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Halo Quin

~ Author, storyteller, witch

Tag Archives: Book Review

Book Review: Sekhmet

11 Tuesday Jan 2022

Posted by Haloquin in Magic, review

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Tags

Author, Bard, Bardic, beauty, book, Book Review, Devotional, Egyptian, Fire Magic, Goddess, gods, learning, Magic, Neopagan, New book, Pagan, pagan theology, paganism, review, Sekhmet, Solstice, Summer Solstice, sunshine, Thealogy, Theology

I’ve long known of Sekhmet, that lion-headed, powerful Goddess of healing and rage, but I have never really known much about her. Olivia Church’s book has definitely changed that.

A pile of books on top of a laptop, "Pagan Portals: Sekhmet" on top, with a small black cat statuette, and a red and gold background.
Yes, I know that’s Bast.

Heavy with the weight of history, Church’s slim book clearly arose from a deep academic understanding of the sources and research surrounding the vengeful Lady of Flame and Pestilence, but the depth of direct experience also shines through. This is not a dry, dusty, text. Although it is dense the language is graced with rich and poetic illumination, and a bright passion for both the Goddess and her culture.

I now know much more than I expected to find out about this ancient Egyptian power, and would certainly use this as a reference book, and for inspiration if I ever choose to work with this multifaceted deity.

Despite the concise nature of the Pagan Portals books, Church has succeeded in including a both breadth and depth of information, and has in no way diminished the Eye of Ra, Sekhmet herself.

The short version: beautifully written, research heavy, introduction to a multifaceted Goddess, crafted with obviously personal, passionate, devotion.

Pagan Portals – Sekhmet, by Olivia Church (Moon Books, 2022)

Quin's Books - Bookshop banner - gold writing on red background, trying to look fancy.
Find this and other magical books, including mine, at Quin’s Books. (affiliate link)

Book Review: Intuitive Magical Practice

12 Friday Nov 2021

Posted by Haloquin in Magic, review

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Tags

book, Book Review, Intuition, Magic, Moon Books, Pagan

This is a sweet book with lots of thoughts about intuition and examples from the author’s own practice and life. It is very much a sharing from the heart of a personal practice, with a lot of vulnerability and plenty of inspiration. And I love how it weaves the elements so deeply through all of the chapters, and makes intuitive magic so accessible.

This is the kind of book that you really need a highlighter app for (or those little translucent sticky notes!) to mark the things that jump out at you so you can go back and try them, as it is filled with examples and ideas throughout the prose, and they’re sometimes easy to miss. Little gems in a hoard of treasure! 

Clarke has faith in her readers to already apply their intuitive understanding of the world, leading to the potential for people to improve their intuition by handing the details over to their spirit/deep self. For example, the expectation that readers can just “raise that vibration” in themselves, without explanation, assumes a lot of skills, but since these are natural skills that we can all do, if the reader simply places their trust in the author and does without thinking, there’s a good chance they’ll do well. 

Image Description: Intuitive Magical Practice viewed from above with a pot of tea, because is is cosy like a cuppa.
(Image Description: Intuitive Magical Practice viewed from above with a pot of tea, because is is cosy like a cuppa.)

I don’t agree with everything in this book, and the gendering of intuition does not sit well with me personally. In the introduction Clarke says her primary audience is women, and explicitly writes her material for women in chapter 15, so that’s worth bearing in mind if you’re, well, not. That’s not to say there isn’t beautiful, useful material in the chapter though. Personally it seems weird to me to gender a human ability that everyone has, but as the author is writing from her perspective and personal practice with intuition and the divine feminine it makes sense, and there is still a need for space for women to heal that piece of themselves so it is an important chapter for that. 

