Magic for the Resistance by Michael M. Hughes
Book Review by Dawn Thomas

264 Pages
Publisher: Llewellyn Worldwide, Ltd.
Release Date: September 8, 2018

Human Rights, Magic Studies, Activism, Politics

The book is very relevant to the current political climate. It was released in 2018 and is focused on the election of Donald Trump. There is a description of the monthly public ritual focused on binding Trump from hurting anyone but himself. Towards the end of the book, there are other spells (Black Lives Matter, Spirits of Polling Place, Invocation for Reproductive Rights, LGBTQ+ Protection, No Borders, NRA, Candidate Boosting and a few others). These are the chapters in the book.

Chapter 1: Welcome to the Magic Resistance
Chapter 2: Witches and Occultists vs. Kings and Nazis
Chapter 3: Binding Trump
Chapter 4: Toolkit for Magical Activism
Chapter 5: Offensive and Defensive Magic
Chapter 6: Magic Beyond the Altar
Chapter 7: Finding the Others: Coven and Community
Chapter 8: Self-Care and Resilience
Chapter 9: Preparation for Ritual
Chapter 10: The Magical Activist’s Spellbook


The information in the book is well researched and resources provided. This is a book that every activist should have on a bookshelf.

I went into this book ready to love it. I was so excited to see the flip side of the conservative Christian monopoly on spirituality in politics. But I’ll be honest, I have really mixed feelings about this book.

I’ll start with the good, since I do think that overall it’s a worthy and valuable addition to the published literature on contemporary magic. Hughes includes a great overview of magic as a tool of the oppressed throughout the book. The very beginning of the book consists of a survey of political movements, social uprisings, and protests that have been key aspects of witchcraft across cultures and throughout history. This is very much an overview, and doesn’t go into great depth or detail on any of them, but is an excellent jumping off point for readers to do their own research on any of the movements that are personally resonant. He also does a great job emphasizing the use of magic as something that can both bolster feelings of personal power – especially in times where we may feel powerless – and also to bring people together to enact change on both magical and mundane levels. In this way, the book is fantastic. Hughes uses his own example of the Spell to Bind Donald Trump which you may remember from the time right around or after the inauguration. I didn’t recognize Hughes’ name when I got this book, but I certainly remembered the spell that included a stubby orange candle and the Tower card! This spell was developed for Hughes and his personal circle to feel that they could participate in a form of resistance, but it quickly went viral and witches across the country participated, combining it with demonstrations in front of Trump Tower and leaving piles of baby carrots and orange candles in their wake. The hashtag #magicresistance took off on social media, and even those who did the ritual because they thought it was funny and not because they believed in its power were reinvigorated and encouraged anew to become or remain politically active. Incidentally, Hughes also reminds us of the power of humor, both to keep perspective and to make our movements feel accessible and relate-able.

To be honest, though, I really think the major contribution that Hughes makes with this book is his advice on how to plan demonstrations, protests, and other political actions. His advice on humor, as stated above, is intermixed with logistic suggestions for meeting up with other activist witches and planning actions as well as ideas for guerrilla magic - such as leaving talismans of protection at women’s clinics, leaving Justice tarot cards with the names of unjustly convicted activists or victims of police violence on the courthouse steps, etc. He does include a section of pre-written spells and ritual ideas, but after the rest of the book they felt kind of superfluous to me. However, perhaps other readers will appreciate the templates he offers, and will be inspired to enact them or similar spells on their own. Even if his specific spells don’t resonate with me, though, I have not seen a Black Lives Matter spell before, or a Hex the NRA response to the ‘thoughts and prayers’ offered by politicians. They were powerful simply by virtue of existing in print, and for that I am grateful.

Additionally, I particularly appreciated Hughes’ discussion of using magical means to intervene in individual actions via curses, hexes, or binding spells. His take is that if you are willing to take mundane action to reach the same result, then using magic is not unethical. That is, if you are willing to write a letter trying to get a politician to change their stance on an issue, why would you be averse to using magical means to do the same? If you are willing to get a restraining order to keep someone from stalking another person, why would you not also enact a binding spell - essentially a magical restraining order - to add some oomph to the process? He does not advocate cursing willy-nilly or binding someone when a conversation could do the trick, but he is pragmatic and views magic as just one more tool for us to keep in our tool box.

