This is a new edition of Marian Green’s 1991 classic solitary witchcraft handbook. Green is not teaching Wicca here but ‘natural magic’, what she sees as the path of the village wise woman or cunning man, the solitary magic user. Her style is very earthy, with a great emphasis on being out in nature, experiencing the elements, and working with natural forces directly.
I have to say, I like her ecological sensibility and urging people to respect the natural energies of landscape and place (by, for example NOT sticking crystals into every circle of standing stones in the New Age way!).
She is leading the reader to consider what elements or ideas fit well with their own approach or intuition rather than providing lists of associations or ritual scripts. Each chapter has some exercises to do, which will help with this journey, as well as a short list of books to read in order to explore the topic in more depth. And she comes back to grounded, practical, reasons to learn and do magic – to solve problems, to provide balance in your life.
The overall feel of the book is conversational, like sitting down and talking with your old witchy grandmother. She’ll give you some advice and guidance but it’s really up to you where you want to go with it and what you might want to do. I’d see A Witch Alone as a place to start, something to pique a seeker’s curiosity but not enough on its own to build a practice.
It is a useful book to have in my library, to recommend to a solitary beginner.
~ review by Samuel Wagar
Author: Marian Green
Weiser Books, 2025
224 pg. Softcover £14 / $26 Can / $19 US
