Where Rosemary Flourishes - Rosemary Herb Lore in Hoodoo

hoodoo voodoo rosemary herb for witchcraft

Among unpleasant memories of magical practice is an occasion where I shared the circa 1920 recipe for Van Van I had seen in the New Orleans Pharmacy Museum on a hoodoo forum, and got laughed out of the room because it contained rosemary.

"Rosemary's for female domination!"

This idea has been popularized by Catherine Yronwode, attributing it to stem from a saying "Where rosemary flourishes, the lady rules." (The same are said about sage and parsley.) H.U. Lampe's 1974 book Famous Voodoo Rituals and Spells might be the source of the information, for he writes:

"Where Rosemary Flourishes, The Lady Rules", is an ancient saying. Rosemary is kept under the bed to insure faithfulness. Fore (sic) causing prophetic dreams, Rosemary is dipped into a mixture of vinegar, rum, water, gin, and wine. This is kept near the bed. Before retiring say, "Tibi impero ut quoedam viluero et velim adimpleos et facias."

The saying is originally English. A 1905 magazine offers some suggested reasons behind the saying, and the oldest version of it I've seen is in the originally circa 1860 Language and Sentiment of Flowers, which book remarks on its use in wedding bouquets and funeral wreaths (because it symbolizes or stimulates memory) before going on to remark:

There was a wide spread belief in the efficacy of the herb as a counter charm against witchcraft; the reason, probably, for its use at weddings and burials, and for its presence in the dock of the accused in courts of justice. The Portuguese called it Alicrum or Elfin plant and in Spain it is still worn as an antidote to the evil eye.

That the Spanish preferred it for protection and cleansing is likely the key to the alternative use as an ingredient in hoodoo for purification and luck-drawing purposes (the two being almost the same concept in older hoodoo -- you'll be lucky as long as you're free from curses.)

The early mentions of using rosemary this way tend to turn up from around the New Orleans area (where there was some significant Spanish influence due to Spain governing the area; an experiment called Spanish Louisiana.) Zora Neale Hurston recommends it in a few lucky recipes, such as this one for Fast Scrubbing Essence:

A mixture of thirteen oils. It is burned with incense for fish-fry luck, i.e., business success. it includes:
Essence cinnamon
Essence wintergreen
Essence geranium
Essence bergamot
Essence orange flowers, used also in initiation baths
Essence lavender, used also in initiation baths
Essence anice (sic)
Essence St. Michael
Essence rosemary

Talking of more recent workings, rosemary is used in hispanic magic spells to the extent of being a talismanic herb all of its own. You can buy a scented Rosemary Candle with a prayer to the Rosemary:

Holy Rosemary, ye that possess the divine powers of cleansing, healing, purifying and protecting, help me rid my home, work and family of all spells, jinx, envy and incantations, placed upon them. With your natural protective powers be my shield against my enemies, that no evil shall reach my properties or their surroundings. I have faith in you and in the Lord that you will guard us day and night.

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 any other number of metaphors. I 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 with Bend Over powder. He paid me what I ...

Spiritual Use of Turpentine in Hoodoo and 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...

Blockbuster, Van Van, Uncrossing, Road Opener -- What's the Difference? What to Use Against Jinxes?

Many hoodoo formulas are related to one another, sometimes very closely. Some formulas, Lovers formula versus Love formula, are just manufacturer specific names for what is essentially the same product (or at least a product meant to get the same result.) Sometimes people wonder, what's the difference between Uncrossing and Van Van ? What's the difference between Road Opener and Blockbuster ? First things first: Road Opener, aka Abre Camino, is not a traditional hoodoo formula, it's a Latin American loaner that has come in relatively recently along with a lot of Santeria and Brujeria practices. This is why it seems to cover the same ground that several other old hoodoo mixtures do. Blockbuster might also be in this same boat, though my evidence on this is less sure -- nonetheless it does seem to be a newer formula, in relative terms ( the word "blockbuster" is only datable to around 1940 ) and often sold with an alternate Spanish name "Arrasa con T...

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 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...

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