Book Review - Magick from the Mat by Casey Giovinco
I recently read Magick from the Mat by Casey Giovinco, a book about using Yoga to enhance your witchcraft. As a Witch with a steady yoga practice, this book caught my eye so I quickly grabbed a copy and invited Casey onto the podcast (check out episode 11) and began reading. .
Like a breath of fresh air, this book isn’t written for beginners to the craft or to Yoga. I appreciated the assumption that I knew enough to follow along with his comparisons and teachings without going too into the basics. Far too many books out there are geared at absolute beginners and its delightful to read one more in the intermediate range.
There are no spells in this book, rather it is a delightful commentary on all aspects of Yoga and how it intersects with Witchcraft. Casey has included exercises and flows in the book, and I especially loved the techniques for connecting with the elements. I used his suggestion for connecting to ether, and immediately felt the buzz and vibratory feeling similar to having an OBE (out of body experience). This is now my shortcut method for inducing OBE's and astral projection in my own body. He also adds in yoga flows for the wheel of the year which is a delightful way to add to both your yoga and your witchcraft practice.
Overall I loved this book and am thankful to have it in my bookshelf to forever return to. Casey takes two unique and complex topics and weaves them together seamlessly and in an easy to follow manner.
The book was laid out practically, with great suggestions for incorporating the techniques into your own practice. He compares the theosophist and hermetic teachings to the yogic path in an intriguing way that helped deepen my understanding and appreciation for Yoga.
Overall I give this book 4 out of 5 witches hats.
My witches hats rating system:
0 - Problematic, this book should be burned.
1 - Did not like this book, do not read
2 - It was ok, wouldn’t recommend it though.
3 - I liked it but it might not be for everyone
4 - I really liked it and think most people will like it
5 - AMAZING, I loved it and everyone should read it
Meet Hana
Hana O’Neill, the Suburban Witch is a professional Tarot & Astrology reader, Intuitive Coach and the host of the Witch Talks podcast.
