The Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells - Judika Illes 2009
Luck and Success Spells
The Spells
Although conventional wisdom frequently depicts luck as an ephemeral quality mysteriously belonging to some but not to others, according to magical perceptions, luck is a distinct commodity to be acquired, squandered, or lost. Luck and good fortune, in other words, can be magically made, although it may take some effort.
The Wheel of Fortune, which has its origins in the sacred symbolism of Lady Luck, the Etruscan deity Fortuna, spins constantly. Like hamsters on a wheel, we scramble to stay on top. How fortunate that magic spells exist to acquire, maintain, and preserve luck.
All High Conquering Luck and Success Powder
Use this powder to eliminate obstacles and provide luck and success in the face of all challenges.
Grind and powder High John the Conqueror chips, crumbled bay leaves, and frankincense. Carry in a conjure bag or sprinkle as desired.
All Saints Oil Spells
All Saints Oil evokes blessings of good fortune, for success in all your endeavors.
All Saints Candle Spell
Carve a candle that represents you. Dress with All Saints Oil and burn.
All Saints Oil Charm Spell
Anoint a clover charm with All Saints Oil and carry with you at crucial moments for enhanced confidence, luck, and spiritual protection.
All Saints Quick Fix Spell
Don’t have a clover or any other lucky charm? Don’t worry. All Saints Oil stands on its own: soak a cotton ball in All Saints and carry it in your pocket.
Anvil Spell
An anvil serves as a magnet for good fortune. This ritual is most auspicious on specific days of the year, especially Saint George’s Day and New Tear’s Day.
Decorate an anvil with fresh tree boughs.
Place candles and incense on the anvil as you would on an altar and light them.
Chant something like: “Luck come to us! Good fortune draw near!”
Offerings of straw are made to the anvil in exchange for good luck and prosperity. This is also an auspicious moment for divination. (See Sideromancy, in Divination Spells, page 327.)
Balmony Persistence Spell
Sometimes luck and success derive from persistence. Balmony’s beautiful flowers inspired names like hummingbird tree, snake head, and turtle flower. Balmony allegedly enhances persistence, patience, and courage while also bestowing good luck.
Dry one complete flower. Carry it for good fortune and to assist achievement of goals.
Basic Candle Spell
Hold a red candle in your hands to charge it with your vision and desire. The candle may be any shape that appeals to you: votive, seven-day, cat or witch; the crucial element is that it must be red, the color of luck.
Carve the candle with your identifying information.
Dress it with Van Van, Black Cat, Lucky Lodestone, and/or Crown of Success Oil.
Burn the candle.
Bat Spell: Bat Wing Lucky Conjure Bag
Bat wing?! Aren’t many species of bats endangered? What about not using animal parts in spells? Well, these aren’t. Bat wing is the nickname for holly leaves, a plant of good fortune, doubly enhanced by its resemblance to the flying mammal’s wings.
Place a pair of bat wings (holly leaves) in a red conjure bag together with a High John the Conqueror root and a matched pair of lodestones. Sprinkle with lily pollen, if possible, and/or magnetic sand periodically for enhanced power.
Blessings of Good Fortune Spell
To bless something or someone, scatter elder leaves and berries to the winds, circling sunwise murmuring the name of the person or thing. Scatter some more directly onto the person or thing if possible.
Blessings of Good Fortune Long-Distance Spell
Send long-distance blessings for good fortune with elder powder. Grind elder leaves and berries into powder, murmuring blessings and best wishes over them. Sprinkle inside a card or envelope and mail it to those whom you wish to send good fortune.
Bread Spell
This ritual derives from petitions to the orisha Babalu-Ayé and is believed to bring good luck. If you incorporate spiritual petition, that luck may be even greater.
Nail a slice of bread behind the front door.
Fasten a purple ribbon to the nail.
Replace as soon as the bread begins to rot or deteriorate, burning the old slice.
Buddha’s Hand
The citron fruit, known in China as Buddha’s hand, represents luck and happiness.
Post an image of the three fortunate fruits—citron, peach, and pomegranate—as a visual petition for the blessings of luck, longevity, and children. Focus on your desires when meditating on the image.
Chervil Spell
Chervil provides comfort in times of sadness and invigorates lust for life. The obvious method of use is to cook with the fresh herb. However chervil has amuletic use, too.
Sew dried chervil into a small sachet.
Wear it against your skin during the day.
Sleep with it under your pillow at night.
Daruma
The daruma is typically a red plaster figure representing Bodhidharma, the Buddhist monk who lost all use of his limbs after meditating in a cave for nine years. Doesn’t sound too lucky? Daruma provides luck to others. In Japanese tradition, images of Daruma are sold with the eyes left blank so that you may petition for good fortune before initiating a quest or project.
To initiate a goal and to beseech good fortune and spiritual assistance for success, paint in one of Daruma’s eyes using black ink. When your project is complete and success has been achieved, complete Daruma, too, by painting in his second eye.
Deasil
Deasil, also spelled deosil and deiseal, is literally a sunwise turn, a turn to the right. This ancient Celtic sacred circumambulation follows the path of the sun to bring good luck and ward off evil and misfortune. The motion also propitiates various spiritual and elemental forces. Circling deasil may be performed as needed, however it is most auspicious during the Summer Solstice or Midsummer’s Day at the height of the sun’s powers.
Carry coals or brands from Midsummer’s fires deasil three times around a residence for blessings of good fortune.
Easy Seaweed Spell
Many Good Fortune Spells feature seaweeds like bladderwrack and agar-agar, both popularly known as Sea Spirit. Seaweeds, in general, are perceived as auspicious; other species may be easier to obtain, particularly those associated with Japanese cuisine or nutritional supplements.
Kelp and dulse are fairly easy seaweeds to obtain. (Seaweed may be fresh or dried but tablets may not be substituted.)
Place them in a jar and cover with saké or whiskey.
Keep the covered jar in the kitchen to magically attract good fortune.
Elemental Blessings of Good Fortune Spell
Combinations of red coral, turquoise, and amber are favored in Tibet, Mongolia, and tribal China so that one can receive all of Earth’s blessings of good fortune.
Coral is believed to contain the essence of blood, fire, and light
Turquoise contains the essence of water, sky, and air
Amber radiates the powers of Earth
Although each is sacred and powerful independently, when joined together they bring harmonious blessings of good fortune from every realm. Jewelry may be very powerful if received or purchased; however, beading your own is most potent because the opportunity exists for knot magic, tying your desires, prayers, and hopes into the cord after every bead.
String the beads together on cord, and wear or hang it as an amulet. If you have enough beads, make separate strands of coral, turquoise, and amber. Braid them together.
Alternatively, if funds are limited, carry a chunk or a single bead of each in a conjure bag.
Everything’s Coming Up Aces Spell
Place the four aces from a new deck of playing cards on a plate.
Cover them with breadcrumbs.
Cover this with sugar.
Add seven coins plus metal charms that represent your desires. (In other words, if you’re an ice-skater, you’d use a skate charm.)
Place a silver candle on top of everything and burn.
First Spring Rain Spell
The first spring rain is believed to contain special luck-drawing powers.
Place a glass, stone, or earthenware container outside at the spring equinox to catch the first rain. (It’s extra potent if it rains on the equinox!) Reserve the water for the following uses:
Bathe for a year of joy and luck
Wash your face to enhance the appearance of youth
Wash your hair to attract and keep romance
Wash your abdomen and genitals with the water for enhanced and renewed fertility
Sprinkle the water on your medicine bags, altar tools and around your home
Foot Track Spell
Perform foot track magic on yourself to enhance your good fortune and open the doors of opportunity.
Gather up dirt from your own footprint.
Add an equal quantity of dried patchouli leaves.
Blend them together.
Sprinkle with fresh-ground cinnamon.
Go to where the path to your home naturally begins.
Walk toward your entrance, sprinkling the powder up to and including your threshold, to draw lucky, fortunate, benevolent people toward you.
Four B’s Lucky Incense
This incense’s aroma allegedly draws luck, happiness, and prosperity to you while simultaneously repelling evil.
Grind the following into a fine powder:
Bayberries
Bay laurel leaves
Dried basil
Buckeye nuts
Sprinkle the powder on lit charcoal and burn.
Generative Organs
What do the human generative organs generate? Well, in addition to the usual, representations of the genitals generate luck and good fortune.
Adoration of the sexual organs and the magical power, mystery, and energy that they represent is the spark for Earth’s oldest spiritual traditions. Images of male and female genitalia are joined in union to symbolize the potential for perfect balance. These may be used regardless of one’s personal sexual orientation: beyond whatever real life imagery they depict or inspire, these images reflect and radiate a theoretical philosophical, magical balance beneficial for all.
There are a wide variety of such images to choose from, ranging from the reasonably stylized (Himalayan stone lingam and yoni statues) to realistic depictions (ancient Japanese and modern Thai amulets).
Generative Organ Spell (1) Basic
Join the two distinct images together on your altar.
Light one big red candle behind it.
Focus on the concept of perfect harmony, all your needs met, all your desires fulfilled, everything right with the world.
Offerings may be presented; traditionally these are milk and honey.
Spiritual supply stores may sell candles in the shape of human genitalia. These may be substituted or burned in addition to the candle in Step 2. Regardless of the candle’s shape, for luck, burn red candles.
Generative Organ Spell (2) Enhanced
Graphic images of human genitalia may not be appropriate for all situations, but there is no need to pass up their blessings of luck. There are also more subtle, discreet substitutions. Cast the Basic Spell as above, however place one or more of the following on the altar instead:
Mortar and pestle
Small ritual broomstick
Horseshoe with one iron nail
Snake images
Generative Organ Spelt (3) “Lucky Shelf”
Nothing is considered luckier than images of the male generative organs, except perhaps images of the male and female organs, preferably conjoined. (General worldwide metaphysical wisdom: female genitals draw protection, while the male genitals bring luck.) The Lucky Shelf was a traditional Japanese method of displaying these images, together with other luck-drawing amulets.
This “shelf,” in effect an altar space, was traditionally kept within a cabinet that could be opened or kept discreetly closed as desired. An exception was made in Japanese pleasure houses, where these shelves were kept in plain sight, to provide better business magic and general ambience as well as generating luck and good fortune. When realistic genital amulets were banned, Maneki Neko emerged as an acceptable substitute. Other substitutions may be made: cowrie shells are traditionally used to depict the vulva.
The traditional Lucky Shelf or cabinet is arranged and then left alone to radiate power. The spell-caster’s role is to collect fine images, carefully arrange them and lovingly care for them. The amulets do the rest.
Find images that represent primal generative powers. Combine them with other lucky and sacred charms.
If more active magic appeals to you, keep the items spiritually cleansed, magically charging them after each cleansings spell. Candle burning may also be incorporated as desired.
Good Fortune Bath
This bath may be taken once in conjunction with the Bain Demarré (see Cleansing Spells), or independently for seven consecutive Fridays. Add Holy Water, Glory Water, seawater or sea salt, anisette, scallions, a head of parsley and pieces of true silver and gold to your bath. (Your favorite or signature fragrance is an optional ingredient.)
Graveyard Dirt Spell
To achieve success:
Obtain nine handfuls of graveyard dirt.
Mix them with sulfur, salt, and pepper.
Sprinkle a little bit on charcoal and burn it.
Pray, petition, and visualize success achieved.
Repeat whenever you need to be successful in any endeavor. The powder will has a long time.
Halloween Apple Luck Spell
After nightfall on October 31st, each member of the household receives an apple. Apples may be distributed by hand or you may bob for them, as desired. Everyone must eat their one for a year of good luck.
