I looked at the cards and studied their positions again. There was a problem, all right, but nothing that couldn't be fixed. It was more like a temporary roadblock: something that the client should meet head on and obliterate, but at worst could manage to bypass. And that's exactly what I told the woman sitting in front of me.
“But you don't understand,” she wailed. “That other reader said I had a curse on me . . . a really bad one . . . and . . .”
“Oh, come now, Darlin',” I said, putting on my brightest smile and trying to lighten the situation, “I don't see anything like that here. In fact . . .”
“Well, she did! And I can't afford to give her five hundred bucks to take it off. I don't have five hundred bucks! I don't have . . .” Her voice trailed off as she swiped furiously at the errant tears spilling down her face.
I handed her a tissue and sighed disgustedly. I'd heard this story before—more times than I cared to recall. It was the oldest scam in the book. The one that charlatans pulled on unsuspecting clients who'd just come in for a good time and a little entertainment. By the time the clients left, though, they'd had neither. Instead, they were so terrified at the thought of a life of bad luck that they'd do anything not to have to live through it. Even turn over their bank accounts if that's what it took. And before it was said and done, that's what usually occurred.
It all started out with this manufactured curse. The reader in question would harp on it and harp on it until the client's better judgment took flight and soared right into oblivion. It didn't matter how happy the client actually was—or had been before she'd stepped through the door—she'd suddenly begin to second-guess herself and look for problems that didn't exist. (Surely her husband hadn't sent her flowers because he loved her. No, he must be screwing around. And the help Sally had given her with that project at work? That was just crap too. What Sally really intended to do was tell the boss that she was incapable of doing her own work and get her fired.) And once she started twisting things around in her mind, the result went way beyond a conclusion that life wasn't as wonderful as she'd originally thought. It culminated in total agreement with the reader: she was cursed, and nothing she did would ever turn out right until that horrible, slimy mess that clung to her was once and for all removed.
Now charlatans may be lots of things, but fools, they're not. They read people well. And once they see the client searching her mind for confirmation of these manufactured problems, they swiftly transform themselves into the most caring human beings on the planet. They take the client's hand, pat it gently, and tell her not to worry. They wipe tears and say that everything will be just fine. Sometimes, they even go as far as to offer the client a cup of tea or coffee. Then when things have settled down somewhat and they're sure they have the client's trust, they move in for the kill. They go on to say that they can fix this problem quickly and easily, and all it will take—are you ready for this?!—is the burning of ten specially prepared candles at fifty bucks a pop. A very small price to pay, they say. What, after all, is a lifetime of happiness worth?
Of course, it doesn't stop there. Now that the client's been reeled in and written the check, one of two things happens: either there's routine “maintenance” to prevent future curses, or more episodes of cursing pop up along the way. But it doesn't much matter which route the charlatan takes. Either way, the client keeps writing the checks and the reader is set for life.
I sat back in my chair, waited for my client to compose herself, and surveyed the cards again. Two things became glaringly apparent: first, the blockage I saw had to do with this other reader and the fear she'd instilled, and second, there was no way I was going to persuade this woman to effectively bypass it by ignoring the charlatan's advice. No, I was going to have to do something about it myself. I just prayed that I was as convincing as the person who'd started this whole mess.
“I can help you,” I said, looking the woman directly in the eye, “and it won't . . .”
“But I already told you! I don't have any money. I can't get any money. There's no way . . .”
I cut her off with a wave of my hand. “And it won't cost you a thing. Unless, of course, you need candles,” I added with a chuckle. “And then, I think a buck fifty ought to do it.”
She looked at me askance. “You're kidding.”
A quick search of my face told her I wasn't. And for the first time since she'd taken the chair across from me, my client actually smiled.
Sometimes you have to pull out the big guns, and that's exactly what I did for my client. But before you wrack your brains to figure out if you've missed something, I can assure you that you haven't. The curse the other reader spoke of was, indeed, manufactured. It was only a ruse to filch my client out of her life savings. And yet, I not only gave her the strongest hex-breaking weapon in my repertoire, I insisted that she use it. What's up with that?
She needed it. Plain and simple.
