The Path of the Witch

This book is great for beginners. It layers everything out nicely and doesn't have to much of an info dump.

It's cool to see the different paths ones could take. Or mix. The pictures inside really bring it all together

This was a really informative book. Different chapters explaining in detail, but super easy to understand sections about different types of magick and witchcraft. I found the table diagrams really useful, and can see myself dipping in and out of the book for reference. Great book for established witches and new novice witches!
The illustrations were very cute too.

Absolutely stunning book, a fantastic guide, I was drawn in from the first page by the illustrations alone. This book felt welcoming and you can feel the authors good intentions and purpose as you read. It’s well organised, practical and use of plain English is great, not confusing at all and great for a beginner . Highly recommended for anyone wanting to dip there toes into something with heart and soul.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest opinion

This is a beautiful book. It was a joy to read. The research and care that was used to create this book is apparent. The many paths of withcraft are yours for the choosing. Whichever path you walk will depend upon you. The paths are explained in detail along with the tools you will need for the craft. I really enjoyed this lovely book. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in witchcraft.

A beautifully illustrated book explaining the different paths of witchcraft. It's laid out in a way that's easy to reference back to and I feel this would be a great starting point for both beginners.and those already familiar with the practices.

I truly love this book. It is one of the most comprehensive and well grounded (pun intended) series of insights and lessons on Wicca I have ever had the pleasure to have read. There are many parts that stand out to me. On I never thought of myself as a pagan with a particular focus. After reading this and doing some of the practical rituals I know my most positive place is near the forest. Reading about witchcraft with a Sea or water focus was a new idea to me but made sense. Eclectic wicca is well covered and many paths forward are given. The Sabbats are discussed and the rituals simple and meaningful. Astrology is discussed as well as much the newbie will want to learn more about. This book is not just for the newbie as I learned more about my connection to the Earth and her creatures the more I read. There are recipes in this book that I have never seen before and they actually work!! I made my own sourdough starter from the directions given and I even understood what the ingredients represented to a Wiccan on the path.All in all this book is fun, positive and a solid framework for working the wheel as a Wiccan.

This is great book for beginners. It is organized very well, and easy to flip to different sections for reference. I like that each section has a few spells.

So many books on the craft tend to go too far down a path and leave you wondering what you just read. However this one is so well written and designed that you can read sections at different times and in different orders and still follow the content. DEFINITELY a great book for anyone new to the craft or wondering which path is right for them.

I have recently turned to spirituality and witchcraft as a way to manage my turbulent mental health but felt very lost as where to start. This book broke down different paths of witchcraft and helped me figure out which path I personally align with. It was also great to learn about some paths of witchcraft that I hadn’t previously encountered such as Faery Witches or Sea Witches. The illustrations were also beautiful- I’d definitely recommend picking up this book

**Thank you so much to NetGalley, the publisher, and of course the author for the ARC. I have provided my honest opinion and thoughts on the galley.**


I have always considered myself a spiritual person and have in the past couple years started looking for ways to zero in on the path that I felt would be right for me. This book could not have been more perfect! It's so easy to read, understand, and super informative. I love the illustrations throughout the book. I was able to read each description of some of the most common types of craft and was left feel very confident in the path I have chosen to follow. It just helped reaffirm that I was headed in the right direction. I would recommend this to anyone interested in The Craft but especially for beginners looking for clarification. The author doesn't just give a description of each practice but also some very helpful tips. This one is getting purchased and added to my bookshelf as a great reference point!.

An excellent book for beginners and an interesting read if you are alreday in the Path.
It's well explained and I loved it.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Book Review: The Path of the Witch - Rituals and Practices for Discovering Which Witch you are.
Genre: Religion and Spirituality / Health, Mind and Body.
Publisher: Fair Winds Press - Quarto Publishing Group
Release Date: 27th April, 2021

About the Author
Let’s start with a little bit about the author. Lidia Pradas has written another book called The Complete Grimoire which came out last year. I did review that book as well, you can find the review here. From reading both of her books it’s obvious that Lidia knows her stuff, she has a great wealth of knowledge about Wicca and Witchcraft. You may also know her as @wiccantips on instagram where, again, she shares her knowledge of Wicca and Witchcraft practices. She comes from a family of Witches, so you could say it’s in her blood. It’s good to know that you’re in safe hands with her books.

