Tag: witchery

Blog Post 84 – Diamonds and Clubs (Cards, part III)

Okay, so today I’m going to look at individual cards and their significance in my readings.  I’ll basically tell you a few key words, then elaborate a bit on potential interpretations of these cards.  Most of my system comes out of years of practice using playing cards for divination, as well as for games.  I have found that in some cases, my personal work with a particular card has shown me a meaning different from the one I originally learned.  When it comes to these sorts of fortune-telling methods, practice makes perfect.

Now, onto the cards!  Let’s start with:

Diamonds

Remember that diamonds in general signify money, fortune, luck, and happiness.  They also can relate to messages or news, or social interaction.

Ace – A letter; A coin.  The Ace of Diamonds indicates some new money or new information entering the questioner’s life.  It can also have to do with a sudden shift in luck—if preceded and followed by spades, that could mean bad luck.  Additionally, due to the solitary nature of the pip, it could mean being very careful with your news, luck, or money—keeping it to yourself, as it were.

Two – Birds (as in “a little birdie told me”); Exchange of funds.  This card is about sharing, whether that’s news and gossip (like the birds), or sharing your luck or fortune with someone else.  It can indicate a partnership of some kind, but usually not a business one so much as a financial one.  For example, if it were paired with a card connected to a friend or lover, you might be moving in with that person soon (because you’ll be yoking yourself to them financially).

Three – Gifts; A fountain.  The Three of Diamonds shows generosity—sometimes even unwilling generosity.  Someone who draws this card likely “throws his/her money away,” just like one throws pennies in a fountain (if you’re singing “Three Coins in a Fountain” right now, I sympathize with you).  This may seem like a sign of irresponsibility, but it can also simply receiving a gift, or an expansion of fortunes which allows the person to be generous.

Four – The purse/money bag; No news.  With the Four of Diamonds, the reader will need to figure out if the reading is about money or information, as it changes the card’s meaning a bit.  If the question is financial, thefour indicates a stable monetary situation, but also one without any chance of growing—much like a closed purse neither receives nor spends money.  In the case of information, this card indicates a dull waiting period, possibly a prolonged one.  This can mean “no news is good news,” or that the client must wait on tenterhooks for a proper resolution to his/her situation.

Five – Good luck; Laughter.  This card shows the subject surrounded by friends, fortune, and happiness.  It’s not the all-encompassing joy found in other cards like the Ten of Diamonds but it’s generally positive nonetheless.  Depending on context, however, it can also mean something like “the last laugh,” and have slightly more sinister connotations.

Six – Streets of Gold; Good decisioins.  No, not the Yellow Brick Road, but the idea’s the same.  The client’s on the right path and merely needs to continue doing what he/she is doing and success will come.  Paired with a card like an Ace, this card may mean recent decisions have been good; paired with a King or a Queen the client is probably getting very good advice from someone.

Seven – Lies; Deceit and falsehood.  The Seven of Diamonds indicates that the questioner is being lied to by someone.  This lie may or may not have to do with money, but almost always has to do with happiness.  Perhaps the client is happy being lied to, and little white lies sustain him/her—this could certainly be the case if a Jack of Diamonds, Clubs, or Hearts were nearby.  More often, though, the lies indicate trouble to come.

Eight – Gossip; Idle chatter.  Much like the Two of Diamonds, this card means an exchange of information, although it usually is information of little value.  It can also indicate talking about money, getting good news about one’s fortunes or finances, or someone’s natural wit.  Paired with something like the Two of Spades, it might mean something like “loose lips sink ships,” and that one should hold one’s tongue for a while.

Nine – Daydreams; Peace and contentment.  Think of this card as a leisurely day spent in the sun with nothing particular to do.  It’s a card of relative idleness, but without any real negativity.  It’s a well-earned rest, a chance to plan for the future, and time to stop and smell the flowers.  Beware, though, if it’s paired with a four of any kind, as it may mean that all one’s plans are but pipe dreams, destined to disappear like clouds in an afternoon sky.  Or something like that.

Ten – A treasure chest; Sunlight; Joy.  With the Ten of Diamonds, the client can expect great happiness.  In the context of other good luck cards, this may mean an unexpected windfall or a sudden improvement in circumstances.  The Ten of Diamonds leaves little room for any sorrow or woe, and generally indicates the fulfillment of financial goals and personal derams.  Of course, as Willy Wonka said, “Do you know what happened to the boy who suddenly got everything he ever wanted?”  Oh, wait, he lived happily ever after…

Jack – Good news; A girl.  This card displays a young boy (or possibly a young girl, hence the card’s alternate meaning).  At one time these cards were known as Knaves instead of Jacks, and would have been similar to a knight’s squire.  In the context of a card reading, this Jack means that some good news is about to arrive. Or that a beautiful girl is about to arrive.  Which might also be good news, depending on  your point of view.

Queen – The good wife; A wedding; Sensuality.  This Queen is all about duty and splendor.  She could be a mother or wife in the questioner’s life who inspires joy and happiness, or provides sound financial advice.  More likely, though, she indicates someone who does what must be done or a woman with a deeply sexual side.  She can also mean a wedding (and thus a large expense and a large celebration), or in some cases a big party (for instance if she appeared alongside “friend” cards like the Queen or Jack of Clubs).

King – A bank; A civil trial; Wisdom with money.  The King of Diamonds means power through money or fortune.  Pulled with several spades, the client can expect to face some financial trials (literally in a courtroom or possibly only figuratively).  Alternately, pulled with clubs or diamonds, this card probably means that money is being invested wisely, or that there is a man in the questioner’s life who provides very good advice when it comes to luck and money.

Clubs

Clubs are work, destiny, plans and debate.  Remember that as you do your readings.

Ace – A cave; Solitary contemplation.  This card tells the reader that the subject should take some time to really evaluate his or her life.  Has he/she got goals?  Is he/she working to reach them, or should there be some reevaluation of priorities.  This is a lonely card, but not necessarily a bad one—often we need moments of intense personal reflection before we can move on to do the great things we are capable of.

Two – A handshake; Business partnership.  The Two of Clubs shows an agreement or arrangement made between two people, often for the sake of business or stability.  It can indicate a treaty or alliance of some kind, or a pairing up to overcome obstacles in the way.  Pulled with something like a Two of Spades, it may mean the impending end of a previous business partnership.

