Alive with Spirits
The Path and Practice of Animistic Witchcraft
Alive with Spirits introduces a satisfying way of life based on respect, care, reverence, and relationships with the land and the spirits that inhabit it.
Althaea Sebastiani declares that animistic witchcraft opens the door to a reality that’s more alive and richer than mainstream Western worldviews. The latter, she says, are mired in patriarchy, domination, and fear-based religion. Her lessons in animism begin with definitions of terms and concepts, freed from negative associations and stereotypes: witchcraft, for example, is described as a “toolkit” for seeing and navigating the multilayered reality of the world, while animism is a worldview that puts humans in community and communion with other beings and with spirits that are “more-than-human.” These modern versions of ancient worldviews aim to be in tune with contemporary science, countering long-held separative and destructive theories and revealing animistic witchcraft as a human birthright that may hold the secret to personal and planetary thriving.
The book’s clear explanations of the differences between modern witchcraft and older practices rooted in ethnic or cultural folkways remove barriers for all who feel called to witchcraft, but who do not share those roots. Indeed, the book is centered on learning through direct experience. It suggests exercises for sensing and moving energy; it includes a guide to plants and their uses. Practices for developing and nurturing relationships with local spirits are also outlined alongside insightful prompts for journaling and reflection and exercises for unifying the body and spirit to foster wholeness in relationships with the self, with others, and with the land.
The spiritual guidebook Alive with Spirits points to a world more expansive, sensitive, and beautiful than what can be seen on the surface, declaring that belonging and healing reside therein.
Reviewed by
Kristine Morris
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
