The Moon Book Lunar Magic to Change Your Life by Sarah Faith Gottesdiener

320 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, St. Martin’s Essential
Release Date: December 15, 2020

Nonfiction, Religion, Spirituality

The book is divided into the following parts.

What is the Moon?
Witches, Magic, and the Moon
Living in Moontime
Ways to Work with the Moon
The New Moon: The Seed and the Space
New Moon Magic
The Waxing Moon: Doing the Work, Following Threads
Waxing Moon Magic
The Full Moon: The Alchemy of Consciousness
Full Moon Magic
The Waning Moon: The Gateway into the Unknown
Waning Moon Magic
The Dark Moon: Transformation in the Void
Dark Moon Magic
Lunar Love and Literacy: Eclipses, Blue Moons, and More
Putting It All Together: The Work of Love
Epilogue On Writing a Love Letter to the Moon

This is a wonderful book for working closely with the moon. I appreciate the discussion between the dark/new moons. The author has a conversational style of writing which is easy to understand. She provides exercises and suggestions for meditation and journaling. If you would like a closer relationship with the moon, this would be a good book to choose.

This was packed with information on the lunar phases and how the cycles can mirror our lives. It was a little overwhelming at times but I can see the niche and I'm sure many will enjoy this book.

Genuinely one of my favourite books on lunar magic. It contains so much information! It's definitely a book to own a physical copy for quick reference checks on your day to day practice. Highly recommend it!

I loved this book so much that I bought it as a physical book. The Moon Book is organized by the phases of the moon after we go through the intro. The author also discusses different ways to work *with* the moon like making a moon calendar. Each phase of the moon has different spells that work best with them and Sarah goes over what spells are best, when.

This a a really good informative book. I learned a lot and liked how it was laid out. I can definitely see myself referring back to it.

This is a wonderful informative guide and exactly what I was looking for in my journey towards my own spiritual journey with nature as my guide.

This was a wonderful title full of history and very appropriate for beginners investigating the lunar world. I learned a lot and have recommended it to like-minded friends.

The book is filled with Gottessdiener’s knowledge of lunar cycles and magic. As Chani Nicholas says, “This book is written from a place that is informed by decades of practice, study, and experience.” I’d almost describe it as dense — except the experience of reading The Moon Book is less like being in a dense thicket or woods and more like being swept along by the current of a river.

The book begins with chapters that introduce the concept of moon magic and lunar phases and then chapters are divided into each lunar phase. This structure allows for The Moon Book to be an easy-to-use reference and I know I’ll be using it for years.

As I read the book (and listen to the podcast Moonbeaming), I appreciate the way in which Gottessdiener approaches her work with a critical eye on power structures, injustice, and New Age beliefs. I highly recommend The Moon Book for readers who are interested in learning more about magic and symbols. I also recommended this book for people who are looking for inspiration and ways to connect to their creativity and intuition.

A guide to lunar living and the framework to utilize the lunar cycle in your life. It begins with some basic information about the moon and its connection to magic and witches. I have been pagan for 15 years and even though I knew a lot of the information I was not bored and I did learn new things. As with any good instruction book you will want to read this more than once. There is a lot of information and it is broken up in a way that you can easily look up things when you need to refer to them.

The prompts for journaling were useful. Towards the end of the book there are a lot of examples of different rituals people have created. This section will be really useful to refer to if you want to create your own.

A decent overview of working with the moon and its phases. Some things to do and background information. Living in the cycles of the moon and ways to work with it.

Meh. Informative information on the moon phases and how we are connected (moon, people, witches, etc.) The author was very descriptive and it was obvious she was very knowledgeable. Despite that, the somewhat text book writing style was off putting. It was wordy and slightly overwhelming, and because of that, I caught myself zoning out more times then I can count.

Nonetheless, there were key sections that kept me interested enough to complete this—Wheel of The Year holidays, the nine phases of the moon, working with seasons, moon spells/rituals, and ways to work with the moon.