Three – A stone wall; Obstacles.  In most cases, threes indicate wishes or growth, so this card may seem odd.  However, the setbacks provided by a good obstacle also provide the impetus to overcome them oftentimes.  Usually this card means that whatever challenges the subject faces, whether they be business troubles or a lack of personal direction, he/she can and will overcome them.  Paired with something like a Three of Hearts or Diamonds, such progress is likely just around the bend.

Four – A horse and cart; A plowed field.  This card is about potential.  The Four of Clubs definitely means that for the moment nothing is happening, but that now is the time to prepare for inevitable change.  By “tilling” and “plowing” oneself or one’s business plans, the eventual outcome will be far better than one would get just sitting on one’s hands.  If this card  appears with a Nine of Clubs, that outcome is ripe and should show up very soon.

Five – A barn; A healthy body.  The Five of Clubs is encouraging.  It can represent either a full barn (which in turn stands for abundance and hard work paying off) or a strong, healthy body.  If this card were at the end of a reading full of cards which indicated illness (such as a Five or Nine of Spades), a recovery should be expected.  An inversion of that order might mean deteriorating health, however, so context is important.

Six – Footprints; A clear trail.  A person who gets this card in his/her reading probably has a definitive sense of purpose, or has recently begun some activity that he/she finds very fulfilling.  This can be a career, a hobby, or even a friendship of some kind.  If the appropriate King or Queen of Hearts comes after this card, it might be a sign that true love (“wuv…twue wuv”) is on the horizon.

Seven – Doubts/Worries.  The Seven of Clubs indicates that the client is very troubled by something.  So troubled, in fact, that it is likely hindering or debilitating the questioner in some way.  Paired with something like the Seven of Spades and/or the Ace of Clubs, he/she likely spends a lot of time alone and crying over something that he/she feels powerless to change.  The nice thing about this card (and there is a nice thing) is that for the most part, all the troubles are really in the asker’s head.  They can be overcome, but it may take a mental sea change to effect that change.

Eight – Shop talk; A table or bench.  When the work day finishes, it’s nice to crowd around a table with friends, family, and sometimes even co-workers for a drink or a meal.  Often the events of the day get rehashed, with details added or subtracted as conversation directs.  That’s what this card is all about.  It shows people getting together to share the tricks of their particular trades, make plans for times ahead, or even occasionally plumb the mysteries of the universe, depending on how much beer is at the table.

Nine – Reaping; A forest.  The Nine of Clubs shows things that have grown and how we deal with them as human beings.  In some cases, we reap what we’ve sown and prepare for hard times ahead, hoping that what we have will be enough.  Sometimes, we wander through the trees getting lost, hoping we’ll find our way back again.  A questioner finding this card may be having trouble making sense of his or her life, but there is still plenty of hope left.  Followed by something like a Ten of Hearts or Clubs, this card simply means that a dark night soon reveals a bright dawn.

Ten – A herd or flock; Clouds.  This card is abundance, completion, and satisfaction.  It is definitely all about rewards, comfort, and a job well done.  It completes the sense of accomplishment found in the Five of Clubs, and adds the element of restfulness.  The seeker’s found his or her calling, home life is happy and stable, and/or business is steady and fulfilling.  The clouds, heavy with rain on the horizion, are pouring down copiously.  This is the “pat on the back” or “Miller time” card.

Jack – A friend; A sibling.  The Jack of Clubs is a peer, whether that’s a co-worker, a good friend, or a sibling.  This is someone with whom the questioner has a mutual respect.  The Jack can also indicate business news of some kind (especially if an Ace or Two of Diamonds or an Eight of Clubs shows up), and may also indicate a young boy entering the client’s life.

Queen – A mother; A nurse; A wise woman.  This is a card indicating someone very smart, very strong, and very helpful.  The seeker probably knows exactly who this card represents when he/she sees it, and also probably knows exactly what kind of advice this person would give (think of this as a conscience card).  This card can also mean a mother hen, too, though likely only if connected to an argumentative card, like the Eight of Spades.  Conflict in the Clubs is productive, however, so even a mother hen has her place.  Finally, this card indicates nurturing.  Paired with something like an Ace of Clubs, it likely means taking the time to heal old emotional wounds before moving forward with something or someone new.

King – A father; A judge; A general.  The King of Clubs is someone with authority, someone who can give an order and get things done.  He may not always be nice about it, but he has his reasons for driving people so hard.  This person is someone wise, though perhaps also someone very stubborn and set in his ways.  For those who have issues with feeling judged all the time, this card could be troubling, but it may also mean that the questioner must face his or her fears and forge ahead.  This is a card about what must be done, and living up to expectations.

Wow, a long post today.  I hope someone out there finds this useful.  Let me know if you do!  Next post we’ll finish up the individual cards.  Until then…
Thanks for reading!

-Cory

Blog Post 83 – Pips and Faces (Cards, part II)

Today I’m continuing the card-reading discussion from the last post.  I’m going to tackle this on a card-by-card basis, but I thought it might be helpful to add a little bit on enumeration and face cards as a whole.  I really should have done this on yesterday’s post, but, well, I didn’t.  So it’s going to be in today’s instead.

There are lots of different systems of interpreting the card numbers and the royals.  Some are fairly simplistic (mine definitely are) and some get incredibly detailed, looking at astrological and numerological significance in kabbalistic and ceremonial magical contexts.  I’m not a particularly good ceremonialist, so I tend to use a fairly straightforward system focusing on key concepts associated with each number.  I can probably demonstrate better than I can explain, so here’s my numbering system.

Aces – Beginnings; Primary or Solitary things

Twos – Pairs; Couples; Exchange

Threes – Growth; Wishes

Fours – Decisions; Stagnation; Choices

Fives – Groups; Bodily things; Gains/Losses

Six – Paths

Sevens – Epitome cards*; Inversions; Trouble

Eights – Talking; Ideas

Nines – Patience; Ambition; Expansion

Tens – Completion; Endings

Jacks – Youth; Children; Messages; Peers

Queens – Women or a particular woman; Beauty; Mothers; Nurses; Teachers

Kings – Men or a particular man; Wisdom; Age; Power; Judges

*A note on “epitome” cards – the Sevens of each suit represent the most concentrated form of that suit.  Often, there’s a somewhat negative connotation to this intensity.  Yet, this does not necessarily mean all good or all bad.  For example, the seven of spades can mean “tears” as an epitome card, but if those tears are near lots of red cards, they are likely tears of joy.