The Book
Before I tell you about the book, it’s important to have a little context so you can see where my thoughts are coming from. When I first started exploring Witchcraft I felt like it was important to define what type of Witch I was. I consider myself to be a Wiccan, but I also practice Witchcraft. I read LOTS to see what kind of path I vibed with; Green Witch, Kitchen Witch, Hearth Witch etc. I feel like since I started there have been even more additions to this list, more sub-genres of Witchcraft: Crystal Witch, Lunar Witch, Sea Witch, Fae Witch, Astrology Witch, Divination Witch. The list goes on. I started to get a little fed-up with it. I use herbs in my craft, crystals, the lunar cycle. I’ve started exploring water magick and astrology. I work with my dreams and I love tarot. So I decided to go with I’m a Witch and that’s it! I didn’t feel like i needed to define it anymore than that.

Therefore, I was a little dubious about this book, especially when I saw the tag line, ‘rituals and practices for discovering which Witch you are’. I knew straight away I was going to be bits of all of them and I would be very stubborn about not being crammed into one path. However, I was still intrigued, and as I always do with witchy books, I wanted to see if there were things I could take from it and add to my own practice.

On to the book then. The blurb starts; "Witchcraft is not one defined path..." My first thoughts were to agree - this is exactly what I believe; there is no one path a Witch will follow. It continues; "...rather it is a diversity of practices you can curate and align with based on your lifestyle and unique gifts.
- Do you have an affinity for working with plants and herbs for magic and medicine? You may be a Green Witch.
- Are the kitchen and home space sacred to you? Are you able to tap into the sensory and healing properties of food for spellwork? Is cooking an intentional act for you? You may be a Kitchen Witch.
- Are you able to easily connect with the five basic elements of Air, Fire, Water, Earth adn Spirit? You may be an Elemental Witch.
- Can you do many practices with ease? You may be an Eclectic Witch.
The Path of the Witch describes the many different types of witches, their gifts and abilities, and their practices. Each path shows you activities and rituals you can use to discover and explore that type of witchcraft and discern if it is a fit for you."

When it began to define the paths and encouraged you to consider which you felt more of an affinity with, like I said before, I was dubious. Personally, I don’t like the idea of having to choose one of these paths. I'll discuss that more later when I come to my thoughts.

The book is beautifully illustrated throughout. The images are by Nata Vedanta and I would love to have some of them framed and on my altar. Look how beautiful they are!

I was slightly annoyed when I saw the contents page. I was thinking to myself, 'you can’t make me choose! I’m a Green Witch, a Wiccan, a Cosmic Witch. I work with the elements - but am I an eclectic witch? No i don’t think so.'

I did manage to calm myself down. I remembered I needed to be more objective because I was reviewing the book. Even though I don’t like the choosing a path aspect, the book does offer guidance for new witches as it allows them to explore the different areas of Witchcraft that they may not know anything about. If you are a new Witch and you are interested in this book then just remember: you don’t have to label your craft this way. You can take from the different areas and build a craft that is unique to you.

The book is really well organised. As well as the images, it is set out in sections with useful sub-headings making it easy to digest the information. You don’t feel like you’re having all of the information thrown at you and there’s no feeling of information overload. It also makes it easy to come back to sections you like or want to make notes on.

It begins with an ‘overall guide’ to Witchcraft. Covering things that are relevant to Witchcraft in general: the elements, altars, tools, cleansing; the things you would find in all beginner books. Then it moves on to the different paths, with a chapter for each ‘witch type’ and within each chapter there’s key information on what that path looks like, basic beliefs and values, some correspondences, spells, recipes and one of my favourite things is the guided meditation for each of the paths.

Throughout the whole book the information is clear, thoughtful and practical. As I said earlier, Lidia Pradas clearly has a wealth of knowledge to share on a range of Witchy topics.

My Thoughts
I did have a strong response to this book. In the opening it says that it is for, “anyone who wants to explore different paths” which is great! However, it then adds “before choosing one” This did make me twitch a bit. It bugged me. I don’t know if I was just being sensitive, but I felt like I was being forced to choose one. However, I did want to be more objective when reading the book and continued with the idea of just exploring the different paths for what they were, and for me that was definitely the best way to read it.

I did get a few things I could takeaway from the book and there was something in just about every chapter. I’ll go through each chapter and tell you what I thought and what resonated with me.

