Notable Works

Michael’s Medium channel hosts many of his essays.

NOW AVAILABLE: Rockers & Rollers Roleplaying Game (Quickstart Guide)! Live your superstar fantasy! The Quickstart Guide will get you started playing—invite some friends, form your band today, and get ready to rock!

Kill the Robots: An evolving humanifesto against artificial intelligence and in defense of the primacy of biology, creativity, and the intrinsic worthiness of all sentient beings.

Sacred Intentions: Inside the Johns Hopkins Psilocybin Studies (City Paper) The first in-depth, long-form feature on the pioneering Johns Hopkins research on psilocybin and mystical experiences.

Meet Maryland’s modern witches: From kitchen magic to moon rituals (The Baltimore Banner)

Jack Chick Was Right: How ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Made Me an Occultist (We Are the Mutants)

The One Literary Reference You Must Know to Appreciate True Detective io9 (Over 1 million views)

Baltimore’s Cities of the Dead (The Baltimore Banner)

Books

Magic for the Resistance: Rituals and Spells for Change

The first edition went out of print, but this classic of activist magic is back in a revised and expanded edition from Crossed Crow Books!

From the author of the A Spell to Bind Donald Trump and All Those Who Abet Him―the spell that became a social media phenomenon viewed by millions of people―this book provides spells, rituals, and fascinating historical examples designed to help you put your magical will to work to make the world a better place today.

These magical workings for social justice can be used by activists of any spiritual or religious background. With ideas for altars, meditations, community organizing, self-care, and more, Magic for the Resistance offers a toolkit for magical people or first-time spellcasters who want to manifest justice, equality, and peace.

If you've ever felt disillusioned or burned out because of the slow progress of social change, this magical work can nurture and support you, sharpening your focus and resolve for a more sustained, long-term activism. In addition to influencing the outside world, these rituals bring you in closer alignment with your higher spiritual consciousness―because transforming your society begins with transforming yourself.

Praise for Magic for the Resistance:
“Magic for the Resistance is a battle cry and a prayer flag, a user’s manual for the joyful invocation of spiritual defiance. It reminds us that ritual can be revolutionary, that magic thrives when done artfully, and that our pleasure is a weapon against tyranny. If you suspect that our spirit allies want us to hex fascists and bless endangered rivers with equal gusto, this book is your grimoire.”

— Rob Brezsny, astrologer and author

"Magic for the Resistance is a rabble-rousing battle cry for magical thinkers everywhere. As both a practical guide and historical record, Hughes's book does the vital work of inspiring socially conscious magical practitioners to harness the power of our imaginations and collective will, reminding us where true power really resides: in the hands of the people. An ethical, exuberant honoring of magical resistance movements then and now, this book will go down in history as the magical, refreshingly feminist, anti–white supremacist, LGBTQ-friendly equivalent of Saul D. Alinsky's Rules for Radicals."
―Amanda Yates Garcia, the Oracle of Los Angeles

"Magic to the people! This wonderfully engaging guide―one part history, one part grimoire―demonstrates how and why to combine spell work and activism to heal our society and get rid of our heel."
―Mitch Horowitz, PEN Award–winning author of Occult America and The Miracle Club

"This is rare combination of a how-to book that also gives a solid historical and cultural perspective on the uses of magic to resist political oppression. Sound and well-grounded both factually and magically, it's also well written and well informed."
―Sabina Magliocco, Professor of Anthropology, University of British Columbia

"Vote. Organize. March. Protest. Boycott. Resist. Be an activist for your beliefs. Then . . . put your magic where your mouth is! You might want to start by reading Magic for the Resistance."
―Lon Milo DuQuette, author of Homemade Magick and Low Magick

"Magic for the Resistance is a fascinating look at how the occult arts can be used to promote progressive politics and social change. While it has long been associated - often erroneously - solely with the right side of the political divide, magic has more than once come to the aid of ideas and movements rooted firmly in the left. From Victoria Woodhull, the mesmerist, feminist, and free-love advocate who was the first woman to run for president, to the attempt by Allen Ginsberg and Abbie Hoffman to levitate the Pentagon in 1966, Magic for the Resistance shows that throughout history, spells have been cast to help the light contain the darkness."
―Gary Lachman, author of Dark Star Rising: Magick and Power in the Age of Trump

"In Magic for the Resistance, Michael Hughes has written an eminently necessary guidebook for the magic-workers of our time. He has armed readers with the tools needed to speak out and fight back, both at the altar and away from it. In a world that thirsts for magic and justice alike, this book weaves both together in the most practical ways."
David Salisbury, civil rights activist, magic-worker, and author of A Mystic Guide to Cleansing & Clearing

"This book empowers the reader to liberate stagnancy and facilitate positive change, to feel/be heard, and to learn from obstacles and challenges that are encountered. On the surface, mass-market, glitzy media publicity can look worthwhile and even meaningful―but real lasting change/evolution is more than a knee jerk reaction or a fad. It starts at a grassroots level and is perpetual, and this is what Hughes expounds and educates on in this well-written and entertaining book."
―Fiona Horne, author of Witch: A Magickal Journey and The Naked Witch

"Michael Hughes has drawn on his erudition as well as his quarter-century of experience as a practicing magician to offer a complete manual of 'Warrior Magic' in the service of justice. He answers the questions about whether magic is effective and ethical, stokes our motivation to engage, and gives detailed guidance for binding the negative, healing the wounded, and empowering the good."
―Leonard George, PhD, Chair of the School of Social Sciences, Capilano University, and author of Crimes of Perception

"Besides shedding light on certain little-known aspects of our cultural history (the second chapter is a particular revelation), this book provides an excellent and accessible glimpse into the mechanics, philosophy, and, yes, ethics of magical practice. Whether or not you have any intention of utilizing the practical techniques he describes, you'll benefit from learning about those practices that countless individuals throughout history have employed and that continue to be a vital force in the lives of millions around the world."
―Ray Grasse, author of The Waking Dream, Under a Sacred Sky, and An Infinity of Gods

Blackwater Lights Trilogy

Michael M. Hughes’s Blackwater Lights combines the eldritch horror of H. P. Lovecraft with the supernatural thrills of Dean Koontz.

Praise for the Blackwater Lights trilogy
“Disturbing, surreal, and spooky as hell, Blackwater Lights is a brilliantly written debut, marking Michael M. Hughes as a talent to watch.”
—Tim Lebbon, author of Coldbrook and the Toxic City trilogy

“Blackwater Lights is a paranoid thrill-ride that deftly combines mystery, sci-fi, and horror elements into a modern-day conspiracy tale. An impressive debut that builds to a satisfying, action-filled conclusion.”
—Cemetery Dance magazine

“Blackwater Lights has action, adventure, sex, love, designer drugs, and violent death, all woven into a globe-spanning paranormal conspiracy. I mean, really, what’s not to like? Consider this my official request for a sequel.”
—F. Paul Wilson, author of the Repairman Jack novels and The Adversary Cycle

“A harrowing and riveting thrill ride. Hughes is a welcome addition to the dark-fiction ranks.”
—Scott Nicholson, author of The Red Church