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

  Christopher Marlowe was a Cambridge-educated playwright, the greatest talent of the Elizabethan stage before Shakespeare overtook him. He was rumored to be an atheist, faced charges of blasphemy, almost certainly worked at some point as an agent of the Crown, and was killed in a Deptford tavern at twenty-nine in a fight officially recorded as a quarrel over the bill. Doctor Faustus dates from the last few years of his life, somewhere between 1588 and 1592, and survives in two markedly different printed versions that scholars have argued over for four centuries. The play's plot was not Marlowe's invention. He was working from the Historia von D. Johann Fausten, an anonymous German chapbook printed in Frankfurt in 1587 and translated into English around 1592 as The Historie of the Damnable Life and Deserved Death of Doctor John Faustus. Behind that chapbook stood a real person — Johann Georg Faust, an itinerant German astrologer, alchemist, and self-promoter who lived roughly 1...

I conjured up my Goetic familiar CLAUDEAI to entertain me with some otherworldly amusements, like Faustus did when he looked upon the face of Helen for an evening.  My instruction to the djinn: "Use my style, to write a short parody fantasy horror fiction called Incupyre. The concept is of an incubus and vampire in one." The result of his effort was worthy enough to share.

from Cuban Folk-Lore by L. Roy Terwilliger In Cuba as in all pro-Catholic countries the natives have a host of saints to whom they attribute various supernatural powers; they are held in greater or less esteem according to the miraculous cures they have achieved or the concessions they have granted their followers. Each family or individual has a special saint to whom they appeal in times of trouble or sickness. Sometimes however when a saint has repeatedly proved inefficient or has failed to grant the wishes of a devotee, it is cast aside or exchanged for one that has been recommended by a friend. It is no unusual thing to hear one lady advising another to try such and such a saint. “Rece á San José, él me ha concedido todo lo que yo le pedí”. Pray to San José he grants all I ask him. There are also a number of saints who are specially efficient in certain diseases or conditions. One always prays to San Blas to cure throat trouble, and young ladies know that San Nicolas with gladly a...

In the Petit Albert, the recipe for the Hand of Glory is as follows: ON THE HAND OF GLORY, WHICH IS USED BY TREACHEROUS THIEVES, IN ORDER TO ENTER HOMES BY NIGHT WITHOUT HINDRANCE. I confess that I have never tested the secret of the Hand of Glory; but I have three times assisted in the convicting of certain miscreants who confessed under torture to have used the Hand of Glory in the thefts they had committed; and when during the interrogation they were asked what it was, how it was acquired, and what it was used for, they responded, firstly, that the purpose of the Hand of Glory was to entrance and make immobile those to whom it is shown, after which they become unable to stir, such as if they were dead; secondly, that it was the hand of a hanged man; thirdly, that it must be prepared in the following manner: One takes the right or left hand of a hanged man who has been left to the dogs; one wraps it in a piece of a funeral shroud, in which one presses it well so as to squeez...

Prosper Mérimée was a French writer of the Romantic movement. As with many Romanticists, he was also a noted archaeologist, historian, and an important figure in the history of architectural preservation. He is best known for his novella Carmen , which became the basis of Bizet's opera Carmen.  Mérimée acknowledged that he chose to make his femme fatale Carmen a gypsy mostly because that's what he had been studying at the time he composed the novella, and he was very excited about the subject. One can't fault any man who lived 200 years ago for not following modern academic styles in his research, but just because it's old doesn't mean his reports should be totally discounted. These are some of the best records we have about the life of the Romany people at the time.  Within his fictionalized story of Carmen, he sought to utilize known information about their lifestyle and magical practices. Because the story was widely read, these types of spells became general fol...

My life's introduction to Cornelius Agrippa was not through reading his books, but through the article about him in Man, Myth and Magic: An Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Supernatural. It includes the following little rumor about Mr. Agrippa: ...He went out one day, leaving the key of a secret room with his wife. She foolishly lent it to the lodger, a student, who went into the room and found a huge book of spells, which he began to read. After a while he looked up and found a demon standing in front of him, asking why it had been summoned. He gaped at it in horror and the demon strangled him. Agrippa returned and, fearing a charge of murder, made the demon restore the student to life for a few hours. The young man was seen walking in the street but when the demon's magic wore off, he collapsed. In that same article, his appearance in the German children's book  Struwwelpeter is mentioned purely because they wanted to use the public domain illustration of him. Now, the fir...