The number combinations can also lead to a certain amount of interpretation.  For instance, if you had several threes and nines, that would guide you towards a reading about opportunities and very quick growth (because both cards are about growth/expansion).  A seven, five, and four might indicate bad choices and losses that come out of those choices.  A king with a six might mean a teacher or elder is going to help guide the questioner in a new direction.

Royal cards (or “face cards”) also have a certain potency that the numeric cards lack.  I sometimes include aces as a face card, but this really depends on the reading and the number of other face cards around it.  It’s sort of like spiritual blackjack—it can be the highest or lowest value depending on the other cards.  The other face cards usually represent particular people or major events in the subject’s life.  Getting a king and a queen of the same suit can often indicate “parents” or the parental guidance which shaped the questioner’s life.  You’ll see more about these as we explore them in depth later on, but for now just know that royals, aces, and sevens all mean “pay attention to this reading.”  There are some divinatory systems (such as the card-reading taught in curanderismo) which also remove the queens from the deck before reading.  This dates back to a European practice based on a specific deck, but don’t be surprised if you don’t see them in someone’s reading.  As a final word on royals, there are two special royals in my system of divination:  the king and queen of hearts.  Depending on the gender of the client, one of these cards will represent him or her (the king for a man, the queen for a woman).  We’ll look at how that works later on, though.

All of these interpretations are also deeply linked to the suits, of course, and to where they fall during the reading.

Okay, now with that out of the way, we’ll be moving on to individual cards in the next post.  Please let me know if you have any questions, though!

Thanks for reading!

-Cory

Blog Post 82 – Cards, an Overview

Hello readers!

Let me first say that I know it would be fairly impossible for me to explain a divination system thoroughly in one post. So this will likely be the first of several posts addressing the use of playing cards as a magical tool.  What I would like to do is explain my personal system of card divination, as well as some of the variants and influences which have shaped my practice.   I’m not going to dive into an extensive history of playing cards or tarot cards, as those subjects are well-covered and well-documented in other sources.  However, a little of the history that sometimes slips through the cracks (especially regarding playing cards) might be worth mentioning here.

While the absolute origin of pictographic cards is unknown, many folks believe they came out of India, China, or Turkey, or with the travelling Romany people (also frequently called “Gypsies”).  What is known is that by the 1500’s, playing cards were very popular with the lower classes, and often cited as a vice by clerical and governmental documents throughout Europe.  They received wide-spread appreciation from the highest ranks, including Bohemian emperor Rudolph II and Napoleon’s spiritual advisor, Madame Lenormand.  Yet cards have almost always been popular among the lower classes, too.  Cards came to America with settlers, sailors, and soldiers.  In fact, in the late 1700’s, a popular ballad called “The Soldier’s Prayer-Book” described the suits, pips, and enumeration of playing cards in terms of biblical metaphor.  For example, the fives represent the five wounds of Christ, the nines are the nine lepers healed by Jesus, and the tens are the Ten Commandments.  While this song may have been a white-wash for gambling soldiers eager to keep one of the few portable entertainments allowed them, it does register an important point:  cards make wonderful tools for metaphoric interpretation.

So why playing cards instead of tarot cards?  For one thing, playing cards have been more or less easily accessible since the 1600’s, and are versatile.  The cards you play a game of blackjack with one day can be used to reveal the future the next.  They also travel well in a pocket and are easily replaced if they get torn or damaged.  Plantation owners in the antebellum South often thought little of slaves having decks of playing cards to amuse themselves in their few off hours (though in some places stricter masters prohibited them altogether).  William Wells Brown, who provided a slave narrative for a character named “Uncle Frank,” claimed that each plantation also had at least one fortune-teller somewhere on the premises, and at least few of them used playing cards.  Today, playing cards are an excellent way of divining even in plain sight.  No one thinks much of two people over a table full of diamonds, spades, clubs, and hearts, while a Devil or Lovers card might raise eyebrows.

My own system of playing card divination is largely based on the book It’s All in the Cards, by Chita Lawrence and the rhyme “For the Witch of Poor Memory” by Dawn Jackson, with a significant amount of additional material I’ve picked up from other books, teachers, and experiences over time.  What I outline here will be my own understanding of these cards, so please do not take it as gospel, and find a method that works for you.

Like most who practice cartomancy, I break the major meanings of the cards down by color and suits.  However, unlike a lot of other practitioners, I don’t ascribe these suits to tarot parallels or elemental attributes.  There are some connections, of course, as hearts and cups both signal emotion-based interpretations, but it’s not a hard-and-fast link.

First, black cards indicate “negative” or “no” answers, while red cards are “positive” or “yes” answers.  This is most important in short readings, which I’ll address in a later post.  Some will say that having more black cards than red is a sign of negativity, but honestly, the only truly “negative” cards in an extended reading are the spades, in my opinion.  For me, I look at the suits in the following way:

Hearts – Family, friends, love, and lovers.  Also emotions and things which are deeply felt.
Clubs – Work and business.  One’s “calling” or destiny.  Also conflict, discussion, and debate.
Diamonds – Money, luck, fortune, happiness.  Also news, letters, and socializing.
Spades – Tears, suffering, woe.  War, fighting, violence.  Also change, warning, and doubts/fears.

I’ll get into each of these suits a little more when I break down the individual cards, but this should give you some idea what I see when I do a layout for a reading.  If I see lots of diamonds and clubs, I know that someone’s got some good work he or she will be well compensated for coming around the bend.  All hearts means that the client is emotionally invested in the reading, or that he or she is dealing with deep family or friendship questions.  Spades and clubs together would be a sign that the client’s job might be in jeopardy, or that work is very unfulfilling for him or her.

In the next post, we’ll get into the actual significance of particular cards, but it is good to keep the overall meanings of the suits in mind as we go forward.  If you have any questions, please ask, and I’ll be happy to answer as best I can (from my own personal perspective…did I mention that yet?).

For today though, thanks for reading!

-Cory

Blog Post 81 – Van Van Oil

Greetings everyone!  Today, I’m going to cover another piece of our recent Lucky 13 podcast:  Van Van oil.  This is one of the most common hoodoo oils around, and actually  shows up in other places fairly often, too.  Because it is made from grasses found in Southeast Asia, it has a long history in medicine and magic from those areas.  Some of the grasses used in Van Van are also grown in West Africa, which is likely one route through which Southern conjure practices adopted this formula.

