The Witch's Path: Advancing Your Craft at Every Level

Written by Thorn Mooney

Narrated by Joana Garcia

The Witch's Path is all about taking your witchcraft practice to the next level-whether you're a beginner who feels overwhelmed, a disillusioned adept, a jaded coven leader, or anyone in-between. This book shares specific, hands-on tips for what you can do to move forward spiritually today, no matter what your starting point.

Author Thorn Mooney explores the most common themes a witch may explore to work their way out of a rut: sacred space, devotion, ritual and magic, personal practice, and community. Each chapter features four separate exercises, organized by element and designed for four different types of readers, so you can come back to this book as you grow in your craft and discover fresh techniques and exercises that work for you. You will discover tips and advice for cultivating a sense of serious play, setting effective goals for spellwork, creating an altar, joining or leading events, and much more.

Witchcraft is a deep and rich path. This book is designed to help you renew your sense of engagement with the craft so you can continue evolving your spirit, your practice, and yourself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Sep 8, 2021
• ISBN: 9781666148688

Thorn Mooney

Thorn Mooney is a Wiccan writer and academic living in Raleigh, North Carolina. She holds master's degrees in both religious studies and English literature, and is completing her PhD in religion and culture at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She writes and lectures about magic, new religious movements, and American religions for a wide variety of audiences. Thorn's professional background as a classroom teacher and as a scholar allows her to represent contemporary witch, Pagan, and occult communities from both insider and outsider perspectives. Visit Thorn Mooney on YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram.

Reviews for The Witch's Path

[Dustin Hood · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I’ve been reading tons of witchy books. While there are some exceptions, I felt I was reading the same book time and time again. Or maybe it didn’t get to the good stuff until halfway through once it’s covered the basics.

I received an advanced copy of The Witch’s Path by Thorn Mooney from the publisher, Llewelyn. I gave the author a follow on social media. Her posts smacked of ‘ If you’re just reading about witchcraft, are you even a witch?’ This of course made me clutch my pearls and spit on the ground. But maybe she had a point? After watching more of her videos, it was clear that Thorn had an academic background and was no joke when it came to magical practices.

I began her book a bit dismissive. ‘Let’s see what Miss Thorn has to say.’ Boy, was it the book I needed! This book is not just for beginners and not just for experienced practitioners, it’s for any path you may be on. Where do we get our information and where does it come from? She speaks of the “armchair witch” who has themselves surrounded with books, but just reading from them and not actually taking anything into practice is an issue. We may have an altar full of nice and interesting things, but does that mean we’re in tune and actually know what we’re doing. Those sparkly things that we see on social media and maybe things we have because the aesthetic is nice isn’t necessary.

I attended an online ritual, which was like a guided mediation. After other people were talking about how it was such a spiritually uplifting experience and how they saw a sparrow and even a dragon. Did we just sit through the same thing? Mind you, I’m not sitting there with the mind of a skeptic waiting for something to be proven to me, but yearning for a similar experience. Was I doing something wrong? If I’m not able to connect in the way these other people do, am I even meant to be on this path? Thorn speaks to this by saying, “No longer do I believe that every person standing in the ritual space with their eyes closed, looking intense and breathing dramatically is every time having some transformative experience. Some are, yes, but most are doing what we’re all doing: trying. And that’s not nothing.”

This book really spoke to me on a number of my doubts or personal insecurities, helping me understand where those may be coming from and how to overcome them. A big takeaway was that sure I can read and research all I want, but if I’m not actually getting a little out of my comfort zone and taking action, what am I doing? I’m not going to grow that way. The advice may be a little bitter to swallow, but Thorn has a point.

The book is written with activities at the end of each chapter to help you implement some of the things that were just discussed based on your comfort level. These she ingeniously refers to as the cornerstones of most practices: Air, the element of beginnings; Water for those looking to go deeper; Fire for those looking for easy ways to incorporate Witchcraft into their personal lives; and Earth for those who are maybe dealing with burnout. She even later calls me out for just reading the challenges and thinking I’ll go back to them if I want to later on. For the full experience, actually do the journal prompt that the author placed in the book and often even left space for on the page for your response. It’s there for a reason, not engaging is how I found myself feeling this burnout to begin with.

After reading this book, I have a profound respect for Thorn and what she offers and challenges of our community. I’ve learned a lot about myself through this book. I feel it’s a book I’ll revisit periodically just to touch-in and ensure I’m still practicing how I hope to be practicing.

[Roxanne · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Listened to this 3 times and loved it. Taken some notes. Lots of knowledge and plenty of experience. Will also read the book ? ? I do follow on YouTube

[Anna Reynolds · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A really great book for beginners, intermediates and experienced witches. A different and thoughtful approach. I will re read it.

[Magda Masters · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I’m wondering if this was read by a computer. Awful narration.
The contents is a pleasant enough listen.

[james harold Bardwell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I really wanted to like this book, but so far haven't made it past the introduction as I'm struggling with the narrator's voice which i find grating.. But I'll try reading it instead.. I've followed Thorn on and off for a while via YouTube, she's intelligent and certainly has some interesting insights so i shan't give up on the text version just yet.