Preaching to the Soloist: Get in the tub!

Friends, I'm here, again, to testify to the power and value of spiritual baths. It's something that I keep putting off, because it does require some "trouble."

• You need to get up early so as to leave some of the bathwater at the crossroads around oh-dark-thirty, or anyway right before sunrise (especially true for cleansing baths, not so much for other kinds).
  
• You have to air-dry, which means you can't use a towel, so as not to wash off the blessing or dilute the cleansing.
• You have to put on clean clothes, not yesterday's, so you have to plan ahead.

Friends, do it anyway, and do it right.

See, a couple of days ago, probably because of some enemy/justice work I was doing, I had one of the worst poverty tantrums I've had in years. Even an invitation to apply for AIRR membership didn't turn me loose. Friends, I was sure that not only would I starve, but I would never do any effective altar work again, and never had. It was bad.

So I resolved to bathe in ... I was out of hyssop, so I settled for a little Cast Off Evil oil in warm water ... and took it to the funny-shaped crossroads a few minutes' walk away from my house, along with the remains of the enemy candle I burned.

Peace returned as soon as I stepped out of the tub.

By the end of the following day - yesterday - optimism returned in full flood. I returned to my altar work with zest and eagerness. I'm building a new justice altar, as a glance at my tweetstream will show you.

So, I'm telling myself as much as I'm telling you: never, ever hesitate to take a spiritual bath. Do it right, or as close to right as you can. Attention to detail is the better way, of course, but sloppy is probably better than not at all.

How to tell mojos apart when you have more than one

Nowadays mojo bags are often color coded: yellow for court case, red for love, purple for success or mastery, green for money. Red was the most traditional color, though, because it is powerful and because red flannel was commonly available, back in the day. I prefer red for all purposes, but I may rethink this.

Like many conjures, I put charms & symbols on mojo bags to tell them apart. I have metal dollar signs, crowns, hearts, and little blue "evil eye" beads. But today I was putting together two protective mojos: one "Leave Me Alone or Die" and one "Protect My Car." And no skulls or cars in my charm collection. No embroidery thread either.

But my daughter is an artist, so...

I just asked her to draw the skull for this "Leave Me Alone or Die" mojo bag.

Naturally, this Protect My Car mojo was even easier. (It'll get an Evil Eye bead, too, as soon as the last remaining ingredient arrives.)

And here's a honey jar for someone else who needs the Housing Authority to treat them right.

Reversing candle

A client of mine needs a reversing candle right now, but there are none of those nifty half-and-half ones to be had in this lovely town.

So I made one the old-fashioned way.

The process moved much quicker than I expected, so we begin with the program already in progress:

I melted some yellow wax in the oven, sprinkled it with money herbs, and rolled these green candles in it.

Here you can see a closeup that shows a little of the yellow wax.

Next, I broke up some black wax by cutting up a small taper.

The purpose of cutting up the taper - on the diagonal, mind you - is to free it from the wick, which I discarded.

Next, the wax is laid on a foil-lined cookie sheet, which is placed in a 350°F oven.


Five minutes later, the wax is removed from the oven and sprinkled with harsh protective herbs. The green candle is rolled in the wax.
Voilà - a black-over-green reversing candle to "bounce back" financial bad luck, back to its source.

"Don't let her wash your clothes!"

One of my clients told me that her husband was taught that – "Never let a woman wash your clothes!" Why? Because she can put stuff in your laundry!

You can even work this trick on yourself, whenever your spiritual cleansing, luck, or prosperity need a touch-up.

It's a fine old time-tested method for influencing people, and the easiest way to do it is to put things in the laundry rinse water. A few drops of oil, some bath salts dissolved in water - it's easy.

Especially in This Modern Age, when you can soak a washcloth in it and pop it into the dryer, just like a dryer sheet; or pour it into a Downy Ball, walk away and forget it.

A little claws-and-teeth work - on a shoestring

A year ago, I bought the three big, thick volumes of Hoodoo – Conjuration – Witchcraft – Rootwork by Harry Middleton Hyatt.

The arrangement of this book is actually fairly confusing. It seems to be mostly arranged according to the materials used in each spell [or "rite," as Hyatt prefers to call them]. When you're looking for a particular kind of spell – enemy work, love work, etc. – it helps to know what each kind of material is most commonly used for.

Lately, for reasons of my own, I've been looking for good old-timey spells to – how shall I put this? – shut certain enterprises down. Herewith, a few choice methods:

• Take a photograph or symbol of said enterprise and lay it face down on top of a glass of water. Surround it with a circle of nine black candles – they don't have to be very large – and stick the candles with pins. Light all the candles; do this every day for nine days.
  
  
• If you have no black candles to spare (as I do not, at the moment), take some cotton twine or thread and tie a knot in it. Put some turpentine on it and read the 22nd Psalm over it (the first 8 verses should suffice!). Repeat every morning until nine days have elapsed; you will have a nine-knotted string, each knot dressed with turpentine. Go to your target's house, office, or place of business, and place the string behind the door. His efforts will come to nothing.
  
