Rating: 
Summary: Interesting
Review: After reading The Magical Power of the Saints I was very impressed. Rev. Malbrough certainly seems to know what he is talking about. Growing up in Louisiana my family always prayed to the Saints and had an ancestral altar in our home. This section on honoring the ancestors rang true wihin my on experiences. I highly recommend this book for anyone wanting to learn the real magic of witchcraft and hoodoo practice. No fluff in this book.
Rating: 
Summary: I am disgusted.
Review: Although as an Omo Ochun, I embrace the Future of my Orisha, but I can not let go of the past of my Santos. In my home both the Orisha / Supreme Guardian Angels as well as the Santos are well respected. This book is good, but to be honest with you, most of the information in this book has been passed down to me, by my mother and grandparent. None of the information was new to me. I read the book in less than a few hours, as it was just a brush down of everything passed down to me.But to those who's parents are not Curanderas, or Santeras, this will be a neat book. You will finally get an understanding of what those fancy candles sold in Botanicas and what they are used for. The Section of the Saints is nice, but you can find better info in one of those Catholic Saints Dictionaries. The Psalms of the Bibles, section is okay. The Psalms are very powerful prayers and invocation. This is just a quick reference; there are better books out there on the subject. This book is okay, if you do not know the information, I guess this book would be helpful, if not, save your [money]
Rating: 
Summary: it's okay....
Review: Although as an Omo Ochun, I embrace the Future of my Orisha, but I can not let go of the past of my Santos. In my home both the Orisha / Supreme Guardian Angels as well as the Santos are well respected. This book is good, but to be honest with you, most of the information in this book has been passed down to me, by my mother and grandparent. None of the information was new to me. I read the book in less than a few hours, as it was just a brush down of everything passed down to me. But to those who's parents are not Curanderas, or Santeras, this will be a neat book. You will finally get an understanding of what those fancy candles sold in Botanicas and what they are used for. The Section of the Saints is nice, but you can find better info in one of those Catholic Saints Dictionaries. The Psalms of the Bibles, section is okay. The Psalms are very powerful prayers and invocation. This is just a quick reference; there are better books out there on the subject. This book is okay, if you do not know the information, I guess this book would be helpful, if not, save your [money]
Rating: 
Summary: Some good info, but mostly full of holes
Review: At the beginning of this book, I was very pleased. It begins (after the intro material) with a section listing a decent selection of saints and what they should be petitioned for. This is a little more interesting of a take on the standard patron saint listing. I have always been interested in the saints, and this added the dimension of folk magic to my knowledge. Then there was a chapter regarding divination and how it is used in the Bible. He argues that divination was used extensively and in acceptable ways throughout the Bible. He backs himself up well. You may not agree with him, but it's another viewpoint to consider. It's at this point that I feel the book starts to fall into its main trap - being too vague. He says that divination is used to determine which saint to petition, what to offer that saint, and even the number of candles to be used. But he never says how one determines this information, even in the most rudimentary way. Instead, he goes into a long discussion about how many kinds of divination there are. It's nice information to know, but you can't really apply it to the main subject of the book. It's a little frustrating. I also found his discussions of the candles to use very disappointing. Sure, it's easy to find some saint candles in grocery stores or Catholic bookshops, but most of the candles are specialty candles specific to voodoo (or whichever background Marlbrough is working from). Those are probably harder to find for most people. He does explain their uses, but the explanations are short so I wouldn't feel comfortable using any of those candles based only on the information in this book. Same goes for the oils. He calls for blended oils like "Van Van" and "Success" oil that might be harder to obtain for a lot of people. There are no recipes. Sure, there is a table of correspondences in the back, but mostly the oils correspond to other pre-blended oils. The section on the magical uses of the Psalms is interesting, but once again, fairly vague as to exactly how to use them. One minor nitpick: he recommends leaving candles lit night and day. It's certainly a bad idea to leave unattended flames. Overall, the book has some good info, but is mostly too scattered or vague to make much use of it. It's enough to whet the appetite, but in the end, still leaves you hungry.
