Initiated: Memoir of a Witch by Amanda Yates Garcia - Review
Quote about the book:
"A journey through wild beauty and deep wounds, Initiated is the book we need right now—it is an embrace, an awakening, a forging by glame, and an enchanted rallying cry." - Jade Change author of The Wangs vs. The WorldInitiated is both memoir and manifesto, calling the magical people of the world to take up their wands, be brave, and create the enchanted world they long to live in. - from the book flap.
Who is this book for?
Initiated is an empowering book but it's gritty and heavy and powerful. It doesn't hold back. It works like the mind in how it moves through memories. Thus, I think this book is perfect for anyone who is going through their own "initiation" or anyone who has faced trials and come out the other end even if they had to drag themselves out. This is a book for those who want to read about others who have pulled themselves from the depths of the underworld. This is for powerful witches. For feminist witches (though really all witches should be feminist) for witches who have felt othered, ignored, desperate for love. It's a book that will give you goosebumps as you think back to it. It's deeply personal but also, through that personal lens, a book that is so easy to vibe with. As someone who found herself in similar situations as the speaker, I also think this is a book for witches who feel like they've been through THE SHIT and somehow are still alive, but want to read about others who are thriving after all of it.
A bit about why I wanted to read this book:
I absolutely love creative nonfiction. I love memoir. And it's tricky at times to find books in this category that also deal with a spirituality that is familiar with me (not religion but spirituality). I have long held my own fascination with Persephone and the underworld. I've survived through much in my life, my own underworlds, so hearing that this was a book about another witch who went through these same troubles stirred a deep need to read this book. I do enjoy reading others' reviews but I don't always let their reviews sway me, it's more a curiosity about how other people perceived this book. Though it has some great reviews, there were also people who struggled with the timeline. As a poet, I absolutely love when creative nonfiction and fiction play with time, or tell a story in a way that isn't exactly linear. Seeing a review complain about this actually made me want to read it more. Sidenote: I'm not really sure why the review said the timeline was hard to follow. It's not at all. Sometimes the author goes back to childhood, but it's a very clear jump back when it does happen.
My main takeaways:
Before I dive in to why I love this book I do want to give a side note. I know we're all navigating anxiety differently right now so I will say that if you're struggled with PTSD or are triggered by sex work, topics of trauma, abusive relationships, and without the tools to navigate it, this might not be the best book for you right now. With that being said, though I have PTSD and struggle with triggers, I found that I was able to navigate this book well but I am in a good spot right now. The moments that do deal with this are navigated very carefully, there's nothing gratuitous, and as a whole they are very necessary to the book and a big part of why I saw myself in the pages and why I couldn't put it down.This book feels important, in the kind of way that is life changing. I can distinctly remember a time before this book and after. Following Amanda's journey through the pages empowered me. It broke me and put me back together again in the best of ways. This was a book that came at just the right time for me and I imagine that many readers will feel the same. Our political climate has always been rough (for queer and bipocs) but there is a different energy in the air that I think is acknowledged by this book. It reminded me of all I had survived and all I will survive. It reminded me that a spiritual initiation gifted by the universe isn't always easy, it's rough and heavy and difficult, but it's something that you ultimately need to surrender to if you want to pull yourself out from the underworld—if you want to reclaim your power.Amanda is a hereditary witch and grew up in a spiritual household. What I appreciated about this book however, was that it showed the ways in which she doubted her own gifts. Even growing up with a witch for a mother did nothing to stop the doubts that plague all of us on our journey. And discussing it the way she did in the book made the craft feel that much more necessary. It showed key events that happen when we doubt our gifts too. The way the universe calls out to you, trying to force you to believe to understand all you're capable of creating. There were moments of wildly powerful manifestation right alongside moments of sincere doubt and a belief that maybe the mind was spinning realities that just weren't true.This book is very much about what it means to move through the world as a femme too. About how we are perceived, the ways in which the patriarchy directly harms us, the ways we are trained from so young to give our powers away. It's a book of reclaiming that power. It's about showing, that once you have your power, you need to continuously fight to not lose it—grip it with all the strength you can muster. It's also about community, about relationships, about thinking of the ways we can so easily be hurt or embraced by those around us.
Finally,
I've had some difficulty writing this book review for some time, mostly because I don't feel any review I write will do it justice. It's a wickedly powerful book that I recommend any time I hear someone is going through difficulties believing and trusting in themselves. It's a book I recommend to people close to me who I know have struggled with trauma and rising from the ashes. Frankly, I feel it's a necessary book for any witch, regardless of craft or path. Writing this review makes me want to dive back into it.If you read the top part of my review, and you say "This is totally me," then all I can say is that this book will change you. It will mark a before and after and you'll find you think back to it time and time again. You'll feel a little less alone in the world. A little more seen, and a hell of a lot more empowered.
One other note:
If you enjoy this book, I cannot recommend the podcast Between the Worlds enough Amanda is one of the hosts, and I've learned so much from listening to it. You can also follow her on Instagram. I've attended two of her community rituals and I've been grateful for each one.
