Jaq D. Hawkins has been writing on various magical topics in both fiction and non-fiction formats for approximately 26 years. Primarily, her work has focused on animist topics, usually framed as "elemental spirits." She has been developing her own way of working with this world since she was 14, and in the aptly titled Elemental Spirits: Building a Magical Practice in the Animistic World she distills some of her approach for her readers. Note that this is a revisiting of work previously published in five books between 1998-2001. I don't have access to these books, but this book is apparently not just a re-packaging but also an expansion/revision of that past work. So, an experienced and knowledgeable author covering material that she is very familiar with; sounds like a winner, yes?
Well, yes and no. I don't want to damn with faint praise - this is a well-written book that appears to distill the author's thoughts on animism in great detail. There are Chapters on lore and esoteric conceptions of the spirit world, as well as very practical sections on creating ritual, matching up correspondences, divinatory practices and so on. A reader can come away from this book with a fully-formed vision of how to work in Hawkins' version of an animist world. Here's where the equivocation comes in: this book is incredibly tailored to Hawkins' worldview. Which, yes, of course, but I'd be concerned if this was someone's first exploration of animism. Just to give one example, in the chapter entitled "Folklore" we get a catalog of cultural depictions of spirits from all over the world - Leprechauns, Tengu, Djinn, Lamia... a little something from practically everywhere. These spirits are placed into classic "Air/Fire/Earth/Water/Spirit" categories as seen by Hawkins, which are sometimes at odds with classic depictions. Under "Fire Spirits", for example, the Lamia is described as "the mother of some illegitimate children of Zeus who are slain by Hera. She mates with a dragon and is a bad housekeeper." Now, the beauty of folklore is that it can travel down multiple paths to the author, undergoing numerous metamorphoses along the way. This summary may be fine, but her categorization as a fire spirit as well as the description is, if nothing else, novel to her worldview. It is this writer's belief that your introduction to a subject should be more straight-forward, only later delving into a tailored system such as this one.
If you are exploring your non-theistic, animist worldview then Elemental Spirits is a worthy addition to your library; just don't make it your first foray into the subject. Even if you find some of Hawkins' concepts at odds with your own, the practical sections on divination, spell creation, and ritual writing can be valuable for your practice. Even better, exposure to this system might unlock an understanding of the spirit world that may have been eluding you based on more traditional works.
~review by Wanderer
Author: Jaq D Hawkins
Crossed Crow Books, 2024
294 pp., $26.95