If you’ve read my other book reviews, you can probably guess what my first critique is going to be. Cultural appropriation is a huge problem in magical and pagan communities across the country (and probably the world, but I’m most familiar with the U.S.), and this book is no different. I don’t know what kind of mentoring, training, or initiation Hughes may have undergone, and I certainly don’t want to position myself as any sort of gatekeeper, but I do know that this is a white man offering ideas on how to make mojo bags in the vein of Hoodoo and Conjure traditions (conjure, rootwork, etc, come up frequently in the book); he regularly references Qabbalistic magic (maybe he’s Jewish, but he definitely writes about it in a way that feels like he’s dabbling), and his rituals often use components of or reference traditions with little to no background on why you might use these methods, in what contexts they are or are not appropriate, etc. I was able to pull the useful pieces out of the book and gloss over the pieces that felt inappropriate, but for the most part I am not part of the groups that he is sampling from. If I were, I may have a harder time ignoring it or feeling like the rest of the book was worth it. Mostly, it felt somewhat hypocritical to uncritically sample from closed or initiatory traditions– or even traditions that may not be closed but are associated with specific, historically oppressed populations– in a book on social justice.

My other critique is maybe a little picky, but while individual sections were well written, the flow of the book seemed odd at points. We switched back and forth from a history lesson to a discussion of magic that felt at least at the 201 level back to a 101 lesson on altar set up and how to cast a circle then a discussion of street activism. I appreciate that the book is geared toward a variety of experience levels and abilities, but it felt like perhaps it could have been organized better. Guidelines on altar set up, how to do basic magical actions like casting a circle, etc, could have been included in an appendix along with the individual spells. That may have contributed to a better flow overall, and left more space for a sustained discussion of the political implications of what magical tradition you choose to work with and why, or even just how to match your ritual to your action to your intended political outcome.

In any case, I do think this book is worth reading, especially for those new to activism of any kind, magical or mundane. With that said, I am unlikely to buy it or keep it as a reference, since my favorite parts are the broad ideas rather than the specific spells that I might need to review before performing.

This is a perfect time for this book since so many would like to take action to bring about change in our government. A book for pagans of all strips but also others who have some interest in using rituals and spells. In a book that is most readable and entertaining, the author provides a history of how magic has been used by the resistance in the last 50 or so years. He goes on the provide rituals and spells and provides the basics so important to spellwork - protection, self care, working solo and in groups.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

Very interesting on both political and magical side. A very good book, well written, and full of interesting spells.
This review of this book would require a blog post as there're so many interesting things to discuss.
Highly recommended!
Many thanks to Llewellyn Worldwide and Netgalley for this ARC

We live in stressful times. As a witch I try not to bring politics to my witchcraft classes, but when asked I do provide insight to students for how and what they can do to merge their practice with their social and political values.

I consider myself to be part of the resistance. I have a long history of political activism working for inclusion, equality and civil rights for all. As a witch we are in the minority in many places and as a minority culture group we are always under risk of having our rights and beliefs challenged or rejected. It is important to learn how to participate in the socio-politcal conversation to assure that our rights and those of other at risk groups are protected. Having tools to help with that process within the craft is not only helpful, it is necessary.

Michael Hughes has provided an interesting and unique tome to help us apply our craft to our social values and political ideas. It is an interesting read and I will recommend it to withes I know share a strong personal commitment to political activism and civil rights advocacy too.

Loved. loved, loved this book!! I loved all the tips for practical magic for dealing with social injustices. This is the book to read especially in the times we as a country are facing right now. The author has an easy-going writing style and at times was quite humorous. I can't tell you how much I loved this book. I voluntarily read this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Magic for the Resistance
Rituals for Spells and Change
By Michael M. Hughes

When I joined the Official Bind Trump Facebook Group, I had no idea who the founder was or specifically to whom we owed credit for the global sensation that became known as the #BindTrump spell and the #MagicResistance tag. I saw it make the rounds on Twitter via every kind of media publication from indie mags to mainstream news. I heard Lana DelRey was joining in and promoting the spell to stop Donald J. Trump and all who abet him. I didn’t believe it and checked her Twitter for myself. Yes indeed, it was there. Then in the Facebook Group, I began enjoying all the incredible creations other witches came up with for how to make the spell their own or use it as a template for other witchcraft activism. There are so many talented people there willing to share their ideas and photos of their altars. As of today, the group is just shy of 3,500 members.

I noticed a post by Michael Hughes. It was a sigil he offered to be used as the “official” #BindTrump sigil, but he continued to encourage people to make their own if they wanted and knew how. The members, including myself, loved the sigil so much, it soon became people’s avatars or part of their spellcasting. It went viral just as the original spell had. I still didn’t realize it was Hughes who started this phenomenon. There was enough demand for him to make 3D printings or castings of the sigil which could be worn as necklaces or placed on altars.

June 14, Hughes posted that he had a new book coming out, Magic for the Resistance: Rituals for Spells and Change and it was available for pre-order. The first thing I did was check NetGalley to see if there was any chance I could review this. It’s published through Llewellyn, the “big cheese” of witchcraft and spiritual media. I was thrilled when I got the approval and dug in immediately.

