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Magick From the Mat: Using Yoga to Enhance Your Witchcraft
Explore the Crossroads of Witchcraft and Yoga Raise your vitality, find inner peace, and enhance your magick with this hands-on, groundbreaking guide. Pairing sequences with spells and rituals, Magick from the Mat takes you on a fascinating tour through history and details how contemporary practitioners can deepen their practice of witchcraft through yoga, whether you are experienced or not. Professional witch and yoga teacher Casey Giovinco provides more than sixty poses and corresponding illustrations for developing personal power, balance, longevity, healing, and confidence. Discover ways to boost your intuition and connect with your Higher Self. Learn how to harness the elements and use them in your yoga sessions. Featuring dozens of exercises and sequences that improve your chakra work, meditations, astral travel, and sabbat celebrations, Magick from the Mat strengthens your mind, body, and Craft.
- GenresWitchcraft
264 pages, Paperback
Published August 8, 2021
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38 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
July 11, 2021
This review first appeared on Narya Nenya Vilya.
I got this book as an advanced copy from NetGalley and Llewellyn, in exchange for an honest review.
Magick from the mat by Casey Giovinco is an upcoming book that integrates witchcraft with yoga. It’s quite succesful in doing so and a generally enjoyable read.
Rating
💍️💍️💍️💍️
Four Rings To Rule Them All
What I liked about the book
Kind of weird that something like this book did not exist before, given that the witchy community has happily co-opted chakra theory and some other, often tantric, practices to enhance the magic. Looking at possible other books on the market, I only find Yoga for Witches by Sarah Robinson, but that book is mostly geared at women, and therefore not of potentially great interest to me.
In contrast, Casey Giovinco, who readers may know from the Gala (gay) tradition of witchcraft, his book Garbed in Green (which I would rate Three Rings To Rule Them All), his youtube channel, or the fun “sexy hexe” mailinglist, provides an intro to yoga geared to all genders of witches. The audience is also presumed to be at a beginner level in terms of yoga skills, so that is good as well.
There is a substantial (soft) intro to yoga as seen from the Eastern perspective, with *a lot* of terminology that could be perceived as too much upon first encounter, but which can actually act as jumping boards for the reader if they wish to explore more.
On the other hand, some basic fundaments of contemporary Western witchcraft are also touched on, such as the theory of the 4 elements (+ ether), and ways yoga postures may help with getting to know them.
For instance, for water 🜄 we get the following exercise:
What I like about this exercise is how you are gently introduced to two poses: staff pose and caterpillar pose. I can readily beginner and more advanced witches both trying to incorporate elemental feelings and using these yoga āsanas as a tool may be very effective for some.
And you get more of this type of connecting — yoga meaning ‘union’, so pun intended — in relation to the development of psychic senses (chapter 8), the Wiccan Goddess and God (chapter 9), the sabbats (chapter 10), and some specific purposes (chapter 11). I have tried some of these poses (at beginner level) and I can see the appeal and possible integration into my practice.
So all in all, quite rich in practical information. It didn’t hurt that the foreword was written by the fabulous Thorn Mooney, but did it live up to that hype? Let’s discover what I didn’t like.
What I didn’t like about the book
There are also quite a few things I didn’t like about the book. For starters, it is beyond me why a book on yoga would not include more figures of the sequences. Let’s take the water yoga exercise as an example. This is just purely based on a verbal description, and one that is not really marked as “exercise” in the book. But since this is about yoga and correct posture, just a few diagrams of the positions would have been extremely beneficial.
Related, while there is an appendix of base poses, there is no interlinking between, e.g., staff pose and caterpillar pose, for ease of reference. I don’t know if that is Giovinco dropping the ball or the publisher, but it’s not very reader-oriented.
There are some chapters that could have been left out or greatly reduced, like the chapter on chakras (no yoga postures), and even the ones on meditation or astral travel are kind of superfluous. Like, is this a book about yoga or is this just another Psychic Witch?
There’s also some questionable references. For instance, I think it’s time we let The Kybalion return to the nebulous origins of New Thought it came from.
Continuing, some nitpicks: if you’re going to sling all these Sanskrit terms at the reader, make sure you’re using a good transcription system and not the cheap diacriticless mess that occurs in all other yoga books (or make up for it in the glossary). Also, I kinda hate the spelling of magick with a k. That was good for the Cate Tiernan series but I think we’re discerning enough to know this book isn’t about teaching how to pull a rabbit out of your yoga mat.
Finally, in my advanced copy, there is mention of a youtube channel or website with more instructional videos, i.e., yoga postures. However, this was absent from my copy so I don’t know where to go but obviously that multimedia approach is a great addition to the usefulness of this book.
The verdict
There is more good than bad in this book but you need to sift through it. I wish there had been even more sequences of yoga postures (yes I’m thinking of the dragon dance in Avatar: The Last Airbender here) to connect witchcraft to a yoga practice but I’ll gladly try all of these out as the wheel turns.
I got this book as an advanced copy from NetGalley and Llewellyn, in exchange for an honest review.
Magick from the mat by Casey Giovinco is an upcoming book that integrates witchcraft with yoga. It’s quite succesful in doing so and a generally enjoyable read.
Rating
💍️💍️💍️💍️
Four Rings To Rule Them All
What I liked about the book
Witches need to take care of the physical body is because it directly impacts the success of a witch’s ability to raise and manipulate energy. The physical body isn’t just a temple for witches. It is actually a magickal tool, like the athame, the wand, or the cauldron. -Casey Giovinco (2021:27)
Kind of weird that something like this book did not exist before, given that the witchy community has happily co-opted chakra theory and some other, often tantric, practices to enhance the magic. Looking at possible other books on the market, I only find Yoga for Witches by Sarah Robinson, but that book is mostly geared at women, and therefore not of potentially great interest to me.
In contrast, Casey Giovinco, who readers may know from the Gala (gay) tradition of witchcraft, his book Garbed in Green (which I would rate Three Rings To Rule Them All), his youtube channel, or the fun “sexy hexe” mailinglist, provides an intro to yoga geared to all genders of witches. The audience is also presumed to be at a beginner level in terms of yoga skills, so that is good as well.
There is a substantial (soft) intro to yoga as seen from the Eastern perspective, with *a lot* of terminology that could be perceived as too much upon first encounter, but which can actually act as jumping boards for the reader if they wish to explore more.
On the other hand, some basic fundaments of contemporary Western witchcraft are also touched on, such as the theory of the 4 elements (+ ether), and ways yoga postures may help with getting to know them.
For instance, for water 🜄 we get the following exercise:
1. Sit with your legs out in front of you. Your knees can be slightly bent or not—whatever is comfortable for your body. Your spine should be straight and your shoulders pulled down away from your ears. This is often called staff pose.
2. Gently round the back and roll forward very, very slowly, imagining that your upper body is like the ripples on the surface of the lake. As you exhale, roll your chest and chin down toward your legs. In yin yoga, this pose is called caterpillar.
3. On the inhale, gently and slowly reverse the motion, gradually rolling your upper body back up into staff pose. Take the full length of the inhale to come back to the starting position before repeating the rounding motion again on the next exhale.
4. Repeat the process of ebb and flow in line with your breath as you visualize yourself becoming the very water within your imaginary lake.
- Giovinco (2021:66)
What I like about this exercise is how you are gently introduced to two poses: staff pose and caterpillar pose. I can readily beginner and more advanced witches both trying to incorporate elemental feelings and using these yoga āsanas as a tool may be very effective for some.
And you get more of this type of connecting — yoga meaning ‘union’, so pun intended — in relation to the development of psychic senses (chapter 8), the Wiccan Goddess and God (chapter 9), the sabbats (chapter 10), and some specific purposes (chapter 11). I have tried some of these poses (at beginner level) and I can see the appeal and possible integration into my practice.
So all in all, quite rich in practical information. It didn’t hurt that the foreword was written by the fabulous Thorn Mooney, but did it live up to that hype? Let’s discover what I didn’t like.
What I didn’t like about the book
There are also quite a few things I didn’t like about the book. For starters, it is beyond me why a book on yoga would not include more figures of the sequences. Let’s take the water yoga exercise as an example. This is just purely based on a verbal description, and one that is not really marked as “exercise” in the book. But since this is about yoga and correct posture, just a few diagrams of the positions would have been extremely beneficial.
Related, while there is an appendix of base poses, there is no interlinking between, e.g., staff pose and caterpillar pose, for ease of reference. I don’t know if that is Giovinco dropping the ball or the publisher, but it’s not very reader-oriented.
There are some chapters that could have been left out or greatly reduced, like the chapter on chakras (no yoga postures), and even the ones on meditation or astral travel are kind of superfluous. Like, is this a book about yoga or is this just another Psychic Witch?
There’s also some questionable references. For instance, I think it’s time we let The Kybalion return to the nebulous origins of New Thought it came from.
Continuing, some nitpicks: if you’re going to sling all these Sanskrit terms at the reader, make sure you’re using a good transcription system and not the cheap diacriticless mess that occurs in all other yoga books (or make up for it in the glossary). Also, I kinda hate the spelling of magick with a k. That was good for the Cate Tiernan series but I think we’re discerning enough to know this book isn’t about teaching how to pull a rabbit out of your yoga mat.
Finally, in my advanced copy, there is mention of a youtube channel or website with more instructional videos, i.e., yoga postures. However, this was absent from my copy so I don’t know where to go but obviously that multimedia approach is a great addition to the usefulness of this book.
The verdict
There is more good than bad in this book but you need to sift through it. I wish there had been even more sequences of yoga postures (yes I’m thinking of the dragon dance in Avatar: The Last Airbender here) to connect witchcraft to a yoga practice but I’ll gladly try all of these out as the wheel turns.
June 26, 2021
Well… I enjoy the foreword more than the actual book which is kinda sad tbh.
I didn’t not enjoy Magick From The Mat but I didn’t enjoy it either. I don’t know I was just so very hyped from the foreword and then quickly losed that excitement.
I’m practicing Yoga longer than I practice magic and I haven’t incorporated one into the other. There had been some grounding through Yoga but more or less in the mundane sense of it. So I was and still am very interested in how to combine those two practices at times.
The book gives some ideas on how to use Yoga to raise energy for magical workings so that was interesting enough.
There is also a lot of talk about Crowley and his writings about Yoga which… disappointed me. It fits into the “magick” spelling of the title though.
What I really didn’t like was the sexism and trans*phobia. Fits into Crowley, again. I’m also on the fence about incorporating sacred texts of Hinduism into a witchy practice. But I need (at least) one actual review of a person practicing Hinduism to be sure about that.
At least there are sources cited?
Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
I didn’t not enjoy Magick From The Mat but I didn’t enjoy it either. I don’t know I was just so very hyped from the foreword and then quickly losed that excitement.
I’m practicing Yoga longer than I practice magic and I haven’t incorporated one into the other. There had been some grounding through Yoga but more or less in the mundane sense of it. So I was and still am very interested in how to combine those two practices at times.
The book gives some ideas on how to use Yoga to raise energy for magical workings so that was interesting enough.
There is also a lot of talk about Crowley and his writings about Yoga which… disappointed me. It fits into the “magick” spelling of the title though.
What I really didn’t like was the sexism and trans*phobia. Fits into Crowley, again. I’m also on the fence about incorporating sacred texts of Hinduism into a witchy practice. But I need (at least) one actual review of a person practicing Hinduism to be sure about that.
At least there are sources cited?
Disclaimer: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.
February 2, 2022
Una lectura interesante que explica muy bien cómo se relacionan dos temas que a primera vista parecen ser opuestos, o al menos aliados inusuales. El autor va de lo más general a lo más específico, detallando cómo el yoga puede ayudar en la práctica de la brujería, conectar con las energías divinas, los elementos, e incluso desarrollar habilidades psíquicas. También incluye varías imágenes que sirven de guía para todas las poses.
An interesting reading that explains very well how two subjects that at first glance seem to be opposites, or at least unusual allies, are related. The author goes from the most general to the most specific, detailing how yoga can help in the practice of witchcraft, connect with divine energies, the elements, and even develop psychic abilities. It also includes several images that serve a guide for all the poses.
An interesting reading that explains very well how two subjects that at first glance seem to be opposites, or at least unusual allies, are related. The author goes from the most general to the most specific, detailing how yoga can help in the practice of witchcraft, connect with divine energies, the elements, and even develop psychic abilities. It also includes several images that serve a guide for all the poses.
