Offensive and Defensive Magic
Resistance magic is not always nice.
While many popular books on witchcraft claim that magic should only be used for healing and “positive” ends, I strongly disagree. Magic has always been used for self-defense and in defense of others. The idea that it should not be used defensively or to inhibit the actions of others is a twentieth-century invention, and the entirety of the historical record, from ancient times through the present, makes that abundantly clear.
When I published the Trump binding spell, I expected to encounter resistance from fundamentalist Christians and orthodox religious types. After all, in their view, all magic is evil and the work of the devil, including magic done for healing and positive outcomes (benefica). I even baited them a bit by throwing in the phrase “demons of the infernal realms,” knowing it would tie their underpants into knots and send them into paroxysms of prayer for their beloved “Christian” president.
But it takes a lot of work to conjure demons, as any competent ceremonial magician knows, and they’re not just going to do what you ask them—like any employee, they won’t work unless they’re paid. And as I’ve stated elsewhere, I prefer to work respectfully with cooperative and helpful spirits, not the lowlife dregs of the astral realms.
However, as I replied to some of my fundamentalist critics, I would be absolutely delighted to have the cooperation of any and all infernal spirits willing take a whack at the horrid demons infesting Donald Trump—the demons that make a man believe grabbing women by the pussy is kosher, for example, or the demons that make him enjoy mocking someone with disabilities. The demons that make him believe dumping coal waste in mountain streams is morally acceptable seem especially malign.
Not only did I expect harsh criticism from the religious right, I egged them on. Their overblown reactions even helped further empower the binding spell (because that’s how magic works). What I did not expect was a wave of blowback from the witch and Pagan communities.
Many of my Pagan critics pointed to the threefold law of Wicca as their reason for condemning the spell. This law says that any negative magic (malefica) you do comes bouncing back at you with three times the consequences. If you curse someone and they break their leg, the bad mojo is gonna come careening right back at you and break your legs and your arms and burn down your house. It’s a variant of karma, just with a moralistic edge against what is presumed “bad” magic.
I respectfully pointed out that the threefold law was very likely the creation of Gerald Gardner, one of the originators of modern witchcraft, and didn’t appear until he inserted it into one of his novels in the middle of the twentieth century. And many witches, particularly non-Wiccans, don’t consider it part of their tradition anyway. While I do acknowledge the reality of karma, my experience is that it is a much more complex phenomenon than the simple equation “do bad—get hurt.” First, who defines what is good and positive or bad and negative? Like most ethical issues involving complex human beings and their societies, it is far from simple to label most actions simply good or bad.
Just think of something as simple as owning a pet cat that you’ve rescued from a shelter. A good act, right? Absolutely—both you and the cat would agree. But that cat requires food, which means meat (and please don’t try to turn your cat vegan). So the fact that you saved the cat means many animals, most of which are raised in horrid factories, are suffering and dying to feed it. If you let the cat outside—which you may feel is a positive experience for your pet—it might kill endangered songbirds.
Some of my witch critics said binding spells were inherently negative because they aim to thwart the target’s desires and intentions. That any magic inhibiting someone’s will is, by definition, harmful. It’s a good point, so let’s examine it with a couple of thought experiments.
• Your child is being stalked by an adult with a history of abusing children. You have done everything you can to get police to detain or restrain him, with little success because you don’t have actionable evidence. You know the abuser is still actively seeking your child because you saw him sitting in his car across from the school playground where your child was playing.
• A state senator is on the verge of passing legislation to pave a local wetland to put up a strip mall. The wetland has been declared critical for protecting the local watershed from nearby farm runoff. In fact, your well draws water from an aquifer that is threatened by the development.
• You just moved to a small rural town. You and your partner are married and have adopted two mixed-race children. A local fundamentalist minister is whipping his congregation into hating you because “marriage is between a man and a woman,” and “children need a father and a mother, not two mothers.” Your children are increasingly bullied to the point where they dread going to school. The teachers have tried to help, but the minister’s hold on the parents is too strong. Today you opened your mailbox and found a letter threatening to kill you and your children if you “disgusting perverts” don’t move out of town.
