Category Archives: curses

a glass bowl holding a small amount of cayenne powderBy Alabama Extension - https://www.flickr.com/photos/184594136@N08/50594877991/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=102658519

Monthly Magic – Cayenne Pepper

a glass bowl holding a small amount of cayenne powderBy Alabama Extension - https://www.flickr.com/photos/184594136@N08/50594877991/, CC0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=102658519
a glass bowl holding a small amount of cayenne powder

This month I feel driven to talk about Cayenne pepper. I have been seeing it pop up recently in some online recipes and I think some people may be confused about this ingredient.
First, some science. Cayenne is a cultivar of Capsicum Annuum, the family of fruits that make up what many people refer to as chili’s or chili peppers. This genus belongs to the nightshade family aka Solanaceae. Other cultivars include peppers such as the jalapeno, but also the bell pepper. One specific trait of the cayenne pepper, like other relatives, is that the fruit hangs down from the plant, instead of growing up from the plant. This pepper is the familiar bright red color, although other varieties of this pepper can come in other colors. Another chili with a similar appearance is the bird’s eye chili. The main difference between these two peppers is that cayenne is relatively mild in terms of spicy heat, as it is usually marked at 30-50 thousand Scoville units, while Bird’s eye will have 50-100 thousand Scoville units.
More people will be more familiar with the seasoning cayenne powder or crushed red pepper. Interestingly both of these seasonings are more often a blend of red colored chilis, and not any one type of chili, often being a mix of cayenne and bird’s eye etc…. Thus depending upon the mix, or the season, the same cayenne powder or crushed red pepper can be hotter or milder.
And by hotter, I am referring to capsaicin, the chemical naturally produced by many cultivars of Capsicum Annuum which attach to and react to sensors in the human mouth, and other sensitive membranes, causing a burning sensation that many people find uncomfortable and undesirable. However many other people find it enjoyable and like adding chilis and sauces made from chilis to their food. There are other foods that have different naturally produced chemicals that produce a burning sensation, such as horseradish or mustard, but also ginger, garlic and onions. These other plants don’t use capsaicin however, and their chemical heat functions differently, and can be dealt with differently. The spicy heat of various Capsicums is generally measured by Scoville units, a measure that indicates a greater burning sensation on sensitive tissue. So a chili with only a few 100 Scoville units may not produce much of an impact, but something with 100k or more may produce a dish that not many people may be able to eat unless they are experienced chili eaters. A low number may also indicate something that won’t irritate skin or sensitive membranes as much, while a much higher number may need to be handled with gloves and eye protection to prevent accidental spreading of the active chemical to sensitive membranes such as the eyes, nose, or private regions.
It is this burning sensation and the bright red color that has made cayenne and chilis popular to use in folk magic and magic in general in the USA and possibly the world. I am more familiar with its uses in the USA in African American folk magic, so I will stick with that topic.
The hot, burning sensation of cayenne and other red chilis is one of the main reasons behind its use in folk magic. That burning to the unfamiliar can be very unpleasant, and if very intense, can actually have health complications for people who aren’t experienced with it. It’s painful. Very painful. This painful burning sensation is why cayenne figures often into various formulas for Hot Foot Powder. It is also why it may appear in cursing formulas for all sorts of things. If you want to curse an unfaithful sexual partners private parts with a burning STD, use cayenne in your spell. If you want to curse a local gossip who is slandering you to have their mouth burn when they speak ill, use cayenne. Cayenne is principally a cursing herb. While sometimes you may have to protect yourself and fight cursing with cursing, or if you want to drive off an enemy who is causing your problems, even if you’re justified in doing it, it’s still a curse that you are using to achieve your goal.
Some people get the heat of cayenne confused with other hot herbs whose heat can be more pleasant, such as ginger or cinnamon. Cinnamon often figures in various spells for luck, either in drawing hot passionate love, or getting money quickly, perhaps through gambling but also just by lucky windfalls that come your way. Ginger can also show up in love spells for passion, but may also be used as the hot herb in protection spells. This is different from cayenne. Ginger and cinnamon are more sweet and hot. Think of ginger candy or cinnamon candy. Yes they can be hot, but the heat is much more pleasant and pairs well with sugar and sweets. This is the reason why in beneficial spells cayenne is not a traditional or common ingredient. The heat of cayenne is painful, not pleasant. It’s meant to cause harm, not to bring soothing or pleasant warmth. If you see a recipe online for something like Fast Money or Fast Luck, and it features cayenne, steer clear. That cayenne is going to cause you to lose things quickly, or have fast bad luck instead of good luck. Substitute it with cinnamon powder or ginger powder instead, and you will probably see much better results.

Here is a ritual based along more traditional folk magic lines for using cayenne.
To inflame an enemy with rage and confusion.

