Hexing the Patriarchy: 26 Potions, Spells, and Magical Elixirs to Embolden the Resistance

by Ariel Gore

A magical guide to subverting manboy power, one spell at a timeSkeptics might think witchcraft is nothing more than a fad, but make no modern witches aren't playing around. Today's wizarding women are raising hell, exorcising haters, and revving up to fight fire with a fierce inferno of magical outrage.Magic has always been a weapon of the disenfranchised, and in Hexing the Patriarchy, author Ariel Gore offers a playbook for the feminist uprising. Full of incantations, enchantments, rituals, and witchy wisdom designed protect women and bring down The Man, readers will learn how to . . . Make salt scrubs to wash away patriarchal bullshitMix potions to run abusive liars out of townUse their bare hands and feet to vanquish bro cultureConjure dead relatives to help smash the system. . . and more. From summoning Ancestors to leveraging the Zodiac, these twenty-six alphabetically inspired spells are ready-made recipes for toppling the patriarchy with a dangerously divine, they-never-saw-it-coming power.

Genres: Witchcraft, Nonfiction, Feminism, Spirituality, Witches, Politics, Paganism

285 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 15, 2019

About the author

ARIEL GORE is the author of We Were Witches (The Feminist Press, 2017), The End of Eve (Hawthorne Books, 2014), and numerous other books on parenting, the novel The Traveling Death and Resurrection Show, the memoir Atlas of the Human Heart, and the writer’s guide How to Become a Famous Writer Before You’re Dead. Farrar, Straus and Giroux will publish Bluebird: Women and the New Psychology of Happiness in January 2010.

Reviews

[Jenn Michelson]

Cute book. basic informaiton. If you are looking for a cutesy view of Magic and Social justice this is the book for you. If you want an in depth book about magic and or social justice pass this book by.

[Leah · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a pretty fascinating witchy book.  There were definitely some great takeaways that I'll be able to use in my own practice.

However, I didn't like the ABC aspect and felt the ideas were all over the place here.  

[cat · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars for my dear one, Melanie, who has a hex that is featured in the book. 5 stars also for a book that reminds us that we can resist and use all of the possible tools - magical and otherwise- to dispatch this late stage capitalistic version of racist patriarchy.

[Laurie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a non-practitioner, just reading this for interest. I appreciate the spirit of the book, but it was a little too chaotic for me to latch onto. I think I need more structured information. Also, the alphabet theme didn't feel necessary and I was confused as to why it was there.

[Sheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book (on kindle) over a year ago because I was very much in a Patriarchy hexing mood. I paged through it but didn't give it the attention it deserved.
Flash forward to me reading her absolutely stellar biographical novel We Were Witches, and then realizing HEY! I've got that!
So it was my vacation reading for a trip to Salem.
This book is a delight. There is a spell or hex or working for every letter of our alphabet, most written by other witches in various traditions. It is supremely folksy and adaptive, with a really firm insistence on intention over perfection (ie, if you can't get the specific herb or oil or candle mentioned in the work, improvise or just visualize!) There are a bunch of extremely simple self care tips and tricks that I have already incorporated into my life. For example, have you ever thought about the fact that if you stand with your feet planted firmly shoulder width apart and stretch your arms out straight you form a pentacle and can invite or banish energy through your connection to the ground?!?
Mind blown.
I recommend this little magical guidebook to anyone who wants to feel empowered to take action against Patriarchy.

[sarah panic · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely wonderful. so glad to see in print books giving homage to the true roots of where these crafts came from. let’s continue to go forward and stop whitewashing history and pay attention to the written word. give forth in your service.

[Molly Snyder · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always enjoyed Ariel Gore's writing ever since she created Hip Mama magazine in the 90s. "Atlas of the Human heart" is one of my favorite coming of age books of all time.

This book is more of a zine – a hardcover zine (is that an oxymoron?) It has lots of radical black ink drawings, spells and a few paragraphs per chapter – which are categorized by the 26 letters in the English language alphabet – about whatever the topic of that chapter happens to be.

As someone who was in a coven called "The Easy Bake Coven" for 10 years, I really appreciated Gore's ability to infuse spirituality with pop culture and humor. And yet, it was completely earnest at the same time. The spells are sincere; the information – at least about the topics I am well-versed in such as Wicca and ritual – is accurate.

I will give this book as a gift many times over in the future.

[Jenn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, it’s not that there isn’t any useful info in this book. It’s not that it’s not easy to read and engaging, either.
It’s just an absolute panoply of cultural appropriation.. it’s almost as if her editor said “take a white feminism, and make it witchy!” in this book, you will find hoodoo, voodoo, native practices, brujeria, and so many more closed practices.

I made it to the letter I where the author is woken each morning by the ghost of Prince, asserts many early Spiritualists werent Christian (!?), and mentions a Minneapolis shop owner who sees Thunderbirds.
Come on, now.