Here's the deal. As we discussed in Chapter 1, we are often our own worst enemies. We work ourselves up into tizzies, and instead of throwing the hissy fit that would bring such nonsense to a screeching halt, we give our minds free rein. They twirl round and round, searching for inconsistencies, inventing them where there are none, and gathering panic. Before all's said and done, anxiety sets in, paranoia comes to call, and terror rears its ugly head. We become little more than blithering idiots incapable of so much as getting out of bed for fear that this horrible hex—manufactured or not—will find us, harm us, and ruin our lives forever.
If that's not a curse, I don't know what is.
Yet, that's exactly what had happened to my client. And the fact that she'd invented this mess herself didn't make it any less viable. In this case, perhaps, it was even more so, as it was fueled by the power of suggestion at the hands of someone who was supposed to know what she was doing. So, to help this woman, I had to give her the tools to break this self-imposed curse once and for all. Otherwise, she'd have never been able to get on with her life or live it with some semblance of happiness. And finding a way to retrieve that happiness was the real reason she'd come to see me in the first place.
Before we get into this fabulous hex-breaker of mine, we need to talk a little about energy: what it is, what it isn't, and how to use it to its best advantage. You say you already know about energy? Well, before you skip ahead, I urge you to hear me out. Otherwise, the spell isn't going to do you a bit of good, you'll think I've given you a dud, and nothing could be further from the truth.
While we all think we know everything there is to know about energy, most of us are sadly mistaken. Oh, most of us know what it feels like. We even know when it's shifted. And a good number of us know how to direct it. It's just that most of today's magical teachers are negligent when it comes to teaching the basics. If they weren't, we'd never even consider returning negative energy to its sender. And since most of us are perfectly willing to go that route, it's obvious that something's missing. Something that no practitioner can do without. That something is, of course, a thorough understanding of energy and its most basic properties.
To start with, everything—whether it's a doll, or a stone, or a building in your neighborhood—is entirely comprised of energy. And as magical practitioners, all we do is move and direct that substance. It's pretty basic stuff, which most of us already know.
It's what many practitioners don't know about this substance that seems to cause a problem. First of all, energy is just that. It's energy. There's nothing “good” or “bad” about it. It's not dark or light, positive or negative. It's simply a living, breathing force that vibrates to unlimited form and shape.
This isn't to say, however, that some energies don't feel different from others. They do. But it has nothing to do with the energy itself. Instead, it's the practitioner directing the energy who flavors the way it feels.
A better way to explain this might be to take a look at the pixels in a computer graphic. They are only dots of color—nothing more, nothing less. But when an artist moves them together in a particular order and directs them into a proper measurement, an image forms. The pixels, themselves, have no control over whether the image is dreadful and gloomy, or bright and cheerful. They are, after all, just dots of color. It is the artist who brings the image to light—and evokes the desired feeling from those who view it—by moving and directing the pixels in a certain fashion. The same is true of energy and the practitioner.
The other important thing to understand about energy is that it never really goes away. It never dissolves. It never dissipates. In fact, energy is probably the only thing in this world that is truly boundless and everlasting. And that being the case, it only changes shape and form.
Having learned this early on, you can imagine my reaction when someone else's teacher announced that negative energy should always be returned to the sender. I was stunned. Bewildered. And more than just a little appalled. In fact, try as I might, I just couldn't keep my mouth shut.
“But that's just an effort in futility,” I blurted out, “and it's certainly not going to fix the problem!”
It was the teacher's turn to be stunned, bewildered, and more than a little appalled.
“And just why not?” she retorted.
“Because if both practitioners have their shields in place—and they certainly should if they're worth their salt—all this is going to do is cause a game of psychic volleyball. The energy's just going to bounce back and forth until someone gets tired. And we can only hope that someone is the practitioner who sent the energy in the first place.”
Apparently, this had never occurred to the teacher. She'd simply been relaying information passed on from her teachers and truly hadn't given the matter much thought. At any rate, her annoyance had now given way to interest, and she inquired about the solution.
