High Magick: A Guide to the Spiritual Practices That Saved My Life on Death Row

This has to be the most curious book I own in my collection. I’m a scientist and I never thought I’d buy an esoteric book. I must admit at first I was hesitant to buy it because I thought I was getting myself into the occult and soon I’d start wearing a vial of blood around my neck like Angelina Jolie. I couldn’t have been more wrong. Damian introduces High Magick in such a way that it completely dissipated all the prejudices I had about it. If the book had been any longer, as a beginner, I might have felt overwhelmed kinda like when you buy your first manuel in some new subject in school. I couldn’t get myself to stop reading Damian’s book because it made me feel like I was about to discover a major revelation about life. It was fascinating and Damian is an amazing storyteller. I love the humility and sincerity in his writing which made me trust his teachings. Did I find the answer to the question I’ve been asking myself for a long time and that pushed me to purchase this book ? Not completely but the beauty is that it has sent me on an amazing path to understand what is this so called “infinite consciousness” that people feel but can’t explain. Since then I’ve been devouring book after book about Quantum Physics from authors like Stephen Hawking (the Grand Design), Brian Greene (the Elegant Universe), Robert Lanza (Biocentrism) looking for a scientific explanation to all of this. There is none. So at the end of the day, I’m gonna take Damian’s advice and not try to explain it but instead just trust Magick. But how can I trust it without any form of scientific proof? All I can say is too many strange occurances have happened in my life that I have begun to believe (yeah like Neo in the Matrix except I know I’m not the One ;) I’m reading High Magick for a second time now but I’m doing the practices. I’m doing the ones I feel more comfortable with. The first time I followed a ritual, it really worked !! I mean it was spooky how well it worked. Thank you Damian and please write more books. You’re such an amazing writer that I’d even read a plumbing manual if you wrote one.

I found this book after 10 years of practicing witchcraft and it really changed my perspective on things. I am now on the path of ceremonial magick. Can this information be found elsewhere? Sure. However, if you are an absolute beginner in High Magick, and had even been like me a practitioner of Low Magick and didn't know too too much on it, this is an absolute great starting point. Damien's knowledge is beyond just the information in this book, but what he has done is taken what worked for him and put it into a book for anyone to pick up, acknowledge their own birthright to practice magick, and get started.I have read/studied quite a bit since reading this book and don't do things exactly as described in High Magick, but it took me a minute to find my style and what works for me. Damien, along with many authors whom appeal to the novice, cannot stress enough how much you need to try things and find what works for you.Anytime someone asks me about my spiritual path and where they can start, I always suggest two books: Modern Magick and High Magick, but tell them to start with High Magick to get started, and then go back and study Modern Magick.Damien is also a total sweetheart IRL and he truly has an inspiring story.

I own a few other books on magick, but I'm new to this field of knowledge. I was actually impressed by how approachable the author made the topic of magick. He teaches energy/energetic magick. Hence, one doesn't need sigils, talismans or amulets (he explains the difference between these two in the book), or any other item to perform the rituals in the book. One just needs the explanations he provides. This is quite important to me, as I don't have the patience to go looking for items to perform rituals.Initially, I was put off by all the tattoos on the cover pic, but after reading the book I feel that I love this guy. I'm of the opinion that what he teaches can change the lives of many people for good, particularly persons who are young and feel lost in the world, depressed, or down on their luck. I wish I had access to this knowledge when I was younger. Working with energy the way the author explains it can change us inside and out. It changed his life; it's changing mine too.I bought the Kindle version first and then the hardcover version. The hardcover version is very well done. You feel the quality of the book when you hold it in your hands. This seem unimportant, but it matters to me. It tells me that the people involved in making the book cared a lot. I can feel the energy of this care and of the good will they put out in the world through the book and its teachings. Thank you!

Even for those who aren't into magick and spirituality can probably get some value out of this book. It can be a useful mindfulness and meditation tool, or even just for self motivation. Damien isn't out to sell you anything, his practices are simple excersizes that can be done nearly anywhere. This genre is plagued by people trying to convince you why you should buy into an expensive course or what kinds of ridiculous objects and tools you need to get started, but Damien does an incredible job of de-mystifing the mystical, and just putting the info out there for anyone to participate in. In addition his story is just really fascinating, his background is expansive, and you can tell he really just enjoys sharing what he's learned and loves humanity.As for the value, the book is extremely affordable here on Amazon and if you get the hardcover edition, it is printed with high quality materials. Its a short read, but a great addition to anyone's shelf, and is sure to start a conversation.Wishing Damien good vibes on his future endeavors.

