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The Witch's Bag of Tricks: Personalize Your Magick & Kickstart Your Craft
Increase your power, improve your spellcasting, and reclaim the spark of excitement you felt when you took those very first steps down your magickal path. The first book of its kind to offer solitary eclectics a solution to the problem of dull or ineffective magick, The Witch's Bag of Tricks will help practicing Witches boost creativity, improve abilities, and cast powerful spells that work. Whether your rituals have become rote or your spells just aren't working, you don't have to settle for magickal mediocrity! Designed for the experienced eclectic practitioner, this guidebook offers advanced spellcasting techniques and practical hands-on exercises for personalized magickal development. You'll gain the skills and knowledge you need to custom-design your own spells and advance your mystical development. Breathe fresh life into your practice and take your magickal skills further than ever with The Witch's Bag of Tricks.
"Full of useful information, thoughtful questions to ponder, and clever suggestions for how to put the zip back in your magickal life. Belongs on the shelf of every practicing Witch.―Deborah Blake, author of Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook
"Full of useful information, thoughtful questions to ponder, and clever suggestions for how to put the zip back in your magickal life. Belongs on the shelf of every practicing Witch.―Deborah Blake, author of Everyday Witch A to Z Spellbook
264 pages, Paperback
First published June 8, 2011
18 people are currently reading
349 people want to read
About the author
Melanie Marquis
31 books59 followersMelanie Marquis is a lifelong practitioner of magick, the founder of United Witches global coven, and the author of The Witch's Bag of Tricks. She's written for the American Tarot Association, for Llewellyn's annuals and datebooks, and for many Pagan publications including Circle magazine, Pentacle, and Spellcraft.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 3, 2021
One of the best books on magick I've read.
This is a book for advanced practitioners, and I think one does need to have some experience in magick to fully appreciate it. It took me almost a year to read it, because it is so jam-packed with exercises and prompts to consider I just couldn't rush it.
Melanie Marquis is an extremely creative, original witch, - this is definitely not another retelling of Cunningham's spells (as is, sadly, so often the case). What I love about her is her eco-consciousness. On the basic level, she never has any stupid wasteful or environment-unfriendly spell ingredients, which is good of itself, but more importantly, she reminds us we have to work to help Mother Nature, not just constantly beg for more love and money; she wants us to be better witches not just technically, but morally.
That said, she does cover love magick and prosperity magick, as well as many other topics. For me, personally, several things stand out. The first one, her list of witchcraft mistakes and how to avoid them. I've found myself commiting every one of them (and I'd thought so highly of myself! Oh well, better learn late than never). This has been my major level-up. Then there were a lot of minor tricks, like adding one's special herb to a powder to enhance the magick, - I do have a particularly strong affinity with one of the herbs I grow, and using it in various spells does give magick a boost. And there are numerous tips like that!
Another thing I enjoyed was that, although she is very responsible about magick and urges us to be so, she is honest about having to do some things from time to time that might be considered blackish. I am using a certain defense spell of hers; it does not solve my problem once and for all, but it does provide periods of relief. (And the reason for this limited effectiveness might very well be some of my own limits, which I am yet to overcome).
I'm sure I'll want to re-read this in a year or two, but right now I look forward to exploring Melanie's A Witch's World of Magick: Expanding Your Practice with Techniques & Traditions from Diverse Cultures. Definitely recommend 'The Witch's Bag of Tricks' to my witchie friends.
This is a book for advanced practitioners, and I think one does need to have some experience in magick to fully appreciate it. It took me almost a year to read it, because it is so jam-packed with exercises and prompts to consider I just couldn't rush it.
Melanie Marquis is an extremely creative, original witch, - this is definitely not another retelling of Cunningham's spells (as is, sadly, so often the case). What I love about her is her eco-consciousness. On the basic level, she never has any stupid wasteful or environment-unfriendly spell ingredients, which is good of itself, but more importantly, she reminds us we have to work to help Mother Nature, not just constantly beg for more love and money; she wants us to be better witches not just technically, but morally.
That said, she does cover love magick and prosperity magick, as well as many other topics. For me, personally, several things stand out. The first one, her list of witchcraft mistakes and how to avoid them. I've found myself commiting every one of them (and I'd thought so highly of myself! Oh well, better learn late than never). This has been my major level-up. Then there were a lot of minor tricks, like adding one's special herb to a powder to enhance the magick, - I do have a particularly strong affinity with one of the herbs I grow, and using it in various spells does give magick a boost. And there are numerous tips like that!
Another thing I enjoyed was that, although she is very responsible about magick and urges us to be so, she is honest about having to do some things from time to time that might be considered blackish. I am using a certain defense spell of hers; it does not solve my problem once and for all, but it does provide periods of relief. (And the reason for this limited effectiveness might very well be some of my own limits, which I am yet to overcome).
I'm sure I'll want to re-read this in a year or two, but right now I look forward to exploring Melanie's A Witch's World of Magick: Expanding Your Practice with Techniques & Traditions from Diverse Cultures. Definitely recommend 'The Witch's Bag of Tricks' to my witchie friends.
