Snow knows history and as a result is able to deconstruct magical rites, rituals, and practices from their origins in order to present them as something simple anyone can start to practice. Laying out this list (with much clearer articulation and more detail than my summary here) at the beginning of the book, the rest of the book is about practicing the craft of magic-making. I kind of want to needlepoint this onto a pillow! How about you?! ✨All bodies can be magical, regardless of ableism. ✨Personal healing is a precursor to collective healing. ✨Physical, emotional, and mental disabilities do not make a person unable to practice magic. ✨That anyone can invoke Goddess energy regardless of whether they have a uterus. ✨The positivity of all expressions of consensual sexuality. ✨The need to dismantle white supremacy and patriarchal power and the need for this dismantling to come from the non-white community. (Throughout the book Snow uses the abbreviation LGBTQIA2SP+ whenever referring to queer-identified individuals) Snow’s “Queer Witch Manifesto” acknowledges (in sum): Their first step on this path is offering a “Queer Witch Manifesto” in the introduction of the book, which Snow refers back to repeatedly throughout the book as an ethical framework for practicing magickal craft and identifying as a witch.

1įor Snow, queering magic is recreating symbols, themes, and sacred space for a wide variety of gender and sexuality variance. The two most influential craft-based magical lineages in the West, Gerard Gardener’s Wicca and Alistair Crowley’s Thelema use symbolism and themes strongly rooted in gender-binaries, which can be alienating to the growing population of the magickally inclined who identify as non-binary. This is a “how-to” book on making magick and living a magickal lifestyle. First though, Snow tells us why we need a specifically “queer” magic textbook. To make the craft of magick-making accessible to a diverse, marginalized population, Snow guides their readers on how to customize their craft so that it can hold meaning and be powerful, even when practiced individually, on a budget and with limited resources. I say this because Queering Your Craft: Witchcraft from the Margins by Cassandra Snow breaks the practice of witchcraft down into simple components that can be picked up by anyone, anywhere and used however they wish, making the craft of magick much more of a personal celebration of creativity, passion and power. Weiser Books, 1578637218, 288pages, November 2020įrom now on, whenever someone asks to me to recommend a book about getting started in witchcraft, this is the book I am going to recommend, whether or not that person is queer.

Queering Your Craft: Witchcraft from the Margins, by Cassandra Snow

Queering your craft