Customer Reviews

Charms, Spells, and Formulas (Llewellyn's Practical Magick)

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

(...)Charms, Spells & Formulas is an excellent introductory book for those who follow paths other than Wicca. In fact, I think that it is better suited for those who are interested in voodoo or some variant thereof. The one thing that I did not like about this book is that I wanted it to be longer! There is a wide variety of information and I feel that Ray Malbrough did an excellent job touching base on so many different topics. It contains associations on colors, herbs, candles, and more. It goes into a little detail about voodoo practices and the blending in of Catholicism. I highly suggest that readers who enjoyed this book check out Malbrough's "The Magical Power of the Saints," which goes into greater detail on the Saints than what was briefly touched upon in this book, along with explaining novenas and the 7 day candles. As a non-Wiccan Witch that practices the style of magic as presented in these books, I feel that both are excellent and are ones that I continually refer to.

This was a fun little book. It never claims to teach the religion of Vodou (or Vodun ore any other number of spellings) nor does it claim to align itself with Wiccan philosophy. As a practicing Wiccan I can differentiate between spells I (personally) should and should not cast. As to problems with karma it's not so bad, it doesn't have nearly as much baneful magic as the venerable Modern Witches Spellbook. If you want to work with this one you should try and find access to a botanica to get many of the supplies. If you don't want to hunt around for the more exotic herbs try The Supermarket Sorceress series, all of the ingrediants for those spells can be found at the local grocery store. I have other spellbooks that I look to more frequently but it's nice to have something with hoodoo flavor in the collection.

Although this is a book published by Llewyllyn Publicatons, a publishing firm known to publish anything to make a buck, this one is pretty good. I have owned this book for years and often return to it for a prayer or ingredient in one of rays formulas. The information is basic and introductory. I must admit that the "spells" are all in rhyme and sound more childish than a Mother Goose poem. Putting that aside, the rest of the book is pretty usefull, especially for a beginner looking to understand basic HooDoo. I must caution you though, avoid his other book, HooDoo Mysteries, that one is pure garbage and not worth the paper its printed on. Magical Power of the Saints, also by Malbrough is pretty good for those who enjoy working with the saints. Check this one and the Saints book out, leave his other "book".

This book was one of my favorite books that I have on my bookshelf.It had all the instruction that I needed to make my own dolls, oils, incense, powders, washes and it also had a few good spells in it.It also had diagrams of all the doll rituals in it that explained how to set up your altar and where to put everything.I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in doll magick, voodoo or creating your own spell ingredients.

I really liked this book. Don't let the size of the book fool you! It's a small book, but it has lots of information with clear directions.

In the first five chapters, he talks about how to do the rituals/spells, how to make/use gris-gris bags, different charms you can use to improve your life, how to make/use dolls in magic. Also included are informative correspondences and how to set up an altar. The rituals are easy to follow and perform, each with a drawing on how you should set up your altar for that particular ritual. All the oils and powders that he says to use in the rituals/spells he shows you exactly how to make in the second half of the book.

In the second half of the book, he shows you how to make incense, oils, powders, and washes with clear and effective directions. He doesn't beat around the bush or ramble on incessantly just to fill the pages. The best thing about this section is that the ingredients are easy-to-find ....... has all the herbs you could need and everything is pretty easy to make. I especially liked the section on incense. Then there is a Lagniappe section which is about asking for the help of angels and saints through prayers which I really liked.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in folk magic. It's a wonderful book for a wonderful price.

I bought this book over a year ago. I was new to the craft. It contains recipes that really helped me in my life. At the time, I was recently divorced and was in need of a part-time job to make ends meet. I had been applying for jobs all over town, for months, to no avail. I made the money drawing oil as listed in the book. Within the week, I got a new job. Some of the ingredients were hard to find but I own other books that suggest substitutions. I also tried the Sweet Bottle spell, and my love life is thriving!

Well,this takes care of my spell needs.I am already making a voodoo doll and it is coming out perfect.I've done some of the spells and they have worked!

I love this book! Colorful, entertaining, powerful, informative... these are all words that describe Charms, Spells and Forumulas by Houngan Rev. Ray Marlbrough. It's been out for a while, but if you don't have a copy yet, get with the program, buy a copy, choose an exercise or spell in the book, and just DO it! -- Mambo Racine

I am new to the craft, and I found it didn't have as many spells in it as I liked. I found it had more rituals. I would rather have a book with spells that you can just say without having to make and oil or spend a lot of money on candles.

This book was great.I just bought it a week ago and I have already read it twice!Some of the ingrediants are kind of hard to find...but when you do find them the spells work!It really is great! I think everyone needs to buy it wheither they are into witchcraft or not!! :)~