Mercredi: Herbal-Wise

I'm not a person who has an appetite for power. I’ve been in charge at various points in my life and that’s enough of that, thank you. But there are plenty of people who quite literally lust for power. More than love or personal security, power is virtually their deity. Holy bayou, I just described Jean Laffite...

Anyway, where there is a want there is a magick and hoodoo, like so many other forms of the stuff, has several herbs for drawing power. One of the most acclaimed is known in the southern U.S. as master of the woods. Its name in many other places is woodruff or sweet woodruff, and it is also familiar to Wiccan herbalists.

In Wicca, woodruff is used to improve physical strength. Scott Cunningham says that woodruff was – and is – carried by athletes and warriors to aid in achieving victory. Woodruff carried in a leather bag is also said to protect a person from physical harm. The added bonus: this sweet smelling herb is supposed to attract money as well.

In hoodoo, master of the woods is carried to increase strength, protect and even assist in pain relief. It is thought that master of the woods sprinkled in the shoes will delay the effects of fatigue until the shoes are removed. Adding Sampson snake root to this mojo increases its effectiveness. A decoction of the same herbs in oil, particularly if it has been blessed, can be rubbed onto sore joints and muscles for magickal relief.

The so called “Master Mojo” is a red flannel bag filled with master of the woods, Sampson snake root and master root (masterwort). This is then dressed with High John the Conqueror Oil and carried to obtain physical strength and worldly power. I sometimes wonder if the King of Barataria didn’t carry this mojo in his pocket, perhaps only to lose it before things went terribly awry for his smuggling empire. Just a fanciful thought on my part, but who can say. Bonne chance ~

Header: Lafitte the Pirate by Paul Ashbrook c 1960, a contemporary imagining of Jean Laffite