June 9, 2015
I think this book is excellent. It provides a good theoretical grounding on witchcrafts and explained clearly some magickal principles that we do not usually think about it while practicing magick. I like her scholarly flavour while at the same time the book contains a lot of practical exercises we can try our hands on. Thank you Melanie for sharing your knowledge.
October 29, 2011
After years out of the occult I decided that I wanted back in again, because it feels so natural to me. This book was a big help. The book is filled with exercises and questions to ask yourself. I enjoyed the elements affinity test.
May 27, 2012
it was a bit legnthy and sometimes it just felt like i was reading the same thing again
but it was quite useful with some good tips
but it was quite useful with some good tips
August 6, 2018
One of the best books on witchcraft I've read. I highly recommend it to anyone who is ready to progress in their practice and to anyone who needs to get back on track.
October 17, 2018
Review From: AntonySimpson.com
The Witch’s Bag of Tricks is not a book for the initiate or new Witch.
It’s a book for the knowledgeable and experienced Witch. Witches who’ve reached a learning plateau and were spells have began to lose their effectiveness. (We’ve all been there.)
In The Witch’s Bag of Tricks Marquis covers:
- Magick’s Seven Functions: Giving Energy Initial Purpose, Transforming Energy, Combining Energy, Separating Energies, Containing Energy, Releasing Energy & Redirecting Energy
- Increasing your Power Potential
- Removing Blocks to Great Power
- Discovering Affinities
- Spiritual Development
- Psychic Spell Work & Psychic Development
- Three Aspects of ESP: Perceiving the Whole, Perceiving the Parts & Perceiving the Connections
- Magickal Development
- The Difference between Charms, Spells & Rituals
- Positive Binding Magic
- Imitative Magick
- Prosperity Magick
- Love Magick
- Advanced Defense Magick
- Principles of Defensive Magic – Containing, Binding, Banishing & Shielding
- Mood-Lifting and Luck Magick.
Marquis’ writing style reminded me of one that you would read in a magazine. This made The Witch’s Bag of Tricks feel superficial.
This wasn’t helped by Marquis trying to cover a large number of topics in the one book. There were parts of the book I would have loved Marquis to explore in more detail.
Reading The Witch’s Bag of Tricks was a pleasure. It reinvigorated my love of learning in the Craft – which is no small achievement. It’s great to see a book on the market and aimed at practiced Witches. I hope to find other books like this.
So far I’ve found the following books useful for an experienced Witch: Advanced Witchcraft by Edain McCoy, Witchcraft: Theory and Practice by Ly De Angeles, Utterly Wicked: Curses, Hexes & Other Unsavory Notions by Dorothy Morrison.
The Witch’s Bag of Tricks is available to buy on Amazon and at all good bookshops.
Review soon,
Antony
The Witch’s Bag of Tricks is not a book for the initiate or new Witch.
It’s a book for the knowledgeable and experienced Witch. Witches who’ve reached a learning plateau and were spells have began to lose their effectiveness. (We’ve all been there.)
In The Witch’s Bag of Tricks Marquis covers:
- Magick’s Seven Functions: Giving Energy Initial Purpose, Transforming Energy, Combining Energy, Separating Energies, Containing Energy, Releasing Energy & Redirecting Energy
- Increasing your Power Potential
- Removing Blocks to Great Power
- Discovering Affinities
- Spiritual Development
- Psychic Spell Work & Psychic Development
- Three Aspects of ESP: Perceiving the Whole, Perceiving the Parts & Perceiving the Connections
- Magickal Development
- The Difference between Charms, Spells & Rituals
- Positive Binding Magic
- Imitative Magick
- Prosperity Magick
- Love Magick
- Advanced Defense Magick
- Principles of Defensive Magic – Containing, Binding, Banishing & Shielding
- Mood-Lifting and Luck Magick.
Marquis’ writing style reminded me of one that you would read in a magazine. This made The Witch’s Bag of Tricks feel superficial.
This wasn’t helped by Marquis trying to cover a large number of topics in the one book. There were parts of the book I would have loved Marquis to explore in more detail.
Reading The Witch’s Bag of Tricks was a pleasure. It reinvigorated my love of learning in the Craft – which is no small achievement. It’s great to see a book on the market and aimed at practiced Witches. I hope to find other books like this.
So far I’ve found the following books useful for an experienced Witch: Advanced Witchcraft by Edain McCoy, Witchcraft: Theory and Practice by Ly De Angeles, Utterly Wicked: Curses, Hexes & Other Unsavory Notions by Dorothy Morrison.
The Witch’s Bag of Tricks is available to buy on Amazon and at all good bookshops.
Review soon,
Antony
September 28, 2023
This is a good read for any Witch, no matter what your path or background. The tips and advice found within are applicable and helpful to all paths, and can help reignite your craft of its felt stale lately. It even includes some simple, adaptable spells towards the end that you can build upon. The exercises are quite helpful as well.
November 18, 2013
I was so sure I'd read this earlier this year and yet, it's not in here, and I didn't remember most of the book if I did read it. It's a bit odd - the exercises and questions are solid and yet, the techniques and suggestions are ultimately not anything necessarily new... It's still a great read and a great insight into someone else's magick.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews