Elemental Magic, a new edition of the earlier book “Natural Magic”, is a good magical primer for anyone interested in the subject. The author is a familiar name in British occultism and certainly very experienced with magic. Within this book there is a great introduction to working with natural energies — the elements, the seasons, and the land around you — and Pennick offers wise and practical applications of how to work with these in magic. It’s refreshingly down to earth and strongly reinforces the idea of “earth-based spirituality” — where one’s relationship with Mother Earth is the primary focus. Whilst not strictly Wiccan in outlook, this book does lean that way in places — but in others, it has more of a Traditional Witchcraft leaning, and sometimes trying to balance between the two means that information is glossed over in places. However, the book is a great stepping-stone to other works covering Witchcraft and other earth-based spiritualities. 
As an experienced Witch, I found this to be very much an introductory book but for those newcomers to the Craft, or for those wanting to refresh their practice, this is an invaluable guide. Recommended. I received an e-ARC from the publisher, Inner Traditions/Destiny Books, through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I picked this up because I was interested in the subject matter, rather than wanting to follow any of the rituals or practices outlined in the book. There was a lot of information. Some of it really interesting and some of it didn’t hold my interest at all. I think I was expecting a more in-depth history about why things were considered magical and more about their correlations. A lot of the information in the book seemed that I was to take it on the author’s say-so, rather than him offer sources and reasoning. This turned me off to a degree. As I said, I read this out of a passing interest rather than a desire to really learn about the subject. The book was reasonably successful in quenching my interest but I’m not too sure I would have been satisfied if I was using it as a teaching tool.