Wait? 2024 is Over Already?

“So this is the New Year? And I don’t feel any different…” - The New Year, Death Cab for Cutie

It’s 2025. There may be some stuff out there causing some of us to feel pretty different than before, or maybe not. Either way, this post is proceeding with a focus on the purpose that this blog is here for. Magic oriented content, and reflections or thoughts adjacent to that. 

In terms of reflections and thoughts, I want to think about what I’ve done through 2024. It doesn’t feel like a lot. It never does. Every year I think “this will be the year! I’ll release multiple books, I’ll create classes, I’ll do a bunch of free YouTube content, and I’ll blog regularly!” No year ever ends up being “THE year.” Maybe that’s a good thing. That goal implies peaking. What do you do after you peak? 

The reality is, I could release five books, write a blog post a week, release multiple classes, fill my YouTube (tubes have capacity limits, right?), win a National Coaching Medal (I came so close!), and otherwise meaningfully contribute to the world and I’d still feel like I didn’t get enough done. It’s who I am. I’m sure it’s who a lot of the rest of you are too. 

So, it occurred to me, I should look at what I’ve done. I figured in doing so, sharing some highlights would be good too. In case folks who may be interested might have missed them. 

I didn’t finish a book this year. I took a lot of time off from writing due to some personal stuffs, and now some more positive stuff is also maybe slowing book writing down…but I’m aiming to figure out getting back on that horse. I am really very far through what I think will be an intensely amazing book (books) on Hekate. I have begun to rebuild my witchblood book research (and still have the finished manuscript for the original version of it). I’ve been revisiting my introduction to angel magic and the 3 or 4 book series on Goeteia that I had started. So, potential projects could come to fruition, so hopefully you’re following some of my social media spaces if you’re interested in those things as they get completed. 

As to what I did get done, here are ten good things. 

1. A Different Witches Ladder

This was by far my most popular blog post of 2024 and probably ranks up there generally amongst the most views on the blog in general. Aside from it having reached a lot of people, I’m pretty proud of it. I spent a fair amount of time looking things up, reading old books, and checking things to expand my knowledge of this subject. This type of witches’ ladder was something I first learned about around elementary school, so it was cool getting to explore it more deeply and spread more awareness of it. It was also a nice opportunity to explore the popular witches’ ladder knot magic charm, and I’ve been able to share this in some forums where people had questions about that approach as well. 

2. Are Prayers and Spells the Same? An Animistic Exploration of Magic and Prayer

I promise I’m not intentionally doing these in order of the most views, but I believe this one is the second most viewed post. This hits as my number two partially because I spent a lot of time on it, but moreso because I enjoy the post. Not only does it very thoroughly address the topic of how prayers and spells differ, and then also how they relate, it includes an explanation of how they got conflated. More importantly though, it gives a lot of examples of how to work magic in an animistic approach. The examples are kind of woven into the overall topic like a backdoor lesson being attached to the main topic of the post. That felt really cool to me. I hope it did for you too. 

3. How to Do Grimoire Magic for Free (Or At Least Inexpensively)

Ok, so, there is probably a fair argument for this being in number 1. A lot of people have done a lot of work with the material here and seem to have enjoyed it. So this may have probably had the biggest practical impact. That is always hard to measure though. Blog posts don’t usually get people explaining how it impacted them or if they’ve worked with what was in them (or even comments in the comment section). This course is pretty great though because it’s really affordable. Just about anyone can access this. That was very important to me. I do tend to underprice stuff that I do. I think normal market prices for occult oriented stuff are fine. I think there are also people out there who abuse the community, but I don’t think people charging reasonable prices are automatically doing that. I’ll probably be releasing some more normally priced stuff soon too. But it’s important to me to also release plenty of free stuff and things that are affordable. With this course, it HAD to be affordable because the whole point was to give people a way to authentically start an expensive magical practice in an affordable way. The course has a clear syllabus, 8 hours of audio, and a free ebook. (I guess technically I DID write a book this year, it’s just only available in this course…at the moment…is there interest in an inexpensive expanded print version of the Free Grimoire?). For those who haven’t checked out the course, there is also a great community of people in a FB group who are working with it, and they ask some great questions, I really appreciate them. 