• The drug your mother needs to stay alive has gone from five dollars per pill to two hundred dollars, all thanks to a pharmaceutical company CEO. You have no idea how you’re going to pay for the life-saving medicine.
So … would binding spells or hexes be okay in those situations?
Yes, those are extreme examples. But every day corporations, politicians, corporate executives, lobbyists, cops, judges, ministers, lawyers, and other authorities make decisions that cause serious harm to innocent people, animals, and ecosystems.
Witchcraft and magic are tools. When you, someone you love, or a place of great beauty and spiritual power is threatened, why would you not use all the tools at your disposal?
On Binding and Hexing
I have a very simple equation when it comes to whether or not I will use binding or hexing magic: Would I use all other available nonmagical means to stop the harmful person or activity? For example, would I use a lawsuit to stop a development threatening my drinking water? Would I call the police to get a restraining order against someone stalking my child, and would I physically attack the sicko if I saw him trying to approach her at a playground? Would I do everything in my power to protect my life, the lives of my children, and my home from a group of rage-filled bigots?
If the answer is yes, then I feel ethically justified doing binding or hexing.
It is also critical to examine how far you would go in a hex. If you wouldn’t do something by nonmagical means, don’t do it with magic. I advocate nonviolence as the most useful and practical mode of resistance, so I would never do magic that would physically harm or kill someone, like cursing someone to get cancer or to get hit by a bus, just as I wouldn’t slip a carcinogenic poison into their drink or shove them in front of a bus. I would most definitely do magic to nonviolently impede their actions from harming me or others I care about.
If, however, someone physically attacked me or the people I love, I would do whatever it takes to stop them. Full stop. Self-defense is always justified.
Magic has always been the tool of the oppressed, the downtrodden, and the persecuted. African American Hoodoo, Rootwork, and Conjure are prime examples. They grew from enslaved people who had little agency in their daily lives and no recourse to justice. Their magic required curses, jinxing, and tying (binding) to fight injustice in their communities and to resist the oppressive slaver class. It arose from necessity.
White-light magic is fine. Some people are naturally resistant to doing anything that could be seen as harmful or negative, and they should heed their instincts. Binding and hexing make up only a very small part of my magical practice. But refusing to use magic in self-defense or in the defense of the voiceless, marginalized, and oppressed because of a law of dubious historicity seems extremely foolish to me.
Magic is a tool for healing and for defense against injustice.
Binding
Binding is the magical equivalent of a cease-and-desist order, a straitjacket, or putting a toddler into time-out. Its goal is to restrain someone from particular actions to others or to themselves. In the Hellenistic world, binding was one of the most common uses of magic, as evidenced by the abundant curse tablets (defixiones) uncovered by archaeologists. The binding spell would be written on a piece of lead, folded, then pierced with a nail or other sharp object, before being buried (often in a graveyard) or thrown into a well or pool (please do not do this, because lead poisoning is a thing). Human figures made of clay were frequently used as well, sometimes pierced with pins or nails.
If you do a binding spell, it is important to bind only the negative or harmful behaviors of your target, otherwise you are verging on more harmful magic with greater potential to generate psychic or karmic blowback. Many witches and magicians believe that malevolent magic is “sticky,” meaning it can leave unpleasant residue on the caster. Therefore, your binding should be very specific about the behaviors it targets. Let’s look at some of the language in the Trump binding spell, for example:
So that his malignant works may fail utterly
That he may do no harm
To any human soul
Nor any tree
Animal
Rock
Stream
Or sea
Note the careful language: not that his works may fail utterly, but his malignant works. If his policies turned out to be beneficial to citizens, the environment, liberty, the political system, and truth, the spell would have no effect. Aim for the same specificity in your bindings.
Just as importantly, always incorporate the ideals you are working for. Again, from the Trump binding spell:
In the name of Justice
And Liberty
And Love
And Equality
And Peace
Calling upon the highest ideals that drive your spell adds further focus and energy and serves as a safety valve to guard against any “sticky” negative residue. You are, after all, doing your magic in service to important ideals and for the greater good. Be sure to always integrate that into any binding or hexing.
Another safeguard is to add a prayer to your preferred deity or deities before and after the working. Pray that your actions manifest the highest good for all those concerned, and trust that divinity will bring the required balance and justice. Adding a cleansing salt bath, both before and after your working, is another useful tactic.
We cannot possibly know the ultimate outcomes of our actions or their potential unintended consequences. But inaction has its consequences, too. Those who fail to vote allow crooked politicians to rise to power and enact dangerous legislation. Those who failed to act as the Nazis rose to power enabled the unprecedented horrors of the Holocaust.
So we must act. The future hangs in the balance. Pray, weigh all the possibilities, and get to work.
Hexing
Because hexes can be so destructive and unpredictable, I advise using them as a last resort and only in extreme situations. I also do not hex individuals but save hexing for the most destructive, dangerous groups and organizations and only when all nonmagical means have been exhausted.
My Hex the NRA spell (page 201) came about because of the reprehensible response of the National Rifle Association (NRA) to the murder of seventeen students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, on Valentine’s Day 2018. It was a tipping point in the national dialogue on gun safety laws for a huge number of American citizens, including many of the kids who survived. Instead of accepting what had happened as another inevitable tragedy, the young adults began speaking out, condemning the NRA’s antagonism toward any and all gun safety legislation, its intensive lobbying and funding of local and national government representatives, and its embrace of extreme-right politics.
The NRA turned against the kids, denying their sincerity, questioning their maturity, calling them naive and misguided, and suggesting they were pawns of radical socialists and fanatics who wanted to repeal the Second Amendment and disarm all citizens. Encouraged by decades of the NRA’s fear- and conspiracy-mongering and aided by the sewer-dwellers of 4chan and other online propaganda mills, the young activists were tarred as “crisis actors” and the deaths of seventeen young people deemed a hoax.
I had reached my breaking point. After years of advocating for gun control and contributing to groups fighting the NRA, I swore I would do what was necessary to prevent one more drop of innocent blood from being shed in the name of gun manufacturers’ lust for profits. I wasn’t alone. Many people sensed that this was more than just another school shooting that would be mollified with the usual conservative “thoughts and prayers” before fading from public consciousness. Those like me who had finally had enough were drawing a line.
But the NRA seemed impossible to defeat, entrenched as it was in the halls of power in Washington, DC, and in statehouses across the country. For years, organizations had lobbied for improved background checks, banning of assault-styled semiautomatic rifles, and raising the age to purchase guns—only to be soundly defeated, again and again, by the NRA and the lawmakers it buys with blood money.
While thoughts and prayers do not bring back the dead or stop future massacres, hexes, I believe—especially when cast by large numbers of committed people—can drive a stake through the heart of a wicked organization. At the very least, I felt we had to try.
As previously stated, I’m averse to cursing and hexing, as I believe magic is best employed as a tool for healing and creating positive change. But I’m also averse to watching the needless slaughter of innocent children because the NRA has bought our government with its piles of industry money and spends millions to silence all opposition. Hexes and curses are a magician or witch’s last resort, when you’ve tried everything else and bad shit keeps happening.
I’m not willing to watch the NRA take one more life.
So don’t hex until you’ve exhausted all other options. But when all other options fail and the cost of failure is measured in innocent lives, don’t be afraid to do what you need to do.
Resistance has never been safe or easy. Regressive and reactionary forces do not like challenges to their authority. Entrenched power resists all attempts to undermine or dethrone it. And those who wield power often control the military, the police, the criminal justice system, and the media. The more authoritarian the government, the more brutality it unleashes on its critics.
Yet resistance movements, whose primary weapons are nonviolence, truth, justice, and morality, have beaten back and overthrown tyrannical regimes time and time again.
Nonetheless, it is prudent to take precautions to ensure your personal safety as well as the safety of your fellow activists and your community. We all know basic safety common sense—securing our homes, using caution in unfamiliar places, and avoiding direct provocation of violent people. But magical protection is largely unknown outside of covens, shamanic traditions, and occultism.
It’s time we changed that.
Protection magic includes a number of practices, tools, and techniques, such as prayer and blessings, magically shielded space, wards and guardians, amulets and talismans, and banishings and bindings. Let’s look at each of them.
