Natural Witchery

April 9, 2007
The author of several titles for the Wicca market, including Garden Witchery
, Dugan returns with a lighthearted, gently empowering book for the solitary practitioner. She begins with the premise that "you already have inner wisdom and all the creativity you'll ever need to make magick in your life." From there, she outlines several steps including developing readers' psychic abilities, tapping into the cycles of the moon and sensing the energies of the seasons that are designed to encourage readers to practice the craft from a more spiritually centered place and ease their anxieties about whether they're "good enough" Wiccans. Interspersed throughout the text are lively anecdotes from Dugan's own Samantha Stephensesqe household. She speaks of her struggles to deal with nosy evangelical Christians and her teenage daughter's rejection-cum-furtive acceptance of her mother's religion. She also chats about some uncomfortable experiences she's had in group settings with other Wiccans where her own intuitive approach to the craft has been frowned upon by practitioners who are supposedly more learned. While some more experienced Witches will likely find Dugan's spells and spiritual practices to be boilerplate, the value of this book lies in the warm, personal touch Dugan uses both in her writing and in her craft.