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Curse and Cure: Magic for Real Life
Curse and Magic for Real Life is the book about witchcraft you’ve been waiting for.
Written in the non-denominational and no bullshit, academic yet wildly approachable style Sabrina Scott is known for, this book will teach you all you need to know about getting started as a witch - all without any pushiness, gender essentialism, spiritual bypassing, and the idea that your practice needs to look like anyone else’s. From in-depth musings on cultural background and different types of ancestors, to extensive teachings on energy work, magical timing, and ritual, to reminders about magical ethics, expertise, and what it means to be a discerning witch online, Curse and Cure is an indispensable magical guide for the discerning, smart witch making their way in today’s scientific and spiritual world.
Whether you’ve been dabbling in witchy spaces for a few decades, or just bought your first sticks of incense yesterday, your practice will be both solidified and transformed by the teachings in this book.
Sabrina Scott is a professional witch and spiritual teacher with more than 20 years of experience, 200+ students, and clientele worldwide. She has been profiled by Vice, Broadly, Refinery29, Yahoo, Witches Magazine, Ghosts Magazine, and more. She is the creator of graphic novel Witchbody . This is her second book.
Written in the non-denominational and no bullshit, academic yet wildly approachable style Sabrina Scott is known for, this book will teach you all you need to know about getting started as a witch - all without any pushiness, gender essentialism, spiritual bypassing, and the idea that your practice needs to look like anyone else’s. From in-depth musings on cultural background and different types of ancestors, to extensive teachings on energy work, magical timing, and ritual, to reminders about magical ethics, expertise, and what it means to be a discerning witch online, Curse and Cure is an indispensable magical guide for the discerning, smart witch making their way in today’s scientific and spiritual world.
Whether you’ve been dabbling in witchy spaces for a few decades, or just bought your first sticks of incense yesterday, your practice will be both solidified and transformed by the teachings in this book.
Sabrina Scott is a professional witch and spiritual teacher with more than 20 years of experience, 200+ students, and clientele worldwide. She has been profiled by Vice, Broadly, Refinery29, Yahoo, Witches Magazine, Ghosts Magazine, and more. She is the creator of graphic novel Witchbody . This is her second book.
240 pages, Paperback
Published September 6, 2022
6 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
April 20, 2024
I read this book for a communal book club and I have a lot of feelings. First and foremost, if you’re going to be picking this up there needs to be a HUGE TW for sexual assault throughout this magical “book”. As another human, I do worry about how she drops these in Willy nilly with no care for the reader, when the entire book reads as though she doesn’t want to upset the reader. Theoretically with witchcraft books, we are picking it up to learn about their practice but throughout she’s constantly contradicting herself, only plugging witch body and barely other resources, and not standing firm in her own beliefs (which in theory again, is why we’d be picking this book up in the first place).
I do think, buried in the poems and fluffed up small font, there are valuable correspondences, tips, insights, but none of which are assigned to their “section” and buried somewhere else where you are more likely to miss them.
I would not recommend this to beginners, I was hoping it was an insight to her own practice, left pretty disappointed.
I do think, buried in the poems and fluffed up small font, there are valuable correspondences, tips, insights, but none of which are assigned to their “section” and buried somewhere else where you are more likely to miss them.
I would not recommend this to beginners, I was hoping it was an insight to her own practice, left pretty disappointed.
November 22, 2022
no good.
June 14, 2023
Curse and Cure by Sabrina Scott is an excellent, secular introduction to witchcraft, covering everything from the basics of magic and consent, energy work, ritual, and magical timing, as well as cultivating spiritual relationships with the land, objects, and other witches. Scott covers all the basics in a fun, light-hearted way, using a conversational tone throughout. It was really like talking with a friend. Not only does Scott do a great job covering everything new witches need to know, but she also fills the pages with stories from her own life, building a deep connection with the reader in the process. I've mentioned before that I love author stories and examples throughout books because it helps me visualize what the author is discussing. Having a reference point for your own magic is extremely helpful, especially for beginner witches and Scott does an excellent job providing this reference point. Furthermore, Scott is incredibly inclusive, culturally aware, and ecologically responsible throughout her book, welcoming readers from all walks of life. I greatly appreciated this and know many of you will as well. Inclusive books are slowly making their way into the mainstream, which is a great shift within our community.
