Protection & Reversal Magick: A Witch's Defense Manual (Beyond 101) Paperback – June 15, 2006

The author of this book is eclectic and so is the book, which truly delighted me. Even though this book provides sample spells you could use, which are dedicated to Hecate, the book was truly intended for experienced witches / magicians and it is recommended that you either write your own spells or use spells and visualizations that are part of traditions you have been actually immersed in. The author appropriately points out that being eclectic is all and well, but that you should know the energies you are calling and choose to work with inside and out to avoid any mishaps.The author shares many examples throughout the book - both from his personal experience and from experiences of other people - of what you may expect to happen when you engage in different kinds of practices. He also shares stories that span across wide range of traditions. He points out that causes of experiencing the effects of negative energies / attacks / bad luck may range from accidentally offending nature spirits or infringing upon places where great power has been raised to breaking vows one has made at some point or actually being attacked by someone else.He then shares suggestions for identifying the problem. Incidentally, when it comes to identifying possible attacks, the culprits are not only individual people or energies but also big organizations - after all we are all constantly being influenced and we are influencing each other in different ways - through the use of thoughts, skillful use of words, technology, media, advertisements and so on - though instead of becoming paranoid, it is recommended that we take care of and cleanse our minds, hearts and environments regularly and to be vigilant of our own thoughts - because our thoughts do create our reality.The author offers a general daily routine consisting mainly of meditation as a primary tool for purifying one's mind and bringing peace into one's life, making offerings and doing banishing rituals. While this simple daily routine can take care of most situation and is alike a practice of daily mental and energetic hygiene (by the way you may incorporate other energetic practices that may be part of your tradition), the rest of this book contains techniques that may be helpful in more challenging situations where you seem to be experiencing a sudden run of bad luck, where you feel hit by a series of dismal events which may have no logical explanation.These other techniques include the use of shields, different things you can do with your energy field, the use of cleansing baths and amulets, there is a mention of exorcism, creating artificial spirits, a variety of techniques for reversal magic, apparently mostly from the Hoodoo tradition, as well as healing and recovery after the problem has been solved - some of the healing techniques involve soul retrieval as practiced in shamanism.

This review is probably going to rub a few people the wrong way. However, I want to express my unique experience with just a small portion of this book and how it is helping me substantially. Although I don't agree with everything in this book I have to comment on how one of the things I learned in this book has helped me a great deal. I am referring to the banishing ritual that is in Latin and that works with the goddess Hekate in the beginning of the book. I don't know how to express what I am experiencing in a fluid writing style so I am just going to name several points that I have gleaned or noticed since doing this ritual:1)I meditate a lot and get clairvoyant images while doing so. The first thing I noticed after doing this ritual for the first couple of days was how certain energies in my space were pushed away and out. These were not necessarily evil or dark energies but rather energies that like to be in a person's space for a variety of reasons. They're sort of like parasites and are annoyances. I noticed this expulsion of energy the most shortly after retiring for bed at night. With my eyes closed (and still conscious and trying to go to sleep) I saw a lot of energies that were in my 'space' in layers and they became 'dislodged' if you will.2)I've also noticed that I am so much more rational and less emotional. I think this is linked to the first point I just made above. I believe that because I am kicking out a lot of energies in my auric field that aren't me that I am now able to have more of my identity. It's hard to go into detail. But all I can provide as comparison is to imagine living with an awful roommate. This roommate is always in your way, always distracts you and causes you stress. Because of this, you are not yourself and you tend to overreact due to the higher level of stress caused by this person whom you really don't want to have around. Well, this is how I feel regarding how I am handling life situations these days. I feel as though now that I am banishing energies out of my space that aren't me, I am able to feel more in control of my emotions. Maybe it is a coincidence but I can't help but feel that the banishing ritual in Jason Smith's book had something to do with this.3) I've also noticed that I've become more accepting and to not overreact. This is closely linked to the second point I just stated above. But there is a slight distinction which is profoundly different in my opinion. I won't go into boring examples but let's just say that the things that I had difficulty accepting about myself are now things that I am embracing more. I have somehow come tot he conclusion that some things are the way they are and if it's not possible to change them, either accept them and move on or remain the whiny hot tempered emotional person I was which seems to be a thing of the past.I do this ritual two to three times a day. I'm not sure if I'm pronouncing everything and everyone's name correctly. If not I hope to perfect my pronunciation in time.In contrast to my positive experience above, I don't agree with a lot of what the author says. Miller supports reversing magick so that if a person tries to hurt you, you then try to reverse the energy with the same intent to cause harm to that person. I don't agree with this method and I believe in karma. Defending yourself is not the same as redirecting malicious intent to hurt a person who may want to hurt you.Without getting into a dissertation on my own personal views I will say this: another person's energy can only hurt you if you are emotionally vulnerable to that person, or if this person knows how to tap into your weaknesses. In either case, if I know that another person is directing energy at me with the intent to harm or take my energy it is because I somehow lack a level of ownership over my body and energy. So my approach is to strengthen whatever weaknesses I have in order to become invulnerable to that form of invasion or parasitic attack. And because I have taken this approach I have learned tremendously about myself and have become a much stronger, contented and healed person. I take my spiritual/inner development very seriously. And the help I have gained from doing just the banishing ritual in the beginning this book was well worth the $10 I spent on this book.

OK, this book is bookmarked up the yin yang it's so good! I have done quite a few of the rituals to HIGH SUCCESS. I do the Hekate devotional every day, which she loves (and I love). I've read through most of the book according to my need, which I tend to do with witchcraft books. They aren't novels, after all. I bookmark areas for upcoming work I want to do, and I read through SEVERAL TIMES the rituals before engaging in them. Jason Miller's rituals are effective and powerful. They are practical and honest. He doesn't have you throwing every dang herb in the kitchen in the tub to bathe the evil away. He outlines what it means to be cursed, and helps you get out of that ish in a way that doesn't take you to three countries, climbing sand dunes for a rare beetle tongue, only to bathe in a pool of maiden's tears under the seventh waning crescent that lands on a specific Tuesday in a year with 6 blue moons. lol. It's like 'you're hexed. do this'. (I don't want to make light of it. being hexed sucks, but, it is what it is)... Ummm, what else. I was super happy about all the Hekate information. Jason also has a class devoted to Hekate, so check out his website. It's a great book. One of my favorites. If you are a practitioner ready to be honest about practicing witchcraft and ready to take on all its ups and downs after the allure of being a witch/sorcerer/practitioner wears off, this book is an excellent next tier guidebook because omg y'all, witchcraft is not all about dancing under the moonlight with your best friends, okay??). It's pragmatic, and it allows serious practitioners to weave ritual into our daily lives. It also has some heavy stuff in here for times that call for it.