spirits, Magic
Taylor Ellwood
The relationship between sacred kingship and ...

One of the books I’m reading lately is King, Warrior, Magician, Lover by Robert Moore and Doug Gillette. It’s a fascinating book that explores the archetypes of the mature and sacred masculine. This is currently part of the spiritual work that I’m engaged in as I explore my own relationship with masculinity and heal the ancestoral and contemporary wounds that I’m becoming aware of as it relates to how masculinity is treated and perceived in modern times.

One of the aspects I’m exploring in particular is related to sacred kingship and the land. I am in the process of exploring the new city and surrounding areas that I live in. While I’ve lived here for a year, I didn’t have much opportunity until recently to really begin exploring the area and developing a relationship with the land. I find it fitting and useful that part of the process has also involved cultivating a relationship with the land, particularly on the basis of the relationship has with their home and how that relationship plays out in sacromagical work one does in connecting with the land.

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Healing the soul through nature

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One of the spiritual practices I try to do regularly is walk the land. This is a practice of communing with the spirits of the land and nature in order to develop a relationship with them, but it can also have other aspects, which can be equally important, such as healing. Whether I’m walking in my suburban neighborhood, or in a urban area, or in a park or in the countryside, I find that the spirits of the land are always with us, just waiting for us to open ourselves to them, if we are willing to be receptive.

On the 4th of July weekend I hiked Spencer Butte for the first time. I had been meaning to go it for a while, but hadn’t found a good time to do so. The long weekend presented that opportunity and I decided to take myself on a date and visit the Butte. Walking the land on the Butte became a healing experience for me, setting my soul to rest as I soaked in the experience of nature and let the land into speak to and through me.

Book Reviews June 2022

Book Review: Creating by Robert Fritz (Affiliate link)

This is one of the most unique and thought provoking books I’ve read. The author explores the act of creating in depth. The perspective and depth he brings to the topic of creativity can help you change your understanding of creativity, what it means to create and also become more creative in the process. His perspective on long term thinking, alone is invaluable and necessary.

Book Review: Vastu by Robert Svoboda (affiliate link)

This is a fascinating book which explores the nature of space and how to create an intentional space using knowledge of pranayama and the 5 elements. The author shares case studies of applying vastu to spaces. It was a really unique take on how people embrace and live within a given space. I found the magical aspects to be helpful in designing my own space.

Book Review: The Courage to Be Happy by Ichiro Kishimi and Fumitake Koga (affiliate link)

Another thought provoking book that will change your life and how you approach love and happiness. Reading this book has provided me valuable insights and I have no doubt I’ll come back to it again and again to learn and consider and apply these principles to my life. Some of what is read isn’t easy to read but it will make you think and grow if you make the choice to consider how to apply it to your life.

Book Review: Mistakes were Made (but not by me) by Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson (affiliate link)

This is an eye-opening book that can help you recognize the dissonance in your own life and how you apply that dissonance to justify your choices and mistakes. Reading this book wasn’t easy for me. It caused me to reflect on my mistakes and see instances where I created my own sense of dissonance to justify my choices and behaviors, but reading it also helped me take better ownership and responsibility for those choices. I recommend reading this book because it will help you reflect on how you rationalize your own choices and how you reduce dissonance with those choices.

Book Review: The Tai Chi Space by Paul Cavel (affiliate link)

I recommend reading this book if you have experience with qi gong because then you can take on what is shared and apply it. However like any book on martial arts, the limitation of the book is that text and diagrams can only take you so far. I think it’s a useful supplementary guide that can help you appreciate the movements if you already have experience in those movements, but will not help much if you have no experience.

Book Review: The Art of Black Mirror Scrying by Rosemary Guiley (Affiliate link)

This book presents a fascinating history of scrying, which is a must read if you want to learn more about the background of scrying. The author also provides some explanations for how scrying works and includes exercises you can do to sharpen your skills. She also explains how to create a black mirror for scrying. The book is well written and provided some useful information on scrying.

Book Review: The Process of Creating Life by Christopher Alexander (Affiliate link)

This is another amazing book in this series that explores how architectural design can be used to create a living space. What I found most interesting was how the author wove in multiple disciplines and schools of thought into this work. I read this book over the course of a couple years because it really requires some digestion and perspective, especially if you’re not an architect, which I am now. I nonetheless find the insights are relevant to my own practices and am thankful for this book.

Book Review: The descent of Ishtar by Timothy Stephany (affiliate link)

A translation of the The descent of Ishtar and related sumerian myths. I didn’t get a sense of the Akkadian version, but found the overall content to be fascinating and insightful in regards to some research I’m doing. I do wish the author had included some analysis and translation notes.

