The Clovenstone Workings: A Manual of Early Modern Witchcraft

So, nice things first, I really like the root of all the knowledge in this book, especially the divine name, and the spells using it, great. The Oyl, great. Words of Power, great. Beyond that, I really don’t like how the author chooses to dance around the topics, in alot of places, lots of long winded rants, and paragraphs that have absolutely no through line whatsoever, and some are just contradictory. Also, really, really, REALLY *BAD* pact making advice right out of the gate, if you are giving any entity allegiance of any kind, that is a tangible thing, the author suggests *firmly, multiple times, that you must give all your allegiance to his version of the King and Queen of Fae for your whole life and all of the time you’re dead until you reincarnate, maybe, the verbage is so bad and leaves so many holes its unknowable what will happen, and then on top of that, he says you must do something “tangible” for the entities every single year of your life, or he says your pact has a very high chance of being denied, WHAT!, and then says you’ll never be able to get out of it, which kind of overhauls at-will contracts, which all entities will accept; I thought this was year 2,023 of the common era of humanity, we are a little smarter now, at-will pacts are good, lol. These aren’t bad entities at all, great entities, some of the best actually, terrible pact making advice because the author was trying to impart a narrative from past timelines that didn’t even serve the witches he got the inspiration from, cause they got yanked in terrible ways, because of their own pacts, and then they had to go serve those entities for hundreds of years as a *soul lesson, so, don’t make the pact how he tells you, it is really bad, on many levels. Just give the King and Queen of Fae like 33 blood and candle offerings on different full moons each, and you’ll get the same effect, and you don’t have to give your allegiance to anyone, “in this world and the next.” Other than that, most of the other stuff is pretty good, the divine name is really exquisite, the energy it invokes is lightning baby, but, I hate the fear-mongering around the name, the author harps on the fear over and over again. The truth is every human is already a manifestation of the divine, so we are already in the soup of divine, no need to worry about getting splashed by it, since we are bathing in it every moment we exist through time and space, if you get the metaphor. Overall, there are alot of things that I really like about this book, but the ones I don’t are genuinely dangerous and not-well thought out. It seems like the author invoked Isobel Gowdie, got some inspiration, and then came up with a project that had most of the right parts, and genius roots to pull from, but absolutely none of the exquisite execution that we learned in the modern age, which is what got the old witches yanked before, terrible execution. The book reads not well thought out as it is, but the execution is even worse; life and death allegiance for lucid dreams and spirit allies you can literally get bound to you in the magickal spirit keeping industry, online and on Etsy, plus a power boost, for life and death allegiance, and large annual offerings, are you CRAZY? What a terrible deal! Not to mention, the author is definitely trying to implement an “old style witchery” narrative, which I like, we all do, but his implementation hinders the actual material included, most of which is genius, which makes me sad cause I want to love it completely, so bad. I at once love and hate this book, I think if the author sees this review, rethink implementing past timelines of our witch ancestors in the hopes of conjuring modern nostalgia, let your genius shine fully instead, and leave pact making behind friend, not for you. To be frank, your pact making advice is actively dangerous, and uninspired, it feels like you threw it together without putting deep thought into every piece, it lacks density, and planning, it leaves so many holes that it isn’t even a solid pact to begin with, and it isn’t built to benefit the pact maker at all, no loopholes, no outsies, just forever. Moreover, to give all of that, just to get some lucid dreams, and to get “witch power”, which is already inherent within all of us, it makes me think the witch ancestors have not brought you in, and maybe your in the middle of your greater incarnation cycle. A witches power comes from their blood, and bones, and skin, and nerves, and spirit, it’s everything, divinity inherent, the “I Am That I Am”, it’s already a self-contained thing, a never ending circle, you can’t “gain” it, it’s not something the King and Queen of Fae can give, you can only open yourself, it is *within already. There are so many things I want to say about how this book is bad, but all I’ll leave for anyone reading this review is get inspired by this book, do not follow it as a pathway, unless you want to be a servant in this life and the next for lucid dreams.

Don’t get me wrong, the results you’ll garner from the operations in this book are tried and true….Witchcraft by nature is a very personal path. The empowerment one experiences as a result is great, but it should never be taken as an end-all-be-all truth for everyone. No two witches are the same. And practices, omens, and initiations vary by region.The "witch dreams" he describes confirmed a lot of hunches I had about the forgotten role of dreams and hypnogogic states in magical practice, and how they're completely left out of most modern neo-pagan versions of the craft, which focuses (in my opinion) too much on the ceremonial aspects of magic and overstates the "love and light" concept. Here in this book, he walks us through ritual dream incubation, which is a technique practiced by many cultures and religions that weren't necessarily connected to witchcraft, and something I myself already do regularly. (I recommend Conscious Dreaming by Robert Moss for those wishing to making dreaming more part of their practice).Because of that, I don't necessarily agree with his seemingly arbitrary "timeline" for Witch Dream incubation that he describes, because in my personal experience prior to this book, the dreams he mentions arrived LONG before even making the pacts. Those of you who are in this same situation might also be a little confused like I am, especially when the symbolism in these dreams matches the classic signs of a witch (a dog, a cat, a toad, a goat, etc...and from my personal accounts of the Old One: storms is a strong indication since traditionally the folkloric Devil is associated with storms). Like me you might be thinking, "but, what if they came already?" "What if THEY were calling ME?" and thus rendering his timeline constrictive.I believe if it is your intention and in your soul calling to become "witched" (and only you can know that) the dreams will come on their own. In my very humble experience, Spirit doesn't really care about a "28 day" countdown or when you start or stop something. If you want them, they want you.Always be weary and be careful when assessing tone in books like these. If it sounds overly insistent, unyielding, "all or nothing" towards a particular viewpoint, the author is probably not speaking from a place of neutrality. There's a rise in wanting to know what 'real witchcraft' is and isn't (which we should be thankful for), which unfortunately means people unconscious of their own biases are stepping forward and proclaiming it as true for all.One final note is that while he does cite a lot of good sources, they are only from one region and it doesn't take into account that there were MANY source texts for witchcraft across Europe. Most of which have been destroyed or forgotten.All of that being said, I'm glad that he mentions the importance of dreams and the use of hypnogogic and out-of-body states to perform acts of magic. For me, that rings true. The results you will experience from this book are true and useful. Overall an ok book, but don't get caught up in his misleading tone.

