I’m a huge Thorn Mooney fan. I’ve been following her work since, gosh, over a decade ago when people were still uploading grainy YouTube videos of late-night ramblings about the Craft. Witches Among Us: Understanding Contemporary Witchcraft and Wicca (Llewellyn Books, Oct. 2024) is her third book.

In writing Witches Among Us, Mooney wears dual hats: that of the religious studies scholar and that of a longtime practitioner with experience in multiple traditions. In reviewing Witches Among Us, I’m wearing the hat of someone who is witch-adjacent. I do believe I am within the target readership because I am not part of the in-group of contemporary witchcraft or Wicca, and therefore I am reading this book to learn more about that group.

A key point that Mooney emphasizes throughout the text is the myriad types of witchcraft and diverse patterns of demographics when it comes to who, today, identifies as a witch and what contemporary witchcraft even is to those who say they practice it. There’s this stereotype of the witch aesthetic that very, very few actual witches can even identify with. I really appreciate that setup for the uninitiated reader.

“[A]ny attempt to codify witchcraft into a neat, organized category is destined to fail, and even making the attempt does an enormous disservice to the rich, deep, diverse, and ever-expanding realm that witches occupy.” When I read statements like that, I start to think optimistically that maybe I’m included as part of the witch identity. But then I look around at everyone else self-identifying as witch and can’t help but feel disheartened, unequivocally an outsider. Though, spoiler alert, I love that Mooney will address this in later chapters of this book, i.e., racial, regional, and socioeconomic implications on who gets to be the dominant voices of witchcraft.

Right in the opening of Chapter 1, there’s an insightful distinction between witchcraft and occultism. “Occultism is about what is hidden, and witchcraft is one of the hidden arts.” We also delve into the ambiguities right away — is witchcraft a religion? “Yes, except for when it’s definitely not.”

As an identity, notes Mooney, the label of witch must be self-owned and self-applied. I wonder if that is one of the core differences between witchcraft in the West and “witchcraft” (or whatever) in the East, because I’ve always been raised with the notion that such labels can only be granted to you by your community. Culturally that can mean you’re lineaged, and that’s how you’re granted the title, or you fell into that role de facto and that’s just what everyone in town refers to you by.

Here’s where we get to the book’s shining features: background information. Where do we get any of our notions of what modern witchcraft and the witch even is? We start with the 1951 repeal of the UK’s Witchcraft Act of 1735. Books on contemporary witchcraft began coming out of the woodwork, notably from Gerald Gardner, a figure Witches Among Us focuses heavily on.

As for shifting our framework of witchcraft as Christian heresy to a folk practice that reclaims connection to the land, that happens in the 20th century with Margaret Murray, which in turn became the foundation for the religious paradigms of witchcraft. Phineas Quimby and the New Thought movement, the rise of Spiritualism, Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society, and the New Age movement all helped to shape contemporary witchcraft. The movement encounters some setbacks in the 80s, however, with the Satanic Panic raging across the U.S., continuing into the late 90s with mass shootings in high schools. Somehow witchcraft and occultism were to blame for the violence.

The book is masterfully organized, and goes into just right proportion of depth. Chapter 3 covers quite the breadth of witch history, noting Robert Cochrane’s influence, Feri, and the Reclaiming communities, which are feminist and politically active traditions founded in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the question of whether these traditions are Wiccan when many of their practitioners are influenced by Wicca.

Folk or folkloric witchcraft, a term that’s gained in popularity as of late, is perhaps just as murky and ambiguous a term as witchcraft itself. Generally, it seems to be the practice of witchcraft plus an additional moniker of cultural belonging, such as Italian folk witch, Appalachian folk witch, Catholic folk witch, Buddhist folk witch, etc. I really appreciate the way Mooney covers these subtopics, as they plant the seeds for the reader to begin contextualizing what type of witchcraft their witch friend might be practicing.

The most frequently asked question from non-practitioners, or non-witches, is most likely, “what exactly do witches do?” Chapter 4 breaks it down into: doing ritual, doing magic, casting spells, divination, healing, and sacred time (often involving the observation of natural or seasonal cycles).

Here I put my “target readership” hat on, as an outsider, part of the “everyone else” to try and understand what exactly do witches do when they say “doing magic.” To put it in the basic terms of our lay understanding, magic is that which we consider impossible, not of this world, and maybe even crazy. Or, along the reasoning of Sigmund Freud and Emile Durkheim, a primitive stage of human development, fundamentally antisocial, and what happens when both evolution and the social order fail. Here, Mooney addresses the issue predominantly as a scholar. The difference between a miracle and an act of magic hinges on who is doing it. Magic is outside the bounds of accepted society, and so the same exact act that in one space is called “magic” is not considered “magic” if it is a socially accepted part of a socially accepted religion.

Practitioners such as Aleister Crowley and Dion Fortune might posit that magic is a matter of directing one’s mind to influence the outcomes of otherwise natural events. Mooney acknowledges that much of Crowley and Fortune’s work came directly sourced from Eastern traditions, which – thank you – that does not get acknowledged enough. Personally, I would take it even further and argue that much of what is considered to be Western occultism and contemporary witchcraft in fact was heavily appropriated from East Asian and South Asian mysticism, to such aggravating degrees that when I talk about Asian occult practices, people assume I’m influenced by Western occultism. But I digress. Clearly I have a chip on my shoulder.

As a guidebook to help the lay person understand what contemporary witchcraft is, and specifically how the rise and development of Wicca has shaped contemporary witchcraft, Witches Among Us is spectacular. It does such a comprehensive job covering all the bases, and always with a sensitive, inclusive touch, covering the range of beliefs generally associated with witches, altars, working tools, and the witch’s materials, to a discussion on what the “rules of witchcraft” are, or at least how to contextualize what principles witches follow. The book brings it all home with a conversation on witch communities today and hot topics that are circulated within witch communities — that closing chapter, Witches in Conversation.

Anyone in or adjacent to witch communities is familiar with the recurring, recycled conversation of who is and is not a real witch, on authenticity, on the commodification of witchcraft, and how unequal distribution of power and opportunities affect witchcraft spaces. “A perusal of the available witchcraft-related books . . . or the speaker roster at a typical Pagan conference or festival can reveal striking disparities in race, gender, and class.” And then there’s the uncomfortable conversation of appropriation of Indigenous, Black, and Asian magical practices.

The text ends with Mooney’s personal account for how witchcraft has enriched her life. “Through witchcraft, I’ve found the strength to navigate a variety of personal struggles, not because witchcraft is a cure-all, but because it gives me resources, connections, and perspectives that have encouraged me to act with compassion, to be honest with myself and others, and to take responsibility over those things within my control. . . . It makes me better.” Yes. Yes!

By the way, I love how Thorn Mooney has in effect become the witchcraft and Wiccan community’s PR spokesperson, at least here in the U.S. She has become a recognizable, highly-respected, and much-loved figurehead who seems to take seriously the social responsibility of representing a very diverse often dissident mosaic of sub-communities.

When I took Philosophy courses in college, I acquired texts that expanded by horizons of understanding, like A Brief Introduction to Islamic Philosophy, or A History of Zoroastrianism, or Christian Faith: An Introduction to the Study. Now ranked among these texts that professors assign to their undergrad students is going to be Thorn Mooney’s Witches Among Us. Elucidating, engaging, and comprehensive, Mooney delivered what will be a timeless orientation of the Craft.

FTC Disclosure: In accordance with Title 16 of the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations Part 255, “Guides Concerning Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising,” I received an advance review copy of the book from the publisher for prospective review. Everything I’ve said here is sincere and accurately reflects my opinion of the book.