The Greatest Conjure Book In the World: Affirmative Prayer

Mark 11:12-14, 20-24 - And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it.

 ...

And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which thou cursedst is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.

Most everyone is familiar with the types of prayers known as supplications and intercessions. The Serenity Prayer is a famous example of a supplication:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

The courage to change the things I can,

And wisdom to know the difference.

What defines a supplication is that it is a personal petition. An intercession is a prayer on behalf of someone else. Many people only know how to pray like this. When learning conjure, they will continue to pray this way, humbly asking for what they want, unsure as to whether or not their prayers will be answered. In Mark 11, however, we have an example of Jesus using a different type of prayer to curse, followed by him explaining how to pray this way. I'm talking about affirmative prayer, the type of prayer most frequently employed in conjure. When you pray in the affirmative, you state your desire as if it has already happened and make this declaration with complete faith. "I am protected from all evil." "N.N. is drawn to me in love and passion." "My talents are noticed and appreciated at work. I am given the promotion to [position]." getting the picture?

 Petition and KNOW that what you petition for is YOURS.

I've seen misinformed people teaching others that you should end all your petitions with "if it is God's will". This is incorrect. It expresses doubt in the likelihood of your petition to be granted. It also hints at a lack of faith in the Divine... you should already know that nothing shall be granted to you against God's will because if it was against God's will to grant it, God simply would not grant it. Jesus' instructions are simply to believe that your words will manifest and have full faith in God.

The Greatest Conjure Book in the World: Lust Dust

I thought I'd kick off my TGCBitW series with something a bit unexpected: a recipe for a powerful seduction formula.

I'm telling you guys, read the Bible! It's full of powerful secrets, like what I'm about to reveal to you. Every time you see a plant or resin mentioned, sit up and pay attention!

Proverbs 7:8-18 - Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house, in the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night: And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart. (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house: Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.) So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him, I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows. Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee. I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

Psalm 45:8 - All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.

Song of Solomon 4:12-15 - A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed^. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices: A fountain of gardens, a well of living waters, and streams from Lebanon.

A few quick notes before we continue:
1) True cinnamon (cinnamomum verum) and cassia (cinnamomum cassia) are in the same family. Much of what is sold as cinnamon is actually cassia. Both are warm and spicy, but true cinnamon is lighter and sweeter and cassia is a bit smokier. They can be used interchangeably, though I prefer to use cinnamon. I will sometimes use cassia, or a combination of the two, for love work that leans more towards passion and seduction. Click on the smaller image under the main one in this article for a visual comparison.

2) Aloes refers to aloeswood/lignum aloes/agarwood (aquilaria malaccensis), and is harvested from trees infected with a certain type of fungus. Aloeswood has been so overharvested that it has become endangered. There have been efforts made to create special sustainable aloeswood farms, which is both a great investment for impovershed farmers throughout Asia and a big step towards preserving the species. Please do not buy any aloeswood that is not sustainably harvested. Aloeswood is expensive, the sustainably grown stuff even more so (much of the less expensive stuff comes from poachers) but no species should suffer just so you can save a few bucks.

3) This is all based on my own original research and experience. If you share it around, please give me credit and link to this post.

Onwards!

This specific combination is mentioned twice in the Bible, and the combination is included with other love plants and resins in the erotic fourth Song of Solomon. In Proverbs 7, it is used by a femme fatal of a prostitute who can lure in both weak-willed and strong-willed men. Psalm 45 is a love song which describes a very righteous king as smelling of the same combo on the day of a royal wedding. There is some real power in this formula:

-Aloeswood is an aphrodisiac, no question, but it also has a lightly binding effect, which I would liken to lady's thumb. It is also quite entrancing, literally. Aloes has been used for centuries to aid meditation, bringing the mind into the trance-like state that is sought after by practitioners. You know how two people can be in a noisy, crowded room, but they don't notice the world outside of each other? Aloes, when used in love work, is like that.

-Cinnamon and cassia are used to heat-up and give spice (no pun intended) to love. Like I said above, I prefer the hotter cassia (or a blend of both) for lustier work, but you can use either one. The sweeter of the two, cinnamon, because it is so good for money-drawing, has the added benefit of getting the other person to be generous with their money/want to spoil you. I mean, make sure you specify that you would like that when speaking to Cinnamon, don't just assume. It's sweetness can give it a leg up on cassia when seeking the love of someone reluctant or with whom you're not already involved.

-Myrrh is interesting. While it's certainly used for love and seduction, it's also used for purification, peacefulness, and dark works. It is quite compelling. The seductive and compelling properties of Myrrh are what we're asking from it in this formula.

So with this formula, you have something that ignites desire, compels, and entrances. I call it "Lust Dust". 

In addition to using it for incense, it can be prepared as a dusting powder by combining the powdered ingredients with talc. If you wish, you can add some orris root (Queen Elizabeth root) powder as a scent fixative and even ask it to aid the mix

Some people seem to think that talc is only used as a filler, but it does serve a purpose. If you try to dust yourself with just powdered herbs and stuff, they will easily brush off. Talc soaks up the moisture on your skin, helping the powder to stick to it. Most stuff offered by marketers has way too much talc in it, you only need a bit.

When praying over this Lust Dust, I like to use Psalm 23, the above selection from Proverbs 7 as well as lines 21-22, Psalm 45, and Song of Solomon 4. That is the basic structure, I'm not going to tell you exactly how I do it because praying and petitioning and invoking are things no one should ever take a paint by numbers approach to.

Blog Feature: "The Greatest Conjure Book In the World"

In her book "Mules and Men", Zora Neale Hurston refers to the Bible as "the greatest conjure book in the world" and nothing could be more true. I might not consider myself Christian, but I was raised in a Catholic family and I respect that conjure is, and always has been, a Christian-based magic. This is a bit confusing to outsiders, the idea that something can be non-religious but Christian at the same time. In conjure, it is believed that one's power comes from God, one works with the spirits (including the spirits of nature) to achieve one's goals and God's will, and the reason why this magic is good is *because* it is a gift from God. It's because of this that conjure is actually not compatible with pagan religions like Wicca.

Let me put it this way... if my mom were to walk in on me lighting a candle to St. Jude, she would ask me about what I was doing, offer to pray with me, and further offer to have her friend, Reverend "Pearl", pray for me as well "because you know Reverend Pearl's prayers always work!" She'll chant to St. Anthony while searching for something without batting an eye. She's got a lucky horseshoe. But if that same candle was to Apollo, she'd have a fit that I was practicing witchcraft. See, the tools and ritual would be the same, but since it isn't through God, it's considered witchcraft and not conjure. Conjure is not witchcraft. But more on that in another post.

I personally consider myself... well, Spiritualism is closest, but it's not a perfect fit. I wear an Isis pendant, but I don't worship her as a god the way one would in a pagan religion... I work with her as a spirit, a spirit of a devoted wife and mother who "really knows how to keep her man together."* I honor the spirits of my ancestors and dearly departed friends. I work with the spirits of nature, found in plants and animals and rocks and places. I work with Jesus, spiritually. I work with several other spirits and Spirit guides me every day. I believe in respect for nature and other people and that those who go around preaching hate like "God hates gays!" are poison.

I of course don't have a problem with any pagan religions themselves (aside from the fluffy bunny mix-n-match Borg incarnation of Wicca/NeoWicca) but I do have a problem with people being taught that because conjure is not a religion, it's anything you want it to be. The people who say it is just want your money. It's not ok to march in and start appropriating someone else's culture just because you find it exotic or you think that just because it "speaks to you", you have a right to it. I think Buddhist malas are beautiful but it would be wrong of me to order one and start carrying it around; they are sacred to the religion and culture they come from. You can't just take what you like and leave out what you don't.

God is a part of conjure. The Bible is a part of conjure. If you want to learn conjure, you've got to accept that we work with God, Jesus, The Holy Spirit, The Bible, and prayer. Some of us work with angels. Some of us work with saints, but it's not quite as prolific as the online community would have you think. Just because I, personally, after growing up Catholic and spiritualist, do not believe in God proper (that's a whole other post), that does not mean I'm going to 1) teach conjure wrong, 2) teach you that it's ok for YOU to not believe in God, Jesus, Spirit, or ANYTHING and insert whatever religion you like. [11/27 Edit: To be clear, I mean this purely in the context of conjure. Of course it's ok for you to practice religion freely! It's just not ok for you to attempt to rework and rewrite generations of tradition and cast aside the spiritual foundation of conjure. If you are unwilling to adapt, you must find something compatible with your own beliefs.]

Now that I've said what's needed to be said...

YES, if you can afford only ONE book in your conjure library, THE BIBLE is the one! Powerful prayers and charms are found in books such as Psalms, there is information about rootwork and incense, it's used in a form of divination called bibliomancy, it's used in ritual, and the book itself is carried or placed under the bed/pillow for powerful protection against evil. It doesn't matter whether your Bible is a gorgeous, brand-new, leather-bound beauty with gold leaf edges, or a tatty and well-loved charity shop find. It's the content and what it is that matters. As far as translations go, there's no hard and fast rule about what you MUST have, but the King James Version is very traditional and many classic books utilized in conjure rely on the KJV. Older Catholics may prefer the Douay-Rheims Bible.

"The Greatest Conjure Book In the World" will be a recurring feature here on Coyote Moon Conjure. At least once each week, you can look forward to prayers, recipes, herb and plant magic, and other traditional conjure straight from the Bible. I will be writing about bibliomancy, as well as the many other ways the Bible itself is used in conjure works. It won't be long before you understand for yourself why the Bible really is the greatest conjure book in the world!

*My boyfriend once quipped about Isis, "Now there's a woman who really knows how to keep her man together." I died :D