I explained that all energy—regardless of how it feels—is a gift. It's the very substance from which everything is created. And that being the case, it should never be sent back. Instead, it should be grabbed up, moved and directed, and formed and shaped into something entirely different—something wonderful—something that could be used for personal benefit.
A smile crossed the teacher's lips, and then she began to laugh out loud. She wasn't laughing at the solution, though. Instead, it was the irony of the situation. To take someone's ill-will and transform it into something personally beneficial was just plain wicked—and she didn't mind telling me so.
Having gotten her attention, I then let her in on another secret—a secret related to that great little hex-breaker of mine. Simply put, it's this: that nasty-feeling energy that fuels the spell can come from anywhere—even from the magical practitioner casting it. What that means, of course, is that we can even use that slimy crap we douse ourselves with during periods of panic, anxiety, and paranoia. And what could be better than that?!
If you think you may be the victim of a hex or curse—or if you're having a particularly nasty run of bad luck—then this is the spell for you. But before you perform it, there are a few things you should know. Not to worry. It's nothing awful, and I'm not going to warn you about anything. It's just that it's best to field any possible questions at the onset. That way, there won't be any confusion later.
To start with, this spell may be worked at any time. You don't have to wait for a particular phase of the Moon. You don't have to wait for a specific day of the week. And you certainly don't have to bother with those annoying ceremonial calculations that involve figuring the proper hour, minute, and second. This spell works well no matter when it's performed. And since you're more than likely using it to remove some nasty crap from your life, waiting around for the planets to cooperate simply isn't an option. That's good news.
Another thing is that this spell is absolutely foolproof. There's no way you can screw it up, and you don't have to be a magical genius to get results. All you have to do is follow the directions, know that you're going to get exactly what you asked for, and relax. That's good news too.
Now then . . . I promised that I wouldn't warn you about anything, and I'm as good as my word. However, I do have a few suggestions that, taken under consideration, will make things much easier for you. And since no author worth her salt would dare to omit information that might be of assistance to her readers, I feel obligated to pass these along to you:
With all of that out of the way, let's get started. You'll be amazed at how easy it is, how well it works, and how quickly your life returns to normal!
Materials:
1 black candle
1 brown candle (A yellow, gray, or lavender candle may be substituted.)
1 white candle
Table salt
Metal cookie sheet
Paper and pen
A large supply of “negative” energy
Place the cookie sheet horizontally on a flat surface. Beginning at the center left-hand side of the cookie sheet, arrange the candles—first black, then brown, then white—so they form a horizontal line. Then, using the salt, draw a horizontal line from the white candle to a point approximately three-quarters of the way to the right-hand edge of the pan. Draw an arrow tip with the salt at the end of the line, then draw a salt circle around the arrow tip to encase it.
Write your desire on the paper in large block letters. In all actuality, this can be anything—money, a new job, love, protection, good health, religious tolerance, etc.—as long as it's something for which you have a need. But since we're breaking a curse here, simply write “GOOD FORTUNE.” Fold the paper into thirds, then into thirds again, and place it inside the salt circle directly on top of the arrow tip.
Ground and center. Light the black candle and focus on all the nasty energy coming your way. See the harm it's done, the trouble it's caused, and feel your personal misery. Then take it a step further and feel the anger. Don't just become angry though. Let the fury consume you until you're absolutely, positively, livid pissed. Throw a screaming, stomping, hissy fit if that's what it takes to get you there. Then name the candle for negativity.
Light the brown candle. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly, releasing every particle of anger from your body. When detachment takes over—and it will—feel the weight of your personal burdens lighten. Then see the energy begin to transform into something neutral, and name the candle for transformation.
Light the white candle. See the energy transformation process as complete. There is nothing left but clear, bright, raw, pure energy now. Energy that you can use to manifest your desire. Name the candle for raw, untapped, pure energy.
With your eyes, follow the salt line from the candle to the circle, and focus on the paper with your intention. Visualization is very important here, for you not only need to see your desires coming to fruition—your luck changing, your life becoming yours again, living a life you want to live—but also must be able to feel them as if they've already manifested.
