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A review by alexiasophii
You Are Magical by Tess Whitehurst
3.0
[I was given a copy from NetGalley for an honest review]
So I finally finished this book and took several notes so I could review it properly. A review in Portuguese will also be available on my Blog Sob o Luar next week.
"What's more, you feel a pulsating power and presence emanating from the natural world. It speaks to you - not necessarily through words, but through the beauty of a butterfly, the fragrance of fresh rain on dry ground, the sound of winds in the trees, the vast expanse of glittering stars or the moment when the sun shines through rain to broadcast a rainbow"
The book is a very light and easy read, the writing is very clear and concise. The author speaks of several topics throughout the book and focus mostly on "Magic". Magic as the Law of Attraction and the power to change things in your life. I love how the author shows her feelings and mentions how it is to feel magic, to recognise magic and also, how she shows, that magic is everywhere not just in "magical acts". Magic is all around us and the author shows that clearly.
She speaks of several cultures which is not bad (much for the contrary!) but I wish she would have made a bigger division. I, for one, I'm not fan of mixing cultures. I don't feel comfortable invoking Greek Gods in the same ritual as Native American, for example. So, in my personal opinion and for my personal path, this was a no-no for me.
The book has several tips for everyday magic, natural magic and how to connect to Nature and to the energies around you, to chakras, astrology, tables of correspondence and the second part is a compilation of several spells for several different purposes. It is also a bit of Wiccan-oriented and the point of view of the Gods and Goddesses is very Wiccan. There is also the presence ot Angels entities which, for me, is not compatible with Paganism. But this is a personal view and it depends on each practitioner.
At a certain point the author mentions Heritage and how to try and contact our Ancestors and she says "What do you know about where you ancestors came from, and what ancient spiritualties they may have practiced? If you're not sure, give it your best guess". For me this is just... unreal. Why would you guess it? Magic is not to be guessed, there needs to be a method and you need to KNOW why you're doing it the way you're doing it. Go with the flow? Yes. Guess stuff? No. I don't agree at all with this method.
I do like, though, how the author explains magic and how magic manifests and what you can do to manifest stuff in your life. She talks about outfits and dresses and how the dress doesn't make you feel good for itself but it does help, just like instruments, incense, location, etc. help at the magical work. This is an important key for those beginning the magical path! She also speaks that "Everything is Magic" and that is so true because magic is the control of energy and everything is energy. So everything is magic. This is a beautiful sentence that I really liked!
Another interesting topic that the author mentioned were "Ego Desires" and "Authenthic Desires". When you want something for egotistical reasons and when you genuinely want something. This is the difference between wanting *this* job and *wanting a good and adequate for myself* job. What flows and what doesn't.
The book overall is good and I enjoyed reading it. There were only two things that really stood out in negative perspective:
First the author talks about self-initiation spell. This is an automatic no-no for me. The book does not provide enough information and resources for someone to be qualified for an initiation (also initiation into what? Magic does not require initiation and only structured and initiatory paths require it and, usually, an initiation is provided in a group or coven, such as Wicca). The term self-initiation is terrible in this situation, it would be much more proper to call it a "dedication spell" or something similar. As in the practitioner dedicates themselves to study magic and so-on.
The second, for me, is the worst part of the entire book. It might seen like a simple thing but I don't consider it to be. The author talks about past life regression and how to do it. THIS IS DANGEROUS! Past life regression should be done with a professional (whether licensed or experienced). When you regress to a past life you have no idea what you're going to find out. Imagine that you were burned at the stake or were a slave or murdered and you end up regressing to that moment. Can you imagine the shock? The horror? The panic? And the probable PSTD and other emotional damage it could cause? It's not a thing to be taken lightly and IT IS dangerous. Please be careful with this, don't rush into things. Everything will come to you when it needs to come, knowledge flows, don't try to force it.
Overall, besides these two aspects, the book is not bad and the writing and way the author speaks to the reader is pretty good. I'm giving it 3 stars since the book is not bad but these two last points, especially the last one, really had an impact on my view of the book.