The basic ingredients in a Van Van blend are oils from:

Most of these are not easily available in bulk herb form, with the exceptions of lemongrass (which you can find at almost any Asian market) and vetiver (which can often be found in herb or metaphysical shops).  All of the oils except gingergrass are readily available from any aromatherapy or herbal extract dealer.  Gingergrass oil, which can be hard to find, is often left out of homemade Van Van recipes, or something else might be substituted for it.

The proportions heavily favor lemongrass in the recipes I’ve seen, almost to the point of exclusivity.  There are some who solely use lemongrass oil and add dried botanicals to it in order to round out the recipe.  Generally speaking, a home blender would use:

  • 5-10 parts lemongrass oil
  • 3-5 parts citronella oil
  • 2-3 parts vetiver root or oil
  • 1 part palmarosa
  • 1 part gingergrass

All of these would be carefully blended in a sterile jar, then topped with a carrier oil (sweet almond or jojoba would be excellent).  The proportions above are merely suggestions, and you would do well to contact a trained herbalist before blending these on your own.  In reality, you might be able to use just the first three oils and have some pretty solid Van Van oil, so don’t spend loads of money tracking down rare herbal ingredients unless you really feel compelled to do so.

Additions to the recipe vary by practitioner and region.  For example, in New Orleans, one might find lemon verbena added to the mix.  In fact, this may be how the formula got its name.  According to Cat Yronwode, Creole rootworkers would sometimes use lemon verbena in their blends in order to supplement the strong lemon-musk scent of the oil.  Verbena—a related herb—was often called vervain, and that was given a pidgin phoneme of “van van.”  The name does NOT have anything to do with vanilla, which is not found in any traditional recipes for this formula.  Judika Illes, whom we’ve referenced several times before, suggests adding another wild Asian grass—patchouli—to the blend, but I’ve never done this myself (I’m not a fan of patchouli, personally).  Other additions might include pyrite chips or “lucky” things like four leaf clover charms (which can also be anointed with Van Van and carried for luck).

So just what is Van Van oil for and how does it work?  Well, it’s considered a sort of ultimate luck formula, having sway over money, prosperity, gambling, love, and anything else that might need a little luck.  It’s often used to anoint talismans—like the rabbit’s foot—or mojo hands made for gambling or love.  As for how it works, lemongrass (and all citrus grasses) has a powerful “cut and clear” effect…think of how many lemon-scented cleaning agents there are.  They just make things seem cleaner (lemon also has some antibacterial/antimicrobial properties, and is a potent preservative in small doses—sliced apples are often treated with a lemon juice extract to keep them from browning).  Citronella does something similar (think of how citronella candles, torches, and oils repel nasty insects like mosquitoes).  These grasses cut and clear any negative influences, warding off bad luck. Palmarosa and gingergrass (which come from the same plant, in reality, Cymbopogon martine) are muskier, and so have a slight sexual connotation.  If you think of something being clean, bright, and sexy, it’s not hard to imagine lucky in the mix, too (think James Bond in a casino).  Vetiver is the muskiest of all, with strong earthy tones.  Earth has connections to abundance and prosperity (think of fertile black soil planted with seeds which grow into crops), plus there is a strong sexual current again.  Sex + money + nothing standing in your way?  Yeah, I’d say that’s pretty lucky.

A few quick notes:

Magico-botanical notes come primarily from Cat Yronwode’s book, Hoodoo Herb & Root Magic.

You can find Van Van oils at the Lucky Mojo Co.,  Music City Mojo, Toads Bone Apotheca, Queen of Pentacles Conjure, The Conjure Doctor, and just about any botanica or root shop around.

That’s it for today.  Thanks for reading!

-Cory

Blog Post 80 – Horseshoes

Following in the vein of recent posts, today I’m looking at another luck charm:  the horseshoe.  One thing Laine and I discussed in Podcast 13 was that the horseshoe seems to be a rather ubiquitous talisman.  It is so ubiquitous, in fact, that many folks may not even realize it has any magical connotation at all.  In an article from Western Folklore entitled “Lucky Horseshoes,” Jeannine E. Talley writes:

The horseshoe as a bestower of luck is so frequently encountered that it has become a cliche, but at the same time an isolated belief without a context. Barnet’s comment that the mule has been “pounding it full of luck” provides not only the ‘logic’ explaining why the horseshoe is full of luck but also reveals that luck is ac-cumulative. His insistence that the old nails must be used to hang the shoe is not found in standard collections for folk belief, but is akin to the notion that if the hardware is hung with prongs down, the luck will “run out.” This instance is a prime example that collecting the item is not enough; the contextual background of any item is of equal importance since it often contains the rationale which makes the belief credible. (p. 129)

I like this particular examination of the horseshoe because it details two points:  1) the horseshoe’s luck comes from its association with the horse itself and 2) as Talley states, the luck is accumulative, so the longer a shoe has been on a horse, the luckier it is.

Of course, there are plenty of other theories about why a horseshoe might be lucky.  Robert M. Lawrence, in his article,  “The Folk-Lore of the Horseshoe” describes the horseshoe as a talismanic emblem with many possible folkloric connections, including:

  • The Jewish Passover – like blood spread on doorposts/lintels and rowan trees in Scotland
  • Serpent emblem – “In front of a church in Crendi, a town in the southern part of the island of Malta, there is to be seen a statue having at its feet a protective symbol in the shape of a half-moon encircled by a snake”
  • Moon emblem – “the brass crescent, an avowed charm against the evil eye, is very commonly attached to the elaborately decorated harnesses of Neapolitan draught horses, and is used in the East to embellish the trappings of elephants.”
  • Phallic Emblem of some kind
  • Prong-shamed talisman – like protective horns of animals (connected to African symbols)
  • Horse as Sacred Animal (as mentioned above)
  • Iron as “Virtuous” metal capable of dispelling harmful forces (Journal of American Folklore, v.9, n.35, 1896, p. 288-292)

I hope to get into some of these symbols and ideas in other posts at another time—particularly iron, which shows up a lot in fairy doctoring practices and other magical systems—so for now I think it suffices to say that horseshoes have a lot of lore to build upon and are quite lucky, though no one seems to know exactly why they are so.

So how does one use horseshoes?  First of all, the shoe needs to be one which actually has been on a horse at some point (remember all that pounding of luck into it in Jeannine Talley’s article?).  Likewise, there are some who say that hanging a horseshoe involves using a spent horseshoe nail, too.  That seems to be a slightly less stringent requirement, but if you happen to have a spare horseshoe nail with your horseshoe, why not use it?

The issue of which way the “horns” of the shoe are pointing seems to be hotly contested by those who concern themselves with such things.  Both opinions seem to have some sound reasoning behind them, which I mentioned in the most recent podcast.  The general idea boils down to whether you think the horns up are “holding in the luck” or whether the horns down are “pouring the luck out on you.”  Either way, I think this is where instinct kicks in.  If you feel like you’ve hung it the “wrong way,” you probably have and  you should switch it.  But if you feel like your luck’s in good condition and your horseshoe’s “right,” then leave it be.

As to how specifically a horseshoe might be used, Harry M. Hyatt has a few examples of horseshoes in hoodoo work:

1) From Vol.2,p.1547

NAIL A HORSESHOE UP
OVER YOUR FRONT DOOR.
NAIL A PENNY DOWN IN THE FRONT
DOOR TOO. SCRUB IT ALL THE TIME.*
THESE WILL BRING YOU GOOD LUCK.

Dey kin use a horseshoe. Yo’ take a horseshoe an’ yo’ kin nail it up
ovah yore front do’ an’ take a penny an’ nail it down in de front do’; an’
yo’ jes’ let dat penny stay dere all de time an’ yo’ scrub ovah dat penny
all de time, an’ jes’ leave it dere an’ dat’ll be good luck fo’ yo’.
[Savannah, GA; Madam Pauline; Informant #1274. C575:1-C586:10 = 2136-2167.]

2) From Vol.2,p.1443

A HORSESHOE OVER THE DOOR
KEEPS SPOOKS OUT AND BRINGS LUCK.
& A MULESHOE OVER THE DOOR OF A BUSINESS
BRINGS BUSINESS SUCCESS

Keep a horseshoe – keep it ovah de do’ to keep de spook outa dere an’
fo’ luck, specially a man who does business. He’d have a new [mule] shoe ovah
de do’ – like he do’s a business roun’ in a shop or a restaurant or somepin
lak dat, because a mule is a hard-workin’ thing, hard-workin’. All right.
An’ jes’ lak ah’d have de mule when he hitch out an’ go to his stall to
eat, people be coming to his place and say….
[Sumter, SC; Informant #1387; Cylinders C885:1-C902:4 = 2366-2383]

(Both of these can be found in Hyatt’s book or in the excellent Yahoo! Group  “HyattSpells”)

I like the first example because it combines the lucky penny with the lucky horseshoe, and places luck at your head and your feet, so every time you enter a door,  you get caught between the two and get a double dose of luck.  I also like the rationale for using a mule shoe to boost business (because the mule is so hard-working).

Finally, Vance Randolph describes the Ozark methods of horseshoe deployment in Ozark Magic & Folklore:

  • Most hillfolk of my acquaintance use a horseshoe instead of the stone (to protect chickens from hawks), and some think that a muleshoe is even better. It is frequently fastened in the firebox of the stove rather than in the oven. In the old days the muleshoe was hung up in the fireplace, or even set into the mortar at the back of the chimney (p. 43)
  • Many hillfolk think that the man who finds a horseshoe with the closed end toward him will do well to “leave it lay.” If the open end is toward the finder, he sometimes spits on it and throws it over his left shoulder, a procedure which is supposed to bring good fortune. Or he may place it in a tree or on a fence,saying: “Hang thar, all my bad luck!” In this case, whoever touches the hanging horseshoe falls heir to the misfortune of the man who placed it there (p. 62)
  • Probably the commonest way to keep witches out of the house is to nail a horseshoe over the door; this is regarded as a sort of general prophylactic against witches, bad luck, contagious disease, and other evil influences (p. 283)

So that’s the lucky horseshoe.  Another long article, so I apologize for that, but hopefully you aren’t too bored.  Skimming is probably a good skill to apply when reading these blogs.  At any rate, if you have any questions or comments about horseshoes, please feel free to post them!

As always, thanks for reading!

-Cory

Podcast 13 – Lucky 13

-SHOWNOTES FOR EPISODE 13-

Summary
On this, our Lucky 13th episode, released on Friday the 13th, we’re looking at luck charms and where they come from.  We’ve also got a money bowl spell in WitchCraft, and Van Van oil in Spelled Out.

Play:

Download:  New World Witchery – Episode 13

-Sources-
We reference lots of sources, including:
-Cat Yronwode’s Lucky W Amulet Archive
-The Uncle Remus stories by Joel Chandler Harris
-Harry M. Hyatt’s Hoodoo – Conjuration – Witchcraft – Rootwork
-The article “Charles Chestnutt & the Doctrine of Conjuration”) by Bettye Jo Crissler Carr
-Judika Illes’s book Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells
– Ozark Magic & Folklore by Vance Randolph
-The Chan Chu money frog of Chinese lore
-Richard Dorson’s Buying the Wind

Promos & Music
Title music:  “Homebound,” by Jag, from Cypress Grove Blues.  From Magnatune.
Promo 1- Witchery of One
Promo 2- Media Astra ac Terra
Promo 3- Borealis Meditation
Promo 4 – Iron Powaqa

Blog Post 79 – Lucky Rabbit’s Foot

For today’s post, I’m looking at the folklore and magic surrounding one of the most ubiquitous pieces of conjure paraphernalia, the rabbit’s foot.  There are plenty of theories about this particular luck charm, but not much that can be definitely put down regarding its origin or provenance.  Rabbit foot charms have been around since at least the mid-to-late 19th century in North America, and likely predate the Civil War.  They are used for general luck, gambling aids, love enhancers, and other areas where a bit of extra luck might help.

A quick word of warning, however.  Many of the sources I’ll be citing in this post also date from earlier eras, and thus have a great deal of offensive material in them.  There are words that appear here which would likely incite violence if used lightly today, so please understand that I present them here as a piece of the folklore to which they belong.  Just as a smart modern magician finds a reasonable substitution for liquid quicksilver/mercury (and thus avoids madness and poisoning), a wise student of folklore and folk magic remembers that just because a sentiment appears in print doesn’t make it right or appropriate.

There, now let’s move on to some of the good stuff about rabbits’ feet.

Catherine Yronwode provides information on the rabbit’s foot on her Lucky W Amulet Archive, describing  the foot as catalogue offerings from the early-to-mid twentieth century:

As for the foot itself, a circa-1940 mail order catalogue from the Standard O and B Supply Company, a Chicago-based distributor of African-American hoodoo material, offered undyed rabbit foot charms “made with a metal band and a link to attach on chain.” The Johnson-Smith Novelty Company offered identical charms in its 1941 catalogue. The advertisement shown here goes these one better and promises a free vial of Van Van oil with each rabbit’s foot; the formula is a Louisiana hoodoo favourite that “clears away that evil mess” and increases the strength of any good luck charm to which it is applied. Since none of the older catalogues or ads mention any colour when describing rabbit’s foot charms, it can be assumed that the items were undyed and came only in natural tan or white.

She goes on to talk about her uncertainty regarding why a rabbit’s foot might be so lucky:

Why is the rabbit foot lucky? I am not sure. Rabbits are swift and they reproduce prolifically, but the luck of the rabbit foot is monetary and sexual; as far as i know, it is not related to swiftness or fertility. There is considerable evidence that the lucky rabbit foot is a remnant of an African clan totem, an importation related somehow to Br’er Rabbit, the famous protagonist of an African trickster-god myth-cycle.

Yronwode points out that the rabbit’s foot appears in the famous Uncle Remus stories, written by Joel Chandler Harris in 1881.  In a tale entitled “Brother Rabbit and his Famous Foot,” Uncle Remus describes the tricky Br’er (or Brother) Rabbit’s prosperity-drawing mojo bag (which he refers to as a money purse, or dialectically a “money-pus”):

Brer Wolf look at de money-pus, en see w’at in it. Hit ‘uz one er deze yer kinder money-pus wid tossle on de een’ en shiny rings in de middle. Brer Wolf look in afar fer ter see w’at he kin see. In one een’ dey wuz a piece er calamus-root en some collard-seeds, en in de tier een’ dey wuz a great big rabbit foot (Harris p. 223)

So even a rabbit carries a rabbit’s foot for luck and money.  How’s that for strange?  But why is it so lucky?  In a 1973 thesis on conjuration in the works of African-American author (and somewhat accidental folklorist) Charles Chestnutt, Bettye Jo Crisler Carr uncovers some possible reasons behind this talisman:

One might have expected Chesnutt to refer to ghosts who haunt graves, to witches ‘riding’ their hapless victims by night, to conjurers tying bits of roots in tiny bags to ward off evil. But surely his reference to the efficacy of ‘de lef hin’ foot er a graveya’d rabbit, killt by a cross-eyed nigger on a da’k night in de full er de moon’—surely that is something Chesnutt (or Uncle Julius, who seems equally real) has made out of whole cloth.

An examination of folklore sources, however, justifies Chesnutt’s requirements for the rabbit-foot good-luck charm. An informant from Atlanta states that the talisman must, indeed, be the ‘left hind foot of a graveyard rabbit.  Mary Owen, recording her collected tales prior to 1893, adds to the requirement that it must be ‘de lef hine-foot ob er grabe-yahd rabbit kilt in de dahk o’ de moon.’ A Memphis informant states further that the graveyard rabbit must have been killed by a cross-eyed person. Louise Pendleton, also writing before the publication of Chesnutt’s stories, comments that the use of the rabbit foot for good luck ‘may be traced to the fetishism, or worship of guardian spirits dwelling in inanimate objects, of their African ancestors.’ (Carr,  “Charles Chestnutt & the Doctrine of Conjuration”)

So now we can see the process of making the charm has something to do with its luck associations.  If a cross-eyed person could catch a rabbit in a graveyard in the dark, he would indeed have to be very lucky, and thus his luck might transfer to the animal’s foot (this is a bit of a stretch for a reason, in my opinion, but there certainly seems to be a specific tradition involved in collecting this talisman).  Much of this lore is corroborated by Harry M. Hyatt in his five-volume compendium on African-American folk magic, Hoodoo – Conjuration – Witchcraft – Rootwork.   Two prime examples are included here:

Vol.2,p.1541

A RABBIT’S LEFT HIND LEG, TAKEN WHILE THE ANIMAL IS STILL WARM
AND SEWN INTO A BAG, SHOULD BE CARRIED WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES,
AND KEPT UNDER YOUR PILLOW AT NIGHT FOR LUCK.

If yo’ wanta go git a job agin, yo’ could use a rabit’s foot – yo’ use a rabbit’s left foot. Ketch a rabbit, if yo’ kin kill him; if yo’ can’t ketch it, kill it. Well, befo’ he gits cold, take de left laig of dis rabbit off. (Front or back?) De back laig. Take de back laig off while it’s warm an’ yo’ sew it up in some cloth an’ when yo’ go tuh bed at night, yo’ jes’ carry it an’ push it in yore pillah. If yo’ git up tuh go in de daytime, wear it in yore pocket or either yo’ could have it in yore stockin’. Put it in yore hat or shoe or anything an’ jes’ keep it wit chew all de time. Yo’ll have good luck wit de rabbit’s left hind laig. (When you are going out to get a job?) Yes sir.

[Savannah, GA; Madam Pauline; Informant #1274. C575:1-C586:10 = 2136-2167.]

Vol.2,pp.1486-7

A CHARM TO CARRY

BURY THE RIGHT FRONT FOOT OF A RABBIT IN THE CEMETERY.
AFTER NINE DAYS AND NINE NIGHTS, DISINTER IT.
WEAR IT ON A CHAIN OR FASHION IT INTO SOMETHING SIMILAR TO WEAR
AND CARRY IT WITH YOU.

You take off his right feet, yo’ bury it in de cemetery – let it stay dere fo’ nine days an’ nights. Yo’ go an’ git it out from under dere an’ make yo’ a chain an’ put it on yo’ fo’ a locket or either, yo’ know, yo’ kin jes’ have it made into somethin’ den – yo’ know, somethin’-like. Dat’s de rabbit foot. [She laughs.] Den y’ jis’
tote it wit yo’ or either place it fo’ a watch charm or anythin’ like dat – right feet, jes’ one, de front.

[Waycross, GA; Informant # 1125 (Contact man Edwards’s landlady); Cylinder C235:4-C250: 1 = 1816-1831, and C384:1-C392: 5 = 1965-1973]

One of the common threads to the rabbit’s foot seems to be an intimacy with death or the dead.  The rabbit must be freshly killed (or “warm”) or found in a cemetery.  This may have something to do with its luck.  The dead are able to provide luck to the living in some folkloric accounts, and a magical animal like a rabbit which becomes tied to the dead may well be “running” luck back and forth from them to you.  If you are interested in more spells like the two immediately above, by the way, you can find many of Hyatt’s spells transcribed in the Hyatt Spells Yahoo! Group.  If you manage to find actual text volumes of his work and you have an interest in folk magic, buy them.  They will be worth it.

Finally, Ozark folklorist Vance Randolph records a couple of uses of the rabbit’s foot charm in his Ozark Magic & Folklore:

  • Some healers claim to cure hiccoughs by rubbing a rabbit’s foot on the back of the patient’s neck unexpectedly.
  • I recall a girl near Lanagan, Missouri, who wore a peach stone love-charm on one garter and a rabbit’s foot fastened to the other.

This particular lucky charm can be found throughout North America, often sold in roadside stores, children’s candy-and-prize machines, and even gas stations.   It’s commonly rubbed to actually activate the luck, and “fed” with an oil like Fast Luck or Van Van on a regular basis.  If you happen to have one of these in keychain or charm form, I’d love to hear your experiences with it.  Have rabbit’s feet ever brought you extra luck?  Or, as the joke is often made, is it just “unlucky for the rabbit”?

Thanks for reading (and reading and reading)!

-Cory

Blog Post 78 – More Mojos for Success

Back in Blog Post 76, I mentioned that I’d be following up with some other types of success mojos.  Academic success is fantastic, but if you’re not in school it’s probably not going to help you much.  So today I thought I’d take that scholastic success mojo hand and rework it for a few other needs.  I hope it helps!

Building upon the basic Crown of Success mojo, which would generally include a John the Conqueror root in a red flannel sack anointed with Crown of Success oil, you could vary your specific ingredients for particular results:

Better Business – Add herbs like sassafras, five-finger grass, or cinnamon, plus a lodestone and magnetic sand.  Try to use an odd number of ingredients.  Pray Psalm 8 or a similar prayer.

Gentle Judge – A court-case success hand.  Use gravel root, little John to chew/galangal, cascara sagrada  bark, sugar, and tobacco.  Pray Psalm 36 or a similar prayer.

High Rollers – This is a gambling success mojo.  Use Job’s tears, a gator paw, a badger or gator tooth, a raccoon penis bone, a rabbit’s foot, and/or a four-leaf clover charm (primarily use curios for this one).  Pray Psalm 41 or Psalm 62 or a similar prayer.

Lucky in Love – With this success hand, it’s less about attracting a new love and more about strengthening one that exists (say, for example, during the process of courtship and marriage).  Add angelica root, violets, and roses (if trying to court a woman) or vanilla, tobacco, and dragon’s blood resin (for courting a man).  You can use lavender if you’re courting someone of the same sex, as well.  Pray Psalm 139 or a similar prayer.

Make It Rain Money – Add cinnamon, collard seeds, beans or peas, lucky hand root, rice, and/or rose of Jericho (things like seeds, beans, peas, and rice all signify abundance).  Add a lucky penny or a silver dime if you like, or a silver charm like a four-leaf clover.  Pray Psalm 126 or a similar prayer.

There are so many variations on these types of mojos, so please try them out and experiment.  I’ve had a lot of success (and the irony of that is not lost on me) working with these types of hands, so I encourage everyone to give them a try.

I’d like to close this post by sharing something one of our wonderful readers mentioned to me.  Odom of the Evil Eye recently wrote me about an academic success hand he’s working on, and he included an ingredient that struck me as just perfect for that kind of work:  coffee.  He made an excellent point that as a stimulant coffee can help keep one awake and alert, and that the university coffee house is such a ubiquitous piece of the college landscape it almost serves as a shrine to this kind of work.  So good eye for that connection, Odom!

Thanks for reading,
-Cory

Blog Post 77 – Book Review

For today’s entry, I thought I’d approach two books which share a lot in common and which can be useful to people who really enjoy candle magic.  First up, there’s The Master Book of Candle Burning by Henri Gamache.   This is a classic in many hoodoo circles, and falls into the same category of early 20th-century magical texts as the reprints of Black & White Magic by Marie Laveau and Mysteries of the Long Lost 8th, 9th, and 10th Books of Moses, also by Gamache.  All of these small books (usually only around 100 pages each) contain lots of great information on their particular magical subjects, and all are the source of much debate regarding authorship (Marie Laveau most definitely did not write Black & White Magic, which is usually attributed to “N.D.P. Bivins,” whoever that might be).

Candle Burning, though, holds a special place in my heart.  In its pages, Gamache outlines the “Philosophy of Fire” which he traces through a number of the world’s religions, especially linking it to Judeo-Christian and Zoroastrian practice.  Most of what he describes is pseudo-history, though it offers some good food for thought, at times.  What makes this book so invaluable to a magic worker are its spells.  In its pages, it offers spells, prayers, and psalmic rituals for:

  • Gaining Happiness
  • Overcoming an Enemy
  • Obtaining Money
  • Stopping Slander
  • Healing a Troubled Marriage
  • Getting a Promotion
  • Defeating Feelings of Depression

There are so many wonderful rituals in this book, covering a wide variety of problems, that I can’t help but recommend it.  The prayers (and psalms) are all centered around Judeo-Christian religious philosophy, but in a fairly non-denominational way (emphasizing God as a powerful force rather than as part of a Trinity or some particular theological concept).  One of my favorite spells is the last one in the book:

TO CONQUER FEAR

Light your two Monthly Vibratory Candles [candles dressed to match you astrologically], two Daily Cross Candles [crucifix candles or candles inscribed with a cross], and the following Special Purpose Candle:  one Red symbolizing faith and one Gold to soothe nerves.  Read Psalm 3 giving special attention to verse 3:

“But thou, O Lord, art a shield for me; my glory, and the lifter up of mine head.”

