Mardi: Herbal-Wise

Valentine's Day is just around the corner and I’m feeling some folks getting that “desperate for a date” kind of antsiness. It’s a little sad that we allow a Hallmark holiday to put so much pressure on us. To that end, however, and perhaps to ease some of that pressure I thought I’d focus a little bit on finding love here at HQ as the 14th approaches. Knowledge is power after all. So today let’s talk about sugar.

Sugar and other sweeteners, like cane syrup and honey, are used in hoodoo for love and “sweetening” workings. Sugar in particular is consider a love “herb” in old hoodoo and was used around Valentine’s Day to help affection along. A lady or gentleman who fancied someone would give them (or send them) a Valentine card just as anyone might but, before sealing the envelope, the potential lover would sprinkle sugar into it to sweeten the recipient’s attitude toward them. Some root workers say this only works if you add a pinch of graveyard dust as well. Seems like the sugar is plenty but, in this day and age of anthrax and what not, I might recommend something a little less suspicious looking particularly if you’re using the mail. Ladies, try pink glitter; gentlemen, go with red glitter. Just add a little focus and intention as you sprinkle it into the envelope and if you can find the kind with hearts and cupids, so much the better.

Sugar and cinnamon are often mixed to attract money and enhance confidence. Put a pinch in your business’ cash register or, to feel surer of yourself on a big day, eat a piece of cinnamon toast with butter and the sugar/cinnamon mix sprinkled on it.

Want to fool around without your significant other freaking out? Well, shame on you. That said, some root workers say that if you fill a red flannel bag with a broken pin, a pinch of sugar, a pinch of chewing tobacco and one of your spouse’s pubic hairs then carry this mojo next to your skin, your adulterous affair will be free of spousal complaints even if they catch you in the act. But seriously, think twice about this will you? No one needs that kind of bad karma.

Hoping a lost love will return to you? Chew on a piece of sugar cane nine mornings in a row while thinking of your lover. After you run into them, bury the piece of cane in your yard or in a house plant to keep them close from then on.

In Wicca and Druid practice, sugar is used for protection and cleansing, just as salt might be. As Silver RavenWolf points out, however, sprinkling sugar in the corners of rooms is a tempting attraction for pests. Better to stick with salt for that kind of working. Bon chance ~

Header: The Proposal by John Pettie