The Book of Seances Review

Claire Goodchild, of Black and the Moon, doesn’t just make fantastic decks. She also writes fantastic books.

I just finished reading an advanced copy of The Book of Seances: A Guide to Divination and Speaking to Spirits, and this shit is amazing.

It centers on, obviously, seances, but it doesn’t stop there. It’s got basic instructions for a ton of divination methods, from bibliomancy and tarot cards to readings with dominoes. It’s geared toward using these divination methods for spirit communication, but each section also sets you up to start using any of these methods for other types of things as well.

This entire book contains a wealth of information, but it’s presented in a very straight-forward way, and I never once found myself confused or having to go back and reread anything. However, I will undoubtedly be referring back to this book on a regular basis.

Each type of divination in the book has a bit about its history, where it came from, and how it’s been used. The balance between the history and the practical applications of each method are balanced perfectly too. It’s not bogged down by too much backstory, but it gives the reader a good sense of the foundation upon which the divination method stands before diving into it themselves.

The entire book is also peppered with illustrations of Claire’s distinctive art. Her often-copied-but-never-duplicated anatomical/floral style creates the perfect visuals for the subject matter.

At the end of each chapter dealing with a type of divination, there are a couple simple exercises to practice your hand at them, as well as (one of my personal favorite things) special pages to record your readings. I’m horrible about writing down what I do, I always just assume I’ll remember, and I literally never do. I’m going to be photocopying and hole-punching those pages for the rest of my life.

Did I mention that there’s a tea leaf reading symbol dictionary in here? It’s got the 100 most common symbols to show up in the bottom of your teacup, which is fucking invaluable.

Additionally, and geniusly, there’s also a list of tarot cards with their traditional meanings as well as what a spirit might be trying to communicate to you if you draw each card in a seance. This part is SO well done. It might feel weird for me to be suggesting this book to new tarot readers, but I send ’em where the information is good and, well…here we are.

The Book of Seances has something for everyone. If you’re brand new to this type of stuff, this book is a perfect entryway into the world of spirit communication. If you’re experienced in this field, there are more obscure tactics and fresh viewpoints in the book that will make fantastic additions into your already established practice.

I can’t believe this is the author’s first book. It’s just so well researched and her writing style is down to earth without being corny (if that makes sense). Although I will say I feel personally attacked by the suggestion to use “a vampire novel” for bibliomancy.

Claire’s Book of Seances deserves a spot on everyone’s bookshelf. You can pre-order it wherever books are sold. It comes out October 25th, 2022, so get on it!