Writings From A HIGHER SOURCE

And Questions relating to Herb Substitutions

I get emails from time to time from various people who are on a budget inquiring about spell ingredients and spiritual supplies. Some of these questions include the following: Can I substitute this ingredient that I don't have or can't afford? Will the spell work if I leave out the herbs? Can I make this herb blend using just the three herbs I have instead of the five herbs in the spell? I only have enough money to buy a condition oil; can I just skip the herbs or the bath crystals?

These are all really good questions, and I completely sympathize with not having enough money to spend on sometimes-expensive spiritual supplies. So for all of you folks on a budget, I offer several recipes utilizing common household ingredients. Now you can blend your own spell herbs, magical powders, herbal baths, and anointing oils if you so choose. Before I give you the recipes, though, here are some quick answers to those questions I mentioned above.

 

( Read on for more information and RECIPES... )

 

Years back i was visiting a friend in Philidelphia.  She knew i was into occult shops, so she took me to one in the city.  When we arrived it was a bustling, New Age, Wicca-type shop.  There was some neat stuff there, but most of it was pretty typical.  The back half of the store was set up as a kind of herb dispensary with a guy behind the counter helping customers, scooping spoonfuls of herbs into paper bags, and making recommendations. 

I immediately eye-balled a bottle of mysterious-looking wash that was on a top shelf as a decoration.  I inquired about it, the shopkeeper took it down for me, and lo and behold it was a bottle of Young's Chinese Wash.  Maybe it's because of my age or something else, but i have never seen a bottle of old-school Chinese Wash before.  Well, i begged him to sell it to me, he agreed, and i've been hanging on to it ever since - unopened, a part of my curio and oddity collection.  Here's a photo:

Pleased with my purchase of Chinese Wash, i walked back to my car triumphant only to realize i had previously walked by the real treasure: an authentic hoodoo drug store which had certainly seen better days.  My heart skipped a beat as i walked in and looked around.

Now, there are a few occasions in my life where i wish i could have a do-over - certain opportunities presented and passed up by me because of years of living on a budget - in hindsight, some things that should have been put on a credit card no matter the interest and inflation, bills that could have been paid late, corners that could have been cut - oh, if i had only pulled $100 out of the ATM then and there, for this i kick myself to this very day, five years later.

Now this shop is closed down from what i've heard.  When i was there they were liquidating their inventory, and certainly you'd think  they would have been amenable to bargaining with a poor, bright-eyed, hoodoo-loving young lady.  There were treasures there from 30+ years ago, occult items that have not been available in decades.  I could have bought them out of these rarities, but i didn't.  I bought just a couple of things, photos of which i'll share with you.

Most magical herbalists are aware that the Adam and Eve Roots of present commerce are not the real Adam and Eve Root belonging to the orchid species.  This is not to say that the fake A&Es don't have some sort of collective spiritual aura put upon them by thousands of well-meaning believers or that they are deviod of any magical worthiness of their own.  It's just that they are not the true Adam and Eve Root folk magicians hear so much about.  This is a photo of the "fake" Adam and Eve Root one can purchase from any number of occult suppliers, usually in a charming graphic envelope:

I have two special High John roots that i've been holding on to, and i thought i'd share photos of them.  For those who work with gendered pairs of roots and curios, we're familiar with traditional correspondences such as male and female Lodestones, Orris Roots for women, High John for men, Blood Root with white cores and pinkish-red cores, conical Adam Roots and squatter Eve Roots, on down the line.  I have heard that if you get your hands on enough of these gendered curios, sometimes if you're lucky you'll get one that breaks some of the "rules." 

I have one such High John Root which is shaped like a vagina.  This yoni root is super cool, and the resemblance is quite apparent.  This sweet root is in safe-keeping awaiting its perfect human companion.  Here S/He is in all its glory:

This how-to has been a long time coming.  In the past six months i have written probably a dozen separate emails to a dozen separate clients and querrants on this very subject: Exactly what are those magic powders and what do i do with them?  For those who know, and who love and use sachet powders, i apologize for the review.


Sachet powders are a versatile magical product.  The powders i make, with a few exceptions, consist of ground botanicals and minerals, condition oils, and pure talc.  I do not tint my sachet powders, but some makers do and that is generally accepted and expected.  Thus you would have pinkish powders for a love sachet, and mint green powder for a money-drawing sachet and the like.  Oftentimes sachet powders are scented but not overwhelmingly so.  Powders are meant to be used subtley, and you won't find them (or you shouldn't) in day-glo yellow strongly scented of Pina Colada.  Sachet Powders are also a bit labor intensive to make and a little goes a long way, so that's why i (and other makers) sell them in smaller quantities and/or for slightly more money than the same quantity of another magical product such as bath salts.

