Mention of spell books—textbooks of magic, also known as grimoires—may conjure images of secret places and mystical objects. But a spate of new books about magic and witchcraft won’t have readers looking further than the kitchen, bathtub, or even the glowing screen of a cell phone for inspiration. In these everyday spaces, readers can discover connections with ancient folkways and spiritual practices to bring some magic into their lives. Many of the forthcoming titles—written by experienced herbalists, spell casters, tarot experts, and pagan practitioners—trend toward highly practical, accessible spells and rituals. It’s in keeping with the times as readers seek support with mental and physical health, relationships, and other challenges of the post-pandemic era.

“I think the DIY approach is popular because people are not only looking for concrete ways to better themselves but they are owning the responsibility for empowering their own spiritual growth,” says Jon Graham, acquisitions editor at Inner Traditions/Bear, which is releasing Runes for the Green Witch: An Herbal Grimoire (Feb. 2024) by the “herbalist witch” Nicolette Miele. “I’ve seen more interest in spiritual practices that allow people to reconnect with the natural and the traditions of peoples who maintained their close ties to nature,” Graham adds.

Miele’s book connects plant-based magic with runes—ancient Germanic letters or symbols often said to have magical powers or properties—offering recipes for “spirit bottles,” potions, and incense that can have a variety of effects when used in ritual ways. For example, cayenne, a plant associated with one particular rune, “can be used to remove a troublesome individual from your life,” Graham says. “Simply sprinkle some on a photograph of that person and blow it off.”

“Horoscope teas,” designed for each of the 12 signs of the zodiac, are a highlight of S.M. Harlow’s A Tea Witch’s Grimoire (Weiser, Oct.), says Laurie Kelly, sales director for the publisher. Making tea invites readers “to take five minutes or so to focus on personal happiness,” Kelly says. “Pain-Free Love Tea” from The Green Witch’s Guide to Magical Plants & Flowers: 26 Love Spells from Apples to Zinnias (out now) by Chris Young, illustrated by Susan Ottaviano, is a favorite recipe of Nicole Mele, senior editor at Skyhorse Publishing. Fresh meadowsweet, a perennial herb, is “known to attract love, happiness, and peace,” she says.

Plants aren’t just for eating or sipping in these books. They’re also for creating, casting spells, and managing emotions. Mele says she’s used the The Green Witch’s Guide’s “Bath Salts Spell for Attracting Love” recipe, which combines jasmine essential oil and garden flowers, to “spark self-love” as well as relaxation. Herbana Witch: A Year in the Forest by Cecilia Lattari (Red Wheel, Nov.) details, among other things, how to use fruit and flower blooms to make watercolor paints. “By squeezing out their juices, petals, and pollens,” Kelly says, “they can be used in your personal creations.”

The Kitchen Witch (Adams Media, out now) by Skye Alexander, who has written numerous books about witchcraft, tarot, and goddesses, features an “Encyclopedia of Magical Edibles.” It includes ingredients that the author says can be deployed in the service of calm and joy (vanilla) or change and fresh starts (cinnamon). Julia Jacques, an editor who worked on the book, enjoys different ways the book proposes that individual foods can be used for spells. “Take squash, for example,” she explains, “warm weather squash like zucchini grows quickly and can be a perfect addition to spells for abundance, while winter squash like acorn squash is better for spells about endurance and protection.”

Other books also emphasize variety. Light, Fire, & Abundance: Harness the Power of Food and Mindful Cooking to Nourish the Body and Soul by Misty Bell Stiers (Apollo, Oct.) provides banana bread recipes that are “luxurious, indulgent, and packed with good vibes,” according to Drew Anderla, associate editor at Apollo. “Designing around what you and your loved ones need is a great way to plan meals,” says Anderla, who has learned to use blueberries for “some extra calm.”

Magic and more

Using magical techniques to set personal boundaries in relationships is also a popular theme. Gabriella Page-Fort, executive editor at HarperOne, says she learned while editing Blood Sex Magic: Everyday Magic for the Modern Mystic by Bri Luna (Oct.) that “every ‘no’ is a spell.” Luna draws on her Indigenous Mexican and African heritage in the book, as well as on her online tarot and witchcraft platform The Hoodwitch. Luna also offers a spell “to reclaim your power after a breakup by cutting the cord,” Page-Fort says. “All you need is a pen, paper, a black candle, and some scissors, and poof—out with unhealthy attachments.”

Practice, not perfection, is the message in forthcoming books such as Small Magics: Practical Secrets from an Appalachian Village Witch by H. Byron Ballard (Llewellyn Worldwide, Sept.). It reassures readers, “Don’t be afraid to start again,” says Heather Greene, acquisitions editor at Llewellyn. “Ballard not only teaches basic magical skills, like shielding, but she also hands the reader a permission slip to relearn them,” she says. “No matter how long you have been practicing, it is always a good idea to revisit the simple techniques and even start from scratch.”

A magical mindset can elevate even the most fraught of modern tools: the mobile phone. “Your phone is a way of starting a conversation with yourself and the universe,” says Ella Chappell, senior commissioning editor at Watkins Books, who learned this in Tree Carr’s new book A Spell a Day (out now), which contains 365 rituals, spells, and enchantments. “We tend to think of our phone’s omnipresence as a form of negativity and distraction,” Chappell says, “but actually phones are a powerful magical technology we can use to shape our lives and experiences in whatever ways we like.” Phone-based spells in the book involve things like texting oneself pictures or words to invite desired effects into one’s life.

Some books are rooted in particular cultural practices. Conjuring the Calabash: Empowering Women with Hoodoo Spells & Magick (Llewellyn, Nov. ), by New Orleanian “writer, educator, and spirit-woman” Mawiyah Kai El-Jamah Bomani, focuses on the Afro-Caribbean tradition known as hoodoo. Hoodoo “is not necessarily an open practice” to those outside of the Afro-Caribbean community, Greene explains, but readers can benefit from learning about the “folk magic ways” that inform that tradition, such as using four pennies to divine whether to buy a used item, or using an egg to check if someone is hexed.

New Moon Magic: 13 Anti-capitalist Tools for Resistance and Re-enchantment (Sept.) by Missing Witches podcasters Risa Dickens and Amy Torok, written for those in the LGBTQ community and other marginalized people, embodies a “fierce DIY spirit,” says Gillian Hamel, senior acquisitions and production editor at North Atlantic Books. The approach is “inherently non-extractive, non-exploitative, and built on a reciprocal relationship with the material and spirit worlds.” The authors stress people shouldn’t have to buy supplies, clothing, or decor to be “witchy,” and that they can instead create their own tools or rely on thoughts and actions.

That’s a powerful message because readers will come to feel they have inherent power they can learn to harness, Hamel says. “While Dickens and Torok express their love for the witch aesthetic, they emphasize, ‘These accoutrements are not the magic. You are the magic.’”

Holly Lebowitz Rossi is a freelance writer and coauthor of The Yoga Effect: A Proven Program for Depression and Anxiety.

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