Halloween Candle Luck Spell
At midnight on October 31st, burn orange and black candles. Allow them to burn out naturally to receive a year of good luck.
Horseshoes Spells
Horseshoes remain among the luckiest charms, although few who carry them today appreciate their ancient associations with the adoration of human primal sexual energy. The luckiest horseshoes have a lucky seven holes. Should you accidentally stumble upon a horseshoe, this is a harbinger of approaching good luck. You’ll get a bonus year of luck for every nail still in the shoe.
Horseshoe Spell (1) Feed the Horse
If you find a horseshoe, wrap it in red cloth together with some hay.
Tuck it under your mattress.
Pay attention to your dreams: they may generate luck for you.
Horseshoe Spell (2) Italian
The modern Italian horseshoe charm foregoes lucky associations with iron. It’s now typically crafted from red plastic and embellished with a red corno (an amuletic cross between a chili pepper and a horn) hanging from the arch.
Hang the charm in a visible place to bring luck, joy, and protection. Hung over a car’s rear-view mirror, it attracts luck wherever you drive.
Horseshoe Spell (3) Wrapped Up in Magic
Latin American magic wraps horseshoes in thread to create magic spells. The horseshoe is the basis of the spell; exactly what is done with it depends upon the spell-caster’s goal. The horseshoe spell below generates luck and good fortune:
Dip a horseshoe in Lucky Lodestone Oil.
Dip it into magnetic sand.
Shake off the excess.
Wrap red silk thread around the shoe until it’s covered completely.
Mount the wrapped horseshoe onto a piece of cardboard.
Embellish the horseshoe itself and the cardboard with lucky charms like four-leaf clovers and miniature dice. Miniature playing, tarot or votive cards may be attached, as can seashells. Small quantities of lucky botanicals can be captured in a tiny piece of fabric—a miniature mojo hand—and attached. Place a metal sea horse charm in the very center of the horseshoe for extra good luck.
Post this image so that it will draw good fortune toward you.
Huayruru Seed Spells
Beans are humble yet so filled with magic. Folk tales celebrate heroes whose fortunes are made, not with wealth or weapons, but with beans. The huayruru seed is the lucky bean of Peruvian magic. Also known as “lady bug seeds,” these beans are bright red and black. They’re very cute but poisonous: keep away from children and animals.
Basic Huayruru Spell
Carry one huayruru seed in a mojo bag or incorporate it into jewelry and wear for good luck.
Huayruru Conjure Bag
Place one huayruru seed in a red or green conjure bag together with seven coins and carry for good fortune.
Jupiter Spells
Once known as the “Greater Benefic,” this huge planet presides over luck and good fortune. The position of Jupiter in your natal chart and the aspects it makes to other celestial bodies determines your luck in this lifetime. Have an astrologer cast your natal chart to analyze what sort of fortune you were born with and how best to manifest that luck. Every person’s horoscope charts the gifts and challenges that are present at birth. An astrologer can also calculate your “Part of Fortune,” so as best to exploit luck and minimize those challenges.
Jupiter’s Angel
Zadkiel, ruler of the planet Jupiter, is the angel of goodness, grace, generosity, and mercy who bestows benevolence, good fortune, and justice. Burn frankincense to attract his attention and then tell him your heart’s desires.
Jupiter’s Lucky Charm
The metal associated with luck is tin, as it is the one under the rulership of Jupiter.
Cut out a small piece of tin.
Engrave it with lucky words, numbers, or phrases.
Put it in a lucky mojo bag and carry it with you.
Khus Khus
Khus khus is another name for vetiver. Originally from India, where it’s known as the “root of tranquility,” vetiver has many magical uses. It’s used for love, healing, and protection, and also allegedly draws good fortune closer to you.
Make a strong infusion of vetiver by pouring boiling water over the dried whole roots.
Steep for a minimum of three days.
Strain and reserve the liquid.
Use this vetiver water in personal baths as well as floorwashes for luck and success.
The lodestone may as well be known as the luck-stone. Few things are as associated with the acquisition of good fortune.
Lodestone Spell (1) Basic
Dress a lodestone with one or more of the lucky condition oils: Black Cat Oil, High John the Conqueror, Lucky Lodestone, Magnet or Van Van.
Sprinkle it with a lodestone’s favorite food, magnetic sand (fine iron shot).
Carry with you in a red drawstring bag.
Replenish your lodestone’s power by dressing and feeding it once a week.
Lodestone Spell (2) Freed the Stone
Place a lodestone in a small covered terracotta pot.
Once a week, consistently on the same day, remove it from its dish and place it in a bowl of spring water. Let it sit for a few minutes while you express thanks for the blessings that came into your life during the previous week. (Think of some!) Remove the lodestone. Drink the water or add it to your bath.
Dry the lodestone; place it back in its pot.
Feed it by sprinkling some magnetic sand over it.
Keep your lodestone private. Let it know your desires: add a penny or a piece of real silver to the pot for financial luck. For romantic luck, add a photo of the one you love or desire or some other symbol of love.
Lodestone Spell (3) Ritual Activation
Magic respects power; it’s just not reverential about it. Anything that’s perceived as having power or as “working” may be commandeered for purposes of individual enchantment. The thought process is that if something has either been demonstrated to have power in one area or is reputed to have such power, why not play with it and see what kind of power it brings to other areas? Magic has always taken religious symbols and rituals out of context and incorporated them into other, often completely unrelated contexts, to the great displeasure of the orthodox.
In this spell, the powers of Roman Catholic ritual are commandeered to give a lodestone charm an extra boost of magic power. Although the usage is unconventional, only someone very familiar with the ritual will actually be able to reproduce the spell—or would have known enough to create it.
Take your lodestone to church.
Light two candles near it; spill a little fine salt on the lodestone and discreetly dip it into the Holy Water font saying: “Lodestone, I baptize you in the name of God, the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. I baptize you Lodestone. You are my fortune. You bring me good luck.”
Immediately afterwards, kneel in the middle of the church and recite an “Our Father.”
Return home and place the lodestone in a red flannel bag, saying: “Beautiful lodestone, Mineral of Enchantment, who walked with the Samaritan to whom you bestowed beauty and good luck. I put gold on you for my treasure, silver for my house, copper for the poor, coral to free me from envy and evil, wheat so that [Name], child of [Name] shall love me and be devoted to me.”
As you pronounce the litany, at the correct moment, add gold, silver, and copper charms, a piece of coral, and a pinch of wheat to the bag.
On Fridays, bathe the stone in wine. Repeat the Samaritan prayer and add: “To me you give good luck and wealth.”
Replace the stone in its charm bag, with its companion charms. Drink the wine.
Lodestone Spell (4) Lucky Bag
Dress a lodestone with magnetic sand and Van Van or Lucky Lodestone Oil. Place it in a red flannel bag and carry it with you, close to your heart if possible.
Lodestone Luck Spell (5)
Anoint a lodestone or an iron charm with as many drops of Lucky Lodestone Oil as the years you’ve achieved, plus one more for added good luck. Carry in a conjure bag. Repeat the process at each New Moon.
Lucky Animal Spell: Chi Lin
Chi Lin, creature of myth and legend, is a sort of Chinese unicorn. Believed to be the most auspicious creature of all, his image draws luck and success as well as prosperity, longevity, and even well-behaved children.
A statue or a paper image of Chi Lin draws his blessings. The image is most auspicious on or near a desk but it may be placed anywhere.
Bats are associated with luck and good fortune in the Chinese tradition because of a play on words: “fu” means “bat” but also “luck” and “happiness.”
Lucky Bat Spell (1) Ling Nut
The dried seedpod of Trapa bicornis, known in Chinese as a ling nut or ling ko, a kind of water chestnut, is used to draw good fortune. Depending how you look at it, it resembles a bat. (Turn it around and it resembles a goat’s head, but that’s another spell.)
Hang the dried pod on a wall, or carry it in a charm bag, together with other luck-invoking dried botanicals.
Lucky Bat Spell (2) Five Red Bats
The luck inherent in bats is intensified by incorporating the luckiest of numbers and colors into the spell: an image of five red bats draws good fortune toward it. Post the image prominently where it can radiate its power and draw good fortune toward it.
Lucky Bat Spell (3) Five Red Bats in your Pocket Spell
The bats don’t have to stay on the wall: place five red stone bats in a red charm bag, charge with your desire and carry in your pocket.
Lucky Bat Spell (4) Romany
The association of bats with luck is not limited to Chinese tradition. A Romany charm to bring luck to children also depends upon the shape of a bat. Place a silver charm in the shape of a bat inside a small black silk or velvet-beaded bag. Have the child wear this around his or her neck.
The silver bat charm may also be hung from a red silk cord or silver chain and worn around the neck.
Lucky Bat Spell (5) Real Bats
Spiritual supply stores and “witch markets” sometimes sell dead, dried bats—hardly lucky bats and definitely not for use in this spell. In real life, many bats haven’t been lucky lately; loss of habitat and a perception of them as vermin (winged mice) have led to serious species endangerment.
If charms, images, and replicas are powerful, who knows what real bats will bring? Allegedly their presence offers spiritual protection and serves as an omen of forthcoming wealth and success.
Install a bat house: if bats move in, this is believed to be extremely auspicious. (Because many species of bats are now very endangered, the bat house provides luck for them, too—a classic example of magical reciprocity.)
No actual contact with the bats is needed or even recommended; however, for extra enhancement just murmur your desires in the vicinity of the bat house. Magically, they should receive the message.
Lucky Bath
Gather the freshest, most fragrant blossoms you can find. Add them to your bath together with pineapple juice for joy and good fortune.
Lucky Bath: Clover
Make an infusion by pouring boiling water over red clover. Let it cool, strain and add it to a tub filled with warm water so that you’re bathing in clover!
Lucky Bath: Spearmint
Make an infusion by pouring boiling water over spearmint. When it cools, strain out the botanical and add the liquid to your bath.
Cats are the animals most associated with luck and good fortune.
Lucky Cat Spell (1) Bastet Candle
Bastet is the Egyptian goddess of joy, luck, love, and the pleasures of life. She is typically depicted as either a cat-headed woman or as a seated bejeweled cat. Candles are sold in the latter shape, however you may also substitute any green cat candle. (Green is Bastet’s sacred color.)
Dress the candle with Horn of Plenty Oil. This oil represents Earth’s finest fruits and your wish to partake of them. This is a difficult oil to create from authentic materials because your choice of “fruity” essential oils is limited. Use essential oils of lime, tangerine, and pink grapefruit. Supplement with fragrance oils like cherry, apple, or melon.
Place a scarab near the candle as it burns.
Focus on your wishes, desires, and petitions.
When the candle has burned down, carry the scarab as a charged lucky charm.
Lucky Cat Spell (2) Black Cat
Black cats evoke strong reactions. Some fear them and many still subscribe to the superstition that a black cat crossing one’s path causes bad luck. Ironically, in many traditions black cats are associated with good luck. The black cat is believed to epitomize the cat’s proverbial nine lives.
Hold a black cat candle in your hands to charge it with your desires.
Carve it as desired.
Dress it with Black Cat Oil to provide good fortune and break all hexes, and then burn.
Lucky Cat Spell (3) Black Cat Luck Candle
When you really need some good fortune, dress a black cat candle with both Fast Luck and Black Cat Oils and burn.
Lucky Cat Spell (4) Candle Spell
Carve a red cat candle.
Dress it with Lucky Lodestone Oil.
Sprinkle powdered vervain powder over it.
Light it and visualize your desires.
