Banish your fear and embrace your creativity!

Sometimes the business of magick is serious. Very serious. Life-and-death and oh-please-God/dess-I-really-need-this-to-work serious. Then there is the playful side of magick, a place where mirth and reverence combine in a joyful partnership of creativity.

Diana Rajchel’s The Spellcasting Picture Book is in the latter group. (Full disclosure: Diana is a multi-decade friend of mine and also a reviewer here at Facing North.) She describes it as “A visual trip of primitive art veering into primal consciousness, using the magic of color, play and humor to create a guidebook of hands-on spells” and I would absolutely agree.

Seriously, if you have no sense of humor, or are offended by other people’s ‘scribblings’ or any art less than perfect (whatever that means to you) then this is not a book you want. Each spell carries with it only the loosest of guidelines and a lot of personality imbues each and every page. Many spell books are a collection of recipes, this one is not. There are no answers here, just simple, practical, joyful spells and advice for your practice.

I have a few favorites, the money spell (pg. 6), the reversal oil (pg. 9), and meditation (p. 18). The book includes a source list, and an index.

If you’re feeling stuck within your own magickal practice, perhaps your spells are feeling a little formulaic? The Spellcasting Picture Book is a great way to loosen up and let your creativity flow.

A last bit of wisdom from Diana: Magic is not a short cut, it is another path.

~review by Lisa Mc Sherry

Author: Diana Rajchel
Copyright Diana Rajchel, 2088, 2011
50 pgs, price varies by seller
http://dianarajchel.com/spellcastingpicturebook.html

see also our review of the first edition.