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

An old-time ingredient one finds in certain medicines and remedies is Mummia , a powder made from ground up Egyptian mummies. (And oh -- wouldn't that make a first-class goofer dust? )  Mummia is a good example of the lack of distinction held in the past between scientific and magical practices -- most of the properties attributed to mummia would now be considered more on par with magic than with legitimate medicine or chemistry, but for ages it was felt to be otherwise. I today wish to discuss the history of a particularly interesting pigment known as Mummy Black. Egyptian mummies have a dark color to them when unwrapped, which color the skin takes on as a side effect of the embalming process. It was believed in ancient times, by foreigners and maybe even by uneducated Egyptians, that this black color, and much of the whole preservation, were achieved by using large amounts of mineral pitch in the mummification process. In fact the hue is merely a side effect of the...

The so-called Obeah Bible of De Laurence was mostly copied from the 19th century book The Magus , which itself was largely copied from the works of Agrippa . Though very European in origin, De Laurence marketed his books well in countries like Jamaica and parts of Africa, with the result that his publications and his formulas often supplanted the traditional folk magic of the regions. There are numerous recommendations about what herbs and colors to use for each sign of the zodiac ( you can find some of the alternatives in this previous post ) but here are the recommended herbs according to De Laurence's book: ARIES Ginseng TAURUS Upright Vervain GEMINI Bending Vervain CANCER Comfrey LEO Ladies' Seal VIRGO Calamint LIBRA Forget-Me-Not SCORPIO Mugwort SAGITTARIUS Pimpernel CAPRICORN Dock AQUARIUS Tarragon PISCES Pipevine Zodiac herbs can be used by adding them to spells where a person is being influenced or represented. Find the person...

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 ...

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 ...

The case of Elizabeth Báthory inspired numerous stories during the 18th and 19th centuries. The most common motif of these works was that of the countess bathing in her victims' blood in order to retain beauty or youth. However, this legend only appeared in print for the first time in 1729 -- more than a hundred years after Báthory's death. At the beginning of the 19th century, this certainty was questioned, and sadistic pleasure was considered a far more plausible motive for Elizabeth Báthory's crimes. In 1817, the witness accounts (which had surfaced in 1765) were published for the first time, suggesting that the bloodbaths were legend. It seems that through history many women's deeds have been falsely attributed to vanity, and Countess Elizabeth was one of them. According to all the trial testimony, her initial victims were the adolescent daughters of local peasants, many of whom were lured to Csejte by offers of well-paid work as maidservants in the castle. Later, s...