4. Blood, blood and more blood…

My class “Broken and Reborn Aflame” on witchblood was presented at two conferences in 2024. I put the audio up online for free along with links to related blog posts. There was some controversy, to the point when I mentioned how my most popular posts (by view) were also my most controversial posts (here, and here), someone thought it would have been this witchblood class that was the most controversial. To be fair, like 99.5% of the response was probably positive. I’m not going to dwell on the negative response by talking about the details or trends related to it, but, it resulted in me writing a blog post to clarify some points, “What’s All That Blood??!!?.” (The controversy also connected me online with a bunch of cool people so that is awesome! Those of you I became Facebook friends with around that time, know that I appreciate you!) I think together, the class, the collection of links, and the clarifying post are a great resource. It talks about an element of witchcraft that impacts a lot of people but that a lot of people are afraid to talk publicly about. I’ve had several people thank me for being willing to talk about this idea as publicly as I do, as well as people who expressed that they gained more understanding of themselves, their families, and their experiences by listening to this material. It’s been something moving and powerful for people and that is amazing to be able to put something out there and encounter that kind of reaction. There will be more on the subject eventually, but I feel like this was a good start. Hopefully future things can be in depth enough that people who had concerns will see them answered and realize that this isn’t necessarily the frightening or absolutist thing that they were worried it could be. 

Side Note: I did have another class from 2024 on the history of Tarot and how that impacts your relationship with Tarot cards. That WILL go up online for free soon. It just involves me listening to both versions of the class, doing a little editing and preparing them for posting. But hopefully soon, those of you interested in Tarot will have free access to those recordings as well. 

5. Choose Life - Evangelion, The Guardian Angel, and a Semicolon

During the holidays, I noticed a semicolon on the wrist of someone I care about. I had considered getting one myself but haven’t. It’s important to me, though, to be somewhat open about mental health issues, the normalcy of them, and the idea that we aren’t alone because we experience them. I’m not especially open about my personal life online. I will share a lot of things…dreams, stuff about my non-magical life, my enjoyment of comics, but still mostly public-ish stuff. This post was an effort to be open about very personal experiences so other magicians don’t feel alone and, if they were unsure before, could see that it’s ok to talk about and be open about these experiences. This was not a post that got a lot of views, and that’s ok. I’ve made Facebook posts where I’ve tried to be open about these topics occasionally too, but it felt like a big step for me to convince myself that this was worth writing about and worth making it available for people to read because it can be tough to believe that this kind of personal expression of inner experience will have value for others, or that others will be interested in it. I’ve had magicians contact me and ask about their ability to explore magic while dealing with these kinds of experiences, and it’s super meaningful to me to be able to help people who are questioning that way. I’ve tried to be personally available for young people in my life who are learning to navigate issues with depression and anxiety so they know it’s not just them. I hope this blog post was able to do that for some people as well. 

6. Conjuring a Pen

I really enjoyed this post and was glad that it got a good response and a fair number of views. I kind of figured people might look at it and be like “wtf is he talking about?” This post stemmed from me starting a series of conjurations that ran over several nights and needing a pen to draw some things with. After conjuring it, I realized this element of work is probably something that is less obvious to some people. I’ve written about stuff like this with plants before (here, and here), and obviously the Conjure section of Living Spirits dives into some of that, but quotidian  everyday equipment that gets used in magic is just as important to fully engage, even though it’s less obvious. I feel like this kind of thing is the sort of thing people overlook teaching, and many people overlook doing, so it was nice that a small moment in ritual which made me think “I should blog about this” became a blog that seems to have gotten a pretty positive response.  

