About book The Goddess Is In The Details: Wisdom For The Everyday Witch (2009)
This review originally appeared on The Magical Buffet website on 3/26/09.I recently finished reading Deborah Blake’s latest book “The Goddess is in the Details”, which is releasing in May. What a wonderful read! As Blake points out in her introduction, there are “many books out there for the witch just starting out. Lovingly (or not so lovingly) referred to by many of us [Wiccans/Witches] as ‘Wicca 101’ books.” What has been lacking in the vast Wiccan book marketplace are books that talk more about what it means to be a Witch, the more spiritual and philosophical side of those who call themselves Wiccan. “The Goddess is in the Details” fills the void.Blake’s book asks, and answers, just about any question you could ask about what it means to be Wiccan. The book is divided into six parts: The Everyday Witch, The Inner Witch, The Outer Witch, The Social Witch, The Practicing Witch, and The Natural Witch. Within those six parts, Blake discusses everything from “The Seven Beliefs at the Heart of Being a Witch” and “Mindful Eating” to “The Witch and Marriage” and “Interacting with Others at Work and Play”. Better still; at the end of each chapter, Blake has “Something to Think About” and/or “Something to Try”. These ask you to consider how you deal with or view the things previously discussed or offers exercises to try to incorporate what you’ve just read into your life.I tend to think of this book as kind of a “High Priestess in a Box”. Any question you would think to ask a High Priestess, Blake answers. This makes the book an invaluable tool for Solitary practioners, individuals interested in becoming leaders within their respective spiritual communities, and any Wiccan looking to find what it means to be a Witch.For me though, the best part of this book is the writing style. Deborah Blake and I have interacted frequently since our introduction in September of last year. She is a very warm and wise cracking lady and fortunately, she doesn’t edit her personality out of her writing. This makes the book an engaging read, with a lot of heart, instead of a dull philosophical text. Reading this book is like sitting down in a cozy kitchen, or at a table in your local Pagan shop with a cup of tea in hand and talking to both a friendly and knowledgeable contemporary discussing the questions and concerns not addressed in typical Wicca 101 books. The style of writing flows easy like a conversation and is easy to read and understand with quite a lot of humor thrown in there even though some of it seems a bit forced. This book covers a wide range of topics from affirmations, ethics, the power of words, to how to deal with non-Pagan spouses, how to raise children, coven dynamics, rites of passage and many others. I found her chapters on rites of passage and coven dynamics quite informative and interesting. It really tries to help logically and judgmentally help you answer how to be a Witch everyday and in every way possible. It does not go into grave details into any of these topics but gives you a good advice and starting point to begin thinking about these topics. Almost every chapter ends with asking you to pause and really think about what this or that topic means to you and would make a great journaling opportunity. In fact, this book would be a great book to read and work through with a book club or a circle. You could have people journal the questions asked at the end of the chapters and could share you answers creating a wonderfully open dialog, where advice could be shared and a different perception gained. The enthusiastic, approachable writing style of the author gives you the sense that she has thought long and hard about the subjects and has personally experienced these situations. You get a sense of almost a two way conversation, a question and answer period, an open discussion. The advice given and questions asked are good, and she always makes sure to reaffirm that she is not all knowing and that the reader should think for themselves, but I would have liked for the author to go into more depth on these subjects and would have liked to hear more personal opinions and specific instances. The book however does include gives many other resources in which the readers may turn to for more in depth information.I would recommend this book to anyone who has read and worked through a few 101 books and is asking the bigger questions and really wondering how logistically and spiritually live as Pagan, a Wiccan, and/or a Witch
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This is one of those books that spoke to me and that I really connected with.
—Jaimieliu
I'd mark this higher, but the fatphobia bit my ass. So there you go.
—pd5791