Lucky Cat Spell (5) Maneki Neko
Maneki Neko, the Japanese beckoning cat, may be the luckiest cat of all. Virtually unknown a hundred years ago, Maneki Neko has in the space of a century become one of the most popular amulets not only in Japan but throughout the world. Heartily welcomed into Chinese magical traditions, a visit to virtually any Chinatown will demonstrate a minimum of at least one Maneki Neko in almost every store window.
Maneki Neko literally means “beckoning cat.” The standard image depicts a seated cat holding up one paw in beckoning invitation. Maneki Neko’s come in a variety of colors: they are color-coded as to meaning.
Choose a white cat to draw luck toward you, or look for the classic tri-colored cat. All you need to do is place the image in the window facing outwards so that it can beckon luck to come inside and join you.
Hattatsuneko, a different Japanese cat, also bestows luck through images, but you’ll have to come to him. His ritual involves a commitment lasting a minimum of four years. Variations on his image are distributed once a month at the Sumiyosbi-taisha shrine near Osaka. Pilgrimages are initiated to coincide with a wish. Allegedly, once you’ve collected all forty-eight possible images, your wish will be fulfilled.
Lucky Cat Spell (6) Seven Eleven Lucky Cat Candle
Anoint a black cat candle with Black Cat Oil and/or Van Van or Magnet Oil. Burn the candle on consecutive nights: seven minutes the first night, eleven minutes the second, seven the third, and so forth until the candle burns down, by which time you should see a change in fortune.
Lucky Charm Bracelet Spell
Charm bracelets go in and out of fashion but their roots derive from magical use, manipulating the secret powers of objects. Lucky charms may be understood as a form of amulet, talisman, or ex-voto.
Choose a charm that represents your goal.
At the New Moon place this charm beside a small pink candle.
Charge the candle with your desire, carve and dress if you like and burn it.
When the candle burns out, attach the charm to a bracelet.
Wear it or reserve in a safe place, whatever suits your magic.
When this goal is achieved, set another goal.
Choose another charm and begin again. (Should you reconsider and change your mind regarding any goal, merely remove that charm and begin again at the New Moon.)
Lucky Conjure Bag (1) Seven Beans
Fairy tales are full of blessed fools who trade away prized livestock or goods of similar value for a handful of beans. By the end of the story, what may have appeared to be idiocy is inevitably proved to be a wise, fortuitous, and lucky choice. These fairy tales only hint at the secret history of magic beans. Beans were an ancient Roman euphemism for the female genitalia. They were believed to possess the power to impregnate women; think of the stories where girls accidentally swallowed beans, only to give birth to the hero nine months later. Beans provide luck, good fortune, and ladders to Heaven (think Jack and the Beanstalk); avail yourself of their powers.
Choose seven different beans and carry them within a red silk or flannel bag. Although any beans may be used, speckled, red, black, and white are considered the most fortuitous.
Lucky Conjure Bag (2) Seven Job’s Tears
Add seven Job’s tears to a conjure bag, plus one tonka bean for every wish that you have.
Hold each bean in your hands and make a wish before placing it in the bag.
Carry the charm bag with you or store it in a secure, secret place.
Lucky Conjure Bag (3) Seven times Seven
Place a staurolite crystal, seven Job’s tears, seven tonka beans, and a matched pair of lodestones into a conjure bag. Anoint with Magnet Oil as needed.
Lucky Conjure Bag (4) Lodestone Luck
Carry Grains of Paradise, five-finger grass (cinquefoil), a matched pair of lodestones and one unbroken star anise in a conjure bag for good fortune and protection.
Lucky Conjure Bag (5) Oleander Spell
Fill a conjure bag with Grains of Paradise, a Jezebel root and angel’s turnip (dogbane/oleander). Note: angel’s turnip is extremely poisonous.
Lucky Conjure Bag (6) Oleander Spell Extra Strength
Place an angel’s turnip (dogbane), sumbul root, slice of peony root, and a pinch of five-finger grass (cinquefoil) into a charm bag, together with a four-leaf clover (real or charm) for good luck and protection.
Note: angel’s turnip is extremely poisonous.
Lucky Devil!
Carry the botanical devil’s bit so you’ll be a lucky devil, too.
Lucky Golden Handwash
Handwashes are most commonly associated with gambler’s magic. (See Gambler’s Spells, page 46 for more information.) However, handwashes may also be used to provide general, all-around good fortune.
Place three or seven strands of saffron in a cup.
Pour boiling water over it.
Let it cool, then bottle and refrigerate it.
Rub the liquid on your hands (do not rinse off) to have and maintain happiness and good fortune.
Lucky Incense
Burn incense in harmony with astrological signs to bring good luck in all aspects of life.
Blend the following: cinnamon, labdanum, cloves, violets, lemon zest or lemongrass, jasmine, black pepper, ambrette seeds, rose petals, sandalwood, camphor, and dried currents.
Burn as incense or simmer to produce aromatic vapors.
Lucky Mountains
The Romany of Central Europe possess legends of “lucky mountains.” Dirt from these mountains provides blessings of all kinds. Traditionally, there are seven lucky mountains.
There is some ambiguity as to exactly where these mountains are or which mountains they may be. You wouldn’t want to accidentally miss one, so the custom has arisen of collecting pinches of Earth at any auspicious-seeming height. This dirt is placed in a conjure bag, in the hopes that this could be the magic mountain, and presumably some of them are. This becomes a lifelong collection: the bag is eventually placed in the grave with its owner to ease the transition to the next realm and continue bringing luck.
Literally only a tiny pinch of Earth is taken; the conjure bag need never become very heavy. The practice emerged amidst a nomadic tradition; bags are light and portable, although you may also place your pinches of dirt in small boxes and vials to place upon an altar.
Lucky Nine Oil
Blend the following botanicals:
Allspice
Carnations
Cinnamon
Frankincense
Galangal
High John the Conqueror chips
Lemon zest or lemongrass
Myrrh
Vervain
Place the botanicals in a bottle, cover with jojoba oil and roll gently to distribute. Rub on the hands, and dress candles and mojo bags as desired for enhanced good fortune.
Lucky Powder (1) Bergamot Powder
Bergamot is a small bitter Italian orange that provides the characteristic scent of Earl Grey Tea. It also has many magical uses. It’s considered one of the commanding botanicals and is used to draw good fortune, particularly financial good fortune. The sole downside of essential oil of bergamot is that it possesses a powerful photosensitizing effect, which means it increases skin’s sensitivity to sun. If you wear it, it’s crucial to avoid exposure to the sun. Reserve this formula for the winter season.
Sift a combination of cornstarch, arrowroot powder, and bentonite clay until you achieve a fine consistency.
Sprinkle essential oil of bergamot onto the powder until the desired fragrance is achieved.
Stir the powder with a wooden chopstick to distribute the essential oil.
Allow the powder to dry.
Place it in a container and dust onto the body to attract good fortune.
Lucky Powder (2) Summer Luck
For summer luck, replicate Step 1 of the spell above. Then, instead of adding bergamot, substitute essential oil of peppermint, which draws joy and good fortune and also provides a cooling effect on hot skin.
Lucky Talismans
Although the words “amulet” and “talisman” are used somewhat synonymously today, technically an amulet is meant to protect you whereas a talisman magnetically draws some sort of good fortune. Talismans are what are usually meant by the phrase “lucky charm.” The term talisman also frequently indicates a specific type of lucky charm: engraved precious stones. However talismans of good fortune come in many forms, including metal, botanical, and written charms.
Most talismans require no further activation than the usual charging, cleansing, and/or consecrating used for any magical tool. Talismans are usually worn or carried on the person, frequently in a charm bag. Good luck talismans such as these include:
Devil’s shoestrings roots
A coin minted in your birth year
High John the Conqueror root
Some talismans, however, require further activation in order to draw good fortune.
Lucky Talisman Peyote
Peyote is most famous for its role in Huichol ritual and as the holy sacrament of the Native American Church. This rare and sacred plant also has amuletic properties. Peyote, like lodestones, lava, and High John roots, comes in male and female forms, which are visibly distinctive. Traditionally, women need male peyote, while men need a female for talismanic use.
Keep the peyote whole in order to empower the talisman.
Soak it in hard liquor and then dry it in bright sunlight.
Wrap it in red silk and wear it over your right knee.
Lucky Written Talisman (1) Archangels’ Names
Talismans frequently take the form of written charms. Sacred words and names radiate their own magical power. The creation of the talisman is perceived as a spell. Traditionally, writing a talisman is preceded by cleansing rites and frequently by fasting, and you should choose your paper and ink thoughtfully.
One talisman uses the names of the archangels. Write on parchment paper the names of the seven Hebrew archangels. This is most effective if written in Hebrew script:
Michael
Raphael
Gabriel
Souriel
Zaziel
Badakiel
Suliel
Post the talisman on the wall or carry it within a leather or metal conjure bag.
Luck, Written Talisman (2) Ojala
“Ojala” is a Spanish corruption of “Inshallah,” Arabic for “as Allah wills it.” The term has emerged in South America as a power-amulet.
On a small piece of paper, write, while focusing on your desire:
Fold the paper carefully and wear it within a locket or a medicine bag until your desired goal is obtained.
Magic Box Spells
Magic boxes are especially auspicious for luck spells. Because charms are stored together in these magic boxes, and especially if the box has power too (see Elements of Magic Spells) their power is concentrated and symbiotically enhanced. Magic boxes aren’t meant to be created to be stored on a shelf. Take the box out periodically and play with the contents. Absorb their power while charging them with your desires. Take one or two out and carry with you as needed, replacing with an equivalent number of alternative charms, always maintaining a lucky seven in number.
Magic Box Spell (1) Lucky Seven Charm Box
Seven is the number of miracles and good fortune. Fill a magic box with seven lucky charms. Some suggestions are:
High John the Conqueror.
Low John the Conqueror.
Small magnetic horseshoe (you could use an actual horseshoe, if your box is large enough).
Shamrock or four-leaf clover (real or a charm representation).
Lodestone.
Piece of Fool’s gold (pyrite) or a small piece of real gold.
A tonka bean.
Substitute other charms as you like, or maintain a rotating community of charms.
Magic Box Spell (2) Lucky Seven Beans and Roots
Fairy tales identify beans with luck and fulfilled wishes. Roots are frequently the most magically charged, amuletic part of a plant. This magic spell box combines the two for extra good fortune.
Consider filling your box with the following or substitute other preferences:
High John the Conqueror.
Low John the Conqueror.
Lucky Hand root.
Galangal root.
Tonka bean.
Vanilla bean.
Black snake root.
Dress the items with essential oils of vetiver and patchouli and sprinkle with powdered nutmeg and mace.
Magic Box Spell (3) Lucky Seven Roots
Keep these roots together in a magic box or substitute others, maintaining the number seven at all times:
Lucky Hand root.
High John the Conqueror.
Low John the Conqueror.
Galangal root.
Vetiver.
Archangel root (angelica, dong quai).
Mandrake or ginseng.
Magic Ring Luck Spell
A common motif in fairy tales is the magical ring that guarantees good fortune. What the fairy tales don’t tell you is that the moon can convert any ring with a golden band into a magic lucky ring. Turn a golden ring three times counter-clockwise upon first sighting the New Moon, to bring good luck.
Magnetic Sand Spell
Sprinkle silver magnetic sand over doorway thresholds to invite good fortune, true friends, and welcome visitors to enter.
Master Oil
This lucky oil is believed to benefit only men.
Grind the following into fine powder: deer’s tongue, red brick dust, patchouli, and vetiver and add the powder to sunflower and jojoba oils. Use the oil to dress a mojo bag for success in luck and love. Or you can rub a drop on your feet before setting out on important ventures, or a drop between your palms before crucial appointments.
Metal Key Spells
Metal keys attract positive magic into your life, while simultaneously deflecting evil. Magic keys open doors of opportunity. Old metal keys are best: check out flea markets and antique stores—let the keys and opportunities find you.
Metal Key Spell (1) Mojo
According to Romany metaphysical traditions, carrying key-amulet charms enables you to learn secrets, have mysteries revealed, and find personal success. Find a special key and charge it with your desire. Place it in a red silk bag and carry it with you.
Metal Key Spell (2) Ritual Activation
Finding a key on the ground, especially an older or antique key, is considered extremely auspicious. Charge it with power to create an amulet. Standard magical charging techniques may be used; however, this spell is specifically intended to transform a found key into a prized amulet:
Pick the key up discreetly if possible.
Bring it home and cleanse by passing it through incense smoke.
Charge the key by placing it inside a cast iron pan or cauldron. Heat until it’s burning hot, then turn off the heat and leave the key in the pan to cool off at its own pace.
Focus on what doors this key should open. Is this the Key to Love? The Key to Money? The Key to Personal Freedom?
Sleep with the key under your pillow for nine nights. Carry it with you during the day.
After nine days, it will have become an activated amulet: keep it in a magic box or mojo bag or hang it on the wall.
Metal Key Spell (3) Wind Charm
A collection of keys may be strung together onto red thread as a charm or formed into a wind chime.
An easy wind chime for the less than artistically inclined may be made from a bent wire coat hanger.
Hang the keys in the wind to rustle up beneficial opportunities.
Mirror and Sieve Spell
Fasten a mirror to the center of a sieve.
Hang the sieve so that the mirror reflects outwards. Good influences are able to pass through the sieve’s holes, while the mirror transforms evil influences into good luck.
Enhance with a charged magic mirror for extra power or use a “ba gua,” the feng shui ritual mirror.
Mistletoe Luck Spell (1)
Twist marjoram and thyme around mistletoe and hang it in the corners of each room to attract luck and fortune.
Mistletoe Luck Spell (2)
Tie mistletoe with red ribbon and hang, any time of the year, in your home for luck, protection, and extra kissing.
New Year’s Eve Spells
New Year’s Eve, the threshold of the New Year, offers the perfect opportunity for a change in fortune.
New Year’s Eve Bath Spell (1)
Make an infusion of mucura by pouring boiling water over the herb. Bathe in this infusion in the very first hour of the New Year for luck and protection. (Note: bathing in mucura is not safe if you’re pregnant.)
New Year’s Eve Bath Spell (2)
A traditional Burmese New Year’s Eve renewal bath features oils of roses and sandalwood.
Add a few drops of rose attar to a cup of rose hydrosol or rose water.
Add a few drops of sandalwood essential oil to sandalwood hydrosol.
Add them to a tub filled with warm water.
Float fresh flowers in the water for extra enhancement.
New Year’s Eve Bayberry Candle
Real bayberry wax candles are rare and costly: it takes approximately fifteen pounds of bayberries to create one pound of bayberry wax. And so bayberry candles are often reserved for special occasions.
New Year’s Eve is such an occasion! Light a bayberry candle on New Year’s Eve to draw luck, prosperity, and success in the coming year. Scratch your goals and desires into the candle wax for extra enhancement.
New Year’s Eve Lunar Candle
Carve a white candle with your desires on New Year’s Eve.
Reserve the candle until midnight, then greet the midnight moon by lighting your candle.
Make a wish for the New Year as you light the candle.
Peppermint Spells
Peppermint brings joy as well as good fortune. It cleanses stagnation, creating room for opportunity and success.
Peppermint Chervil Sachet
Peppermint and chervil, two lucky plants, combine synergistically to bring happiness, luck, and protection.
Combine equal quantities of dried chervil and peppermint and sew them into a sachet.
Wear it against your skin during the day.
Sleep with it under your pillow at night.
Peppermint Floorwash
Make a strong infusion of peppermint by pouring boiling water over the botanical.
When it cools, strain out the peppermint and add the liquid to a bucket of floorwash rinse water.
Add vinegar and a little Cascarilla Powder.
Cleanse the floors and threshold areas to radiate an invitation to happiness and good fortune.
Persimmon Luck Spell
Bury green persimmons to receive good fortune.
Pisces Calendar Spell
In traditional Jewish magic, the astrological sign Pisces (“Adar” in Hebrew), traditionally under the rulership of the lucky planet Jupiter, is considered to be the most fortunate of all the signs. This luck extends to people born under Pisces, but also to events occurring during this period—approximately February 20th until March 20th. Timing is considered especially favorable for engagements, marriages, surgery, business transactions, and anything contractual.
There are two ways to avail yourself of this extra luck during the rest of the year:
Fish (the sign of Pisces) are shorthand for abundance and good fortune. Wear or carry charms in the shape of a fish, or post images of fish on the wall.
Special Adar amulets may be posted. These depict fish, liquor, and glasses together with the phrase: “When Adar arrives, festivity thrives.” (The images refer to the happy Jewish festival of Purim, which occurs during this period, and also to Pisces’ traditional rulership of intoxicants.)
Pliny’s Success Spell
Pliny the Roman recommended blending chicory juice into olive oil for luck and success. Rubbing the body with this oil allegedly enhances your popularity and encourages others to grant your wishes and requests.
Red Goblin Spell
Even a mere pebble can be transformed into a lucky charm, and any round, smooth stone will suffice for this spell.
Toss the pebble in the air three times and catch it, chanting:
Spirit of Good Fortune
Spirit of the Red Goblin
Don’t abandon me!
Stay with me
Enter this stone, so that I can use it to call on you!
You may want to mark the stone to distinguish it from others.
The Red Goblin may be a euphemism for you-know-who; he may also be a more mild-mannered Italian spirit, whose name has been forgotten. Interpret as you will. Call on him, when in need, if you like or just use the pebble as a talisman.
Root Spells
Synonyms for witches include enchanters, sorcerers, conjurers, and rootworkers. Although all parts of a plant may be used for magical purposes, no part of a plant is more associated with magic spells than roots. Roots contain the plant’s entire capacity for power. Because they are the part buried in Earth, they’re also believed to contain hidden knowledge of Earth’s secrets. Many roots are especially associated with luck, success, and good fortune.
Root Spell: Ginger
Ginger root reputedly brings joy and fun into your life. What could be luckier?
Macerate ginger in sunflower and jojoba oil until you’ve achieved the desired intensity of fragrance. If you have fresh ginger plants, add the blossoms to the oil, too. (You may also add a few drops of essential oil of ginger for added intensity, but be careful: many find it a skin irritant.)
Strain, reserving the scented oil.
Apply the oil behind your knees, elbows, and ears when striking out for adventure.
Root Spell: High John
A High John the Conqueror root can be used to transform any charm or conjure bag into a lucky amulet. High John the Conqueror is a powerful, auspicious root, which allegedly can only bring good fortune.
Dress a High John Root with High John the Conqueror Oil. Carry it in your pocket or in a charm bag, re-anointing weekly.
Root Spell: High John Charm Activation
High John the Conqueror may be used to ritually activate and charge any other charm or conjure bag, bestowing some of its power and benevolence.
Carve a red candle with your name, goals, desires, any identifying information, and sigils.
Dress the candle with High John the Conqueror Oil, Lucky Lodestone, and/or Magnet Oil.
Light the candle near a pot of boiling water, ideally an iron pot or cauldron.
Sprinkle a small handful of powdered High John into the water. Let steam arise.
Pass your charm or bag alternately through the steam and the candle smoke until it feels complete.
Repeat as necessary.
Root Spell: High John’s Lucky Cologne
High John the Conqueror, Bay Rum, and Chypre are all associated with men’s power and good fortune.
Shave or break up a High John the Conqueror root.
Add these chips to either Bay Rum or Chypre.
Use it daily, as aftershave or cologne, to enhance your chances of success in love and luck.
If you already have a favorite fragrance, add High John chips to that instead, although the end result may not be as potent as one combined with one of the traditional men’s lucky fragrances.
Root Spell: Sumbul Root Luck Spell
Sumbul has been used in India and Iran for centuries but was first introduced to the West in the nineteenth century. Carry a sumbul root for magically enhanced good fortune.
Root Spell: Three Johns
Three botanically distinct root charms go under the name of John. What they do have in common is a capacity for drawing protection and good fortune toward you. High John the Conqueror (or jalap root as it’s known pharmaceutically) is the root of a type of Morning Glory. Low John the Conqueror, or Bethroot, derives from the extremely endangered Trillium family of botanicals. Southern John goes under a vast number of names: Little John to Chew, Galangal, Laos or Court case root. As a component of Asian cuisine, it’s the easiest root of the three to find. It’s a botanical cousin of ginger root, although their powers are very different and they cannot substitute for one another magically.
Make a mojo hand with High John the Conqueror, Low John the Conqueror, and Southern John.
Dress the roots with Magnet Oil and Van Van.
Carry them in a red drawstring bag, anointing with oil weekly.
Rose of Jericho Spells
Among its many other blessings, Rose of Jericho draws good fortune and opens the door to opportunity.
Rose of Jericho Charm
Rose of Jericho Water tends to get all the attention—as if the botanical existed only to create the water. The dried botanical brings its own good fortunes however: it is especially fortuitous when relocating or searching for new paths and opportunities. Carry a dried blossom as a lucky charm.
Rose of Jericho Water
Use Rose of Jericho Water to bathe charms, charm bags and anything you wish to empower and transform into a lucky charm
Add Rose of Jericho Water to your bath, so that you, too, radiate good fortune
Saint John’s Barometer Spell
Saint John’s Wort is believed to possess the power to reflect and influence your luck.
As it grows, so goes your luck. Luckily, it’s a reasonably sturdy plant!
Buy or plant Saint John’s Wort, ideally on Midsummer’s Day, which corresponds to the feast day of Saint John.
Observe its growth. If it’s ailing, nurture it back to health; consciously participate in its well being. (If it does die, just start all over again.)
Talk to the plant as you care for it; tell it what type of luck you need.
Saint John’s Eve Lucky Garlands
Plants harvested during the Festival of Saint John (Midsummer’s Day) are believed to be exceptionally powerful and beneficial.
Gather botanicals. Choose from amongst the following: Saint John’s Wort, white lilies, mugwort, wormwood, Sweet Annie, southernwood, tarragon, elecampane, fennel, chervil, and green birch branches.
Ornament your home and yourself with garlands of these fortuitous flowers on Saint John’s Eve to draw luck and spiritual protection for the next twelve months.
Salamander Spell
A salamander crawls slowly but persistently, inexorably toward the sun. In North Africa this is perceived as a metaphor for the human soul, which seeks and can ultimately reach divine light.
For millennia, Moroccan salamanders have been stuffed with lucky herbs and hung in the house to avert evil. Some species are now extremely endangered. (Powdered salamander is also a traditional medicine.) There are alternative methods to access this power:
Trace the rough shape of a salamander onto blue cloth.
Cut it out, sew it up with red thread, leaving a hole for stuffing.
Stuff with dried spearmint, pennyroyal, rue, harmel, and both dark and light benzoin resin.
For bonus luck and power use amazonite beads to make eyes for your salamander.
Salt Spell
According to a New Orleans tradition, tossing salt onto your front steps on the first Friday of each month brings good fortune to the house.
Sea Spirit Spell
Sea spirit is a plant but it conveys the blessings of the sea. (In its dehydrated form it’s known as agar-agar and is a staple of Asian cuisine.)
Place a sea spirit in a bottle.
Cover it with rum or whiskey.
Seal it shut. You can apply sealing wax if you like.
Keep one in each room for good luck.
Spirit Assistance Spells
According to legend, fairies and other spirits visit new-born babies to bestow or withhold a lifetime’s worth of fortune. Spirit power doesn’t terminate in the nursery, however. If the fairies weren’t too generous, make a conscious appeal for spiritual intervention. Blessings of good fortune may be requested at any time, although certain spirits are more likely than others to bestow it.
Spirit Assistance: Fortuna
The original Lady Luck, Fortuna spins the Wheel of Fortune. Her emblem is the cornucopia; her cup runneth over. Another of her emblems is a ship’s rudder; Fortuna is the captain of the boat of life. She determines which route the boat takes. Will the waters be rough or will she direct you toward smooth sailing?
When you facetiously ask Lady Luck to smile upon you, you are unknowingly petitioning Fortuna for help. Lady Luck has a reputation for generosity: ask for her assistance consciously and deliberately for greater chance of success. Once upon a time in Italy, Fortuna was actually a very prominent divinity, possessing her own shrines and temples. Fortuna provides blessings of good fortune to all, but is especially benevolent toward women and children.
Devote an altar to Fortuna: decorate it with dice, lucky charms, roses, and perfume. Make a wish list. Place the paper beneath a gold candle and burn it.
Spirit Assistance: Lakshmi
This beautiful Hindu goddess is luck. She is the very embodiment of generosity, benevolence, and good fortune. She provides all blessings of happiness. Don’t you want her in your house? Invite her in.
Lakshmi manifests as an exquisitely beautiful woman, golden in her splendor. The tremendous quantity of her precious jewelry causes her to become a vision of flashing, glowing, shining light. It’s easy to obtain images of Lakshmi as she is among the most beloved deities of India. She is usually depicted emerging from a lotus, between two white elephants, her hands distributing gifts. Lakshmi is also present in tulsi basil.
Fridays are the most effective day to petition Lakshmi. While Fortuna is partial to the ladies, Lakshmi is reputedly extra generous to men. The downside of Lakshmi is that she has a reputation for being fickle. Luck is with you today but gone tomorrow. If she bestows good fortune upon you, don’t take her for granted but petition even more fervently.
Make an image of Lakshmi or a potted tulsi basil plant the focal point of an altar.
Decorate it with coins, beads, and conch shells.
Lakshmi accepts offerings of milk, candy, and fruit. Give her some and tell her what you need.
Spirit Assistance: Lakshmi’s Footprints
If you long for Lakshmi’s presence, then walk her through your door, literally. Tiny, pretty, stylized footprints known as “Lakshmi’s footprints” symbolize this spirit of wealth and good fortune entering your home.
Stamp or paint her feet walking into your front door. Stamp them on your floors and walls—but make sure you don’t depict them leaving.
Spirit Assistance: Lakshmi’s Bridal Spell
Every bride momentarily embodies Lakshmi.
Have a pan filled with paint waiting at the front door for the bride’s first entrance into her home following the marriage ceremony.
The bride should take off her shoes, step into the wet paint and walk good fortune into her home.
Spirit Assistance Spell: Morgan le Fay
Morgan le Fay, Fata Morgana, sometimes takes on the role of Spirit of Good Fortune. In some legends, she dwells at the bottom of a lake, dispensing good fortune to those whom she favors.
Create a shrine for her featuring images of lakes and bowls of fresh or salted water. Decorate the shrine with hand-drums, seashells, pebbles from the sea, and fairy or mermaid images, as Morgan claims membership in both those spiritual clubs. Create an aura that attracts and pleases her (and you, too!). Request assistance as you will.
Spirit Assistance: Ogum Beira Mar
Ogun, the powerful West African Spirit of Iron, is not traditionally considered a “spirit of luck,” although he does generously provide success for his devotees. In most versions of his myth, Ogun, a dour spirit, lives a fairly solitary existence in the forest. However, a seashore dwelling aspect of Ogun emerged in Brazil: Ogum Beira Mar. Perhaps the change of scenery lightened his usually severe demeanor, as Ogum Beira Mar may be petitioned for luck and happiness. First you must bring him a meal at his home by the sea.
Dice yams into small pieces.
Cook them together with beef giblets or calves’ liver.
Wrap the dish in foil and take it to the beach.
Dig a hole in the sand and light a red candle inside it.
Pour some fine rum into the sand.
Present your offering to Ogum.
Talk to him and tell him exactly what you need.
Spirit Assistance: Saint Anthony
Saint Anthony, miracle-working saint and acclaimed witch doctor, may be petitioned for good luck.
Create an altar with a statue or chromolithograph of the saint as the focal point.
Some turn his image upside down until the petition is received, in the belief that making the saint uncomfortable will cause him to work faster. However this seems like a harsh approach to such a generous saint.
An alternative is more gracious: offer Saint Anthony a single lily. Tell him that when he helps your fortunes improve you’ll bring him a whole bouquet.
Spirit Assistance: Santoshi Ma, the Mother of Satisfaction
Magic is full of talk about ancient primordial spirits. Santoshi Ma isn’t one of them. Despite veneration for ancient traditions, new spirits are born daily. Santoshi Ma first manifested in Rajasthan, India during the 1960s. In 1975, a popular movie catapulted her to national recognition and her cult began to flourish and grow in popularity.
According to legend, Santoshi Ma was the wife of a high-ranking military officer; after death, she ascended to the realm of the spirits. Santoshi Ma’s dominion is fluid social and economic progress. For millennia, people’s destinies were set: if your family were poor peasants, you’d be a poor peasant. Santoshi Ma cuts through those restrictions: her gift to devotees, particularly women, is upward mobility, economic success, and good fortune.
Offer Santoshi Ma fruit, flowers, and fragrant incense. Write your petitions onto a square of gold paper and place it under the offering tray.
Spirit Assistance: Yemaya
Yemaya, orisha of the Sea, who may or may not be Ogun’s mother, is renowned for her generosity and kindness and possesses some influence over the Wheel of Fortune. Petition Yemaya for luck and security with seven long-stemmed white roses.
Very gently, so as not to damage the flowers, rub each individual rose against your face and body, all the while petitioning Yemaya for her assistance.
Create a beautiful bouquet by wrapping the roses together with blue silk ribbons.
Take this bouquet to the beach, along with seven small white and/or blue candles plus some matches.
Hollow out a space in the sand. Set the candles in the space and light them.
Wade out into the sea carrying the bouquet. Cradle it while seven waves approach and splash you, then respectfully give Yemaya her bouquet by throwing it into the sea.
Stop Opposition Incense
To overcome opposition to your success, burn the following botanicals as incense:
Cloves
Garlic
High John the Conqueror
Jezebel root
Licorice
Sweet flag (calamus)
Woodruff
Grind and powder the botanicals, sprinkling onto lit charcoal, or burn whole bruised botanicals in a cauldron.
Burn the incense in the room where opposition is most likely to occur.
Success Diagnostic Spell
This spell allows you to measure a project’s probability of good fortune.
Hold a small candle in your hands and charge it with your question and your desire.
Light the candle.
Place it on a holly leaf and float them on water.
If the leaf and candle float and if the candle stays lit, the project will prosper.
Success Protection Spell
Spells for luck lead to success. Success leads to jealousy, and jealousy leads to the Evil Eye. Wear essential oil of rose geranium to protect against gossip and backstabbing caused by jealousy of your success and good fortune.
Successful Happy Life Candle
Roll a bright gold or orange candle in ground cinnamon, powdered five-finger grass (cinquefoil), and Irish moss and burn it.
Ten of Diamonds Spell
Remove a ten of diamonds from a new deck of playing cards and place it on a dish. If you prefer, you may substitute the ten of coins card from any tarot deck.
Sprinkle it with graveyard dirt, lodestone powder and Van Van Oil. Add a piece of real silver.
Carve a red candle with your identifying information; dress it with Van Van, too.
Place it on top of the playing card.
Burn the candle, while visualizing the luck and success you need.
When the candle has burned out, place the card, the silver, a little of the powder and any wax remnants that may appear “lucky” in a mojo bag. Carry it with you or keep it in a secure place. Dress periodically with Van Van Oil to keep the mojo working.
Tonka Bean Arret
Tonka beans are said to have the power to make wishes come true. This New Orleans charm allegedly provides luck, protection, and general good fortune.
Drill a hole in a tonka bean.
Attach a small cross. (This doesn’t necessarily evoke Christian symbolism, although it can, if you would like it to. The cross as a pre-Christian symbol possesses the effect of radiating power in all directions.)
Carry in a conjure bag or attach to a chain and wear around your neck.
Turmeric Spell
The rhizome turmeric, a cousin of ginger root, is believed to bring good fortune. It’s also the source of a potent—and permanent—yellow dye. Dye garments with turmeric for good luck.
Van Van Spells
Van Van Oil allegedly turns bad luck into the best luck and opens the road to success. It may be the most beloved condition oil of all: it allegedly provides all life’s blessings, while simultaneously repelling evil. At one time in the late nineteenth century, the entire town of Algiers, across the river from New Orleans, was said to be redolent of Van Van’s lemony scent.
Anoint lucky charms with Van Van, for extra power
Anoint yourself: massage yourself with the oil or add it to a bath
For a fast, spontaneous lucky charm, dip a cotton ball in Van Van and carry it in your pocket
Vervain Spell
The sacred herb vervain allegedly turns bad luck into the best luck, attracts love and prosperity and makes even your enemies like you, at least a little.
Make an infusion by pouring boiling water over vervain.
While it cools, run a bath.
Once the infusion has cooled, bring it to the tub. (Don’t strain the botanicals out.)
Undress, get into the water and pour the infusion directly over you, then soak in the bath.
Allow yourself to air-dry.
Victory Against All Odds Luck Spell
The miracle herb celandine allegedly helps provide victory despite all odds, escape when no solutions seem possible. Celandine is toxic; use externally only.
Hold the botanical in your left hand while contemplating your situation. Carry in a conjure bag, keeping the bag under your pillow while you sleep. A solution will allegedly appear.
Wahoo Luck Bark Bag (1)
Carry wahoo bark in a conjure bag to achieve success in your chosen endeavors.
Wahoo Luck Bark Bag (2)
Combine wahoo bark and Job’s tears; line the conjure bag with wahoo.
Make a wish on seven individual Job’s tears. (Repeat the same wish seven times or make seven distinct wishes, however you please.) As you articulate each wish, place the seed in the bag.
When complete, spit in the bag and carry for success, good fortune, and so that your wishes will come true.
Wisteria Happiness Candle
Wisteria attracts happiness and good fortune. Blend dried, crumbled wisteria flowers into jojoba oil. Dress candles with this oil to attract happy people, fun, and joyful experiences.
Wood Rose Lucky Magic Spell
Wood roses aren’t true roses but instead are members of the morning glory family, as is that other luck provider, High John the Conqueror. Carry or keep a wood rose for good luck.
Repairing Bad Luck
“If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all,” sings bluesman Albert King.
Is he singing the soundtrack to your life? “Been down so long, it looks like up to me” wrote poet/singer/songwriter Richard Farina. Does that sound too familiar, as well?
If you can’t even conceive of having good luck, you’d be content with a respite from the worst luck, don’t despair. Magic methods exist to turn your luck around.
Bad Luck Begone Powder
This botanical powder makes no promises about bringing good fortune but allegedly counteracts bad luck and protects from its effects. (Nine, seven, and five are numbers of protection: incorporate these numbers into the quantities of botanicals used.)
Blend the following ingredients, grinding them together:
Nine dried bay leaves, crumbled
Frankincense
Juniper berries
Cloves
Dried dill
Dried fennel
Dried tarragon
Make substantial quantities: carry some with you in a mojo hand, while keeping more within the home as fragrant, protective potpourri.
Break Bad Luck Spell
This spell allegedly breaks a spell of bad luck.
Carve your affirmations and desires on a white candle and dress it with olive oil.
Roll it in ground red pepper.
Light the candle, place it securely on the floor and jump over it.
Broken Mirror Antidote Spell
Does breaking a mirror cause seven years of bad luck? It better not; many spells require shards of broken mirror. If the situation causes anxiety, never fear, an antidote exists:
Some mirrors break cleanly into a mere few pieces while others shatter into thousands. Be that as it may, gather up all the shards and pieces of the mirror and as much of the glass dust as possible.
Wrap it in fabric or a paper bag.
Throw the mirror pieces into a river or fast-moving stream, flowing away from you so as to carry away all misfortune.
Change in Fortune Bag
Carry dried violets in a red silk bag to see an upturn in fortune.
Drive Away Bad Luck Bath
Make a strong infusion of basil and spearmint. You may strain the botanicals out or leave them in for extra strength.
Squeeze in the juice of one lemon.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds and a handful of flour.
Stir in a spoonful of Command and Compel Oil.
Fill a bathtub with water.
Carry the bowl with the infusion to the tub.
Stand in the tub of water, pour or ladle the infusion over your head, sit down and soak.
Happy Times Powder
Magic spells, charms, and incantations are always given in the present tense. Happy Times Powder’s name expresses wishes and goals, not necessarily present reality.
Blend the following ingredients together, powdering further if necessary: dried ground strawberry leaves, dried powdered vanilla bean, and finely grated orange zest.
Sprinkle this powder around the perimeter of your home, behind doors, and in all its corners, for a change of luck and an improvement in fortune.
Insoluble Problems Solved Spell
Untie the knots that bind you!
Write an explicit description of your situation on brown paper.
Wrap the paper around some knotgrass.
Charge the packet with your desires, and then burn it.
Pay attention to your dreams and random words overheard; solutions will appear and you don’t want to miss them.
Kyoto Powder
Sprinkle Kyoto Powder as needed to reverse bad luck: sprinkle on the premises where bad luck occurs, in your pockets, your clothing, or on you.
Lucky Devil Spell
Devils aren’t always threatening. Sometimes they’re “lucky devils.” Use a devil-shaped figure candle to help turn your luck around.
Dress a red devil candle with Flying Devil Oil. Place it in front of a white cross candle (to represent the heavy cross you bear) and burn it. To turn round really bad luck, dress the white cross with Uncrossing Oil and repeat the spell for seven consecutive days.
Out With Bad Luck, In With the Best Luck Spell
Burn that candle at both ends! Eliminate misfortune and, because nature abhors a vacuum, simultaneously attract something positive to replace it.
Obtain one red and black double-action candle. It may be necessary to trim the bottom of the candle, exposing the wick, so that both ends may be burned simultaneously.
Carve what you wish to eliminate from your life on the black end.
Carve what you’d like to see manifest in your life on the red end.
Ideally, place the candle horizontally on a candlestick with a spike. Otherwise drive a long nail or pin through the border dividing the colors. Place the candle horizontally over an open bottle, inserting the pin to provide balance and stability.
Burn at both ends simultaneously.
Stop the Wheel of Fortune Spell
Evil omens, scary dreams, inauspicious signs, or any other portents of misfortune don’t necessarily mean that bad luck is inevitable. Take enchanted steps to stop the Wheel of Fortune turning in the wrong direction. The ancient Mesopotamians possessed complex rituals to prevent evil portents from translating into actual reality. Five thousand years later, the basic steps, if not the exact ritual, may be reproduced.
Typically, these rituals involved five components. Someone else performs the cleansing for the targeted person. Five thousand years ago, it would have been a specialist priestess, priest, or shaman. Today, several people can get involved: there is enough activity to keep a number of people busy.
Create an enclosure. (The Mesopotamians would have cast a magic circle with flour.)
Perform purification rites within the enclosure. The person(s) perceived as the endangered target of these ill omens is bathed, then shaved or waxed and bathed again. Tamarisk branches were used in the cleansing process, although whether this was for asperging or something similar to the barrida ritual “sweeping” with branches or another method is unclear. (Tamarisk is still used in Middle Eastern anti-Evil Eye rituals.) Cleanse the person with incense. Sweep the area clean. Light magic lamps or candles. Ring a bell (Mesopotamians favored copper) and beat a drum.
Offer food and aromatics to the spirits and the deified river or the deity in the river, because this is how the spell remnants will be carried away.
Destroy any emblems of evil, if there are any. (This spell could also be used to remove an object-driven jinx.)
Close the ritual: Traditionally, the person was spun around and told to leave, not looking back or around. Just face forward and find a tavern. (The ancient Mesopotamians found spiritual significance in bars and their priestess/barmaids. Full details are not understood, as of yet, although there is a connection with devotion to Inanna-Ishtar.)
A magical prescription may also be given: the person should wear protective amulets for at least the following seven days.
Uncross Me!
When your cross grows too heavy to bear, dress a white cross candle with essential oil of hyssop diluted in olive oil. Pray, petition, and recite psalms to remove this cross of misfortune.
Walking Under Ladders Antidote Spell
Among the most common superstitions is the fear of walking beneath a ladder, and many will go well out of their way to avoid doing so. Should you find yourself forced to walk beneath a ladder there is antidote to avoid bad luck. This spell must be cast when you walk under the ladder.
Cross your fingers as you approach the ladder. (If this isn’t possible, a knot may be made instead.)
Keep your fingers crossed until a dog is observed. Once you sight that dog, you’re home free. Uncross your fingers; untie your knot.
Wishing Spells
Sometimes it’s not general good fortune that’s required; you need one special wish fulfilled. Luck and Success Spells attempt to magically generate general good fortune. Wishing Spells tend to have one specific desire in mind. Now anyone can wish: all you have to do is think or articulate it. However, special magic spells and techniques enhance the chances of success, helping transform hopeful wishes into concrete reality.
Acacia Dream Manifest Spell
Burn acacia wood and speak your wish or goal aloud. Allegedly this combination of actions helps manifest dreams into reality.
Apple of Desire
With a thorn or pin, scratch your wish into the skin of a beautiful apple. Hold the apple in both hands and contemplate your desire. Dip the apple in cinnamon honey and eat it completely, savoring each bite.
Asphodel Magic Wand Wishing Spell
Asphodel’s name derives from the Greek word for scepter; consider it a botanical magic wand. Place asphodel beside whatever you wish to manifest into your life.
Write out a statement of desire or intent, display an image or somehow create a representation of your desire. Place asphodel beside it and articulate your wish.
Bay Leaf Wish Spell (1)
Bay leaves assist petitions, messages, and wishes to reach the spirit realm quickly and clearly. Write your wishes on bay leaves and then burn them.
Bay Leaf Wish Spell (2)
Lay dried bay leaves flat over your mattress and cover them with a fresh, white sheet. This draws luck as well as promoting sound sleep.
Blackthorn Wishing Wind
Craft a wand from blackthorn wood and use it to cast wishing spells.
Dandelion Wishing Spell (1)
Make a wish while holding a dried dandelion. Hold that thought in your mind, and then blow all the seeds off the dandelion with one breath. If this can be accomplished, your wish should be fulfilled.
Dandelion Wishing Spell (2)
An easier although more time-consuming method of wishing upon a dandelion involves crafting infused oil of dandelion flowers. (See Elements of Magic Spells for instructions; the process may take up to six weeks.) Rub the oil onto the hands or body while making your wish.
Dittany of Crete Wish Manifestation Spell
Make a wish while inhaling the fragrance of Dittany of Crete. Allegedly this encourages your dreams to manifest into reality.
First Star Spell
Starlight, star bright
First star I see tonight
I wish I may, I wish I might
Have this wish I wish tonight
That rhyme has been relegated to the nursery yet it recalls a potent Wishing Spell.
Pay attention at twilight; it’s easy to miss your opportunity.
If you can catch sight of the very first solo star in the sky, gaze at it and make your wish. (The rhyme charm may be incorporated but it’s not necessary.)
If the first star can’t be identified, luck isn’t with you: save the spell for another night.
The Four-leaf Clover
According to legend, if you find a four-leaf clover and wish upon it, your wish will come true. Well, nothing is guaranteed, not even if it’s legendary. A special magical technique exists to maximize a four-leaf clover’s wish fulfilling potential.
When you wish upon the clover, count each leaf. Each offers a unique form of good fortune. Visualize how you’d benefit from their promise:
The first leaf to the left of the stem is fame
The second leaf to the left of the stem is money
The third leaf to the left of the stem is love
The fourth leaf to the left of the stem is good health
Perhaps the first step should be to find a four-leaf clover! However, a metal charm may be used, and may be preferable: its leaves won’t fall off while you’re counting!
Ginseng Wish Spell
Would fulfillment of your most desired wish be a wonder of the world? Ginseng’s Hoodoo nickname is “Wonder of the World Root.” Reserve this spell for hard-to-fulfill wishes and see if ginseng lives up to its sobriquet.
Carve your wish onto a ginseng root. Hold it in your hand to charge it with your desire and then toss it into living waters.
Grains of Paradise Wishing Spell
Hold Grains of Paradise in your hand.
Close your eyes and make a wish.
Twirling sunwise, let the grains slip through your fingers until you reach full circle.
Halloween Wish Spell
At midnight on Halloween stand naked before a mirror in a room lit only by a single candle. Silently make your secret wish. Don’t speak until morning.
Hazel Spell (1) Garland
Make a wreath or garland from hazel leaves, binding your desire into the knots. Wear it while making your wish to enhance its chances of success.
Hazel Spell (2) Wishing Cap
You’ve heard of thinking caps? Well, the Welsh used to have a “wishing-cap,” a piece of ritual clothing, a hat woven from fallen hazel twigs.
Gather twigs of hazel and weave them into a cap. Wear it when making your wishes to intensify your opportunity of success.
Jezebel Root Spell
Jezebel root serves as a magical conduit, transforming desire into reality. Usually associated with malevolent spells, Jezebel root is also a potent wish conductor.
Hold a Jezebel root in your left hand.
Close your eyes and focus on your wish. Remain like this, maintaining complete concentration, for as long as possible.
When you have finished, bury the root in Earth.
Job’s Tears Spell
To have your prayers answered and your wishes fulfilled, pierce and string Job’s tears. Wear them around your neck as a necklace.
Job’s Tear Wishing Spell
Make a wish on a Job’s tear. Wrap it up in fresh basil, peppermint, and spearmint leaves and place in a conjure bag or magic box. By the time the leaves lose their aroma, your wish should have come true.
Joss Paper Wishing Spell
Chinese magical paper has been manufactured and used for hundreds of years. Spirit Money, also known as Bank of Hell cash notes, used to feed, honor, and pacify the dead, are the most famous example. However, magic paper has many uses, fulfilling wishes not the least among them.
Literally countless varieties of magic paper are produced, however square sheets featuring gold foil at the center are extremely beneficial for wishing and are not difficult to find amongst stores catering to traditional East Asian clientele.
Write your wish upon the paper and then burn it. If the flame goes out, light the paper again. Make sure that every last letter is reduced to smoke and ash so that your wish enters the atmosphere where it may be fulfilled.