THE DEAD WOMAN'S PHOTOGRAPH Virgil Hoyt is a photographer’s assistant up at St. Paul, and a man of a good deal of taste. He has been in search of the picturesque all over the West, and hundreds of miles to the north in Canada, and can speak three or four Indian dialects, and put a canoe through the rapids. That is to say, he is a man of an adventurous sort and no dreamer. He can fight well and shoot well and swim well enough to put up a winning race with the Indian boys, and he can sit all day in the saddle and not dream about it at night. Wherever he goes he uses his camera. “The world,” Hoyt is in the habit of saying to those who sit with him when he smokes his pipe, “was created in six days to be photographed. Man--and especially woman--was made for the same purpose. Clouds are not made to give moisture, nor trees to cast shade. They were created for the photographer.” In short, Virgil Hoyt’s view of the world is whimsical, and he doesn’t like to be bothered with anything disagr...

In the dimly lit corridors of Europe's shadowy past, amidst the swirling mists of mysticism and madness, lie the cryptic enigmas of prophetic writings. To traverse these murky waters, one must embark on a voyage through the annals of time, where seers and sages peered into the abyss and returned with visions that rattled the very foundations of reality. In this kaleidoscope of clairvoyance, one figure looms large, a spectral presence haunting the recesses of medieval lore: Merlin, the enigmatic wizard of Arthurian legend. Born of a union between a mortal woman and an incubus , Merlin emerged from the primordial chaos as a harbinger of destiny. His famed prophecies cast a spell of intrigue upon the minds of kings and commoners alike. From them shall the stars turn away their faces, and confound their usual course. Corn will wither at their malign aspects; and there shall fall no dew from heaven. The roots and branches will change their places, and the novelty of the thing shall pass...

When it comes to magic books, especially about hoodoo, one usually is provided a selection of funky little pamphlets, often full of errors, aimed at practitioners or aspiring practitioners (These probably include my own books like Death and Destruction: How to Cast Magic Spells for Vengeance, Harm, &c. -- one thing about the little pamphlets is they don't sell well enough to make pro editors a viable option.)  But there are two other books I want to tell you about. These are not like those silly magic booklets. They are real scholarly works. They don't force you to believe everything, but they do help you understand things better. Even if you do magic, you can read these books and think of the information as true facts, not just beliefs. These are not corny little conjure booklets: these are actual scholarly works. Skepticism is presumed but not shoved down your throat, and it's easy for practitioners to read the contents as fact instead of records of belief. An advant...

Death and Destruction Delve into the darker side of hoodoo with Death and Destruction. This daring book explores the secrets of Hoodoo spells crafted for harm, revealing the hidden arts of cursing, hexing, and crossing. With cautionary tales, historical context, and explicit instructions, Death and Destruction is a gripping journey into the world of malevolent magic, offering insight into its practices and their consequences. Conjure Cookbook Enter the enchanting world of practical magic! This extraordinary guide offers a rich collection of recipes, not for the kitchen, but for crafting magical incense, potent oils, invigorating baths, and transformative powders. Unlock the ancient and powerful art of conjure as you create your own mystical concoctions to manifest your desires and tap into the hidden energies of the universe. Includes rediscovered historical formulas that were on the verge of being lost! Conjuration This captivating book delves into the roots of American folk magic, ...

In The Petit Albert , there is a "secret" that the author admits to have been sourced from a book called La Maison Rustique, which it commends for possessing many useful tips.  Well, I found the whole text translated into English from a 17th century edition. La Maison Rustique, or; The Country Farm.

 

Talismanic magic is used all over the world. In the hoodoo tradition, certain popular European grimoires of the 18th and 19th century made a big impact upon which talismans were favored by American practitioners. The recognition that not everyone in the 18th or 19th century could read is an important consideration when relating how these talismans were used. Owen Davies in his history book Grimoires remarks that merely owning a grimoire was commonly believed to bestow special powers to the owner, even if he or she could not actually read its content. Even today, many magical talismans contain writing in languages that a practitioner might not be able to read or understand, yet they copy these foreign phrases to the best of their ability. Above we have the Fifth Pentacle of Mars, as put in L.W. De Laurence's 1914 edition of The Key of Solomon the King . (I choose this edition for being a traditionally popular one amongst hoodoo practitioners, even if many people are ho...

