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A Spell in the Wild: A Year (and six centuries) of Magic
Witches occupy a clear place in contemporary imagination. We can see them, emerging shadowy, from the corners of the past: mad, glamorous, difficult, strange. They haunt the footnotes of history - from medieval witches burning at the stake to the lurid glamour of the 1970s witchcraft revival.
But they are moving out of history, too. Witches are back. They’re feminist, independent, invested in self-care and care for the world.
They are here, because they must be needed…‘In A Spell in the Wild, Alice Tarbuck explores what it means to be a witch today. Where ‘witch’ was once a dangerous - and often deadly - accusation, it is now a proud self-definition. And as the world becomes ever more complicated and we face ecological, political, social and global health crises, witchcraft is experiencing a resurgence.
Magic is back. Alice describes what she practises as ‘intersectional, accessible’ witchcraft - it’s about the magic you can find in an overgrown snicket or a sixth floor stairwell; whatever your gender; whether you’re able to climb a mountain or can’t leave the house. Month by month, Alice walks us through everyday magic for extraordinary times.
But they are moving out of history, too. Witches are back. They’re feminist, independent, invested in self-care and care for the world.
They are here, because they must be needed…‘In A Spell in the Wild, Alice Tarbuck explores what it means to be a witch today. Where ‘witch’ was once a dangerous - and often deadly - accusation, it is now a proud self-definition. And as the world becomes ever more complicated and we face ecological, political, social and global health crises, witchcraft is experiencing a resurgence.
Magic is back. Alice describes what she practises as ‘intersectional, accessible’ witchcraft - it’s about the magic you can find in an overgrown snicket or a sixth floor stairwell; whatever your gender; whether you’re able to climb a mountain or can’t leave the house. Month by month, Alice walks us through everyday magic for extraordinary times.
341 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 83 reviews
October 8, 2020
Of all my reading, this book fits most closely with my sense of what magic is and where we can find it in the world. It felt like finding a friend.
December 7, 2020
I randomly came across this book in a newsletter I read by Tramp Press, who published two nonfiction books I recently read and loved, Doireann Ni Ghriofa's A Ghost In The Throat and Sara Baume's Handiwork.
Laura Waddell talked of hibernation season approaching and the desire to curl up and zone out, which she'd been doing with A Spell in the Wild, describing it as " a witch’s year broken down month by month, full of foraging, feminism, magic, and making meaning" and expounds further in this column she wrote for The Scotsman.
At the time I was reading two novels about a woman accused of being a witch, Ann Petry's Tituba of Salem Village and I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem and I thought it would be interesting to follow those up with a contemporary view of witchcraft. I really knew/know nothing of the subject, except that I suspect that virtually anything that involves the use of a woman's intuition, is often tarnished or in some way diminished by referring to it as witchy, it is rarely embraced.
Alice Tarbuck is a woman at the intersection of many interests and influences, a poet, an academic, a keen forager with a practical and intellectual interest in 'witch-story'. It is such a loaded word that this book is refreshing in its celebration of contemporary ritual and magic as well as a demystification of things historically considered witch-related, from someone who loves the natural world, words and literature, pulling her various practices together into her personal version of 'witchcraft', a blend of the practical, spiritual, academic, magical and intuitive.
She thus attempts to record a year, living in accordance with this way of being in the world, sharing it from both a practical perspective and through the vast canon of literature that has gone before.
The book is structured into twelve chapters, or months of the year, mapping seasonal occurrences, being open to the magic in the ordinary, a spell or two, sharing rituals, making suggestions and backing up much of her pondering on the subject with a wealth of literature, which is indexed at the back.
Reigning in the academic somewhat, makes it a far more accessible and compelling read, blending in personal experience, musing on and striking back at the snobbery, judgement and the often patronising behaviours of those who diminish the occult as some dark, fanciful indulgence.
An urban dweller, she also seeks to demonstrate and share the possibilities inherent in a city, the sacred spaces, the possibility of urban foraging, making use of what is around, rather than dwelling of what it is not. Debunking the myths, she makes a case for creating one's own practices, and takes us along as she enters what might be a sacred space, a forest and sits and waits. And gauges everything with a sense of humour and realism.
As I read this in December, this month entitled Midwinter and Magic in the Dark holds particular resonance. We are informed that solstice means 'sun-stop' and that in Neolithic times, sacrifices were made to entreat the sun to return. It is the month when we light candles, hang lights and create a warm ambiance indoors, a time of introspection.
The history and reference to the North Berwick witch trials, King James Daeomonologie text, Isobel Gowdie's confession and Latin treaties on witchcraft make for mesmerising reading.
Totally down to earth, yet open to the magic of being the silent observer, Alice Tarbuck introduces an enchanting perspective on connecting with nature, creating one's own simple remedies from urban foraging, keeping and displaying little things one collects on nature walks, inventing spell-poems, (which could as easily be affirmations or prayers) and a little bit of ritual and divination to see one through various difficulties.
Laura Waddell talked of hibernation season approaching and the desire to curl up and zone out, which she'd been doing with A Spell in the Wild, describing it as " a witch’s year broken down month by month, full of foraging, feminism, magic, and making meaning" and expounds further in this column she wrote for The Scotsman.
At the time I was reading two novels about a woman accused of being a witch, Ann Petry's Tituba of Salem Village and I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem and I thought it would be interesting to follow those up with a contemporary view of witchcraft. I really knew/know nothing of the subject, except that I suspect that virtually anything that involves the use of a woman's intuition, is often tarnished or in some way diminished by referring to it as witchy, it is rarely embraced.
Alice Tarbuck is a woman at the intersection of many interests and influences, a poet, an academic, a keen forager with a practical and intellectual interest in 'witch-story'. It is such a loaded word that this book is refreshing in its celebration of contemporary ritual and magic as well as a demystification of things historically considered witch-related, from someone who loves the natural world, words and literature, pulling her various practices together into her personal version of 'witchcraft', a blend of the practical, spiritual, academic, magical and intuitive.
