Natural Witchery: Intuitive, Personal & Practical Magick

by Ellen Dugan

A natural Witch has an appreciation of nature and an awareness of the magickal energies present in all things. This kinship with the unseen world is at the heart of Witchcraft. It is also the foundation of all magickal work. You will enhance your spellcrafting, empower your witchery, and add richness and depth to your everyday life by developing your intuition and psychic skills. Natural Witchery features straightforward how-to's, first-hand stories, spells, rituals, fun quizzes, and creative exercises to help you live a more magickal This friendly guidebook also includes a Book of Witchery with magickal correspondences and a handy journal section for keeping track of your progress.

Genres: Witchcraft, Paganism, Wicca, Spirituality, Nonfiction, Magic, Magick

288 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2007

About the author

Ellen Dugan is the award winning author of over thirty six books and the Witches Tarot. She branched out successfully into paranormal fiction in 2015 with her popular Legacy Of Magick series. Her portfolio of work also includes dozens of articles in the Llewellyn Almanacs and Calendars and 15 non-fiction books. Ellen's non-fiction titles with Llewellyn Worldwide have been translated into over twelve foreign languages. She is a psychic-clairvoyant, and has been a practicing Witch for over thirty-five years.
With over 300K books sold Ellen has a global following. She currently has over twenty published novels, the eleven book Legacy Of Magick series and three other paranormal series: The Gypsy Chronicles, Daughters Of Midnight, and Hemlock Hollow. The first four books in her Legacy Of Magick series were made into audio books with Tantor Audio in 2018.
Ellen was featured on the cover of Witches & Pagans Magazine. She has been interviewed in the studio on KMOV News Channel 4 in St. Louis, done numerous newspaper and radio interviews, and a two hour guest spot on the national syndicated live radio show, Coast to Coast. In 2017 Ellen was also featured in USA TODAY'S HEA column. More information on Ellen's work can be found at www.ellendugan.com on Instagram at www.instagram.com/ellendugan/ or on Facebook www.facebook.com/ellendugan

Reviews

[Rabbit {Paint me like one of your 19th century gothic heroines!} · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent primer, though you can see Cunningham's influence. I would say this book is for more beginner Wiccans, then other types of Pagans. There were still some cool stuff in here, but not all is relevant to my path, since I am not Wiccan.

I need reccs to Pagan/Spiritual books without the Wiccan influence, please? I don't mind the wheel of the year, or elemental work, or even general spells/invocations. I'm at the point where I skim ethic portions in these books, because I am not Wiccan, I don't follow their ethic code. I have my own. Anyone got reccs?

Also got this ebook for free, and ethically too, from tuebl.

[Jess · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, it started off promising enough...psychic development from a witchy perspective, cool. It quickly lost its steam though. It was mostly a lot of (boring) personal anecdotes. And she disapproved of her daughter auditioning for the lead role in her school's production of The Crucible because...apparently there are still a couple of people left on this planet who think the Salem witch trials had something to do with actual witches? Oooookay.

[K.S. Thompson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book about 10 years ago and have not only read it more than a few times, I referred to it quite a bit. I also recommended it to dozens of people who contacted me, wanting to know where to start.

This is a great book for those who aren't entirely certain where their path lies, or for those who are trying to determine if this is indeed the path for them. It focuses quite a bit on intuition, which I found extremely helpful and also has a great section on candle/color magic. Well written and easy to understand, it is (in my opinion) a fantastic addition to a magical library.

One thing that I would like to add. You will eventually find that you outgrow the material, as it is what I consider to be a beginner book. My copy will be passed along to someone else, so that they can benefit as I did and I can make room for all of the amazing books that I have on my TBR list.

[Lilla · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Natural Witchery, Ellen brings the simplicity of native magick straight to us. We are taught how to develop our own innate intuition, practice lunar magick, strengthen our personal power and magickal development, how to start a circle, living the life of a natural witch, bringing your witchery to work, advancing our spirituality and she includes a wonderfully, concise but loaded Book of Witchery to top if all off. This is a beautiful book and I believe this to be the best book Ellen has written thus far.

