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Utopian Witch: Solarpunk Magick to Fight Climate Change and Save the World
This solarpunk book of shadows will guide you in surviving and resisting climate crisis and dystopian political systems so you can take radical action towards a positive future. Longtime activist and practicing witch Justine Norton-Kertson introduces a fresh approach to witchcraft at a time when it’s desperately needed. Drawing on the natural connections between modern paganism and the literary, artistic, and activist movement known as solarpunk, Norton-Kertson provides meditations and correspondences for developing a spiritual practice rooted in nature, the Sun, and a powerful belief in our ability to build a better world. Readers will also find a host of spells to use in the fight against climate change, fascism, and inequality. These politically conscious magickal practices forge a new spiritual praxis to guide us as we work together to envision and create the future we want to see.
- GenresSolarpunkNonfiction
192 pages, Hardcover
Published July 23, 2024
4 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
April 28, 2025
I picked up this book with some previous engagement with solarpunk fiction and having read the author’s work in a short story anthology or two. I’m always keen to pick up a book on magic / Paganism / craft practice that has an explicitly social justice angle as I want to have books like this to recommend to others when they ask.
What I liked: Norton-Kertson has written a book that would work for a witch new to solarpunk OR for a solarpunk enthusiast new to witchcraft; the fact that they’ve done both here is, I think, impressive. They provide clear definitions and lots of supplemental reading suggestions. It is definitely a beginner-leaning text but I have some familiarity with both topics and still found interesting ideas to consider. I am grateful to Norton-Kertson for situating themselves in terms of their identities, cosmologies, and traditions, and for solidly taking an antifascist, anti-oppressive position throughout, making a number of good points with respect to how this kind of position can intersect with solarpunk + magical practice. I never thought I’d get to see the phrase ‘diversity of tactics’ in a craft book and so I’m grateful for that inclusion even if I might’ve said something different about it. I think the author strikes a good balance between openness (ie. ‘do what works for you’) and instruction. I appreciate Norton-Kertson’s emphasis on doing tangible non-magical work – picking up trash, engaging in protest, supporting social justice organizations – as vital to creating change. I also like their emphasis on ethically sourcing ritual tools. They include a lot of great citations and links to relevant sources, and they also include a resource list encompassing witchcraft, solarpunk, and social justice texts.
What didn’t really work for me: There was a throwaway sentence early on asserting that “most witches and magickal practitioners believe” they are “bound by the Law of Threefold Return;” I do not for one second think that this claim about “most” can be supported with evidence, and I don’t think it’s needed in order for the author to state what their own ethics are. This feels like a bit of a slip-up considering the relatively consistently solid citation of sources otherwise. There are a few places where lists like “Pagan, New Age, and witchcraft” seem to conflate things that can, in practice, be quite different in ways that are meaningful. One spell suggests using a fire pit and lighting a small fire in the context of working against forest fires – where I live that’d be unlawful (we tend to be under fire bans if wildfires are a concern) and I do question how advisable it is to have any fire outside during an active fire season. Finally, this is a personal gripe, but I really wish that social justice conscious craft books would stop spelling magic with a ‘k’ given that the author who is the source of that spelling was decidedly neither feminist nor anti-racist (indeed, he was quite the opposite).
What I liked: Norton-Kertson has written a book that would work for a witch new to solarpunk OR for a solarpunk enthusiast new to witchcraft; the fact that they’ve done both here is, I think, impressive. They provide clear definitions and lots of supplemental reading suggestions. It is definitely a beginner-leaning text but I have some familiarity with both topics and still found interesting ideas to consider. I am grateful to Norton-Kertson for situating themselves in terms of their identities, cosmologies, and traditions, and for solidly taking an antifascist, anti-oppressive position throughout, making a number of good points with respect to how this kind of position can intersect with solarpunk + magical practice. I never thought I’d get to see the phrase ‘diversity of tactics’ in a craft book and so I’m grateful for that inclusion even if I might’ve said something different about it. I think the author strikes a good balance between openness (ie. ‘do what works for you’) and instruction. I appreciate Norton-Kertson’s emphasis on doing tangible non-magical work – picking up trash, engaging in protest, supporting social justice organizations – as vital to creating change. I also like their emphasis on ethically sourcing ritual tools. They include a lot of great citations and links to relevant sources, and they also include a resource list encompassing witchcraft, solarpunk, and social justice texts.
What didn’t really work for me: There was a throwaway sentence early on asserting that “most witches and magickal practitioners believe” they are “bound by the Law of Threefold Return;” I do not for one second think that this claim about “most” can be supported with evidence, and I don’t think it’s needed in order for the author to state what their own ethics are. This feels like a bit of a slip-up considering the relatively consistently solid citation of sources otherwise. There are a few places where lists like “Pagan, New Age, and witchcraft” seem to conflate things that can, in practice, be quite different in ways that are meaningful. One spell suggests using a fire pit and lighting a small fire in the context of working against forest fires – where I live that’d be unlawful (we tend to be under fire bans if wildfires are a concern) and I do question how advisable it is to have any fire outside during an active fire season. Finally, this is a personal gripe, but I really wish that social justice conscious craft books would stop spelling magic with a ‘k’ given that the author who is the source of that spelling was decidedly neither feminist nor anti-racist (indeed, he was quite the opposite).
April 12, 2025
I enjoyed reading this book for the most part. It's definitely a little more radical than I am, but I anticipated that by the title. As a fellow atheopagan I appreciated the secular approach to magick and that the author provides mundane actions one can take alongside casting their suggested spells. Personally, I'm drawn more to working with the Moon, but I was still intrigued to learn about working with the Sun and more about working with the Earth.
I would suggest this book to Green Witches who have an open mind towards how they might expand their craft to better the world.
I would suggest this book to Green Witches who have an open mind towards how they might expand their craft to better the world.
February 10, 2025
DNF page 71 - the author takes themselves far too seriously and I'm not here for it.
August 30, 2024
A cute little quick read for beginner witches. However, I don't agree with a lot of it, but that is only my opinion. Others may gratefully benefit from this book whereas I have already read a lot of witchy material and this one did not correlate well with me.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews