Book Review: The Neuroscience of Magic

Author: Siddharth Ramakrishnan
Publisher: ‎Llewellyn Publications, U.S.
Publication date: ‎ 8 Dec 2026
Language: ‎ English
Print length: ‎ 336 pages
RRP: UK £23.00
ISBN-10: ‎ 0738782076
ISBN-13: ‎ 978-0738782072
Reviewed by: Emma M

About the Author

Siddharth Ramakrishnan, PhD, is a neuroscientist, artist, and educator. He is the chair of neuroscience at the University of Puget Sound and a recipient of the prestigious National Science Foundation CAREER award and W. M. Keck Foundation award. An avid tarot reader for the last twenty years, Siddharth explores the intersections of science, art, and mysticism. This led him to design and create the Neuro Tarot deck inspired by the major arcana of tarot but infused with neuroscience concepts. He also runs a blog offering neuroscience insights for tarot readers. Learn more at BrainMystic.com.

My thoughts…

I haven’t been on the Witchcraft path long so it was quite a shock to find the book The Neuroscience of Magic by Siddharth Ramakrishnan. I did my degree in psychology, many moons ago, and it genuinely never occurred to me all these years later that there would be scientific proof of magic. Linking brain functions to spell casting and rituals isn’t something that crossed my mind before, of course it makes sense. I mean, why wouldn’t it?

This book has already brought me so much bloody joy. Being able to combine two of my favourite things, the working brain and witchcraft, has been absolutely wonderful. And I’ve had some instant results…More on that later…

Please don’t be put off by the thought of too much science. The author has a real skill of explaining a theory or piece of research in a way that it relates to the real world. The brain diagrams are so wonderfully labelled it’s impossible not to understand what’s being discussed and, importantly, what it means. The author then guides us through some seriously well-thought-out exercises to help integrate the teachings.

I received this book three weeks ago and decided to try using the authors spell-writing exercises to see what happened, and I have to say – the results are astonishing.

Like most of us, I’m suffering in this cost-of-living crisis. Lots of things are going on at the moment that are exacerbating that. And so, I used the teachings within the book to create my own abundance spell. I carried that spell out two weeks ago.

This past weekend I received divorce papers in the post which I wasn’t expecting. I’ve been separated from my ex for three years now, but I wasn’t expecting the papers and it was a bit of a gut-punch to be honest. On top of the other things going on (fridge freezer broken & all my bedding has been misplaced when I moved house, and I can’t afford to replace them. Things like that, anyway…), on Sunday morning I woke up to discover a friend of mine, who runs a house clearance firm, had a practically brand-new sofa and bed for me. I’ve been sleeping on a mattress on the floor for the last year because my bed was broken and I couldn’t bring it with me. Things that I’ve been crying about during the week being donated completely out of the blue. These are items my friend doesn’t normally get, not in such great condition.

While abundance can look to some people as a massive, massive bank balance, to me at this moment, abundance was getting these things which will allow me to live properly, and so that spell absolutely worked.

You will need to get your own copy of the book to work through those spells yourself, but the author has given me his permission to share this next exercise with you, which I think relates far better to Tarot than the spell casting.

Chapter 7 exercise 19 Part 2 Tone and Spells

Some of us are very susceptible to changes in tone, and it matters more than the words themselves. This part of the exercise will help you understand how tone impacts the spell and where you express that emotional change.

Steps.

1. Choose one of the spells you developed in Exercise 18.

2. Now pick three of the following tones:

~ Soft as if you’re whispering to a child.

~ Firm as if you’re setting a boundary.

~ Joyful as if you’re sharing good news.

~ Longing as if mourning or remembering.

~ Commanding as if giving an order.

3. Speak your chosen spell 3 times, using a different distinct tone each time.

4. Take time for reflection. As you’ve altered the tone, did your perception of the spell get altered? If you felt any changes, note where you felt them, for example in posture and mood.

Chapter 7’s whole focus is the magic of words. What we say, why we choose the words we choose, and how we say the words we say. I think this exercise is hugely important to the tarot reader in their interactions with a querent. Understanding how our tone of voice can impact the reading is massively important and should be something that every reader studies and learns about.

I honestly cannot recommend this book enough. Give the exercise a go and then go order your copy! You won’t regret it.

My hugest thanks and gratitude to the review team at TABI, the author, and the publisher for getting this review copy out to me.

And honestly, folks, go get a copy. It will genuinely change your life.

It already has mine 💫