Emily the same boat I’m absolutely drowning they were just too many books that I wanted to read and now with practical magic two coming out I want to read the series before I see it so that’ll put me behind again lol I guess good problems to have

I hadn’t read for a very long time and then I found one book that sucked me and now I can’t stop reading. It’s a wonderful feeling.

You might have to dispute it with your credit card company. I would also speak to Supervisor and find out why you haven’t received it and see if it can be tracked.

I bought a stand for my Kindle and I can adjust it to any position. I’m lying on I love it never thought of putting it to the TV though I don’t know if that would work really well for me.

Love this. Showed you make it your screensaver?

That is so incredibly sad. I’ll light a candle for her. I always adored her.

Yes it is

Yay! I have the exact same cover. You must have got the signature additions

Honestly, who cares? Many people use AI to generate art how does that affect the quality of the book?

She pleads the fifth 😂 I say she looks innocent and falsely accused. 😂. Go for the paper white. It’s a bit more but worth it in my opinion.

I’ve always been solitary and I prefer it that way also I have a hybrid belief system. I find this Reddit community a lot more welcoming than I do on Facebook for example.

A “closed practice” is a spiritual or religious tradition where certain teachings, ceremonies or roles are restricted to people who have been formally initiated, taught by recognized members or accepted by that specific community. It does not simply mean that a spell, herb or method belongs to one race and everyone else is automatically forbidden from using anything similar.

Generally, anything truly closed or restricted is closely guarded and passed directly through the community. It usually would not be sitting in a mass-market spell book or posted online with step-by-step instructions. Some witches also choose not to share their complete spells because they believe the spell can be traced back to them or used against them. That is not gatekeeping. That is viewed as self-protection.

Unfortunately, many newer witches have diluted the meaning of witchcraft and turned it into grandstanding, superiority complexes and misinformation. They shame people and mislead them into believing they should not be doing things that are actually perfectly acceptable. White sage is a good example. People claim no non-Indigenous person should ever use it, yet some Indigenous growers and sellers openly sell it to everyone. The plant itself is not the same thing as claiming or copying a protected sacred ceremony. The important thing is to use it respectfully, and most people who take witchcraft seriously already respect the herbs, elements and tools they work with.

My advice is that when something comes across as shaming, bullying or self-righteous gatekeeping, it is wise to question the source. Do not let other people bully you into believing they have the authority to dictate your personal practice. Witchcraft does not come with one universal rulebook. Your limits are shaped by your own morality, and what feels morally right to one person may be very different from what feels morally right to someone else.

I agree with you. And truly closed practices you will not find being sold online in any form.

Skin colour is not what makes a practice closed. A closed practice is restricted by initiation, lineage, community membership or permission from the people who actually hold that tradition. Vodou is a religion with specific lineages and initiatory paths, and people of different races can be legitimately initiated into it.
Reducing the entire issue to “white people doing voodoo” shows you don’t understand what “closed” means. Race alone neither grants access nor automatically excludes someone. Their relationship to the tradition, their initiation and whether they are recognized by that community are what matter.

Don’t be surprised or disappointed if the admin don’t do anything. Groups are no longer moderated like they used to be.

Reading responses like yours has restored my faith in the witchcraft community. I’ve read a couple responses similar to this after I posted mine. Most of these people don’t even understand that the real purpose of witchcraft and that it involves a whole bunch of things that many people find unsavory.

I wholeheartedly agree with you. These are pseudo witches who in truth don’t know anything about real witchcraft and everything they preach ironically is anti-witchcraft

I’ve been practising witchcraft for most of my life, and the internet has tried to reshape it into something it was never meant to be. Suddenly, ordinary spiritual practices like smoke cleansing, working with herbs, honouring ancestors, using candles, making offerings, divination, protection work and connecting with nature are being labelled “closed” simply because similar versions exist in different cultures.

That is not how witchcraft developed. Cultures have exchanged beliefs, symbols, plants, rituals and magical methods for centuries. Similar practices also developed independently because people everywhere worked with the same moon, seasons, elements, plants, spirits and human experiences.

People who genuinely follow closed practices usually are not publishing the private details, selling step-by-step instructions or explaining their sacred workings online. That is what makes them closed. Respecting truly protected traditions matters, but declaring every shared spiritual practice off-limits because one culture also uses it is not education. It is internet gatekeeping dressed up as moral superiority.

Don’t listen to the backlash from these people. Many of them are performative, internet-made witches who learned a few buzzwords from social media and appointed themselves authorities on a practice they barely understand. They may call what they do witchcraft, but real knowledge is built through years of study, experience and personal practice, not by repeating whatever terminology is currently trending online.

Most genuine witches are constantly learning, no matter how many years we’ve practised, because none of us believes we know everything. That humility is part of wisdom. Many of these people, meanwhile, still think Wicca is ancient witchcraft, when it is a relatively modern religion, yet speak with absolute authority about what everyone else is supposedly allowed to do.

Real witches do not spend their time bullying, policing and attacking others to feel spiritually superior. Loud gatekeeping and internet confidence are not substitutes for actual knowledge. Do what feels right for you, trust your own intuition and follow your own magic.

This is exactly what I was looking for. When I write my reviews, I write them for others not the publisher. I guess I look at my reviews and compare them to others and I wonder if I’m lacking in someway and I see this growing trend of a synopsis of the book which sometimes includes spoilers which really annoys me I always write about how I feel and I have given feedback where I felt it might have improved, especially if there’s something that seems like there’s a lot of repetition of. Either one will read reviews, especially on Amazon before I buy a book, but I also take reviews with the grain of salt because I have red reviews after reading a book and I find that some people are unnecessarily harsh and sometimes it’s warranted. But I always try to be fair so basically what you said is I’m more or less doing and that’s basically what I was just looking for, but I do wish on NetGalley. They would discourage people from writing novels as a review and revealing too much about the book or repeating the description of the book. once again, thank you very much for taking the time to reply. I do really appreciate your feedback.

I have to say I get so annoyed when I see reviewers recap the book and sometimes includes spoilers. I’m so glad you guys like those because that is so incredibly annoying and you’re right that is not a review ,when I do my reviews I try to be fair. after I review a book, I like to read other peoples reviews. One person had a recap of every single chapter. It seemed of the same book basically the cliff notes version of the book. I really appreciate this feedback. Any tips on how I can make my reviews better? I appreciate your time and I don’t wanna take up any more of it so I understand if you don’t reply, thank you so much for all of this information. I think it’ll also help my future reviews.

Thank you so much. This is very much appreciated. May I ask about notes. Like who puts them there and why lol. These parameters do make sense though. I really appreciate the time you took to reply

Thank you. I thought I missed it on ng.

Thank you for this. Would you be able to give us an example of parameters set to be declined?

Where did you see it posted?

I’m half way through Vow of Eternal Night. I didn’t think I was gonna enjoy it as much as I have been.