Let the candles burn until they extinguish themselves. It's important to note that occasionally one or more will burn out prematurely. But if that should happen, do NOT relight it. Just leave it alone, know it's not a problem, and don't worry about it. It doesn't mean that anything's gone wrong or that the spell isn't working. More than likely, it simply means that an air bubble was trapped during the pouring phase. Neither should you worry if one candle burns out before another. In this case, it has no magical significance.
When the candles extinguish themselves, light the paper, and leave it in the salt circle until it burns to ash. (It's imperative that the paper is completely reduced to ash. If it's not, just light the paper again and allow it to burn until it is.) Once the ashes are cool, gather them together with the salt and the remnants of the wicks and wax (if there are any), and bury the items outdoors. Alternatively, bury the leftovers in a potted plant. (Don't worry about harming the plant, for it's been my experience that once used as this spell's receptacle, even African violets grow more lushly than before.)
Burying the items is, perhaps, the most important part of this spell as it acts to ground the magic. And once it's done, things begin to change immediately. There's no waiting period as is normal for other spells. All that's left is for you to decide precisely how you want to live that life you've taken back. And I've no doubt that you can manage that!
Now that you've swifted the energy to put your life back on track, it's probably a good idea to take some precautionary measures to keep it that way. And that means safe-guarding yourself, your home, and your property from the possibility of any future hexes or magical aggravation.
The first thing on the agenda requires a good housecleaning. Please don't groan, and whatever you do, don't try to figure a way around this. I don't like cleaning any better than the next person, but once you've been attacked, it's imperative. Otherwise, you're only going to seal that nasty stuff into your home with any protective measures you take. Even worse, though, anything you do to protect your space is actually going to protect that crap as well. And once that happens, you're going to have a hell of a time getting rid of it. It's best to just buck up, follow the directions, and get this mess over and done with.
Here's something that may make you feel better, though. What's required does not constitute that deep-down-polish-until-it-sparkles Spring cleaning. You won't have to clean closets or cabinets, and you won't have to rearrange your pantry. You won't have to wash curtains, scrub blinds, or polish the furniture. This is just a normal sort of housecleaning with a few twists. And since you don't have to do all that other stuff, it won't take but an hour or two. Just use the checklist below and you'll be done before you know it.
Open the windows. While fresh air is a good thing and always makes the house smell better, this has nothing to do with that. Instead, it's a matter of providing an escape route for all that negative stuff living within its boundaries. The idea here is to force any unsavory energy to leave, and if you don't provide a means by which it can do that, you've only served to keep it trapped inside with you. So even if it's cold outside, raise the windows at least an inch.
Light a vanilla candle. There's little that negative energy likes less than the scent of vanilla, so this will give it the impetus to leave.
Clear the air. To chase out unsavory energy, burn Fiery Wall of Protection Incense (see recipe in Chapter 5) on a charcoal block as you work. Place the censer or fireproof dish on a heat-proof trivet in the middle of your home, and keep the incense going until you've finished cleaning.
Remove the clutter. This is important since negative energy thrives in this sort of mess. For the moment, though, don't bother to go through it all. (If you do, you'll never get done.) Just toss it in a box for now and get it out of the way. You can go through it after you've completed the rest of the list.
Powder the carpets. Sprinkle Peaceful Home Powder (see recipe in Chapter 5) on carpets and rugs, then vacuum thoroughly.
Get rid of the dust and sweep the floors. Negative energy thrives in grit and grime too, and refusing to take care of this will only exacerbate your problem.
Mop the floors. Along with your cleaning solution, add one cup of your urine and a teaspoon of hot sauce to a gallon of water, and use the mixture to handle the job. While this may sound a little odd, the reasons are sound. Urine is not only natural ammonia, but using your own also saturates the living quarters with your personal power and safeguards your home from anything you don't invite. But adding the hot sauce takes the protection process a step further. Because it acts like Hot Foot Powder, it handles unwanted guests by forcing them to leave. (Note: The combination of urine and hot sauce tends to leave a powdery residue. So once completely dry, sweep the floors again.)
Wipe down fixtures and countertops. Nothing odd about this at all. Just use your favorite cleaning solution.
