A Protection Packet For Travel

Since I've been doing so much traveling of my own, I thought I'd write a little bit about conjure for travelers.

A great 3 ingredient packet for travel I like:
-Comfrey
-Mugwort
-Rue

First, one of the most traditional roots associated with travel is comfrey. It can be added to packets or hands, and carrying it on you will ensure your travels are safe and worry-free. Next, fresh mugwort leaves are used to line the shoes to prevent fatigue, and dried they are carried for protection not just physically, but spiritually. The psychic uses of mugwort are so popular and talked about that sometimes people forget about its use in travel. Finally, rue. I. Love. Rue. It's so powerful and protective, keeping off negative forces and spiritual attack.

If you wish, you can add additional things, such as a St. Christopher charm (patron saint of travelers) or salt.

Now, once you've returned home and you've turned into a lazy purring housecat because your hosts spoiled you so much... hmm, I'm still figuring out how to fix that :D

4711 - The Original Eau De Cologne

I must confess: I am OBSESSED with perfumes and perfumery. Scent is our strongest memory and emotional trigger. Whenever I'm not feeling well, I dig into my perfume collection for something to perk me up. (Right now I've got the flu, but I'm awash in Chanel no. 5) Andy Warhol once said that perfume is a way to take up more space, and indeed, various spirits are associated with filling rooms with unexplainable scents. Since Andy Warhol loved perfume so much, he requested to be buried with a bottle of Estee Lauder's Beautiful... I imagine that's what his spirit would smell like. Anyway, the point is, perfume is special.

4711 has such a wonderful, nostalgic scent. Produced in Cologne, Germany for over 200 years, this is the original echt kölnisch wasser. 4711 is responsible for "cologne" becoming a generic term in perfumery. Hoyt's and Florida Water are less-expensive stateside interpretations of this fragrance, to give you an idea of the scent. Several members of my family have owned this, it's such a classic. When I think of conjure perfume, this is the first one to jump to my mind, followed by Hoyt's, and then Bay Rum. Florida Water is honestly at the bottom of the list. Like I've said before, FW is something I picked up later in life.

4711 is used just like Hoyt's. You can wear it for luck (especially gambling), anoint hands/mojos with it, add it to baths/washes/scrub water, soak herbs/roots in it (such as High John) to make special formulations.

 I once read that Pete Townshend used to snort 4711. I think that's fabulous.

If you can get your hands on a vintage bottle (pre-1980's) the scent is superior, but the new formula is still pretty good. Though not traditionally used in conjure, Roger&Gallet's Farina Eau de Cologne is closer to the original smell. In the "Most Expensive" category is Chanel's Eau de Cologne, which outlasts any other cologne I've tried. Guerlain's Eau de Cologne Imperiale is another classic cologne you can check out. (I only list all these for any die-hard cologne fans)

If you love 4711, they've been putting out several variations of it in recent years with their Acqua Colonia line:

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.

Snow!

Snow is over the mid-Atlantic right now. We've already got 6-8" where I am, and we were only supposed to get about 3'! It's supposed to turn to freezing rain overnight, so if you're affected by this storm, be smart and safe.

A little snow conjure:
-Wash your face with the first snow of the year for beauty.
-Wash you hands/face/body with the first snow of the year to prevent dry, chapped winter skin.
-Collect the water from snow, it is, in my personal opinion, the BEST water to use in a hyssop bath because of the line in Psalm 51 "wash me, and I will be whiter than snow."
-Snow water is really great to use in any healing or purification bath or wash.
-Rain, snow, lightning... pretty much everything that comes from "Heaven" is powerful.

I'm predicting five more significant snows for where I am, with one of the biggest being in February.

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.

Incense and Goodies

I picked up some incense at the farmer's market yesterday, and today a few things I ordered online arrived early. Yay!

First up, the incense.

I picked up some of the house-brand incense sticks in opium and jasmine.

Opium poppies and jasmine share something in common: they're both flowers that can be used for psychic work and love work.

The opium poppy, aka bread poppy, (papaver somniferum) is my favorite flower. It's power rests in its alkaloids, such as codeine and morphine. If you've ever used prescription opiates or heroin, then you know exactly how powerful poppy's effects are. Poppy seeds are frequently used to cause confusion, especially in court cases where you want witnesses all confused and unable to give a good testimony or you want the other side to get confused and slip up. Both poppy seeds and flowers are used to stuff pillows for restful sleep and/or psychic dreams. When one is really high or heavily sedated on opiates, it's not uncommon to go into frequent catnaps which are filled with incredibly vivid dreams. This is where we get the term "pipe dream" from. I used to keep a large dried poppy pod for use as a natural rattle. It's use in love work is also heavily tied to it's psychoactive nature. If your goal is to have someone who's doped up, dreamy, and easily led, poppies are the way to go. Think of the one witch in Four Rooms (played by Ione Skye) who entrances Tim Roth's character.

Yeah, I use "love work" a bit broadly.

Now if you really want to seduce, look to jasmine. Jasmine has been prized for centuries for it's gorgeous scent. Indeed, one of my two favorite perfumes, Fracas, is full of jasmine and other captivating white florals. One thing about jasmine that makes it especially great for seduction (and this is directly tied in to its association with psychic work) is that it releases its fragrance at night. Yes, jasmine is another great choice for dream work and other psychic endeavors.

There's one more flower that I know of which is used for both love and dreams, and that's hibiscus. Try combining the three.

Next up is a little obsession of mine: Incense matches.

These are AWESOME. I can light my candles and have incense going and not even need to look for a lighter or matches because the incense IS a match? WHAT? Genius.

I got jasmine and patchouli, and I already own frankincense, cinnamon, french vanilla, "Egyptian Goddess", and musk.

Everyone either loves or hates patchouli. I blame the people who don't wear deodorant and just drown themselves in the stuff for the strong hatred many claim to have. More than once someone has ranted about patchouli, how even a whiff of it makes them sick, only to be surprised that the perfume they'd complimented me on contains patchouli. Then again, it's impossible not to love Fresh's Cannabis Santal, my other favorite perfume.

Patchouli is a powerhouse, it can be used for almost everything. It can be used for seduction, money, uncrossing, and domination. It has a very commanding, even overpowering, nature.

I'm going to have to do proper posts on these items, but I also received in the mail: more Florida Water, more aloeswood power, and both frankincense and myrrh essential oils. I have the latter two in resin form, but I wanted these for oils and skincare.

As you can guess, my room smells incredible right now. Funny, I can be surrounded by all this but all it takes is a tiny bit of Glade to send me into a crazy painful, aura-accompanied migraine.

DIY: Orange Oil Lamp

Oil lamps have been used in conjure a lot longer than candles. They're cheaper and more practical than candles, especially for ongoing work. You can add to them and modify them over time and really grow their influence. If you're interested in more lamp work, I have another DIY oil lamp post coming up which I think even die-hard candle addicts will love.

A friend of mine showed me how to make these. I mean, in conjure we just use glass oil lamps, but how amazing is this? These orange lamps are especially great for love and any kind of attraction, be it money, luck, or love. I just love sweet orange, it's so sunny and bright and clean. I am never without orange zest, orange blossom water, orange blossoms, and even orange blossom honey.

MATERIALS NEEDED:
-One orange
-Knife
-Oil, either olive or some kind of vegetable oil
-Grapefruit spoon (optional)
-Herbs, roots, dried flowers, minerals, condition oils,etc
-Personal concern(s), petition paper (optional)

1) Begin by slicing your orange in half, being careful not to sever the column of pith that runs through the middle. This will be your wick:

2) Remove the top. Either peel it first and eat the fruit or, if you've a steady hand, carefully separate the peel from the fruit with your grapefruit spoon. Some people make a lid with the top, a bit like a jack-o-lantern, but I didn't include that in this tutorial.

3) Next, scoop out the fruit in the bottom.

Remember to keep your "wick" in tact. Scoop out all the wet flesh, especially everything surrounding your wick. This is where having a grapefruit spoon really comes in handy. Be careful not to puncture the peel.

4) Set it to dry for about an hour. If you try to fill and light it too soon, it will be too wet to light. If you are really impatient, I guess you could just snip out the pith wick and stick in some cotton wicking.

(I evened up the sides after I looked at this picture.)

5) Add your herbs, roots, oils, etc, and fill with either olive oil or some kind of vegetable oil, taking care to leave about 1/2" of space between the top of the oil and the brim. Don't overload it with "stuff", you don't want a mass of roots and herbs that will catch fire and turn your lamp into a fireball. I have included cassia, myrrh, Queen Elizabeth root, sugar (a bit), and two appropriate condition oils in mine. You can add personal concerns such as a piece of a strand of hair or a drop of bodily fluid, but I never advise loading petition papers into candles or open lamps. Place them safely underneath. You can always write your petition directly on the orange or carefully carve it into the peel, like a candle.

6) The procedure of starting a lamp is not too different from starting a candle. You still say your prayers and speak to Spirit and light it when it's ready. Try using long-handled matches or a utility lighter as it takes a little bit to get the wick going.

 (It's not actually an inferno in there, that's just the reflection off the oil.)

That's all there is to it! For safety reasons, you should never leave an oil lamp burning unattended, but... you can place them in a large metal tray with at least 2" of sand for safety. I wouldn't leave an orange lamp burning unattended even with sand, however. While warmed orange peel smells amazing, burnt orange is horrible.