Laura Tempest Zakroff - Anatomy of a Witch: A Map to the Magical Body

Llewellyn Publications

Woodbury, Minnesota

Copyright Information

Anatomy of a Witch: A Map to the Magical Body 2021 by Laura Tempest Zakroff.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any matter whatsoever, including Internet usage, without written permission from Llewellyn Publications, except in the form of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

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First e-book edition 2021

E-book ISBN: 9780738764580

Cover art by Laura Tempest Zakroff

Cover design by Shira Atakpu

Interior art by Laura Tempest Zakroff

Llewellyn Publications is an imprint of Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Zakroff, Laura Tempest, author.

Title: Anatomy of a witch : a map to the magical body / by Laura Tempest

Zakroff.

Description: First edition. | Woodbury, Minnesota : Llewellyn Worldwide,

[2021] | Includes bibliographical references. | Summary: This is a book

for Witches to connect with their bodies and the living world around

them. It can be used by any Witch or Pagan looking for a more grounded

connection between magic and their body Provided by publisher.

Identifiers: LCCN 2021005644 (print) | LCCN 2021005645 (ebook) | ISBN

9780738764344 (paperback) | ISBN 9780738764580 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Witchcraft. | Magic. | Mind and body.

Classification: LCC BF1566 .Z35 2021 (print) | LCC BF1566 (ebook) | DDC

133.4/3dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021005644

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2021005645

Llewellyn Publications does not participate in, endorse, or have any authority or responsibility concerning private business arrangements between our authors and the public.

Any Internet references contained in this work are current at publication time, but the publisher cannot guarantee that a specific reference will continue or be maintained. Please refer to the publishers website for links to current author websites.

Llewellyn Publications

Llewellyn Worldwide Ltd.

2143 Wooddale Drive

Woodbury, MN 55125

www.llewellyn.com

Manufactured in the United States of America

For all those who move in mysterious ways,

(and) in loving memory of Sam

Contents

List of

List of

by Christopher Penczak

: Witch Lungs

: Witch Heart

: The Serpent

: Witch Bones

: The Weaver

: Loving the Magical Body

: Touch the Sky, Kiss the Earth

: Tending the Cauldrons

: Home within the Temple

Illustrations

(Witch Mind)

Diagram of the

Rituals, Witchuals & Other Exercises

Chapter 1

Journal Prompt:

Journal Prompt:

Witchual:

Journal Prompt:

Chapter 2

Journal Prompt:

Journal Prompt:

Witchual:

Chapter 3

Witchual:

Chapter 4

Witchual:

Chapter 6

Journal Prompt:

Journal Prompt:

Witchual:

Witchual:

Witchual:

Chapter 7

Reach for the Kittens:

Altaring the Body:

Witchual:

Chapter 8

A Ritual to Tend to Your

A Ritual to Cleanse

A Ritual to Connect with

Chapter 9

Foreword

by Christopher Penczak

In the modern magickal classic The Sandman by Neil Gaiman, one of the characters, Lyta, goes on a quest to seek aid from the Furies, the Greek goddesses who mete out justice and vengeance. She asks them, Are you are you the Furies?

And they respond, Are we the Furies? Are you a hand? Or an eye? Or a tooth?

Lyta says, No, of course not. I am myself. But I have those things within me

That simple exchange embodies such deep magickal wisdom for us all. Here Gaiman speaks to the nature of how we, and the gods, are many things, many identities and roles within something larger, and uses the very tangible parts of the body to illustrate the less tangible divinities within us. We are all made up of many parts. We have many things inside us, and by exploring those things within, we can better embody ourselves. They lead to that essential myself.

Witches continue to seek their essential self today, as they have done since the very beginning, but an area often neglected by todays Witches are the very tangible parts of ourselves, those parts within our body, our very organs and structures, and the magickal forces found in all people, deeply anchored in the parts of our body. Just as the hand, eye, and tooth contain wisdom for us, Laura Tempest Zakroff takes us on a magickal journey through our own bodies, drawing a fivefold pentacle teaching us through the lungs, heart, serpent, bones, and mind.

Our bodies are the crossroads between our consciousness and our experience. Our physical senses are the primary interface for our experiences in the world. Witchcraft is an Art as much as it is anything else, but it is an embodied art. Life is the medium for our Art, and that life is the intersection of our consciousness and body with the world around us, physical and non-physical. So much traditional Witchcraft and occultism is visceral and sensory to hone our awareness of this sensory interface. We must feel Witchcraft on all levels to truly and deeply practice it. Its in our minds, yes, one of the five points of these teachings, but it is also down to our very bones. Some, including myself, focus so much on the visionary, the otherworldly, and the mystical that we lose sight of the magick in our blood and bones, in our breath and dance, in sweat, and tears, in pleasure and in pain. Many are enamored with Witchcraft and magick as an escape from the world and the body, yet true Witchcraft is anything but escapism. Witchcraft is facing what is to make what could be possible. Laura doesnt shy away from this, telling us outright that while the body is amazing, it is also messy and sometimes awful, with its surprises and challenges. If you are looking for a clean, pristine path without any mess, you are in for some surprises when you walk the Witchs path.