The Law of Attraction arguably became famous with the book: The Secret. Later, a film was made about The Law of Attraction with the same title as the book.
The basic theory of The Law of Attraction is that your thoughts and emotions attract people, things and events into your life. Whether or not you realise it.
Each thought or emotion is energy that is transmitted into the Universe. By changing your thoughts and emotions, you can attract whatever you want into your life. The Universe is essentially an abundant cosmic ordering system. Your orders are always fulfilled, but what you get depends on what you order through your transmitted thoughts and emotions.
The Law of Attraction theory does have some merits, but also in my opinion some fundamental flaws. I will discuss these in Pros/Cons lists below. But first, a full disclosure: I’ve watched the film, not read the book. But this shouldn’t matter as I’d imagine they both essentially contain the same basic theory.
Pros
Cons
Thoughts and feelings are energy is true. If they were not, our brains would use quite so much energy.
One of the core concepts of The Law of Attraction is that where you are today (your current circumstances) is a direct result of your past thoughts and emotions.
There is an element of blame associated with this concept, that could lead to feelings of guilt and shame (both really negative emotions that are good for nothing).
Guilt and shame have been used as tools in the Roman Catholic Church to manipulate and control people.
This concept also has no mention of actions. People’s direct actions lead to direct consequences. For example, if a person drinks a litre of vodka daily, sooner or later the direct consequence is going to be cirrhosis of the liver.
The first step is to ask the Universe for what you want by wishing for it. Wishing is a common concept in every Spiritual/Religion system I have ever come across. Different systems just give it different names, such as prayer or spell craft.
Blind belief is required. If what your thinking about is not manifesting into your life, you mustn’t be believing that it will and therefore are self-sabotaging. This again feels like blame (see point above as to why that’s bad).
Positive thinking through gratitude can be helpful and have a positive impact on your life. This is true and evidence in the form of research studies are proving this. There’s a reason that there’s been an explosion of gratitude journals on commercial markets across the world in recent years.
That you can make every area of your life exactly as you want it to be at all times. Essentially, that you can make your life perfect, all the time, forever. Whilst a lovely thought, I think this idea is a cult-like belief aimed to attract and exploit the vulnerable in our society.
Let’s just consider it for a moment. Okay, what areas of my life have I got going on? Health, wealth/money, home, career, social relationships, romantic relationship and spirituality. It is highly unlikely that anyone could ever get all these areas to line up and be perfect.
I have never met someone who essentially has got life perfect. The exact way they want it. Have you? No, I expected not. But just remember there’s blame again if your life isn’t perfect: you must be thinking or feeling wrong.
The Universe is infinitely complex and this is another reason this doesn’t work for me.
Emotion is stronger than thoughts and is more effective at bringing into your life what you want. From personal experience, when I feel emotions and thread that energy into my spell work, my spells are more than x10 times effective, than casting with thoughts alone.
The Law of Attraction doesn’t explore how our thoughts, emotions and actions impact on the lives of others. This is despite it briefly being mentioned.
A universal truth for me is that our thoughts, emotions, actions or inaction can and do affect others.
That words and wording are extremely important. I believe this to be true. I often see Wiccan’s add: But do no harm to anyone at the end of spells. Then they get frustrated when their spells don’t work, you are essentially tying the Universe’s figurative hands by saying & thinking this.
For example, in order for you to get money by casting a spell for it, someone has to lose it. Therefore the person losing money is harmed.
The Law of Attraction has an interesting idea on the importance of the use of language. Say you want to be debt-free. Don’t use the word debt-free. As the Universe might think you want debt because you’ve mentioned it and therefore attract more of it in your life. Instead, say something like: I am financially secure and prosperous or I have millions of pounds in the bank.
The Law of Attraction doesn’t explain or even mention how other people’s thoughts, emotions or actions can affect your life. And these most certainly do.
I like that The Law of Attraction is empowering and does mention something about sharing good events and fortune with others. It’s just a shame that it doesn’t go into more detail of this.
Visualisation is really important. If you can’t visualise it happening, it’s very unlikely happen.
Repetition is important in terms of both thoughts (intentions) and emotions. This is why Witch’s often repeat spells 3, 6, 9 or 12 times. Three is a very magical number.
There are more Pros than Cons when it comes to The Law of Attraction. The problem is that the Cons are pretty big ones.
I’ve been a Witch for a long time. I’ve even co-authored a book on magic called SpellCast – Folk Magic for the 21st Century. But those of you who know my Witchy side well, know I’m great with candles, crystals and essential oils. But not so great with flowers, plants and trees.
It isn’t that I don’t like flowers, plants and trees, I do, I just didn’t know much about the magical uses of them in spell work. That was until I started having some good conversations with the Witch herself: The Lancashire Witch.
The Lancashire Witch sells a wide selection of Herbs, Resins, Roots, Bones, Flowers & Barks. So I’ve started my own collection bought from The Lancashire Witch. Here is my current list of flowers, plants and trees I have in stock at home and their associated magical properties:
Reading Time: 2minutesBeebombs are pellets containing various seeds of wildflowers, clay and compost. The wildflowers are all ones that Bees love and that will help them survive and hopefully flourish.
