Spiders and Goofer Dust

Was changing an overhead lightbulb the other day, the type in a big fancy ceiling fixture that needs to be taken apart to get at the bulb itself. Took apart the fixture and it was absolutely filled with dead spiders. It was like, "My God! No wonder it's been so dark in here!" Don't know how any light was getting out at all through that mess.

Unfortunately, changing the bulb required removing all those dead spiders, which were wound up in their own rotting webs, from the light sockets. It was a disgusting task to say the least. But, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade; and when life gives you spiders, you make Goofer Dust.

Goofer Dust can be made with many things. Graveyard dirt or powdered snake skins are the most common base ingredient (and sometimes, the only ingredient.) But many other items can go in, especially anything black, gray, dead, or otherwise unpleasant. Dead bugs are excellent additions, in my opinion. My favorite are adding black widows, since they have that extra poisonous element about them -- but (luckily) they aren't in too great a supply in my house.

I tend to make my own Goofer Dust from grave dirt, mullein, sulfur, dead bugs, and black pigment. The stuff is kind of disturbingly pretty, actually: the bottle in an old spice jar with a black lid, and filled with black powder almost looks kind of sexy!

And of course, you can find several recipes for using Goofer Dust in the book Death and Destruction.

Paper-in-Shoe Spells

A popular and very traditional hoodoo spell, often used for any situation where you need to control someone with magic , is the namepaper-in-shoe spell. It's very easy: you write the target's name 3, 7, or 9 times on a paper (depending on intent and who's giving instruction) then fold it up, sometimes after dressing it with oils or powders, then put it in your shoe. This "keeps the person underfoot" or "stomps out the trouble" or "puts pressure on them" or any other number of metaphors. I have had this work several times over the years. In one instance, I was working for a very unpleasant boss, on a short-term job. It was the last day, and I only had about 3 hours of work left on the project; and I wanted him to up my pay for the day since it almost wasn't worth the trip across town for the amount he was paying me, for only 3 hours. He was very reluctant. So I wrote his name 3 times on a 5-dollar bill he'd given me, and dusted it...

Ammonia - A Spiritual Cleansing Agent for Magick

Ammonia is a strong cleansing agent in hoodoo magick, both physically and spiritually. In Edwardian times it was advised as an old home remedy for a nerve tonic (see recipe below.) "Household ammonia" or "ammonium hydroxide" is a solution of NH3 in water. Household ammonia ranges in concentration from 5 to 10 weight percent ammonia. The Romans called the ammonium chloride deposits they collected from near the Temple of Amun (Greek Ἄμμων Ammon) in ancient Libya 'sal ammoniacus' (salt of Amun) because of proximity to the nearby temple of Amun, the chief god of ancient Thebes. Salts of ammonia have been known from very early times; thus the term Hammoniacus sal appears in the writings of Pliny, although it is not known whether the term is identical with the more modern sal-ammoniac (ammonium chloride). In the form of sal-ammoniac (nushadir) ammonia was important to the Muslim alchemists as early as the 8th century, first mentioned by the arab chemist...

Spiritual Use of Turpentine in Hoodoo and Witchcraft

I have posted in the past about the use of giving one's bedding a spiritual cleansing from time to time. I recently was laundering my pillows in the same load of laundry as some turpentine-soaked rags, with the result that the pillows emerged from the wash reeking of turpentine. From a magical perspective, this may not be a bad thing. Turpentine is used in old-time hoodoo rituals for purposes such as uncrossing, protection and sometimes as a feed for mojo bags. Its solvent powers and strong odor do indeed suggest a powerful spiritual cleansing agent, and it is still used in some modern day cleaning products on a purely practical level for these same reasons. Old time medicines sometimes included turpentine as a thing to drink, in small doses. A book from the 1850s, The Domestic Medicine Chest , recommends giving it to children in a dose of one teaspoon for killing tapeworm. Relatedly, in old time hoodoo cures for "live things" turpentine might be made into a tea...

Magical Water Recipes - Old Style Hoodoo, Real and Genuine Magic Spells from History

Hoodoo Style Magical Waters for Magic In hoodoo tradition, some of the oldest and most traditional ingredients are natural gathered waters. While cologne and perfume is sometimes classed as a water for conjure purposes, special waters are based on water, sometimes taken from a specific location. They can have additional ingredients added, but the magic is generally held to be in the water itself. They've become a little less common since the rise of commercial hoodoo, perhaps due to manufacturer's tendency to sell any old tap water as "alleged glory water" or whatever it's labeled; and also there is difficulty in shipping liquids like water that aren't inherent in somewhat thicker mixtures like soaps or oils. (For example, a bottle of oil won't evaporate if left out too long.) Here's a list of some traditional hoodoo magical waters and how to make them: Glory Water Glory Water is a recipe I did not include in my Conjure Cookbook , as it's not ...

The Intranquil Spirit

(EDIT: Up to date information about the Intranquil Sprit can be found in my book The Intranquil Spirit , available on Amazon. This post has some incomplete information which is clarified in the book.) The Intranquility spell is, unfortunately, the first resort of many a rejected lover. In some ways it makes sense -- the more unhappy and forlorn one is about a breakup, the better this idea of making the other partner feel just as much so starts to sound. Unfortunately, this spell is often not well suited to a case. The purpose of the standard Intranquility spell is to have the person be tormented by the spirit until they make contact with you, or whomever the spell is being cast for. This means that if a person is already in good contact with their ex OR if they're one of those people who cannot restrain themselves from initiating contact, then this already is probably not the right spell for that case. If you've had an Intranquility spell cast and you make contac...

The Spellcaster's Source Hoodoo and Voodoo Witchcraft Blog of Talia Felix

Search This Blog