After over thirty years of practice, it’s rare to come
across a book on witchcraft that has anything new to offer. I was excited to
come across a copy of Weed Witch by Sophie Saint Thomas because, with so
much changing legally and culturally around the use of marijuana, I thought it
would offer exactly that: something new.
It did not.
Weed Witch promises a
‘comprehensive guide and spellbook’ that ‘explores the beautiful relationship
between weed and witchcraft’ but fails to deliver on any of those promises.
I was expecting the book to start with a primer
(because these things usually do.) I should have realized when it started with
‘Is witchcraft real?’ that it wasn’t going to offer anything useful on the craft
front, but I held out hope that it would at least go much deeper in depth on
cannabis that it did witchcraft.
It did not.
There were so many things this book could have
done. It could have provided a comprehensive history of cannabis, including how
it came to be cultivated and used for medicinal/recreational purposes. It could
have delved into the physical appearances of the plants and how different parts
of the plants could be used in magick beyond ingestions. It could have looked
at charms, symbolism, and color magick.
And that’s not to mention all the spells and sigils it
could have included – because there’s more to weed magick than just “get
stoned and have sex.”
Sophie Saint Thomas writes like someone who doesn’t
take her craft seriously. Her idea of magick is nothing more than
“manifesting” while high. Worse, she writes about weed like a giggly
teenager who got high once and can’t stop bragging about it.
So… basically half the spoiled little white girls at
Coachella.
No one is going to argue that manifestation is the
most important part of magick – but manifesting without doing the real work is
just a sloppy, ineffectual shortcut. Half-ass your magick and you get
half-assed results.
Or worse.
Everything about Saint Thomas and her book screams
“shortcut.” She describes her path as being the victim of sexual
assault, attending black mass (eyeroll,) getting stoned, then becoming a witch.
Are. You. Fucking. Kidding. Me?
Many of us are drawn to the craft because of a need to
take control of our lives after trauma. There’s nothing wrong with that. There
is plenty wrong, however, with turning to so-called black mass and drugs
instead of getting professional help. Writing a book encouraging people to
follow your footsteps without telling them to seek therapy first is just
irresponsible.
If it sounds like I’m coming down hard on the author,
it’s because I am. If you write an instructional book, you have a
responsibility to ensure you are providing the best advice and the most correct
information you can. Saint Thomas doesn’t even bother to draw distinct lines
between things like Wicca, witchcraft, and Satanism. She is as reckless in her presentation
of information as her writing suggests she is with her drug use.
Weed Witch starts
with the basic assumption that the reader knows nothing about witchcraft but
then fails to provide the basics needed to guide readers on their way. It would
have been better if it had assumed at least a basic knowledge of the craft so
it could have gone into more depth on marijuana. As it is, it just comes across
as frou-frou basic bitch shit. (You’ll notice I didn’t say “basic witch.” I
won’t give her that much credit.)
I don’t know what makes the author qualified to teach
others when she seems to know so little herself. She states things as facts
without backing them up, taking a “’Cause I said so!” approach to knowledge.
Nowhere is this approach more noticeable than in the “Selected
Sources” section at the end of the book. When you’re providing information
you gathered from so many other places and presenting it as absolute fact,
you’d better have a full bibliography.
Cite. Your. Damn. Sources.
Not just some of them.
And I’d better not see your own damned self
listed in the biblio FIVE TIMES. That just stinks of RFK Jr using his own work
to justify his crazy ass decisions.
Actually, everything about this book stinks. I haven’t
disliked a book on witchcraft this much in a very long time. (I won’t even
mention the other one because I don’t want to encourage anyone to go looking
for it.) If you’re looking for a book that explores weed and its uses in
witchcraft, look somewhere else. Weed Witch is just two hundred
some pages of “Have you tried smoking a spliff then having an amazing
orgasm?”
Rating: ⭐ (1/5 stars)