The book is set up in clear logical order by chapters with so much inclusion and instructions, that I questioned whether or not I needed to continue to write my own handbook. After reading, I can say, my book (should it ever come out) would complement Hughes’ work well. He offers so much that I only tapped into. Needless to say, if you’re interesting in learning as a novice or want some ideas as an experienced witch, this book has a ton to offer. His spells and rituals are designed for most of the social justice causes you can think of today: environmentalism, sexual abuse, reproductive rights, hexing the NRA, and protecting immigrants. Each of them is presented after chapters and chapters of historical context.

Hughes presents the work with plenty of humor. He prefers to be called a “magician” rather than pagan, witch, or conjurer. Right at the beginning he gives a great introduction about his personal life and background explaining why. He was a stage performer and has no need to hide that side of himself. A mentalist, someone attuned at cold reading an audience to prove mystical powers. Only for Hughes, he sees his mentalism as working along with his powers of spellcasting. He’s been practicing the craft most of his life, but he wasn’t open about it. Creating this spell changed any chance of Hughes staying in the broom closet.

Another highlight is that Hughes presents the diversity of African-American to Haitian to Celtic to Buddhist to Christian perspectives. This is obviously intensely researched, and I’ll add, properly cited. Magic for the Resistance takes off with a timeline through some of witchcraft’s more (in)famous public hexes and spells. Readers will get a much better understanding and appreciation for why women showed up to protests in the past two years clad in black robes with pointed veiled hats carrying and carrying signs silently. They are a new offspring of the hippie subculture. Their tactics are clever and amusing.

Accessibility:

“Be conscientious of your guests with special needs, and plan accordingly.”

Hughes is a considerate author and magician. He gives a lot of sound advice for frugal alternatives. He also provides suggestions for people with disabilities who may not be able to do things like stand and walk in a circle or go to a protest or walk through the woods. His sensitivity on financial considerations, ableism, and racial issues makes this book revolutionary. He goes even two steps further. At his suggestions for taking something from nature to use (such as a rock or feather) or if you place wards (such as spell jars or melted candles) out in public/nature, you should spend the time and energy to pick up some litter while you’re there. His second suggestion comes at the end of every ritual: giving donations to a worthy cause befitting the intention of the spell.

“It all began an evening shortly after the 2016 election as a friend and I sat drinking beer and ruminating about the dismaying results. He had been surprised at Hillary Clinton’s loss, while I had felt a creeping unease that Donald Trump’s use of nationalism, xenophobia, racism, and misogyny during his campaign would lead him to victory. We exchanged ideas about what exactly, we could do as a response to the increasingly bizarre and distressing events that were unfolding in the wake of Trump’s ascendancy.”

In fact, in my studies about Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction (a type of meditation and yoga instruction created by Jon Kabat-Zinn), the documentation states that if you can’t do the movements physically, visualizing yourself doing them has the same effects on the brain routing messages as witnessed through MRI technology.

Answering “Why and How?”:

Common questions might be, what good does coordinating a grand-scale hex do? If the target(s) doesn’t believe in it, will anything happen to them? In fact, Hughes goes into detail about how the alt-right used occultism and evangelical Christians tried to cancel out anything the #BindTrump witches were doing.

“Far from being ineffectual ‘slacktivism,’ as some of its critics have branded it, the ritual (and other developed by participants) helps many of us stay focused, committed, and invigorated for out everyday activism and resistance. It has become a spiritual balm and monthly remind of our commitment to fighting injustice and the ongoing dismantling of our liberal democracy.”

Hughes emphasizes care to the planet throughout the book. He has a personal commitment against buying crystals or gems whenever possible and using substitutes he finds in nature or ones given to him as gifts. It’s how he protests economically against destructive mining practices and the exploitation of mine workers. So if you would rather use some brownish-grey rock you found on your hike than something as dazzling as a shiny rose quartz, by all means, do so; you can use a marker to draw a sigil on it anyway as you charge it for your purpose.

Along the same lines as being environmentally aware regarding the planet at large, Hughes has a lot of reminders appropriately placed in the chapters about safety. There are some common sense things that might slip your mind during the excitement of wanting to cast a spell. Maybe you overdo it with the incense and your smoke alarm goes off; or you accidentally catch a curtain on fire with a live flame candle. Keep bowls water handy (I also recommend a fire extinguisher), open windows, don’t ingest anything just because you read about it in a book or on the internet. He also mentions keeping your spellwork out of reach of pets and curious humans. He even gives a reminder about how humans need the vitamin D from sunlight even though we also need to be worried about applying sunscreen.

“Guerrilla magic also includes leaving charged magical objects in the places where they can be most effective — a corporation office, a courthouse, the site of a police shooting, or a forest threatened by development. In short, guerrilla resistance magic can, and should, be applied wherever it is needed.”

