Secret Ingredients

Hex Your Ex: And 100+ Other Spells to Right Wrongs and Banish Bad Luck for Good - Adams Media 2019


Secret Ingredients

Here’s good news for the first-time spellcaster: there’s no need to hunt out crazy ingredients to make spells work. Today’s spells usually consist of ordinary ingredients that you can find in any supermarket, health food store, or department store. What makes these everyday items magickal? It’s actually something called resonance combined with the intention you set. Resonance is the vibrational quality of something that distinguishes it. In spellworking, you choose items whose resonance gives them a synchronous relationship with your intention. It’s a little tricky, but without even knowing it, you’re already familiar with synchronous relationships. Roses, for instance, are connected with love. As you become more adept at magick, you’ll intuitively sense what to use in a spell to produce the desired result. Until that time, refer to the charts and tables in this chapter.

NOTE

While you’ll see exact measurements for some ingredients throughout the spells, you’ll notice that a lot of the measurements have been left up to you. You’re the one creating and casting the spell so use your intuition and power when adding the items; you’ll know when enough is enough.

CHOOSE THE RIGHT COLOR

Even if you aren’t aware of it, the colors in your environment affect you psychologically and physically. Studies show that people respond to colors in measurable ways. For example, test subjects placed in red rooms often feel warmer and more active than those placed in blue rooms.

We also attach symbolic meanings to colors. Green reminds us of grass, leaves, crops in the fields, and by association, growth. We even use colors to describe moods with expressions like “feeling blue.” These subconscious connections with color can be tapped in spellworking.

The easiest way to bring color into a spell is with candles. Candle magick is a popular type of spellcasting, and you can incorporate candles into virtually any spell or ritual.

You can also burn candles of different colors to fine-tune a spell. Let’s say you hate your job and want to find a better one. If money is an object (and it usually is), you’ll need a green or gold candle. If you’re also looking for a position of leadership or power, add a purple candle. And if you’d like fun and excitement in the package, use an orange candle.

COLOR

CORRESPONDENCES

Red

passion, vitality, courage, action

Orange

confidence, success

Yellow

happiness, creativity

Green

fertility, growth, wealth, health

Light blue

peace, clarity, soothing

Royal blue

independence, insight, imagination

Indigo

intuition, serenity, mental power

Purple

power, authority, wisdom

Pink

love, friendship

White

purity, protection

Black

power, wisdom, banishing

Brown

stability, practicality

When you’re making magick mojos, choose bags in colors that are appropriate to your intention. To give detail to your spell, tie the bag with a ribbon of a different color. Pink is the obvious choice for a love talisman. But if you’d like passion in the mix, use a red ribbon. Ritual clothing, altar cloths, flowers, and other accessories can also provide color during spellworking. Use your imagination to heighten the sensory aspects of a spell.

USE SOME FLOWER POWER

“Green magick” has long been a favorite form of spellcraft. Early herbalists knew the secrets of the plant kingdom and how to use botanicals to cure and conjure. Because plants are living entities, they bring their own energies to a spell. In some cases, you might choose a particular herb or flower for its physical properties—especially if you’re doing healing. More often, however, you’re looking for the symbolic value of the botanicals you use in spells. Roses, of course, are symbols of love. Pine, which stays green even in winter, represents endurance and longevity.

Just about any part of the plant—flowers, leaves, bark, seeds, and roots—can be used in your spells. If you have a green thumb, you can grow your own plants for magick work. But if not you can find most of what you’ll need at a nursery or large supermarket.

You can capture the power of flowers and other botanicals in incense, essential oils, teas, lotions, or by keeping live plants in your home. Here are some ways you might like to use plants in spells:

Image Burn herbs, bark, or sticks of wood in a ritual fire.

Image Wear essential oils that suit your purposes.

Image Blend healing plant oils into lotions, salves, and ointments.

Use caution when handling plant material. Some favorite magickal flowers, such as foxglove and wolfsbane, are poisonous. Don’t put anything you aren’t sure of in food or beverages—stick with common kitchen herbs. Even plants that seem benign may cause allergic reactions in some people.

PLANT

USES

Ash

For protection and banishing

Basil

For protection

Bay laurel

For love, success and victory, and to protect your home

Cayenne

To stimulate courage or sexual desire

Cedar

For wealth and success

Chamomile

For peace of mind or to calm a stressful situation; drink chamomile tea as a relaxing digestive or sleep aid

Cinnamon

For financial and career success, in love spells

Clove

For success and prosperity, to remove negativity

Comfrey

For protection and purification

Daisy

For good luck and happiness

Fennel

For protection

Frankincense

For meditation, to heighten intuition

Garlic

For protection; eat to cleanse the system

Ginger

To make a spell work faster, especially a love spell

Jasmine

To attract love and passion, to sweeten an unpleasant situation

Lavender

To promote relaxation, to ease stress

Marigold

For success in legal or financial matters

Marjoram

To ease stress during big changes

Mint

For prosperity

Nettle

To dispel malice, gossip, and envy

Parsley

For prosperity

Pine

For strength and longevity

Rose

For love

Rosemary

For protection

Sage

To clear the air and remove negative energy

Tarragon

To inspire compassion and congeniality

Thyme

For fun and happiness

Remember, the more essential oil you add the stronger the scent will be, so if you would rather a lighter scent, go easy on the amount you add. Concentrated essential oils can bother sensitive skin, and you should always test lotions on a small area of skin before applying in case of irritation.