Clean the drains. For this task, you'll need lemons. To determine how many, just count the drains in your home—be sure to include the toilets and the dishwasher—and divide by two. Cut each lemon in half, squeeze the juice of one portion down each drain, and flush well with hot water. This will take care of any nasties living in your pipes.
Tend to your hairbrushes. Remove the hair and burn it, then clean your brushes with hot, soapy water and bleach. While this may sound strange, it actually handles several potential problems. First, the hairbrush is one of the places that nasty energy likes to live, so you'll be uprooting it from one of its favorite hiding places. Second, burning the hair removes its connection to you. But third and just as important, getting rid of the hair also removes other possible connections to you. It prevents a visitor using the bathroom as a guise, grabbing some of the hair from your brush, and using it against you. And while you may think that sounds like paranoia at work, I assure you that's not the case. It happens a lot more often than folks think, and there's simply no point in taking that chance.
Clean the walls. Okay . . . at this point, I can almost see the wheels turning in your head as you try to figure a way around this. Not to worry though. You won't have to scrub. Just mix a handful of table salt into a spray bottle filled with hot water. Then give it a good shake and spritz the walls. Done deal.
Take out the trash. This removes any leftover residue that might still be hanging around.
Shield with bay leaves. Place one leaf in each corner of every room in your home to protect from hexes, curses, and other magical annoyances. As an additional perk, bay leaf also draws money.
Safeguard your doors. After all this cleaning, the last thing you want is for any more crap to cross your thresholds. And because harmful energy shouldn't cross either, you'll need to prepare a 50:50 mixture of red brick dust and table salt. (Since you're only going to sprinkle a little of the substance under each of your outside doormats, you won't need a lot; in fact, a cup of the mixture ought to be more than enough to do the trick.) If you don't have red bricks at your disposal, obtain one from your local building supply. Then put it in a heavy paper bag, and pulverize it using a hammer.
Safeguard your property. If you live in a house, sprinkle salt around the outside perimeter of the property. If an apartment, townhouse, or condo is more your style, sprinkle the salt around your baseboards or inside wall edges instead.
So, you've cleaned your home. You've gotten rid of every last shred of that bothersome energy. All that's left to do is close the windows, sit back, relax, and enjoy that wonderful new feeling coursing through your home. Right?
Not exactly.
Remember that box of clutter? While some of you will undoubtedly leave that for another time, I urge you to tend to it now. It won't take but a few minutes to toss out what you don't need and put the rest away. If you don't, you'll only be providing a breeding ground for additional problems. And after all the trouble you just went to, I seriously doubt that you'll want to do that!
Now that you've got a clean house, it's time for a nice hot bath. Already showered? That's not a problem. Just as with the rest of the psychic baths mentioned in this book, you'll need to be clean before you step into the tub. Unlike the others, however, this one is meant to be long and luxurious. And even though its purpose is to cleanse you of any psychic crap that may still be clinging to you and crossing you up, it's meant to be enjoyed. Before you're done, in fact, you may even find yourself reaching up with your toe to turn on the hot water again.
While you won't have any problem obtaining most of the items on the materials list, finding blue balls may be somewhat of a hassle if you don't know what you're looking for. To compound the problem, metaphysical and occult retailers occasionally sell these little goodies under other names. So, to avoid confusion, it's probably a good idea to explain exactly what they are. Blue balls are nothing more than small, round, button-like balls made from compressed, powdered bluing. (It's the same stuff that folks used to put in the final rinse to whiten and brighten white laundry.) And if, by chance, your local retailer doesn't carry them? Liquid bluing can still be purchased online.
Materials:
2 blue balls (or 1 teaspoon liquid bluing)
1 teaspoon jasmine petals (or 2 drops jasmine oil)
1 teaspoon lemon peel
1 teaspoon rose petals
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon thyme
Vanilla candles (optional)
Bubble bath (optional)
Place the first six ingredients in the filter cup of the automatic drip coffeemaker, and add a full pot of water. When the brew cycle is finished, add the contents of the pot to a hot tub of water, and mix well. If you've opted for bubble bath and candles, put them to use now as well.