What a lovely book! I really enjoyed the scientific details and research that went into this book, but that it was written as prose. Some sections are very dense, but don't let that deter you from reading it. New and old witches alike will walk away with a newfound love for the Moon and how She interacts with our beautiful Earth. The rituals and spells, while sometimes wordy, are easily performed, customized, and understood. I found the author's call to action to personalize your lunar-based practice to be refreshing in a world that insists witches be cookiecutter. This is a book to be returned to over and over again, with each read deepening your spiritual practice. I encourage any new witch interested in using the Moon in your practice more completely to pick up this lovely book!

Although there have been many books released on phases of the moon and Moon Magick, I did enjoy this one. Sarah Faith Gottesdiener explains the various phases of the moon, their meanings, and workings you can do to manifest, release, and more. Even though it wasn't quite as witchy as I like, I still really enjoyed it! Thank you for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book had a lot of information packed inside. I loved the lyrical writing style the author used and made this nonfiction read flow smoothly. I do wish the format had been flipped and the info on each moon phase explained ahead of creating moon rituals. This would make a good “work book” for those who want to become more involved with following and understanding moon phases and understanding how that can benefit your life. It also includes information for rituals and spells for the people who wish to dive deeper into moon magic. However if that’s not your jam, those parts can easily be skipped over. Lots of good information.

This book takes the moon cycle and turns it into a form of self-directed therapy. From walking us through each phase and how it might relate to our life at any given moment, to looking at how each phase fits together to build up to a goal in achievable measures. It's more directed toward those exploring ways to heal from experiences of inequality of all sorts, as seen through the lens of feminist spirituality. The witchcraft included is very mild and nondenominational in focus.

Book Review for The Moon Book by Sarah Faith Gottesdiener
Full review for this title can be found at: @fyebooks on Instagram!

While I love the information in the book, it can be super overwhelming. The text itself is.overly wordy and flowery which makes it hard to read.

What a powerful book! I came in thinking I was going to learn some new things about the moon and its influences on life and energy, and I came out inspired to institute a whole new magical practice! I especially liked how the author acknowledges that there are many different ways to relate to the moon and its energies, and not all of them may be useful or appropriate for all readers. I found the moon-mapping practice to be especially helpful, and I look forward to what the author writes next.

I was SO EXCITED to read this book, as I am a longtime reader of Sarah Faith Gottesdiener's wisdom. I have been working with her lunar planners and guidebooks since 2018, and was thrilled to see that she was published an entire book about the moon that wasn't tied to a specific year. Although I am well versed in her moon theories and work, I still learned a ton from this book, and it's one I will return to again and again.

If you have any interest in developing yourself, your spiritual practice, or your relationship with the Moon, this book is for you! You do not need to identify as a witch to gain valuable insight from this book. If nothing else, you will leave this book feeling a sense of kindness toward yourself and your phases, and some tips and tools for how to work within the confines of your own energetic needs and boundaries.

I should state before I review further that this is a tad more in the new age bracket than I usually drift naturally, but the cover was gorgeous and my curiosity piqued.

With that said, there is a lot to like in this title. Gottesdiener speaks with a passion on the subject that's undeniable and brings a lot to the table. There are several introductory chapters that bring readers up to speed on a few related subtopics and potential branches of further study. The author maintains voice and clarity, though some of it can have the wired crossed a little easily. The book succeeded in having me look up moon phases around my birthday, and I had enjoyed the information I found out.

The only other major factor of note is that occasionally the clarity could be lost in some of the more... societal discussions. The author is very up front about the fact that their identity is tied in with these viewpoints, and I was glad to see that. I believe in many aspects the author and I agreed too much for me to let the aside bother me. However, I would be lying if I said that all of these seemed completely correct in their placement.

I can see this being an easy recommendation for those who have a burgeoning interest, or would like to flush out their library with a lunar specific title. Thank you to Netgalley for the advanced reading copy.