In the Green Witch section there were a few ideas about gardens. I already grow herbs and flowers etc. for cooking and spells, but I loved the idea of a moon garden and night blooming flowers. There were some really nice ideas shared in relation to that. This section also includes correspondences for trees, herbs, plants, essential oils - the usual stuff.

I also really enjoyed the Wiccan section because i felt like it had been a while since I had read anything about Wicca specifically and, for me, it was just nice to reaffirm those beliefs, values and ideals. I just felt myself agreeing and nodding along as I read.

You may notice that I enjoyed all the chapters that are aspects of my own path! The next being Cosmic Witch because astrology and the night sky is something I am currently studying. As this is a new aspect of my own craft I did find myself taking some notes and this section, like the others, offers enough detail to allow you to make good start in that particular area. The explanation of astrology was really clear and broken down. As it is just an introduction it was simplistic in some areas. If you really want to explore astrology, the cosmos and natal charts then a book dedicated to that specific area would be better. The information included in this chapter is something I already got from astrology specific books I’ve been reading. If you want to know the books I’ve been using for my Witchy studies then click here.

Predictably then, the chapter I didn’t really vibe with, and again this is a personal thing, was the Kitchen Witch chapter. I already know I am not, and never will be, a Kitchen Witch. I just don’t cook! Some aspects were interesting, for example the food correspondences for fruit and vegatables as I may use them in spells rather than actual food recipes. So those correspondences may still be useful for people, even if like me, you might not consider yourself a kitchen witch.

The chapter about ‘Elemental Witchcraft’ was a confusing one for me. I don’t really consider it to be a path of itself - if that makes sense? I think the same can be said for cosmic witch. I feel like these two things are definitely something that are part of other Witchcraft paths or things that compliment your craft rather than ‘paths’ in themselves. If I’m wrong and there are some elemental witches out there then please let me know in the comments. What do you think is different about an elemental witch than the elemental aspects all Witches use in their Craft?

I suppose really what I’m saying is that the information in this chapter, for me, was just things I would associate with being a witch. For example, linking the elements to the cardinal directions along with colour correspondences and items that we would use to represent each element, are just part of my general knowledge as a witch. I use the elements and their corresponding directions, colours, and the particular type of magick they are attuned with, regularly when creating and designing spells and rituals.

On the other hand, if you are not familiar with this aspect of Witchcraft, maybe because you’re a beginner or it’s just something you are not aware of, then I think it is something that can benefit everyone’s practice. This book could help you with understanding how to use the elements in your craft, but I have come across it in other books for beginners as well.

Lastly the Sea Witch chapter, Again this is an area of interest to me so I did like reading about the use of Water in spells and rituals. I do prefer to refer to it as 'water magick' or 'water witchcraft' just because for me, I don’t live near the sea, therefore it can be lakes, rivers or streams that inspire my magick. My sun sign is Pisces so that’s one of the main reasons I’m exploring this area and this chapter did offer a wealth of information around using the sea and other related aspects.

Lastly, one thing I really loved was the guided meditation at the end of each chapter. They feel really personal and I’m definitely going to make a note of my favourite ones in my book of shadows so I can come back to them.

Final Thoughts
Time for some final thoughts then, because I think some people may think I’ve been quite contradictory in my review. It does have positives and negatives. The main negative for me is the way the book is put across or the purpose of the book. This idea that you will read the information and know what type of Witch you want to be doesn't work for me and I really don’t think it will work like that for a lot of people. If I read this book when I was just starting out I would be even more confused about my 'supposed' path because, as you can probably tell, I love so many different aspects of Witchcraft.

However, once I got passed that then the information imparted throughout the book is great. If you are a beginner then I would look at it as more of a guide to just how varied and diverse Witchcraft can be. People who have literally no idea where to start or what to do will find it really helpful and I would recommend picking and choosing from the different areas what really speaks to you. Like I said at the beginning you know the information is coming from a good source! Lidia Pradas obviously has a lot of knowledge and has researched the various areas she talks about.

Towards the end of the book she does add a very small paragraph about labelling and changing your path which did appease me slightly. Lidia acknowledges that our paths change and that we may incorporate more than one ‘path’, that she has mentioned, into our Craft. Honestly, I did start to feel a bit weird at this point. Maybe I’m the only one that has a variety of areas in my Craft? Please let me know if there are other Witches out there who use astrology and green witchery and also consider themselves Wiccan, or some variation of that, and I’m not just excessive in my practice!