Sachet powders are just one type of magical powders.  Magical powders can be further broken-down into several sub-groups:  All-herb powders; All-mineral powders; All-zoological powders; and blended powders: a varying mixture of herbs, minerals, and animal curios depending on the formula (this is the category sachet powders fall into).

All-herb powders are simply made from plant material ground down to a fine dust.  This can be accomplished quite nicely with a coffee bean grinder for most plant materials.  Certain roots and parts are too hard, though, and i use a hand-cranked grist mill to get the job done.  While you can easily do the job yourself and make your own all-herb powders, this type of powder is not typically offered commerically.  It does take a suprising amount of plant matter to make a few tablespoons of powder, but this should not stop you from grinding your own.  Many folks enjoy using a mortar and pestle thereby putting a little elbow grease into the creation of their personalized spiritual supplies.  There are many pre-ground herbs available in commerce and many of them make a nice base for your own all-herb powders.  Frequently these are offered as cooking spices and non-combustible incenses.  Examples are Sandalwood powder, powdered Benzoin, and ground Cinnamon.

Examples of all-mineral powders would be magical dirts such as graveyard dirt and church dirt as well as magical minerals such as ash, sulphur, saltpetre, and brick dust.  A lot of times these ingredients are kept seperate and used by themselves or are blended with other botanicals in various formulas. 

All-zoological powders are similar in use to all-mineral powders.  They are typically used alone or blended with complementary herbs to create a formula.  An example of a zoological powder would be crab shell powder.  You could use that powder by itself for reversing work, or you could make your own blended Reversing Powder and add other ground reversing herbs and minerals.  Other animal-based powders include ground snake sheds and snake meat, dried and powdered insects, and crushed bone.

Blended powders are made with an assortment of ingedients: mineral, plant, and animal.  Sachet powders are an example of a blended powder as most of them contain talc, a mineral, and plenty of ground botanicals mixed in.  Some blended powders also include animal products.  Most goofer dust recipes, a blended powder, call for nasty ingedients such as sulphur and pepper as well as snake skin and ground insects.  In some hoodoo spells, the practitioner is directed to powder a dirt dauber's nest.  This would be a type of blended powder as the dirt/wood pulp nest is a mineral and the ground insect larvae is an animal specimen. 

Note that when a powder is labeled "Sachet" that means it is a "nice" powder appropriate to dust your body with.  One of the many uses of sachet powders is as a magical body powder similar to the use of condition oils as a magical perfume.  You would never dust your own body with one of the other more sinister powders (note, not called "sachet") such as Crossing Powder, Hot Foot Powder, or goofer dust.  Those powders are meant to be thrown for another person, not to be worn by you to infuse your own self with their nastiness.  This is just a reminder that all powders are not meant to be used the same way.  Here are some common ways to employ sachet and other magical powders:

Use powders to dress papers.  This is where sachet powders shine.  You can't dress papers with condition oils unless you want a telltale oily splotch.  Sachet powders can be lightly sprinkled on papers, prayed over, and then you run your fingers around and through the powdered papers, working towards you for attraction, and then the excess is tamped off.  This is the perfect method to get your magic into the hands of your target.  Powder your resume before giving it to prospective employers.  Dress business cards with Attraction or Better Business Sachet Powder.  Work some Saty With Me powder or Reconciliation onto your next love letter.  Fix magic money by sprinkling Money Come To Me Sachet Powder on your paper money each night.  The uses go on and on.
Don't forget to dress the backsides of documents, too, where they will be touched the most. 

Use sachet powders to sprinkle on the ground where they will work their magic and/or where your target will walk over them.  Use sachet powders as a magical carpet sprinkle; set down a light dusting of Protection or Peaceful Home Sachet Powder after spiritually cleansing your home.  You can also place pinches of powder in the four corners of each room or in your home to magically seal your property.  Sneakily sprinkle powders where your target will step over or touch.  Lay down some Look Me Over or Love Me Sachet Powder to get you noticed by your intended.  Dust your troublesome neighbor's stoop with Hot Foot Powder to move them out!  When sprinkling sachet powders on the ground, be sure to mix them with some of the local dirt to make the powder less conspicuous.

Sachet Powders have many uses and are indespensable in spell work.  Use sachet powders to dress your candles with after anointing them with an oil.  Sachet powders are easier to apply to candles than crushed herbs and burn better as well.  You can mix any number of sachet powders with other herbs or herb blends to make a totally customized botanical spell blend.  Dress name papers, prayer papers, and petition papers with corresponding sachet powders.  Add a pinch to the center of your packet when folding these magical papers up into an amulet.  Sachet powders are convenient to use in container spells; add a pinch or a spoon to bottle spells, sweetening jars and other jar spells, and when added to a mojo bag, the powder gradually and slowly sifts out, infusing your person with its magic.  Magical powders are also wonderful to lay out symbols on an altar or to sprinkle the whole working space.  They lend their essence quite marvelously that way.  Many practitioners encircle their candles and spell implements with sachet powders to reinforce and concentrate the magical energies.

Wear sachet powders as a magical body powder much in the same way folks wear condition oils as a magical perfume.  One advantage of wearing sachet powders is they are typically much lighter scented than oils.  This is great if you don't particularly like the scent of an oil you wish to use, say if it's a little too feminine for your taste; you can then try to wear the sachet powder.  You may add a spoonful of magical powder to a container of regular body powder to stretch it out, or you can use this method if you wish to get some magic into an unwitting target (such as Stay With Me Sachet Powder in your roving husband's foot powder).  Sachet powders can also be applied to your body uncut using your hands or a clean powderpuff or feather duster.

Thus concludes our quick survery of the background and usage of magical powders.  I'm sure i forgot quite a few things, so i welcome any suggestions.



this document is copyright (c), 2008, A Higher Source

A BRIEF "HOW-TO" FOR SPIRITUAL BATHING AND THE USE OF BATH CRYSTALS

SPIRITUAL BATHING
One of the most common magical treatments a spiritual worker will prescribe to their clients are spiritual baths. A spiritual bath is usually taken before, after, and/or during magical work. Sometimes a series of spiritual baths is the only work a client or practitioner will do for themselves, as it is effective spiritual and magical work all by itself.

TYPES OF BATH PRODUCTS
Spiritual baths come in three common forms: the all-herbs and roots bath, the all-mineral, and the combination herb and mineral bath. Many workers make their own bath products, but there are a few companies out there that make excellent baths for sale to the general public. All bath products should contain a noticeable amount of botanical ingredients - they should NOT be only dyed, perfumed Epsom salts or dyed, perfumed liquid detergent; those kind of cheap products contain very little magical properties, if any.

All-herb baths should contain an assorted variety of fresh-smelling plant material. While the herbs may be chopped up, the mixture should not resemble ground-up green and brown stuff. You should be able to pick out recognizable ingredients, if included, such as rose petals, lavender, and other flower petals, depending on the particular bath blend. Most all-herb baths come with a reusable muslin sack, or they come in tea bags for you to steep the herbs in your bathwater.

High-quality herb and mineral Bath Crystals are a blend of salt, botanical ingredients, and condition oil. They usually come lightly tinted and fragranced. Again, you should be able to see chopped up herbs. Unfortunately, many large companies who offer these traditional products take short cuts, and you end up with regular old scented bath salts with a magical name that cost twice as much as the bath salts sold at the drug store. When shopping around, buy small quantities to ensure you don't waste money on poor quality goods. Don't despair, though, because there are some fantastic suppliers out there who make top-notch baths, oils, incenses, and powders. Just be careful and ask questions.

WHEN SHOULD YOU TAKE A SPIRITUAL BATH?
If you have read the different types of spiritual supplies that I and others make, you would have noticed the unique names and the various purposes they help with. The same is true for all the hoodoo products: condition oils, sachet powders, incenses, and floor washes. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of different recipes depending on the maker. You run the gamut of products for love, money, luck, health, protection, success, employment, family, marriage, religion, psychicism, divination, spiritual cleansing, saints, gods, the list goes on and on and on!

A spiritual worker may have thirty-plus recipes on-hand for his clients. Let's say one of her products is entitled "Wash Clean of Sin" and is used to cleanse yourself of bad habits, bad deeds, and the negativity/problems of others. This worker will undoubtedly offer Wash Clean of Sin Condition Oil, Wash Clean of Sin Sachet Powder, W.C.S. Incense, and W.C.S. Bath Crystals. Although they are all quite different products, they are all made from the same "mother" ingredients. You would use the Wash Clean of Sin Bath Crystals alone or in conjunction with other magical work that typically employ other Wash Clean of Sin products.

Most folks take a spiritual bath to signify the beginning of magical work. Let's say you were doing a seven-day candle spell that required lighting portions of a candle every morning for seven mornings in a row. Lots of people would take a spiritual bath at least on the first and last day of the spell, if not take one every morning before starting. In this manner, spiritual baths help adjust your mindset, give an opportunity for prayer, and they infuse your body with their magical properties.