From The Petit Albert: FOR MEN As it may come to pass that the woman will become disgusted by the man if he is not able-bodied in the actions of Venus, he needs to take precautions not only for the sake of her satisfaction, but moreover for those secrets that the ancient and modern researchers of the miracles of nature have put to test. He must, they say, compose a balm from the ashes of a stellion lizard, oil of St. John’s wort and of civet, and anoint the big toe of the left foot and the kidney region an hour before entering into battle; and one will be able to go forth with honor and to the satisfaction of his party. FOR WOMEN If the husband finds that his wife is of a frigid disposition, and doesn’t take pleasure in the sport, then he shall make her eat the testicles of a gander, and the womb of a hare, seasoned with good spices, and from time to time some salads which have a great deal of arugula, ragwort and celery, with red wine vinegar. 

This spell is one of many available in the The Intranquil Spirit Spellbook for bringing back an ex or a runaway lover. The Intranquil Spirit spell is perhaps the best known of this particular style of coercive magic in North America, but there are many other entities who can assist with such work, both saintly and demonic. The tool used in this prayer is a Cigar, which the petitioner regards as a living spirit as well. Appeals are made to both the cigar and outside spirits. Some people might be amazed that Saints can be called upon for what most modern magicians would call "evil work" but the fact is the entities that fall in the general class of intranquil spirits are a much more neutral than their reputation would lead some people to think. Please note: This Prayer to El Puro is NOT in the public domain, this is my own English translation of the original Spanish prayer. Do not copy this without attribution to Talia Felix.  Prayer to El Puro (The Cigar) ...

After a print run of 265 copies, the book  Conjurin' Ole Time is no more. It was well-reviewed, sold decently, but the time had come when we had to face the fact that it had grown outdated -- it was time to update and expand the book with improved material and fresh scholarship which had come to light since the original publication. How much new information was there? Conjurin' Ole Time had clocked in at 98 pages. It is being replaced by the new Conjuration: Hoodoo Spells from 1800 to 1920 which runs a full 150 pages !  The fruit of years of research, Conjuration  collects over 160 historical hoodoo spells and organizes them for easy reference to the modern practitioner. the same desires we have today have always been known: there are old time love spells, law and legal spells, money spells, jinxing spells, and more.  Beyond the simple spellbook section, there are individual chapters discussing the history of the most popular superstitions, practices...

Carlos Esteban Deive is a respected writer and intellectual in the Dominican Republic. His book Vodu y Magia en Santo Domingo is a great resource for information about Latin American magical practices. He talks at one point of love spells and of rituals involving the Anima Sola. As I'm reading along, with my rather poor Spanish, I become excited to see him describe a Guatamalan prayer to the Anima Sola which he says involves a " sacrificio de un animal. " This is new! I want to see this unusual ritual, as it might shed some fresh light on the Anima Sola's history and behaviors in the region. I keep reading, in Spanish:  En esta oración, la mujer que desea conocer el hombre que habrá de ser su esposo atará dos pequeñas ramas de álamo blanco a sus medias con una cinta de hilo del mismo color. Colocará después la medias debajo de la almohada al momento de acostarse y frotándose la sangre con el animal sacrificado, un abullide(?), recitará el siguiente tex...

We spend so much time in bed. Yet, not many people seem to give a thought to ensuring our beds stay spiritually clean. As this article says , uncleanness of the bedding can lead to all kinds of health problems on a practical level -- and just think the spiritual messes you could be laying in! Here's the way to give your bedding a proper spiritual cleansing and fixing up: Pull off all the sheets, blankets and pillowcases from the bed. Give them a good washing in hot water. For added benefit, you can use a spiritual soap per the instructions here to make your own hoodoo spiritualist laundry soap , or you can wash them in regular soap and add some conjure formula bath salts to the rinse cycle. For a general home cleansing, a mixture like Chinese Wash would be suitable, though if you are concerned about specific conditions you can choose a formula that's appropriate -- such as French Love for love enhancement , or Has No Hanna for money luck. While the bedding is off...