Witch by Lisa Lister

Those shiny, pretty, black “witchy” books that have taken over your instagram feed are here to stay. A new generation of Pagans and Magicians are looking for inspiration and connection. That means a new set of books are being released. Much has been said about this new trendy witch aesthetic. I don’t really want to dive into that discussion today, but I do want to begin discussing what that means for our books and publishers.

I think the perfect book to begin that discussion is Witch by Lisa Lister. This book fits all the demands of a high powered witch aesthetic instagram account. It’s got a soft, black cover with silver letters for the bold title. Inside the book the chapter titles are on whole pages of black. Interspersed throughout the book are large quotes, perfect for taking a snapshot of. For all it’s picture worthiness does the content hold up?

It’s firstly a very personal interpretation of witchcraft. Family stories and personal revelations intersperse the basics of “how-to” witch in this book. The tone is very casual  and conversational which I am ok with. Some slang is truly cringe-worthy for me, but generally it’s an easy to read book with decent content.

The main stress of the book is about feminism. I applaud the book for bringing a critical element of witchcraft back into the witch aesthetic world in a way that will hopefully introduce the idea of female empowerment to the benefit of us all. I might not agree with all the tenants of this author’s take on feminism, but I am 100% on board with making feminism more acceptable to a new generation.

This book is clearly not written for me. I can still see the merit it brings to our community and to a new generation of witches.