"In 1971, she moved to Tucson, Arizona, where she founded and became the first president of the Survival Research Foundation, which is still in operation. On January 11, 1997, the Susy Smith Project in the Human Energy Systems Laboratory at the University of Arizona was created by Drs. Gary E Schwartz and Linda G. S. Russek to continue her research. Russek called Smith 'the matriarch of survival research.' They persuaded Smith to write her 30th book, which became The Afterlife Codes (2000), a recount of the highlights of her life’s inquiry into survival."
Forgoing the deep dive, I'm going to downsize and keep just a few of her greatest hits on my shelf. But before I get Today's Witches into someone else's hands, I wanted to write a little about it here today, for posterity.
The Susy Smith book was published in 1970, during an era when interest in witchcraft was being conjured in many places — intertwined at times with the counterculture movement, the feminist movement and a broader fascination with occultism and alternative spirituality.
Published by Prentice Hall, the 180-page book has this spicy secondary text on the cover: "How hippies, jetsetters, and ordinary housewives are using the occult for good — or evil." The equally spicy dust jacket text cites Lewis VanDercar, Anton LaVey, Sybil Leek and others. The bibliography mentions Sharon Tate, author Richard Cavendish and Aleister Crowley. (And now this post is going to pop up in a lot of awfully weird Google searches.)
I should note that the dust jacket design is by Claudia Kelly.
The book opens thusly:
"At the witches' stalls in the Sonoran Market in Mexico City I acquired an ajo macho. This is a 'virile' garlic to protect me from any evil spells that black witches anywhere might decide to try to place on me. I felt that having this was important before attempting to write a book about witchcraft. Perhaps after reading this book the reader will agree with me that no matter how much one does or does not believe in the dangers of black magic, it can't hurt to take precautionary measures. The existence of witchcraft in the world today is not something you question. It is something you either know about or you do not."
Susy Smith's book goes on to discuss witchcraft in the United States, Haiti, Mexico, England, Canada and worldwide, with some devil worship, drug use (marijuana and LSD) and murder thrown into the witches' brew.
Much of the book is an alarmist warning about all of that, the devilry and drugs. The author concludes firmly on the side of the good witches:
"When the time comes that it can be proved scientifically that the force of thought is a potent force, that the power of the mind is the strongest power of all, then we will realize the necessity of controlling our thinking by conscious effort. Until then, it appears that witches are among the few who are aware of this and are actively using it. It is necessary for us all to learn how to apply this universal mind force for good. We can become in tune with the positive elements just as the white witches are."
There are no reviews or comments about Today's Witches on Amazon or Goodreads, suggesting the book didn't leave much of a cultural footprint. But it certainly captured a moment in 1960s/1970s culture, when interest in witchcraft and the occult was attracting considerable attention.
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