So in short: “Intuitive Magical Practice” by Natalia Clarke is a sweet, open hearted sharing of intuitive practices within a pagan perspective, primarily aimed at women, working particularly with the elements and the divine feminine. It is packed with inspiration and personal experiences, to really show how intuition can be integrated into one’s pagan practice.

~~~

Buy a copy from Quin’s Books here! (affiliate link)

Or you can order your copy from your local bookstore, or directly from the publisher here.

Please Note: I was given a copy of this book to review by the publisher.

Book Review: The Bird Atlas

08 Monday Nov 2021

Posted by Haloquin in Magic, Reflections, review, Stories

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Tags

Astral Travel, book, Book Review, Fantasy, Magic, Pagan, Shamanism

Now my PhD is winding down, I’ve finally started reading books again and I want to start sharing the gems I find.

Enter; The Bird Atlas by Anna McKerrow.

Firstly, I want to talk about this as a magical text. While you could read this as pure fantasy, if you’re magically inclined this book could be used to learn the basics of spirit flight, aka astral travel. Within its deceptively simple lyricism is guidance in several magical techniques which one could explore. I’ll definitely be recommending this to people on that basis.

And then, there’s the story itself…

I started this at bedtime and that was a mistake… I was so enchanted that I read the whole book in one sitting!

Read this if you want to dream while wide awake, to drift into an otherworld alongside ours, to touch mysteries that open your spirit to wondering, or if you want a primer on what it is like to journey between the worlds and be a part of the magic.

This book may be listed as fantasy, but there are real lessons in magic, and life, contained within its sweet and haunting pages. The whole tale has a dreamlike quality to it, the atmosphere of a faery tale which weaves a legend both timeless and for our time.

Oh, and to top it off, the concept is great!

Magical realism done so beautifully I am still under its spell.

💖

Anna McKerrow's The Bird Atlas - a book with a blue cover with a painted raven flying towards the viewer. On a red and gold patchwork quilt.

(Please Note: I was lucky enough to be gifted a copy to review, but every word is true.)

If you like haunting, touching, fantasy, with real magic… find Anna here, and order your copy of The Bird Atlas from your local bookseller.

An Ode to Books

07 Sunday Nov 2021

Posted by Haloquin in Following Delight, Reflections, review

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Tags

book, Book Review

Oh books! You glorious creatures of paper and print and pixels, light and shadow dancing before our eyes in invocation of mind to mind, heart to heart, spirit to spirit communication!

The chanting of audio books summoning otherworlds and deep knowing. The arcane sigils of the alpha-bet holding fast the hard won wisdom and wit of moments past.

Until we open you, oh wells of wisdom, and allow you to weave your spells upon us, losing time to your enchantments, and finally returning, forever changed. 

All of which is to say ; I’m glad I’m reading more widely again, and I’ve got some book reviews lined up for you all soon!


PS: if you too like books you can buy mine here, and support me to write more here!

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Meet Halo

Snow Pixie

Welcome to my world!

Halo Quin is an author, a storyteller, and a practicing witch with a lifelong relationship with the spirit realm (faeries, deities, and the primal powers of land, sea, and sky, specifically) who aims to share magic through experience. Halo lives in wild West Wales, right by the roiling sea, and loves to sing, dance, and otherwise enchant through performance. She also runs the local storytelling circle, and an ADHD resource centre, and ultimately encourages self-knowledge, self-acceptance, self-healing, and self-enchantment through everything she does... leading to:

Beauty ~ Magic ~ Delight

Re-enchanting the world, one story, one song, one spell, at a time.

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I'd love to hear from you! Email me at haloquin@gmail.com Or find me on Twitter!www.twitter.com/haloquin

Recent Posts

  • OUT NOW! Crimson Craft – sexual magic for the solo witch
  • Happy 2023! (and where I was in 2022)
  • The end of a chapter
  • Book Review: Sekhmet
  • Book Review: Intuitive Magical Practice
  • Book Review: The Bird Atlas
  • An Ode to Books
  • Still a Witch
  • NEW HOME FOR TEA!
  • Cycles and Stillness

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NSFW – Twisted

And for the over 18s… My alter-ego, Ms Quin, writes erotica, kinky poetry, on sacred sexuality and the like. You can explore some of Her writings and poetry readings, and find her sexy book of poetry via links at Twisted Ms Quin.

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