For this spell you will need:
A jar

9 pins

9 needles

9 nails

Cayenne pepper

Poppy seeds

Putrid water (This could be any water from a foul source. Polluted water, still water from a bog or swamp, gutter water, or even war water purchased from a retailer. Even gray waste water will do.)
An item to represent the target. (At the minimum you want a piece of paper with their name written on it, even if you did it by hand. Better items would be their own personal signature (even if it’s a photocopy) or hair, nail clippings, or worn unwashed underwear, or bodily fluids)

Take the jar and place the personal item into the jar. Add the cayenne and poppy seeds, and then the needles, pins, and nails. Cover it with the putrid water, and then seal the jar tight. For nine days take the jar out and shake it violently, swearing and cursing at the person, inviting wrathful spirits to turn this person into a rageaholic entitled Karen (or Chad) who alienates and drives everyone away from them etc… On the ninth day go and bury the jar where the target will pass over it or by it on their normal routine. If it is possible to safely plant it in front of their house, you should definitely do that, otherwise nearby is sufficient.

Part of the success in the spell is the placement of the jar where the target will have an interaction with it. Do not keep it at home. It needs to be deployed to be successful.

You can also take some additional considerations for this spell, which are not required to be successful. You should start the spell on a Tuesday, and/or during a planetary hour of Mars. Night hours are preferred over day time hours. Doing it under a waning moon is also preferable. Visualizing chaotically rushing red  flames flowing into the target’s eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth and seeing them engaging in self destructive behavior can also help. These are only suggestions and not requirements.

H is for Hagalaz

Hagalaz
Hagalaz is the rune that marks the beginning of the second aettir of Elder and Anglo-Saxon Futharks. It’s name is usually translated as Hail. That frozen precipitation that falls from the sky in some parts of the world. I have been in a few hail storms, and usually very small pellets of hail, about the size of BB gun pellets. Mostly I have been inside, where it does make quite the din, but apparently being caught outside in such a storm is unpleasant, although only mildly as the tine stones beat against your face, head and exposed skin, as their descent from the sky causes them to be moving at very high rate of speed as they accelerate towards the earth.
There is the other hail storms, where hail stones can be as big as baseballs or softballs, and these hail storm can do significant damage to property, people and animals, as they are also moving quite fast, and being larger, can pack particularly more destructive power when they do so. If you have been fortunate enough to not live through one, here is a google image search link to help you.

For me at least, that is the lesson of Hagalaz. Destruction. Destruction that leaves only things that can barely be salvaged in it’s wake. What is left after the Hagalaz storm? Well, apparently ice that melts down into water, which can be beneficial to any crops that survive of the beating, and not much else. It is after the storm passes that is the important time to rebuild though, because what is left, is strong. It is durable. It has withstood the storm and can continue forward. The weakness has been cast away and it leaves only room for the strong to grow, prosper and move forward. If you were to use Hagalaz against a foe, and that foe manages to walk away at the end, you better hope is lesson in survival taught him to think better then messing with you ever again, and perhaps to follow a new path. Otherwise, he won’t be so easy to eliminate if there is a next time.

Black Salt

Black_Salt
Black salt is a mixed preparation of salt and a few choice items that turn that salt from its usual white color to a black color. You can Google recipes for it, and there are also people who manufacture it, usually by somehow adding a pigment to the salt that turns it black. Some other names for Black salt is also Sal Negro (Spanish for Black salt) and Witches’ Salt. In this case the witches being referred to are not the contemporary followers of a neopagan religion, but rather the historical and folkloric “witch” a figure, sometimes supernatural in nature, who use supernatural powers to do harm to people and places in various ways.

As the names suggest, the primary use and purpose of black salt is to curse or perform harmful magic. A common secondary purpose is used to drive away people from your home. This is also a form of a curse, although a curse done to protect oneself and property from the person who is already causing harm. It is similar to hot foot powder in that sense, as hot footing someone is also a type of curse meant to drive someone away, whether that person is vexing neighbor, a bothersome coworker, or a conniving love rival. Ultimately both are curses, are not in anyway beneficial, benevolent, or really kind acts to be engaging in, however necessary they may be for one’s personal health, wealth and well being. Remember that the color most often used for cursing is Black. And the historical and folkloric image of witch (whose salt this is) is a supernatural agent of harm and evil. Black salt is used to curse, and sometimes that curse is used to drive away other evil beings, but the essence behind it is cursing and doing harm.

There seems to be a new fad of promoting black salt as something not as bad. I have read online various indications of use black salt for protection, by laying a circle of black salt around your home. This is a technique one might do with regular salt, as salt is protective, and purifying. Black salt, however, is the opposite of that. Laying a circle of black salt around your home would probably only curse you and start ruining any peace or prosperity in your home, instead of protecting you from harm.