This is one of the more decent eclectic Wiccan books :)

[Toviel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kind of fluffy, but in a fun sort of way. Dugan's anecdotes about her personal life were fun to read, even if the spells themselves are a touch lackluster.

It helps that the last pagan book my girlfriend and I read together was a train wreck, which made us a lot more forgiving of NATURAL WITCHERY. Hard to stay mad at a book whose worst crime is "well, duh, that's common sense."

[Michael Blackthorn]

The Author really affirmed for me what I already know within. I really enjoy her outlook on the craft as well as how she makes it feel so natural and move so fluid!

[Barbora · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the book in Czech translation.
The book was recommended to me as the good start on my witchcraft path. I need to tell, that the book contains lot of useful information, from basic knowledge of magical arts to specific rituals and recommendations. But most importantly, it encourages you to find your own, individual and unique path based on experiences and intuition. The book is written by really easy language and contains some real-life experiences of author, which can be advantage for some sort of readers, but for me, it was like unnecessary filler between important information and facts.
The reason for my rating (3/5) is that the book in my opinion contains too many fillers mentioned above compared to important information. In fact, I cannot decide if the book is great by the content, or annoying cause of the approach, which is too personal for me.
But I would still recommend the book to a lot of people, who prefers familiar approach to the topic! :)

[Aletheia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A few golden pieces of information in here. However, I can't help but feel that a lot of this information is pretty common sense, so I skipped through large portions of the book. The title of the book suggested something very different (in my mind) to the contents. However, I really enjoyed Dugan's recount of personal experiences, which brought the book to life at times.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good beginner's book for those who are curious about witchcraft. It explains that the Craft is not a religion, but a skill meant to help one tap into the natural world in a more useful way.

[Kat Pitré · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even if you aren't one for spells or rituals (myself included), there's still so much you can get out of this book, even if it's just a good chuckle at Dugan's witty, relatable writing. It's a great reminder that the world is what you make of it, and life is as magical as you wish it to be.

[Haliation · Rating 3 out of 5]

As it usually goes with Llewellyn, this is a beginner book, but it does have some little tidbits or more "adept" stuff strewn about. To say "I learned nothing!" would be a lie. It's actually pretty great to be reaffirmed that there is nothing wrong with uncomplicated magic. So many books focus so deeply on "doing it right", setting your altar up properly, grand calling gestures, etc. Not this one. And I know a lot of people found the personal anecdotes annoying, but I actually kind of liked them. Well, except the part where she was frustrated with her daughter for wanting to be in her school production of The Crucible. Reaaaaaally?

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

In my quest to start including ancestral and ancient religious and spiritual practices in my own life, Ellen Dugan's work was suggested to me as a good place to start. And, for basics in witchcraft and metaphysical spirituality, Dugan's work is really good. Truly, my only complaint would be that Dugan assumes from the Introduction that everyone who is reading her book is Wiccan. I, personally, still identify as a Presbyterian, I just want to include some witchy things in my life (after all, all Wiccans are witches, but not all witches are Wiccans).

I definitely think I have a better understanding of the basics of witchcraft now, and I am excited to see where my further study takes me.

[Emily Samuels · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book. The author gave lots of useful information on natural magick, lunar phases, the elements, inner strength, and psychic powers. Each chapter, I felt, had something to bring and I liked the stories of her own life that she gave. I especially liked the quiz on clairvoyance and intuition and such, I found out that I am sensitive to vibrations and some would call me an empath but what I really need to work on is my intuition. Overall, this book was an easy read and I will defintely be using some of her spells and tips.

[Helen Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

Natural Witchery is a fantastic guide for anyone wanting to enhance their magickal practices. The intuitive exercises and personal stories made it easy to connect with nature and boost my spellcrafting. I loved the creative quizzes and the handy journal section for tracking progress. Perfect for busy moms like me looking to add a bit of magic to everyday life. Highly recommend!

