REVIEW: The Magical Writing Grimoire by Lisa Marie Basile is a Word Witch’s Dream
The Magical Writing Grimoire: Use the Word as Your Wand for Magic, Manifestation & Ritual by Lisa Marie Basile is a must-read for magically-minded writers everywhere. Regardless of whether you’re a beginner or an experienced word witch, there’s definitely something in this book that will benefit your magic and writing practice.
Words alone can’t express how much I recommend The Magical Writing Grimoire by Lisa Marie Basile to people who want to explore the magical side of writing. Still, I have to do just that in this book review, so here we go!
As far as writing and magic go, Lisa Marie Basile has an abundance of experience with both worlds (which, as this book argues, overlap tremendously). She’s an accomplished writer/poet as well as the founding editor and creative director of Luna Luna Magazine, an online magazine that celebrates witchcraft, feminism, and magic. She’s also the author of Light Magic For Dark Times, an occult book that focuses on magic, illumination, and self-care. Vitally, she’s an experienced word witch. She uses the term “word witchery” to describe “the inherent magic of language.” The Magical Writing Grimoire guides readers through the many magical practices that word witches have in our arsenal.
What I love most about this book is how accessible and intersectional it is. Basile knows what it feels like to be marginalized. The lack of accessibility in many occult practices reflects the pervasiveness of marginalization both historically and today. She encourages readers to adapt rituals to our own beliefs, cultural practices, abilities, etc. I appreciate this because more accessibility means more people will get to experience/practice magic when they would’ve missed out on the opportunity otherwise.
What gives me the right to say this about marginalization or the occult? Well, for one thing, I’ve been practicing witchcraft since I was 12 years old. (I’m 30 years old as of writing this.) My practice has evolved over time, but I’ve been working with Chaos Magick for an extended period of time now. I wouldn’t call myself an adept, but I’ve definitely got a decent amount of occult experience. I’m also a writer and senior editor at Quail Bell Magazine, a place for real and unreal stories that also celebrates magic and feminism. I’ve been working with the magic of words for a long time, so I was delighted when I found out about this book’s release. I wanted to read it so much, I reached out and asked Basile if I could read it in exchange for a review. I was ecstatic when she said yes because I knew this book would rock, but that didn’t take any magical ability to figure out!
All throughout the book, Basile helps readers expand their magical practice and writing practice all at once by combining them. This causes both practices to intertwine and expand into something bigger than just ourselves alone. This book provides the information and insight that (aspiring?) word witches and mystics can use to build their magical writing practice into something substantial, useful, and meaningful. This includes spells and rituals that are simple yet powerful, making them doable and effective.
Warning: Be prepared to do inner-work when you work through this book. While I was reading some of the parts about trauma and magic, I felt my emotions welling up inside of me so much that at one point, I cried. Then I decided to create my own ritual to release my trauma and restore my aura to its most complete state. Both times I’ve done this ritual so far, I felt a sense of relief afterward and even made progress with processing my trauma. I accredit this success to me setting my intention to retrieve the energy I lost from my auric field during those traumatic experiences.
Although I recommend this book to beginners, it’s full of information that’s useful even for people who’ve been practicing any kind of word witchery for years. Basile covers everything from creating spells and sigils to bibliomancy, magical alphabets, and automatic writing, providing just enough to send you off into the shadows to learn more about each subject. I loved the chapters on sigils because she goes into detail about ways you can use sigils to your benefit such as carving them into candles. My favorite recommendation of hers is to dance the shape of a sigil. Personally, I enjoy tracing sigils with incense and visualizing them to charge beverages, offerings, candles, and more.
Also, I’m happy to report that this isn’t a fluffy occult book that fixates on white light and love while deriding darkness. In fact, Basile embraces shadow work and darkness as important aspects of magic and internal workings. As a witch who primarily works with dark energy, I truly cherish that because I believe everything comes from darkness.
Plus, Basile’s poetic talent shines through all of the mantras, spells, and incantations she uses in this grimoire. While I do enjoy reading magical verses by occultists in general, I especially appreciated reading ones by someone who actively pursues poetry instead of strictly writing poetry for rituals. Ritual poetry is always great, but Basile’s poetry is potent and moving. You can tell she’s talented and experienced with poetry when you read the imaginative, otherworldly verses she weaves for the spells within these pages. There’s a good chance her way with words will conjure up some creativity in your life as a writer and magical individual.
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn how to incorporate writing and words into their witchcraft or magical practice. This book excels at showing readers how to use writing as an effective and versatile tool for magic, manifestation, and spiritual growth. Get your own copy of the Magical Writing Grimoire here today! The magical writing you’ll create is worth it.