Magic happens in all those moments when the world and you aren't separated any longer by any sort of barrier; be it the brain or the body. It is a stepping into awareness of connection, a tuning into that feeling. Witchcraft is, among other things, a good container for trying to communicate these difficult-to-talk about experiences. We aren't sure how else to articulate them, so we use metaphor, metaphysics, magic.
She thus attempts to record a year, living in accordance with this way of being in the world, sharing it from both a practical perspective and through the vast canon of literature that has gone before.
The book is structured into twelve chapters, or months of the year, mapping seasonal occurrences, being open to the magic in the ordinary, a spell or two, sharing rituals, making suggestions and backing up much of her pondering on the subject with a wealth of literature, which is indexed at the back.
Reigning in the academic somewhat, makes it a far more accessible and compelling read, blending in personal experience, musing on and striking back at the snobbery, judgement and the often patronising behaviours of those who diminish the occult as some dark, fanciful indulgence.
An urban dweller, she also seeks to demonstrate and share the possibilities inherent in a city, the sacred spaces, the possibility of urban foraging, making use of what is around, rather than dwelling of what it is not. Debunking the myths, she makes a case for creating one's own practices, and takes us along as she enters what might be a sacred space, a forest and sits and waits. And gauges everything with a sense of humour and realism.
As I read this in December, this month entitled Midwinter and Magic in the Dark holds particular resonance. We are informed that solstice means 'sun-stop' and that in Neolithic times, sacrifices were made to entreat the sun to return. It is the month when we light candles, hang lights and create a warm ambiance indoors, a time of introspection.
Most of our winter traditions boil down to ways of calling to the sun to get it going again: the spiritual equivalent of defribrillation. We all become sorcerers of light.
The history and reference to the North Berwick witch trials, King James Daeomonologie text, Isobel Gowdie's confession and Latin treaties on witchcraft make for mesmerising reading.
Totally down to earth, yet open to the magic of being the silent observer, Alice Tarbuck introduces an enchanting perspective on connecting with nature, creating one's own simple remedies from urban foraging, keeping and displaying little things one collects on nature walks, inventing spell-poems, (which could as easily be affirmations or prayers) and a little bit of ritual and divination to see one through various difficulties.
Witchcraft is, I believe, the practice of entering into relation with the world, of exerting your will in it and among it, and learning how to work with it in ways that are fruitful for yourself and the world.
Read
February 26, 2022Read for the "randos rec me 12 books on Twitter" challenge. Not my cup of tea. If you're inclined to this sort of thing you'll probably love it--well written, good sense of humour. There's some interesting historical insights also.
September 30, 2021
I will read this book again and again for the rest of my life. It offers a hopeful way of living in a messy, chaotic world, and affirms the power within each of us to contribute to protecting our environment. The most important line for me was that magical thinking is ecological thinking. We are all interconnected. While it draws on history, this is a manual for the future.
November 19, 2020
Atmospheric yet scholarly, A Spell in the Wild is an account of witchcraft, both as it is practiced in modern times, and its history over six centuries. Tarbuck describes the Medieval witch trials, those horrific tortures experienced by women accused of witchcraft, as well as visiting sites of ancient worship in Scotland and England, and describing the gods and goddesses that may be associated with them. She talks about the revival of magic in the late 19th and early 21st century, including Aleister Crowley, the early occultist, and his imperialist and misogynist interpretation of magic. Tarbuck is a witch herself, and also explains what it means to be a witch in the 21st century: how she understands herself in relation to nature, when nature is constantly under attack, how to be conscious of the environment around her and how she works in dialogue with its needs.
Set over the course of a year, Tarbuck gives us insights into how magic might be practiced in each month, as well as using this as a jumping off point to describe different aspects of the history of witchcraft and of our understanding of the natural world. While this book is very easy and enjoyable to read as a whole, it could also be used more like an almanac: to be picked up each month, and to give the reader a sense of what to forage, think about, or what aspects of the landscape might be particularly noticeable during that period. Tarbuck also includes monthly spells or rituals that ground the modern witch in time and place. One aspect that particularly fascinated me was Tarbuck's chapter on animal transformation, and the accounts women gave at their trials about their experiences with transforming into animals such as hares, and what a modern interpretation of their experiences might be.
I wondered if reading this would inspire me to start learning how to be a witch, but that doesn't quite fit with how I understand the world. However, this is a fascinating book, whether or not you are a witch: I especially enjoyed Tarbuck's studies of the history of witchcraft in Europe, and of the history of Celtic dieties. It gives the reader a richer understanding of the landscape, and her carefully reasoned and diligently researched histories offer a wealth of insight into the witch, whether she is a woman scapegoated by society or a powerful figure in her own right.
Set over the course of a year, Tarbuck gives us insights into how magic might be practiced in each month, as well as using this as a jumping off point to describe different aspects of the history of witchcraft and of our understanding of the natural world. While this book is very easy and enjoyable to read as a whole, it could also be used more like an almanac: to be picked up each month, and to give the reader a sense of what to forage, think about, or what aspects of the landscape might be particularly noticeable during that period. Tarbuck also includes monthly spells or rituals that ground the modern witch in time and place. One aspect that particularly fascinated me was Tarbuck's chapter on animal transformation, and the accounts women gave at their trials about their experiences with transforming into animals such as hares, and what a modern interpretation of their experiences might be.
I wondered if reading this would inspire me to start learning how to be a witch, but that doesn't quite fit with how I understand the world. However, this is a fascinating book, whether or not you are a witch: I especially enjoyed Tarbuck's studies of the history of witchcraft in Europe, and of the history of Celtic dieties. It gives the reader a richer understanding of the landscape, and her carefully reasoned and diligently researched histories offer a wealth of insight into the witch, whether she is a woman scapegoated by society or a powerful figure in her own right.
October 4, 2024
Hmm, I was a little disappointed in this if I'm honest.
The writing felt a little all over the place. Although the format took us through the natural year from month to month, it felt quite unstructured, as if Alice wasn't sure where to go or what to concentrate on next.
There were some interesting bits of information, particularly on witchcraft history, Scottish folklore, herbalism and the power of nature in healing, but these are things I've read around before in different books.
Overall for me this was ok, but just ok. Perhaps you need to be of Wiccan faith or a practicing witch to truly get the best from this book.
The writing felt a little all over the place. Although the format took us through the natural year from month to month, it felt quite unstructured, as if Alice wasn't sure where to go or what to concentrate on next.
There were some interesting bits of information, particularly on witchcraft history, Scottish folklore, herbalism and the power of nature in healing, but these are things I've read around before in different books.
Overall for me this was ok, but just ok. Perhaps you need to be of Wiccan faith or a practicing witch to truly get the best from this book.
October 7, 2020
I'm commander shepard and this is my favourite book on the citadel.
Seriously though, Tarbuck is the best guide through witch matters I could imagine, toeing the line beautifully through the spiritual, historical and practical aspects of contemporary magic, both accessible to newcomers like myself, and full of expertise for folks more advanced in their journeys.
Unambiguously recommended.
Seriously though, Tarbuck is the best guide through witch matters I could imagine, toeing the line beautifully through the spiritual, historical and practical aspects of contemporary magic, both accessible to newcomers like myself, and full of expertise for folks more advanced in their journeys.
Unambiguously recommended.
December 13, 2020
Roughly the first half of this book is absolutely wonderful - intriguing, informative, exciting, everything I'd expect from a modern witchy book :) unfortunately I think the second half could have done with a thorough edit. There's a lot of repetition and deviation from the original intent of the book, diving into the murky depths of the history of witchcraft - not that there's anything wrong with that, mind you! It's just that that's a different book. Alice is clearly very knowledgeable, sweet and honest, and comes across extremely loveable in this. It just felt like, towards the end, there was a word count quota to fulfil. Anyway, I still loved a lot of this book and would recommend it to anyone intrigued by modern day witchcraft and a bit of everyday magic. Much needed.
August 1, 2025
Einige der Essays haben mehr zu mir gesprochen als andere, besonders gelungen fand ich den Teil über Runen und imagined history
July 30, 2025
My companion for the last year! A truly hypnotic, peaceful and informative journey through the year weaving past and present together. 🧙♀️ 🌳 ⛱️ 🌧 🎃 🍂 ❄️
April 3, 2022
Disappointed. I thought it would take you through the year with some wild magic and observations of nature but i found it to be a lot of useless drivel to be honest! Maybe I am too old to be reading books by younger witches now that seem to repeat the same things already written about. But if it’s witchcraft books through the seasons you are after there are better ones out there.
March 15, 2023
Book Review: 🍃 A SPELL IN THE WILD 🍃 by Alice Tarbuck.
Ideas have a kind of magnetism. You start to think about something and then it shows up everywhere. I taught The Crucible to a senior class last term and the idea of witches and witchery and magic has kept popping up: I'll meet a new friend who shares with me her belief in modern witchcraft; I overhear a conversation between two women in a coffee shop, discussing the relationship between witchcraft, ecology, climate change, feminism; a book on witchcraft wins book of the month at my local bookstore and the books are piled high by the entrance; this rogue book gets left behind on a coffee table in the café where I write; I start to think about one of the characters in my new novel and her connections to to nature and to magic...
So, I was meant to pick up a Spell in the Wild, a beautiful, genre defying book - a blend of nature writing, self-help, history, philosophy, anthropology, memoir.
Tarbuck's writing is gorgeous and her premise is deeply nourishing: that we all have a chance to reconnect with the magic in our lives, wherever we are - whether that be in an ancient forest or in the cracks of the pavement of our city. The book is about transformation through attention - both of our inner landscape and of the things we give attention to. It's generous and kind and forgiving and reminds us of the importance of cultivating awe and - my word for 2023 - wonder.
The book is structured around the months of the year and each chapter looks at aspect of both ancient and modern witchcraft and ends with a spell or an exercise that even the most ordinary of us can take part in, to invite some magical energy into our lives.
I underlined huge chunks of it but here's a quotation that sums it up well: 'Magic is turning to the world, and seeing it, and knowing we are indistinguishable from it, in all our embodied, strange, soft and edgeless forms. We are in the world and the world is in us, an that strange network...is what thrums with power.'
A Spell in the Wild: A Year (and Six Centuries) of Magic
Ideas have a kind of magnetism. You start to think about something and then it shows up everywhere. I taught The Crucible to a senior class last term and the idea of witches and witchery and magic has kept popping up: I'll meet a new friend who shares with me her belief in modern witchcraft; I overhear a conversation between two women in a coffee shop, discussing the relationship between witchcraft, ecology, climate change, feminism; a book on witchcraft wins book of the month at my local bookstore and the books are piled high by the entrance; this rogue book gets left behind on a coffee table in the café where I write; I start to think about one of the characters in my new novel and her connections to to nature and to magic...
So, I was meant to pick up a Spell in the Wild, a beautiful, genre defying book - a blend of nature writing, self-help, history, philosophy, anthropology, memoir.
Tarbuck's writing is gorgeous and her premise is deeply nourishing: that we all have a chance to reconnect with the magic in our lives, wherever we are - whether that be in an ancient forest or in the cracks of the pavement of our city. The book is about transformation through attention - both of our inner landscape and of the things we give attention to. It's generous and kind and forgiving and reminds us of the importance of cultivating awe and - my word for 2023 - wonder.
The book is structured around the months of the year and each chapter looks at aspect of both ancient and modern witchcraft and ends with a spell or an exercise that even the most ordinary of us can take part in, to invite some magical energy into our lives.
I underlined huge chunks of it but here's a quotation that sums it up well: 'Magic is turning to the world, and seeing it, and knowing we are indistinguishable from it, in all our embodied, strange, soft and edgeless forms. We are in the world and the world is in us, an that strange network...is what thrums with power.'
A Spell in the Wild: A Year (and Six Centuries) of Magic
April 24, 2021
A beautifully written exploration into the magic we can find everyday in our lives and how the practice has changed and evolved over centuries.
Alice makes the case that we don't need to sit in an ancient stone circle or remote forest glade to be connected to the Earth or be able to shape or influence our lives through magic. Instead it is ever present in our urban concrete lives and we can still work with, and harness nature whatever our lives look like.
I completely agree with this, magic doesn't need to be complex, it can be simple, and it certainly can be worked without expensive supplies or pristine environments.
Highly recommended!
Alice makes the case that we don't need to sit in an ancient stone circle or remote forest glade to be connected to the Earth or be able to shape or influence our lives through magic. Instead it is ever present in our urban concrete lives and we can still work with, and harness nature whatever our lives look like.
I completely agree with this, magic doesn't need to be complex, it can be simple, and it certainly can be worked without expensive supplies or pristine environments.
Highly recommended!
April 15, 2022
I can't remember how I found out about this or what I expected as I'm not particularly into the idea of magic but I really enjoyed this. Really interesting quite wide ranging/rambling, accessible and engaging.
"What a deep joy I think, to spend one's life trying to find new threads to connect us to the world, new ways of speaking with its secret corners, new points and moments of connection. We are of the world, and it is of us, and we are wholly bound to it: what a privilege to be able to develop our knowledge of it through our senses, through our attention, through our determination to bear witness to new ways of working and being."
"What a deep joy I think, to spend one's life trying to find new threads to connect us to the world, new ways of speaking with its secret corners, new points and moments of connection. We are of the world, and it is of us, and we are wholly bound to it: what a privilege to be able to develop our knowledge of it through our senses, through our attention, through our determination to bear witness to new ways of working and being."
July 16, 2023
A beautiful book, one I will no doubt return to. It helped me find my footing with my spirituality again, put into words how I felt about witchcraft. Also enjoyed how it wasn't afraid to criticise aspects of the practice. At times I felt there were almost too many ideas on each page, but otherwise was great. Interesting blend of the academic, autobiographical and the heartfelt.
January 17, 2024
I'm sorry to say that this book was not for me. I am a forager myself, I love to be in (tune with) nature, but this book felt like a mostly esoteric rambling. I am not sure why I felt this way but the book mostly annoyed me and while the tidbits of history were interesting, the majority just felt too random to me. Meh.
November 9, 2020
I recommend this book if you want to explore nature, magic and childhood memories, because they are all entwined in Tarbuck's enchanting writing. I loved her descriptions of nature - beautiful and vivid. A dive into the natural world and our place within it.
September 1, 2022
I have read this, a chapter a month, over the course of a year. It has been a real treat, and I have looked forward to each part. One of the best, and most sensible, books on witchcraft I have read in the last few years. It is beautifully written, well researched, and uses references to back up points made.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and will certainly do so again.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and will certainly do so again.
July 7, 2023
A lovely meandering stroll through history and magic.
September 7, 2023
3.5 stars ✨️
October 1, 2025
Read monthly starting last September as the book is written, great read esp for anyone familiar with Edinburgh
September 27, 2024
DNF at 45%. I really wanted to like this book, but I could not push myself through it. It was less about personal practice than I expected it to be. Each chapter is devoted to a certain aspect of Witchcraft, however, they do not necessarily have anything to do with the month that the chapter claims to be discussing. I think this did not need to follow a "wheel of the year/month-by-month practice" sort of format. This could have been structured as a book on intersectional Witchcraft and the nuances of modern practice. Also, the book was in need of another round of editing.
September 1, 2023
I've been reading this book for the last year, month by month, and this format was so enjoyable. I like sept-jan best, and then it kind of dropped off for me. I want to read more books in this format, all I've found so far is some gardening or cooking by the seasons, but if anyone has any recommendations let me know!
April 14, 2023
interesting book recommended by a friend
quite different to most witchcraft related books I've read, a personal touch with simple spells dotting at the end of each chapter that relates to a month of the year.
video review here: https://youtu.be/FilMC9ImNvM
quite different to most witchcraft related books I've read, a personal touch with simple spells dotting at the end of each chapter that relates to a month of the year.
video review here: https://youtu.be/FilMC9ImNvM
April 27, 2022
This book is a very personal (and quite meandering) journey through the months with the author, substantially a memoir, with folklore history and musings on modern views of magic interspersed throughout. Tarbuck has a lovely and quite poetic writing style, and she is clearly knowledgeable, passionate, and well-researched, however this is definitely not an academic-leaning text (despite their academic background) nor is it instructive. I can see some people went into this expecting something more along these lines – that’s not what this book is! If you’re looking for more substantial folklore/magic history then I’d suggest starting somewhere else (and Tarbuck, although knowledgeable, isn’t a folklore expert.)
I bought this book slightly sheepishly because I'm not totally at peace with my own crunchiness, despite being arguably... really quite crunchy. See? Even here I end up talking about crunchiness instead of going near words like 'magic' or 'witchiness' because I'm EMBARRASSED. It's EMBARRASSING. I have Moments with wild animals out and about where I'm convinced we had an understanding, I brought home a rabbit skull yesterday (while foraging for nettles) to add to my collection of special things, I have more tarot decks than a person who wasn't interested in tarot would have, and my neighbours have quite possibly seen me putting a salt circle down around my house at night. Despite finding it charming when other people just embrace their own eccentricities, for myself, I find Being This Way deeply EMBARRASSING.
I overshare in this way to say that if you too are in the position of being embarrassed by Being This Way because you think of yourself of being too "sensible" (ugh) or something similar, then this book is especially lovely - it's very earnest, but very considered. This is the kind of approach that works for me!
