Syrup

 

I just love retro packaging.

People used to use the syrup from preserved fruit.

 I do the same, both with fruit I've canned myself, and canned fruit.

Guys, it's time to break free from the honey jar madness. Honey jars are not some traditional, ultra-powerful trick that's been used for over 100 years... they're something made-up by a marketer a few years ago which have exploded in their popularity. When the honey jar work was first posted, people were only really using them for love, reconciliation, family, in-laws. Now I see them being used for every single thing, even domination and success in school work. Some people don't even want to learn anything else!

Honey is slow-running and comparatively expensive. 100+ years ago, it was even more expensive, most all of the people practicing conjure could not afford it. My great grandmother and a few other farmers in my family kept apiaries, so I do have a certain fondness for honey, but honey was never used so wastefully as it is in a honey jar. You don't need a whole jar of the stuff to sweeten people! Honey is really not appropriate for many long-term goals. Since honey runs slow and gets thicker over time and in the cold months, it holds things and makes them stick. If you try doing a honey jar for riches, you aren't going to grow your wealth exponentially. You'll really just sweeten money to you for a bit and then hold what you have.

One of the sites with instructions for creating honey jars lists a few different sweeteners that can me used, and on this list they've put molasses. When I first read that, let me tell you my mouth fell open and I actually said "Nooooo!" out loud. Molasses can be used to curse, it is the worst possible choice for this type of work.

I was taught to work with sugar and syrup. I roll candles in sugar all the time. In fact, I have a post on sugar coming up where I'll talk about a little trick only I use. Mama Starr at Old Style Conjure was the first to put the truth out there about sweeteners, she's got a great article on her site you should read.

Syrup is awesome to use. It's sweet, viscous, and cheap. It doesn't matter whether it's real maple syrup or just flavored corn syrup, it's all sweet. Many people also used the syrup from fruit they had preserved. Canned fruit in syrup is really cheap, you can use the syrup strained off of that as well.

I like to drizzle a little on a candle and then roll the candle in herbs, then drizzle a little more around the candle on the plate. When doing jobs that utilize fruits or red onions as containers, you can add syrup to give them extra sweetness. You can stand a taper up in a small bowl or teacup of sweetened condensed milk and syrup. There's just so much you can do with it.

If you don't normally keep canned fruit around and you want an "excuse" to strain off some fruit syrup, here's my recipe for ambrosia salad. Drain the syrup well.

Dr. Trixie's Ambrosia Salad

-2 cans of mandarin oranges
-1 can of pineapple chunks
-1 jar of maraschino cherries
-Shredded coconut. Most people use dried or toasted, but I try to use fresh.
-Only a dollop of sour cream if you must add it. And never yogurt!
-Splash of Grand Marnier. This is my secret ingredient: people rave!

Easier than easy. Just combine everything in a large bowl and stir together. One of the most delicious parts of Christmas time!

It also always reminds me of one of my favorite Christmas movies:

 

"I noticed that you have not tasted any of the ambrosia salad I made especially for you."

I also found a great recipe online for true, old-fashioned violet syrup. (I love violet candy.) This would be amazing for love and reconciliation work. It's simple to make, too! This recipe can be adapted to make other edible flower syrups, such as rose and lavender.

Kill 'Em with Kindness

I'm so tired of, and disturbed by, the way that people online take things like goofer dust and hot foot power so lightly, using them for every perceived slight. Let me tell you the truth about this, because the marketers selling these products sure aren't:

-Just because you're not under the aegis of a Rede or Three Fold Law or "karma" (I hate when people use that word wrong), that does NOT mean you are not held to a code of ethics. Real conjure is Christian-based, it's not a free-for-all. Thou shalt not kill, bitches.
-You can't goofer someone "just a bit" or "just until they leave me alone" because that type of work is always a call for death. The person can die before you release them, and you may be unable to release them.
-You CANNOT prevent unjustified bad works from reversing to you by just doing a cleansing and/or protection work. This bullshit (yeah, that's right) about doing a hyssop bath while reciting Psalm 51 after any bad work has got to stop. Psalm 51 is for people who are truly penitent, not people looking for a "Get Out of Jail" card.
-Tricks lain can hurt more than just the intended targets. Let me repeat. TRICKS LAIN CAN HURT MORE THAN JUST THE INTENDED TARGETS. You can even cross yourself up.
-Using graveyard dirt from anyone but your ancestors is like playing Russian Roulette.
-Bad work is only justified for the most extreme of circumstances. Rapists, abusers, sexual predators, and other evil and criminal people. If you go and hot foot a rude/annoying neighbor, you have acted unjustly.
-You can't hot foot someone and then send them good work to cancel it out. The effects can last for years. You just might make them even more miserable, manifesting good things which they are unable to hold due to their mental distress.

There is really so much more, I will write more about unjustified work in another post.

When someone is troubling you, but death work and banishment is unjustified, what is one to do? Well, try some positive work before anything else. Let's look at some examples:

1) Someone is very jealous of you because you make more money than them. You've done protection work, maybe you even wear an evil eye charm, but their behavior is still upsetting. Instead of crossing them up, why not do some money work for them? Try for them to have a steady income, job success, financial security. Once they're happier, they may well leave you alone.

2) Someone wants your significant other. They flirt with them and try to break the two of you up. You've done work to protect your relationship. Fixing this is the same principle as above: you help that person to get what will make them happy. In this case, try doing some love work for the other person. Try for them to meet a new love, whom they will be happy with.

3) Someone is just a bastard to you, and you don't know why. For this you need to be totally honest with yourself. Are you really, truly blameless? Don't brush anything off as insignificant or "not that bad"... what seems small to you may indeed be a big deal to the person who now hates you. Swallow your pride and apologize to them. That may be all this situation takes to fix itself. Maybe you really are blameless, this person is just mean and miserable. Try for them to be healed of the things that cause them to act out. Try for them to be happy at home and successful at work. Do some sweetening work on them. Not those damn honey jars, try rolling candles in sugar or drizzling around them with syrup or honey. You can also stand a taper up in a small bowl or teacup of sweetened condensed milk and syrup or honey, working it for a few nights before disposing of the liquid and wax near where they live. These methods are much more traditional and work much faster.

Instead of jumping right to bad work, you should always look for positive ways to work a situation. Many, many times people are just acting out because they are hurting or they have a void in their life. Not only will you prevent yourself from getting crossed up, but you will actually fix the problem.