Where To Deposit Hoodoo Spells for Effective Magic that Works

Many hoodoo magic spells operate by way of creating physical charms like mojo bags or bottle spells. In these cases, what is one to do with the resulting magical spell device? Traditionally, the answer is to place the charms in specific locations that relate to the work.

When one deposits a hoodoo spell at a house, it should be the home of the person the spell is meant to influence. So if it's a spell to draw money to yourself, you keep the charm at your own house. If your spell is to mentally influence somebody through magic, you will hide the charm someplace at their house. It is of note that the magical spell device does not necessarily need to be hidden inside the house, but it should at least be on the property of the person it is meant to influence. It is perfectly fine to conceal the charm; it need not be plainly visible. In fact, it can even be buried or hidden under the house.

"But I can't get into so and so's house," you complain, "in fact I can't get near it or he'll see me!!!!!!" Well, then, there are a few other tricks you can use.

Magic spells of any kind, meant to effect or influence any person at all, can be buried in the middle of the crossroads (or dropped at the crossroads, if the road is paved. If it's a large item, many folks like to leave it on the corner facing the middle of the crossroads so as not to disrupt traffic.) Note that a crossroads is any fork in the road or intersection. I actually had someone once try to tell me he couldn't put something in a crossroads because "There are no crossroads in Los Angeles." (WTF?) The more isolated the road is, the more comfortable you are likely to be while doing your work; but a crowded intersection is perfectly acceptable to use.

Crossroads are a magical "in between" place where various realities can come together to create new 'paths' for your life, thus their special power.

"But people will see me!!!" you complain again? Okay, how about this:

Hoodoo spells can be deposited into a river, especially if they are for beneficial purposes. Water purifies and blesses, and for love spells, success spells or money spells it can cause things to 'flow' your way. In spells for the influence other people's thoughts, it can make their thoughts 'flow' or 'drift' your way.

For certain spells, such as those that harm or otherwise invoke the dead, the graveyard is the ideal spot.

A common question/complaint I hear from people who want to cast their own spells but don't want to do them the right way:

"But I'm afraid of the graveyard!"

Then, I must ask, why are you dabbling in spells that require you to go there? There are maybe two kinds of spells that require going to these places, either to collect or deposit ingredients; either you're doing harmful works, which isn't exactly supposed to be fun and pleasant for anyone to start with, or else it's something that has you directly contacting the dead like psychic work or ancestor work, in which case if you're so frightened of the dead you really shouldn't be doing this anyway.

Now, I suppose to be fair some folks live in bad neighborhoods where the graveyards become gathering places for criminals (if you've ever been to the St. Louis Cemetery in New Orleans you know there are even signs all over the place warning about the muggings that go on there) but even at that it should just be a matter of either going with friends or else traveling to a nicer graveyard to do your work. Most of the time, though, this doesn't seem to even be the trouble. Usually the complaint is defended with a mere "I'm just really creeped out by them" or something along those lines.

If you're not able to handle graveyards then you likely can't handle a spell that utilizes them. In these cases, consider whether you really even need to be doing the spell in question.

"But can't I just visualize putting it into a river but really throw it in the trash?" Umm, no. 

If you can't deal with depositing your spells in special places, then you really have two options:

1. Don't practice hoodoo.
2. Hire someone else to perform your hoodoo spells for you.

As you can see, all these places for depositing and disposing of spells have a special and particular significance. Throwing it in the trash just sends the spiritual message that you're done with the spell and don't need it anymore. (Myself, I only ever throw charms or spell remains in the trash if I'm either certain that they didn't work, or if I no longer want anything to do with the intent they were made for.) In fact, all of the above photos are from areas where I have personally practiced. 

Performing such formal disposal methods can even lead to the occasional funny story.

One who practices hoodoo should always deposit their magical charms in the designated locations. Almost always.

The doing away with the charm in a certain designated location is actually a part of the spell. Most people who object to using the appointed places this way don't want to do it because it's inconvenient to go there or because they're afraid. In these cases it's just griping and no allowance is made: you still must do it.

However, a few folks honestly cannot do it. For example:

You can skip a crossroads if you REALLY are living in an isolated location that has no crossroads of any type anyplace nearby, and you're not able to drive to one for some reason. I have known a couple people in New Mexico who were living alone out in the desert for various reasons and relied on someone stopping by usually once a week to take them around. (One guy got in some trouble after a rattlesnake bit him, in this situation, and he had no phone or way out...)

You can skip a river if you really live near no body of water. This one is probably the most common trouble -- particularly in the southwest, it's typical that rivers run dry even if they are near you, making this a challenge at times.

And clearly, you will have to skip placing an object at a person's house if they live very far away from you and you really have no way to get there.

Now, here are the "cheats" I'm familiar with, and would feel safe to use:

• You can keep a special, closed container at hand for spell items, like a jewelry box or a pot with a lid. Store your charm or charms in there awaiting such a time as you will be able to travel to the designated location, at which point you deposit the charms. You can also have such a box and keep the items permanently if you would have buried the item outside your house but are not able to (like if you live in an apartment in a city and have no dirt outside.)
• If you need water but are not near natural water, toilets and sinks can be used (assuming you have a small enough item. Note also that the object can be burned and the ashes disposed of in this way; it is not too uncommon in hoodoo for items to be reduced to ashes before use.) Note that -- with the toilet particularly -- you should probably be careful to do away with the spell respectfully; give it its own flushing instead of tossing it in along with other waste. Storm drains, if they have water, may also count.
• If you cannot deposit an item at someone's home, you might be able to secretly give them the item concealed inside something else. Conjure is full of stories about folks who received "tricked" items -- I knew one girl who years after the fact discovered that a purse she'd been given as a gift had a voodoo doll full of pins sewn under the lining. Some items, like dolls or bottle spells, can even be given openly if you construct them prettily enough -- a porcelain figurine or an action figure can be worked similarly to a voodoo doll, for example, yet most folks would not suspect anything about these kinds of goods.
• If you cannot give an item to someone or sneak it near them, drop it in a crossroads.
• Remember that cars have only been around for 130 years or so and many spells are older than that. Intersecting footpaths -- as one finds in gardens or parks -- count as crossroads too, if your area is too heavy on traffic to safely chuck anything into a road.
• If you have a park or public street with a wastebasket that is set up at a crossroads or intersection, you may use this bin to deposit the spell in order to avoid potential littering citations or drawing undue attention to your work. Because it is at a crossroads it still counts; but if the bin is not at a crossroads then this will not work.

I also have kind of a feeling, when it comes to making exceptions on magical practices, that if you have to ask then the answer is no. If you need to go "I can't put my spell in [some location]. Is it okay if I [do some other thing]?" then I'll say the answer is no. If you have any doubt as to whether or not it's proper then the answer is no. Whereas, if you know and feel completely confident that some other action is just as good -- such that you don't need to be asking for 'permission' to tamper with tradition -- then and only then can you succeed.