I don’t identify as a Green Witch, and I didn’t have much knowledge about the spiritual practice prior to reading this book. I have been on a binge reading books about grimoires and grimoire work, however, and this book was a solid addition to my knowledge. Many of the grimoire books I’ve read recently have gone into the subjects, topics, and rituals that a person could use in their grimoire, and this book covered that as well — but one of the things that mad this book different and unique is that it addressed the physical grimoire itself. How to choose a book to make your grimoire, how to construct one of your own making, even instructions for making your own recycled paper. This book also went into great detail for the methodology and the mindset with which to approach working in your grimoire, and how to connect that to the path of the Green Witch. And although I don’t identify as such, it was approachable and easy-to-understand for those on other spiritual paths, with much that can be learned and integrated from Green Witchcraft. I enjoyed this book, and would recommend it to anyone who identifies as a witch, Wiccan, pagan, or otherwise following a nature-centric, non-traditional spiritual path, or if you work with a grimoire.

Book Review: The Green Witch's Grimoire by Arin Murphy-Hiscock
Genre: Religion and Spirituality
Publisher: Adams Media
Release Date: 28th July, 2020

If you've watched my video about my favourite Witchy books then you know that I love Arin Murphy Hiscock's The Green Witch. It is THE book that made me realise I wanted to pursue a green witch path. So when I found out about The Green Witch's Grimoire I knew I had to have it.

And it does not disappoint.

Firstly, despite the title, this book is NOT a grimoire. It is a guide for planning and creating your own green witch grimoire. Saying that it has so many useful tips for any Witch when creating a grimoire. Murphy-Hiscock does point out early on that this book is for Witch's that already have a foundation in Witchcraft, therefore, it is not from complete beginners. If you are looking for something more instructive on a green witch path then definitely check out her previous book, The Green Witch, first.

I do already have a grimoire, however it is currently not what I want it to be. I've been toying with the idea of starting from scratch and re-doing it. This book is exactly what I needed to help me do that. I am a very organised person, so much so that I have OCPD (obsessive compulsive personality disorder) which has its benefits and detriments. I do struggle with starting or restarting something and often put things off. However, this book really helps with the part I was struggling with the most; setting up a system for my grimoire. It helps you decide how to organise and structure your sections and gives some great ideas on what to include - with useful examples.

There really are so many things to consider when creating a grimoire and Arin Murphy-Hiscock is a wealth of knowledge!

Something I found really interesting was the history of grimoires and how much they have changed. I was surprised to learn that there was actually a difference in grimoires that related to a person's status in society and whether they were male or female!

I did not notice some repetition throughout the book; statements about what a grimoire is seemed to be regurgitated in different sections. However, this was an E-ARC so there is a chance this was changed after final edits.

As the book is primarily aimed at green witches, Murphy Hiscock spends time explaining how to structure and organise your entries on specific plants, herbs, trees etc. However, her method is something that can be attributed to other aspects of Witchcraft. I fully intend to use a similar method when it comes to recording crystals.

Another aspect I was left thinking about was the ideas she expressed on morals and ethics. As a Wiccan I follow the Wiccan rede, and I include this at the beginning of my grimoire. However, there are morals and ethics attributed to the green witch path that I just took for granted. I am now going to ensure I pin down exactly what my personal morals and ethics are in terms of the environment; locally, nationally and globally.

Who do I want to be as a person, not just as a Witch?

I made SO many notes whilst reading this book. There are lots of fun and interesting things I now want to include in my grimoire to make it 'beautiful and useful'. I'm eager to get started on re-working my grimoire and excited to delve deeper in to my personal practice.

Thanks to NetGalley and Adams Media for the opportunity to read and review this EARC.

A curated, Pinterest-project of a book to help set up and organization and structure to your practice. Beautifully arranged and inspiring.

I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

This is a wonderful and gloriously detailed book about how to make your own Green Witch Grimoire and what you could include and how to use it to your advantage. The only thing this book was missing was pictures as illustrations or photographs of examples to accompany the information would have made it a 5 star read for me.

This would make a beautiful gift for anyone interested in witches, magic or grimoires.

A really good resource into building your own grimoire - more so if you are a green witch (obviously). But others can get some of these ideas and information for your own path's grimoire. the few resources that are there seem to be good.

A delightful read. Perfect for those new to the craft as well as those who are more seasoned. As a fan of her previous work I went into this expecting one thing but was pleased to say the least in not only the knowledge she presents the reader but her ability to have a conversation with the reader.

The excercises are wonderful and the author presents things in such a way that you get drawn in and the creative juices start flowing.

Would highly recommend.

A lovely volume. Solid addition to collections where new age titles are popular. Crossover appeal for HS nonfiction collections.