So I finally finished this book and took several notes so I could review it properly. A review in Portuguese will also be available on my Blog Sob o Luar next week.
"What's more, you feel a pulsating power and presence emanating from the natural world. It speaks to you - not necessarily through words, but through the beauty of a butterfly, the fragrance of fresh rain on dry ground, the sound of winds in the trees, the vast expanse of glittering stars or the moment when the sun shines through rain to broadcast a rainbow"
The book is a very light and easy read, the writing is very clear and concise. The author speaks of several topics throughout the book and focus mostly on "Magic". Magic as the Law of Attraction and the power to change things in your life. I love how the author shows her feelings and mentions how it is to feel magic, to recognise magic and also, how she shows, that magic is everywhere not just in "magical acts". Magic is all around us and the author shows that clearly.
She speaks of several cultures which is not bad (much for the contrary!) but I wish she would have made a bigger division. I, for one, I'm not fan of mixing cultures. I don't feel comfortable invoking Greek Gods in the same ritual as Native American, for example. So, in my personal opinion and for my personal path, this was a no-no for me.
The book has several tips for everyday magic, natural magic and how to connect to Nature and to the energies around you, to chakras, astrology, tables of correspondence and the second part is a compilation of several spells for several different purposes. It is also a bit of Wiccan-oriented and the point of view of the Gods and Goddesses is very Wiccan. There is also the presence ot Angels entities which, for me, is not compatible with Paganism. But this is a personal view and it depends on each practitioner.
At a certain point the author mentions Heritage and how to try and contact our Ancestors and she says "What do you know about where you ancestors came from, and what ancient spiritualties they may have practiced? If you're not sure, give it your best guess". For me this is just... unreal. Why would you guess it? Magic is not to be guessed, there needs to be a method and you need to KNOW why you're doing it the way you're doing it. Go with the flow? Yes. Guess stuff? No. I don't agree at all with this method.
I do like, though, how the author explains magic and how magic manifests and what you can do to manifest stuff in your life. She talks about outfits and dresses and how the dress doesn't make you feel good for itself but it does help, just like instruments, incense, location, etc. help at the magical work. This is an important key for those beginning the magical path! She also speaks that "Everything is Magic" and that is so true because magic is the control of energy and everything is energy. So everything is magic. This is a beautiful sentence that I really liked!
Another interesting topic that the author mentioned were "Ego Desires" and "Authenthic Desires". When you want something for egotistical reasons and when you genuinely want something. This is the difference between wanting *this* job and *wanting a good and adequate for myself* job. What flows and what doesn't.
The book overall is good and I enjoyed reading it. There were only two things that really stood out in negative perspective:
First the author talks about self-initiation spell. This is an automatic no-no for me. The book does not provide enough information and resources for someone to be qualified for an initiation (also initiation into what? Magic does not require initiation and only structured and initiatory paths require it and, usually, an initiation is provided in a group or coven, such as Wicca). The term self-initiation is terrible in this situation, it would be much more proper to call it a "dedication spell" or something similar. As in the practitioner dedicates themselves to study magic and so-on.
The second, for me, is the worst part of the entire book. It might seen like a simple thing but I don't consider it to be. The author talks about past life regression and how to do it. THIS IS DANGEROUS! Past life regression should be done with a professional (whether licensed or experienced). When you regress to a past life you have no idea what you're going to find out. Imagine that you were burned at the stake or were a slave or murdered and you end up regressing to that moment. Can you imagine the shock? The horror? The panic? And the probable PSTD and other emotional damage it could cause? It's not a thing to be taken lightly and IT IS dangerous. Please be careful with this, don't rush into things. Everything will come to you when it needs to come, knowledge flows, don't try to force it.
Overall, besides these two aspects, the book is not bad and the writing and way the author speaks to the reader is pretty good. I'm giving it 3 stars since the book is not bad but these two last points, especially the last one, really had an impact on my view of the book.