For example: As Tarbuck explains, Tarot is not an ancient fortune telling method. It was a card game that we collectively decided to get spooky about in the 18th century. But... that's okay. We can get spooky about the cards if we enjoy that! There's a section where Tarbuck explains how much she likes revelling in the ceremony of tarot, enjoying unwrapping it for a reading and leaning into the ritual of it. I just really like the idea you can just like doing something, perhaps find it useful, and that maybe whether or not you ""believe"" doesn't even matter. Maybe all those defensive little "well it's not that I BELIEVE it but it's a useful tool for self-reflection" bits of nonsense aren't even worth saying. Maybe I just like unwrapping my spooky little cards and having my spooky little thoughts. Maybe nothing else really needs to be said!
What does need to be said, however, is the kind of thing Tarbuck also addresses: such as runes. Runes were also not traditionally a divination tool, they were just an alphabet. (As a Sensible Medievalist, this pervading idea that they've always been occult kind of drives me nuts. But as a spooky little creature... I also can't help but like a spooky little rune.) The move to popularise and turn runes into a divination method was, however, very entrenched with the Nazi party. Things like this matter, and one thing I’ve struggled with in a lot of more traditional witchy musings is the assumption that we can ignore this. (It’s also worth noting at this point that Tarbuck does talk similarly (as a queer person) about the ways in which gender essentialism and heteronormativity have been very present in lots of modern paganism. I couldn’t get along with a book like this that didn’t address these sorts of things.)
All this to say, I enjoyed this a lot and I loved the personal journey through Tarbuck’s year. It gave me some things to think about, and I feel a bit more like just having my spooky little thoughts and doing my spooky little things without going out of my way to be mortified about it when all I'm doing is having a good time.
I bought this book slightly sheepishly because I'm not totally at peace with my own crunchiness, despite being arguably... really quite crunchy. See? Even here I end up talking about crunchiness instead of going near words like 'magic' or 'witchiness' because I'm EMBARRASSED. It's EMBARRASSING. I have Moments with wild animals out and about where I'm convinced we had an understanding, I brought home a rabbit skull yesterday (while foraging for nettles) to add to my collection of special things, I have more tarot decks than a person who wasn't interested in tarot would have, and my neighbours have quite possibly seen me putting a salt circle down around my house at night. Despite finding it charming when other people just embrace their own eccentricities, for myself, I find Being This Way deeply EMBARRASSING.
I overshare in this way to say that if you too are in the position of being embarrassed by Being This Way because you think of yourself of being too "sensible" (ugh) or something similar, then this book is especially lovely - it's very earnest, but very considered. This is the kind of approach that works for me!
For example: As Tarbuck explains, Tarot is not an ancient fortune telling method. It was a card game that we collectively decided to get spooky about in the 18th century. But... that's okay. We can get spooky about the cards if we enjoy that! There's a section where Tarbuck explains how much she likes revelling in the ceremony of tarot, enjoying unwrapping it for a reading and leaning into the ritual of it. I just really like the idea you can just like doing something, perhaps find it useful, and that maybe whether or not you ""believe"" doesn't even matter. Maybe all those defensive little "well it's not that I BELIEVE it but it's a useful tool for self-reflection" bits of nonsense aren't even worth saying. Maybe I just like unwrapping my spooky little cards and having my spooky little thoughts. Maybe nothing else really needs to be said!
What does need to be said, however, is the kind of thing Tarbuck also addresses: such as runes. Runes were also not traditionally a divination tool, they were just an alphabet. (As a Sensible Medievalist, this pervading idea that they've always been occult kind of drives me nuts. But as a spooky little creature... I also can't help but like a spooky little rune.) The move to popularise and turn runes into a divination method was, however, very entrenched with the Nazi party. Things like this matter, and one thing I’ve struggled with in a lot of more traditional witchy musings is the assumption that we can ignore this. (It’s also worth noting at this point that Tarbuck does talk similarly (as a queer person) about the ways in which gender essentialism and heteronormativity have been very present in lots of modern paganism. I couldn’t get along with a book like this that didn’t address these sorts of things.)
All this to say, I enjoyed this a lot and I loved the personal journey through Tarbuck’s year. It gave me some things to think about, and I feel a bit more like just having my spooky little thoughts and doing my spooky little things without going out of my way to be mortified about it when all I'm doing is having a good time.
December 6, 2021
Apologies for the lack of apostrophes in this review - my key isnt working. It would niggle at me to read something without appropriate apostrophes. If you feel the same, youre my kinda person.
This book got a lot of hype on my Twitter feed by people I respect, so I pre-ordered it. I wish I hadnt. Rarely do I put a book down before finishing it. This is one of those exceptions.
The book starts with a fox story. Im fox people spiritually, as well as having a long line of ancestors named Fuchs (Fox). Even if you dont come from fox people, hers was the type of story that grabs the reader. Such promise followed by so much disappointment.
The book is segmented into chapters named by month, which implies a specific contract with the reader. In the 4 chapters I read, the content only loosely matches the month in the title. Contract between author & reader, null & void. So already Im unhappy.
However, there were several things that needed to be said about inclusivity in the craft, for all sorts of folk who may feel sidelined - poor, disabled, urban, spiritually repressed. In regard to the last category, the author mentions being seen & judged by others, how to protect oneself. Thats realistic & good to mention. But then she wriggles this into several other subjects, at one point describing an outdoor ritual she did while imagining what all the strangers passing by were thinking about her.
That was the first time I put down the book. Then there was a prolonged apology for Pan which could have been a footnote, & the dead horse she beat about how special she is because she can smell snow. Ive never taken a poll, but smelling snow is a pretty standard thing in my circle.
Anyway, I finally gave up when her section on climate change annoyed me. I mean, who gets mad at someone concerned over climate change? I realised that Id come to dislike the authors style so much, nothing she said would appeal to me.
So why give her 3 stars? Well, shes a good writer. Shes got a good historical/folklore knowledge base. She has interesting things to say. Have to give her credit for that. Unfortunate all that lacked the voice of a confident witch. This author knows a lot, but shes not ready to teach.
