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Writer's pictureZoe Parente

The Scent of Lemon & Rosemary - Book Review

I have to admit... I judge a book by its cover; I'm sorry, I'm being honest. I like an aesthetic cover and I feel like the title and the image the book gives off is in fact a good indicator on if I personally am going to enjoy the book or not. Which leads me to what originally caught my eye for today's book, the simplicity of the title " the SCENT of Lemon & Rosemary" by Raechel Henderson immediately made me think thought " perfect these are things I use in my practice everyday, it's giving me folk magic vibes, I'm here for it". Then the title continues with a subtext of " working domestic magick with Hestia" and since I'm being so honest today, ill keep the trend and say , this is where I stopped reading.


To me this meant the book was for those that worked with Hestia and I personally was/ am not one of those people, so I removed the book from my online cart and carried on. Until about a month later when i saw a fellow creator share the book as a "favorite" my interest was peaked once more, i really liked the idea of domestic and mundane magick and trusted this friends opinion so when they said " click buy", I clicked.


The book begins by going into the history of Hestia its brief but intriguing, it set me up thinking that Hestia was the focus of this book, and although I think that is the intention I was both pleasantly surprised while also slightly disappointment to realize later that although the book has ties back to Hestia , she in fact really isn't the focus nor is she mentioned more than briefly every once in awhile. I was left wanting more, a deeper understanding of how she was connected to this practice.


The book breaks down a "typical" house room by room offering recipes, rituals and information on how these spaces play a part in your witchcraft practice. I understand the concept was to keep it written like a story but sometimes I had wished the instructions were broken down more like a recipe than a narrative. None the less I have tabbed and highlighted this book profusely and already pulled it out as a reference on multiple occasions since starting.


If I had to choose a favorite section it would be the part on plants. As a plant mama myself I was not only excited to see that a lot of the houseplants that i already own were on the list but finding ways to tie them into my witchcraft was exciting and most certainly tab worthy.


The emphasis on not needing a million herbs, candles and crystals was refreshing especially in today day and age where the "trend" of witchcraft can often make you feel like its about the "stuff" more than the spell. "The Scent of Lemon & Rosemary" makes witchcraft accessible and inviting. The "Give a penny take a penny" spell on page 112 is easily my favorite and may or may not have already been put to use.


The emphasis on crafts and even the mention of which ones seemed kid / family friendly was also greatly appreciated as it made the practice mentioned feel full and collective while also maintaining those solitary witch vibes.


Although my initial judgement led me to leaving the book behind I am so happy to have been persuaded to pick it up and perhaps have learned my lesson in judging a book by its cover.



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