When Crossed Crow Books reached out asking if I would like to review some of their upcoming books, I was absolutely stoked. On this list was the revised and updated edition of Magic for the Resistance: Rituals & Spells for Change by Michael M. Hughes. This book has been on my TBR for quite some time, so there was no way I was going to pass up the opportunity to read and review the latest edition.
As a witch who is heavily involved in and advocates for spiritual activism, Magic for the Resistance should be required reading, along with Tarot for the Hard Work: An Archetypal Journey to Confront Racism and Inspire Collective Healing by Maria Minnis, Heal the Witch Wound: Reclaim You Magic & Step Into Your Power by Celeste Larsen, and Tarot In Other Words: An Essential Anthology by Leading Queer Tarot Writers edited by Cassandra Snow, among many others. Magic has always been and will always be a form of resistance, so why not use it to our advantage to fight against oppressive systems such as fascism, misogyny, and racism?
The name Michael M. Hughes may ring a bell for many of you, especially if you have been following politics and the occult closely. Hughes is the same witch who wrote "A Spell to Bind Donald Trump and All Those Who Abet Him" and helped lead and coordinate mass hex work. This is among the largest joint spells ever cast and is exactly the type of magic outlined in Magic for the Resistance. Now, I managed to get my greedy hands on the revised and updated edition, which is, in fact, updated to include a new introduction, updated spells, and even new ones. I greatly appreciate that this wasn't just a rerelease of an old title to capitalise on the movement. Hughes put in the work to include and modify spells to help us navigate the current political climate, including the mass deportations we are currently experiencing. I think the only thing that could have made me love this book more would be the inclusion of even more spells, rituals, and charms. Hughes made me hungry and desperate for more. But hey, I guess that is a gap I am helping to fill whenever I, too, write and publish spells for resistance.
The book opens with lessons on using witchcraft and magic as a form of activism. Hughes, like many others before him, reminds us that we use magic to turn the tide and push the world in the direction we want it to go; magic is not fast, and the changes won't occur overnight. Just like activism isn't a one-and-done thing, neither is magical resistance. Instead, we must dedicate time and energy to shift the powers at large, recognizing we will lose a lot more often than we win, but the purpose is to never give up. At the end of a spell titled "The White Candle Conspiracy," Hughes references a brief interview with A.J. Muste, a Dutch-born American clergyman and activist who protested the Vietnam War. During this interview, the reporter asked Muste, "Do you really think you are going to change the policies of the country by standing out here alone at night in front of the White House with a candle?" To which Muste replied, "Oh, I don't do this to change the country. I do this so the country won't change me." We may never see the fruits of our activism, but at least we will leave this world knowing we left it a better place and refused to bow to a dictator.
Despite Hughes's warning that magical resistance takes time and patience, it also requires everyday, mundane actions to work. To quote, "...spiritual activism is useless without engagement in the everyday world of elections, organizing, canvassing, protests, and other forms of on-the-ground action." I couldn't agree more. You have to take real-world action for any spell, especially resistance spells, to actually work. The phrase, "Your actions speak louder than your words," holds true in this situation. Our spells and rituals demand to be fed, and we feed them by living the life we wish to see the entire world embrace.
This wonderful introduction is followed by a brief history of magical resistance, from fighting slavers to hexing the Nazis, in which he refers to witch hunters as mass murderers (preach!). This is an excellent overview of the history of magic; my only qualm is that I wish it were longer! I could read several books detailing the history of witchcraft and its uses to fight against oppression. I think such a work would be incredibly beneficial for all witches to read and would give all of us a nice reminder of where we came from and what our roots actually are.
From here, Hughes delves into a "toolkit" for magical activism, offering suggestions, spell and ritual ideas, safety tips, tool options, and so much more. He even explores the ethics of binding, hexing, and cursing, justifying such work by reminding us that we are using these types of spells as self-defense. My favorite line from this was, "If you wouldn't do something by nonmagical means, don't do it with magic." Again, yes, yes, yes. If you wouldn't kill someone, don't try to curse them to get hit by a bus. This is a great ethical reminder, one I think we all need to hear. However, I do support white people playing dirty when it comes to other white people. We must use our privilege to help those whose voices are being erased. Michelle Obama's "When they go low, we go high" does not apply when we, as white people, are fighting oppression. It's okay to be nasty...
My only point of contention with Hughes is his perspective on cultural appropriation. I have made it incredibly clear where I stand on the issue. Hughes is of the mind that if you are being respectful and responsible, then you can use whatever tools are necessary. I disagree and prefer to use tools that are not stolen from the very people I am trying to assist. It is such a colonial mindset to believe that because we are on the same team that we can take whatever we want. Some things are not for us, and that is okay. I will never be able to fully comprehend the cultural significance of Hoodoo, Santeria, Espiritismo, or other such paths. These are spiritual paths that require you to have a shared, lived experience, which I don't and never will have. That doesn't mean we can't learn from the best when it comes to building magical resistance, but I can find my own cultural means of fighting, without appropriating from closed practices. You may feel differently, and what you do in the privacy of your own home is between you and the Universe.
Despite disagreeing with this point, Magic for the Resistance: Rituals & Spells for Change by Michael M. Hughes is well worth the read, especially if you are interested in using your magic to help fight oppression. We are not free until we are all free. You can pick up your new revised and updated copy of Magic for Resistance wherever books are sold.
Author Note: I plan to continue to use my Amazon affiliate links for the time being for a couple of reasons. 1) Some of you are not protesting Amazon, and it helps me when you shop. Amazon affiliate links are the main source of revenue for my blog, even though I only average about $25 in a good month. 2) Some of you can only purchase American titles from Amazon, and you wish to support authors. I get it. I want it to be known, however, that I support the upcoming and ongoing protests against Amazon. I encourage you to try and shop elsewhere, especially for books (use Bookshop.org!), and if you cannot give up Amazon entirely, at least join us to protest this holiday season by refusing to order anything from Amazon, Target, and Home Depot on November 28th through December 1st.
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