If you are looking for a crafty approach to magic or need some inspiration to get you back into your practice, this may be the book for you. Cord Magic guides you through the practice of making spell cords - braided strips of cloth or ribbon with charms and symbols tied into them with knots. Each cord has a specific purpose and Morris takes you by the hand through her process in designing, making, using, and disposing of them.
Making a magic cord usually involves gathering an array of materials, grounding and meditating on the intention of the cord, charging the components while you assemble them, and then charging the finished cord. Morris provides several examples of spell cords she has made for herself, clients, or conference workshops including abundance cords, love cords, and cords devoted to relationships with specific deities. All of these are easily adaptable to your own interests and needs because Morris provides so many examples of ways to make them your own.
Morris is generous with her suggestions for using many magical tools in the construction of spell cords. From tarot cards, sigils and charms to herbs and crystals, I was impressed with the detail provided in lists of correspondences for each. For the specific cord assemblies Morris uses as examples, she includes specific rhymes, chants or other methods for charging every specific material. If you’ve never opened a tarot deck, cast a rune, or crushed a herb, you will have enough information here to proceed.
When it comes to sourcing the materials for making spell cords, Morris usually provides a few suggestions. While I understand that craft supplies may be unavailable in some remote communities, if you are like me and avoid using Amazon for ethical reasons, you might find it irksome that this is often the suggested source. In fact, I would have appreciated less suggestions to use things like plastic gems and craft feathers and more suggestions for things that don't need to be bought in a store.
Among the examples of cords Morris has made from this process, she includes, among others, cords that are effectively love spells, binding spells, and hexes; all of which I would have been more comfortable with if she had made space for a discussion of the ethics of using such magic. I was left worried that inexperienced practitioners might be diving in too deep.
On the subject of love spells, I appreciate that her division of love cords into heterosexual, homosexual male, and homoesexual female love was probably meant to be inclusive. However, as a queer person, I believe that some will be offended by her unnecessary characterization of male-male love as being hot and playful, and female-female love as graceful and gentle. It felt like a well-meaning but ill-executed gesture.
That being said, if you can look past these missteps, would like to try a new spell craft, or could benefit from her extensive tables of correspondences, there is much here you will find useful.
~review by David Blaeser
Author: Loren Morris
Weiser Books, 2026
pp. 441, $18.95
