Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells: The Ultimate Reference Book for the Magical Arts, Exploring Folklore, Myth, and Magic from Every Corner of the Earth and Across Millennia Hardcover – Illustrated, March 31, 2009

Such an extensive book, I love everything about it. It's really just an interesting and informative book. 10 out of 10 would buy again and did for my daughter.

I wish I would have found this book 1st. It is full of great information. Alot of the spells use simple easy to find ingredients. There are of course some that would never be of use, as most of these books have. It's a great quality book as well, not cheaply made.

Love this spell book! There are so many spells in here for all kinds of things. This is a great beginner book for those who are interested in learning! There's lots of different sections for different needs and a materials list in the back as well!

Deep! Very informative. She is amazing!

Very usefull 😉

Have seen this book for a long time. I finally did it. I finally got it. The book is loaded with spells all types. Big thick book. It is an interesting read. I like to read different things out of the normal. If you are a practicing witch, you might want this on your shelf.If you are in need of a book like this then get it. It really is a good interesting out of the ordinary read.

I haven’t quite finished reading the first pages before the encyclopedia of spells begins but I have to express some things about this book that really bother me a lot that I feel the need to talk about immediately:1. Menstrual blood is repeatedly called the most potent magical substance. The author claims iron, several stones, botanicals, and black smiths have similar power due to the similarities or work they do with menstrual blood, - this is very debatable since there really wouldn’t be a good reason why semen, which is the other half of the equation to creating life, wouldn’t be just as powerful but much more importantly...2. She describes saliva, sweat, urine, “sexual fluids”, blood, and of course menstrual blood as magical substances. While they technically are, bodily fluid shouldn’t really be utilized for spells. Aside from the fact that they’re vectors for disease they’re also unclean, not just actually dirty in the traditional sense but spiritually. Every culture in the world has a concept of miasma which is a precursor to germ theory that was a big part of ancient rituals. Miasma is essentially ritual impurities and bodily fluids are a source of miasma. Miasma is also in a sense negative energy. This is the taboo she mentions about menstrual blood that she doesn’t fully address. In many cultures this taboo was so strong women were set aside from the rest of society till after their period. Though this may seem archaic there is valid reason behind the idea of miasma in more ways than one and belief in miasma is still practiced today in any culture or country lucky enough to keep it’s indigenous religion alive. That’s why you have to cleanse yourself before entering a Shinto shrine for instance. In my honest opinion cleansing, purifying, and drawing a circle to introduce menstrual blood and semen or any bodily fluid into it is futile and borderline an act of desecration3. You really need to read the beginning of the book, both to know the context of the spells as well as the disclaimers since some of the spells are not meant to be casted and only kept as a record and utilize potentially dangerous substances. Do your research. The spells are not meant for beginners but the magic in the book is so diverse most adepts will learn something from it too as well as the context of spells they may already be familiar with.TLDR; menstrual blood and bodily fluids are dangerous to handle and spiritually tainted in most cultures and beliefs. Also the claims about menstrual blood seem very odd to me, you should read the beginning of the book for your safety and to better understand the spellsNow that that’s out of the way I’d like to say the book is very useful, maybe not for historical accuracy, though a lot of research clearly went into it. The parts about animals in particular are very informative and different from any other book I’ve read about spells concerning animals. The book manages to stay pretty open to most traditions but has a slight bend towards Wicca, like most modern occult books, but still manages to be pretty open to other practices and traditions so that it’s not a problem. The book is massive and I am not by any means an occult expert but there was plenty of information for me to learn about even as someone who has studied the occult for years. There are some basic recipes for infusions, oils, tinctures, drying herbs, blessings, etc that are always useful to have on hand. Overall the book is good so far. I will try to come back and write a finished review as I go. Also as a disclaimer the metaphysical information isn’t bad, bodily fluids especially ones concerning reproduction have been used in spells historically, but I wanted to make it clear why it’s taboo, as well as give cultural and metaphysical reasons they shouldn’t be used in spell work, and a general disclaimer both about the bodily fluids and the botanicals as well as harmful substances like lead etc that the spells utilize. I especially wanted to talk about bodily fluid because the author makes no disclaimer, neither does she talk about the taboo of miasma beyond saying that “if you carry certain diseases those spells are not for you.” There are other issues I take with the book and other things I’m happy about but it’s just too much to address honestly especially on an incomplete review I’m mostly just grateful for the resource though for any novice or beginners I think extreme caution and even healthy skepticism should be exercised.EDIT: I have finished reading the beginning of the book, thumbed through some of the spells and the authors introductions of the spells and their use. I was tempted to knock off a star but decided not too because of the disclaimers the author included in the book and honestly we are lucky someone went through the labor and trouble of putting this book together to begin with. It is a great resource and is very useful so even though this review might seem negative the overall pros of the book is outweighs the cons now I’m going to go over some things in a list as to the issues I take.1. The author contradicts herself sometimes, an easy thing to point at is that she says, “magick makes us equals as it is a resource we all have access too.” then goes on to say women are more innately magickal and have more access to magick powers as well as exclusive access to period blood which the author considers the most powerful source of magick. This is an issue of personal beliefs, which to me was weird to include in a sort of non denominational spell book. I personally am a staunch egalitarian, Judika Illes consistently makes the claim that women are magickally superior to men, which as she suggests is counter to the idea of magick and the general principles of nature and balance. The same would be true of any man claiming the opposite.2. The sources and cultures she draws from aren’t necessarily respected or even understood. I have learned a lot about Ancient Greek religion and history and the things she says about Ancient Greek Gods and history are... well out of context, spun to fall in line with the authors personal beliefs, and are incomplete. She also calls the Gods spirits several times. They are not spirits, they were not considered spirits. The Ancient Greeks believed in Spirits there is a very big distinction between a spirit, a God, a daemon, and Nymphs. She talks about syncretism and how Aphrodite was associated with Anahita but Anahita was also associated with Athena for being war like as an example of why syncretism is confsuing which would be great except that Aphrodite was also a war Goddess. She has epithets that literally refer to her as “the war like”“The armed”“Averter of (Unlawful) desires”“Deceptive one”“Of the sea”“Of the foreigner”.These personal beliefs of the author are through out the book regarding history and several religions which would be fine if it weren’t for the educational and seemingly non denominational nature of the book. This is a problem through out all of Wicca though, the Gods and other figures are not given the proper respect or research and reduced to caricatures of what they actually are and how they are depicted which is all powerful deities with complex personalities and depth. Aphrodite is seen as the Goddess of love, sex, and beauty but the Ancient Greeks also saw her as a sea Goddess, a war Goddess, and prayed to her for things like controlling their lust and keeping them faithful, things that wouldn’t cross most Wiccans or even modern Pagans minds, which is especially odd because a hundred pages later after speaking about the Gods she will acknowledge these issues. She also claims Athena and Artemis have sway over female same sex relationships. Not true, they were both virgin Goddesses, Artemis having some sexuality associated with her especially regarding child birth and labor but never in the sense of romantic or sexual relationships. She also gives Artemis many of Apollos attributes, Apollo was the God of prophecy and strongly associated with divination, she even has a reappropriated version of the historical practice of dream incubation but calls for Artemis instead of Apollo. For the record any Greek God has the ability for prophecy because in truth every Greek God was considered a God in themselves. In terms of every God being an all powerful being. They only answer to and have restrictions to the will of Zeus and Hera and whatever the Olympians agree upon as a family. They just have preferred interests and spheres of influence that makes them the Gods of (insert subject.)3. The history in the book is off which is to be expected. You could write a book the size of the entire encyclopedia just about the history of one of the cultures she talks about, but she jumps back and forth between time periods and cultures and occult theory so you can’t expect historical context or accuracy, but still somethings would have been better off left unmentioned because of those exact limitations.4. Again the menstrual blood thing bothers me. If you’re bothered by how much I bring it up in this review just know this book mentions it and brings it up many more times than I have in this review In just a few pages, and in a rather gratuitous manner. Some of the love spells specifically for true love require that a women serve the spells target menstrual blood, other ones and variations suggest semen, sweat, and other sexual fluids. It might be obvious but please don’t do this. Doing this could land you in a lot of legal trouble. Also a spell to banish unwanted guest who wish you ill is smearing the door knobs in a home with period blood.... can’t imagine what reasons that might be effective. I think most people would flee in horror living with someone who is covering door knobs in menstrual blood?5. Some positives, I was surprised and happy that some of the love spells were specifically meant for same sex relationships though it is a bit lacking specifically on male/male love spells. Again the animal spells are amazing. I have to give the author credit for including the great taboo of curses and having the courage to even write about the bodily fluid spells because most authors won’t touch the subject (though for good reason). I did try a simple spell to charge a crystal. It did work. I haven’t tried anymore complex spells yet but I might edit in the future to review a spell, though I don’t usually like to talk about them, especially publicly for occult reasons.Again this book is for adepts, people who can work with energy, and use their common sense. It’s not for children. I wouldn’t trust a teen with it because the nature of some of the spells in this book are somewhat hazardous in terms of consequence, actions, and materials that the spells call for.

Someone recently asked what everyone’s favorite spell book was. This is so easy for me. I think the Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells by Judika Illes is the best spell book you can get, hands down. Runner up would be anything else by her on the subject, such as her Big Book of Practical Spells and Magic When You Need It. If someone had to buy only one spell book in their life, Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells would definitely be my recommendation.It covers almost every subject that you would want a spell on and contains spells that are new, old, and even ancient. The spells come from all around the world, which makes it even cooler. I’m typically not a huge fan of doing spells others have created, as there’s always something impersonal feeling about it, but this book gives such a comprehensive array of ideas of how different spells look, the main ideas behind them, and common spell elements for common themes. The book is such a valuable resource, that it’s inspired so much of my own spell-crafting and is sure to inspire any one else’s.It’s also great when you’re unsure how to solve a certain situation and want to see what others have done for that topic from a credible source. The fact that it’s sort of like a cookbook (reminiscent of the Joy of Cooking) makes it such an easy to use and browse reference book. The book is so much more than just a huge compilation of spells though, it’s also a really good guide on how to cast spells, using magickal tools, ritual techniques, magickal theory to ensure that you have a strong understanding of how to effectively cast a spell. The formulary near the end of the book for oils, incense, waters, colognes, and inks would be worth buying the book alone for – as there’s some formulas that I’ve never seen in any other book.