This book got a lot of hype on my Twitter feed by people I respect, so I pre-ordered it. I wish I hadnt. Rarely do I put a book down before finishing it. This is one of those exceptions.
The book starts with a fox story. Im fox people spiritually, as well as having a long line of ancestors named Fuchs (Fox). Even if you dont come from fox people, hers was the type of story that grabs the reader. Such promise followed by so much disappointment.
The book is segmented into chapters named by month, which implies a specific contract with the reader. In the 4 chapters I read, the content only loosely matches the month in the title. Contract between author & reader, null & void. So already Im unhappy.
However, there were several things that needed to be said about inclusivity in the craft, for all sorts of folk who may feel sidelined - poor, disabled, urban, spiritually repressed. In regard to the last category, the author mentions being seen & judged by others, how to protect oneself. Thats realistic & good to mention. But then she wriggles this into several other subjects, at one point describing an outdoor ritual she did while imagining what all the strangers passing by were thinking about her.
That was the first time I put down the book. Then there was a prolonged apology for Pan which could have been a footnote, & the dead horse she beat about how special she is because she can smell snow. Ive never taken a poll, but smelling snow is a pretty standard thing in my circle.
Anyway, I finally gave up when her section on climate change annoyed me. I mean, who gets mad at someone concerned over climate change? I realised that Id come to dislike the authors style so much, nothing she said would appeal to me.
So why give her 3 stars? Well, shes a good writer. Shes got a good historical/folklore knowledge base. She has interesting things to say. Have to give her credit for that. Unfortunate all that lacked the voice of a confident witch. This author knows a lot, but shes not ready to teach.
October 31, 2021
I had such high hopes for this one! There were some lovely sections, but over all it was a bit of a disappointment. As other reviewers mentioned, it starts out strong but gets rather repetitive and rambly towards the end. I wish it had been more seasonal, more about nature, more of a memoir. I appreciated all the research and citations, but sometimes she made claims that I know are false (like about the Edinburgh cafe where JK Rowling spent some time-- which is a small detail, I know, but I was just there this summer and saw where she worked) and it made me wonder if other un-cited things she said were entirely true.
Magic is a hugely personal practice, and has as many variations as cultures in the world. I wish she had acknowledged the difference between witchcraft and practicing the Wiccan religion, and I wish she had explored global witchcraft more instead of sticking to the European realm.
I disagreed with the author's perspective more than I expected, but I appreciate that she shared herself so honestly, and it was insightful to read about her experience in and of the world.
Magic is a hugely personal practice, and has as many variations as cultures in the world. I wish she had acknowledged the difference between witchcraft and practicing the Wiccan religion, and I wish she had explored global witchcraft more instead of sticking to the European realm.
I disagreed with the author's perspective more than I expected, but I appreciate that she shared herself so honestly, and it was insightful to read about her experience in and of the world.
Read
May 3, 2025Book Review: A Spell in the Wild: A Year (and Six Centuries) of Magic – A Woman’s Reclamation of Witchcraft as Knowledge, Resistance, and Ritual
Alice Tarbuck’s A Spell in the Wild is a transformative work that redefines witchcraft not as a relic of superstition but as a living, intellectual, and deeply feminist practice. Blending memoir, historical analysis, and poetic observation, Tarbuck—a scholar and poet—chronicles a year of magical engagement with the natural world, threading her personal journey through six centuries of witch lore. Written from the perspective of a woman navigating academia, modernity, and ecological precarity, the book argues that witchcraft is a radical epistemology: a way of knowing that centers intuition, embodiment, and marginalized histories.
Thesis and Framework: Witchcraft as Feminist Praxis
Tarbuck’s core contention is that witchcraft has always been a site of women’s resistance—to patriarchy, to the commodification of nature, and to the rigid binaries of rational/irrational. She dismantles the caricature of the witch (often weaponized to silence women) by reconstructing her as a figure of agency: a healer, a scientist of herbs, a keeper of communal memory. The book’s structure—organized by months and seasonal cycles—mirrors the cyclical, nonlinear wisdom of witchcraft itself. Each chapter interweaves historical research (e.g., Scottish witch trials, folk remedies) with Tarbuck’s contemporary rituals, illustrating how magic persists as a subversive dialogue between past and present.
Narrative Power: The Personal as Political
The most compelling passages are those where Tarbuck’s academic rigor meets raw vulnerability. She recounts brewing protective charms during personal crises, foraging for plants as acts of ecological solidarity, and tracing her own lineage to uncover silenced stories of accused witches. Her background as a poet infuses the prose with lyrical precision, particularly in descriptions of landscapes: a frostbitten meadow becomes a grimoire; a storm crackles with ancestral voices. Notably, she avoids romanticizing witchcraft, acknowledging its complexities—the weight of inherited trauma, the ethical dilemmas of cultural appropriation, and the loneliness of being a woman who dares to claim power in a disenchanted world.
Key Interventions
Reclaiming the Witch’s Body: Tarbuck reframes the witch’s “wildness” as a rejection of patriarchal control over women’s bodies and autonomy, linking historical persecution to modern-day surveillance of female sexuality and reproductive rights.
Magic as Ecological Activism: Her rituals—marking solstices, honoring decaying leaves—model a kinship with nature that challenges capitalist extraction, positioning witchcraft as a form of environmental praxis.
The Banality of Modern Magic: She highlights how everyday acts (baking bread, observing birds) can be sacred when infused with intentionality, democratizing access to the mystical.
Gaps and Opportunities
While Tarbuck’s focus on British and Scottish witchcraft is richly detailed, the book could benefit from broader engagement with global Indigenous and diasporic traditions (e.g., Caribbean obeah, Mexican curanderismo) to deepen its intersectional analysis. A deeper critique of neoliberalism’s co-optation of “witch aesthetics” might also strengthen her argument.
