Book Club: Earth Power
Book Club: Earth Power (Techniques of Natural Magic)
By Scott Cunningham
Exciting News!
I am really excited to get my bookclub started again! While this time around it looks a little different. Previously I held a monthly bookclub where the group and I would discuss a metaphysical (or adjacent) book. What I envision for my bookclub now is something sort of like an asynchronous class. I read the book and offer guidance, commentary, and materials to help you through it. This way the bookclub is free and open to anyone with no scheduling commitment. You can follow along as much or as little as you’d like.
I still want the club to be a space where people in the metaphysical community can meet and interact as we discuss a book or book series. As the club grows, Patreon and my website will act as a hub for all information related to whats going on. The “club” will be accessible through my website and Patreon for free with two additional tiers for $3 and a $5. The lowest tier, Supporter, will function mostly as a support tier with some additional offerings like additional book resources, monthly divination, and a discount on readings. The next tier, Companion, will provide the full bookclub experience with access to a future discord server and monthly online meetups.
You can find more note sheets and supporting documents, like the one below, over on my patreon. ( patreon.com/chaoticfoxandco )
Reading Earth Power
I’ve been making some time to redefining my practice and get back to the roots of what I believe and fortify my existing beliefs. One of the integral and interwoven parts of my practice is centered around the elements, elemental magic, and natural cycles. I thought a great companion to this would be this pair of books by Scott Cunningham, Earth Power and Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Both give an introduction to elemental magic and a variety of methods and spells to try. These will be overall quick and interactive reads as the bulk of the books is spells and each day we’ll have some homework of spells and methods to try out. In the first book, Cunningham gives a list of symbols with common meanings, simple “runes” to use in some of the spells, a color correspondence guide, and a list of herbs and their uses. For anyone just starting out, this would be a great resource to have and expand on your own.
Since were just starting out, I will be doing more commentary on my experience with the spells. I also will be using these as a starting point for a “Fox’s Library” template on notion. I am working on a system that people can use to track the books we read and to organize their own library of books. I am also looking deeper into the transfer of information in metaphysics so I'm making a cross-reference list of suggested reading or referenced titles using these books. Some of these may also be read in the club.
Part I: Basics
One of my favorite things about much of Cunningham’s work is that its rooted in simplicity and ease. These books especially are focused on magic that uses sometimes nothing more than intention and the energy of an element (if that). I was expecting a little more information in the beginning, but he was straight to the point and puts more focus on the actual spell work in the latter part of the book.
This section covers four short chapters that essentially give an overview of the elements and some techniques that will be beneficial going forward.
homework:
read part 1 (over 2-3 days).
(due later) start looking for a divination method (tarot, pendulum, and scrying are beginner friendly). This will be useful in the future overall, but can be important when doing spell work.
practice using the power hand.
Sit comfortably and imagine your body is filled with energy. Maybe its lines of energy, smoke, light.
Next imagine this energy moving to fill the space in your power hand (dominate hand). Your hand should feel noticeably heavier, warm, or different.
When you start to notice the change, begin imagining this energy is a certain color (you can use the appendix on colors for this) and see if anything changes.
Try taking the energy and putting it on or in something. Take notes!
Explore the list of symbols.
Write or type this list of symbols but only the name of the symbol. Go through the list and write down your personal meanings before getting deep into the list. This can help you find immediate commonalities and alternative personal meanings.
Patreon Members will get access to a typed list of these symbols, the color correspondence, and a note section
Once you go through the list, take special note of meanings that were very different than what he listed. Other cultures view symbols differently and its important to use a system that works for you personally.
I would do this for the color correspondence too.
Explore the elements.
Before moving on to the last section, take a moment to write down what each element represents to you. A few sentences is fine.
Good luck and see you soon! -Fox