7. Winter Holiday Shenanigans - The Straight Dope on the Pagan Origins of Christmas

I’ve wanted to build resources like this for a long time. It’s made me consider doing a book on Pagan and NeoPagan holidays. This blog post isn’t me doing a lot of writing and explaining, but rather me highlighting other creative and well educated people who could shine a light on the misinformation that is out there. Maybe an Ostara/Easter one will come soon. It’s a great and super comprehensive resource repository. Honestly, it’s less interesting for disputing Pagan Christmas misinformation and more interesting just for learning the actual details and sources on Yule and Saturnalia, and if you’re interested in Christmas, how modern Christmas (which is a very different holiday from medieval Christmas) developed. It was also pretty cool seeing other people begin to share it while fighting misinformation. 

8. I’m going to double (er, triple) up here…

I just haven’t done enough to reach ten. There were five more posts that I made in 2024 but I don’t think they all warrant a mention on my top ten list. One is an incomplete trio (the first two posts on the subject have been done but not the third), and if I’d completed the trio, it might deserve a mention, but not without the third post. The third post will probably come in 2025. I also started a fairly thorough blog post about the inner nature of the magic of witches as distinct from other types of magic in answer to a question someone sent me. When I finish that post, I imagine it will make it on my 2025 top ten. So what posts do I think are kind of tied for this spot at number eight? “Echo Chambers: We Don’t Do That Here” which in and of itself isn’t the deepest magical post, although it does tie the issue to magic and our experiences with spirits. This post was one addressing issues with the behavior of “leaders” and “teachers” who try and push out anyone who they think questions or disagrees with them. I think it’s important that we review our behavior as a community and how our own behavior both succeeds and fails at meeting the standards we’d like to see. 

“What do the Dead Know?” which I thought was a pretty interesting exploration of thinking about death and knowledge after death and our relationship with the dead, but it was a post that really didn’t land. It didn’t get a lot of views or response, and there were a couple people who even seemed angry about it in a forum, though I couldn’t really grasp why. 

Finally, “Agatha Harkness: Our Lady of Fear.” I absolutely loved Agatha All Along and can’t wait for more of it. I also can’t wait to tap into stuff related to it more. I was already planning a small magical adventure, and when I’d put it on the backburner, the Ballad of the Witches’ Road reminded me I needed to be focused on this upcoming adventure. I thought this was a fun interesting post exploring the relationship between witchcraft and fear through exploring Agatha All Along, but, it was a post that didn’t get many views. Maybe it was a less interesting subject than I expected. I enjoyed writing it though. There is another Agatha post in the works…a very in depth post exploring the idea of the Witches’ Road. 

So that’s my 2024 Year in Review. I guess arguably, I do make it to number ten, but I feel like the last three are appropriate to lump together. If you missed any of these things and are checking them out now, I hope you enjoy them! Hopefully I’ll also have some new stuff for you to enjoy super soon!

And for any of you Glorious Folks who are feeling the weight of the world, terror, or just unsure about how things will be…I can’t really answer that, but, regardless of whatever looms ahead, I can remind you, that you’re a firework.

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Review: Consorting With Spirits

 

I had the opportunity to read a draft of  Jason Miller’s new book, _Consorting With Spirits_  a few months back, before it went to the publisher. Since then there have been so many times where I have wanted to recommend it to people asking questions in forums or posting things to their timelines. We've finally hit the point where I can talk about what a great book it is, and I'm super excited to do so. 

It is a wonderful book which explains many things and answers many questions magicians frequently have. I’m excited that it’s about to be available because of how well it addresses many of these concerns and questions that crop up as people begin to explore spirit work in a way which is accessible, comprehensible, and in my opinion – correct. It is, therefore, a book which you should probably have on your bookshelf.

Jason notes in the beginning of the book that he wouldn’t recommend it as a first book on magic because it doesn’t address some of the protection elements and a few other basic elements which magicians may need for this work. Jason has of course addressed those various elements people may need in _Protection and Reversal Magic_, _The Sorcerer’s Secrets_ and _Elements of Spellcrafting_. (Despite that, Jason still addresses these subjects in this book, while maintaining the focus on the actual subject – spirit work). Even with the suggestion that the reader might want to read a book or two before this one, if I had a close friend curious about what magic was this book is what I’d hand them. The book is such an easy brisk read. Jason’s conversational approach makes the material simultaneously accessible to a beginner and interesting for an experienced magician. The book writes about spirits in a way which inspires excitement, wonder, and approachability while depicting vibrant living magical practice grounded in real experience. It presents something tenable that the reader can hold onto and say “Yes, this sounds awesome, I want to do this, I feel like I can do this.”

While reading it to give feedback I ran into points where I didn’t have much that was meaningful to say because the book was so good as it was. Telling potential readers “this is wonderful, it’s fun to read and easy to understand and is full of information, ideas and instruction that you can use,” is helpful for a potential reader trying to decide if they want to read it. It’s not super useful for an author if they want thoughts about stuff they might be considering revising. The book was so easy to read and engaging, the ideas were sensible and the advice and instruction it gave were correct to the point that sometimes I almost forgot I was putting together notes for feedback, because the only feedback I had was “this is great, I like this.”

I spend more time with academic books and translations of historical magic books than I do with contemporary magic books. I’ve been studying and doing magic most of my life. It’s not super frequent that I walk away from a magic book or a magic class with a bunch of ideas for things I want to try out and explore. _Consorting With Spirits_ gave me some new ideas for stuff to try, gave me some clarity on things I’d been considering, and also showed me much simpler answers to things people frequently ask which I probably answer with too much complexity.

The only criticism I really had was that there were points where I felt like a particular subject could be addressed with more depth. As I continued reading I found that most instances that left me feeling that way were addressed as these subjects were returned to and more depth was provided in later parts of the book. The way Jason lays it out, things are introduced with the depth they need at first, and then if appropriate, explored more deeply later. This is probably better than just tossing a bunch of info at the reader. The reader can let the comprehension of the material grow as they read.   

Jason includes some great vignettes from his personal history. These are interesting cool stories which are informative. They also show the reader that this is stuff Jason hasn’t just done once or twice in the past, but these are experiences that Jason has lived and is currently living. They aren’t puffed up exciting stories to impress the reader. They’re very real, very clear examples of what real interactions with spirits are like. Jason illustrates what it’s like to navigate a living world interwoven with real spirits who we don’t always recognize until we learn to engage that component of our reality.

The book doesn’t lean heavily into exploring the history of spirit practices. It references them where appropriate. It references different perspectives and cultures where appropriate. The book isn’t about the history of grimoires, or who conjured what in which monastery or royal court. The book is about running around with your cadre of spirits and working with them to learn things and accomplish things in the present.  

One thing I think a lot of people will like is that Jason gives you options. He shows multiple approaches and discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each. He presents different styles that will fit different spiritual persuasions and he talks about what’s similar and what’s different. He gives you the tools to decide for yourself how you want to do things and what you want to do, he gives you things to think about as you explore the options he presents or if you choose to explore other options, and he gives you permission to explore and personalize. The reader walks away fully knowing that they can take pieces of this and leave others and build the approach that is right for them.

Jason is also honest and clear about what approaches fit his experience and maintains his standard of not trying to explain methods or how to work with spirits outside the scope of his own work. As he does this it still leaves the reader open to explore how these techniques and ideas can work in other spiritual contexts. 

If you want a well written, engaging and easy to understand book to help you explore a variety of approaches from a variety of perspectives to engage with spirits while having an experience driven explanation of what that engagement looks like and what considerations to explore while building your practice, read _Consorting With Spirits_.

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If you’re curious about starting conjuration pick up my new book – Luminarium: A Grimoire of Cunning Conjuration

 

If you want some help exploring the vast world of spirits check out my first book – Living Spirits: A Guide to Magic in a World of Spirits

Now Available: An Audio Class and collection of texts on the Paracelsian Elementals 

More Opportunities for Support and Classes will show up at Ko-Fi