Will the REAL Grimmerie Please Stand Up?

The world is buzzing with the release of the Wicked movies! But while the songs and spectacle are dazzling, there’s a much darker, richer story underneath—the one told in Gregory Maguire’s brilliant novels.

These books give us the full, complex backstory of Elphaba, the misunderstood young woman who becomes the Wicked Witch of the West, and her complicated friendship with Glinda the Good. They dive deep into the world of Oz, exploring the lives of its famous inhabitants.

But at the heart of Elphaba’s magical journey is a massive, mysterious book of spells: the Grimmerie.

What is the Grimmerie in the Books?

In the Wicked novels, the Grimmerie is a giant, leather-bound book packed with forgotten, powerful magic. It contains spells on subjects like the "Administration of Dragons" and other formidable arts such as 

• Methods of poisoning water and breeding a docile population.
• Diagrams of instruments of torture and weapons which Elphaba considers "too vile to use".
• A recipe entitled "Of apples with black skin and white flesh: to fill the stomach with greed unto Death".
• A recipe to overthrow a regime, which suggests spells for various methods of sabotage and assassination.
• Spells for 'unleashing the hidden energies of matter'.
• Spells to tamper with time.
• Spells to encourage flight in originally earth-bound animals.
• Various 'marginalia on how to keep awake', which Elphaba combines with home remedies to produce a powerful insomnia potion.
• 'A spell to reveal hidden inscription [...]Perhaps even the location of individuals in hiding'. The reverse side of the page on the "On the Administration of Dragons" contains the second half of this spell.
• A spell entitled "To Call Winter on Water," used by Glinda to trap war ships advancing on Munchkinland in ice, in the beginning of Out of Oz.
• a spell entitled “On Vagueness and Variety;” the page from the book with this spell was found on the Maracoorian island of Ithira Strand, an island previously abandoned due to a plague.

Here’s the biggest puzzle: No one native to Oz can read it.

The books explain that the Grimmerie didn't originate in Oz. It was brought there long ago by the Wizard Merlin and is actually a copy of a famous text from our world, Earth: The Lesser Key of Solomon.

This is the key to the mystery! Because it's an Earth text, Ozians can’t decipher it. However, Elphaba can. Why? The major revelation is that her father is the Wizard of Oz himself—a man who came to Oz from Earth. Her half-Earthling heritage is what allows her to read the book and unlock its unique, powerful magic.

The Real-World Connection

The Grimmerie’s supposed source, The Lesser Key of Solomon (also known as Lemegeton Clavicula Salomonis), is a genuinely famous text in the history of magic and the occult.

Attributed to the Biblical King Solomon, this real-life book is most famous for its instructions on ceremonial magic and demonology. It provides detailed seals and instructions on how to properly summon, control, and bind 72 specific demons (known as the Ars Goetia) to force them to do the summoner's will.

It’s a far cry from the whimsical sorcery of Oz!

The Curious Mismatch Theory

Here’s where things get interesting. If the Grimmerie is just a copy of The Lesser Key of Solomon, why are its contents so different? Where are the demons? The Grimmerie is described as having chapters on dragons, not detailed instructions for summoning hellish entities.

This leads to a fascinating theory:

My belief is that when The Lesser Key of Solomon traveled from the distinct dimension of Earth to the magical Land of Oz, the journey fundamentally changed it. The book didn't just stay the same. It was magically transfigured. The unique rules and powerful magic of Oz rewrote its contents. The real-world text about binding demons morphed into the Ozian spellbook with instruction for powerful spells. 

We see this idea of dimensional travel causing major transformations in other sci-fi and fantasy stories. Consider Evil-Lyn from He-Man, who was originally characterized in the series bible as a scientist, named Evelyn Powers, from Earth who, upon arriving on Eternia, became the formidable sorceress we know. Or, in the 1984 Supergirl movie, where the heroine's journey from inner-space to outer-space causes her to age and transform from an innocent pre-teen into a powerful young woman. The Grimmerie, too, was changed by its move, trading Earth’s demonology for Oz's mythos, and becoming a text that only a special Oz/Earth hybrid like Elphaba could truly master.

A Powerful Symbol

Ultimately, the Grimmerie is more than just a magical prop. It is a powerful symbol of Elphaba’s unique destiny and dual identity. Its mysterious, non-Ozian origins are the perfect explanation for the powerful, strange magic she possesses.

Whether it's a literal copy or a text magically rewritten by dimension-hopping, the Grimmerie remains one of the most intriguing and central artifacts in the Land of Oz—and a reminder that in magic, everything is connected!

Carolina Dean
Sorcerer-Not So Supreme 
12th House Books 

Rate & Review that Purchase!

If you're reading this, chances are you love scrolling through Etsy, finding unique, handmade, or vintage treasures you won't find anywhere else. You click "buy," the package arrives, and you're thrilled! You might send a quick mental thanks to the seller and move on.