My 33rd birthday was a big one on a pagan and magical front. Magically spells are said three times. In Numerology, 33 would equal 3+3 = 6. Six is The Nurturer, which couldn’t be closer to the values associated with paganism.
So for my birthday this year, I decided to buy something small for some family and friends that would help nature. Then I came across an Ad for Beebombs.
Beebombs are pellets containing various seeds of wildflowers, clay and compost. They are handmade in Dorset and all of the packaging is recyclable.
Since World War 2, the Bee population has dropped by 97%. We all remember being at school being taught about the food chain and the web of life. If the Bees die out, those animals that eat the Bees could die out, then the animals that eat them and so on.
The Beebombs don’t need to be planted, they are simply be scattered. Just know that the wildflowers contained require a lot of sunlight, so don’t scatter anywhere where they will have a lot of competition for sunlight.
According to the makers, they are safe for pets. They do contain Poppy seeds, which are toxic to cats, but only in small quantities and not enough to cause harm to cats.
The wildflowers that will grow from the Beebombs are slow growers and it make take up to 2 years to fully grow. They are all wildflowers that that Bees love and that will help them survive and hopefully flourish.
I bought five Beebombs bags. One I scattered close to where I live. One I gave to mum and papa. One I gave to Simon. One I gave to Kay for her mum’s garden and one to Jayne. Everyone has loved them. They make great gifts, providing that the people you give them to aren’t scared of Bees and or butterflies.
I should point out that I haven’t been paid or compensated in anyway by the makers of Beebombs for this post. I just thought they were cool and wanted to share.
The universe likes balance. Creation and destruction. Light and dark. Good and bad. All Witch’s should know about blessings, healing and positive magic; along with curses, hexes and negative magic.
Knowing about and understanding how curses, hexes and the like work, enables a Witch to better protect themselves and others against this sort of magic.
In my personal practice I would be more likely to bind (to stop) or to banish (to get rid of) someone or something that is having a negative impact on me or those around me, rather than Curse or Hex them.
Now with all that written, let’s get to the review:
This superb book has been written for the experienced Witch. It covers what cursing is. The Ethics of Exceration Magick, with the key messages here being: is a curse justified?
It takes a lot of energy to create and maintain a curse. Are you willing to take responsibility for your magick and any consequences (be them intended or unintended)? There’s a fantastic chapter on the history of cursing from ancient history up until recently, covering a wide range of cultures from across the world.
Curses, Hexes, & Crossings covers the psychology of a curse. That the victim being aware that they are cursed can attract negative energies and be self fulfilling – even without the Witch ever actually doing a ritual or casting a spell.
Connolly explains how the Witch can make their own curses and spells; before providing a large number of curses, hexes, & crossings with Connolly sharing her experience with each.
The curses, hexes and crossings are from a wide range of cultures, but many are highly influenced by Daemonolatry and Santansim, which is not surprising given the author’s occult background.
Connolly writes about herbs and stones for cursing, then explains how to break curses. Connolly writes about unintentional or curses cast by your subconscious without your conscious awareness, we’ve all done it. Throughout Connolly writes about how understanding curses and how they work can be used to defend against them and deal with curses aimed at you from others.
Connolly has a fascinating perspective on curses, she explains that a curse can be the start of the emotional healing process. By casting a curse, the Witch can release the intense emotional reactions of rage, anger, frustration and the need for revenge. The Witch having let go of these emotions, can then start the healing process.
The whole of this book from start to finish is brilliant. Connolly’s passion for the topic comes through in her writing. She is not afraid to speak her mind and be honest with the reader, knowing that not everyone will like what she writes. Here are some examples:
Right now I think it’s prudent to point out that some people will object to this book’s mere existence…
The modern Wiccans, for example, have been so busy trying to be accepted by the Christian mainstream that they insist upon distancing themselves from anything that could be misconstrued as “evil”. This includes cursing…
I believe there are instances where curses are appropriate. As I mentioned earlier I also believe curses can go a long way to helping the magician psychologically. For everything negative something good will come of it. Everything is a shade of gray. We could reasonably argue that prosperity magick has a dark side…
“If you discuss ethics and cursing you’re a fluffy bunny.” This is often said by people who want to practice only the blackest magick and arts so arcane that they may dress in black and purport to be the scariest mosty evil magicians to walk the earth. To them I say, eventually you’ll grow up, get off your high horse, and join the rest of us in reality.
The only way this book could have been any better if Connolly included some more advanced protection magick. Curses, Hexes, & Crossings by S. Connolly has been self-published on Amazon. I’m so glad for self-publishing, as this book probably wouldn’t have seen the light of day without it, given its subject matter.
If you like books about this subject matter, you may also like Utterly Wicked: Curses, Hexes & Other Unsavory Notions by Dorothy Morrison. Utterly Wicked is currently out of print, but Morrison (the author) is in discussions with another publisher to have it re-released. So wait for re-release until you purchase to get it at a reasonable price.