Hughes makes it obvious that if you want to bring attention to an injustice, you have to make a spectacle. The bigger, the better. Choose the clothes carefully that you’ll wear to an event. Be shocking and dramatic. Be loud or be silent, either works. Create sigils on something that you can hand out to others who show up like you would party favors.

Self Care:

Perhaps one of the most important and oft overlooked elements of witchcraft is self care. It’s become a meme, a buzzword, a hashtag. Nonetheless, it’s important: you can’t help others if you leave yourself drained of energy, health, and resources. A lot of witch books will give the ritualized tips about salt baths before working a spell, but rarely explain daily upkeep.

What I appreciated from Hughes’ book is that he addresses different facets of keeping yourself safe. As previously mentioned, don’t go around taking magic shrooms and cannabis or MDMA without thought and thorough research (and maybe even with a doctor’s recommendation); don’t forget that any prescribed medication you are on could have serious interactions if you don’t ask a pharmacist about your plans to take something. Give yourself time away from the activism or you will be burned out and be unpleasant company. You do not have to apologize for taking a day to nurture yourself.

Meditation is another point of emphasis. As a new yoga instructor, I’ve paid more attention to how many times I find my witch mentors using meditation in their daily craft. As Hughes points out, despite all things having a point of origin whether Buddhist or paleolithic, some things become universal. Meditation and mindfulness are such things. He gives details on his two favorite forms of breathwork in this chapter. Hughes incorporates some popular mudras (hand and arm positions) into his rituals too. You can end them with “Amen, so mote it be, Om,” or anything else you find suitable to mark the end of a ritual.

Conclusion:

If you are in the market for a superbly-written book with history, instructions, and sample rituals to fight the patriarchy, protect others and the environment, and win justice for the highest good, Magic Resistance by Michael M. Hughes is the perfect book.

Rating: 5 stars

This is not the first time I have encountered a call for action from magicians who wish to use spells to effect change against harmful and oppressive regimes. In the Eighties, there were books written for those who wanted to stop the Bomb not just by demonstrating against cruise missed sites, but through spells and general JuJu. This may not sound as woo-hoo as all that to the biocentrists who have been happy to allow God - the New Age - or magic and prayer - through the back door with the recognition that at a quantum level, a particle may become a wave depending g on whether or not it is observed. As one prominent writer commented, in theory, enough concentrated minds could stop a nuclear bombs from exploding.
From that point of view, what are we waiting for. If such an destructive force could be contained.
Hughes, however, had more threats to world peace in mimd than just the Bomb. He is most concerned with the harm to the environment and to vulnerable stable minorities caused through the global rise of popularism. He is perhaps most notorious for his magical campaigns to bind the evil actions of some of popularism's most noticeable leaders and figureheads.
Hughes provides spells with which to continue this great work and cause - and more. This is a practical book, meant to be put to practical use. His approach is highly inclusive and eclectic: voodoo, Wicca and Christian psalms are all invoked on in equal measure and from an activist point if view this makes good sense: this is no time for splintering and partisan infighting, when arguably so much is at stake. These are dangerous times. As he also points out, the creator of any business logo, to choose to wear a specific colour at a job interview, could be defined as magic by any other name.
From an activist point of view, this writer makes it clear that the kinds of magic proposed here should not take the place of direct action and physical efforts to change the worsening tide.
Whether or not future readers of this book choose to believe, let alone practise the things proposed here, is up to whatever belief system he or she way already subscribe to. Some may object to the idea of ever using any ritual involving anything like a hex or a curse, however noble the cause though I hear the writer's rejoinder that any kind of active self defence may be better than allowing social I justices to remain unchallenged. My own reservation is that a controversial world leader is arguably only the tip of the ice berg of a much deeper social malaise. How can any kind of invocation address that?
This call to action comes very much from the heart and as such, offers a very empowering approach to anyone who may be receptive to the ideas therein. Meditation may be fine for meditators, prayers for every kind of religion or denomination, direct action for doers and then there is magic for the resistance.

The last year has been rough for the United States. Michael Hughes is here to help you with that. He developed the binding spell on Trump that went viral last year. He has more great spells and information to help resist this administration.

MICHAEL M. HUGHES book is a well written, comprehensive book on using magic to fight against things and people he doesn't agree with. The dangers of doing this was not addressed and should have been. Putting a spell or binding on someone because you think it should be done, doesn't mean it's the right thing to do. Telling beginners that they don't have to believe in magic and can do the spells and rituals as a form of personal theater makes no sense. Beginners playing with something they know nothing about is a scary premise. To each his own, but this is something not to be taken lightly. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review and no compensation. The opinions and views are my own