Folks also take spiritual baths to prepare for a situation. One might take a love bath before a date with their lover. A person might take a protective bath in preparation for a dangerous/negative event. A quarreling couple might take a reconciliation bath to soothe their hurt feelings, etc., etc. By taking a bath in this manner, you take time for self-reflection and prayer; you also are performing powerful work by releasing the magic contained in the botanicals and imbuing your body with it.


HOW TO TAKE A SPIRITUAL BATH
You take a spiritual bath differently than a regular bath. A regular bath is taken to clean your body and to take a relaxing soak; a spiritual bath is taken for magical and spiritual purposes. Thus, it makes sense that spiritual bathing requires a different technique.

Baths are taken according to the time of the day. When your need involves things for increase and gain, such as more love, money, growth, renewal, you take your bath before daybreak. In this manner your need rises with the sun. When your need involves diminishing, lessening, or removal, you take your bath at sundown.

To prepare a spiritual bath using bath crystals, you fill your tub with only about six inches of water. This is not a soaking and soaping bath; if you are especially dirty, take a shower beforehand. If you only have a shower stall and no tub, purchase one of those old aluminum wash basins to take your spiritual baths in. You will truly be keeping true to tradition using one of those! Alternatively, use a large plastic storage tub or a dish basin. Add the warm water and a small handful of the bath crystals (about 2-3 Tablespoons). State your petition/intent and/or pray as you swish the crystals in the bath until they're dissolved. Undress and step into the tub. You will wash your body upwards or downwards depending on the purpose of the bath. Again, for a need involving gain and increase, wash up from feet to head. For something involving decrease or removal, wash downwards from head to feet. Use your hands to cup the water on you or use a wash cloth. You will bathe your body completely for a certain number of times as directed by a spell or worker. If no repetitions are given, wash an odd number of times, usually seven or nine times.

It is important to pray sincerely during these washings while visualizing your desired outcome. Some folks chant or recite Psalms. When finished with the prescribed number of washings, step out and air dry. Pray while you air dry. If you decide you can't wait to air dry and use a towel, you will be wiping the magic and help off of your skin and basically undoing some of the bath. If you can't bear the idea of air drying, don't take a spiritual bath.

While you are waiting to dry, scoop a bowlful of your used bath water out of the tub and save it either to be employed in spell work or to be disposed of ritually. Once dry, dress in clean clothes and carry the bowl of your bath water to one of two places: your front door or the nearest crossroads. You would pour out your bath water over your front door step to draw things closer to you such as new love, more money, peace, etc. You would use the crossroads for anything you don't wish to draw closer, to get rid of something, or to drive someone away. The traditional method of tossing your bath water is to walk to your destination in complete silence, offer a prayer once you arrive, turn your back to either the setting or rising sun, and toss the water over your left shoulder. Walk back home silently and without looking back.

OTHER USES OF BATH CRYSTALS
~ Use them as Floor Wash
Use Bath Crystals to cleanse your house and/or magically infuse it with whatever it is you want ( or don't want) and need. Some examples: Peaceful Home Bath Crystals for household harmony, Blessing for a new home or family addition, Fiery Wall of Protection to keep your family safe, Money Stay With Me to protect your financial interests, the list goes on and on.
To use a floor wash: First, clean your home thoroughly - this is a spiritual and magical cleaning, not a dirt and grime cleaning. Empty a small handful of bath crystals in a 1/2 bucket of warm water. Swish your hand in the water until the crystals are dissolved; while you do so pray for whatever it is you need for your home. Mop your floor in the following manner: Upstairs-back of the house mopping forward, the stairs from top moving down, the downstairs-back of the house mopping forward towards the front door. Now, the front door step/stairs/porch, etc.: if you are cleaning your house to draw, attract, for gain, increase, mop your front walkway moving from the sidewalk mopping toward your front door all the way to the threshold. If your need includes repelling, diminishing, banishing, mop from the threshold of your house, moving out towards the sidewalk. Pray while you do so; Psalm 23 is perfect. Adjust this and improvise as necessary depending on your individual door step. Dispose of the use wash water in the same way described above with the used bath water.
If you have wall-to-wall carpeting, wash in the same manner, but use a rag to wash any wooden, metal, or tiled part of your home: the doorjambs, wooden edging, radiators, baseboards, bathrooms, kitchens, etc. Finish the job by burning a spiritual cleansing incense in each room.

~ Add Bath Crystals to Rinse Water
Add a small amount of bath crystals to the final rinse cycle in the washing machine to impart magical properties to your clothes or, sneakily, the clothes of another. Try Stay With Me for a wandering spouse, Crown of Success to have a favor granted, or Find A job before you go out interviewing.