[Sherron Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book for her simple and easy to understand ideas and thoughts on this topic. She has a sense of humor too. I feel that for a beginner of pagan beliefs and values, this is a great book to add to your collection.

[Lilliana Blackstar · Rating 5 out of 5]

lovely!

[Kitty · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book with a lot of information about being a Witch, where to start, ideas...it was easy to read a very cozy. Totally recommend it

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fairly brief book on magic as these things go, choosing to cover a lot of topics lightly rather than a few topics in depth. This isn't a book for absolute beginners: the author assumes you've been introduced to the basics of magic and is helping develop your skills further. You will find much of her material in other books, including her own. But I appreciated that she discussed topics that other books don't often cover. She has a small quiz at the start to help you figure out where your magical strengths lie. She also talks about why you might not see all those circles and lights you've been visualizing in your practice—maybe you're an empath and you feel things more than see them.

I was a bit disappointed that a fair chunk of the book is a "Book of Witchery" with half the pages left lined for you to write notes. The book is smaller than many trade paperbacks, so there isn't much writing space on any one page, and you'll probably need to add a notebook of your own at some point. It seemed more like a move on the publisher's part to make the book look thicker than an easy way to start a Book of Shadows.

[Rena Sherwood · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this when I was still a witch and have recently re-read it now that I'm an atheist. Man -- was I stupid to believe in this crap! Don't fool yourself -- Magic does not work.



Now, my comments specifically for this book. It's a typical Llewlyn book with lots of white space and a writer who tries to be a cross between Dear Abby and Erma Bombeck. The humor often drowns the information. By the way, all of the information is anecdotal. This is not a Wicca 101 book, so skip if you are looking to see what Wicca is all about. Great cover, though. Looks great, doesn't it?

[Astrid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up because the publisher had another title by author coming out as an anniversary edition but then it doesn't show up now on their website, so I figured I'd check out what it's all about. This title we had at the library, the author had other titles, one to do with felines, so I just did four of them. Interesting take on being your own individual witch and not worry about what others say or do, just do your own thing. Since I'm not a witch, the individual spells or prayers or whatever those things are did not have much practical value for me, but it was still a nice little book to read. On to the feline one.

[Tasha Thibodeau · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book but it was not one of my favorites. There is some really great information in this book on how to get yourself on a natural path, but I just didn't find there to be anything really new or special about this book. I love this author however and her writing is magnificent!

The book itself is an odd shape and size and I found it a little uncomfortable to hold while reading. I have never picked it up again since reading it the first time many years ago and probably would not pick it up again or really recommend it. There are better books out there on natural witchcraft.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was given to me as a gift, a friend of mine thought I'd connect with some of the personal power methods. I would recommend this book though to beginners and not to though who are advanced in their studies. The book is well written and it won't lose the reader.

[BookMouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice book. It was fun, and I like how Ellen writes as if she was actually talking to someone about her craft. The only negative (for me) is this isn't a total beginner book, but not all Craft books are for those just starting off.

[Ivy Giacchino-Berrocal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Still reading. This book will help you understand how to tap deeper into your intuition and how to use what you thought were your weaknesses to your advantage. It also talks a lot about the moon and how to use that to your advantage. You all know I love the moon so it is very fitting for me!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good and diverse book. Nice overview. However, it wasn't what I was looking for... I need something more psychic based than magick based. However great springboard for learning about an array of topics.

[Jacque · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found this book useful. It treated magic as part of your daily life, in a simple context. It was very quick to read and some of the psychic exercises were fascinating. I found the best portions to be the stories that touched on her life, such as her job and dealing with her teenagers.

[Saevör · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very simple, Witchery 101 book. For beginners only.

[Maya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very much agree with Chrissy, one of the better books out there.

[Olivia · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were good parts and bad parts. Would I buy the book today, having already bought and read it? Probably not. It has some great stuff, but not worth the money for the whole thing.

[Patti · Rating 5 out of 5]

p 51 has a spell for the Blue Moon which we had on 31 Dec. very nice and simple.