But wait! There’s one tiny, often-forgotten step that is crucial to the health of the Etsy ecosystem, and frankly, to your future shopping experience: leaving a review.

It might seem like a small thing, but for the millions of independent artists, makers, and curators who rely on Etsy, your review is a powerhouse. Here's why you should make reviewing your Etsy transactions a non-negotiable habit.

The Seller's Lifeline: Building Trust and Credibility

Imagine opening a new Etsy shop today. No one knows if you're reliable, if your products match your photos, or if your customer service is top-notch.

• Social Proof is Gold: Every positive review acts as social proof. It tells potential buyers, "This shop is legitimate, and their product is excellent." This is the single most important factor in a seller's success.

• Star Ratings = Search Visibility: Etsy's algorithm often favors shops with high star ratings and consistent sales. Your review directly contributes to a shop's visibility in search results, helping them get noticed by more customers.

• The Difference Between Closing and Flourishing: For a small, new, or niche shop, those first handful of 5-star reviews can be the difference between closing down and being able to make a living doing what they love.

The Customer's Advantage: Helping Future Buyers

When you are about to purchase an item, what is the first thing you look at? The reviews, of course! By leaving your own, you are participating in this vital feedback loop.

• Real-World Context: Did the vase you bought look exactly like the picture? Did the clothing run small, or was the material better than you expected? Your review provides the kind of real-world context that product descriptions simply can't capture.

• Customer Service Vetting: You can also comment on the seller's communication, shipping speed, and packaging. This helps future buyers choose a seller who aligns with their expectations for service.

• Spotting Potential Issues: If you had a problem, a constructive and honest review helps others proceed with caution or choose a different shop, protecting the community.

A Chance to Give Essential Feedback

A review isn't just a rating; it's a conversation.

• Praise for Innovation: If you loved the thoughtful packaging, the handwritten note, or the speedy shipping, let the seller know! They will continue those practices.

• Constructive Criticism: If you rate something less than 5 stars, try to leave a brief, helpful explanation. For example: "The quality was great, but the color was much darker than it appeared on my screen." This gives the seller specific information they can use to improve their listing photos or product descriptions for the next customer.

It's Quick, Easy, and Makes a HUGE Impact

Etsy makes the process incredibly simple. Once an item is delivered (or the maximum shipping window passes), you'll receive a notification.

1. Go to Your Account > Purchases and Reviews.

2. Find the item.

3. Click Leave a Review.

4. Select a star rating (1-5).

5. Write a few quick sentences (1-2 is plenty!).

6. Optional: Upload a photo to show off your new item!

That’s it! Five stars, two sentences, and you’ve just made a real person’s day and helped secure the future of small business on Etsy.

Your Takeaway

Next time that adorable, carefully-packed box arrives on your doorstep, don't just toss the shipping materials—go leave a review! You're not just rating a product; you're supporting a dream, guiding fellow shoppers, and ensuring the Etsy marketplace remains a vibrant, trustworthy place to shop.

Carolina Dean 

Oh The Places You will Not Go: Oaklawn Enchantments

Two years ago, I first stumbled upon Oaklawn Enchantments. It was closed then, but since it was right near where I get my hair cut, I made a mental note to check it out. When I finally walked in, the owner’s greeting was friendly but a little awkward—the kind of stiffness you often encounter when trying to make connections, especially in the unique world of the magical community.

Despite that slightly odd introduction, I started shopping there regularly. I bought things, and I even brought friends who also became customers. I was a genuine supporter, following everything they did on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

During my visits, I excitedly shared that I am a published author. I told the owner about my book, "Secrets of a Sissy Boy: A Gay Grimoire of Modern Magic for Men who Love Men and the Hags who Worship Them." Her reaction was immediate and enthusiastic. She mentioned that her father and son are gay and even suggested she’d love to carry my book in her store.

Thrilled, I brought in my personal copy on my next visit so she could read it and decide. What happened next was a series of frustrating delays and silence.

• A week later, I messaged her on Instagram. Her reply: She hadn't had time yet.

• Another week passed. I went back to the store, bought something, and asked again. The answer was the same.

• A full month went by, and I watched her on social media actively promoting other writers and celebrating women, while my book sat on a shelf, clearly untouched.

The initial awkwardness now felt like a huge warning sign. I realized I thought she had been insincere, offering me this amazing opportunity with no real intention of following through. My interactions with her grew cold, mirroring the sudden disappointment I felt toward the whole shop.

This was a deeply personal letdown. Getting my book into a physical store was a major goal of mine. Her behavior was hurtful, not because she didn't want the book, but because she offered, then strung me along. I felt lied to and used. I unfollowed all their social media pages, decided I’d never return, and completely severed ties. I even got rid of or destroyed everything I had purchased there—and I just left my book behind.

