THE GIPSY WITCHES BOOK CLUB
For our 1st official book review we have chosen:
The Green Witch
Your Complete Guide to the Natural Magic of Herbs, Flowers, Essential Oils, and More by Arin Murphy-Hiscock.
Published in its current form in 2017, The Green Witch is a 256-page introduction to nature-based witchcraft.
Interestingly, Murphy-Hiscock says the book began as The Way of the Green Witch in 2006 and was the first of her books that truly reflected her personal approach to everyday nature-based spirituality.
Our Cauldron Rating: 8.5/10
This one gets eight full cauldrons and one half-brewed little bastard bubbling in the corner.
Why? Because The Green Witch understands something we deeply appreciate:
Witchcraft does not need to be expensive. It does not require an enormous crystal collection, a perfectly curated altar, twenty-seven jars purchased from the internet, or an Instagram-worthy cottage hidden in an enchanted forest.
Murphy-Hiscock's philosophy is far more personal. She encourages witches to work with the natural environment that surrounds them, including parks, sidewalk trees and even a window box. More importantly, she tells readers not to blindly accept another person's magical correspondences. Experience the plant, stone, color or landscape yourself and develop your own relationship with it. That earns cauldrons from us.
What We Hippie Witches Love:
There is a lovely earthiness to this book. Her green witch is part naturalist, herbalist, healer and practitioner. The book moves through herbs, flowers, essential oils, stones, sacred spaces, gardens, herbal preparations, food and methods for connecting with the natural world. But the strongest idea isn't any particular herb or recipe. It's relationship.
Relationship with your environment. Relationship with your own intuition. Relationship with your home. Relationship with your body. Relationship with the Earth. That feels much closer to living witchcraft than performing witchcraft. And we LOVE that.
Our Feminist Witch Take:
Here's where this book quietly does something important. It puts authority back into the practitioner's hands. Murphy-Hiscock describes her approach as intensely personal rather than presenting green witchcraft as a rigid religion with one correct set of rules. She also explicitly argues that nature spirituality doesn't require someone to default to Wicca.
For women especially, there is something powerful about spiritual practice that says:
You are allowed to trust your observations.
You are allowed to build your own practice.
You don't need someone else's permission to connect with the Earth.
You don't need an institution standing between you and the sacred.
That resonates strongly with our feminist witchy perspective.
Where We Start Stirring the Cauldron Sideways:
This is where we lose that 1.5. The title promises a "complete guide," but I would treat this much more as a Green Witchcraft 101 book. It covers a LOT. That also means many subjects function as introductions rather than deep studies. The publisher itself describes it as covering herbal blends, potions, essential oils, stones, sacred foods, rituals, gardening and nature connection.
If you've practiced herbalism, folk magic, gardening or nature-based spirituality for years, parts will feel familiar. And there is an important distinction we should make throughout this series: Magical herbalism is not the same thing as medical herbalism. A magical correspondence for rosemary is one conversation. Treating a health condition with rosemary is another. Our witchy bookshelf needs room for wonder AND critical thinking.
One Thing We Really Appreciate About the Author:
Murphy-Hiscock isn't presenting herself as someone who invented green witchcraft yesterday for TikTok. She identifies as Pagan and a witch and describes herself as a third-degree High Priestess in the Black Forest Clan, with influences that include Druidism, Gardnerian practice, Seax-Wicca, Celtic-informed practices and German witchcraft. Her publisher says she has worked in alternative spirituality for more than twenty years.
That gives us meaningful context about the perspective behind the book.
FINAL BREW: 8.5/10 CAULDRONS
Beginner witch? Put it on the shelf.
Plant-loving hippie witch?
Definitely.
Experienced herbalist looking for serious botanical medicine?
You'll need something deeper.
Experienced practitioner looking for obscure historical witchcraft?
This isn't really that book.
Someone trying to reconnect with nature and build a simple, personal magical practice?
This is where The Green Witch shines.
And perhaps that's why it has remained so popular. It doesn't tell you that you need more stuff. It reminds you to pay attention to what's already growing around you.
That feels pretty damn witchy to us!
The Gipsy Witches Books. Brews. Botanicals.
Link to the book is in our bookstore! Grab your copy today!
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