Not only is the book packed, and I mean PACKED, with information, but it's also artfully designed. Scott includes her own handwriting and drawings throughout the book, making the book appear more like a letter to an apprentice than a tomb of knowledge. I will say that this may detract from the text for some readers. Scott's handwriting (I am assuming it's her handwriting) can be difficult to read, especially if you have dyslexia or impaired vision, but the main text is all in a legible font, albeit a very small font. The font being tiny may also make it difficult to read for those with impaired vision and there are no audio or digital options currently available, so keep this in mind. Furthermore, because it's self-published, some of the formatting is awkward, but it's easy to overlook considering the breadth of knowledge covered within the text. My only other gripe is with the Table of Contents also being written in Scott's handwriting, with scribbles and scratches and doodles and all, which took about 10 pages to complete and made it difficult to quickly reference chapters. As a highly organized, Type-A person, the Table of Contents made me livid, but I know it probably won't bother other people. I know a lot of people don't even look at the content pages and instead use their own marking system to make notes of information.
Apart from a couple of formatting complaints, I have nothing negative to say about this book. Scott covers everything a new witch needs to know and even some things old witches may need reminding of, especially as spirituality changes globally to be more inclusive and respectful. Part of decolonizing our practices means understanding consent and the difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation, both topics Scott covers in Curse and Cure. The multiple sections on consent made my heart flutter because we often forget that as animists, all living and nonliving things vibrate with spirit and not all of them want to work with us. Just because you can take and use something, doesn't mean you should.
If you are a new witch, or an old one looking to reevaluate your practice, I highly encourage you to support Scott's work and pick up Curse and Cure today. This is one of the best self-published books I have read. It's clear Scott took her time with writing, editing, and designing this book, and just because she isn't tied to a large publisher doesn't mean her work is not valuable.
Not only is the book packed, and I mean PACKED, with information, but it's also artfully designed. Scott includes her own handwriting and drawings throughout the book, making the book appear more like a letter to an apprentice than a tomb of knowledge. I will say that this may detract from the text for some readers. Scott's handwriting (I am assuming it's her handwriting) can be difficult to read, especially if you have dyslexia or impaired vision, but the main text is all in a legible font, albeit a very small font. The font being tiny may also make it difficult to read for those with impaired vision and there are no audio or digital options currently available, so keep this in mind. Furthermore, because it's self-published, some of the formatting is awkward, but it's easy to overlook considering the breadth of knowledge covered within the text. My only other gripe is with the Table of Contents also being written in Scott's handwriting, with scribbles and scratches and doodles and all, which took about 10 pages to complete and made it difficult to quickly reference chapters. As a highly organized, Type-A person, the Table of Contents made me livid, but I know it probably won't bother other people. I know a lot of people don't even look at the content pages and instead use their own marking system to make notes of information.
Apart from a couple of formatting complaints, I have nothing negative to say about this book. Scott covers everything a new witch needs to know and even some things old witches may need reminding of, especially as spirituality changes globally to be more inclusive and respectful. Part of decolonizing our practices means understanding consent and the difference between cultural appropriation and appreciation, both topics Scott covers in Curse and Cure. The multiple sections on consent made my heart flutter because we often forget that as animists, all living and nonliving things vibrate with spirit and not all of them want to work with us. Just because you can take and use something, doesn't mean you should.
If you are a new witch, or an old one looking to reevaluate your practice, I highly encourage you to support Scott's work and pick up Curse and Cure today. This is one of the best self-published books I have read. It's clear Scott took her time with writing, editing, and designing this book, and just because she isn't tied to a large publisher doesn't mean her work is not valuable.
November 28, 2022
Amazing, refreshing perspective on magic! If I hadn’t found Sabrina online back in 2019, and bought this book, I would still be printing generic “book of shadows” pages from the internet full of cookie cutter spells and rituals.
This book lays the foundations for people who are new to magic while also offering a fresh perspective for experienced practitioners. You will be asked to dig deep within yourself to examine your own goals, values, beliefs, identity and experiences to create a magical practice that works for YOU.
This book lays the foundations for people who are new to magic while also offering a fresh perspective for experienced practitioners. You will be asked to dig deep within yourself to examine your own goals, values, beliefs, identity and experiences to create a magical practice that works for YOU.
October 29, 2023
Another amazing read from Sabrina! Her first book, Witchbody, is one of my comfort reads that I go back to each year. I’ve been following Sabrina’s work since 2019 and have yet to be disappointed. I highly recommend Curse and Cure to anybody who is interested in magic and energy work. It’s a nice introduction if you have no idea about either topic, and it’s a refreshing look at the topics even if it’s something you’ve been working with for years.
Can’t wait to see what Sabrina releases next 💐
Can’t wait to see what Sabrina releases next 💐
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October 16, 2022Excellent. Just what I needed to read right now.
January 5, 2023
Thoughtful and fun, intellectual but down to earth:))))) beautifully designed ✨️
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews