Mardi: Herbal-Wise

Over at Triple P, my flagship if you will, it is Horror on the High Seas week in celebration of my favorite holiday: Samhain/Fête de Mort/Halloween/Dia de los Muertos. Around my house the celebration really lasts all of October and at least through the first week of November. In the Catholic tradition, October 31st is All Hallows’ Eve while November 1st is All Saints’ Day and November 2nd is All Souls’ Day or Dia de los Muertos in Mexico, all of which came from the ancient Celtic Samhain (that’s pronounced “SOW-en”). The Voudon Festival of the Dead, Fête de Mort, takes place over all three of those days which makes this week perfect for talking about honoring our ancestors and, today, a little bit of “left hand work”.

Jinxing and goofering, as so called “revenge” spells are referred to in hoodoo, should not be undertaken lightly. Of course no work, metaphysical or otherwise, should be done without consideration but it is particularly important to think before you throw a jinx in someone’s path. If you are not righteous in your anger, if the person has not done badly by you, you may find your own ill will cast back in your face. Forewarned is forearmed.

In Wicca and other Neopagan belief systems as well as in hoodoo, salt is used liberally as a psychic cleanser and a way of connecting to the spirits of Earth. Hoodoo takes this a step further through the use of what is commonly known as Black Salt but is also referred to as “Witches’ Salt”. This is salt mixed with charcoal, iron scrapings or black pepper (sometimes simply salt dyed black) and it is used to bring evil down on another or to keep evil away.

A good example is the use of Black Salt to keep someone from returning to your home. As the person who has offended you departs, throw a mixture of salt and black pepper after them (discretely, of course). They will not return. The next step in this sequence is the use of Black Salt to make an unwanted neighbor move. The story goes that throwing Black Salt mixed with red pepper flakes on the neighbor’s property, particularly in areas where they will tread daily, will make them up and move. The jinx will work twice as well if you can sprinkle some of the mixture inside their home.

For the ultimate trouble (and I would strongly recommend that you know full good and well what you are doing and that you are 100% certain of guilt on your target’s part before you even attempt this), mix Black Salt into War Water (an old hoodoo recipe that can be purchased at botanicas and can also be made at home) with the intention of cursing your enemy. Sprinkle the mixture in the enemy’s yard and on their house if possible while you walk backwards around the property and away, cursing them under your breath.

It’s a short step from wanting revenge to unleashing misery – possibly on yourself. Be careful what you wish and what you do. Maybe just a little sea salt in the corners of your home to keep out malice would be best, oui?

Header: Witches by David Teniers (detail)