For a year and a half, I completely forgot about Oaklawn Enchantments. Then, the universe seemed to conspire to bring it back up. First, an acquaintance recommended it as a better option than another store which was further away. Then, a friend messaged me out of the blue to suggest I check it out. Finally, I had to drive right past the building to pick up another friend.

These three events in quick succession brought all the painful memories flooding back.

Around that time, I’d started writing positive reviews for local businesses I genuinely liked, focusing on celebrating good service. I almost never write negative reviews; I usually just take my business elsewhere.

However, the feeling of being deceived was still so strong that I decided to share my valid, critical experience in a review in late July/early August. I stated my concern that the owner was disingenuous and that the shop felt unwelcoming to men. My review was definitely not well-received.

Before my post, their newest review on Google was three months old. After the owner saw and responded to my criticism, Google was immediately flooded with several new positive reviews that I strongly suspect she solicited from her friends. Simultaneously, there were two other negative reviews that the owner baselessly accused me of writing.

But the most shocking reaction came right after. Between August 2nd and August 4th, my book, Secrets of a Sissy Boy, was suddenly targeted. Three men—Ethen Duvall, Cole Duncan, and Ian C—left scathing, unverified reviews, calling my work homophobic, predatory, and misogynistic. The timing and content couldn't be clearer. It seems more than obvious to me: the owner of Oaklawn Enchantments allegedly retaliated by orchestrating a review bomb on my published work.

It's a stark reminder that when I challenge an establishment, the response can be disproportionate and intensely personal. This whole experience confirms my decision to walk away from Oaklawn Enchantments. My opinion is firm: my trust was broken, and their alleged subsequent actions show a level of pettiness and malice that has no place in a community built on enchantment and connection. I will not shop there, and the places they go, I will not follow.

Carolina Dean 

Links:

Oaklawn Enchantments (Google Reviews) 
Oaklawn Enchantments (Website) 

Remembering Jeanne Rose 1937-2024

Jeanne Rose is a very important American herbalist, aromatherapy expert, and author. For over fifty years, she has been a key figure in connecting old traditions about plants with modern health trends. Many people credit her with bringing aromatherapy (using essential oils) back into popular use in the United States.

How She Started

Rose started her work in the 1960s, when many people began getting interested in natural living and alternative health. She traveled widely, including studying Ayurveda (traditional Indian medicine) in India. This experience taught her to look at health holistically, treating the mind, body, and spirit as one connected unit.

Her Game-Changing Books

• Her first major book, Herbs & Things (1972), became a must-read for new herbalists.
• Her book, Jeanne Rose's Herbal Body Book (1976), truly made her famous. It was an easy-to-use guide that showed people how to use herbs in their daily life—for beauty products, health, and cooking.
• She encouraged a DIY (Do-It-Yourself) approach to natural self-care, which was a revolutionary idea at the time, getting readers to actively work with the plants around them.

Her Impact on Aromatherapy

Besides herbalism, Rose is a leading expert in clinical aromatherapy. She played a crucial role in setting high standards for essential oil quality and sourcing. She insisted on knowing the precise botanical names and chemical makeup (chemotypes) of oils—a strict practice that is now standard for all professional aromatherapists.

She later created the Jeanne Rose Aromatherapy Institute to properly teach and certify people in the field.

Her Lasting Legacy

Through her many books, classes, and advocacy for pure, high-quality, and sustainable practices, Jeanne Rose created the foundation for the widespread acceptance of herbal and essential oil therapies we see today. She has inspired countless individuals to explore the benefits of plant-based wellness.

Carolina Dean 

Links

• Jeanne Rose's Obituary 
• Jeanne Rose's Herbal Body Book (12th House Books) 
• Jeanne Rose's Herbal Guide to Inner Health (12th House Books) 

Review: Witch and Tell, Angela M Sanders (2025)

Angela M. Sanders truly shines in Witch and Tell, delivering the seventh installment of the Witch Way Librarian Mysteries with her signature wit, charm, and a delightful infusion of supernatural angst. This time around, our beloved apprentice witch and librarian, Josie Way, finds herself facing a unique trifecta of challenges: a boyfriend who's gone radio silent after she revealed her witchy truth, powers that are suddenly on the fritz, and the baffling case of a corpse that appears and promptly vanishes from the locked library atrium.

What makes this book such a compelling entry is how Sanders expertly weaves Josie’s personal, relatable struggles—the anxiety of a relationship in limbo and the frustration of feeling disconnected from her own abilities—into a high-stakes, twisty mystery. The bad energy gripping the town of Wilfred feels palpable, and the disruption of Josie's connection to her spellbound library books raises the investigative stakes higher than ever. Her reliance on her magical grandmother's lessons and the always-entertaining presence of her cat familiar, Rodney, add essential layers of humor and heart.

