and practices, that has been passed down to me through my religious upbringing. So I think it is fair to say that "The Witch's Book of Self-Care" failed to satisfy my curiosity in that regard.
To sum up, I would NOT reccommend the "Witch's Book of Self-Care". If you're looking for a Self-Help book, maybe look into a regular one, but definitely not this.
Happy reading!
P.S. Trigger warning: Discussion of depression
In my opinion, the way this book discusses mental health is rather problematic, so you might want to stay away from that. There is a spell on how to accept/embrace your depression for crying out loud (!), that could be understandably triggering to people. Oh, and one last thing: Essential oils can't heal your mental health troubles.
Can I really be disappointed when my expectations were next to non-existent? Debatable.
Let's start with the self-care part of the book. There's nothing revolutionary about the things the author suggests we do as self-care pactices: naps, baths, journaling, meditation, teas, scents and the like. Trite, all of it. You can cover all that with a quick google search. You don't actually need this book to tell you how to look after yourself. It is common knowledge at this point that the aforementioned practices are soothing and helpful.
Now that that's out of the way, let us discuss why this book is c o n f u s e d . While reading it, I distinctly felt that a big chunk of it was just jumble of spiritual undistilled ideas. The "worshipping" portion of this book (prayers, spells, incantations) comes off as self-indulgent in the sense that I found it to be rather shallow and not attached to the Craft. "Witch" is a word heavily associated with neopaganism, but other than some vague animistic notions -that at times were appropriating Native culture-, I don't think I learnt anything of value about modern day witches. Moreover, I'm somewhat uncomfortable with the idea of using a belief system and one's faith solely for aesthetic purposes, which was exactly what I think happened here. What makes me think that? Why, the mental calculation of all the MONEY one would need to apply some of the crafts and ideas presented in this book in their every day life . I wasn't aware that witchcraft practices were so vastly commercialised. The self-promo doesn't help to convince me otherwise.
However, it wouldn't be fair to say all that without aknowledging my own bias. As an atheist and a firm believer in healthy scepticism, I found the pagan/wiccan/call-it-what-you-want portion of this book unecessary, especially considering the points made in the previous paragraph. As a student in the STEM field, I couldn't have suspended my disbelief enough to accommodate for all the unscientific waffle in this book. All that being said, I have a great and active interest in religions and belief systems and the symbolism behind their dogmas and practices, that has been passed down to me through my religious upbringing. So I think it is fair to say that "The Witch's Book of Self-Care" failed to satisfy my curiosity in that regard.
To sum up, I would NOT reccommend the "Witch's Book of Self-Care". If you're looking for a Self-Help book, maybe look into a regular one, but definitely not this.
Happy reading!
P.S. Trigger warning: Discussion of depression
In my opinion, the way this book discusses mental health is rather problematic, so you might want to stay away from that. There is a spell on how to accept/embrace your depression for crying out loud (!), that could be understandably triggering to people. Oh, and one last thing: Essential oils can't heal your mental health troubles.