For extra power, anoint the paper with essential oil of sandalwood or burn together with sandalwood incense.
Bring the paper ashes outside and scatter them to the winds.
Lucky Bamboo Wish Spell
Carve your wish into a piece of bamboo and bury it in a safe place.
Lucky Cat Candle Spell
Lucky cat candles help fulfill your wishes. Color coordinate to suit the nature of the wish: use green for money, red for love, and black to resolve problems.
Carve and dress the candle as you will.
Write your wish succinctly and explicitly on a piece of paper.
Burn the paper; use this paper to light the candle, rather than a match.
Murmur wishes, incantations, and sacred verses, at least until the paper has completely burned to ash.
Lunar Wish Spells
Wishing upon the moon is easier than wishing upon a star; however, as with stellar wish spells, timing is everything. The moon is the heavenly body most associated with granting wishes.
Lunar Wish Spell (1) Basic
When you catch sight of a particularly beautiful, evocative moon, stop and gaze at it. Concentrate on your desire, look at the moon and make one explicit well-articulated and defined wish.
Lunar Wish Spell (2) Camphor
Camphor is under the dominion of the moon. Lady’s Chang’o’s lunar palace is allegedly crafted from cinnamon wood, however both true cinnamon and camphor derive from trees of the Cinnamonium family. Maybe the Moon Lady’s palace was built from camphor wood. Because of its connection, camphor can transmit some of the moon’s protective and luck drawing powers. (Be careful: camphor can also be toxic.)
Dissolve a camphor square into lunar-charged spring water.
Use this water to cleanse appropriate magical tools so that they may be used to fulfill your wishes.
Lunar Wish Spell (3) Pull Moon
Stand naked in the light of the Full Moon.
Go through the motions of bathing in the moonbeams.
Gaze at the moon while doing this: when ready, make whatever petition you please.
Watch for an immediate response: if the Moon remains clear, it’s a positive sign. If the Moon brightens and the light intensifies, this is an extra auspicious sign. If a cloud passes across the moon, you can anticipate some difficulty in achieving your desire. Take some further magical steps or perhaps reassess your desire. Work on it until the next Full Moon and repeat.
Lunar Wish Spell (4) Lady Chang’o
Once a year, to celebrate her birthday, Lady Chang’o, the Moon Lady grants secret wishes. The moon is believed to be at its shiniest and most beautiful on the Moon Lady’s birthday, the fifteenth night of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar. Beautiful Lady Chang’o lives alone on the moon in a palace of fragrant cinnamon (or possibly camphor) wood, her sole companion, an alchemist rabbit that grinds out the elixir of immortality with a mortar and pestle.
Gaze up at the moon.
Concentrate on your most secret desire.
Tell Lady Chang’o what you need.
Lunar Wish Spell (5) Lady Chang’o’s Oracle
Lady Chang’o also provides an oracle on the eve of her birthday:
Privately, discreetly light three sticks of incense in her honor.
Whisper your question.
Wait in hiding, where others won’t see you. The first words you hear spoken are the answer to your question.
Lunar Wish Spell (6) New Moon
The following is a Romany ritual to greet the New Moon.
Greet each new moon by chanting something like this:
Here is the New Moon.
The New Moon has arrived.
Be lucky for me now
You’ve found me penniless
Leave me rich and prosperous.
Leave us with money.
Leave us with good health
Leave us with love.
Magic Papaya Wish Spell
Hold a strip of red cloth in your hands while considering your wish. Tie it around a branch of a papaya tree; explicitly articulate the wish as you tie the knot. Then visualize your wish fulfilled.
Mojo Wish Bean
Italian immigrants brought fava beans to New Orleans, where they became known as lucky Saint Joseph’s beans and mojo wish beans. Make a wish on a mojo wish bean, and carry it for seven days near your heart to make your wish come true.
Nine of Cups Wish Fulfillment Spell
The nine of cups tarot card is traditionally considered “the wish card,” a happy card that indicates your wishes will come true.
Remove the nine of cups card from a Rider-Waite tarot deck or another deck that illustrates the Minor Arcana. (Some decks only illustrate the Major Arcana.)
Place the card upright between a gold and a silver candle.
Light the candles; gaze at the card and clearly, distinctly, articulate what it is you truly want.
When the candles burn down, place the card under your pillow. Further information may be revealed in your dreams.
Nutmeg Wish Spell
Carve and dress a small candle to reflect your wish and burn it.
Write out the wish concisely and explicitly on a tiny slip of paper.
Hollow out a nutmeg. (Not an easy thing to do, incidentally. Be careful not to injure yourself.)
Slip the paper inside the nutmeg and seal it within, using a bit of melted candle wax.
Bury this wish in Earth so that it will grow to fruition.
Ocean Spirit Wish Spell
Address your request to Aphrodite, Poseidon, Yemaya, or any other ocean spirit you choose, but address it specifically to someone. Don’t send out a generic request. Write your request or query on rice paper or some other biodegradable paper. Launch it into the waves and await your response.
Papaya Wish Spell
Make a fire in your cauldron, hearth, or fireplace.
Hold thirteen papaya seeds in your left hand and charge them with your desire.
Whisper a wish over each seed individually and toss it into the fire. If it pops, your wish will come true. If it doesn’t pop but burns silently, your wish may still come true but not without effort.
Red Tara Spell
Kurukulla, the Red Tara, is the Tibetan spirit of love and wealth.
Recite her mantra one hundred thousand times to receive success in any undertaking (Kurukulla is particularly renowned for delivering cash, power, and lovers):
Kurukullayah om kurukellehrih
Mama sarvjanam vashamanaya hrim svaha
Meditate upon her image to enhance success. Kurukulla appears as a scarlet naked woman, blissfully happy, with disheveled hair.
Offer her red flowers, especially hibiscus.
Kurukulla’s ritual was traditionally accompanied by a ritual possession. Do not attempt this on your own. Without proper training and ritual supervision, this is extremely dangerous.
Sage Wishing Spell
Write your wish on a single sage leaf.
Place it beneath your pillow for three consecutive nights.
Should this sage leaf appear in your dreams at any time during these three nights, your wish should be fulfilled.
If not, what you’re requesting is complex and difficult. Bury the sage leaf in Earth, requesting that, if your wish is beneficial, it will grow to fruition. If realizing your dream would be harmful, request that the energy and desire dissipate safely into Earth.
Seven African Powers Wish Spell
Among them, the Seven African Powers have mastery over all areas of life pertaining to human beings. They are like a celestial board of directors that can handle any problem, fix any dilemma and fulfill every wish.
Carve your wishes on each knob of a seven-knob candle. (The same wish may be repeated seven times, if desired.) Dress with Seven African Powers Oil and burn.
Seven African Powers Wish Extra-Strength Oil
Seven African Powers Oil incorporates the power of the seven orishas for which it’s named. The oil is created from botanicals that radiate the orishas’ power and thus fulfills their blessings. However, when candle burning is accompanied by direct spiritual petition and communication, magic power is exponentially increased.
Carve the name of one orisha on each of a seven-knob candle’s knobs. (See Elements of Magic Spells for further explanation and list of names.) Place Elegba on top and Ogun’s name on the second knob.
Carve your wishes on each knob too, if desired. (If you’re familiar with the orisha, each wish may be coordinated with the specific power.)
Dress the candle with Seven African Powers Oil.
As traditional, burn one knob each night, for seven consecutive nights. Address the orisha on that knob and articulate your wish aloud.
Seven-knob Wishing Spell
Seven-knob candles are often known as “wishing candles.”
Make a wish. (You may also make a different wish for each of the seven knobs.)
Scratch a wish into each knob.
Personalize, dress, and burn the candle, one knob at a time.
Seven of Cups Spell
If you really could have whatever you wished for, what would it be?
Contemplate the seven of cups tarot card. Place it under your pillow at night, then in the morning make your wish. Allegedly it will come true, so choose wisely.
Star Anise Wishing Spell
Choose a candle to represent your wish. Carve and dress it to suit your personal situation. Arrange four star anise seeds around the candle in each of the four cardinal points. Fill in the rest of the magic circle with clove buds and burn the candle.
Sunflower Wishing Spell
Sunflower seeds that dry and remain on the flower head allegedly possess the magical capacity to grant wishes. Hold an individual seed in your left hand and make your wish. Eat the seed or plant it in Earth.
Uninterrupted Happiness Wish Spell
Nine coins strung onto red cord represents “uninterrupted happiness,” according to Chinese symbolism. These coins on the cord will also help you turn wishes into reality.
Make nine wishes; one wish may also be repeated nine times for extra emphasis and power.
Collect nine I-Ching (replica) coins.
String each one while concentrating on a wish. Affirm that each wish is received as you tie each knot.
When the cord is complete, keep it in a safe, secret place.
Walnut Wish Fulfillment
Sometimes you’d like to see someone else’s dreams and wishes come true.
Bless thirteen walnuts, holding each in the palm of your hand and charging it with love and magic power. Place these walnuts in a bag, tied with gold ribbon, and give them as a gift. Each walnut represents a wish to be made by the recipient during a New Moon.
Wish Fulfillment Bath
Add balm of Gilead to your bath. Visualize your dreams and wishes come true.
Wish Upon a Star Charm
Place a star anise atop a tonka bean and gently wrap together with red thread.
Hold the charm in your left hand and make a wish.
Wrap in a little piece of silk and carry in a charm bag until your wish is fulfilled.
Wishing Bag
Write out your wish explicitly.
Place it in a red drawstring bag together with a piece of shed snakeskin, a Rattlesnake root, Low John the Conqueror, and five Job’s tears.
Dress it with Lucky Lodestone, Van Van, and/or Magnet Oil.
Wishing Cross Spell
The origins of the Cross of Caravaca are shrouded in mystery. Was it brought to Spain by Crusaders? Was it redeemed from Spanish Moors, or did it emerge spontaneously and miraculously in the town of Caravaca? Caravaca was the site of some of the most ancient Iberian settlements; it was also a long-time stronghold for the Knights Templar. The Cross of Caravaca is a double-armed cross depicting the crucified Jesus Christ flanked by kneeling angels. Legends of the cross stem from the thirteenth century. The original Cross of Caravaca allegedly contains a fragment of the True Cross. Replica Cross of Caravaca allegedly help your dreams come true. Non-Spanish speaking magical communities have adopted this cross and call it simply the Wishing Cross.
Hold the Cross of Caravaca in your right hand and make a wish. Alternatively, wear it for good fortune.
Wishing Fan
Fold paper accordion style into a fan shape.
Write a wish on each fold of the fan. Repeat the same wish or choose a different one for each.
Close your eyes, concentrate on your desires and set the fan on fire. If it burns, this is a positive sign. If the flame goes out, whatever is still legible on the paper will need further work to accomplish.
Wishing Necklace
Gather Job’s tears and tonka beans.
Alternating between them, string them onto a necklace.
Hold each one in your hand and make a wish (the same wish may be reiterated) before piercing and stringing.
Wear the necklace or carry it in a charm bag.
Wishing Stones
Make a wish upon a … stone? Certain stones are believed to have the power to help you achieve your wishes. Preserved in charm bags, they may be taken out as needed, to enhance all wishes and increase the odds of success. Those reputedly most powerful include amber and holed stones. (Yes, amber is really fossilized tree resin, however because its ancient origins were mysterious, people classified it as a mineral and that ancient classification more or less remains, at least magically speaking.)
Hold the stone in your left hand while concentrating upon your wish and visualizing its success. Rub it with your thumb in a clockwise motion. Keep the stone in your pocket and rub it with your thumb as desired to reinforce this wish.