Some sub-genres can be really complimentary. For example, water and lunar witchcraft work well together because the moon is closely linked to the tides and is a controlling force over the seas. Furthermore, both are linked to feminine energies and emotions. I could talk about this forever and I think I’m slightly going off topic so I’ll leave it there for now.

Overall, I did enjoy reading the book as it offered some reminders as to why I love each aspect of my craft. The illustrations are beautiful throughout. Just don’t go in to the book expecting to find the one path you are meant to follow.

I hope you enjoyed this review and found some of it useful. Please share any thoughts you had about anything I’ve mentioned I’d love to know if there are people like me or even if you disagree with me then I’m interested in lots of different perspectives!

Ophelia x

Thank you to NetGalley and Fair Winds Press for allowing me to read and review an advanced e-copy of this book.

The Path of the Witch was a delight to read! I appreciated the overview of general witchy themes, and then the focus on various popular witchy paths in their own chapters. What I like is that it provides several different starting points and gives you a glimpse into what it might be like along each possible path (for example: a Kitchen Witch or a Sea Witch or a Wiccan). If you're interested in herbalism but aren't sure how to get started or where you can go with it, the Green Witch path provides a description, definitions, some basic reference tables, a few recipes, and a meditation. If you're curious about astrology, the Celestial Witch section explains the basics of astrology, celestial bodies and their cycles in connection with the Earth, and more! Every single Path in this book has a similar collection of details that really make it accessible without feeling overwhelming. You get a nice foundation with enough information to feel comfortable trying things out before diving more deeply into books or resources focused on your chosen path(s). Each section also has a beautiful illustration at the beginning, as well as illustrations throughout. This is a fantastic resource for anyone who is interested in beginning their journey into witchcraft but might not know where to start.

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

The Path of the Witch is a beautiful book (inside and out) about the different types of witches there are such as Wiccan, Kitchen Witch, Green Witch etc and then more in-depth knowledge and understanding of each type.
The book gives you glimpses in to each type of Witch to help you understand which type of Witch you are drawn to and could be good at.
The book features numerous different recipes, meditations and rituals throughout and is a great guide to use without it making you feel overwhelmed with information.
If your not sure where to start out with herbalism or witchcraft, this is one of the best books I've come across to help get you informed and started up.

Sophie is spending 2021 exploring Paganism, Wicca, and witchcraft, so The Path of the Witch by Lidia Pradas was an immediate must-read when she spotted it.

This helpful book offers introductions to seven popular witchcraft paths: Green, Kitchen, Wicca, Cosmic, Elemental, Sea, and Eclectic. Each path has a dedicated chapter that looks at the core ideas behind that style of witchcraft, with practical ideas for exploring the path further and discovering if it suits you. These change depending on the path, so they cannot be directly contrasted. For example, the Green Witch chapter includes recipes for making meditation incense and herbal cold syrups, guidance for storing herbs, and correspondence tables for trees and flowers; the Cosmic Witch chapter offers guidance on understanding your birth chart, a guide to moon phases, and correspondences for days of the week; and the Sea Witch chapter discusses the uses for different types of seashells, ways to make a sea bath, and rules for taking items from beaches.

The final section of the book covers some other topics that may be relevant to those exploring witchcraft for the first time. There is a look at the pros and cons of solitary vs coven witchcraft, a guide to red flags to watch for when joining a new group, and a reminder that you don’t have to pick one specific path and stick with it for life: witchcraft allows for exploration.

The Path of the Witch is a brilliant book for those looking to get involved in witchcraft for the first time, and Sophie would also recommend following the author’s popular Instagram @wiccantips if this is a subject you find interesting.

It was really beautiful, loved the drawings and the information was really cool. It was the first book like this I ever read, so I can't say if the information is reliable or not, but it has a bibliography at the end and it gets points for it.

This book is really beneficial if you are looking to find yourself! I have always wanted to learn more about who I am spiritually and I feel as though this book helped me with that!

Very informative book. Full of a lot of useful information. This book will also be very useful for future reference

This is an introductory book about Witchcraft, full of beautiful illustrations. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in practicing witchcraft as well as anyone just interested in the subject. It is such as easy relaxing read. ( I was provided an ARC of this title by Netgalley)