Protection and Reversal Magick: A Review
Hello Arachnids!
In this blog post I’ll be reviewing the book 'Protection and Reversal Magick' by Jason Miller. I want to start off by saying this book is really important. Protection is fundamental for any active practitioner and one of the primary topics to research when first getting into the occult.
At first, I was having trouble getting into this book, but I mainly believe it was due to my lack of dedication to reading. It took me several months to get through the first two chapters, and ultimately, I decided to completely start over. This time around, it was a much quicker read, and received much more fondly.
Miller uses a lot of personal anecdotes to give examples of what the topics he discusses may actually look like for a practitioner and I really liked that. I found that each anecdote was entirely relevant to the topic he was discussing and not a covert way of selling himself, which has grown to be a pet peeve of mine as reader. I really enjoyed his writing style and how fluid the topics flow into one another. If there was reference to another chapter, it was always a chapter previous, so you never had to wait for a chapter to make sense of something in the one you were currently on.
One aspect I did find myself being disconnected from was Miller’s focus on Hekate when sharing follow along rituals and workings. I don’t inherently find this a bad aspect of the book; however, I personally don’t work with Hekate and feel no calling to, but those who do or have interest may find this particularly helpful. There is also a note at the end of the book, Appendix B, about Hekate which is an interesting bonus. For those of us who don’t work with Hekate, the examples used in the book are able to be used as just that in most cases, an example for what we can do for our own workings. Templates if you will. His writing style doesn’t make you feel forced into his own bubble and I appreciated that during my read.
Another aspect I just couldn’t get past was the use of the word “impregnating”. He used this term several times when discussing visualization techniques and…I just couldn’t help asking each time, why that word. I get what he was trying to illustrate but it just made me feel icky each time. Now, I think that’s entirely a personal reaction and there’s no intention to discredit Miller’s use of this word, I just really thought the idea, and my reaction to it was amusing enough that I felt the need to jot it down in my notes.
Moving on! I don’t want to get into details of every chapter of this book, but I do have a few notes of things that stuck out to me, as well as briefly acknowledge the topics of each chapter.
The first chapter looks into why, and from what, you need protection as a practitioner for and is broken up into 4 parts: Offended spirits, places of power, missteps and broken vows, and other practitioners. It then goes into what an attack on a practitioner may look like through external, mental and physical conditions.
Miller takes the time in the beginning of this book to really break down what each of these topics looks like and what they are exactly. This lays the groundwork for understanding why protection is so important and how easily and quickly it can be required. It can be as simple as jealousy giving you a hard time which just goes to show that it’s better to be with protection than without, even if you’re never actively crossed in your lifetime.
My favourite discussion in this chapter is about breaking vows. Miller states you need to “be careful what you agree to” and I think that statement is very important. He relays his own negative experience to breaking vows and what he had to do to fix it. I think this is really important because when working with things outside the human experience, we can sometimes romanticize the idea of magic and spirituality, thinking everything is love and light. This isn’t the case. There are real consequences to our decisions, just like in everyday mundane life. Being a practitioner is serious so when you commit to something as a practitioner you need to be ready to actually commit to what you’ve decided, especially when things like deity work or working with otherworldly beings are involved.
Another key comment in this chapter is the discussion around mental health. This topic is briefly discussed a few times throughout the book and emphasises the need for mental health professionals and seeking psychological help either first or alongside magical practices. He states in the book that practices should never be a substitute for mental health treatment when needed but can be beneficial to do alongside professional treatment. We see a lot of marketing in the occult world for people who suffer with mental health issues. Use this crystal for anxiety, use this essential oil for depression. This can be seriously harmful. It’s important as practitioners to recognize that not everything is caused by spiritual reasons and medical professionals are essential to keeping us safe. There is no cure all in the occult world and the line between mental illness and spirituality can be muddied. That’s why I really appreciated Miller’s emphasis on needing mental health professionals, especially when getting into some of the deeper aspects of spiritual attacks.
