Over the holidays I suddenly found myself alone in someone else's living room. Everyone else had departed for other rooms, and I could hear them all bickering and guffawing and just generally being boisterous and TOO MUCH. I scanned the end table at my elbow and noticed, under a stack of magazines, this slim little volume.

 

Would it be too sickening if I said I was "charmed" by this book? Well, I was. It is part of a series of books by Ileana Abrev, a respected practitioner who hails from Cuba and currently lives in Australia. Her "White Magic" series has spawned several different books, each of which focuses on making magic spells simple, accessible, and fun.

All of Abrev's spells are white magic, meaning that they have nothing but positive outcomes. You will not find revenge spells here. Abrev uses simple language and clear explanations, which makes this book both acceptable and appropriate for younger readers. Girls in their tweens and teens will, I suspect, particularly appreciate this series. I know that when I was twelve or thirteen, I would have eagerly eaten this book up with a spoon and asked for seconds! 

 

The spells are broken down by chapter, each chapter dedicated to a different kind of spell-making: Color Magic, Crystal Magic, Bath Magic, Herb and Plant Magic, and Candle Magic. If I have one complaint about the book, it's that the structure makes it easy to work vertically (all the candle spells together) but not horizontally (all the prosperity spells). Since each type of magic cycles through all the same sorts of spells, I suspect a lot of people will want to do "one of each kind of love spell" or "one of each kind of career success spell." But perhaps not.

 

One benefit to grouping the spells by type is that it conserves your shopping list. You can simply buy a bunch of candles if you want to do Candle Magic, buy a bunch of oils if you want to do Bath Magic, and so forth.

 

The spells themselves are simple, with very little lead-in or after-work. Light candles of a certain color once a week, put an amethyst heart beneath your pillow, and so forth. The one chapter which seems a bit out of place is Color Magic, which doesn't offer much in the way of concrete suggestions. Although it could certainly be helpful if you want to pick a theme for a room, or enhance your wardrobe.