Skip to main content

The Concept of Success in Hoodoo Magic Spells

hoodoo magic success spell cast
Old time hoodoo includes many spells for success. However, a look at their methods can be telling. The black cat bone was said to guarantee success -- yet its original purpose was to make a person invisible, and from there it gained a reputation for 'law keep away', 'power' and 'money' because it made stealing more easy. A traditional formula for success was Jockey Club, a fragrance which seems to have come into use because of its association with racetracks and betting upon them (though some bottles did, admittedly, use a horseshoe as their logo, which probably helped its reputation for luck bringing.) Another old spell for success was to get the finger bone of a noted gambler, so his spirit would help you in catching money.

Clearly the notion of success was not that of wealth gained through wise decisions or careful strategy. "Success" was something more akin to a gamester getting lucky at the table or a thief getting away with his crime; the aim was not longterm stability or prosperity but just the bit of luck needed to get through another week. One's own cunning was of little account. Success was about small advantages presented directly from the hands of Fate.

Nowadays, formulas like Crown of Success are often used for matters like success on a test or with a job interview, and while it may be able to help in such undertakings, understanding the perception of success in hoodoo helps to understand what kind of "success" to expect (it is closer to what we'd typically now call "chance" or "luck.") Your interviewer might become distracted and miss bad answers you give, or grow restless and decide to choose someone for the job after interviewing only you and a couple other candidates instead of the dozens he originally had in mind, thereby improving your odds to win. Your success on the test won't be from the magic "bringing out the best in you" but from coincidences effecting the world around you, like the computer slightly misreading your answer sheet to your advantage or time running out before you could lose any points by filling out a wrong answer.

I myself have been disappointed by success spells in the past, but this was again from not fully understanding at the time what should be expected. Something I've gradually come to learn about hoodoo -- and most folk magic for that matter -- is that it's not meant as an aid to those with big dreams or who want to do or have great things. It's meant to get you through the day to day just a bit more happily.

Popular posts from this blog

Planetary Hours and How To Use Them for Magic Spells and Conjure Work

The Planetary Hours are a belief that sections of each day are ruled by certain heavenly bodies, and that these times of day can be utilized by those who understand their secrets to improve success in certain types of ventures. Folks like Jim Haskins and Tarostar have printed slightly incorrect versions of "Venus Hours" which have been popularly repeated: the claim that 2 AM, 9 AM, 4 PM and 11 PM on a Sunday, 6 AM, 1 PM and 8 PM on Monday, etc, are Venus Hours is wrong. This is a problem that goes back to the 18th century at least -- the Petit Albert itself mentions the mistake. The error stems from the notion that planetary hours align to hours on the clock -- they do not. As the Albert puts it: "In order that there be no mistakes about the hours that each planet rules [...] one needs to reckon the first hour from the sunrise, and not by midnight, as some people have erroneously claimed." In other words, the planetary hours are reckoned by a solar clock. T...

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...

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...

Cut and Clear Purification Spell - White Witchcraft to Forget the Past

The time has come. You're over and done with that relationship. It could be a romance, a friendship, a business partnership -- any sort of connection really. But now you're done, and you want all ties severed. This spell helps clear up any lingering energies and makes people let go of past feelings. You need: 1 bottle Jinx Removing salt Lemon verbena leaves Purification oil or Cut and Clear oil Personal or representational items of the person(s) you are removing yourself from (names and photos are easy) Purification incense 4 white candles You will also need to make your own Cut and Clear bath salt. For this you'll need about 1/2 cup epsom salt to which you add 5 drops each lemongrass oil, lemon or melissa oil, and rue or rosemary oil. It's important to make this salt yourself with only oils (no herbs) because we want it to run clean down the drain with no residue left behind to be cleaned up. Many spiritual bath blends contain herbal matter and curio...

13 Herb Bath for Curse Removal

13 Herb Bath for curse removal can be made from from any 13 uncrossing and purification herbs. For example, if I needed to fix a batch of 13 herb bath right now based on what I've got in the house, I could mix bay leaves, rue, mint, rosemary, wood betony, sage, verbena, angelica root, white rose petals, lemongrass, lemon peel, agrimony and arnica, and it would suffice well. Other herbs like hyssop, pine needles, juniper leaves, boldo, eucalyptus leaves, mullein, basil, lavender, or marshmallow leaves would be good to use too. By no means complete, here is a list of just a few herbs said to remove a curse or jinx that you can use to make your own 13 Herbs bath: Agrimony Alkanet Angelica Arnica Basil Bay leaves Black Pepper Blessed Thistle Boldo Cayenne Pepper Chives Eucalyptus Garlic Hyssop John the Conqueror Juniper Lavender Lemon Lemongrass Lime Marshmallow leaves Mint Mullein Onion Pine Rosemary Rue Sage Sandalwood Verbena White Rose Petals ...