Book Review: Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday (Affiliate link)

Another excellent book from the modern day stoic Ryan Holiday which explores the virtue of courage and how you can instill it in your life. He share some excellent historical stories, but more importantly he explores what it takes to be courageous and what can happen wen you aren’t. Reading this book has helped me see the moments where I hesitated and could have been braver, and also sown what I can do to be braver in my life.

Book Review: Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown (Affiliate link)

This book is a survey of the emotions and how we feel and experience them, but it also more than that. It is an opportunity to explore our relationship with the emotions, but also with connection/disconnection and the way we show up with ourselves and others. Reading this book and meditating on what was shared opened me up to some good realizations, showed me where I need to continue working on my ability to connect with others meaningfully and gave me some direction during a tough time in my life.

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Researching Mythology to create magical workings

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One of the projects I’ve lately been working on has involved doing research into the Mesopotamian mythos of Ishtar and Gilgamesh. I’m currently reading the Penguin Version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. I’m not just reading the myths, but also the notes and information that the translator has shared because it can be equally valuable in terms of informing the translation but also the work around finding this information. The history is often quite fascinating and provides valuable context. I’m doing all this research because I want to create magical workings around tis mythos, but even though I already have a general knowledge of the mythos, I find it useful to do a deep dive to establish a strong foundation from which to build magical workings off of.

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What is the benefit of internal work?

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One of the questions I sometimes ask myself is what the benefit of internal work is. I ask this question because it can be easy to get so caught up in the internal work that you don’t seem to really make progress because you’re busy dealing with whatever is coming up internally. You can get stuck in your head and your heart at times because of how intense internal work can get. Yet I think that staying the course with internal work is ultimately beneficial. After all, when you are doing internal work you are getting the opportunity to recognize your issues and triggers and work through them in a way that can liberate you from them. A life unexamined, in contrast, is often messier in the long run, even if in the short run it seems less complicated.

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Discovering Deity: How my magical path is changing

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I've worked with deities on and off in my magical practice over the years, but I’ve never really committed to a dedicated practice to a deity, up until recently. This recent change has come about in part because of learning about my magical partner’s tradition, but part of it has also come about because of a deep longing to connect with deity in this way. In a real sense, in taking part in the rituals and practices that I’ve been learning, its caused me to touch deeply on something I’ve needed and wanted but not really explored before.

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Walking with Elemental Spirits is now available!

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I started practicing magic when I was 16 and the very first magical discipline and practice I learned was elemental magic. Over the last 29 years I've continued to practice elemental magic and work with elemental spirits.

My latest book Walking with Elemental Spirits is a dissemination of my years of practice and all the experiences I've accumulated along the way.

But it's also more than that.

It's the evolution of elemental magic from the classic model of the 5 elements Earth, Air, Fire, Water, and Quintessence into a modernized approach that explores and integrates other elements outside the classic Five elements.

Elements such as gravity, magnetism, time, and space and much, much more.

And I don't just stop there. Within this book you'll find a variety of elemental magic practices and ways to work with the elemental spirits.

The elemental spirits can be potent allies to work with and in this book you’ll learn how the practical magic skills that you can use to forge strong relationships with the elemental spirits that allow you to work with them as allies. In this book you will also learn the following:

  • The classic Hermetic and Taoist systems of the 5 elements, and my modernized system of elemental magic.

  • How to connect with elemental spirits using evocation portals and experiential embodiment

  • How to do internal work and health magic with the elemental spirits.

  • How to work with the elemental spirits to get practical results

  • and much more!


If you’re ready to learn a new approach to elemental magic, this book will teach you how to work with the elemental spirits and use elemental magic to get results that transform your life.

Walking with Elemental Spirits is available in E-book, paperback, and hardback.

This is a book I've waited a long time to write, but its time is finally here, and with it, the evolution of elemental magic as we know it.

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Magical Experiments Podcast: Spirit Work with Laurelei Black

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In this episode of Magical Experiments Podcast I interview Laurelei Black about her work with Aphrodite and the Goetia. We also discuss divination systems and what a do not call list is for spirit work and why you may want to have one in order to help you determine what spirits to work with, as well as what spirits to not work with.

Laurelei Black is a hedge-rider, a Cunning Woman, a traveler on the crooked path. She is a priestess of love and pleasure, an Ishtar-woman, an Aphrodite-woman. She is a friend to daemons and a mate to the Red God. A bone collector; a temple dancer. Laurelei is the author of 13 books (including Temple of Love and The Witches' Key to the Legion: A Guide to Solomonic Sorcery), a co-Director and frequent presenter at the Babalon Rising Festival, an OTO initiate, a co-owner of Camp Midian, and the proud proprietress of Asteria Books and Events and of Blade & Broom.