Arin Murphy-Hiscock is one of my favorite authors on witchcraft, so I naturally had to snap this up when I saw it available on NetGalley, despite not necessarily considering myself a green witch. Luckily, it was exactly as I expected: though I don't feel particularly drawn to herbalism, plants, and many other common facets of green witchcraft, The Green Witch's Grimoire still had a wealth of helpful information and inspiration to offer me!

In fact, I think it's worth noting — for those of you who, like me, are wondering if this book will be too specific for your needs — that the majority of this book would make a very helpful guide to grimoires for any witch (though obviously more so if you practice green witchcraft or even hearth and/or kitchen craft). This book also discusses divination, spellcraft, and so much more.

I would say that one of the most "green" aspects of this book is its stance on a witch's responsibility to take care of the earth in any ways we personally can. Arin offers suggestions for how to perform healing rituals after natural disasters, source ethical supplies, and even includes a guide for making your own paper! (Which I would probably never have the ambition for, but I thought was so awesome.) There's also a section on the validity of digital grimoires for people who are trying to use as little paper as possible in their lives, with tips for keeping your digital grimoire safe from others.

(As a side note related to the responsibility and ethics discussions in this book, I also appreciated Arin taking a moment to discuss the difference between smudging and smoke cleansing, the correlation between smudging and white sage to sacred Indigenous rituals, and plenty of alternatives you can use instead of white sage if you aren't Indigenous.)

In case you couldn't tell by my review so far, I absolutely loved The Green Witch's Grimoire and thought it would make an incredible asset to any green witch's library, as well as the shelves of many who don't practice green craft at all! On top of all of the valuable information, Arin Murphy-Hiscock has such a readable writing style and never comes across as condescending, judgmental, or pushy with her stances on things. I highly recommend picking up a copy!

Thank you so much to the publisher for providing me with this review copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was a very thorough look at setting up a grimoire. While it wasn't exactly what I was expecting there was a lot of good info.

This is an excellent companion to the authors original book, The Green Witch. It helps you continue your journey with your craft by giving excellent ideas and examples for how to make a unique grimoire to contain your plant, herbal, gardening, and all around green witch knowledge. She's clear, concise, and encouraging all while maintaining the idea that your grimoire is unique to you and there is no correct or wrong way to do something. I think it will bring some inspiration to anyone looking for how to create or what to put into their grimoire or BOS.

My kind of how-to-spell book! I like to create my own grimoires as they feel not only more personal, but more powerful! This is a nice intro to creating your own, but also inspires all of us in creating our own books! Nice collection of thoughts. Very satisfying read and inspirational.

I LOVED this well-written, informational book. The author does a wonderful job of explaining exactly how to start one’s own grimoire, while also maintaining the idea that it must be one’s own. I loved her ideas and style of writing.

This was a very detailed book about making your own grimoir. It's clear and concise, which makes it much easier to read.

This is seriously the perfect followup to the original Green Witch book written bey Arin Murphy-Hiscock. I loved the style of this book and how clear but concise it is.

A clear and concise guide to keeping a magical journal or record rituals and spells. I would recommend this to anyone who has ever asked "What do I put in my BOS???"

I really liked this book. I have always been drawn to write things down and to creating journals. The author focuses on this type of note taking and writing as a kind of magic. There are also meditations and journal promps.

This is the second book about green witchcraft I've read by this author. And just like the other one I loved it.

I really like how she talks to the readers like they aren't stupid.
She never comes off bossy and instead gives you options to things like how to make your grimoire.

This book really helps a newbie understand the basics of starting a Grimoire and helping by putting all the information in one place.

This was a very interesting read. I’ve always been very curious about the practice and this was a good introduction and instructional. I would recommend this book

I am not a witch but I was intrigued by this book since I use a lot of wild herbs and do a lot of nature journaling, wild food logs and so on, with can cross over nicely with a grimoire. I hoped it would help me in perfecting my Materia Medica, or book of my personal herbal information for wild plants, kitchen medicine, and so on.

It's a good book for either purpose and has some fun crafty sort of tutorials for things like making herbal paper, pressing wildflowers, making herbal wands for smudging and so on. It also has advice on the type of book to use, the requisite Wiccan information on spells and such, plus lots of information on ethics and such.

I really wish the book had images, though. With a book like this you really want to see photos or at least sketches for inspiration on how to do your grimoire, the steps on the projects and so on. I'm a very visual reader and would honestly rather browse Pinterest for images of other people Materia Medica or grimoire for inspiration than just read text about it. Other than that, it's quite a nice, helpful book.

Heads up to those who are interested for reasons similar to mine, it has lists of plants and colors and other elements that are spiritually associated with various properties but does not include actual herbal information. It is definitely designed for magick and not medicine.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

This is an absolutely enchanting book about how to create and use your own personal grimoire. I loved reading about the different ideas of what to include in your grimoire to personalize it. This book is intended for the green witch, but I think anyone who is interested in the natural world, self-reflection, journaling, and art would enjoy and benefit from making their own personal grimoire.