Chapter two is all about your daily practices. This is your very first line of defense and the most important step in protection. Developing a daily practice is like diet and exercise, it needs to be a change in lifestyle and a commitment, but it doesn’t need to be excessive. Miller writes that a daily practice should involve three things: meditation, banishing and offering. Each one of these steps is important but he recognizes that meditation can be an obstacle for people because there is a “lust for results”. I completely agree with this and it’s always reassuring to know you aren’t the only one and it’s a common feeling. It’s called a daily “practice” because it becomes easier with time. Miller suggests starting small with two ten-minute sessions of meditation and gradually increasing.
I believe it can be beneficial to start off with a rigorous routine until the habit sticks, but I personally find daily practice should be fluid with our energy levels. I have found in my own personal practice that daily practices can begin to feel disingenuous and I felt at times to just be “going through the motions”, which is when I decided to be more fluid with how much time and energy I spend on these daily practices. For personal reasons I keep a record of how long I spend on my daily practice and depending on the day and my energy level it can range from five minutes, to over thirty minutes. I found that this allows me to be fully invested each day by only giving the energy I can afford to give at the time and not just phoning it in for the sake of time. As a person who suffers with mental illness, I think it’s really important to understand what our limits are and being fluid with a daily practice can prevent discouragement from burnout.
In chapter three and chapter four Miller discusses personal protection and protection for the home. These chapters include useful recipes and methods for outward sources of protection. I particularly enjoyed the reference to the 2005 movie ‘The Skeleton Key’ in chapter four, for its use of red brick powder as a method of protection. Love that movie.
Chapter five, for whatever reason, was my favourite chapter. I felt very invested in this chapter and this is where I really started to, for lack of a better word, ‘vibe’, with Miller. This chapter discusses two different types of exorcisms and I found it fascinating. I think with the earlier chapters, as an active practitioner, it touched on topics I was fairly familiar with, but this topic, in such depths, was new for me and very exciting to read. He provides and detailed example of what an exorcism would look like from beginning to end and I found it to be very educational and easily digestible as a format. There’s a lot of controversy around the idea of exorcisms and abuse caused in the name of them and Miller does a fantastic job addressing this issue and once again emphasising the need for a mental health evaluation before diving into something as serious as exorcisms. I’ve found Miller’s approach to these sensitive topics to be respectful, truthful and very responsible as a teacher of the occult.
Moving on to chapter 6, Miller dives into the topic of Spirit Guides and Servitors. He brings up the theory that equates magic to simple psychology and self-empowerment, but how witches see much more to it. I enjoyed his counter to this discussion and found myself relating to him here and his view towards the legitimacy of magic being tangible and not just projections of psyche.
In this chapter he also makes a note to address eclecticism and respect for different practices. Throughout the book Miller refers to his teachings in a variety of practices belonging to different cultures. Eclecticism has been a source of discourse in today’s online occult community. Miller addresses the need for respect when learning about practices from other cultures and how working with these spirits might not go in your favor, especially if you’re uneducated on their customs or personalities. He provides examples of how working with spirits from foreign traditions can go horribly wrong. Researching the spirits you want to work with, along with their traditions, is very important and some practices require initiations. These practices are considered closed and not open for just anyone to practice. It’s both dangerous and foolish try to work with spirits from these initiatory practices and in some cases that can be because information is only passed down through mentorship so a lack of adequate information to work with specific spirits can get a practitioner into a lot of unnecessary trouble.
In chapters seven and eight we look at the topics of Reversal and Counter Magic, as well as Healing and Recovery. He notes that when you engage in reversing attacks set on you, more damage may be done than your personal morals would hope for and it can be easy to get stuck in a loop of back and forths. He includes spells and recipes for taking care of yourself after an attack so you can heal and move on with your life.
Miller leaves you with some final notes from himself in chapter nine and follows is a nice section of notes, appendixes and indexes which includes a lot of sources for further reading in a range of different categories. I’ve heard before that a good list of sources is a good sign of a reliable writer and I definitely agree.
You write a good review and your intelligence shines through.