Prayer and Blessings
Calling upon the assistance of deity is a time-honored means of protection, and the old saying about the lack of atheists in foxholes has an element of truth. Even if you’re an atheist or agnostic, however, the act of prayer can have positive effects—so just aim your prayer at the universe at large.
If you do believe in God or gods, your choice of which of them to work with is enormous. If you’re polytheistic, look for gods that are aligned with the subject of your activism. If you feel like your task is daunting, you may want to request the assistance of a road-opener like Ganesha or Papa Legba. If you’re doing LGBTQ+ activism, you may want to petition Aphrodite, Dionysus, Sappho, Erzulie Dantor, or Pan.
Research gods and other spiritual entities (such as angels, saints, and elementals) to find an appropriate deity, or go with those your tradition suggests. But I always advise prayer, especially when doing spells involving binding or hexing, as a bit of a safeguard against potential unintended consequences or negative stickiness.
You can also petition your ancestors or the spirits of activists who have gone before us. Many African American spiritual activists call upon Martin Luther King Jr., Medgar Evers, Malcolm X, and other slain civil rights leaders to lend a hand in their works for racial equality and justice.
I also like to anoint myself with protective oil while invoking the blessing of deity. Use Hyssop Oil or my favorite Power Oil (see pages 143–144).
Resistance magic is often difficult and potentially hazardous. Call upon all forms of assistance and go deep into the roster.
Magically Shielded Space
Magical energy can be used to shield a space from harmful entities or activity, and many Western traditions cast circles and spheres before all spellcasting or rituals. Although I find circle casting and banishing largely unnecessary in most magical work (an admittedly heterodox belief), there are times when it is prudent or necessary to erect an energetic barrier against malign influences and intrusions.
The Hermetic Seal (page 166) was created for those occasions. Practice it so you have the ritual memorized if you ever need it on short notice. It is useful in these cases:
• Magical attack
• When you feel physically unsafe
• When doing strong binding or hexing
• If you want to shield someone sensitive (like children) from the energies of your workings
• When you are experiencing unusual or troubling psychic phenomena
• When you need a magical “retreat” and want to unplug and ground
So use the Hermetic Seal when you need privacy, physical or emotional safety, secrecy, to contain your energy from affecting the surrounding environment, or as a means to disengage and unplug so you can rest and recuperate.
Now a few words about magical attacks.
Although I have been a practicing magician for over thirty years and have a large number of friends in a wide variety of traditions, ranging from indigenous shamanic practices to ceremonial magic, I have only rarely encountered anyone who was the subject of a targeted magical attack. In the vast majority of cases, the individuals who believed they were cursed, hexed, jinxed, or subject to negative magic have been mistaken. Unfortunately, simple belief that one is under attack will begin to generate troubling symptoms, and despite being a self-fulfilling delusion, the consequences can be dramatic.
However, if we are to believe that our magic is effective, the corollary is that magic can be used by others against us. And despite their numbers being marginal in the larger community, right-wing and white supremacist magicians, witches, and organized occult groups do exist, and their growing numbers mirror the rise of such reactionary currents in nonmagical society. As the number of resistance magicians and witches grows, they will work aggressively, with all of their energy and focus, to stop us.
So why do I suggest not worrying?
First, we are aligned with evolutionary social currents and progressive values, healing, and justice. Although I’ve met plenty of magical people who would disagree, I’m quite certain the universe (and the majority of goddesses and gods) wishes to see us mature and evolve. And despite our ongoing failings as a species and regressive currents that continue to set us back, we are moving in the right direction. Women in most of the world have more rights and equality than ever before, legal slavery has been largely abolished, LGBTQ+ acceptance is spreading across the globe, and wars are declining in number and casualties while violence in general is also in decline. More people than ever are aware of our role as stewards of our mother earth and are working to lessen our impact upon her and heal the damage we have done.
Now before I am accused of being a Pollyanna, I do realize we are witnessing unprecedented biological extinction, a global rise in nationalism, racism, political division, religious fundamentalism, and xenophobia; a mind-boggling hijacking of wealth and resources by a tiny fraction of the world’s population; and the potential collapse of civilization due to catastrophic climate change.
