Deborah Lipp's "The Magic of the Elements," the second book in her elemental magic series, is a compelling guide for those eager to delve deeper into the mystical realm of spellcasting. Building on the foundations established in her earlier work, "Crossed Crow, The Way of Four," Lipp encourages readers to explore the potent forces of earth, air, fire, and water in their magical practices. This accessible yet captivating guidebook offers valuable insights into the art of spellcraft, emphasizing the significance of focus, and delving into methods of harnessing power in magical pursuits.

Thank you Cross Crowed Books and NetGalley for this Arc.

First of all, let me say that this is mostly well written, though I might not agree with some things she says. A lot of points where she claims "most Wiccans" do things a certain way or believe a specific thing were contrary to my experience, but they might be regional things where her experience is other than mine.

There were times when I felt I was being talked down to and the pseudoscience way she tried to reconcile the four elements with the periodic table gave me the impression she was totally unaware of the Alchemic origins of the concept of the four elements, though she does mention Paracelsus and that he came up with the names of Gnomes, Sylphs, Undines and Salamanders.

More disturbing is her complete rejection of the fact that A.E. Waite reversed the symbols for wands and swords in his tarot deck based on flimsy evidence that doesn't check out. Do you really want to burn your wand with fire? Swishing a sword in the air just means you never had lessons in sword wielding.

Her logic is based on a photo of William Butler Yeats' magical tools used in his Golden Dawn rituals. The photo in question can be found at https://zeroequalstwo.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/301804550_209203911440541_936300134345770009_n-300x300.jpg

True that for some reason he painted the knife handle yellow, but the Priapic wand symbolises male energies and the knob at the end is phallic rather than a symbol of fire. Of course the Golden Dawn believed in celibacy, even between married couples, so if you want to base your magical beliefs on their methods, good luck. Those who want to base their symbols on colour should have a look at the Marseilles deck, which pre-dates the Golden Dawn by 350 years and has fire colours all over the swords and usually yellow wands, though there are variations over time.

Also, the Freemason motto Aude, Vide, Tace translates To Know, to dare, to keep silent and is a reminder of their vow to secrecy. Somewhere along the line someone has added To Will to this, probably a Thelemite, and created a witches pyramid with the phrases. It's all over the Internet that way now so I can forgive the minor inaccuracy, and it doesn't really matter.

The author had a lot of valuable information about magic, especially on methods for raising power. However, the elements seemed to be shoehorned in occasionally to justify the title and some of what she had to say about elemental magick was very different from my own experience.

Despite this, I did think the book would be useful for young Wiccans especially and even though much of the information was quoted from Isaac Bonewits, the author did come over as having a fair bit of experience in spellwork.

Deborah Lipp was one of the first author I read when I started on the Path and I always find something new and food for thought in her books.
This is an excellent one and i strongly recommend it
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

The Magic of the Elements by Deborah Lipp is her second book which takes you to the next level of practical magic. It's a very comprehensive detailed book. I would not recommend it to newbies unless they have read her first book. This book is best for someone wanting to learn more about elemental magic. I found this to be an excellent book.

Using the elements in spellcrafting is explained in a practical manner. This book gives directions and background information on how and why to do certain exercises and rituals to move things your way. This is well illustrated as well as fairly comprehensive on the the concept of natural magic. Fun to read and written in a way that will have you wanting to try it out,

This is a great follow on book to “Crossed Crow, The Way of Four”. This entry takes you to the next level and teaches not only how to draw power from the elements, but how to use them in creating your own spells.

Intent and focus are key for me and this book really aligns to my way of practice. The author helps guide you to becoming even better and you will find some great ways of harnessing and using the elements in your own practice. A great addition to your learning library and toolkit.