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Friday, November 25, 2022

Book Review: Tea Magic by Jenay Marontate

Title: Tea Magic

Author: Jenay Marontate
Genre: Witchcraft - Wicca - Tea Magic - Kitchen Witchery
Publisher: Llewellyn Publications - Copyright 2022
Publication Date: December 8, 2022
Read: November 16-24, 2022
Disclaimer: I received a digital advanced reader copy from the publisher via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.

Synopsis from Publisher: Pour a Steaming Cup of Health, Intuition, and Enchantment 

Brewing tea is more than just magic, it is an intimate act steeped in rich history, exciting pageantry, and ceremonial rituals. This beginner-friendly book covers everything you need to know about tea, including all six true varieties, herbal tisanes, and even cannabis tea. You will learn how to: 

• Create your own blend • Properly brew the perfect pot • Safely charge your tea with crystals • Connect to spirit guides and guardian angels • Draw on the influence of the zodiac • Scry into your teacup • Call on gods and goddesses • Read the leaves and water 

With chants, sigils, visualizations, and other tools, there is likely more to tea witchery than you ever imagined. This book's gentle guidance through the world of tea will help you improve meditation, increase wellness, enhance spell work, and expand your joy one cup at a time.

Review: Tasseography, the use of tea leaves (or coffee grounds) for divination, is an ancient art and one I've been personally interested in for a number of years but have never found a truly satisfying book on the subject. Imagine my excitement when I was gift an e-ARC from the publisher for Tea Magic by Jenay Marontate! "Finally," I thought, "here is a book that will explain tasseography." Alas, my search continues because the actual section on interpreting tea leaves and symbols is small and comes at the very end of the book. The majority of the book is dedicated to the various types of teas, blends, and their preparations. 

This is not to say the book isn't interesting because it is! I had no idea tea could be such a complex subject, and I'm also grateful to have information provided on different types of water that can be used for steeping tea in order to enhance its mystical properties. Marontate differentiates between green tea, black tea, white tea, and herbal infusions, which aren't truly "tea" as they generally don't contain any actual tea leaves. She also provides information on steeping times, water temperature, and a host of other brilliant insights into how to incorporate tea magic into daily life. I will certainly be referring to this book in the future.

However, I still wish the author had spent more time exploring the actual practice of tasseography as a form of divination. Whether it be in the form of interpreting visions found in clouds of milk or cream added to tea (or coffee) and signs/symbols in leaves (or grounds), I would have liked more pages devoted to the practical side of tea magic than to the selection of the tea itself. There are certainly little insightful nuggets throughout the book, such as using a tea bag as a pendulum (something I'd never considered before and I use pendulums a lot), that I found helpful and will definitely try in the future. 

Overall, I had hoped a book titled Tea Magic would spend a little more time on the practical side of the magic. But, I'm happy to have read the book and will gladly add a physical copy to my shelf upon publication.

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