Wishing Talisman
The ancient Sanskrit magical text the Atharva Veda recommends cutting a talisman from sraktya wood. Choose a more accessible wood if necessary; consider what suits your purpose. Look at woods used for magic wands for recommendations (see page 98).
Cut the wood to resemble the object of your desire. Possibilities include: protection, fertility, virility, prosperity, defense against malicious magic, or victory in conflict or battle. When the charm has been created, charged, and/or consecrated, tie it to your right arm and wear it until your goal is achieved.
Written Wish Spell (1)
This modern spell derives from ancient Egyptian written spells. Stone tablets were engraved with sacred, powerful images and incantations. Water was poured over the tablets so that it ran over the engraved images and verses, absorbing their power. This water would then be consumed.
Adaptations of this type of spell appear both in British folk magic and in American Hoodoo and Conjure. British magic retains the aspect of drinking the potion, while Hoodoo uses the technique to enhance condition oils.
A fine china plate, preferably white, and non-toxic water-soluble ink are needed, as well as the ability to write with a fountain pen.
Write your desire or petition on the plate.
Hold it in your hands, contemplate it, make sure the wording has expressed your goals and desires accurately. If not, wash it off, dry the plate and start all over again.
Meanwhile boil water. Use plain spring water or a hydrosol or a blend of both.
Stand the plate inside a large dish or pot to catch the water.
Pour the water over the plate: the ink should dissolve into the water. When it cools, drink it.
Written Wish Spell (2)
Dip your finger into honey and write your spell, wish, or desire on the inside of a cup. Add spring water, allow time for the honey to dissolve (some may cling to the cup, it’s okay) and drink.
Yarrow Wish Spell
The very first blooming yarrow that you see is a magical plant that can grant you one wish. Hold the bloom in your hand and make your wish. That night, sleep with the plant below your pillow.
Yemaya’s Wish Spell
Make a request of Yemaya, Queen of the Sea.
Create a little wooden boat and fill it with treasures for Yemaya.
These boats are traditionally filled with perfume in glass bottles, fine soap (removed from its wrapper), a comb, and a mirror fit for a mermaid queen. Add white and blue flowers, crystals, and shells.
Murmur your desires and wishes over the boat.
Launch the boat into the waves after dark.
If the boat is swallowed by a wave and disappears from sight, this is very auspicious, a sign that Yemaya has accepted your offering and will consider your petition. If the boat returns to shore, the request has been denied. Reconsider the situation. It’s possible that you’re not in Yemaya’s favor but it’s also possible that she perceives that your petition isn’t beneficial for you. If most of the offering disappears but one or two items are washed to shore, this is alright; those items may not have interested Yemaya, or perhaps they contain a coded message for you.
Specialized Luck Spells
Some practices and professions require special types of enchantment. Gamblers, for example, have an entire section of spells all their own (see page 462).
Athletes’ Luck Spells
General Athlete’s Luck (1) High John the Conqueror
Rub your feet and hands with High John the Conqueror Oil before significant events.
General Athlete’s Luck (2) Sacred Text
Recite Psalm 23 before matches and games.
Master of Your Game Spell
Woodruff, also known as Master of the Woods, allegedly confers victory on athletes. Carry it for good luck.
Boxer’s and Wrestler’s Luck
Sprinkle salt in the prize ring, either in the corners or in the area associated with victory.
Wrestler’s Luck
Hanuman, the Hindu monkey spirit, is patron of wrestlers. Petition him for success. Light a butter lamp in Hanuman’s honor. Make a cotton wick and add it to a dish of ghee or clarified butter. Burn it while petitioning for luck and success.
Fishing and Hunting Success Spells
Ajos Sancha Spell
Bathe in an infusion made with the herb ajos sancha before fishing. Ajos sancha, a vine known as false
garlic, brings luck to fishers and hunters and also allegedly removes bad luck. On a practical level, its strong garlicky aroma may also mask the human scent.
Aloe Vera Juice
Coat the body with aloe vera juice for luck before going fishing or hunting.
Anise Spell
Anise oil also allegedly provides fishing and hunting luck. Create an infused oil of anise or dilute the essential oil in jojoba oil. Bathe in it or massage it into the skin prior to your hunting trip.
Artemis and Faunus Spell
Hunting deities like Artemis and Faunus maintain the balance between the opposing needs of animals and people. Petition them for safety and assistance.
Easier said than done? Once upon a time you could have gone to their shrines and received an oracle that let you know where your personal hunting boundaries stood. This can still be accomplished in your dreams.
Request a dream oracle from either Artemis or Faunus.
Dream up a hunting license. Have them set your limits.
Don’t hunt until the dream is received and recorded.
Faunus most frequently communicates through what humans understand as nightmares. He can’t talk so his instructions aren’t verbal; however the visuals are usually very clear. Artemis is far more articulate, although perhaps of sterner character.
Blindfold Spell
Hunting was once accompanied by elaborate, extensive magical, metaphysical protection and luck spells. Without spiritual permission and magical protection, hunting didn’t occur. In many metaphysical traditions, it’s believed inauspicious for predators, like people, to kill other predators. This must be avoided at all costs. Should another predator be killed, whether feline, canine, bear, raptor or other, the hunter with his or her eyes closed, must creep up behind the dead animal and try to blindfold it as quickly as possible. This may avert psychic punishment.
Boat With Eyes
The tradition of painting a pair of eyes on boats has existed for millennia and still remains strong. It serves various purposes:
The eyes rebuff the Evil Eye
They represent the protection of deities like Horus, Hathor, and primordial, all-seeing “Eye Goddesses”
The eyes activate the boat so that it can “see” where it’s going and “see” the fish
They invoke the power of Saint Lucy who, in addition to her Evil-Eye fighting capacity, has a reputation of finding fish for the fishermen
Cinquefoil Spell
Cinquefoil, also known as five-finger grass, has an affinity for fishers and is believed to bring them luck and success. Find a perfect specimen, one that distinctly possesses five fingers. (Despite its name, the number of fingers on a cinquefoil “hand” varies.) When you find it, murmur your desires over it, preserve it, and carry it with you as needed.
Desert Rue Hunting Charm
Carry desert rue, also known as parosela, to enhance hunter’s luck.
Easter Sunday Spell
A Russian hunter’s ritual requires daring outside the wilderness.
In Church, on Easter Sunday, when the words “Christ is risen” are pronounced, immediately shout out your desire: “My bullet hits the mark” or whatever. Name your desire, if you dare, and allegedly it will be yours for a year.
Fishing Mojo
Sew hawthorn leaves into a mojo hand and carry it for good luck.
Fishing Net Repair Spell
To achieve maximum success, it was once believed that fishing nets should only be woven or repaired by pregnant women at midnight.
Hunter’s Crossroads Spell
This spell from Finland is simple and presumably very effective if offered wholeheartedly: go to a crossroads and address the spirits. Request blessings and good luck.
Mama Dlo’s Forest Spell
Mama Dlo’s name is a corruption of “Maman de L’eau,” as is the mermaid Mama Jo’s. Are they aspects of the same spirit or do two independent entities share one name? Half-woman, half-anaconda, does the Trinidadian spirit Mama Dlo derive from Africa, like that other beautiful water-snake spirit Maitresse Ezili, or is she an Amazonian guardian spirit? Mama Dlo punishes those who hunt indiscriminately, pollute land and water, and damage trees and other botanicals.
Should you encounter her, and should she be annoyed with you, allegedly the only way to escape her wrath is to take off your left shoe, never taking your eyes off her, and hop out of the woods backwards. This show of humiliation and idiocy apparently amuses her enough to buy your safety. The spell however will only work once; don’t come back.
Mistletoe Luck Spell
Carry mistletoe for hunters’ luck and protection.
Scholar’s Success and Luck Spells
Success is often dependent on education. Although time and effort play a large part in educational success, luck plays its part, too. Magic spells exist to ensure and enhance this educational luck and success.
The Carp Transforms into a Dragon Spell
According to Chinese legend, certain magical carp swim upstream, fording all sorts of obstacles to finally be rewarded by transformation into dragons. The folk motif “carp transforms into a dragon” has become a symbol of perseverance and success in various fields, including scholastic.
Tap into that power and perseverance by posting carp transforms into dragon images or, for maximum power, stock a koi pond with golden carp. This pond may be used to magically affect your own success
or that of your children. Build the pond outside; for best effect, consult a feng shui practitioner for the most favorable location.
Children’s Learning Spell
Wash those lessons into them! Bathe children in infusions of lemon verbena so that they will learn faster.
Children’s Lilac Spells
To enhance children’s educational aptitude:
Place a drop of lilac fragrance oil on a light bulb near where the child studies
Place a vase of fresh lilac blossoms on the child’s desk, so that the fragrance wafts over the child while studying
Place a table and chair outside next to a lilac bush in bloom and send the child outside to study
Crown of Success Spell (1) Basic
Crown of Success Oil brings academic success. Place a drop on a child’s or student’s pillow to enhance comprehension and the retention of learning during sleep.
Crown of Success Spell (2) Candle
Carve a candle with your name and identifying information.
Dress it with Crown of Success Oil and roll it in gold glitter, or whatever color represents success to you.
Burn the candle beside you while studying.
Crown of Success Spell (3) Desperation
In moments of desperation, carve the name of the study topic across the forehead of a white skull candle.
Add identifying information about the student.
Dress the candle with Crown of Success Oil and pray that the material penetrates the student’s skull and mind.
Magic Mirror Question and Answer Session
Having trouble with your exams? Could use some extra assistance? Summon those who really know the answers. Use a magic mirror to conjure up spirits or historic personages to answer your examination (and other!) questions.
Rosemary enhances mental ability and memory retention. These spells could be combined with Crown of Success Oil spells.
Rosemary Spell (1) Incense
Grind and powder dried rosemary. Burn it on lit charcoals while studying for exams for luck and retention of the material.
Rosemary Spell (2) Sleep
Do you remember the old technique of placing a book beneath your pillow to assist learning and retention? This spell is reminiscent of that.
Weave a garland from fresh rosemary before bedtime, tying your goals into each knot.
Wear the garland around your brow or place it on the pillow while you sleep.
Spiritual Sponsor Spell (1) Oya
Oya, spirit of the Niger River, is the orisha of learning. Her mind grasps difficult concepts as swiftly as the wind. Ask for her assistance in doing the same:
Erect an altar to Oya on or beside a bookshelf.
Offer her a glass of red wine and nine purple plums and tell her what you need.
Spiritual Sponsor Spell (2) Saints Cosmas and Damian
Saint Cosmas and Saint Damian are the patron saints of learning and education. Twins, these saints may actually be those other twins, Castor and Pollux, in disguise. This makes sense because Castor and Pollux, brothers of Helen of Troy and Clytemnestra, are the models for the twins depicted in the constellation Gemini, and Gemini rules mental agility. Cosmas and Damian have also since been identified with the twins of West African mythology, the Marassa and the Ibeji.
Create an altar to the helpful spirit of these twins however you understand them. Use a chromolithograph, an image of the constellation, or African twin statues as a focal point. Give them lots of candy and small toys. If there are books you need to master, place them on the altar overnight so the twins can help you learn.
Spiritual Sponsor Spell (3) Sarasvati
Sarasvati, originally a Hindu river goddess, is now the pre-eminent matron of literature and wisdom. Sarasvati sponsors learning and the creative sciences. A generous, bountiful spirit, she assists students with their tests and examinations.
Petition her with offerings of fruit, flowers, and incense. Spontaneous intellectual or creative inspiration is Sarasvati’s gift and response.