Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses (Witchcraft & Spells) Hardcover – Illustrated, January 27, 2009

Encyclopedia of Spirits: The Ultimate Guide to the Magic of Fairies, Genies, Demons, Ghosts, Gods & Goddesses by Judika Illes is one of my most used reference books, both for writing research and for my own magickal practice. Illes presents a very comprehensive range of different spirits as the subtitle of the book suggests. This isn’t just a reference book though, the first 110 pages are her discussing spirits and how to work with them. These topics include but are not limited to explaining the realms of spirits, communicating with spirits, creating altars and shrines to the spirits, why spirits want to help us, how to care and feed spirits, etc. This alone is worth buying the book as it has some of the best information on the topic that is printed and presented in such a way that is readily understood by any reader.A lot of the information within the entries are rare. I used this book as one of the references for a piece I wrote about Cybele in an anthology on goddesses and I was going insane trying to figure out where she was getting some of her information. Another Amazon reviewer rudely demands where Illes is getting her information from, and whether its from a commonly mistaken ”perversion” of history. Well, since I wanted to find the sources for some of the information that she provides that I couldn’t find in any of my books (and my library is pretty extensive) or online, I began digging through academic papers and archeological surveys with the help of a ancient pagan history expert and there I found my answers. The information she provided was indeed correct, although obscure. On one hand, yes it would have been amazing if she listed all of her sources. But coming in at 1,072 pages it would be almost impossible to cite all of sources without adding a few hundred more pages. Despite this, she still cites about 300 sources in the Bibliography at the end of the book.A typical entry consists of the spirit’s name, other names they’re known by, place of origin, iconography, manifestation, history, myths, offerings, sacred animals, sacred plants, sacred numbers, elemental, planetary and color correspondences, as well as a “see also” for related spirits. Each spirit may have more or less categories within the reference just depending on what is known about the spirit and which culture it comes from. The book comes in a nice sturdy hardcover, which is great because if you’re anything like me, you’ll be referring to the book often and the hardcover keeps it from wearing out from use.

An invaluable resource to anyone delving into magical practices which engage in beings of the spiritual realm. No stone is left unturned.Not only does this encyclopedia allow one to find a specific Spirit quickly, but it provides a deep amount of information both folklorically, but also deals directly with offerings, colors, likes and dislikes, etc. This is a must have for the modern day magical worker.

This book is awesome. It’s so full of information and great for reference.

Without hesitation, I highly encourage you to buy this book. I am a book snob and I tend to be very picky. I have been known to return a book after only reading the first page. I’ve done a lot of research on spirits and deities, and while that has been helpful, I’ve been searching for a book that compiles all of that information for me to use time and time again. This book checks that box for me. It is very thoughtfully researched, written, and laid out. The first part of the book goes over a wonderfully detailed history of spirits and deity work. The rest of the book goes into detail of individual spirits, deities, gods, goddesses, etc. I didn’t buy this book to read it like a novel, I bought this for reference and research. If you have any desire to learn about or connect with higher powers, I highly recommend you start with this tool.

One of the most profound look into the spirit realm. This book inspired me so much. She is amazing!

I picked up the Kindle version on impulse while it was on sale for only $1.99, figured I couldn't go wrong at that price but still wasn't really expecting much. I've been very pleasantly surprised. The first part of the book is an excellent primer for those who are new to deities/spirits and covers literally all the basics you need to know. I appreciated that the author even discusses things such as clairaudience. I wish I had this book years ago when I was starting out, & it would have especially helped me when my patron made himself known & I thought I was going crazy because the experience was so intense beyond anything I had imagined. For someone who is experienced in these things, there probably isn't anything too new or revolutionary in here, but I say go ahead and pick it up if you're on the fence, especially if it's on sale. We can all use refresher courses, and the rest of the book can be a useful reference. It's not the most in-depth, but can be a good starting point. If you're a beginner, definitely buy it! You'll thank yourself.