The survival of our species is now in our hands, and the clock is ticking. No pressure, right?
Here’s the good news: the goddesses and gods, angels, elementals, and ancestors are on our side. After all, they are part of our spiritual ecosystem and their fates are tightly interwoven with ours. To paraphrase the oft-quoted aphorism, the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice … and it’s rooting for us to fight for our survival.
Our magic is stronger. Don’t waste your time worrying about theirs.
Wards and Guardians
Wards and guardians (the names can be used interchangeably) are the magical equivalent of your home’s alarm system and a ferocious barking dog. You can empower objects and place them around your home or other area (a school, protected land, someone’s room) or enlist objects or living beings already present (rocks, trees) into service.
You should probably begin by creating wards for your own home. The best objects to use are sculptures of animals and mythical creatures, as they are most receptive to empowerment. There is a reason people place statues of lions and other fierce creatures at their front doors and fashion them into door knockers, even if those doing so are unaware of their magical significance.
When you’ve found (or made) appropriate “container” figurines, statues, or carvings for your spiritual wards, consecrate and animate them with this spell:
Have the four elements represented on your altar along with your incense censer. Use copal or frankincense (loose incense is best, but sticks and cones are fine).
Arrange three small white candles (tea lights are fine for this) in the center of your altar in an upward-pointing triangle. Light the candles to begin the ritual.
Stand or sit before your altar and perform the Centering Ritual (see page 152).
Light your incense.
Hold your object guardian object and say,
Bless this guardian, powers of earth (touch object to your earth symbol), water (touch water to your extended index and middle fingers and wet the object with them), fire (hold over your fire symbol), and air (hold in rising incense smoke or touch to feather); spirits of the heavens (lift toward sky) and of the underworld (lower toward altar or ground).
Then hold the object in both hands in front of you. Say,
Consecrate this ward so that it may protect (intended location or target, e.g., “My home” or “the wildlife preserve”) and all inhabitants within from unwanted intrusions, dangers, and harm.
Lift the object and blow into it. Feel your personal energy, the breath of life, moving into it and awakening it. Say,
Awaken, guardian, and let us work together in service.
Place the guardian object in the center of the triangle of candles. Place your palms over it. As you inhale slowly, feel and visualize energy pouring down from the cosmos and into the top of your head, then down to your heart (the center of your chest). At the same time, feel and visualize energy coming up from the earth, entering your feet, and meeting in your heart, where it mixes with the cosmic energy and glows brightly.
As you breathe in, feel the energy pouring from above and below into your center, and as you exhale, feel those energies from the heavens and the earth mingling and glowing ever brighter.
Then, when it feels like the energy has reached a peak, inhale deeply.
As you exhale, see that powerful energy running down your arms, through your hands, and into the guardian object.
Let the energy flowing from your palms subside with your exhalation. Slowly bring your hands together in a prayer position over your heart. Feel and visualize the heart energy contracting, and then clap your hands three times. The third clap ends the ritual.
Shake your hands, as if flinging off water. Stomp your feet and shake your body to ground yourself.
Leave the object inside the triangle of candles for a few minutes or longer, exiting the room if possible (and if safe to do so with candles burning) to let its energy settle into its new form. When it is ready, carry your ward to its permanent location. Show it its new home and explain its job. Talk to it as a living being because it is a living being. Thank it again for being of service, and (especially if it is your home) ask it to alert you if it detects any harmful intrusions. If it is meant to serve for a limited time (perhaps until a bill passes to protect a piece of land), tell it when it may end its service.
If you set wards around your home or a location you frequently visit, be sure to regularly offer them a libation (pour out some water), a flower, a crystal, or at minimum a few words or a silent prayer of thanks. Just as with human guards in your employ, the better you treat your guardians the harder and more conscientiously they will work with you.
Biological Alarm System
If you don’t mind talking to plants (and you shouldn’t), another way to increase your security is to enlist the beings already in place. Chances are your home or apartment is already surrounded by beings that you may want to recruit to keep an eye on your home—a biological alarm system of sorts.
Take some time to develop relationships with the trees, shrubs, flowers, and rocks around your living space. Talk to them and ask them if they’ll stay alert to unusual or harmful activity (they already do, most likely) and to let you know when things are out of sorts. As with any entity you ask for a favor, do something nice for them. A libation, a crystal, some fertilizer, or picking off their dead leaves are all good options, but be sure to ask what they would like as well.
This also goes for other locations—schools, your business location, office, a favorite park, etc.
And keep up the relationship if you want them to keep being of service. No one likes to be ignored, especially when asked for a favor.
Amulets and Talismans
Amulets and talismans are some of the oldest known tools of magic. Although technically talismans draw energies while amulets repel them, I use the terms interchangeably because one can (and should) create practical power objects that do both.
You can create protective amulets from scratch or charge items you already own (like a ring). I recommend creating your own, as the energy you put into assembling the materials deepens its connection to you and strengthens its potency.
In the early days of my practice, I spent a good bit of money and scores of hours creating elaborate talismans based on instructions from grimoires and texts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. When I left heavy Kabbalistic magic behind and started studying indigenous and folk traditions, I began to wish I could get some of those hours and dollars back.
Pro-tip: the simplest magic is frequently the most effective. I learned that the hard way, so I hope I can save you from repeating my mistakes by dropping a little secret that will piss off many writers, retailers, and workshop promoters: your energy and intention are the real keys to effective spellcasting, not the hard-to-find herbs, pricey metals, crystals, oils, fancy robes, wands, and other gewgaws. That’s not to say certain herbs, crystals, oils, and tools won’t enhance your rituals. But any book or teacher who claims you need to engrave astrological and alchemical symbols onto precious metal disks for your spell to be effective is, to put it bluntly, full of shit. And he or she is probably going to sell you those precious metal disks at a substantial markup.
People across the planet use whatever they have on hand to work their magic. Enslaved Africans brought to the Americas lost access to their favorite plants, animal allies, minerals, and medicines, but they didn’t give up their ways—they adapted to their new environment. They used the law of similarity and their intuition to discover New World plants, minerals, and animals with similar energies and learned the lore of friendly Native Americans. Similarly, if an ancient text says you need a rare, expensive herb (found only on a few barren hills in Ethiopia) to appease Hekate, chances are you can find a workable substitute. I use the analogy of giving a gift of a handmade scarf to a friend—she might not find it to her taste, but she’ll still appreciate your sincere generosity.
End of rant. Let’s get to business. You can find all sorts of books and websites about talisman and amulet creation (see the resources section), but we’ll concentrate on one of the easiest and most universal.
Mojo Bags
You might know of mojo or medicine bags (also called hands, conjure bags, nation sacks, gris-gris, wanga, and tobies) from Native American traditions and as popularized by New Orleans-style Voodoo, but the idea of carrying protective items extends deep into antiquity. Even the Abrahamic faiths embraced the carrying of sacred apotropaic (protective) items, usually sections of the Torah, the Christian Bible, and Qur’an. The ancient Egyptians, Jews, Coptic Christians, and Muslims all wore sacred texts rolled or folded into containers around their necks, and this practice spread with them through Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas.
The African Kongolese wore nkisi pouches made of animal skin and hung from cord around their necks, so enslaved Africans carried the tradition to the Americas. They undoubtedly noted the similarity of Native American medicine bags. It seems reasonable to assume that the similarity in this practice, arising independently around the world, is due to its practical effectiveness.
So what might you include in your mojo bag? Essentially, items that are protective, enhance your natural power, and connect you to deities, your ancestors, family members, spiritual traditions, the earth, and its flora and fauna.
• Rocks, gems, and crystals
• Feathers, bones, hair, claws, teeth, and shells
• Herbs, leaves, roots, and resins
• Sacred writing, symbols, sigils, and photos
• Symbolic objects, such as keys, jewelry, coins, and nails
You get the idea. Your bag should be as individual as you, so take your time, do some research, and use your intuition as a guide. Quite often, objects will find you when you begin this project, so stay extra aware of your surroundings.