Verdict: 4.7/5
A Spell in the Wild is a grimoire for the 21st-century woman—one part manifesto, one part spellbook. Tarbuck’s writing, both erudite and intimate, invites readers to see magic not as escapism but as a lens for re-enchanting the ordinary and confronting systemic erasure. It’s essential reading for feminists, environmentalists, and anyone who’s ever felt the pull of the unseen.
Why Women Should Read This:
Reclaims Marginalized Histories: Restores the witch as a figure of intellectual and spiritual authority.
Sanctifies the Domestic: Celebrates “women’s work” (herbalism, cooking, caregiving) as alchemy.
Offers a Blueprint for Resistance: Teaches how to wield ritual as a tool against alienation and disempowerment.
Read This If: You’ve ever whispered a wish into the wind, or if you’ve sensed that the world holds more mysteries than capitalism permits. Tarbuck’s answer is clear: magic was never lost—only waiting for us to remember.
Alice Tarbuck’s A Spell in the Wild is a transformative work that redefines witchcraft not as a relic of superstition but as a living, intellectual, and deeply feminist practice. Blending memoir, historical analysis, and poetic observation, Tarbuck—a scholar and poet—chronicles a year of magical engagement with the natural world, threading her personal journey through six centuries of witch lore. Written from the perspective of a woman navigating academia, modernity, and ecological precarity, the book argues that witchcraft is a radical epistemology: a way of knowing that centers intuition, embodiment, and marginalized histories.
Thesis and Framework: Witchcraft as Feminist Praxis
Tarbuck’s core contention is that witchcraft has always been a site of women’s resistance—to patriarchy, to the commodification of nature, and to the rigid binaries of rational/irrational. She dismantles the caricature of the witch (often weaponized to silence women) by reconstructing her as a figure of agency: a healer, a scientist of herbs, a keeper of communal memory. The book’s structure—organized by months and seasonal cycles—mirrors the cyclical, nonlinear wisdom of witchcraft itself. Each chapter interweaves historical research (e.g., Scottish witch trials, folk remedies) with Tarbuck’s contemporary rituals, illustrating how magic persists as a subversive dialogue between past and present.
Narrative Power: The Personal as Political
The most compelling passages are those where Tarbuck’s academic rigor meets raw vulnerability. She recounts brewing protective charms during personal crises, foraging for plants as acts of ecological solidarity, and tracing her own lineage to uncover silenced stories of accused witches. Her background as a poet infuses the prose with lyrical precision, particularly in descriptions of landscapes: a frostbitten meadow becomes a grimoire; a storm crackles with ancestral voices. Notably, she avoids romanticizing witchcraft, acknowledging its complexities—the weight of inherited trauma, the ethical dilemmas of cultural appropriation, and the loneliness of being a woman who dares to claim power in a disenchanted world.
Key Interventions
Reclaiming the Witch’s Body: Tarbuck reframes the witch’s “wildness” as a rejection of patriarchal control over women’s bodies and autonomy, linking historical persecution to modern-day surveillance of female sexuality and reproductive rights.
Magic as Ecological Activism: Her rituals—marking solstices, honoring decaying leaves—model a kinship with nature that challenges capitalist extraction, positioning witchcraft as a form of environmental praxis.
The Banality of Modern Magic: She highlights how everyday acts (baking bread, observing birds) can be sacred when infused with intentionality, democratizing access to the mystical.
Gaps and Opportunities
While Tarbuck’s focus on British and Scottish witchcraft is richly detailed, the book could benefit from broader engagement with global Indigenous and diasporic traditions (e.g., Caribbean obeah, Mexican curanderismo) to deepen its intersectional analysis. A deeper critique of neoliberalism’s co-optation of “witch aesthetics” might also strengthen her argument.
Verdict: 4.7/5
A Spell in the Wild is a grimoire for the 21st-century woman—one part manifesto, one part spellbook. Tarbuck’s writing, both erudite and intimate, invites readers to see magic not as escapism but as a lens for re-enchanting the ordinary and confronting systemic erasure. It’s essential reading for feminists, environmentalists, and anyone who’s ever felt the pull of the unseen.
Why Women Should Read This:
Reclaims Marginalized Histories: Restores the witch as a figure of intellectual and spiritual authority.
Sanctifies the Domestic: Celebrates “women’s work” (herbalism, cooking, caregiving) as alchemy.
Offers a Blueprint for Resistance: Teaches how to wield ritual as a tool against alienation and disempowerment.
Read This If: You’ve ever whispered a wish into the wind, or if you’ve sensed that the world holds more mysteries than capitalism permits. Tarbuck’s answer is clear: magic was never lost—only waiting for us to remember.
October 22, 2020
A beautiful, captivating, deeply personal exploration of witchcraft and what it means to inhabit the world. Tarbuck takes us on a journey through the wheel of year, blending autobiographical experience with rigorous research in such a way that one cannot help but be captivated.
A real strength of this book is the narrative voice which, each chapter, entices the reader in with poetic, evocative images, inviting us to share Tarbuck‘s journey. From the very first line of the introduction, I was entranced; a gentle, quiet tale of an urban fox following the narrator home. It was a lovely tale, giving me that moment of insight into Tarbuck’s life and experience. It felt like the start a conversation: “This is who I am, and I how I came to follow this path. We all have our own stories and I would also love to hear yours.”
Each chapter, each month, is similar in that regard; we step into her life, joining her in her experiencing of that season and the thoughts and reflections it brings and, then, almost without realising, we are taken on a journey spanning centuries, leading us down all manner of fascinating, often unexpected, paths. She discusses the history of witchcraft and magic and of ecology and tradition, and all the while maintaining that deeply personal feel. Each chapter covers a different topic, rigorously researched and full of intrigue: even on topics I considered I knew well I found myself learning things I had never known before, and I ended each chapter eager to read the next. And always, she brings us back, ties up the ends and we find ourselves back with the narrator in the world she inhabits.