Rating:
Summary: Some good info, but mostly full of holes
Review: At the beginning of this book, I was very pleased. It begins (after the intro material) with a section listing a decent selection of saints and what they should be petitioned for. This is a little more interesting of a take on the standard patron saint listing. I have always been interested in the saints, and this added the dimension of folk magic to my knowledge. Then there was a chapter regarding divination and how it is used in the Bible. He argues that divination was used extensively and in acceptable ways throughout the Bible. He backs himself up well. You may not agree with him, but it's another viewpoint to consider. It's at this point that I feel the book starts to fall into its main trap - being too vague. He says that divination is used to determine which saint to petition, what to offer that saint, and even the number of candles to be used. But he never says how one determines this information, even in the most rudimentary way. Instead, he goes into a long discussion about how many kinds of divination there are. It's nice information to know, but you can't really apply it to the main subject of the book. It's a little frustrating. I also found his discussions of the candles to use very disappointing. Sure, it's easy to find some saint candles in grocery stores or Catholic bookshops, but most of the candles are specialty candles specific to voodoo (or whichever background Marlbrough is working from). Those are probably harder to find for most people. He does explain their uses, but the explanations are short so I wouldn't feel comfortable using any of those candles based only on the information in this book. Same goes for the oils. He calls for blended oils like "Van Van" and "Success" oil that might be harder to obtain for a lot of people. There are no recipes. Sure, there is a table of correspondences in the back, but mostly the oils correspond to other pre-blended oils. The section on the magical uses of the Psalms is interesting, but once again, fairly vague as to exactly how to use them. One minor nitpick: he recommends leaving candles lit night and day. It's certainly a bad idea to leave unattended flames. Overall, the book has some good info, but is mostly too scattered or vague to make much use of it. It's enough to whet the appetite, but in the end, still leaves you hungry.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent
Review: Coming from a Catholic family, I thought this book The Magical Power of the Saints very helpful. Being from a Hispanic background also I enjoyed the chapter on Divination as I have always wanted to learn how to read Tarot cards but thought it evil. Rev. Malbrough has point out bibilcal references that have helped to clear up this misconception for me. Thank you Rev. Malbrough
Rating:
Summary: I am disgusted.
Review: First of all, I am Wiccan. And like the other Wiccan who wrote in, I am not going to rant about the three fold law or the Rede. I think other reviewers got to this. For me, I DO follow the Rede, and if a book has spells that do not seem ethical to me, I just do not do those spells. Simple. So, that part of Marlbrough's book did not bother me much. As a book, it does not give what it promises to. There were no evocations in the book. Most of the information you could learn simply by visiting a botanica shop. I have no background in Santeria, my background is Celtic-based (especially Welsh) Witchcraft and Wicca, and I still knew most of the information. I bought it because the saints have always interested me, especially since so many Christian saints had pagan roots (like St. Bridget, to name an obvious example). So I was disappointed with the content--all too many pictures, correspondences and lists of psalms all adding up to not much. But my true fury with the book was his cavalier and cruel attitude towards animal sacrifice. I know not everyone follows my tradition of respecting and loving animals (and beyond my particular tradition, I have ALWAYS been a rabid animal lover, often to the extent that I'm told I downplay human suffering), but is it too much to ask for Marlbrough to recognize that some people don't see the non-human world as something more than tools to be used in magick and otherwise? To say "Some people act like they are appalled by animal sacrifice, but every one of those people would sacrifice an animal if they could not get power any other way, which is difficult to do other than animal sacrifice and sex" is a gross generalization and a dangerous invitation to the power-hungry person new to magick. Marlbrough goes on to say that sacrificing an animal is far superior to sex because, hey, what's a stupid non-human life compared to the possibility of getting AIDS or other STD's? To recommend killing an animal over pursuing in a loving act of ecstasy with a partner that is QUITE safe if the two of you are monogamous or AT LEAST use protection is mind-blowingly sadistic. I suppose Marlbrough would be as appalled as I was about him if another author had suggested using human sacrifice in rituals (hey, I bet the blood has 'fantastic properties' too--that was his justification for animal sacrifice). He doesn't realize that humans are animals too--and are in a lot of ways much more stupid and cruel. At least, this is how I found this book to be, in a nutshell...
Rating: 
Summary: a great sequal to charms spells and formulas
Review: i am a wiccan (no i'm not about to start spouting the 3 fold law or how evil those christian were) however this book is an indespensible part of my library right with green witchcraft and the book of druidry i have invoked both the saints and gods (not at the same time) in my work. if your a christian you have lists of saints if you pagan you have a list of hours and gods you can invoke on those hours or if your like me you can use both of them
Rating:
Summary: Exeptional and a MUST READ - very informative
Review: I am very pleased that Mr. Marlbrough has written this book. ... The Magical Powers of the Saints has given me a guide to learning what the items sold in such shops are used for. It is refreshing to find books on the market not geared to the [members] community but to people who want to practice some form of magic on their own. ... Mr.Marlbrough admits it is a touchy subject and that [members] are
opposed to it. It is a legal practice for such religions as
[religions]in the United States....
Rating:
Summary: Exeptional and a MUST READ - very informative
Review: I am very pleased that Mr. Marlbrough has written this book. ... The Magical Powers of the Saints has given me a guide to learning what the items sold in such shops are used for. It is refreshing to find books on the market not geared to the [members] community but to people who want to practice some form of magic on their own. ... Mr.Marlbrough admits it is a touchy subject and that [members] are
opposed to it. It is a legal practice for such religions as
[religions]in the United States....
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