Any sort of bag or pouch will work, whether it’s leather, flannel, felt, crocheted, one you purchased, or one you make yourself out of scrap material. You will most likely want to wear it under your clothing, so it should not be too large or bulky. Although you can carry it in a pocket or bag, most traditions suggest wearing it against your skin if possible. It should also be kept secret. It’s not for showing off, nor should you share its contents or let others handle it.
Instead of creating bags for a variety of purposes (personal power, protection, love, prosperity), I suggest creating one bag that serves your highest goals (in other words, general good luck and probability enhancement) while also protecting you from harm and negativity. You can consult the correspondences and resources sections in the Appendix for ideas drawn from a number of traditions, but here are some components I have found to be effective, along with their associations and uses (many overlap).
Herbs and Resins for Protection
Angelica
Asafoetida
Basil
Cinnamon
Copal
Dragon’s blood
Frankincense
Garlic
High John the Conqueror
Hyssop
Mugwort
Rosemary
Rue
Sage
Saint John’s wort
Solomon’s seal
Herbs and Resins for Power and General Luck
Abre camino
Angelica (root)
Bay leaf
Copal
Frankincense
High John the Conqueror (root)
Mint (all varieties)
Rosemary
Sage
Tobacco
Verbena
Stones and Crystals
Rocks and stones from power places you have visited or those that have special meaning for you (power and protection)
Amethyst (protection)
Black tourmaline (protection)
Clear, smoky, or rose quartz (power and protection)
Fire agate (protection)
Lodestone (drawing positivity)
Obsidian (protection)
Salt (protection)
Here are some theoretical mojo bags to spark your imagination.
• Angelica root, High John the Conqueror root, a small rock from Machu Picchu, first child’s baby tooth, 1942 Mercury dime, mala bead
• Sage, tobacco, cross from a rosary, lodestone, pinch of graveyard dirt from father’s grave, piece of paper torn from a Bible
• Personal sigil on papyrus, four-leaf clover, snakeskin, smoky quartz, piece of antelope horn
• Six-sided die, rosemary, candy heart, folded two-dollar bill, miniature Hierophant tarot card, cat whisker
Look at the examples above. Don’t they all begin to tell a story about their owners? You can tell a lot about the person from what they carry, so strive to make your mojo bag truly yours.
Once you have your ingredients together, it’s time to wake the bag up.
Mojo Bag Wake-Up Ritual
This ritual utilizes the Consecration Ritual (page 160) with a few additions. You will also need something to “dress” or “feed” your bag. Alcoholic beverages are traditional, especially whiskey, as are perfumes (in Hoodoo and Conjure, Florida Water and Hoyt’s Cologne are common). You can also use your saliva or consecrated Hyssop or Power Oil (see pages 143–144). It is best done under a waxing or full moon.
Have the four elements represented on your altar (see the altars section in Chapter Four), along with your incense censer. Use copal or frankincense (loose incense is best, but sticks and cones are fine).
Arrange three small white candles (tea lights are fine for this) in the center of your altar in an upward-pointing triangle. Light the candles to begin the ritual.
Have the empty bag, string to tie it, and each ingredient on your altar. Have your feeding liquid or oil handy.
Stand or sit before your altar and perform the Centering Ritual (see 152).
Light your incense.
Hold each object (that you will be placing in the bag), then say,
Bless this (name of object), powers of earth (touch object to your earth symbol), water (touch water to your extended index and middle fingers and wet the object with them), fire (hold over your fire symbol), and air (hold in rising incense smoke or touch to feather); spirits of the heavens (lift toward sky) and of the underworld (lower toward altar or ground).
Then hold it in both hands in front of you and say,
Consecrate this (name of object) so that it may serve its purpose well for the highest good. So mote it be.
Lift the object and blow into it. Feel your personal energy, the breath of life, moving into it and awakening it. Say,
Awaken.
When all the ingredients have been consecrated, put them in the bag. Consecrate the full bag, and when you breathe life into it, say,
Awaken. Happy birthday.
You may feel a distinct change when it is enlivened. From this moment on, treat it as a sentient being, a cohort who will protect and aid you. Mark its birthday on your calendar.
Now tie it shut. You want to tie it tightly so there’s no chance it will accidentally open.