Completely immerse yourself at least three times in the water, then sit back, relax, and say the following prayer:
Oh, Virgin Goddess, Maiden pure,
Look down on me and lend your cure
To heal my life, to heal my soul,
To heal my body from the toll
That wretched magic's wreaked on them,
Wash them clean like sparkling gems.
Of psychic filth and quickly chase
All remnants of this nastiness
Far from me where it can't press
Against or block me any more,
Uncross my life and lock the door
On future problems of this kind,
Bar and keep them well confined.
Oh, Virgin, keep me close to You,
Protect me in the things I do.
And with Your blessings shower me,
As I will, so mote it be.
Soak, relax, enjoy your bath. Towel dry when finished.
It's often hard to know who our enemies are, or if we even have any. But the fact of the matter is that even the most wonderful folks in the world have a few. It's not that they did anything to hurt anybody. It's just that jealousy and misconception seem to run rampant within the human race, so we never know who might be annoyed at our successes or who might delight at the thought of our personal demises.
Fortunately, there's an easy way to avoid any possible aggravation and stop enemies in their tracks. And all it takes is making the Witch's Bottle described below. If you've opted to bury it on your property though, take note: you'll want to prepare another if you sell the property or decide to move away.
Materials:
Small glass jar with a tight-fitting, screw-on lid
An assortment of sharp objects (Broken glass and pottery shards, razor blades, rusty nails and screws, pins and needles, and wood splinters are all good choices.)
Personal taglocks (A snippet of your hair and/or your fingernail clippings will do nicely.)
Your urine
Optional for women only: a tissue containing a few drops of your menstrual blood
Optional for men only: a tissue containing a few drops of your semen
Duct or electrical tape, or melted wax
Fill the jar at least half full of the sharp objects, place the taglocks on top, and if you wish, add the blood or semen. Finish filling the jar with your urine, and screw the jar lid on tightly. Then seal the lid well with tape or wax.
Since it's important that the container remain intact, tradition holds that it should be buried at least a foot deep on your property and as close to the front door as possible. If you live in an apartment, though, what's traditional may not be at all feasible. In that case, simply put the jar out of the way—the back of a cabinet or closet, or on a dark shelf works well—and leave it there to do its thing.
No matter how well we research our facts nor how careful we try to be, we're eventually going to screw up. It's just a part of the human condition. And there's no place our screwups shine more brightly than in the hexes and curses arena.
That's because standing up for ourselves doesn't always come easily. Most of us really do take an awful lot of crap before finally deciding to do something about it. And even then, we don't get in a hurry. We go about our business, gathering the facts and exploring our options. We peruse the details with the same sort of attention we might exhaust on a multimillion-dollar business venture. And then, when we're sure that everything's in order, we start the magical process, feeling absolutely safe in the fact that we're completely justified in our actions and that our target (damn his rotten bananas!) deserves every shred we're doling out, and then some. If we weren't and he didn't, things would never have gotten to this point. So, we do our thing and go on along our merry ways, never giving it a second thought.
But then one day, it happens. An ugly head breaks through the muck, stares us right in the face, and blinks. And we—those same folks who felt completely justified in damning that target's rotten bananas—can barely catch our collective breath as we gasp in horror. For there, right in the eyes of the beast, we see our mistake: the target was undeniably innocent. He was never even involved in the fiasco that damned near ruined our lives. Instead, he was just another innocent bystander; just some good, old Joe who was in the wrong place at the right time. A good, old Joe who we forced to pay for someone else's infractions with a close encounter of the very worst kind. And there we sit, shivering and shaking and wracking our brains, in a desperate search of some way to fix things, wondering how in the hell we could've been so wrong.
To start with, today's world is an interesting place. With its high-flung technology and far-flung virtual realities, some might even say that it's nothing short of amazing. But living in such a world also has complications, the most problematical being that, because things are seldom as they appear, it becomes increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction. Now take that problem and factor in a fact-finding mission, a little logic, and a few rounds of he-said-she-said, and add them all together. I can nearly guarantee that the sum of those components isn't going to be at all within the scope of reason. Reasonable or not, though, it appears to be the truth. And because it appears as such, we act on it as such—only to discover later that it was the most wretched mistake we ever made.
