Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Pagan
The Corner Crone: Visual Alchemy – A Witch’s Guide (Review)

The Corner Crone: Visual Alchemy – A Witch’s Guide (Review)

Last updated on: October 19, 2022 at 6:55 pm by Martha Kirby Capo

The Corner Crone: Visual Alchemy – A Witch’s Guide (Review) 2022-10-19T18:55:49+00:00 Martha Kirby Capo

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I’ve been sitting with my thoughts about Laura Tempest Zakroff’s Visual Alchemy: A Witch’s Guide to Sigils, Art & Magic for about a week now. After all, what can I possibly say about this powerhouse of an artist and witch that hasn’t been said before? Anyone even remotely aware of her work already knows she’s an amazing creatrix and a much-loved and vital contributor to our community.

Visual Alchemy is a follow-up work to Zakroff’s Sigil Witchery: A Witch’s Guide to Crafting Magick Symbols, in which she introduces her method of crafting symbols. That’s a book I haven’t read because I’ve never really done much with sigils – I tend to find them confusing and, although I can intellectually grasp the concept, I’ve never felt intimately connected to sigils I’ve seen. So, when Visual Alchemy came my way I came to its teachings as a tabula rasa – a reader with no preconceived notions beyond my own puzzlement.

I found this book to be enormously satisfying, particularly Part One: Create. In her first chapter, Zakroff quotes Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear, and this quote quite suddenly snapped a sigil connection into place for me:

I believe that our planet is inhabited not only by animals and plants and bacteria and viruses, but also by ideas*. Ideas are a disembodied, energetic life-form. […]. Ideas have no material body, but they do have consciousness, and they most certainly have will. Ideas are driven by a single impulse: to be made manifest. And the only way an idea can be made manifest in our world is through collaboration with a human partner.*

Elizabeth Gilbert, as cited by Laura Tempest Zakroff (p. 29)

With elegant and straightforward prose, Zakroff guides her readers through the Sigil Witchery method of identifying a goal or issue, sandboxing the marks to include in the sigil, and designing what you’ve come up with to represent that goal or the issue’s solution. She generously shares her creative process, and breaks down and explains the reasoning that helps a sigil-maker get from a blank space to a finished sigil that is throbbing with the potential and power you’ve imbued it with.

Throughout the book she includes the perspectives and art of guest contributors. As a result, the reader feels fully welcomed into the community as a person who is capable of creating prophetic art. Zakroff encourages her readers to cast off the shackles of severe self-judgment or self-criticism. “The understanding,” she writes, “comes in the doing, not in the labeling.” (p. 19) She challenges readers to question any previously held notions about art, and to focus on the process (“do the thing!”) rather than the end result.

The second half of the book, Collaborate, covers communal sigil work as a form of shared magic-making. Included are several (over 50!) public sigils that can either be utilized as is or serve as inspirations for your own creations. Their applications cover personal (good health, time management), communal (defense of transfolx, refugee safeguard), environmental (containing wildfires, protection of water), and a wide array of additional concerns.

Visual Alchemy is a terrific addition to your Laura Tempest Zakroff shelf. You’ll come away feeling confident, empowered, and ready to manifest your will through the creation of the sigils that you bring into life. Really, one of the most transformative books I’ve read.

You can hear more of The Corner Crone during her Moments For Meditation on KPPR Pure Pagan Radio on TuneIn or on YouTube. Follow her on Facebook and on Instagram.

Ritual and Practice

art

book review

Laura Tempest Zakroff

Previous Post

October 11, 2022

The Corner Crone: The Book of Mermaid Magic (Review)

Next Post

November 1, 2022 Simple Witchery: What the Meme Do We Know?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category A Lakeside Hearth Adventures in Wortcunning Alone In Her Presence Arts, Crafts & Cooking Birthing Hereditary Witchcraft Book of Blackbirds Book Reviews Born-Again Witch Cauldron, Sword, Spear, & Stone Cermony and Liturgy Columns Community Dandelion Seeds Dear Jasmine Druid Thoughts Editor's Picks Everyday Pagan Family & Household Practice Family Traditions Full Frontal Magic Gateway Goddess Guest Articles Happily Heathen Health and Wellness Hearth of Hellenism Heathen Woman Hills of the Horizon History Holidays Horse Goddesses Interfaith Interviews Irish-American Witchcraft Jewish Witch Lamp & Labyrinth Letters from Midgard Literature, Media, Film, Music Loop of Brighid Love, Sex & Relationships Magic or Magick Making Light Naturalistic Traditions Nature News Outside The Circle Pantheisticon Politics Prayers, Poems, Blessings & Stories Queer Femme Mystic Queer of Swords Recipes Ritual and Practice Science and Research Seekers and Guides Seeking the Grail Socially Responsible Magic Spear of Athena Star Made Witch Syncretic Electric Technology The Blooming Staff The Busy Witch The Cartomancer The Crow's Nest The Dance of Pagan Recovery The Hearth of Hellenism The Lady's Quill The Other Side of the Hedge The Path of She The Rantin' Raven The Witches Next Door The Zen Pagan Theology, Ethics, Philosophy Tree City Witch Urban Earthwitch Wayfaring Woman Witch on Fire Wyrd Words

Select a Month January 2026 March 2025 December 2024 June 2024 April 2024 March 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 August 2023 July 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

In 2 Thessalonians, what does Paul say the man of lawlessness will proclaim himself to be?

Select your answer to see how you score.

God A prophet The Messiah King of the world