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@arnemancy not as much as i would have liked! the pacing was a bit off, i felt - sometimes it jumped forwards in time and then back - and the scant treatment of the topic i do know about in it (astrology) was imprecise in a way that made me question the rest of the findings. but overall i am glad i read it, and the overall thesis that we're not so far from humoural thinking as the science bros like to think was pretty compellingly argued.

reading for my book club so it's gonna be a slow burn!

absolutely beautiful.

@arnemancy rip u

truly i just want to manage one book a month.

will try to get a review out soon, i was just rushing to finish it before the end of the year!

This is an excellent book, a very quick read especially considering it's about legal challenges faced by members of ADRs (African Diaspora Religions). The legal persecution (on top of the social othering) of these marginalized religious practices is horrific a continues to this day. My one (soft) critique is that the author emphasizes that these are religions -- as antithetical to 'magical practices'. While I appreciate that, this is a deeply problematic position for those who do maintain magical practices, particularly people of color. The result of this approach is that "if you are BIPoC, you can practice religion, but you can't practice magic" which further stigmatizes magical practice (and the difference between magical, religious, and spiritual practices is functionally nebulous. I'd suggest a better legal argument (that would solve a whole ton of problems in the U.S.) is simply, "My body: my rules."