March 22, 2024
Not quite what I was hoping for based on its own premise and the publishers description, but worth a read nonetheless.
What I was expecting and what I got were completely opposite. I think my biggest issue with this book was there wasn't a true 'voice' that spoke to me in any way throughout. It read more like a Google search result and in some areas so lightly touched the very subject it's based on that I'm left to wonder if this was in fact a project pushed out by a writer in desperate need of something to publish while the subjects of Witchcraft and Wellness/Yoga remained relevant to book sales.
In reading a spiritual volume of any angle you usually feel an energy or passion in the voice of the author. There's an excitement to get it all out and share the teaching with you. There's an overall enthusiasm.
This felt dull, without any connection and forced me to actually finish the read. While any seasoned practitioner could take the information given and use our own experience and tastes to create our own practice, the book itself doesn't even try to coach a system to this way of thinking.
Overall, a let down.
What I was expecting and what I got were completely opposite. I think my biggest issue with this book was there wasn't a true 'voice' that spoke to me in any way throughout. It read more like a Google search result and in some areas so lightly touched the very subject it's based on that I'm left to wonder if this was in fact a project pushed out by a writer in desperate need of something to publish while the subjects of Witchcraft and Wellness/Yoga remained relevant to book sales.
In reading a spiritual volume of any angle you usually feel an energy or passion in the voice of the author. There's an excitement to get it all out and share the teaching with you. There's an overall enthusiasm.
This felt dull, without any connection and forced me to actually finish the read. While any seasoned practitioner could take the information given and use our own experience and tastes to create our own practice, the book itself doesn't even try to coach a system to this way of thinking.
Overall, a let down.
January 26, 2023
Schade... ich mochte das Vorwort mehr wie das eigentliche Buch, was ein bisschen traurig ist.
Es ist nicht so, dass ich Magick from the Mat nicht mochte, aber ich mochte es auch nicht. Ich weiß auch nicht, das Vorwort hat mich einfach sehr gehyped und dann habe ich sehr schnell jegliche Aufregung verloren.
Ich praktiziere Yoga länger als ich die Hexenkunst praktiziere und bis jetzt habe ich das eine mit dem anderen nicht verbunden. Ich habe mich durch Yoga bewusst geerdet, aber mehr im nicht magischen Sinne. Deswegen war und bin ich sehr daran interessiert, wie ich beide Praktiken erfüllend miteinander kombinieren kann.
Casey Giovinco nennt ein paar Ideen, wie man mit Yoga seine Energie sammeln und für magische Zwecke nutzen kann, was recht interessant war. Es wird aber auch – ohne jegliche Kritik oder Reflektion – über Crowley und dessen Aufsätze über Yoga gesprochen, was mich... enttäuscht hat. Es passt allerdings zum Magick statt Magic des Titels.
Was ich allerdings wirklich nicht akzeptieren kann, ist der Sexismus und die Trans*phobie. Passt wieder zu Crowley. Ich bin mir außerdem unschlüssig, wie ich es finden soll, dass heilige Schriften des Hinduismus für die Hexenkunst genutzt werden. Es stößt mir unangenehm auf.
Aber immerhin sind die Quellen angegeben?
Disclaimer: Kostenloses Exemplar im Austausch für eine ehrliche Rezension erhalten. Dankeschön. | Übersetzte Rezension (Original ebenfalls von mir)
Es ist nicht so, dass ich Magick from the Mat nicht mochte, aber ich mochte es auch nicht. Ich weiß auch nicht, das Vorwort hat mich einfach sehr gehyped und dann habe ich sehr schnell jegliche Aufregung verloren.
Ich praktiziere Yoga länger als ich die Hexenkunst praktiziere und bis jetzt habe ich das eine mit dem anderen nicht verbunden. Ich habe mich durch Yoga bewusst geerdet, aber mehr im nicht magischen Sinne. Deswegen war und bin ich sehr daran interessiert, wie ich beide Praktiken erfüllend miteinander kombinieren kann.
