Laurie Cabot's Book of Shadows

by Laurie Cabot, Penny Cabot, Christopher Penczak

For the first time anywhere, the history, lore, rituals, and majick of the Cabot Tradition of Witchcraft, taught by founder Laurie Cabot, the Official Witch of Salem, Massaschusetts, is collected and presented in a single book. Laurie Cabot's Book of Shadows includes the materials of her three-part class series on the Science, Art, and Religion of Witchcraft, as well as guidance for High Priestesses and High Priests of the Craft working on their own or in groups. The Book of Shadows includes Laurie's own recipes for incenses, potions, charms, and spells used and taught by Cabot Witches for decades-a treasure-trove of lore at your fingertips! A must for any practitioner of the Craft of the Witch.

Genres: Witchcraft, Wicca, Magic, Crafts, Paganism, Nonfiction

530 pages, Hardcover

Published October 1, 2015

Reviews

[Jeannie Holmes]

***Full Disclosure: I have admired Laurie Cabot's work for years, and a few years ago had the amazing opportunity to study with this remarkable woman. Whether you agree with her practices and beliefs or not, there is no denying the power of this Witch.***

If you've ever spent any time perusing the "New Age" or "Witchcraft/Wicca" section in a bookstore, then you know there are a plethora of books claiming to be The Only Book of Shadows You Will Ever Need. The problem with many of these books is that they are basic...very basic...and there aren't many books that dive deeper than "Wicca 101." Laurie Cabot has addressed the issue in a beautiful tome titled Cabot's Book of Shadows.

Until now the only way to gain the information presented in this book was to study with Laurie Cabot, herself, in Salem, MA. However, Laurie is now giving much of her hard-earned wisdom to anyone wanting to learn more about Witchcraft, specifically the Cabot Tradition.

I won't say this is The Only Book of Shadows You Will Ever Need, but it comes close. The pages are packed with information on rituals, spells, potions, incense, and so much more. In order to gain this much information in the Cabot Tradition, most people would have to study for years under Laurie's guidance, but now anyone can learn the Crystal Countdown in their own home. Anyone can learn the principles of majick and the law of karma.

The book is broken down in to sections by Degrees. First, the reader learns to view Witchcraft as a Science. Then comes Witchcraft as an Art. Finally, the reader is introduced to Witchcraft as a Religion. Cabot's Book of Shadows offers a wealth of information for any practitioner from novice to advanced. This is a truly valuable asset for any Witch to have on their shelf.

[Jonathan Black]

A must-have in every Witchs' Library.

So I'm one of those people that I dance to the beat of my own drum and don't care to tell people what they should read or who they should follow. However, I recently purchased this book and it is honestly my first I'm reading from this author. Please don't ask me why it took me 30 years to finally pick up a book by Laurie Cabot when I have known of her and seen her all my life growing up and have read almost every Wiccan/Pagan/Psychic book on the metaphysical store shelf. I'm not sure the answer like to believe that things happen for a reason and come to us in times that we actually need them.

Now I have to say I am extremely pleased with my choice in this book and in this author. Laurie Cabot was definitely a wise woman way ahead of her time. This book covers the art, science and religion of Witchcraft in its truest form and incorporating a plethora of hands on teaching for time old and tested workings.To me, this book is an essential read and a must-have in every Witch's library. It's not just a typical thrown together book of correspondences, tables, and Wicca 101. Inside this tomb of information, you'll find everything from learning the importance of loving yourself, instant alpha level mind triggers, chakra and crystal work, working with various types of healing, ritual, magic and more.

All of this with the decades of experience written to the page and including the trappings of her own personal Book of Shadows. In this book you will find Laurie's spells, her teachings as taught to her and generations before and her personal rituals for the Sabbaths and Esbats, rite of handfasting and even clergy training.

Yes, in fact, there is an entire informative chunk of this beast of a book aimed specifically to those wanting to reach higher and learn about working with clients, teaching Witchcraft and Magick, conflict resolution, community service and rights of passage, Wiccaning all the way on a path leading to initiation into High Priest/Priestesshood.This isn't a book you read so much as you explore, absorb and distill. I'm impressed on how much information fits perfectly into this single volume. It's literally like sitting down with Laurie herself in her famous Witchcraft courses within her Salem storefront.

HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!!

Sidenote: THIS IS DEFINITELY ONE BOOK YOU WILL WANT TO GET IN HARDBACK - IT'S TRULY A COLLECTIBLE COMPENDIUM AND WORKING MANUAL THAT YOU'LL REFERENCE TIME AND AGAIN.