This book is deeply reflective. Always we find Tarbuck taking the topic and scrutinising it in detail, questioning the assumptions of those who’ve come before her and drawing her own conclusions. There is a strong morality contained in the narrative; not one that necessarily condemns, but one that always asks the reader to consider the implications of a practice or a tradition, and promotes a philosophy of inclusivity and acceptance. In witchcraft, where there have historically been all manner of authoritative voices proclaiming how things should be done, this is refreshing and highly welcome.
This acceptance is no accident or token gesture, but seems in fact to be core to the beliefs and philosophies Tarbuck takes pains to describe. She invites the reader to join her, to be included as part of her journey, and her journey is one of discovering how much a part of the world she is. Importantly, the “World” of a Spell in the Wild is not some remote region, inaccessible to all but the privileged few, and neither is it contained in some long past region of nostalgic time, but is here and now, wherever and whenever that is. Tarbuck invites the reader to discover that the wild exists everywhere and in everyone, be it in a remote island far from civilisation or in the depths of an urban jungle. This is the heart of the book: the idea that we can all reconnect with the wild and weave our magics regardless of who we are or where, and the path of the witch is precisely that art of discovering anew the world that is in everything. As Tarbuck herself acknowledges, this is something that can be achieved perhaps without even a belief in what might be termed the supernatural - instead, we are simply asked to open our eyes to very real, natural world before us and work in all the ways we can towards making it thrive.
This is a book for anyone with in an interest not just in witchcraft and occult, but in reconnecting with nature in our increasingly urban lives. It makes the reader look again at the world immediately around then and rediscover it anew.
A real strength of this book is the narrative voice which, each chapter, entices the reader in with poetic, evocative images, inviting us to share Tarbuck‘s journey. From the very first line of the introduction, I was entranced; a gentle, quiet tale of an urban fox following the narrator home. It was a lovely tale, giving me that moment of insight into Tarbuck’s life and experience. It felt like the start a conversation: “This is who I am, and I how I came to follow this path. We all have our own stories and I would also love to hear yours.”
Each chapter, each month, is similar in that regard; we step into her life, joining her in her experiencing of that season and the thoughts and reflections it brings and, then, almost without realising, we are taken on a journey spanning centuries, leading us down all manner of fascinating, often unexpected, paths. She discusses the history of witchcraft and magic and of ecology and tradition, and all the while maintaining that deeply personal feel. Each chapter covers a different topic, rigorously researched and full of intrigue: even on topics I considered I knew well I found myself learning things I had never known before, and I ended each chapter eager to read the next. And always, she brings us back, ties up the ends and we find ourselves back with the narrator in the world she inhabits.
This book is deeply reflective. Always we find Tarbuck taking the topic and scrutinising it in detail, questioning the assumptions of those who’ve come before her and drawing her own conclusions. There is a strong morality contained in the narrative; not one that necessarily condemns, but one that always asks the reader to consider the implications of a practice or a tradition, and promotes a philosophy of inclusivity and acceptance. In witchcraft, where there have historically been all manner of authoritative voices proclaiming how things should be done, this is refreshing and highly welcome.
This acceptance is no accident or token gesture, but seems in fact to be core to the beliefs and philosophies Tarbuck takes pains to describe. She invites the reader to join her, to be included as part of her journey, and her journey is one of discovering how much a part of the world she is. Importantly, the “World” of a Spell in the Wild is not some remote region, inaccessible to all but the privileged few, and neither is it contained in some long past region of nostalgic time, but is here and now, wherever and whenever that is. Tarbuck invites the reader to discover that the wild exists everywhere and in everyone, be it in a remote island far from civilisation or in the depths of an urban jungle. This is the heart of the book: the idea that we can all reconnect with the wild and weave our magics regardless of who we are or where, and the path of the witch is precisely that art of discovering anew the world that is in everything. As Tarbuck herself acknowledges, this is something that can be achieved perhaps without even a belief in what might be termed the supernatural - instead, we are simply asked to open our eyes to very real, natural world before us and work in all the ways we can towards making it thrive.
This is a book for anyone with in an interest not just in witchcraft and occult, but in reconnecting with nature in our increasingly urban lives. It makes the reader look again at the world immediately around then and rediscover it anew.
April 14, 2021
This is an excellent book, part memoir, part essay on various magical practices, with lots of interesting historical tidbits, all very thoughtful and, well, I guess the word is warm. It's like having a wide-ranging conversation with one of those friends who know a lot of cool stuff, and seem to connect effortlessly to other people. Since I read a lot of more "academic" work (as a genre, not meaning that one mode is more worthy of professional respect than the other), and have had to edit some stuff in an academic style, I really appreciated the loose, discursive style, where personal experiences and observations lead to more theoretical musings, and one topic flows into another. It was very refreshing! And always stayed enough on a topic so it never felt disjointed to me. The style seemed reflective of the content, which at heart was a lot about the history of magical practices (mostly Western; the author is based in Edinburgh) and how they relate to people in the modern world.
One thing, and this is why it took me so long to finish it: this is formatted in monthly chapters, this one running from September to August, and historically I've had a hard time with those. I always want to read each month's section during that month, but I lose track, get behind, and then read ahead, so I'm reading the seasonal stuff out of season ... And that's exactly what I did with this one, first getting way ahead, then behind. But I finally read ahead and finished it. Since I really liked the content, I didn't want it to get too out of sight, out of mind.
Also, I did have to order this from the UK.
Looking forward to the author's further work!
One thing, and this is why it took me so long to finish it: this is formatted in monthly chapters, this one running from September to August, and historically I've had a hard time with those. I always want to read each month's section during that month, but I lose track, get behind, and then read ahead, so I'm reading the seasonal stuff out of season ... And that's exactly what I did with this one, first getting way ahead, then behind. But I finally read ahead and finished it. Since I really liked the content, I didn't want it to get too out of sight, out of mind.
Also, I did have to order this from the UK.
Looking forward to the author's further work!
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