Affirmation [prayer]:  “Dear Lord I ask you to help me with my needs in this life and smooth my way.  Protect me so that no one may cause me harm.  In your light, darkness flees.  I fear not, knowing you are with me.”   (p.106)

The book has its issues, of course.  It makes heavy use of “black” versus “white” magic.  It denounces the black magic as a “perversion” but then proceeds to provide numerous candle rituals for things like breaking up a couple or causing confusion.  Still, if one can forgive it these foibles, it’s a great text to have on hand.

Similarly, The Magical Power of the Saints by Rev. Ray T. Malbrough proves itself a useful text full of practical candle burning rituals.  There are many who do not like Malbrough, primarily because he blends hoodoo and Wicca in some of his books without letting the reader know which is which (his Charms, Spells, & Formulas is guilty of this, and apparently his Hoodoo Mysteries is even worse about it).  However, most of the rootworkers who discuss him seem to offer at least some praise for Saints.

Malbrough focuses on the Catholic saints in candle form (and a number of condition candles, which are designed to invite specific conditions into a person’s life—e.g. Anima Sola/Lonely Soul, Just Judge, Lucky Bingo, etc.).  When I picked up the book I thought it would mostly be about the cult of certain saints like Dr. Jose Gregorio or Santa Muerte or the Infant Jesus of Prague.  Instead, I found it’s mostly candle magic focused on specific spells, much like Gamache’s text.  It definitely has a flavor of Catholicism about it, and actually falls pretty close to what I would think of as New Orleans-style Voodoo (though the connections to things like the Seven African Powers are only cursorily glossed).  For comparison, here’s Malbrough’s overcoming fear spell:

TO OVERCOME FEAR

Sometimes fear can be difficult to shake off when it gets hold of you.  Then there are those people who get a thrill from putting fear and superstition in your mind.

  1. Controlling candle, dressed with Controlling oil.  Write your name nine times.
  2. St. Dymphna candle, dressed with Peace oil.  Write your name nine times.
  3. Guardian Angel candle, dressed with Peace oil.  Write your name three times.
  4. Psalms 11, 31, and 141 [to be read aloud]
  5. Take an Uncrossing spiritual bath made with sweet basil, boneset, elder, and bay leaves.  To this tea add ¼ cup of John the Conqueror bath and floor wash.  Immerse yourself three times in the water, and soak twenty minutes.  Take this spiritual bath every three days until you have taken twenty-eight baths.  Cary a mojo/gris-gris made with herbs for courage.  This gris-gris must also contain a stone for courage such as agate, amethyst, aquamarine, bloodstone, carnelian, diamond, lapis lazuli, sardonyx, tiger’s eye, red tourmaline, or turquoise.  (p. 134-35)

As you can see, Malbrough is much more complicated than Gamache, and he definitely infuses his rootwork with some more Wiccan ideas (such as the “stones for courage” he mentions for the mojo hand, none of which show up in any of the African-American hoodoo sources I’ve found).  So long as you can separate the wheat from the chaff, though, this is a pretty solid little book with good candle burning rituals.  If you have this and Gamache’s Master Book of Candle Burning you will cover most of your bases as far as hoodoo candle magic goes, so I certainly recommend picking up both.  If you can only do one, I’d start with Gamache and try Malbrough once you’ve gotten the hang of a few of these rituals, though (perhaps an Obtaining Money burning so you can afford to buy the book?).

Thanks for reading!

-Cory

Blog Post 76 – Making an Academic Crown of Success Mojo

Today I thought I’d share some of the nuts and bolts (or roots and herbs, rather) I used in my recent Crown of (Academic) Success mojo bag.  The hand I made was specifically designed for help with schoolwork, and focused on memory, hard work, a strong will, and a little bit of luck.  After I go over this basic bag, I’ll try to offer some alternatives for various situations not related to school, but which could use a shot of success.

The ingredients:

  • High John root (a whole one, but you could use chips if that’s all you’ve got)
  • Gravel Root
  • Rosemary (dried)
  • Sage (dried)
  • Frankincense tears
  • Small psalm scroll*
  • Red flannel square
  • Twine
  • Crown of Success oil

(*In most general Crown of Success workings, I use a passage from Psalm 65: “You crown the year with success; your paths drip fatness,” which would be fine.  But after discussing it with commenter Odom the other day, I’m reasonably sure I used Psalm 119, specifically the verses “I have declared myself and you heard me; teach me your statutes/make me to understand your ways so I may tell of your wondrous works”)

The herb and root ingredients all relate to success (gravel root, High John, Crown of Success oil), focus and concentration (sage, frankincense, rosemary), wisdom (sage, frankincense), luck (gravel root, Crown of Success oil), memory and calm (rosemary), and study (sage).  I know that some folks out there would chide me for using rosemary as a memory herb when Cat Yronwode’s book doesn’t provide that association, but its longstanding folk association with that quality made me comfortable with using it in that capacity.  And since I spent a good deal of time studying Shakespeare over the summer, I’ll back up my claim by quoting Ophelia in Hamlet, Act IV, scene v: “There’s rosemary; that’s for remembrance.”  So, yeah.  That’s that.

When I did this spell, I dressed a small candle with Crown of Success and burned it while I combined the ingredients in the center of the red flannel square.  Once I had the herbs and roots together, I wrote out the psalm scroll and added it to the ingredients.  I bundled it all up and wrapped the bag’s “neck” up with the twine.  I prayed Psalm 119 over it three times (that’s an acrostic psalm, so I only read the pertinent section of it), then singed the ends of the twine in the candle flame.  I dressed the bag with the Crown of Success oil and blew out the candle, and voila!  One back-to-school mojo!

I fed the bag every day I had class, just before leaving my room.  I alternated using Crown of Success oil and whiskey to splash the bag, and I recited Psalm 65 every time I did it (mostly because that’s the one I remember better—you may have more luck with Psalm 119).

Now that I’m done with it for this year, I’ve got it sitting by my bedside (though I should probably put it in my altar desk instead).  I’ll bring it back out next year, or if I do some intensive studying (as I’m prone to do every few months), I may use it again, then.  When my time at school is done, I’ll probably bury it somewhere on campus.

So that’s the Scholar’s Success bag.  I hope that was of some use to someone out there—well, other than me, of course.  If you do this spell or something similar, post a comment and let us all know about it!  I know I’d like to hear any tips for succeeding in education, especially before next summer when I go back to school!

Thanks for reading!

-Cory