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

One beginning in the tradition of hoodoo should know about the importance of baths. They are vital tools in hoodoo work and cannot be dispensed with.  Many people nowadays don't have bathtubs, and some adaptation can be achieved by way of showers. Other people use a large bowl or bucket of water to pour on themselves in place of a spiritual bath. In olden times, and also in some places today where water on tap isn't common, people will perform their spiritual baths in a river or pond outdoors.  A spiritual bath is similar to a regular bath, but with certain key differences. Spiritual baths are not meant primarily for physical cleansing and so washing items like soap might be taboo depending on the exact bath type. However there are some types of magical bath that do use the multitasking property of soap or other cleansers, and in those cases the cleaning aspect is appropriate to the work. There is some controversy around washing the hair in a spiritual bath. Many people don...

In the British Museum, there is a fascinating object -- a magical offering bowl dating back to dark ages. These kinds of bowls are often referred to as “incantation bowls” or “magic bowls,” and they were especially prevalent in regions like Mesopotamia, Persia, and parts of the Levant. Their use was surprisingly widespread, with similar artifacts turning up in ancient Egypt, as well as across North Africa and the Middle East. This suggests that such bowls may have once been a common medium for magical working and spirit communication throughout these regions. They were typically buried under thresholds, in homes, or near the foundations of buildings as a form of protective magic, intended to ward off evil forces and hostile spiritual influences. The particular bowl in the British Museum is inscribed in Aramaic, a language that was once the lingua franca of the Near East and remains a subject of fascination for scholars due to its connection to various ancient religious traditions. The ...

Color is one of the most powerful symbolic tools in magic, allowing practitioners to communicate intent and manipulate energies in a way that feels both natural and intuitive. In hoodoo, color symbolism is often utilized in spells of candle magic , mojo bags , and powders and oils . But hoodoo is far from the only tradition where color matters. Many magical systems, such as European folk magic, ceremonial magic, and even pop-culture new age witchcraft — draw on color associations to shape their workings. In old spells, colored objects were difficult to produce; recipes for making the colored cloths, candles etc. were frequently included as part of the magical instruction. Once artificial dyes became commonplace in the 19th century, the magical practice really brightened up and colors became common additions to spellwork.  Red In the oldest African-derived American hoodoo spells, the only commonly mentioned color of importance is  red ; it was used to add power to any spell, ...

There are a variety of grimoires attributed to King Solomon which date from the middle ages onward. They may even have their origins in a genuine ancient source. Such Solomonic grimoires have impacted hoodoo practice, partly through their dissemination into European magical traditions which were then absorbed into the American hoodoo tradition; and also through direct reprintings of the grimoires, such as those made by De Laurence, which were sold into the American hoodoo market. Even Lewis de Claremont, of Ancient's Book of Formulas fame and probable inventor of the 7 Holy Spirits Bath , composed his own guide to Solomonic conjuring called The Ancient's Book of Magic . Many of the grimoires instruct the practitioner to wear a certain ring while conjuring, with the designs sometimes varying quite wildly from manuscript to manuscript. Some common basic designs include the three above, going from left to right. Solomon's pentalpha. The version used in the oldest kn...

In what is probably a surprise to many people, lots of hoodoo style spell casters will not perform negative workings like death spells or jinxes. Despite a culture that considers "voodoo" and "hoodoo" to be synonymous with evil and black magic, the fact is that hoodoo is used for lots of other purposes; and, furthermore, many practitioners have moral or religious objections to performing these types of wicked workings -- even if they might know  how  to perform them, they won't. I am one of the practitioners that will perform harmful magic spells.  I've even written a book teaching how to perform them.  That said, I don't do cursing spells indiscriminately --  I will usually be willing to perform a spell of equal payback for anyone , and otherwise I will do death and misfortune magic in suitable cases. Examples of unsuitable cases I might get are: *When the curse isn't the point -- for example, someone who wants someone dead because he's a love r...

When I was writing the book that became Conjuration , I kept careful track of my citations from the various libraries I visited and online resources used over the several years I spent gathering my information. Then, when I was ready to print the book -- I felt like an idiot when I discovered a few of my citations were either missing or improperly recorded! I ended up making a note in the bibliography about that matter, that there might be a few things where the citations couldn't be found... instead of having to delay the book in hopes that the might eventually be rediscovered. I'm happy to report that today I came across the note for one of those lost citations! I had mentioned in the book that sigils had been used in African magic since at least the year 1800, but couldn't seem to find my source on that. I finally happened upon a note I scrawled down on a paper that apparently got separated from the rest of my notes -- "1800, 'A Treatise on Sugar' Benjamin ...

The mojo, gris-gris, hand, or conjure bag is an important item in hoodoo style folk magic . Several different methods exist for creating these talismans, which are typically made from a cloth wrapper or bag surrounding herbs, sigils, animal parts, minerals, and/or personal items taken from the person the bag is meant to effect.  Once the ingredients have been assembled together, a process is frequently undertaken to consecrate the bag and awaken its special mystical powers. This is an old process. Take up your nearly-finished bag, which should be filled with your ingredients but still open. Get ready to tie a knot around it, either with a separate string, or with a drawstring if your bag includes one.  Fill up your mouth with a shot of whiskey -- or just about any strong alcohol (bourbon, aquavit, scotch, moonshine, whatever.) DO NOT SWALLOW. Holding the liquid in your mouth, mumble without spilling it your blessings and prayers for the bag.  Tighten the kn...

A cosmogram is a flat geometric figure depicting a cosmology. Some of them were created for meditational purpose. Mandalas are the best known cosmograms, but similar diagrams, known as schema, were also used in western Europe during the Middle Ages. Many cosmograms feature a circle and a square, or a circle and a cross. The circle may represent the universe, or unity. The square or cross may represent the Earth, the four directions. The centre may represent the individual. Many diagrams featuring circles and squares or crosses may be interpreted as cosmograms, although they may not be intentionally created as such. Here's a link to a page all about Kongo Cosmograms with some interesting info. ...One of the major functions of the cosmogram of Kongo, to validate a space on which to stand a person or charm, remains in force in certain Afro-Cuban religious circles.[see the section of the "Ken Brown Interview" when he speculates that Levi Jordan imported slaves from Cuba].Kon...

The modern gris-gris is viewed similarly to a mojo -- sometimes the words are even synonymous. Generally the gris-gris one finds in the United States today are either miniature mojo hands made with herbs wrapped in cloth or leather, or else decorated balls filled similarly, meant to be hung up in a house. A popular folk-etymology is that the word means "gray-gray" because it exists in a halfway point between black and white magic; another explanation is that it refers to the color of old-style herbal mixtures. However, research indicates the similarity to the French gris (gray) seems to be coincidental -- merely an effort to transcribe a native African word according to French spelling rules, apparently having been first introduced to Europe through the works of Le Maire in 1695 . The earliest gris-gris were something rather different than the modern herb charms -- something much more specific. The 1797 Encyclopedia Britannica gives an entry on the word: Grisgris: a...