For quite a few years the Pagan and occult publishing scene has had two streams of work – many easy-to-read books aimed at complete beginners and obscure esoteric texts aimed at highly trained and very well-read practitioners, with very little material bridging the gap. Dominguez’ Spirit Speak is explicitly aimed at the ‘intermediate level (although he may be optimistic about how prepared that level is).
Spirit Speak is strongly informed by traditional Western Magickal and New Age traditions in both the language he uses and many of the concepts he develops throughout, reminiscent of older occultist writers like Dion Fortune, Helena Blavatsky, and Dolores Ashcroft-Nowicki. There is a great deal of talk about the subtle bodies, thought forms, higher and lower planes, and a basically Neoplatonist system of powers.
In each chapter, he briefly defines and discusses the principal terms and ideas he will be dealing with before launching his main argument. For example, in chapter 4 on “Mediumship, Channeling, and Mediation” the terms ‘psychism’, ‘magick’, ‘mediumship’, ‘channeling’, and ‘mediation’ are defined and discussed in some detail. His excellent analysis of the egregore idea in chapter 9 is another treat.
There is a great deal of practical good advice centred on preparation for higher order workings (chapter 2), impediments to clear spirit contact (chapter 5), a method of Aspecting developed in his community (and similar to Reclaiming tradition – chapter 8). He covers connections with a very wide range of non-physical beings, from plant allies, ghosts, egregores, ancestors, divine embodiment (chapter 7), angels, messengers, guides, and the deities of animals, and the Great Ones (his term for the most abstract and highest order of beings).
One of the most useful ideas is one he introduces right away in chapter 2, ‘Informed Subjectivity’. He is training the mind to see the world in new ways while remaining grounded in a body and experience. Knowing thyself in order to know anything else is particularly important when imagination and emotion are your tools for contacting spirits who cannot be experienced through your physical senses.
His detailed instructions on building up the non-physical bodies, psychic fitness training, bringing together ideas from India (chakras) and European magic (the three selves and four elements) in chapter 2 are somewhat abstract but thorough. The Emerald Heart technique in chapter two for building integration of the subtle bodies is an excellent and innovative addition to regular practice. I also appreciated his chapter 3 on magickal first aid, complete with cautions on when to abstain from intervening in magical crisis.
This is not an easy or casual read. It is a detailed and very thorough manual for the further education of a magician, solidly grounded in older occult tradition, with a clear focus on techniques for personal development. He covers a lot of ground here, but in all cases with depth and understanding. Reading thoroughly and rereading Spirit Speak will benefit the serious practitioner a great deal, as will using it as a teaching tool in temple and coven work.
For a personal note – this was quite a bit more challenging to read than I anticipated. I had been prepared for a Spiritualist how-to guidebook, and this is so much more than that. After 43 years on the Path, I had become complacent.
~ review by Samuel Wagar
Author: Ivo Dominguez Jr.
Weiser Books, 2025
284 pg. Paperback £19 / $35 Can / $25 US
