'The Book of Forgotten Witches: Dark & Twisted Folklore & Stories from Around the World'
It is about individual witches, sorted into types/categories, throughout mythology, folklore, and history. It is also a prolonged narrative, with you, the reader, as the curious visitor of an ancient, forgotten witch's library, the Corpus Corvorum, now in ruins atop the gothic Raven Hill. It is a moonlit night, and a mysterious ghost is your host, and the keeper and custodian of the library. You are about to embark on a journey, where you will tear away the veils and barriers of the world.
The ghost will tell you, in brief descriptions, about different witches, and magical creatures, mythical creatures, demons, the undead (including vampires, a bonus), gods, and monsters (not all of them are misunderstood, via tainted and dictated history, but nearly all of them have been previously lost and a target of attempted erasure), based around the process of spirituality, mysticism, and alchemy, and the drawing of tarot cards - the Major Arcana - and their symbolism, so we can discover and purify ourselves, towards enlightenment.
At the end of each witch category list, and stage in the alchemic/spiritual method, the ghost tells the reader a thrilling and scary short story, linking to a different tarot card. Every story is about witches, or otherwise magic, and nature, time, curses, dreams, and people.
I'm sure I'm making the book sound more confusing than it is.
But throughout 'The Book of Forgotten Witches', the reader is transformed and empowered. For witches have always been about empowerment. Most especially, female empowerment.
It is a chimera of a book. It is a dark, educational, and enlightening experience. Whilst reading, I fell under its spell. It felt like it had a darkness to it; something ominous, yet helpful in its own way. A witch like Baba Yaga could have written and stitched it together (incidentally, surprisingly, Baba Yaga's inclusion and description here is one of the shortest ones).
It is haunting, enticing, hypnotizing, and proudly, gleefully unconventional. It is almost necromantic. A codex of the occult.
This review would be far too long if I pointed out my favourite witches and magical creatures listed in 'The Book of Forgotten Witches'. Hecate is a major example. But one inclusion I feel I must highlight is Lilith and Eve (in the 'Fate-turners' category, with their powers being: 'independence'), 'the two major female figures of Jewish mythology' - page 326:
'Lilith stands up for herself and becomes an outcast of the system [literally demonised]. Eve remains in it but as a perpetual scapegoat. She suffers a similar fate to her predecessor, trying in vain to conform to a system that sees women as natural sinners. If Lilith and Eve could join forces, we would be one step closer to a more equal world.' - page 326
Holy shit. I love this book.
This is why we need feminism.
I will add that my favourites of the ghost's short stories are 'Pierced Gitta's Stall' (it is very Roald Dahl's 'The Witches'), 'The Green Rose', 'Nightfall' (an important LBGTQ+ story, about religious propaganda and fearmongering, ostracising, and "We tolerate your existence, barely, and now you want rights?! and to be seen?!", and it is my absolute favourite alongside 'The Green Rose'), 'Dragon Sister' (about a legend concerning the countess Elizabeth Báthory! Plus it has dragons and vampires, what more could you want?), and 'The Stone-dweller's hare' (very 'Watership Down' and 'The Animals of Farthing Wood'). Most of the other stories are confusing, unclear, and just plain baffling, but I see their meanings and morals. All are well written and gripping.
The art by Lilla Bölecz is gorgeous, ethereal, shady, and eerie; an extra scary, unsettling, ghostly touch, and aura and spirit.
'The Book of Forgotten Witches: Dark & Twisted Folklore & Stories from Around the World' - I cannot stress enough what an experience it is. It is unlike any nonfiction and fiction book I have ever read. It is wholeheartedly witchy, atmospheric, gothic, twisted, educational, versatile, and diverse, with shadows, fog, fangs, plants, ravens, and blood and guts.
It joins my list of witchy and folkloric nonfiction: 'The Element Encyclopedia of Witchcraft', 'The Field Guide to Witches: An artist’s grimoire of 20 witches and their worlds', 'Rebel Folklore: Empowering Tales of Spirits, Witches, and Other Misfits from Anansi to Baba Yaga', 'Warriors, Witches, Women: Mythology's Fiercest Females', 'Rejected Princesses: Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics', 'Literary Witches: A Celebration of Magical Woman Writers', 'Fierce Fairytales: & Other Stories to Stir Your Soul', 'Witchcraft: A Graphic History: Stories of wise women, healers and magic', and 'Women Who Run With The Wolves: Contacting the Power of the Wild Woman'.
Thank you to the Goodreads friend who recommended 'The Book of Forgotten Witches' to me.
Happy early, eerie Samhain.
Final Score: 4/5
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