Evolution of a Talisman: Fifth Pentacle of Mars in Hoodoo and European Magic

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 horrified by De Laurence's plagiarism of the book which was originally assembled by S.L. MacGregor Mathers through his research.) In this edition it is said that the talisman "is terrible unto demons, and at its sight and aspect they will obey thee."

Here is the same talisman in a very corrupted form as presented in The Petit Albert. This book was assembled circa 1700 from pieces of earlier texts, and it remained popular amongst French-speakers for quite some time. The corruption of the Hebrew letters is very evident and interesting. In this grimoire, the seal is said to protect against being poisoned by venomous animals (a sensible assumption to be made by someone who puts the weight on the image of the vermin.) It is prepared, interestingly enough, as if it is a Sun talisman rather than a Mars talisman.

This is from a text known as The Old Man of the Pyramids, which seems to be a variant on the Key of Solomon but somewhat rewritten to play into the early 19th century fad of Egyptology, sparked once Napoleon brought some Egyptian artifacts to Europe and caused the Rosetta Stone to be translated. In this instance the talisman is said to allow the user "to see everything that happens inside houses, without being obliged to enter, or to read the thoughts of all the people he will approach, or with whom he may be in contact, and be able to serve them or harm them at will." This text isn't as common amongst hoodoo practitioners, and is better known through a variant called The Black Pullet (La Poule Noire.) The version of the talisman in that grimoire, though ascribed with the same properties, is even less recognizable:

The Black Pullet talismans tend to have so little semblance to the Old Man talismans, that despite nearly identical text, it would appear the talismans were derived from an altogether other source, or perhaps came from a completely original design.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 ...

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