  
• A simple trick that can be used for good or ill: take seven matches – wooden kitchen matches would be easier to work with – and cross them. You will probably end up with a vaguely teepee-shaped pile. Pour niter on them – also known as saltpeter, sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate – make a wish, and set the whole thing afire. Repeat every morning until seven days have elapsed.

I don't usually do this kind of work, but these are desperate times.

Cleaning the mess out of your house

I'm talking about spiritual cleaning, not about actually shifting dust bunnies and spiderwebs. To do that, you simply sweep/mop your house from back to front with some good strong herbs, such as you find in Lucky Mojo's Van Van for instance. Unfortunately, my husband is allergic to the main ingredient, so I used Henry's Grass Oil, which is very similar to Chinese Wash, another fine old cleansing formula. I also added their lovely Crucible of Courage Oil, and a little of my own "CSI."

Well, it was the most thorough job I've ever done – it's amazing what a bigger, better-arranged living space can do for you! And I have a feeling that this property, or even just this house, is a luckier place than my old one was, because the difference was incredible! Last night, you see, I was having a lovely poverty tantrum. Today, ever since I did that job, I know I've got money strictures and health problems – and yet I haven't a care in the world.

Just so you know. Lots of great classic spiritual cleansing formulae at Lucky Mojo – and check out New Orleans Mistic, too – go and try some!

A simple "go away happy" spell

Not traditional, but it ought to work:

Say you're in a relationship that really ought to be winding down. It's time to move on, but you don't want storm and drama. Not because you're selfish, but just because you don't want her (or him) to be unhappy.

Make a name paper which includes her/his full name, your full name, and a petition such as "go away happy," "go in peace," or something similar. Inside it, place a pinch of sugar and some Blessing or Peaceful Home Incense Powders, and fold it away from you. Burn the paper with the incense in it. The Peaceful Home incense makes it clear that pain is not your intent.

Big doings at the little coffeehouse

I only got to do one reading at Café Sorriso today -- the new manager! Pentacles came up -- one reversed, one upright -- so we got into a conversation about market research!

It was extremely quiet after that -- I myself was about one third of the "Sunday lunch rush." But when I went up to the counter to get my sandwich, the new owner, Tracy, was excited about new plans: "Next week," she told me, "we're going to put up a sign, 'Under New Management,' and we're going to have Vietnamese chicken noodle soup, noodle dishes, eggrolls, Thai iced tea, and bubble tea! And we're going to make everything fresh!"

Now, this little place has changed hands about four times in the past dozen years, and this is the first time I've heard about anybody paying serious attention to the quality of the food -- and I really think that is the one thing that will make this place take off!

The weekend Tarot readings will continue, of course. I'm shifting my schedule again, hopefully for the last time: noon to 2 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Oh my Lord: or, Slater, Please!

All right, I got my hands on the Slater Formulary, the online version that doesn't actually give you the proportions for everything. But that doesn't matter, and I'll show you why. Here are a couple random formulas:

Zawba Powder
Brown [That's the color you are supposed to add]
Vanilla powder
Thyme
Wintergreen
Almond
A special blend which is used to create dissension between lovers and very close friends. Sprinkle on those individuals you wish to cast a spell upon. This is a black magick blend.

The hell! Vanilla has long been used for love; thyme to keep money in your house and bring peace of mind; almond - well, I was taught to use the oil as the base for magical oils because of its mild fragrance and long shelf life. It stands for God's vigilance and swift response, according to Wikipedia. Wintergreen's magical attributes add zap to your love, money and sexual life. Yeah, I can see the dissension now:

"Dammit, I love you more than you love me." "No, I love you more!"

"B*tch! What part of 'buy municipal bonds' don't you understand?"

Yeah, that's gonna work really well.

Let's try one more:

Shoe String Root Powder
Vetivert
Patchouli
Sprinkle around the home to protect the inhabitants against death. Also brings extreme good luck to those who play cards as it invokes lucky spiritual forces.

Well, the latter might be true: Some people use vetiver for love; patchouli works for love, money and protection. But how the hell can he call it "Shoe String Powder" and not include any Devil's Shoe String? That's one of the best protective herbs I know.

Slater's either yankin' your chain or talking through his hat. I'm just sayin.'

Another kind of two-color candle

Well, that nice Road Opener candle I burned a couple weeks ago wasn't a perfect burn, after all; the glass was a little gray when I looked at it closer.

So, rather than buy another vigil light - I don't like the way they burn the first couple days; they need constant attention because the quality of the wax has gone so far downhill in the past few years.

Rather than buy another of those, I say, I bought a nice freestanding orange taper - one of those two-inch-thick pillar candles, melted some green beeswax and sprinkled some herbs on it, then rolled the candle in it. Et voila!

I didn't invent this method; Miss Cat Yronwode teaches it to her students. Though I haven't seen her demonstrate it, she describes it well enough for me to produce the results you see here.

Master Class

Well, I spent the most incredible weekend with my wonderful Lucky Mojo classmates and teachers!

Saturday, May 3, was the annual Hoodoo Party and Birthday Bash (for our teacher, miss cat yronwode), where people you only know by their e-mail address and literary style :-) got to talk shop for as long as 12 hours!

For nearly all of my life, I have been a shy person, especially in crowds. I carved out a pretty comfortable niche being the wallflower at parties. But not that day. I drifted from small group to small group, from conversation to conversation, sharing all the brain candy that was going (Matthew 13:52, more or less :-)). You know, just like a normal person. I guess it is, in a way, an emotional or spiritual or maybe even a magical growth spurt.

Sunday, May 4, I attended the Hoodoo and Rootwork Workshop at the Home of Truth in Alameda, California. This workshop was a set of master classes in magical technique. The teachers were experienced and gifted rootworkers: cat yronwode, of course, Dr. Kioni, Dara Anzlowar, and Tanisia Greer. I was eager to attend the sessions on Astrology for Rootworkers and on Spiritual Footwashing, both new to me. The other workshops were devoted to general principles of candle magic and the making and blessing of mojo bags -- and here, too, though I have several years' experience in these two areas, I learned a number of important things.

So, I'm still flyin', but not in a psychedelic hippy-dippy way; my course is straight and true and the travel is easier than it has ever been. I spent an hour or so this evening doing some of the best altar work I have done in months. The candle I burned on the road opening honey jar left a little bit of wax in the shape of a horn of plenty; the mojo bag I charged and blessed tonight was dancing with excitement over the candle flame.

And I'm about to get a separate phone line for Hoodoo Foundry, thanks to Vonage.com and Amazon.com.

Some candle signs

I'm working a "hire me" spell with this honey jar. After three nights of absolutely clean burns, the candle on my latest honey jar left the amorphous pile you see on the left. I was disappointed about it – and the fact that the person I'm trying to influence hasn't called me since the (really fabulous) job interview – until I remembered that the same thing happened to the last such jar I worked on somebody – which is working to this day.

Well, this afternoon, I was sitting in the center of the couch when I happened to look at that “failed” honey jar. From that angle (see right-hand photo), the wax looks like a seated dragon crouched on the edge of the lid!

Like many diviners, I use the usual system of tasseomancy symbols to read odd candle-wax signs like this. The Complete Book of Fortune-Telling has this to say:

Dragon.–A sudden, unreasonable terror will come upon you. Let sanity counsel your actions – this monster is born of your imagination only.

You know, the same stuff everybody has been trying to tell me all along.

A suggestion for prosperity work

This just occurred to me while I was tweaking my own situation just a bit. It's not traditional, but it might be worth a try.

When you're doing a "steady work" job, you want to convince the prospective employer that you are the best person for the job. But another way to describe yourself is "the missing piece of the puzzle," the one element needed to make your new workplace purr like a finely tuned engine. So next time you want the cosmos to send you steady work, get yourself an old jigsaw puzzle, and include a piece in your spiritual work – the name paper in your shoe, the mojo bag, or the honey jar.

The Corazon Brothers: front view

The Corazon Brothers: front view
Originally uploaded by Miss Michaele

This is a pair of lodestones that was sold to me by Miss catherine yronwode of the Lucky Mojo Curio Company on August 19 of this year. Together, they weigh about 2 pounds. Their purpose is to attract good things into my house. Their heart shape traditionally suggests that they are most effective for love work, but as miss cat told me, "I think they'll do anything you want."

My initial impression was that they are keenly interested in money work, as am I. In fact, they have paid for themselves more than twice over in the first week!

I haven't tried doing any love work with them yet. I haven't had any signs -- dreams, casual omens, or psychic impressions -- to rule that out.

Further progress reports will be available here. Assuming these gentlemen don't declare things to be secret or something.

Clicking on the picture will take you to my flickr.com account, where you can see a back view. Do look at it, for these boys were originally one piece of rock.

Psalms and honey

Here's a cute little candle spell that you can use if you want to be thought well of at work.

Write out your intentions on a piece of paper. Make sure to include both your boss's name and your own. Place a few of the appropriate herbs on the paper – patchouli is good, so is gravel root – and wrap them up, folding the paper toward you.

Empty and wash out a baby food jar.

Place the paper in the jar with, perhaps, a John the Conquer root or a piece of Master Root, and fill the jar with honey. Screw the lid closed.

Now, this jar will serve as the candleholder for the candle spell you're going to do to complete this process (and now you know why I specified a baby food jar; they have nice, fireproof metal lids!). Light a candle every day and let it burn while you read Psalm 34. After reading the Psalm, state your desires out loud, for instance: "[Boss's name], you see nothing of me except what you would approve; you know nothing of me except what you would approve; you remember nothing of me except what you would approve; and that is what you will write on my evaluation."

Light the candle, read the Psalm, and state your desires every day for a month before your employee evaluation, especially if the last one was bad. After you have achieved the desired result, do the candle-and-Psalm thing once a week to keep it humming along nicely.