Great idea for a book, now try it without being a culture vulture and spotlighting others culture vultures.

[S. Wigget · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this! I'm going to do some of these practices, for certain.

[SM Zalokar · Rating 4 out of 5]

More like a reference book - witty and useful. Blessed be.

[Silver Solstice · Rating 1 out of 5]

Extremely basic in terms of magic, its activism, philosophy, and run-down of history male-centrism in magic spaces. While the effort to put women practicioners in the spotlight is very admirable, a lot of the things in between the guest writings are dull and uninformative.

Many of the spells and comments are, I feel, defensive and reactionary, instead of challenging and proactive. Most of them don't even seem to be specifically created to confront patriarchy and hex misogynists, only mitigate their effects. There is little about unlearning internalized patriarchy, or spotting it in magic and occult spaces and texts, or transforming patriarchal paradigms into more feminist and egalitarian ones, which was my baseline expectation for a book with this title.

Greatly disappointed. I can't even think of an audience to recommend it to. The ritual descriptions and theory are lacking and do not inspire confidence in beginner witches. More experienced ones would feel that some are too 'generic' - i.e., it came from a ritual with a different purpose, altered by simply swapping out the color of a candle. (And if that works for some people, then good for them! But more experienced ones may find out their magic does not work that way, and with the amount they'd have to alter the given spells, writing their own would take less effort.) Meanwhile, those coming from a more feminist than magical perspective will not find a deep and nuanced discussion of the gender politics in magic.

[Sabrina Owens · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a bit tedious to read at certain points: Some entries were very practical and straightforward, and others were more abstract, conceptual and had more of a creative intention, which is typically great, but it felt like a constant flipping between two tones which became a little frustrating at times.

It's an easy read, and I like the way it was set up, and there's some really great information in there, but some chapters were unfortunately a little disappointing in delivery.

I do appreciate owning this in the times we are in, however. It's given me ideas and methods for coping, and I appreciate that.

[Cheyenne · Rating 3 out of 5]

CW: r*pist mentions, genital slur, ableism

Generally, it was a good book, it has some useful spells, but some require several people or unusual ingredients. The writing is a little amateurish and simplified for beginner witches.

Unfortunately the author venerates Doreen Valiente, who turned out to be a far right white nationalist in the 70s, and David Bowie, a child r*pist. I also resent the assumption of the Wiccan rule of three for all witches.

[Clara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, inspiring, insightful, helpful, practical, encouraging, and thoughtfully inclusive. Really: a fabulous, clever, beautiful book. Every witchy woman can benefit in some way from the carefully crafted spells contained within. I for one am also here to smash the Patriarchy, and I needed this ❤️

[Amy (Sun) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Really inspiring, both magically and societally, I think. I've done two spells from it so far and it's really kickstarted me into researching my origins when it comes to my practice. I highly recommend it to any feminist, liberal witches.

[Julie McCord · Rating 4 out of 5]

Better for its saucy, affirming tone than for its spells in some cases, but the morale boosting alone is very good for the moment, and there are some good ideas and recipes here.

[Gloria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't remember the last time I finished a book in a day. It's THAT good.

[Alissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Mimi Stein · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprising and entertaining read - I love it! I will refer to it often for affirmations, spells and thoughtful support and inspiration for the journeys ahead.

[Ashlee · Rating 1 out of 5]

Basic and silly. Not worth reading.

[Cherie · Rating 4 out of 5]

love all of Gore's books, so was looking for this, but this is more magick style, which I don't reallyd o, as much as I would love - but the anti-patriarchal commentaries are great!

[Allison]

I really enjoyed this book. I originally was a little bothered by the way that it was organized alphabetically but I got over that quickly. Overall, I learned a few new things and was inspired.

[Alanna L.P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book crosses two of my favorite things: activism and witchcraft. I spotted this book while hunting for inspiration for an article I’m writing on how witchcraft can be used in activism. The spells are user friendly and the materials are fairly easy to come by. It is an inclusive book for everyone who thinks the patriarchy should go. It helped me see that a lot of social changes is possible when witches combine their powers.

[zely✩ · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing. one of my roommates let me borrow this and it was incredible.

[Lauren R · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun and engaging intro-level look at inclusive, feminist witchcraft, which I as a beginner appreciated. It offers many options on how to create a spiritual practice that feels right for you and includes the voices of women and femmes from many traditions. I appreciated that like many newer, more socially-conscious witch resources, it emphasizes the importance of not appropriating from closed practices like Indigenous American traditions (i.e. using sage to purify the space), voudou, candomble and the like. It is not terribly in-depth but is an excellent jumping-off point on your way to discover more.

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overall enjoyable, but seemed more targeted to activists dipping their toes in the magic pool. While not a bad thing, it was kind of all over the place subject-wise.