Book Review: ‘Aries Witch’ by Ivo Dominguez Jr. and Diotima Mantineia

Astrology is an area in which I am lacking in knowledge, beyond knowing a bit about what’s in my own chart, but I know it reaches deeply into each and every facet of life, witchcraft and spiritual practice included. So a book entitled Aries Witch? I just had to have it. I am delighted to say that this pull was for a good reason, and not just because the book is a visual work of art in its inner design. Throughout, the effect of an Aries Sun on how you might practice witchcraft, what will come more naturally to you, and how you can develop by harnessing the fiery, cardinal power of Aries and its ruling planet, Mars.

Why Some People Shouldn’t Do Shadow Work (At Least Not Yet)

Black and white silhouette of a woman surrounded by other shadows that look like plants

However, there is a cost to this self-fulfilment. Facing the Shadow inevitably means facing parts of ourselves that we do not like; they were repressed into an unconscious personality for a reason. These are the parts of us that we would find the most disgusting, the most difficult to confront, and the most triggering.

Folkism: What Is It and How Do We Avoid It?

Basically, every tradition has a fascist element. This is because fascism is prevalent in our society. Just like Christianity and other religions, all forms of paganism will have fascist sects. Rather than tarnishing these religions with a brush of paint that symbolises that they’re all ‘evil’ or some such descriptor, we should instead acknowledge these elements and think about what we can do to undermine them at every turn.

Invoking Balance: Why We Need to Complicate the Light/Dark Binary

Darkness has come to mean things in culture, often through metaphor, just as light has. But has the association between darkness and light as a binary opposition which then maps onto such concepts as fearful/awesome, evil/good, death/life, rebellion/order, primal/spiritual and others always been so? Well, in short, no it hasn’t. And is it a quite innocent practice to create these socially constructed oppositions? Again, no.