Aloes/Agarwood/Oud Oil

I haven't tried them yet, but Eden Botanicals looks very promising. They have 5% dilution agarwood oil, sourced from cultivated trees, for very affordable, low prices. They have pure agarwood oil too, but it's expensive and so concentrated that if you've never worked with it before, you're better off trying a dilution first.

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.

Sassafras

I love fall. Love it. There's Halloween, my favorite holiday ever. In the US, we "fall forward" and adjust our clocks by an hour for daylight savings--aligning the day with my circadian rhythm a bit better. It's cool enough for sweaters and my favorite faux-fur coats, but not so bitterly cold that you have to really bundle up before heading out. I love how everything becomes so colorful, all gold, yellow, red, orange, and purple.

One of the more showy fall trees is the sassafras tree. You can find just about all the colors of fall throughout it's three leaf shapes. The smell is just amazing, all parts of the tree are aromatic. You can take a few leaves and crush them to release that familiar spicy-sweet scent. Sassafras tea is awesome, you can make it with the root, bark, or leaves. I wouldn't drink too much of it however: safrole, a naturally occurring compound, has been linked to liver damage and cancer. Once in a while is ok, just don't drink it daily or even weekly. Everything in moderation. I think the leaves have a lower safrole content, so stick to leaf tea if you're really worried. The leaves are made into filé powder and used to thicken up dishes like gumbo. It does have some health benefits, encouraging circulation and reducing fever while relieving the pain of rheumatism and even PMS. "It makes you sassy" I've been told too many times to count. Incidentally, it's used in the production of MDMA and other MDA chemicals.

Sassafras is great for prosperity work. Think about the way filé powder is used to thicken up foods and you've got a great idea of how sassafras works. Use sassafras to make the most out of what you have and get the most out of what's coming to you. Most people favor using the root, but I've also had great success with filé powder. I like to sprinkle some in the little zipper compartment of my bag, where I keep my money and debit card. If you have any sassafras trees near you, bury some money, a personal concern, and an offering of cornmeal with it's root, asking it to help you with your money concerns.

As an incense, sassafras is great for purifying an area of evil spirits. Burn some before bed if you're plagued with hags. You can also keep pieces of dried root under your bed for the same purpose. Carry some to ward off evil influences.

 Filé powder can also be used to hurt. I think I'll save that for another post, because I've got some things to say on the subjects of bad works and justified revenge first.