I am so glad I never have to stop raving about Christopher Penczak's books. The Witch's Heart is the most recent in his collection of thoughtful, well-written, well-researched, and practical books for everyone -- pagan and non-pagan. The first two books in this series are The Witch's Shield (our review of this is here) and The Witch's Coin.
Penczak begins with an elegant discussion of love, noting that it is an extremely imprecise term when you are working magic. The love we feel for a lover can vary among partners, and is different from the love we feel for our parents, pets, siblings, and friends. He then goes on to lay the necessary foundation of creating self-love before one can do love magick.
I believe that many of us are wounded in our self-love. It’s a personal theory borne out by years of reading and acting as a priestess and counselor in our community. Penzak's techniques for creating self-love are lucid, cogent, and they work. Thus, the first chapter is worth reading if nothing else appeals.
The entire book is full of practical, targeted, exercises and techniques that will assist the reader in all aspects of love magick. I found his chapter on the ethics of love particularly excellent, as well as his chapter on the patrons of love.
Approximately half of the book is devoted to the charms, spells, and other occult workings of love magick, complete with correspondences and information about various allies and helpers (stones, plants, etc.)
Once again, Christopher Penczak has given us an excellent, useful book. Highly recommended.
~review by Lisa Mc Sherry
Author: Christopher Penczak
Llewellyn Worldwide, 2011
pp. 284, $17.95