Now that it’s awake, it’s time to feed it. Apply some of the liquid to your fingertips and rub it into the bag, concentrating on the opening (or mouth). Apply more, a little bit at a time, until it feels satiated. Do not drench the bag (especially if you’re using whiskey). You can also trace sigils on it, if appropriate.
Place the bag inside the triangle of candles and let it rest for a while to bake or cook. When it’s ready, put it on (if using as a necklace) or place it in your clothing as close to your skin as possible. When you remove it at night, store it somewhere safe and private. If you have a pyramid, storing it underneath works to keep it charged longer.
Again, treat it as a private personal accessory. Don’t show it to anyone (except a special partner or spouse—and even then, don’t let him or her handle it), don’t wear it outside of your clothing, and don’t open it. Treat it with respect and honor. Wear it daily, as often as possible.
You may want to occasionally feed it, especially if it feels like it’s losing its mojo (bad joke—sorry). As your magical sensitivity increases, you will notice when a consecrated object begins to fade. At your altar, go through the previous blessing and consecration, skipping the “Awaken” bit (since it’s already awake). Feed it as before, and you’ll notice a marked change in its power.
And always feed it on its birthday. You wouldn’t want to miss that, right? Talk about hurt feelings!
Banishings
Although I don’t believe in the need for the regular banishing rituals employed in many Western traditions, there may be times when it is necessary to dispel negative, lingering energies in a particular location. Perhaps you’ve been visited by someone in law enforcement (it happens to activists occasionally), and you can’t seem to dispel their aggressive energy from your home. A special city park you frequently visited may have been trashed by vandals, and you want to clean it up energetically as well as remove their litter.
You can also banish publicly, as a form of direct ritual action (as pioneered by the Yippie exorcism of the Pentagon in 1967). A particularly vile politician’s campaign headquarters, a hateful church, or a polluting corporation’s office building are all possible targets.
Always purify yourself using the techniques in the section on getting clean (page 141) before undertaking a banishing, and it is advisable to take a purifying bath afterward as well, particularly if the area you’re working in is associated with violence or extreme energies.
The key component for banishing is incense (sage, frankincense, or copal), consecrated salt water (use the Consecration Ritual on page 160).
Here is the simple but effective technique:
Walking clockwise, smudge the entire area with incense. A censer or cauldron with a handle is ideal, but you can use a shell or other flameproof container. Smudge each room if you are in a house.
Walking around the perimeter of the area (if in a home, do each room), dip your fingers in the consecrated salt water and flick it every few steps, saying as you do so:
I banish all evil influences and entities
All demons, parasites, hungry ghosts,
Curses, bindings, and malign influences
In the name of the goddesses and gods
(or insert your preferred deity or deities here)
The angels and the saints
And spirits of the ancestors, begone and do not return!
When you have completed the above, scatter pinches of salt around the area. If in a home, leave a bowl of salt out for at least twenty-four hours. Afterward, scatter it outdoors.
Binding
If you find you are targeted or threatened because of your activism (by an individual, a group, an organization, or a corporation), binding is a useful method to restrain your opponent and protect yourself. When combined with other nonmagical methods of protection, a binding spell can be a lifesaver.
Since binding spells are specific to target the individual, group, or entity, we’ll take a generic approach to spell creation. You will have to plug in the specifics and adjust to your needs. But a few components and techniques can serve as a template on which to build your own spell.
Target Image: Include personal effects (fingernails, hair, a piece of clothing or jewelry, cigarette butt, toothpick), a photo, or a signature. Use a doll or poppet if the opponent is an individual or use a printed logo, promotional material, list of members, or group photo if a group.
Binding Materials: Black thread or string can be used to literally bind the target image. You can also imprison it in a container (glass jars and bottles are common).
Ritual: The ritual can utilize your personal energy, the aid of spirits, or both. It should be very specific about the behaviors or activities to be bound.
Cleansing: When doing any form of maleficia, it is always prudent to pray to deity before the ritual and purify and cleanse yourself afterward to avoid any negative residue.
For examples of binding spells you can use to construct your own, see A Spell to Bind Donald Trump and All Those Who Abet Him (page 47), #MeToo (page 198), and Fuck Fascists (page 211).