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4.5
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.
