witchy book review ⋆｡°✩₊ °✦ ‧ ‧ ₊ ˚✧₊ °✦ Margit Tóth // Mágia

the short and sweet of it:

 sometimes a bit messy in the narrative (i suggest annotating to keep up)
 mostly about traditions in the old days (can be implemented, but you do the work)
 good for dual-faith practitioners (pagan + Christian)
 nice drawings, great term translations
 slavic witches will love it

let me start with this: i am a hungarian woman, raised in a traditional village. i knew about most of the things written in this book, the knowledge coming from first hand experience. my grandmother took me to spin wool and grain corn with the other kids when i was little. so this book brought me back to the simple, good old days. now, that said, if you aren't from around these parts, i can see how this might be a tad-bit dense for a casual read. 

hungarian folklore is messy. different in every area, so i expected to have some "wait, what" moments. and i had them. lots. it doesn't help that most of the traditions are written down after the christianisation of the area. i read a review that said this book is best for dual-faith practitioners, who work with the Christian faith and want to know more about the roots.

i hoped for more of a modern take on these traditions, talking about how we can implement old practices into our modern lives. it was mostly retelling of old mythts and how it was changed due to the christians moving in.

however! if you are looking for that (research about old traditions, tales and customs) to maybe further learn about a culture, then this is your book! it's well written, has beautiful illustrations and really nice explanations for the hungarian words.

it's also a really good read for slavic witches, because despite the language differences, our culture is so intertwined, it's practically all the things you already know just in different font. Baba Yaga is our Vasorrú Bába, the Leshy is just like our Vad Öreg.

link to the book's goodreads page