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Spiritual Use of Turpentine in Hoodoo and Witchcraft

 

Victorian turpentine bottle for old witchcraft
I have posted in the past about the use of giving one's bedding a spiritual cleansing from time to time. I recently was laundering my pillows in the same load of laundry as some turpentine-soaked rags, with the result that the pillows emerged from the wash reeking of turpentine. 

From a magical perspective, this may not be a bad thing. Turpentine is used in old-time hoodoo rituals for purposes such as uncrossing, protection and sometimes as a feed for mojo bags. Its solvent powers and strong odor do indeed suggest a powerful spiritual cleansing agent, and it is still used in some modern day cleaning products on a purely practical level for these same reasons. 

Old time medicines sometimes included turpentine as a thing to drink, in small doses. A book from the 1850s, The Domestic Medicine Chest, recommends giving it to children in a dose of one teaspoon for killing tapeworm. Relatedly, in old time hoodoo cures for "live things" turpentine might be made into a tea along with other herbs and drunk down by the victim. There were also old time hoodoo "pills" made to cure conjure, such as one recipe of powdered silver and dragon's blood resin, moistened with turpentine and formed into pills which the conjured person swallowed in order to cure their ailment. 

If one suspected that cursed items had been placed or buried on their property by enemies, sprinkling the grounds with a mixture of turpentine and black oak bark infusion was said to draw up the items so that they could be found. To kill the power of any conjured items, turpentine and salt mixed together could be sprinkled over them. 


old time turpentine farmers

Turpentine is also said to chase away the power of conjure from inflicting one's body or home in the first place. Pouring a bit of turpentine into dishes in the four corners of a room (or, if one doesn't have to worry about damage to paint or carpets, poured directly onto the ground in each corner) is said to protect against conjure. One of Hyatt's informants advised rubbing turpentine directly onto one's body as a form of protection -- allegedly one's enemies "couldn’t do you nothin’ -- dey couldn’t stand you, dey wouldn’t have nothing to do with you." One supposes the strong odor alone might drive people away, but some people actually enjoy the scent of it -- Demeter Fragrances offers perfume, soap and room fragrances that smell like turpentine.

Another interesting use of turpentine is in this breakup formula, doubtless chosen because of its power to dissolve oils, varnishes, etc.: to break up a couple, one could sprinkle on their porch a mixture of grave dirt, turpentine, salt and sulfur. Many older breakup formulas contain ingredients found in uncrossing formulas, and there may be a supposition that the relationship is held together by witchcraft to begin with. 

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