 Is the Instagram worthy book Witch by Lisa Lister actually worth it? Thanks. Welcome back to Esoteric Moment. It's a book review day and we are going to chat about that book. I'm sure you've seen on Instagram, which is Witch by Lisa Lister. This is a beautiful book, has one of those nice silky silicone kind of black covers and silver embossed lettering for the cover. There are, let me see if I can show you something. The chapter pages are really like bold and then there are these like quote pages and there are just very fun things about the physical book that makes it easy to put on Instagram or your social media and I have definitely seen it there lots of places. But we are not all about aesthetic, we also want content. So when I picked up this book, I was very skeptical. I really thought that this would only be about fitting that trendy witch aesthetic and would have little to no content that was actually worth reading. I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Well, it is not something that advanced witchcraft practitioners or druids are really going to find appealing or worth their time. I do think it has an excellent place as a beginner book or a book that kind of reaches a new audience. It's easy to feel that the only books that are worthy of our attention are the ones that appeal to us and this book doesn't necessarily appeal to me. I'm not a witch, I'm a druid and I'm not young enough that the casual tone of the author is really comfortable for me to read. I'm not troubled by the slang and abbreviations as much as some reviewers have been, but I can definitely tell that this is meant for that 16 year old, that 22 year old who is trying to find a way to embrace their feminine power. I think that is very valuable for our community. I remember certain books and authors that really inspired me to kind of understand feminism in a new way. I grew up in a rural area, being called a feminist was a huge insult. And while I definitely adhered to those beliefs and ideas about feminism, I was one of the people who would not call myself a feminist until I got to college and until I was exposed to some of these authors. I think this book is kind of the new wave of reaching people and showing them what feminism, what witchcraft, what embracing your inner power can really do for your life. And I applaud the book for reaching those people and kind of pushing that lens. Witchcraft is obviously meant for more than just the female identified, it is more than just tower for those with vaginas, it's a lot of things to a lot of different people. But we can't forget that there is this incredible rich history of witchcraft being really empowering for women and feminism. And this book kind of helps bring that back in and surprisingly bring that back into that witch aesthetic on social media that we all, maybe not all, but many of us are a little like cringe worthy about, you know, we want more than trend, we want substance. And I think this book is a good entryway for people who are in the aesthetic world to kind of understand that there's more to witchcraft and paganism. Let's talk about the contents of the actual chapters. We have some kind of like talk about history roots, a lot of talk about the author stories, her family connection to Gypsies and different goddesses that she works with. She talks a lot about like reclaiming our power and feminism. She talks about kind of nature. She calls it the great mama or like mama Gaia and that is hard for me to read. But again, it's like a new audience. And I think it will appeal to a lot of people who are interested in witchcraft or just starting out and looking for something a little more edgy. So I think that's good. And then of course she talks about magic and there's some correspondence charts. There's some basic spells, anything that you expect in a beginner book, less Cunningham focused, you know, where you get like all the dirty to do lists and tool collection and how to like that more beginner type in your sitting down at coffee with a friend who's like really into this brand new trend and wants to tell you all about it. It's more a book geared like that. I can happily say that I would not recommend to this book to anyone who is already well on their path. But I happily endorse this book for those of you who are new to witchcraft, those of you who are interested in some of the ways feminism impacts paganism and witchcraft. I think it is a particular style for a particular time in history. I don't know how well this book will hold up historically or in our community forever. But I'm happy that it's here for our community now. And I really think it will bring more wisdom and knowledge to people who are attracted to the trend of witchcraft. So I think it's worth a read if you're curious about that. In the comments below, I would love to hear what you think about the witch aesthetic, the trend on social media for witchy things. It is something that I haven't directly addressed here on this channel, mostly because it's been well covered by many really smart people on YouTube and social media. So I'm not as inclined to add my voice to that conversation. But I am curious what you think and this book definitely comes out of that. So let me know in the comments. This week's sapling shout out goes out to Rebecca Finn. She wrote a comment on my magic and spellcraft of jewelry saying why hadn't she found my channel before. So welcome new sapling. Thanks for joining us here in this grove online. If you want to be a sapling shout out in a future video, definitely talk to me in the comments or on Instagram or even on my blog, esotericmoment.com. I love to have conversations with you guys. Thanks for watching and as always, may you find peace in the sacred grove.