I won't lie, I'm conflicted in this review.On one hand, Robin Artisson is a raging Islamophobe, and seemingly LOVES to rebrand himself anytime the drama gets too deep. It's difficult to choose to support anyone of that nature, but my first copy of the book fell apart, and I felt I needed a copy of it back in my hands. Which leads to the other hand...While Artisson certainly has a tendency to ramble on, thus four stars instead of five, the material covered in this book is important. From establishing the ring in a new way, mentions of the Gods as ecologies of power rather than physical entities, the importance of familiar spirits, and the revivification of old witch traditions, Clovenstone Workings is a special book.Will you achieve equal heights without buying the book? 100%. This isn't a book filled with secret teachings and methods you've never heard of before, and it isn't going to give you access to magical powers. There are valuable methods in here, certainly, but one can find methods equally as valuable by perusing witch history and lore.Ultimately it comes down to what you want to do with your money. Again, I only picked up a second copy because my first one fell apart, and it was getting too difficult to keep it together without losing pages. The book was valuable enough to me to warrant a second buy, but I also have to again state that this decision was not made lightly. I abhor Artisson's particular style of vitriol towards those he does not understand, and find his entire online personal to be generally embarassing. This book doesn't go on my recommended reading list simply because I choose not to support the author in any other way. But damn, this was a good book.

I have enjoyed every second of being immersed in this wonderful book, which beckons the reader along the crooked pathway from the Early Modern period to this modern day through the workings laid out within it. Never has the opportunity to reach back into the roots of witchcraft felt more genuine, and it holds within it much needed transformative rites which are deceptively simple and uncluttered, yet deeply powerful. It is exactly what this modern day needs. It is so much more than a book. It is an initiation.

I am re writing this review for clarity. I have read the paperback which is an excellent treatise upon traditional witchcraft in keeping with the spirit Robin's other works. That said I expected the hardcover version to be a dazzling version of the same to use ceremonially. However I have now learned that a further version in hardback is to be published with new illustrations and a blue cover directly from the publisher with details to follow. I look forward to this item immensly.

I truly love this book. I feel it clearly draws a line in the sand between primeval animistic witchcraft & modern takes on the craft. I applaud the author for showing that the darker side of the craft is perfectly natural. Thank you for birthing this book in to the world Robin Artisson, especially at this time in our species history when it is so sorely needed.

This book is the real deal, it’s the kind of book I have always wanted to read ever since I became interested in witchcraft, although I must say that to truly take all of it in you actually need to be have given considerate thought on many subjects beforehand and to have had some sort of magical practice. I do not believe this is a book for a beginner.I’ve read countless books on witchcraft, many of which have only given me a sense of what I do not wish to pursue and it has been a frustrating journey at times. There’s too much misconception going around in this era of IG witches.Robin Artisson has been a constant in my bookshelf and I loved many of his previous books. However, none of the others has touched so deep as this one. Everything rings true about it and even simple short instructions for something like scrying beats the hell out of whole books written on the subject. It is also beautifully written, which is also not that common to find among other occult writers and it is written with immense passion and generosity.On the other hand, while completely rooted on traditional witchcraft, it is not purist in its method and constantly addresses extremely relevant questions to the witch of the XXI century.This is a powerful book and one that will transform you just from reading it, independently from doing the workings or not. It makes you search your soul really deep as it addresses really important issues for anyone interested in witchcraft and magic in general.

This book is a great work on Witchcraft as it has been practiced during the Early Modern. It reviews all the major themes of witchching practice that we have evidence of both from the witch trials, as well as from treatises that have come down to us from that time, The Book of Oberon and the Saducismus Triumphatus for example, or academic essays by authors such as Emma Wilby, etc., which makes it a well documented book both in the historical part and in the practical part based on the extensive personal experience of the author. All of Robin Artisson's books are delightful to read, because he combines a love for historical sources, a consolidated personal experience and a literary style that is often almost poetic, so I warmly recommend to anyone who wants to know so much in theory as in practice a more realistic vision of Witchcraft, this and all the other books by this author.