3.5
This story was a cute beginner look into the many types of witchcraft that exist, but there are some flaws within it. This story focuses primarily on Biddy Early, but not the real Biddy Early, but rather a strawman stand-in for her. Biddy Early was not considered a witch during her time, she was an herbalist. Yes, she was accused of witchcraft in the 1860s, but her charges were dropped due to lack of evidence. Biddy Early never stated herself to be a witch, nor did any who knew her really thought her to be one. She was merely a famed herbalist and healer that the local Catholic Priests disliked for various (idiotic) reasons. Other than this glaring issue, the rest of the story is pretty on par with elements of modern witchcraft. It mentions the different types of witches, different styles of witchcraft, and several famous persons or deities who are known to have connections to witches. This is all fairly basic information, this story mostly focuses on giving a very broad and simple look at witchcraft. Certain things are left out, such as in the divination section. They mention cartomancy, pyromancy, tasseography, and smoke scrying. But fail to mention other methods that are actually ancient such as Osteomancy (throwing bones), Hieromancy (divination through animal entrails), or Ceromancy (divination with melted wax). There are also some minor spells that are mentioned and spoken as if they are ancient traditions. But uh, blowing cinnamon through the door is not an ancient tradition. From my research, this is a modern ritual of bringing prosperity into the home. This is an issue throughout the entire volume, at least where spellwork is mentioned. Several modern iterations of spells are treated as if they are ancient. Also, the brief mention of Wicca acts if it's an ancient type of paganism, but Wicca was created somewhere between the late 1930's to early 1950's and is considered a modern pagan movement. Also, the concept of a "Book of Shadows" is a modern pagan practice, not ancient. A lot of practitioners throughout history did not know how to read or write, as formal education was considered only something for nobility or those in higher religious positions. Also, I did not care for the throwaway line "Science and magic do not mix". What we consider science would have been considered magic to previous generations. Magic and science are one and the same! Again, a lot of these are minor issues that I personally have, and hopefully, this book would simply be a good jumping-off point for anyone who is interested in the craft. I did like the art! The illustrations were lovely and the page flow was excellent.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!