Tragedy! (Edit: Now With Audio Aid)

Today we mourn the loss of my beloved, authentic van van oil. I have no idea how the bottle got this strange hole in it :( Just this morning I had an idea to dilute it to stretch it out a bit until I could buy some verbena and the other herbs and oils needed to make my own. This was purchased from a spiritual shop which is no longer in business, so I can't get another. The smell was just transcendent, I will be devastated if I can never match it.

There's something I'd like to educate everyone about. Ok, Van Van is so named because the Creole pronunciation of vervain (verbena) sounds like "veah vahn"†, and this was eventually corrupted into "van van". Some people know this, some don't. It baffles me why the people who know this don't put vervain into their formulas... it's the name of the damn oil! Even the people who fancy themselves grand high masters of hoodoo (yeah, el oh el) leave it out.

Now, some forward-thinking merchants have realised that you can't have Van Van without the van van, and have attempted to fix this. The problem is, every. single. one of them, that I've seen, uses lemon verbena. Lemon verbena is a completely different plant. I guess I can see the logic, if the formula has lemongrass, it must also call for lemon verbena. Lemon verbena was also very popular in turn of the century perfumery. However, it was expensive and rootworkers weren't working with perfume compounds, they were working with mostly wildcrafted and culinary plants.

Lemon verbena wipes your slate clean and sweetly attracts new things to you, especially in matters of love. Bees and butterflies absolutely love this plant! There is a lot of misinformation about lemon verbena going around, with people thinking it's a crossing herb due to a certain person with a big following misinterpreting the mechanics of a break-up job. But I guess that's what happens when you shamelessly plagiarize and try to pass yourself off as a real conjure worker. (Oh, I should stop.) Anyway, lemon verbena is best used situationally. Some things just cleanse so strongly that they pull everything off.

Verbena, on the other hand, has quite a long history of magical and spiritual use. There's the famous True Love Powder*. It was said to have been used to dress Jesus' wounds. It has been used to protect against vampires, witches, ghosts, and other evil creatures. It's mainly used for love-drawing and protection from evil and jinxing. Unlike lemon verbena, verbena is great to use on a continuous basis.

 A good Van Van recipe should look like this (sorry, I never measure, but remember that ingredients are always listed in order of quantity, greatest to least)
-Verbena
-Lemongrass
-Citronella grass (NOT the leafy plant sold as "citronella")
-Palmarosa
-Vetivert

You can use only herbs, but it's difficult to find citronella grass and even more difficult to find palmarosa. At least incorporate as many herbs as you can. You can get everything you need very cheaply from PennHerb and Edens Garden. I have not found undiluted essential oils at a better price than Edens Garden, I'm starting to build up a nice little collection. The Biblical Set (Frankincense, Myrrh, Spikenard) is wonderful, and a great money-saver to boot.

 †Edited to add: I remembered that Google Translate has a text to speech feature, so I checked to see if Louisiana Creole was on its language list. Sadly, no, but the word's pronunciation in Haitian Creole is nearly identical, give it a listen. LA Creole just has an almost inaudible "r".

*Earliest mention I remember seeing of the verbena-mistletoe-elecampane formula is H. U. Lampe's "Famous Voodoo Rituals & Spells", copyright 1974. MANY authors have plagiarized this great little book since its printing, including the certain person I mentioned above. ;)

Evening Primrose: Mother's Little Helper

Picture from this site.

(Note: Evening primrose is not related to primrose aka cowslip, but interestingly enough they share some of the same uses.)

Few plants are as beneficial to mothers as evening primrose. It feeds families, calms fussy kids, soothes irritated skin, and perks up bone-tired mamas while also providing them relief from breast pain and PMS. It is a quintessential moon plant (Doctrine of Signatures post in the works), good for emotions, women, healing, the home, and family. In the evening, the sweetly scented flowers open and appear to softly glow, which lends to one of it's common names: night candle.

Talk to your doctor before taking evening primrose oil supplements or giving them to kids. Every part of Oenothrea biennis is edible, and it grows abundantly all up and down the east coast of the US. There are over 100 species within the Oenothrea genus, so proper identification is a must when wildcrafting.

Some magical uses:

-Sew into kids' pillows, add to their baths, or rub the oil into their skin to help make bedtime easier. Can be used alone, or with other calming herbs such as chamomile and lavender.

-Evening primrose is able to grow in sand, rock crevices, and even cracked blacktop. It really anchors itself in and is almost impossible to uproot. Use in any works that involve strengthening family ties ("roots"), peace in the home, keeping a husband at home, and house blessings.

-Evening primrose oil can be used as a carrier oil when making condition oils. I like to use some in any formulas that relate to the home (including fidelity) and formulas for women.

Here's a personal oil recipe of mine. I call it "Mama Bear":

-Rosemary, for domain in the home, protection, and Papa Bear's fidelity.

-Fennel, for quick thinking, courage, and protection. To prevent seizing up with fear or panic in case of an emergency. Fennel is also strongly linked to mothers because of its use in stimulating lactation.

-Angelica, for female power, protection of the self and kids, love/marriage ties, and health.

-Evening Primrose Oil as carrier.

-Piece of dried Evening Primrose root.

Use about 1/2-1 teaspoon of each herb, chopped and ground, per 1 oz of oil. It's up to you whether or not you want to add a drop or two of the corresponding essential oils in addition to each herb. I don't.

Pray to Spirit and state your petition. Take your time and really speak from the heart. I like to include Psalm 23 in everything I do, and I also pray for Spirit to empower the spirits of the herbs and roots. As you add the ingredients, address their spirits with your needs, and bless them with the sign of the cross in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Pray any additional Psalms, Biblical passages, or prayers you find meaningful and appropriate.*

Because of the rosemary and angelica, it's best not to wear this on the body if pregnant. Try using it on a doll baby instead. Using it to anoint candles, feed hands, or anything else where you're only using a little bit on your fingers is ok.

*Everyone works differently, this is just the way I was taught. I'm sorry, I am nodding off here (literally) trying to finish this post, I really hope what I'm writing makes sense.

A Personal Healing Oil

Inspired by the generosity of Mama Starr, I'm going to let one of my own formulas go.

The purpose of this formula is to help those who've lost their confidence due to hardships really take hold of their life and shine. I call it "Three Crowns" or "Wisdom, Courage, and Success" as it's meant to bless one with those things. I've had such a positive experience with this oil since I first created it. It's helped me to better manage my agoraphobia and depression, and it really helps on those days where I'm just bone tired and unmotivated.

The ingredients are:

-Bay, for courage and success.
-Fennel, for mental sharpness, courage, and protection by way of heightened awareness. Some people are being taught that fennel is only for women's courage, but anyone can use it.
-Sage, for purification, protection, and wisdom.
-Dragon's Blood, it's just so positive and really adds a kick to anything you add it to. For luck, power, and protection.
-Rosemary, for purification and protection. If you are a female, rosemary will help you to regain control and power in your life.
-Goldenseal, for wisdom and protection of health. Please only buy sustainably harvested goldenseal.
-Bergamot, for mastery over your own life. Brings in the money too (success)

I really don't measure out my ingredients. If I had to give amounts, I'd say equal amounts of all the herbs, a full pinch of powdered dragon's blood or a splash of dragon's blood oil, and enough drops of bergamot to give it a nice scent without being overpowering. I rarely tint my oils, but when I make this I add some saffron to give it a nice golden glow.

First I pray to Spirit, state my petition, and pray for Spirit to empower the spirits of the herbs and oils. Next, I address the spirit of each ingredient and bless them with the sign of the cross in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. I like to include Psalm 23 with everything I do. For this formula, I also like Psalms 8, 65, and 91. I pray over the oil with the cap off, so my breath blows over the oil. Between each Psalm (and during Psalm 23 for the line "thou anointest my head with oil"), I make the sign of the cross three times. I do this for a full 7 days, keeping it on my altar and asking my ancestors and spirits for assistance.

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.