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

When performing research for my book The Conjure Cookbook , I came upon some interesting findings regarding Four Thieves Vinegar, the famous formula used in conjure as a protective agent mirroring its medicinal use as a disease-killer. My entry in the Cookbook reads as follows: 8. Four Thieves Vinegar Red Wine Vinegar Lavender Absinthe Wormwood Roman Wormwood Rosemary Sage Mint Rue Garlic Sweet Flag Cinnamon Clove Nutmeg Camphor Powder all the herbs and spices except for the camphor and garlic. Use fresh sliced garlic cloves and combine with the herbs. Bottle the mixture along with the vinegar, and store it in a warm place for about 1 month. Strain. Add the camphor last, dissolved. This version of the recipe dates to the 1750s, and seems to have been standard into the 19th century. Nowadays many people like to simplify the mixture and only use any four of the herbal ingredients (one for each thief.) Interestingly, the "Journal de Sçav...

I come upon people from time to time wanting advice for what to do about unpleasant neighbors -- usually stuff about letting their dogs use other folks' lawns as toilets or problems with spreading gossip. However, here is a list of bad neighbors you can be glad you don't have: The 7 Most Insane True Stories of Neighbors from Hell . In there we've got a lottery winner who liked to run a racetrack on his property and launch fireworks over the neighborhood causing a safety hazard, a woman living "in the center of a metropolis of shit-eating rats just to piss off a couple of old people", and a guy who framed his neighbor for murder for not helping him move a motorcycle. What to do if you have terrible neighbors of any description? Well, if they see to be targeting you, you can start by sprinkling Peace Water around your property and laying pinches of Master Powder in the corners of your land (if your land isn't square or rectangular you can just guess where a ...

(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...

Recently tried this one to some good effect. As I did it, I petitioned Ganesha, but any of those crossroads deities (Mercury, Ellegua, Odin) will be able to help you here. You need: Blockbuster Oil Blockbuster Incense (loose or resin works best for this) Van Van Powder or Oil Gunpowder 2 White, Black or Orange Candles Fabric and Thread to wrap spell remains Offering for Ganesha (candy is a favorite) Do this spell on a Sunday or a Wednesday, or in a Sun or Mercury hour. Begin with your candles. White can be used for anything and is always a good choice. Black candles can be used to blot out problems and to bring destruction of all types, and so are a popular choice in Blockbuster work. Orange is used for opening the way and is another possibility if you are feeling blocked. Whatever colors you choose, take one candle and carve your name (or the name of the person the spell is for) onto it. Then carve on the other candle what it is you want to unblock -- this cou...

I think I have said before, love cases are the most common thing I'm asked for help with. Many times, the person has the problem that their lover is already seeing another person -- either has dumped them for someone else or was already with another person when they met. Due to the internet's predominance of Wiccan-style spellcasting tips, many of these people are afraid to do break-up work because they think it will bring them "bad karma" or come back "times three." This of course is a religious opinion, I cannot declare how true it is or not, but I will say -- if you're not a Jew or a Muslim you can eat all the pork and shellfish you want, if you're not a Buddhist or a Jain you can eat all the meat you want, if you're not a monotheist you can worship all the gods you want -- why should you worry about the rules of a religion you don't even practice? And heaven knows why causing a breakup with a breakup spell should be any worse kar...

It can't be denied that there are many charlatans who abuse innocent people's belief in magic as a way to con them out of money or other things of value. Anyone who watched  Unsolved Mysteries  back in the Robert Stack days saw many episodes where the subject was a call for help after a spiritual scammer had run off with somebody's life savings. Stories of the  type   still   crop   up   regularly . The worst scams usually run something like this: a person approaches a witch or fortune teller or shaman (whatever title the con artist is going by) for help with some life problem, or perhaps even to utilize a "free reading" or "free consultation" that the scammer has advertised. The scammer goes out of his way to convince the victim that something particularly terrible is going to befall the victim unless he makes use of the scammer's services -- often this is done by reporting that the victim is "cursed" or that a mysterious enemy is...

I was recently doing some research on Chinese Wash in light of my latest book ( The Conjure Cookbook as it is to be called) and came on the Lucky Mojo page regarding Young, the fellow who evidently created Chinese Wash. Catherine Yronwode supposes him to be the same as Lewis de Clairmont, and possibly known by a few other names, but has no name for the person beyond just "Young." I have in my own collection an old book called "The Devil's Legacy to Earth Mortals" printed by an M. Young (I am told, courtesy of the LOC , that the "M" stands for Martin) and in it are several advertisements for other books his company makes. Some of these books I've seen for sale in old conjure catalogues, like "Old Gypsy Madge's Fortune Teller" and "The Mystery of Love Making Solved." M. Young also produced a book called "The Great Book of 400 Secrets" which was a book for household recipes (inks, soaps, etc.) and a few of the formu...