The Witches Key to the Legion (Affiliate Link)

Cult of Aphrodite (Affiliate Link)

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Manifestation is the realization of the imaginal

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When we manifest the imagination into reality we turn the seed of potential into a new identity for ourselves and reality. I explain what this means and why it can change your approach to magic when you approach manifestation from your identity instead of from your scarcity.

Sign up for From Imagination to Manifestation:

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How justification and rationalization can get in the way of magical work

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One of the books I’ve been reading lately is Mistakes were Made (but not by me) (affiliate link). It’s been a hard book to read because what it naturally causes a reader to face is how they have justified their own mistakes in order to avoid taking responsibility for them. While I’d like to believe that I do take responsibility for my choices, I’ll admit that reading this book did cause me to examine some of my perceptions and beliefs about situations and recognize how I had justified my own behavior or painted other people in a specific light to justify my choices. Needless to say, it made me squirm a bit.

As I continued reading the book I also considered how such justifications can show up in magical work. While I have written and shared my own failures with magic with a fair amount of candor, I still revisited various workings as a result of reading this book and asked myself if I ever justified why a working failed or succeeded. It was a good exercise to take on, because it required a willingness to put aside whatever justifications I had applied to a situation and ask myself if there was anything else that could have contributed to the situation.

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Imagination as the seed of reality

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Imagination is where reality begins. It is the seed of potential and the promise of manifestation and I share why your imagination can be one of your most potent magical tools, as well as how to work it in to your magical practice.

Sign up for From Imagination to Manifestation: https://magical-experiments.teachable.com/p/from-imagination-to-manifestation

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Working with genius spirit of the land

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Recently my magical partner and I visited Portugal. One of the many amazing places we visited was Monsanto, Portugal, which is a village that is built around the natural boulders. The buildings actually incorporate the boulders into the building and the villagers take pride in having a boulder as part of their home or business. I thought that was really fascinating because it struck me that they had made an intentional choice to live with the boulders and make them part of their lives.

When we explored the mountain around the village, my partner and I looked for a place to do some magic. The picture above, of a path between a couple boulders is near where we found such a space, but finding that space required us to listen to the genius of the land, the spirit that inhabits and defines the identity of that mountain. When we first scouted for a place to work magic, we found an area that seemed right and we went back and got our ritual gear, but our search for the right space was just beginning.

Book reviews March 2022

Book Review: Daemonic Prosperity Magic by S. Connolly (Affiliate link)

This is an excellent book for wealth magic that walks you through how to apply demonolatry practices toward wealth magic, while also being balanced with practical life and financial advice that truly needs to be applied to manifest wealth. The author presents some excellent spells and workings that you can do. I’ve already started some of the workings and found them to be complementary toward my own ongoing efforts.

Book Review: Ishtar and Ereshkigal by Scott Irvine (affiliate link)

This book ended up being more of a cross culture mythological jaunt than an exploration of Ishtar and Ereshkigal. The author spent a lot of time on other mythologies, trying to connect those mythologies to the myths of Ishtar and Ereshkigal, but it would have been nice if the focus had stayed on the actual topic. He explored the topic some, but a lot of the time the book just didn’t come together the way it could have, if there had been more focus on the actual mythology the book is supposed to be about.

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How to extend your senses in spirit work

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Lately I’ve been doing some experimenting with how to extend the senses in spirit work. This experimentation has come about for a few reasons. I’m taking a course on scrying from Harper Feist, as well as doing more spirit work and because I’m teaching a course on my patreon about working with the psychic senses for the purposes of connecting with spirits. All of these things have been helpful for me, in terms of exploring the kind of spirit work I want to do, but also in terms of exploring how to better apply my sensorial awareness to the spirit work.

In the West, we are used to thinking of the senses in terms of sight, sound, touch, smell, and hearing, but these broad categories don’t encompass the subtleties of our sensorial awareness. These subtleties can be worked with in spirit work to lead us to a deeper connection with the spirits we’re working with. At the same time any sensorial awareness is to some degree subjective because its our senses making us aware of something. At the same time, our senses are limited and there’s a lot we don’t experience which is nonetheless happening around and to us.

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Magical Experiments Podcast: Elemental Magic and Troubleshooting your Magic with Frater Barrabbas

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In this episode Frater Barrabbas and I discuss elemental magic and talismans and how they work and also discuss how to troubleshoot your magic and work through your failures.

Get Elemental Power for Witches.

Frater Barrabbas (Richmond, VA) is a practicing ritual magician who has studied magick and the occult for over forty years. He is the founder of a magical order called the Order of the Gnostic Star and he is an elder and lineage holder in the Alexandrian tradition of Witchcraft. Visit and learn more at www.FraterBarrabbas.com and fraterbarrabbas.blogspot.com