Damien Echols has forcibly wrested the kind of superstardom of which most occult writers dream but never see. But then – has has paid a far higher price that any other magician – myself included – would ever want to pay, i.e. spending eighteen years on death row for a crime he did not commit.Whereas most would-be occultists might want to cast spells for money, sex, power, and all the rest, Damien has been using his magickal skills for the considerably less frivolous ends of avoiding being executed; preserving his life, health and sanity; winning his eventual freedom; and coping with severe PTSD after having been released.The blurb of this book describes Damien as having been initiated into a lineage of Zen Buddhism whilst incarcerated: however, almost none of this comes across in the present book. Instead, what we have is a number of Hermetic techniques, mostly drawn from the Golden Dawn, with a smattering of Franz Bardon thrown in for good measure.Thus, what we get is: a number of Chi-techniques (thus placing Damien squarely within the Energy Model of magick). This at least shows original thought not present other books on magick. He goes on to give his own take on some well-known techniques of magick such as the Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (sophisticated by the addition of Metatron and Sandalphon in “the column”), as well as the Middle Pillar Ritual. He proposes the Lesser Invoking Ritual as a replacement for the Golden Dawn’s Supreme Ritual, whilst describing practical techniques of creating thoughtforms, charging amulets and talismans, the magick use of tattoos, and intriguing thoughts on urban shamanism.Most of the practical techniques function at the same level as “Neophyte” in the Golden Dawn. Hence a complete beginner to magick might profit from reading this book.HOWEVER – and this is the biggest fault of the book – it lacks any kind of Bibliography or suggested reading list. So if complete beginners are indeed the book’s intended target audience, and they wanted to know where to go to find out more (as one naturally would), they would not find such information here. This is especially frustrating as Damien constantly mentions advanced concepts such as the Qabalah, the Holy Guardian Angel, Evocation, etc without giving further explanation. (A book such as Donald Michael Kraig’s Modern Magick, or John Michael Greer’s Circles of Power would serve better in this respect.)

Perhaps no one is better placed to legitimise the practice of magick as a time honoured spiritual path.Damien Echols has done as much research and practice as anyone could ask for, and the instructions laid out in this book will quickly bring you up to speed on the Great Work as it stands today.The one issue I have with this book is the order in which some of the later exercises are presented, with the middle pillar coming before the Qabalistic Cross and Lesser Banishing Ritual of the Pentagram (LBRP). These exercises come from the Golden Dawn, and traditionally students were given strict instructions to master the LBRP before moving on to the middle pillar, the latter of which will have the effect of illuminating your astral self like a Christmas tree, in effect putting up a neon sign in the astral saying "Open." I'm not sure why Damien chose the order he did.That said, this is still a rare example of high magick being as sexy as low magick. If you don't know what that means, I encourage you to buy this book.

If only I had this wonderful book when I was a young whippersnapper. So much of my time back in the late 80s/early 90s was spent fumbling about in the dark trying to decipher the likes of Crowley's 'Magick In Theory & Practice' to a point that if I had Echols' book back then I would know exactly what I was doing and why I was doing it.Fortunately for me back then I happened upon a good teacher in Gerald Suster whose correspondence over the years was utterly invaluable to me.But had I not been so lucky, or perhaps determined, to acquire guidance from an expert in the study of ceremonial magick, then a book like this would've been a great substitute.One might see Damien Echols' time on Death Row as a terrible injustice - which it utterly was - yet it was clearly also an opportunity for him to really get his teeth into the study of magick and understand the theory and practice of this difficult art to its fullest, honing his skills without the need for unnecessary paraphenalia and focussing on the real essence of the matter in a logical and methological manner.I listened to the audiobook of this book first before realising I had to go get a physical copy. 30-odd years into this magical journey Echols has still taught me an essential thing or two.If you're young and have decided that magick is a path you'd like to explore, then save yourself a great deal of time and hardship by getting a copy of this wonderful book. All the techniques are sound and explained to you intelligently. There is a great deal of logic in this work and an incredible amount of understanding that could only come from someone who has had no other option but to devote time to it for the sake of his own sanity and survival.I generally don't write reviews of products on Amazon, but for this book I felt compelled to. I realy can't recommend this book enough and rate it above just about anything I have read on magick in the last 35 years.George T. MortimerAuthor of 'The Probationer's Handbook', 'Bothy Culture' & 'Magick Without Fear'.

High Magick has given me the groundwork for working on my energy alchemyDamien writes eloquently and flowed easily making it easy to understand his magick ritualsI feel familiar and comfortable with his practices and after reading the book twice, I am now working on the individual exercises.Damien has taught me that I don’t need props for this work but just myself and my vision.Excellent book.Would highly recommend for anyone interested in the magical arts.Looking forward to a follow up book.

Absolutely gorgeous book with great content. As a non-native English speaker this book was written in English that i can easily understand. The exercises seem useful and as an intermediate magician this book has enough new content for me. Definitely a lot better than i could have expected. I wish more books were written like this one.