I tend to be less interested in the more popular authors of the Wicca movement. I find they tend to lecture about the shortcomings of other religions and that their assertions about the history of their own beliefs tend to be rather too opinionated for me to find them credible. And the introduction to this book certainly fills this mold. And then it gets over it.

I have also never really been too interested in Spiritualism or Spiritism, which is the focus of this book. People often ask me about ghosts, particularly how to get rid of them, and I often wonder what people have against ghosts. My extended family is well-known for their post-mortem visits and I have always been eager to form relationships with local spirits, and I used to spend hours at automatic writing as a teenager. Despite all of this, the idea of seances and spirit communications have, for some reason, never really been something I’ve researched. Perhaps it is because I always considered Spiritualism to be a religion and I tend to shut down whenever religion comes up.

So, of course I came to this book with a bit of prejudice. A lot of prejudice. But in the end, I found this a very interesting and useful book. Some of the history quoted directly contradicts my own research which brings some of the new and interesting information into doubt, but I will look all of that stuff up elsewhere to confirm. The exercises and practices outlined in this book are very good. Some of them would be useful for any magickal seeker, whether or not they are interested in mediumship. Highly recommended.