If there is one thing I have clearly established here on The Magical Buffet, it’s that I love food. Full stop. End of story. Obviously, this meant that given the opportunity to try out the “Witches’ Kitchen Oracle Cards” I was all in! And honestly, this exceeded expectations.
Barbara Meiklejohn-Free and Flavia Kate Peters, together with Richard Crookes as illustrator, created an all-purpose deck for anyone who loves food. It’s beautiful in its simplicity. Each card focuses on an ingredient and has an associated theme. For example: Apple with Forbidden, Blackberry with Invasive, or Olive with Peace. Each card is densely illustrated, evoking a mood and reminding you of all the various ways that food item can be used. With that you have everything you need!
Like most oracle decks, and particularly with this one, I favor the single card draw. You may think with a food theme “Witches’ Kitchen” would be awkward used that way. You would be wrong. Not only can the evocative images and theme inspire some insight, you realize that you have a strong personal association with food, and that adds a personal depth to the deck that you won’t find with others.
The accompanying book features different spreads you can use the cards with, more detail about each card, and recipes! Yay food!
Seriously, this deck may seem “light weight” at a glance, but there is a lot of wisdom to be found in the “Witches’ Kitchen Oracle Cards”.
You can learn more here.
Any deck that makes sure to include a martini on the Olive card is A plus in my book!
Arin Murphy-Hiscock’s latest book, “Wicca: A Modern Practitioner’s Guide”, is impressive in many ways. For starters, Adams Media did a wonderful job formatting the book. A beautiful hardcover book perfectly sized to carry around in a handbag or backpack. Once inside you realize Murphy-Hiscock has taken on a daunting task of defining Wicca. She starts out explaining that Wicca is not an ancient religion, despite what some people may tell you. Murphy-Hiscock painstakingly details the origins of a Wicca and the many ways it differs from witchcraft or other pagan traditions.
Hopman’s latest book, “The Sacred Herbs of Samhain: Plants to Contact the Spirits of the Dead” is a wonderful addition to her previous works. Like the herbs she talks about, this book has a wonderful back story that she shares in the acknowledgements:
If you know me, you know I love food. Thusly, when I’m given the chance to review any book with the potential to end with food, I’m there! That brings us to today’s review of “The Hearth Witch’s Kitchen Herbal: Culinary Herbs, for Magic, Beauty, and Health” by Anna Franklin.
“Odin & the Nine Realms Oracle” by Sonja Grace is a delightful mix of intuitive and traditional deck design. The art is done by the deck’s author/designer and is an inspired mash up of her Norwegian and Native American heritage. The deck features 54 cards of well-known Norse deities like Odin, Freya, and Thor; an assortment of runes, and of course the Nine Realms of Asgard, Midgard, Vanaheim, Jotunheim, Nlflheim, Muspelheim, Alfheim, Svartalfheim, and Hel.
When everything is said and done, “Odin & the Nine Realms Oracle” is a unique and interesting take on the oracle deck. Its obvious audience is anyone interested in Norse mythology, but is wonderful for anyone looking for something different to add to their collection.
“Backwoods Witchcraft: Conjure & Folk Magic from Appalachia” by Jake Richards paints a vivid picture of life in Appalachia. He pulls you into a land of rough living, enchanted untouched places, folklore, and magical practices. A place where the Bible is equal parts magical text and religious philosophy.
There’s so much more in the world to be considered a “familiar” than your typical black cat. D’Aoust takes a truly global approach to the conversation. Her discussion of Greek belly-talkers and sibyls and the source of their powers was eye-opening. The examination of the role of angels in Judeo-Christianity was something I never considered before as a “familiar” relationship. D’Aoust also looks at fairies, familiars in Chinese legend, and even their appearance in India. I also want to mention that the author’s own artwork is used throughout the book. It’s unusual that the author provides their own art, and in this case helps bring extra vitality to her words. 
“The Enchanted Love Tarot” is based on a traditional tarot deck, except it has been shot by Cupid’s arrow. You have the major arcana, but the minor arcana are roses (as fire, action, batons, wands, or clubs), wings (as air, ideas, swords, or spades), shells (as water, emotions, cups, or hearts), and gems (as earth, resources, coins, or pentacles). The romance factor is amped way up by the beautiful collage art by Amy Zerner. As per usual, Red Feather Mind, Body Spirit has done a fantastic job packaging this deck. An attractive, oversized, cardboard box with a magnetic closure houses the accompanying book, a 163 full color pages in a trade paperback that fits into the box perfectly. My only picky complaint is that the card stock is rather flimsy. It does make the deck easier to shuffle, but I do worry about its durability.
The book that comes with the deck provides so much more than your usual card meanings and suggested card spreads (although it does have them). The author, Monte Farber, is the husband to the deck’s artist, Amy Zerner, and their marriage inspire the deck and book. So included in the book are love spells and “The ABCs of True Love”.
Next up are memory palaces. You might have seen references to these in popular culture. It’s a mnemonic device that allowed speakers to remember key points for their talks by associating them with a different part of the building in which they’re speaking. When it was rediscovered, the process evolved, and the elements of these memory palaces were not intended to trigger the memory but would transform into talismanic objects with knowledge entirely new to the seeker.
Let’s get to what you really want to know, who did Inman write about? Here we go, starting at the top: Captain America, Gravedigger, Captain Marvel, War Machine, Green Lantern (John Stewart), Captain Atom, Green Lantern (Hal Jordan), Flash Thompson, Isaiah Bradley, Sgt. Rock, Batwoman, Beetle Bailey (that’s right, Beetle motherflarkin’ Bailey), Nuke, The Punisher, Deathstroke, and Nick Fury.