While that takes care of how easy it is to screw up—and hopefully, has illustrated just how important it is to factor in gut instinct as well as the facts—we still have a problem on our hands: How in the hell do we fix the mess we made? More to the point, though, is it even possible?
Fortunately, it is. Please understand, though, that it won't be easy, regardless of how simple the instructions appear. There's absolutely no way to convey the degree of difficulty involved in rectifying something like this. So, just be prepared to work long and hard, and as some effects can never be truly erased, be willing to repeat some steps you've already taken over and over to ease the problem if the need arises.
If the magic you worked involved the use of a poppet or a packet (a mojo or gris gris bag, or a collection of objects), feel fortunate. The good news is that it's one of the easier types of magic to unravel. But don't breathe that sigh of relief just yet. The bad news is that you're going to have to retrieve the objects and destroy them. And if you buried them—or even worse, already destroyed them—that could present a problem.
But just for grins, let's say that you haven't destroyed the objects, you know exactly where they are, and you can put your hands on them. In this case, breaking the magic is only a matter of destroying the objects. You'll only have one shot at this, though, so you'll need to do it correctly.
Destroying a Packet: While there are many techniques, I believe that the most thorough way to break the magic is to completely dismantle the packet. Start by removing the contents piece by piece. Set each piece on fire and allow it to burn to ash, then continue with any other pieces one at a time. When nothing else remains, burn the bag or packet covering if there is one. Finally, toss the ashes into running water to disperse them.
Destroying a Poppet or Doll: Remember how you marked the object with the target's name? Well, the first order of business is to get rid of that. So, mark through it with a heavy, black permanent marker, and continue to work until none of the identifying name shows through. Once that's done, remove any identifying marks if possible. Finally, burn the doll to ash and toss the remains in running water.
If you've resorted to this section, you obviously can't retrieve the remnants of your original spell. You may have delivered a curse on the power of words alone. You may have opted to go the gift route and delivered something with a built-in hex. In either case, though, you have absolutely nothing to work with that's going to be of any help. This means that you're going to need a lot of resolve, some serious focus, and the tenacity of the most willful bulldog. But if you're willing to work at this, there's no doubt you'll succeed.
The first thing you'll need to have in hand is a copy of any words (incantations, evocations, verbal curses, etc.) that you may have said while casting the original spell. If you kept a copy of it, grab it now, and thank the Gods for making you so anal-retentive. If you didn't, though, do your best to call it up, and spend some time writing it down.
Next, obtain an old, knitted sweater. The color isn't important. Neither is the size. In this case, only two things matter: 1) you have never actually worn the sweater, and 2) you're willing to reduce it to yarn. If you don't already have something suitable on hand, check your local thrift shop.
Once you have the sweater, gather the paper on which the incantations are written and a black permanent marker. Now write the words on the sweater. It's not important that they're legible; it's only important that they've been written on the sweater and that you have done it yourself. Use the front and back if necessary.
When you've finished, perform the ritual below. Know that this may take some time—depending upon the size of the sweater, it may take several hours—so be sure to allow enough to do the job well.
Materials:
1 black/white reversible candle (If you can't find one of these, substitute a white candle which you've colored completely with a black permanent marker.)
1 yellow candle
Uncrossing Incense
Charcoal block
Fireproof dish
Cauldron or firepit
Scissors
Sweater
Light the reversible candle and visualize the magic reversing itself. Light the yellow candle and see the effort meeting with success. Then light the charcoal block and sprinkle the incense on top.
Now sit in a comfortable position in front of the cauldron or firepit. Using the scissors, cut the neck and cuff ribbing away from the sweater and toss them into the receptacle. Locate a yarn end on the garment and begin to unravel the fabric, saying something like:
The magic cast now falls away
As I unravel it today,
(name of target)'s life is now returned
As magic in the cauldron's burned.
By all the power of Moon and Sun
I remove all harm; so be it done.
Continue to repeat the chant as you unravel the sweater, stopping occasionally to snip off the loosened yarn and set it aflame in the cauldron. Continue the process until the sweater is completely unraveled, burned, and reduced to ash. Either discard the ashes in running water or scatter them on the winds.