Grimoire for the Green Witch: A Complete Book of Shadows by Ann Moura

Grimoire for the Green Witch: A Complete Book of Shadows Reviews

• 
  Rachel

  I'm not sure what I think about her hereditary family tradition claims. Her rituals are as Wicca-derived as could possibly be. I wonder if what she means is that her family has practiced folk traditions for generations, and she has added to that body of lore by incorporating a Wiccan ritual framework, and adopting other observances like the Sabbats.
  
  With that aside, this is a handy reference guide for folks who are developing their spiritual practice, and it's a good inspirational volume for longtime practitioners as well. Eclectic, solitary Wiccans especially will benefit. She has basic rituals for pretty much everything; circles, esbats, sabbats, tool consecration, crystal consecration and charging, house cleansings and blessings. They're so easy to adapt and personalize as well, and in my eyes that's what makes this book so valuable; it provides enough info and leaves enough wiggle room for people to build on. This is a great way for people to gain confidence in writing their own materials.
  
  Her spell section is a bit all over the board. She has one very thick chapter packed with correspondences. Sticky tabs are going to be your friends here, because they're in no particular order and the chapter overview leaves out page numbers for individual topics within each chapter. If you don't mind writing in your books, you may want to write in those page numbers for future reference. It will save time.
  
  The spell "recipe" section is also decent; lots of different methods and a solid, albeit brief overview of working with energy. I also enjoyed her tea and oil recipes.
  
  My big gripe with her correspondences is that she refers to the New Moon phase as the last sliver of the Waning Moon and that isn't accurate at all! Not sure where she came up with that. The New Moon refers to the Moon's dark face; it's the opposite of the Full Moon. Some witches like myself work with Dark Moon energies at this time, and New Moon energies when the first sliver (Young Moon) shows her face during the Waxing phase. How she could associate the last sliver of the "old" Moon with the "New" Moon made absolutely no sense to me. Work with whatever energies float your witchy boat, but at least refer to them as what they are; that's a potential point of confusion for people and I thought it was very misleading. She and I don't see eye to eye on this, and astronomy agrees with me here which is why I'm fussing.
  
  Her view of deities is different from mine; I'm a hard polytheist (all Gods are individuals) and she is of the all-gods-are-one-god, all-goddesses-are-one-goddess school of thought. Just a heads up, and a final note to any newcomers there are other ways to relate to the Divine. Don't take one author's word as absolute.
  
  Enjoy!
• 
  Carrie (The Butterfly Reader)

  There is so much info in this book that it's wonderfully overwhelming.
• 
  Vanessa

  *NOTE* Do not let my review sway you from trying out this book to see if it suits your purposes, it very well may!!
  
  I used this book as a reference for a paper I was working on at the time: The role of the environment in modern day Earth-Based spirituality and how the ecological crisis of today will impact this role. I wanted to look at at actual practices to see how integral the role of nature is to the practice. Although, I was able to pull a few good examples from this book, and it overall served its purpose there were some issues. Apart from a few little humourous entries, it is written very dry. It was informative, different important days and celebrations, setting up rituals and what best to use but I would have liked some explanations, some background and that is nowhere to be found in this grimoire. Then again, I am nowhere near an expert and maybe there is an element of previous knowledge that I just don't possess, because although the magical 'religions' have always intrigued me I am very much a skeptic overall of ALL spirituality, I just don't feel it. So perhaps this is better suited towards someone who truly practices or is interested in beginning to practice & this is not me. That being said I have read and perused Books of Shadows and have not had the same sense of disappointment, which is the major reasoning behind actually rating this one stars rather than just a review.
  I would recommend that you browse this well before purchasing to see if it truly has what you need because, there is a lot of information contained within; different candle uses and representations, herbs, tarot, astrology, rituals, celebrations and so on.
• 
  Eve

  I bought this book because I had her other 3 Green Witch series books. I can identify with her, as I have been raised pagan in a matriarchal culture of a blended ethnic background -thus, I find similarities in her work that I can easily connect with. While many of the Western world like to question or judge those who were or are pagan families/cultures, I think some of that comes from their own issues they need to work on. I don't believe that lineaged witches are any more powerful than someone who is just starting out on the path. That's all rubbish as far as I am concerned. I respect everyone's backgrounds, regardless if they grew up pagan or not, we can all learn from one another if we can put our bloody ego's aside. So I have found this grimoire to be informative and useful. Take what you can, leave what doesn't suit you. Plain and simple.
• 
  Erin

  I thought this would be a neat book on the history, mythology, and lore of witchcraft... but it was a spell book.
• 
  Naava Kaiho

  It was okay, I guess – a lot of information packed into one single book. Nothing ground-breaking, but definitely useful to some who are new to the craft.
  
  Very Wiccan, though, so it didn't apply to my practice. But I can still appreciate it. I even took notes, so it wasn't all bad. Ha. Three out of five stars.
• 
  Alyce Caswell

  Solid reference material that focuses on the religious aspects of the craft (which isn't my interest, but it was laid out well). I especially liked the section about teas.
• 
  Melissa

  I was really interested in this book as a reference source, and it has helped me a great deal in my own practice. However, I had a few problems with the general layout and lack of detail given for the chapter about spell casting and correspondences.
  