I know I will. Thank you, Laurie. And obviously to Christopher Penczak who no doubt was a driving force in Laurie's return to the written word. This book will hopefully live on for the generations to come.

Blessed Be.

[Julian Mercury]

There is something rather extraordinary about being allowed this far into another witch's system. Plenty of authors publish their ideas about Witchcraft. A Book of Shadows is different. It tells you what someone thought was important enough to preserve, teach repeatedly, organize into training, hand to students, and carry forward as tradition. Laurie Cabot's Book of Shadows consequently feels less like another Cabot book and more like being given access to the machinery behind all the others.

The material comes from Cabot's courses on the Science, Art, and Religion of Witchcraft, and seeing those three strands together helped me understand her work better. The psychic and energetic techniques that appear throughout her books are not miscellaneous exercises she happened to collect. They belong to a larger conception of Witchcraft in which altered consciousness, magical perception, ritual skill, theology, spellcraft, and priesthood are supposed to develop together. There are also incenses, potions, charms, spells, ritual material, and guidance for people practicing either alone or in groups. The sheer volume of it gives you something shorter books cannot. You begin to see which ideas keep resurfacing because they are structural rather than incidental.

I also found myself thinking about what it means for material like this to become public. A tradition is partly preserved through secrecy, but secrecy can become another form of disappearance when the people holding the knowledge grow older and nothing is transmitted. Cabot belongs to a generation of American witches who fought very publicly for Witchcraft to exist in the open, yet much of the actual substance of her tradition remained scattered across classes, students, private material, and earlier books. Having Penny Cabot and Christopher Penczak involved in gathering it feels less like exposing something that should have remained hidden than making sure a particular current of modern Witchcraft leaves a record substantial enough for later witches to understand what it actually was.

I would still read some of the historical and scientific claims with the same caution I bring to Cabot's earlier books. Her importance does not depend on every explanation she offered in the twentieth century surviving unchanged. What matters here is that you can finally see the system whole enough to argue with it intelligently. I came away with greater respect for Cabot because the book reveals just how much structure existed beneath the public image of Salem's famous Witch in black robes. She was not simply a colorful Pagan personality who wrote a few influential books. She built a tradition, trained people in it, developed a particular way of understanding magical consciousness, and left behind enough material that other witches can continue deciding what deserves to live.

[C267]

I have absolutely no idea were to start OMGs I love this book I recommend for everyone. Gracious Mother Goddess. Laurie Cabot. The Witch of Salem. first and foremost, absolutely an amasing lady.
No not looking for brownie points. Just being brutally honest.

I have several of her books and this by far my favourite I was with a coven DO NOT ask for there name I respect the privacy of others.

There teachings were based on the Cabot Tradition. And me being a traditional witch I was draw to them like a fly to honey. LOL no seriously I love the energy they had. I was with them long enough to get 2nd degree. At which time I had to depart due to health issues and transportation problems arising.

I was emailed from my HPS she suggested getting this book and also the books of Christopher Penczak, to which I have all of them amazing author I will do a review on his materials in the future.

And I am absolutely overwhelmed with the amount of information and what I have learned. And I would strongly suggest these other titles:

1) Power of the Witch by Laurie Cabot
2) Laurie Cabot's Book of Spells & Enchantments
3) Laurie Cabot's Book of Visions: A Collection of Meditations
4) The Witch in Every Woman: Reawakening the Magical Nature of the Feminine to Heal, Protect, Create, and Empower
5) Celebrate the Earth: A Year of Holidays in the Pagan Tradition
6) Laurie Cabot's Book of Shadows

All of which I own and please let’s do these authors that do deserve it. Buy there books don’t look for cheap ways out and get digital. Digital is great I am not knocking it but there is nothing like a book.

Please comment and let me know what you think.

Blessed Be.

C267

[Deirdre VanHorn]

A good reference book for the “Cabot way” it had a lot of useful information for a beginner in the craft, and other information that was very helpful in learning to do a ritual in the welsh tradition! There are many points of reference, and I found it helpful for taking Witchcraft 2 by
Laurie Cabot, it’s a great reference book I would recommend for any library!

[Daly Barnett]

Laurie Cabot is amazing but this book is not useful for anyone without deeper connection to the poorly organized recipes and instructions within.

[Andrew McAuliffe-Shave]

Wow. This really was a riveting read.