Casey Giovinco nennt ein paar Ideen, wie man mit Yoga seine Energie sammeln und für magische Zwecke nutzen kann, was recht interessant war. Es wird aber auch – ohne jegliche Kritik oder Reflektion – über Crowley und dessen Aufsätze über Yoga gesprochen, was mich... enttäuscht hat. Es passt allerdings zum Magick statt Magic des Titels.
Was ich allerdings wirklich nicht akzeptieren kann, ist der Sexismus und die Trans*phobie. Passt wieder zu Crowley. Ich bin mir außerdem unschlüssig, wie ich es finden soll, dass heilige Schriften des Hinduismus für die Hexenkunst genutzt werden. Es stößt mir unangenehm auf.
Aber immerhin sind die Quellen angegeben?
Disclaimer: Kostenloses Exemplar im Austausch für eine ehrliche Rezension erhalten. Dankeschön. | Übersetzte Rezension (Original ebenfalls von mir)
March 5, 2023
Not for experienced witches/yogis. It got a little monotonous for me being that I have completed teaching training and I've been practicing for over 15 years. It was only hard to get through for that purpose, I felt like I was just reading things I already knew over and over again. That being said, I think it would be excellent for those who are only starting to dabble in yoga or only just pairing their practices with yoga. Not bad, not my favorite.
January 1, 2022
I loved this book and am thankful to have it in my bookshelf to forever return to. Casey takes two unique and complex topics and weaves them together seamlessly and in an easy to follow manner.
The book was laid out practically, with great suggestions for incorporating the techniques into your own practice.
I especially loved the techniques for connecting with the elements. I used his suggestion for connecting to ether, and immediately felt the buzz and vibratory feeling similar to having an OBE. This is now my shortcut method for inducing OBE's and astral projection in my own body.
Shameless plug, I also invited Casey onto my podcast (Witch Talks - A Suburban Witchery Podcast) to chat about the book because I loved it so much! His episode is ep 11 if you're interested in hearing more!
The book was laid out practically, with great suggestions for incorporating the techniques into your own practice.
I especially loved the techniques for connecting with the elements. I used his suggestion for connecting to ether, and immediately felt the buzz and vibratory feeling similar to having an OBE. This is now my shortcut method for inducing OBE's and astral projection in my own body.
Shameless plug, I also invited Casey onto my podcast (Witch Talks - A Suburban Witchery Podcast) to chat about the book because I loved it so much! His episode is ep 11 if you're interested in hearing more!
June 12, 2021
Once the reader moves past the Wiccan rhetoric a good introduction to understanding yoga begins. This makes for a great book for those new to yoga practice but finding it difficult to connect with the Hindu theory behind it. Interestingly astral projection and developing psychic ability is explored along with the idea of casting circles and invoking Wiccan deities from energy evoked from yoga poses. What makes this book a bit of a standout is the yoga sequences provided to celebrate the Wheel of the a year and specific purposes.
All of this is well researched and cited. Shame about the uninspiring cover.
*eArc provided by the publisher and NetGalley
All of this is well researched and cited. Shame about the uninspiring cover.
*eArc provided by the publisher and NetGalley
September 15, 2021
Magic from the Mat is a book that I desperately want to love. What’s not to love when you mix yoga and magic? But this book just doesn’t work for me. It felt like too much explaining and not enough of the magic I personally experience on the mat. It was also lacking in illustrations which makes me hesitant to recommend it for beginners. In all fairness, I received an eArc provided by the publisher and NetGalley which may have been missing photo tutorials or other materials that may have been added to the final version.
May 5, 2021
I like the front cover it is vey simple and I like how it tells you some history about yoga . I found the exercise really useful . I like the mediation healing exercises and I will keep using this. The information in the chapters about witches was really interesting.
Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book.
Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this book.
September 13, 2021
I received a copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
I liked this book a lot. I thought it was pretty easy to follow, and I learned some different of Magickal terms. It felt a little more like using meditation than strictly yoga, but I still found it useful.
I liked this book a lot. I thought it was pretty easy to follow, and I learned some different of Magickal terms. It felt a little more like using meditation than strictly yoga, but I still found it useful.
August 4, 2021
Trying to connect yoga to different aspects of a magical practice - which can be a great thing for those who do both. It is more informational.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews