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Magical Powder Recipe: Protect My love
Protect My love
This powder recipe here is one of the two powders that we made at Pagan Unity day in myIntroduction to working with Incenses and Powders. All of the ingredients will have links to where you can buy them in the amounts given.
Materials
Materials:
1/2 ounce Rose Petals
1 ounce Dragons Blood
Half ounce cinnamon
1 oz Plantain
Mixing Bowl
Wand
How to
Step 1: Gather your materials in your work space
Step 2: Ask the herbs to bless your work and guide you in your work
Step 3: Take the Dragons blood and pour it into the mixing bowl
Step 4: Place your wand over the Dragons blood and ask them plant for its blessings of lust and desire as well as to protect your love and your passion that no harm may come to you and them in the relationship
Step 5: Add the Rose petals
Step 6: As before ask the Rose petals to grant you romantic love but also that the thorns harm any who would come between the two of you
Step 7: Take your wand and direct those emotions into the blend as you stir it with your wand.
Step 8: Add the Plantain to the blend.
Step 9: As you blend the Plantain into the mix as for courage to protect your loved ones and strength to do what must be done
Step 10: Finally add the Cinnamon
Step 11: As you mix the cinnamon into the mixture ask for there to be lust and desire in the relationship and that you have the power within to protect them and yourself if needed.
Step 12: With you hands mix the mixture longer focusing on blending the energetic forces of the plants. Repeat the need for protection,romance,strength,courage,power and lust over and over. Once you have felt the power build up and the chant is running rather fast force the energy raised through your hands into the mixture
Step 13: Hold the bowl to the heavens and thank the spirits of the plants. Place a small sprinkle of the mixture on the earth and thank the earth mother, and the green realms for helping you in the ritual.
Step 14: Place mixture in a storage container until ready to be used.
Uses
This mixture can be used in any form of love spell or protection spell. Its actually best in a spell where you are protecting a loved one a friend, a family member, romantic partner, etc. All of these are ways you can work with this blend.
Review: Old Style Conjure Wisdoms, Workings and Remedies
This book is not exactly what I expected. However Mama Starr didn’t leave me without wisdom and insight. To be honest I wasn’t entirely sure exactly what I thought I was getting when I got this book. I knew there would be folk remedies in there but that was about it. It was actually for the folk remedies that I bought this book.
The introduction of this book is actually very uplifting. This section should not be ignored. It contains the reason why she wrote this book and a cleansing exercise for the readers to do if they are ready to start making changes in their lives. Its simple exercises and affirmations that really make the meat of this book. The introduction cleansing rite is just the first to open the doors.
Prior to really getting into the meat of the word Mama Starr provides associations for candle colors and other magical and spiritual associations for the days of the week. The first section of this books covers daily affirmations. There is an affirmation or “daily wisdom” for each and every day of the year. Each month starts out with the Herb of the month, basic month trivia, sacred stone for the month and birthstone for the month.
The second part of the book is full of folk magic and healing remedies. She starts this section off with a fair warning that she does not expect anyone to try these themselves but if they do each individual must take their own responsibility for any averse effects that the treatments may have. She is not a doctor after all. These are just things that her family did while she was growing up to treat various ailments as they had no money to go to the doctor.
This is the reason why I bought this book. This section covers a small variety of the remedies that she used growing up and continues to use them. From earaches to dipper rash, nightmares and spirit removal this small section of the book covers many remedies that have proven to be effective. Some of these remedies are things I had seen elsewhere like the earaches with garlic oil.
Finally she ends the book with resources and references that readers may find useful. She also includes her own websites on there for further references as well as many other well known and trusted Conjure resources.
So if you are looking for a book of simple daily wisdom this is it.
Forming new Products
The process of forming new Products
Today I am going to discuss the process that goes into developing each and every herbal product that we sell. I handcraft each tincture and each incense blend and over the next few weeks will be crafting oils and candles. The process that goes into crafting each of these items is the same regardless of what form the product takes. It is a mixture of intuition, research, and hearing experiences from others in crafting similar items or when working with similar oils and products. The process is intense and it does take a lot of time but I as a witch and magician learn a lot about herbs and oils through this research and am able to grow my craft so I can best benefit you my customers.
In this post I am going to discuss the importance of each part in crafting the items I sell for you here. Without any one of the aspects of this process I would not be able to ensure the quality of the products I have to my customers. These parts are also essential to how I approach my spiritual crafts and practices in general so the crossover is essential. As I grow in my craft and practice so do my skills and my abilities to provide products that serve the needs of my customers.
Research
When it comes time to develop a new product I think about what I want to make. For example when I think of oils I make a list of oils I have thought about working with and or have worked with. I also think about spells and what sort of magical oils would best work with those spells I want to help my customers cast. With the list of the oils I want to craft based on needs created I turn to books and websites. This is where the research portion really begins.
There are three Primary books I work with on my general witchcraft and magical oils, incenses, tinctures, and brews. Those books are Magical Aroma Therapy, & The complete book of Incense, Oils, and Brews both by Scott Cunningham. The last physical book I work with is the book Kitchen Witchery by Marilyn Daniels. These three books form the basis of my general occult, witchcraft, and magical herbal products.. I also have an e-book by Lady Gianne called The Magical Oil Recipe Book.
A few of my new Oils, Tinctures, and Powders have a Hoodoo Inspiration to them. This is true. I am starting to as I have mentioned on the Facebook page, this blog and our other outlets that I am starting to study and explore the practice of Hoodoo. These products that are inspired by Hoodoo have been deeply researched. I have books and websites I have looked into for herbal associations, recipes, and spells from the Hoodoo perspective.
These Hoodoo inspired products have additional prayers and charging aspects done with them. They are also prepared in a slightly different mentality as the ethics within Hoodoo vastly differs from the ethics found within most modern witchcraft traditions. So I make it my own by adding my witchy inspiration to the mix. Its the addition of herbs from a witches cabinet as well as those from Hoodoo/Rootwork/Southern Conjure that makes the products Hoodoo inspired rather than being strictly traditional Hoodoo.
After I use my book resources I start to look into the second phase of developing my products. The second phase of product development really doesn’t make any sense without the research first. The research prepares you for what you might encounter in this next phase. For me this helps temper my overwhelming inspiration and intuition at times with the research.
Personal Experiences
This second phase is one of the main reasons I have joined so many different forums and social media exchanges related to witchcraft over the years. The sharing of personal experiences for me is one of the best ways to explore experiences both that you have had and that you have and those you have read about. The sharing of personal experiences by others is also a way to prepare oneself for doing new work. Its a way of gathering insight and may provide ways of looking at things that you would not otherwise consider.
Personal experiences with herbs can also help a person develop a wider understanding of herbal spirits and practices. While there are some spiritual and magical aspects that seem to cross cultures with various herbs, other experiences are based in culture or tradition specific practices. By combing the traditional lore shared in books with personal experiences deeper relationships with herbs can develop.
At the same time new herbs and new ways of performing magic and working with herbs based on the needs can also be learned through discussions of personal experience. Through these discussions healing charms that can be carried in the pocket and may be a single herb can be learned about and simplicity can be embraced. Other applications could be learning edible and medicinal aspects to herbs as well as folk medicine and remedies that one may not have considered before.
One personal experience notes have been taken down and added to the notes from book research the final stage of the actual preparation begins. This is the stage where my witch hat gets applied and my spirit speaks through me. This is where the actual crafting of the spell and magical actions beginnings before the physical development starts. here is the mental preparation and focus.
Intuitive decisions
During the research portion I write down copies of the recipes that spark my intuition and make me think “yes this is what I want”. When I am done with the personal experience notes I gather the recipes and I put them into piles based on need and topic (all money oils together, all healing oils together etc). After a while I look at the piles. I will then take all the recipes of that need (lets work with money for example here) and compare the components in each recipe.
I’ve noticed that it is very common to have multiple recipes in a book related to needs. There are several different types of money oils I have found in each of my resources. In noticing this factor I also made a note of the exact nature of the money oil (wealth, employment, fast cash, etc). This helped me further refine my own product decisions and allowed me to start refining magical and spiritual practices to more specific needs and desires.
I make a list of the herbs and oils I find in each recipe. From there I look at my herbal correspondence lists from earlier research. These lists provide excellent resources for future development as associations are already listed and correspondences have started to become known. Through using the herbs in multiple ways I start to know them very well. After working with them in a time the knowledge becomes second nature and I just know what herbs to add to a spell or ritual.
Its at this point that I start to write down what oils and herbs are going to be used in what new product. I often look at what I already have in stock so I can continue to develop working relationships with those herbs. However I am also always looking for new herbs and minerals to add to my practice. In each new product release I am working with a new herb or mineral. The last batch added sea salt to my practice. This new batch is adding several new herbs and essential oils.
Once I have the herbs and oils decided I can start the actual blending. After making decisions based on the research and personal experience my intuition decided in the end which herbs and oils to be used for each blend. Aside from choosing the herbs and oils there is one other essential aspect to the product development with the use of my intuition. That is the actual ratios of the herbs.
Often times in practice the actual plans end up needing to be changed to an extent. The ground herbs can take up more or less space than originally planned and envisioned. In this case slight changes need to be made based on how much of an individual herb I have left as well as for occasionally looking at substitutions.
This is where the intuition and personal knowledge and experience with the herbs comes into play. The more I know an herb through experience the better I can decide what to substitute and what to add. This also for me is where being crafty can come into play as I have to let the spirits of the plants and my spirit speak to me much as artists must let their muse speak to them. The blending of herbs is an art form in its own right. Its a spiritual art that often goes unappreciated.
Once these are all placed into balance the product has been developed. I test its use myself and keep some of each batch for my own personal use. This ensures to me that the quality of the product I send out is the same quality I would use myself. If I wouldn’t use it I wont sell it. This philosophy is also why the development of herbal products is tied directly into my own personal spiritual development and magical studies. The more I study and experience the more I can provide here.
Review: The Conjure workbook by Mama Starr
The Conjure Workbook Volume 1: Working the Root is an excellent tome on Southern Conjure work. When I picked up this tome I knew that it was going to be full of Christian mysticism and biblical references. That is what Hoodoo and conjure is. The Southern Hoodoo and conjure traditions are a mixture of folk beliefs from pre-slave days in Africa and the various Christian faiths in the south. This was how the slaves were able to hold on to a bit of their previous culture and identity.
If those who are looking to learn about Hoodoo and conjure work are expecting information to come from a pagan perspective and are looking at this work they will be disappointed. Mama Starr is very clear about her roots and the roots of Southern Conjure which are in Christian belief systems of the south. While she does say that you can be of any belief system and still work the spells and rituals she provides, unless you respect the Bible and understand that it is filled with lore, spells, and practices you will not get anything out of this book.
The author begins the book by discussing the work of ancestors. Here the author begins explaining one of the core concepts and beliefs across Conjure/Hoodoo/Rootwork traditions. There is an overall belief in an existence of an afterlife and that our ancestors will be there to answer us. The author starts by describing how they help us and work with us and finally ends with setting up an altar to venerate and pray to your ancestors.
I mentioned the importance of respect for the Bible as a sacred text and as a book of power as that is the second topic discussed in the book. As I said early on the author is clear in that this book is a southern conjure book which is going to have referenced to the Bible in there. Most of the references are in the Old Testament but they are still Bible references.
After working with the ancestors is covered, crafting altars and work spaces is discussed, and the Bible is mentioned as an important source the Author gets into the spirits and beings that are often worked with in her practice of Hoodoo. Prior to reading this book I was aware of the work with the archangels and the saints. Here I learned of new spirits and beings also associated with Conjure as well as how we can even work with the prophets in the bible.
Each being mentioned came with several different prayers and ways that you can work with them. These early workings are here to give you an idea about the powers each spirit has. These workings also introduce you to the concepts of repeating works, and how actual effort is put into the work. The author makes it clear that these things are repeated several times for effectiveness.
As the book continues the author mentions and focuses on another core belief in rootworking traditions. That belief and practice is one of divination. Starr provides many different ways of working divination including a very traditional practice of reading the bones. While the actual practice of bone reading is not discussed, the author does include its history of use. The author included a photo of her own bone set.
As the book continues the author continues an easy to follow step by step instruction on workings. The author also continues her straight talk. The author is very serious about their work and their tradition. Throughout the book the author mentions how some of these works are dangerous and are not to be simply played with. She does this not to discourage people from doing these works, but to encourage people to take the work seriously.
The author does speak only of their own tradition and practices. While the author does give you all the information you need to create your own Hoodoo/Conjure practice she does encourage you to find an actual teacher to learn more complex works. As an example the author explains why some packet spells written by other authors aren’t as effective as they could be because of folding the paper of the packet in a different manner than she was taught with an explanation of why the other method may actually backfire.
This book is filled with practical information. With the authors attitude, explanations, and the step by step processes in the book the tome The Conjure Workbook volume 1: Working the Root provides everything you need to know in order to effective start working your own spells and rituals. By working the spells in the book you develop understanding of associations and correspondences which can be useful in creating your own effective spells.
Pagan Blog Project: C is for Crafting Protection Salt
Witchcraft is a craft and a practice. As a witch I spend a lot of time crafting different incenses for rituals and for spells. I also spend time crafting spells and rituals. There are many different types of items that can be crafted and built. Today we are going to talk about an item I call protection salt.
Protection salt is in some ways related to Black Salt. The idea behind protection salt is that it will protect your house and home as well as defend your home. Protection salt works both to keep spirits and negative forces away but it also works to cause harm to those spirits and forces that would wish you harm.
Protection salt is really easy to craft and it is very effective. There are very few items used in the recipe and it takes little to no time to craft the items yourself. It takes little to no time and is one of the most effective items I have crafted in recent history.
Materials:
Blender/grinder
Bottle or container
Sea salt 9 table spoons
Dragons blood 3 table spoons
Nettle leaf 3 table spoons
White sage 3 table spoons
Dragon Fire protection tincture 1 1/2 table spoons
Wand or athame to stir
Process:
Measure out the sea salt. Put the sea salt in the grinder
Measure out the Nettle leaf. Add it to the grinder. Mix with your wand or athame
Add the white sage and mix with your wand or athame.
Add the last dry herb (the dragons blood) and mix with the wand or the athame.
Cover the grinder/blender and mix them into a fine powder.
Stir the mixture with your wand or athame.
Call upon the arch angel Michel and the dragons of protection to fill the salt with their power.
Direct Michel power and the dragons power into the salt mixture. Blend with your athame or wand.
Finally add in the Dragons Fire tincture. Feel even more Dragon energy and sacred protection energy filling the blender.
Once more blend the mixture.
As it blends focus on protection and defense of your home, office, or even car. See the mixture radiating both protective and defensive energy.
Bottle the mixture in a bottle or container and label it.
Use:
Sprinkle the mixture on all the windowsills and under all the doors in your home. Sprinkle the mixture on the floors in every room, on your porch, on your steps, and in your drive way. This seals the protection around the building and within the building.
The tinctures addition to the mixture allows the salt to stick better to the windowsills, doors and steps.
Items mentioned:
Available: https://www.etsy.com/listing/161383786/dragon-fire-protection-tincture?ref=shop_home_feat_2
Available: https://www.etsy.com/listing/163604756/powdered-dragons-blood-resin?ref=shop_home_active_11
Available: https://www.etsy.com/listing/161392601/white-sage?
Good luck on crafting your own Protection Salt. If you have any questions feel free to ask me. I will more than gladly help you understand why I used the items I used and how they work as a combination,
Pagan Buisness Network
Mystic Echoes 