  I was a bit confused about this book, because it says "the COMPLETE Book of Shadows" and honestly, personal opinion aside, I found it to be lacking in a lot of parts. I don't feel as if a Seeker picked up this book, it would be a great primer on the various aspects of Green Witchcraft- I'll go on further.
  
  Moura does a great job describing the various aspects of Green witchcraft, showing the difference between religious and spiritual practices of witchcraft. Also great and unique, as many modern Wiccan authors no longer do so, she explains in detail traditional Wicca- terms, tools, and practices, while keeping with an eclectic theme.
  
  Rituals, various meditations, guides, and the like enhance this book, turning it from a beginners guide to simply an open book that anyone could open and read, without feeling hindered by lack of information, or daunted by far out material.
  
  The reason I have this book three stars is because of chapter 8: Spellcrafting & Correspondences. This section ALONE was enough to bring down its score, as I feel as if this is a huge, broken part.
  
  This section is large, and once again, the author does a great ob keeping in balance with presenting information to beginners while catering to to more advanced workers. Below are the items that I had problems with:
  
  -Runic Tables and Ogham - When I saw the Ogham , I was very interested, as I had never heard of them before, and I found them to be interesting.
• 
  Kel

  This is a great resource for those who are new to the occult and wish to take a sort of "crash course". However, some things that seem set in stone here may not actually be so. I would recommended this (and already have!), but always let it be known that everyone's path is different.
• 
  Sam

  While this is quite a comprehensive and practical guide to Wiccan-based witchcraft, it does seem to lose some of the flexibility that I've come to enjoy about the craft and its study. This may be because I tend to follow the earlier aspects of the craft including the multideities approach and less rigourous rituals aroound the Sabbats and Esbats.
  
  Having said that though, this is a very useful resource and I'm working on incorporating aspects into my own Grimoire and the reference sections are very useful (if not a little muddled). This is also a good starting point for those just starting out on their paths as it not only provides lots of ideas and information but also shows a way to layout and use your own book of shadows and how to adapt this to your own approaches, ideas and beliefs.
• 
  Jessica

  A lot of information packed into a good book for beginners. My main complaint is that it spends a lot of time discussing deities, but very little actually discussing the “green” aspect of green witchery. Great if you’re looking to witchcraft as a religion, less useful if you’re looking for a reference of sorts. Nice herb correspondences, though! Pretty thorough crystal information.
  
  As with any book on the craft, I would recommend pulling a bit from a bunch of sources to construct your own correspondences, and this is a decent start for that purpose.
• 
  Anni

  The book seems pretty new-age and Wicca-based, although the author claims that the practice has been in her family for generations. There are a ton of Wicca-influenced rituals and religious texts, which don't exactly interest me since I'm not Wiccan.
  
  The book is still full of useful information. You will find a ton of information of herbs, sigils, runes and ways of divination. There is also some really good information on how to construct a ritual and how spells work. If you're interested in witchcraft as a practice, this book could really come in handy!
  
  
• 
  Rebecca Roberts

  This isn’t a book I’ve read cover to cover. Instead, it’s one I’ve dipped in and out of for several years, learning what I needed, taking what I needed when I needed it. There is so much to read and so much to gain from this book but I have finally read it all 😂 I highly recommend this for both beginners and long standing members of the craft and to Pagans interested in witchcraft also. It’s well written, well set out and not patronising - which is something you can often find in books about witchcraft. A book I will undoubtedly be dipping in and out of for some time to come!
• 
  Sheena ☆ Book Sheenanigans

  
  

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
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  Caroline

  Being new to the Wiccan world, I had never heard of this book or Author and came across it by accident in a thrift shop in perfect condition.
  The Rituals are very different to Cunningham, though the Beltaine was nice.
  It's early days, though there is allot to consider and from what I've read so far, the readings are beautiful and lots of information to take in.
  So for me, this Grimoire for the Green Witch book will sit next to Cunningham, open.
  
  
• 
  Jeannie

  What a Reference!
  
  This book was almost overloaded with information, but I say almost because it is an amazing collection of information. The green-specific info is just the beginning. The author includes palmistry, crystals,tarot, color meanings, blessings, etc. I feel like I have an encyclopedia now.
• 
  Lisa Grayston

  Very basic, more of a guideline on how to make your own rather than actual useful info that you can incorporate into a grimoire or specific on the actual practice of a green witch. It's a guideline on how to get started, nothing to do with actual grimoire material. I was disappointed.
• 
  White Wicca

  Alot of information... I like it very much...
• 
  Steve

  Best Grimoire i have ever read!
• 
  Stygal

  It’s really, really Wiccan. I don’t know why I thought it would be actual witchcraft. But there’s so much hippy goddess stuff, so for traditional witches only about half the book is useful.
• 
  Joyce

  Everything in this book is interesting. Lots to read about. It is a book of shadows, like a work book. Glad I read it. Runes teas stones spells all is talked about here whether it is used or not.
• 
  Ambrosia Harris

  Very informative, helpful and educational for anyone new to this path and journey.
• 
  Goldy Cash

  So effective it's scary. The real deal.