The mystery itself is wonderfully plotted, featuring a cast of shady suspects and the introduction of potential long-lost relatives that keeps the reader guessing until the final pages. Sanders maintains a perfect balance of cozy small-town ambiance and genuine intrigue, ensuring that the book is a compulsively readable escape. For fans of the series, this is a pitch-perfect continuation that deepens the world and promises exciting developments for Josie’s future. For newcomers, it serves as a great example of the series' winning formula, proving that even when magic fails, a determined librarian never does. Five stars for this enchanting adventure!

Carolina Dean 
Book Witch 

Review: Hour of the Witch, Chris Bohjalian (2021)

Chris Bohjalian's Hour of the Witch plunges the reader into the rigid, terrifying world of Puritan Boston in 1662, delivering a historical thriller that feels surprisingly relevant. The novel centers on Mary Deerfield, a strong-willed, twenty-four-year-old woman trapped in a violent marriage to Thomas Deerfield, a wealthy miller nearly twice her age. When Thomas’s abuse escalates to the point of driving a three-tined fork into her hand, Mary—a resourceful woman with a deep sense of self-preservation—takes the radical step of petitioning the Court of Assistants for a divorce on the grounds of cruelty.

This choice is the crucible of the novel. Bohjalian meticulously captures the suffocating, patriarchal society where Satan is considered as real as one's neighbor, and divorce is a scandalous, near-impossible feat for a woman. As Mary navigates the legal system, where the magistrates often seem more concerned with her "wifely obedience" and failure to bear children than her husband’s brutality, her pursuit of freedom quickly devolves into a desperate fight for her life.

Bohjalian is a master of dread, and he layers the historical detail with unsettling suspense. The book's central motif—the three-tined fork, viewed by the Puritans as the "Devil's tines"—is used brilliantly to illustrate the era's pervasive superstition. When strange, cursed objects are discovered in Mary's garden and circumstantial evidence mounts against her, her petition for divorce shifts into a trial for witchcraft.

The novel is at its strongest in the courtroom scenes, which are both frustrating and riveting. The author uses snippets of historical court documents to preface chapters, building a sense of impending doom and highlighting the chilling hypocrisy of the men in power. Mary’s strength lies not in being a modern-day iconoclast, but in her deeply human struggle to survive within the confines of her world, forcing readers to contemplate the timelessness of victim-blaming and institutionalized misogyny.

While the first half can be a slower burn as Bohjalian constructs the Puritan world—from the period-authentic dialogue to the daily routines—the latter half is an addictive, tightly-plotted rush toward a dramatic and ultimately satisfying conclusion.

Hour of the Witch is far more than a simple witch trial story. It’s a compelling piece of historical fiction that doubles as a psychological thriller, using the backdrop of 17th-century Boston to explore themes of female agency, power, and survival against a society determined to silence strong women. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy historical accuracy fused with high-stakes suspense.

Carolina Dean
12th House Books

Review: Toil and Trouble, Augusten Burroughs 2019

Augusten Burroughs’s memoir Toil and Trouble is a strange, funny, and honest book where he claims he’s a witch. He’s not talking about the kind who rides a broom; he means he has a lifelong, inherited ability to know things he shouldn't and to nudge events in a certain direction through intense focus—what he calls "magick."

If you like his other books, like Running with Scissors, you’ll recognize his usual dark humor and open style. This time, he applies his unique voice to the question of whether "magick" explains the unusual things that have happened in his life.

The book jumps between stories from his childhood—when his mother told him he had this "gift"—and his current life in rural Connecticut with his sensible husband, Christopher. Burroughs describes his witchcraft as a feeling of knowing what’s coming or being able to make very unlikely things happen.

The memoir is also packed with the sort of eccentric, hilarious people Burroughs always seems to encounter, especially his odd neighbors in the country. These funny stories help balance out the book’s more serious and deep ideas.

The book is powerful because it treats these weird abilities not as a Hollywood fantasy, but as a confusing, real part of his life as someone who has dealt with a lot of trauma and anxiety. You might not believe he’s a witch, but as he shares stories—like a premonition of his grandmother's accident coming true—you start to see why he believes it.

The most emotional part comes at the end, when his "magick" vanishes while his husband is very sick. In that moment of helplessness, the book shifts. It becomes a deeply felt reflection on love, anxiety, and the things that no one can control, no matter what kind of power they think they have.

While the idea of witchcraft is the hook, the book is really about how one man makes sense of a difficult past and his anxiety-ridden present by deciding he is fundamentally different. It's a funny, tender, and very human story about finding meaning, even if that meaning is wrapped up in an odd, but comforting, label.

If you like Augusten Burroughs’s usual honest, dark comedy, this book is highly recommended. It’s a unique modern memoir about finding the extraordinary in everyday life.

Carolina Dean 
Witch