Incense Woods: Aloeswood, Sandalwood in Witchcraft and Hoodoo Practice

Aloes, agarwood, also known as oud, oodh or agar, is a dark resinous heartwood that forms in Aquilaria and Gyrinops trees (large evergreens native to southeast Asia) when they become infected with a type of mold. It is a fragrant wood, valued in antiquity for its pleasing smell and recommended in magical textbooks for operations connected with the sun. The resin embedded wood is valued in many cultures for its distinctive fragrance, and thus is used for incense and perfumes. One of the main reasons for the relative rarity and high cost of agarwood is the depletion of the wild resource.

Bitter aloes, made from a different plant, is a purgative drug and therefore a symbol of spiritual cleansing, purgatory.

Sandalwood is the name of a class of fragrant woods from trees in the genus Santalum. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and unlike many other aromatic woods they retain their fragrance for decades. As well as using the harvested and cut wood, essential oils are also extracted from the woods for use. Both the wood and the oil produce a distinctive fragrance that has been highly valued for centuries. Consequently, the slow-growing trees have been overharvested in many areas, causing the price of this important wood to skyrocket. Many herb shops now only sell Australian Sandalwood instead of true White Sandalwood traditionally called for, because it is more abundant. Several species of plants are traded as "sandalwood." Within the genus Santalum alone, there are more than nineteen species. Traders will often accept oil from closely related species, such as various species in the genus Santalum, as well as from unrelated plants such as West Indian Sandalwood (Amyris balsamifera) in the family Rutaceae or bastard sandalwood (Myoporum sandwicense, Myoporaceae). However, most woods from these alternative sources will lose their aroma within a few months or years.

The plant does not grow native in the US. Therefore, sandalwood is not one of the most traditional of hoodoo ingredients, but it has been long used in old-world magical spells and perfumes, and its usages carried over from this. In current practice, sandalwood or the essential oil of sandalwood is used in hoodoo style magic to bring blessings and purification. In planetary magic, it is usually considered to be a Mercury herb, also making it appropriate for aiding mental clarity, speed, communication, knowledge, commerce, transport and travel.

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...

Perfume, Cologne, and Its Use In Hoodoo

The original recipe for cologne was reputedly given to St. Elizabeth of Hungary by an angel -- the concoction was known as "Hungary Water" and was used primarily as a medicine, rather than just a mere fragrance. Charles Godfrey Leland remarked that it therefore was appropriate hoodoo practitioners would use such a substance for feeding their conjure bags and other talismans. The term cologne actually comes from a later preparation, Cologne Water (named for the German city.) The original Cologne Water is a spirit-citrus perfume launched in 1709 by Giovanni Maria Farina (1685–1766), an Italian perfume maker from Santa Maria Maggiore Valle Vigezzo, Italy. In 1708, Farina wrote to his brother Jean Baptiste: "I have found a fragrance that reminds me of an Italian spring morning, of mountain daffodils and orange blossoms after the rain". He named his fragrance Cologne Water, in honour of his new hometown. The Original Cologne Water composed by Farina was used on...

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...

Magical Colors in Hoodoo Witchcraft Tradition

Color is one of the most powerful symbolic tools in magic, allowing practitioners to communicate intent and manipulate energies in a way that feels both natural and intuitive. In hoodoo, color symbolism is often utilized in spells of candle magic , mojo bags , and powders and oils . But hoodoo is far from the only tradition where color matters. Many magical systems, such as European folk magic, ceremonial magic, and even pop-culture new age witchcraft — draw on color associations to shape their workings. In old spells, colored objects were difficult to produce; recipes for making the colored cloths, candles etc. were frequently included as part of the magical instruction. Once artificial dyes became commonplace in the 19th century, the magical practice really brightened up and colors became common additions to spellwork. Red In the oldest African-derived American hoodoo spells, the only commonly mentioned color of importance is red ; it was used to add power to any spell, ...

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 ...

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

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