ADD SOME CRYSTALS AND GEMSTONES

From earliest times, people around the world have esteemed crystals and gemstones for their magickal properties. Like plants, crystals and gemstones are living entities, although they resonate at a rate that most people can’t perceive. However, their slow, concentrated energy enables them to keep working their magick for a long period of time. You can include crystals or gemstones in virtually any spell to increase, focus, stabilize, or fine-tune its power.

Quartz crystals are the most versatile. When combined with other stones or herbs they amplify the qualities of those ingredients. Witches sometimes use crystals as wands to direct energy. You could:

Image Put them in amulets or talismans.

Image Set them near windows and doors to provide protection.

Image Infuse magick potions with them.

Different stones possess different qualities and serve different functions in spellworking. A stone’s color can provide clues to its abilities. Pink gems, such as rose quartz and morganite, are perfect for love spells. Jade, aventurine, and other green stones can benefit money spells.

If you wish, combine several stones to address various aspects of a spell. If your goal is to find a job that pays well and brings you into contact with interesting people—aventurine plus watermelon tourmaline should do the trick.

Remember to wash crystals and gemstones in mild soap and water before using them to do magick. Stones hold on to vibrations for a long time and you don’t want other people’s energies to interfere with your spells.

STONE

USES

Amber

For protection

Amethyst

For meditation, relaxation, dream recall, and heightening intuition

Aquamarine

For mental clarity and spiritual insight

Aventurine

For prosperity

Bloodstone

For strength, courage, and physical protection

Citrine

To clean other stones and crystals, to disperse unwanted energies

Coral

To attract love or friendship

Diamond

For commitment in a relationship, for strength and success

Emerald

For love spells, healing, or growth in any area

Hematite

For stability or permanence

Jade

For prosperity or health

Jasper

Red jasper stimulates passion in love spells; green or rainforest jasper supports growth and healing

Lapis lazuli

To increase insight and intuition

Moldavite

For psychic ability or to communicate with other worlds

Moonstone

For emotional balance and intuition

Morganite

To bring love into one’s life and to rekindle old loves

Onyx

For banishing spells, for stability

Opal

To increase attractiveness in love spells, to protect a loved one

Pearl

For self-esteem, to help heal female or emotional problems

Quartz (clear)

To hold information, to boost the power of other stones, to transmit ideas and energy

Rose quartz

For love and friendship, to balance emotions

Ruby

To increase passion and vitality

Sapphire

To gain insight; star sapphires inspire hope

Smoky quartz

For endurance, focus, and practicality

Tiger’s eye

For abundance of all kinds

Tourmaline

Green and black tourmaline remove negative energy; pink and watermelon tourmaline attract friends and helpful people

Turquoise

For protection and prosperity

SELECTING THE RIGHT ROPES AND RIBBONS

When you tie up a mojo bag, you’re sealing the spell itself. In fact, tying knots is an ancient and effective form of magick. The idea is that you can capture energies, thoughts, and emotions in a knot. Sometimes you only want to contain energy for a period of time. When you need that energy, untie the knot and release it.

The number of knots you tie can be significant too. Love spells might call for two knots to represent the couple for whom the spell is cast. Four, the number of stability, could be appropriate in a money spell to slow the outflow of cash. Here are other ways to use ropes and ribbons in your spells:

Image To hold the energy of blessings, prayers, or incantations.

Image To connect two or more symbolic items.

Image To bind an enemy.

Remember to consider a ribbon’s color. As we discussed earlier, colors convey symbolic meanings.

SIGNS AND SYMBOLS

Magick relies heavily on the use of symbols. Symbols convey information to the subconscious quickly and efficiently. Numbers, icons, gestures, and geometric shapes are some of the symbols we utilize every day in our mundane lives. These symbols and others can also be used in spellworking. Witches often include runes or astrological glyphs in spells. Animal images, objects from nature, figurines, and even household items can serve symbolic purposes in spells. Consider incorporating symbols into your spells in these ways:

Image Draw a symbol on a piece of paper and display it where you’ll see it often.

Image Include small symbolic objects in amulets and talismans.

Image Carve symbols on candles.

You can even design your own original symbols. One way to do this is to draw what’s known as a sigil. Choose a word that conveys your intention, such as love, prosperity, or success. Configure the letters in the word so they form a picture. Use upper or lower case letters, script or block, or a combination. Draw the letters right-side up or upside down, backwards or forwards, large or small—whatever strikes your fancy. When you’re finished, you’ll have an image that nobody but you will recognize. It’s your own secret code! Both the act of creating the sigil and its application are magickal acts, so remember to approach the process in the right frame of mind.

OTHER INGREDIENTS

As you become more proficient at doing magick, you’ll develop a sense of what things will enhance your spells. You might consider adding the element of sound with bells, drums, singing bowls, gongs, or chimes. The choice is entirely up to you. If an object inspires you or helps you get into the spirit of things, by all means, use it.