Drop the broomstick. Today’s witches are no cliché. Looking at new and forthcoming titles, witches present and past are seen as powerful spiritual forces and creative influencers. Scholars are examining witches’ and witchcraft’s roles in political, social, and cultural history. And publishers are highlighting books by witches who draw their magic skills from authentic traditions.
Becoming Baba Yaga: Trickster,
Feminist, and Witch of the Woods by Kris Spisak (Hampton Roads, out now) looks at the influence of this mythic
figure of Slavic folklore as an Earth goddess, an herbalist, and what the publisher calls an “archetype and force for finding your own path.”
The Golden Grimoire by Dee Norman (Watkins, Apr. 2025) uses the format of a witch’s handbook or grimoire to instruct users in “money magic,” says Ella Chappell, senior commissioning editor at Watkins. She calls the book “the key to working the inner alchemy to finding true prosperity.”
Lazy Witchcraft for Crazy, Sh*tty Days (Fair Winds, Oct.) is by Andrea Samayoa, a witch claiming half a million social media followers, who knows that even witches are sometimes too weary to deal with complex rituals.
Mexican Magic: Brujeria, Spells, and Rituals for All Occasions (Weiser, Nov.)
by Laura Davila, a brujeria or “ranch witch”—the term stems from the folk healing traditions of rural Mexico—
features magic skills for dealing with sex, money, justice, travel, and more.
Modern Magic: Stories, Rituals,
and Spells for Contemporary Witches (HarperOne, out now) by Michelle Tea,
a witch and tarot reader with a celebrity clientele, looks into worldwide magical history and spiritual traditions.
Naturally Modern Magick: The Essential Compendium of Spells and Rituals for Health, Happiness and Prosperity (Red Wheel, Mar. 2025) by Lacey Brubage, a specialist in home and garden magic, is a handbook for harnessing the power of the natural world to improve life.
The Night School for Mystics: 50 Cards for Magical Learning (RP Studio, Feb. 2025) by herbal magic expert Maia Toll is a card deck of lessons packaged with a poster to guide people in developing their divination talents.
Sea Magick (Rock Point, out now) by Rieka Moonsong, a Wiccan high priestess and shaman, examines the ocean through folklore and magical traditions.
Spells for Success: 40 Spells to Set Intentions and Manifest Everyday Wins (Simon Element, Jan. 2025) by Lauren Parker, a veteran witchcraft practitioner, is a card deck and guide to school beginners or broaden experts’ skills.
The Witch Studies Reader (Duke Univ., Mar. 2025) features work from more than 40 scholars and witchcraft practitioners and is edited by sociologist Soma Chaudhuri and feminist studies professor Jane Ward. It offers what the publisher calls a “feminist examination of witches and witchcraft that upends white supre-
macist, colonial, patriarchal” perspectives.
