High Magick: A Guide to the Spiritual Practices That Saved My Life on Death Row - Damien Echols 2018
Why Spell Books Don’t Work
Preliminaries
Since I was a child, bookstores and libraries have always been special to me. They feel like storehouses of wisdom, and I’m amazed that for a small fee I can purchase a condensed version of someone else’s life experiences and hard-won lessons. Among other things, through other people’s books I can learn to avoid the mistakes they made and can share in their victories by emulating the paths they took to success.
When I’m in a bookstore or library, I go straight to the esoteric section. As you might guess, I’m looking for new books on magick. I want to see what other people are doing — maybe they’ve discovered something new, or perhaps they’ve developed some new variation on a method I’m familiar with. What I’m really hoping to find is someone who has delved into a new realm, or at least one that’s new to me. But those types of books are few and far between.
Mostly what I come across are spell books with titles like Love Spells or Prosperity Spells or something similar that offer the promise of obtaining something through magick. They’re essentially recipe books that tell you to collect a certain list of items, follow steps in a particular order, and you’re good. Well, when people take these books home and try them out and nothing happens, they think that magick doesn’t work. They followed the instructions but they didn’t get what they were hoping for, so they conclude that magick is just superstition or just one more form of blind belief.
I probably shouldn’t say that spell books don’t work. It’s more the case that spell books don’t work if you lack the proper understanding of how magick works and you haven’t committed yourself to some crucial foundational practices. Unless you can direct raw power into spells, those books are worthless. You have to be able to put energy and intent and focus into your magick. Otherwise, spells and rituals are merely words.
This part of the book is about getting clear on what the preliminaries are. These aren’t things you do a couple of times and call it good — they’re essential every time you practice magick. They’re what makes your magick work.
When I first became serious about studying magick, I came across elements that felt completely foreign to my life: planetary energies, angels, gods, thoughtforms, or dimensions of reality. On my path, there was a lot of memorization involved, and the rituals felt so strange and complicated. It was overwhelming and confusing, to say the least. How was I supposed to apply any of this stuff to my experience of daily life? Even when I encountered the foundational practices of meditation, visualization, and breath work, I had no idea what to do with them.
In the beginning, it can be frustrating to figure out how all of this applies to real-world situations. If that happens to you, just remember that high magick is fundamentally about energy. Everything is made of energy, and we can shape and use energy to our benefit. Remember: you’re already doing magick all of the time. I’m just presenting some ways to help you get better at it and jump-start the process.