While she has written 15 other books, this was my first time reading Rachel Patterson. I knew I was going to like her from the very beginning when she said, “I like to laugh, bake and eat cake...My craft is a combination of old religion Witchcraft, Kitchen Witchery, Hedge Witchery, and folk magic.” Yes! This is a person I am going to like very much.
Right off the bat, Patterson’s ability to teach shines through. She takes the often confusing topic of crystal formation and presents it in an easy to understand manner. She dives deeper into this topic than many other books, which often just stop at “when a hot rock cools, crystals form.” As someone who loves the how of things, this made me quite the happy camper.
The meat of Crystal Magic begins with a good rundown of the basics of how to choose, cleanse, and charge your crystals. Then it moves on to suggested workings and ways to use your crystals. I appreciated the way each section flowed into the next in a logical order; crystal shape was followed by size was followed by color which then led into chakra work. There was no jarring jumping around between topics. Patterson also talks about and provides examples of how to blend crystals with other magical items, like candles and herbs, to make more complete spells.
The second part of the book is the reference section. If I hadn’t been hooked on this book already this section alone would have sold me on it. She gives an intro, magical properties, and suggested cleansing for many of the most commonly used crystals. I was very happy to see the inclusion of suggested cleansing techniques for each crystal. You always hear to make sure a certain technique won’t damage your crystal, but no one ever seems to provide that information. Where relevant she also adds in divination meanings and spellwork ideas for some crystals.
My favorite thing about the reference section has to be that she provides multiple ways to find the stone you need. There are sections for finding information based on the stone, or stones that correspond to a certain intent, or stones associated with certain elements, planets, zodiac signs, birth month, moon phase, and even day of the week. Being able to access this information so readily makes crafting your spells that much easier.
To sum it up, this is the crystal book I’ve always hoped to find and it will become an indispensable reference book in my collection.
~review by: Bailey Roe
Author: Rachel Patterson
John Hunt Publishing, 2019
pp. 135, $14.95