Elsewhere I have read suggestions to use black salt with the dead and with ancestors. That concept is also ignorant usage of black salt. For one, a great number of methods and styles of venerating ones ancestors and conjuring up the dead indicate not to use salt. This applies to any kind of salt, not just regular salt. While the various metaphysical explanations behind this are multitude, it still comes down to one thing. Don’t do it. The ancestors and the dead don’t like salt. For the few methods that do use salt, one should keep in mind that it is unique to that culture and tradition, and the salt they use is going to be regular salt, not black salt.

I have also read suggestions of using black salt with gods, usually gods of war, death, the underworld. Again, I find this to be incorrect, although there could be an exception. The exception would be calling upon that specific god to bless the black salt, before you go out and use it to drive away evil or to curse. That is not the same as using blacks salt in devotion and veneration of the god or gods in mind

It is possible that in your personal work, you might find a spirit that wants to have black salt in it’s presence. If that is the case, then do so, but remember that it is unique to you, and unique to your practice, and in no way reflects traditional uses and folklore behind black salt and if you do write about it, you should make that clear to your readers.

I have even read people suggesting to bathe in black salt, although I suspect this might be a recommendation for a special kind of salt that is mined from the ground, which has a dark gray to black color to it. That would function as normal salt, not as the special mixture known as “black salt” which is salt mixed with things

Prayers and Psalms

Lately, I have been working a lot with prayer and praying. One of the main ways that I have been working with is by reading psalms on a daily basis. I have been exploring Psalms that can be read for different purposes, such as money, love, and luck, but also psalms that can be read and prayed every day for blessings and spiritual guidance and favor.

The book that has been helping me with this is Secrets of the Psalms by Godfrey Selig. It describes practical spiritual workings with the psalms, as well as identifying which psalms that can be worked with from Jewish spiritual practices.

To help me with this, I made a list of Psalms grouped by the purpose identifed by Mr. Selig. I figured I would share this list with my blog
Pregnancy/children

Psalm 1
Psalm 19
Psalm 101 – to aid in becoming pregnant
Psalm 102 – to aid in becoming pregnant
Psalm 126 – to protect children from being taken from you
Psalm 127 – protect newborns
Psalm 128 – protection of pregnant women

Calm a storm at sea

Psalm 2
Psalm 21
Psalm 64

for Luck

Psalm 4
Psalm 57
Psalm 61 – in the home
Psalm 62 – holy blessings
Psalm 65 – fortunate in all undertakings
Psalm 72 – favor and grace from all people
Psalm 86 – promotes the welfare of community
Psalm 87
Psalm 88
Psalm 92 – to gain high honors and ever-increasing good fortune
Psalm112 – increase in might and power

for courtcase

Psalm 5
Psalm 7
Psalm 20
Psalm 35
Psalm 38(with 39)
Psalm 39(with 38)
Psalm 93
Psalm 119 Lamed
Psalm 119 Tzaddi
Psalm 120

Prosper/Success in Business

Psalm 5 – prayed daily
Psalm 8
Psalm 82
Psalm 108
Psalm 114

For overcoming crossed conditions and enemies

Psalm 7
Psalm 41
Psalm 43
Psalm 48
Psalm 53
Psalm 54
Psalm 55
Psalm 63 – from business partners
Psalm 70
Psalm 74
Psalm 75 – forgiveness of sins
Psalm 79
Psalm 94
Psalm 100
Psalm 109
Psalm 110
Psalm 111
Psalm 113
Psalm 115 – for winning disputes with people
Psalm 118 – for silencing contrary people
Psalm 119 Zain – removal from evil situations without harm or loss

Aiding children

Psalm 9
Psalm 33

Overcome an evil spirit

Psalm 10
Psalm 19
Psalm 29
Psalm 40
Psalm 59
Psalm 66
Psalm 68
Psalm 90
Psalm 95 – for others who in need to cast off evil
Psalm 101 (with Psalm 68)
Psalm 104
Psalm 131 – overcome evil spirit of pride
Psalm 145

To overcome fear and stop persecution

Psalm 11 – prayed daily
Psalm 12
Psalm 28
Psalm 44
Psalm 141 – overcome heartfelt fears

Protection from injury and Death

Psalm 13
Psalm 18 – from robbery
Psalm 20
Psalm 24
Psalm 25
Psalm 26
Psalm 50
Psalm 58 – dog attacks
Psalm 60 – protects soldiers
Psalm 73 – protection while traveling in foreign country
Psalm 76 – from fire or water
Psalm 77 – want or danger
Psalm 83 – in war
Psalm 90 – wild animals
Psalm 91
Psalm 116 – protection from violent or sudden death
Psalm 119 Nun – protection while traveling
Psalm 120 – protection from poisonous animals
Psalm 121 – while traveling at night
Psalm 124 – journey by or over water
Psalm 125 – journey through country with many enemies
Psalm 130 – while conducting business in a dangerous or besieged city
Psalm 148 – protects from loss by fire
Psalm 149 – protects by loss from fire (prayed with 148)

Stopping slander/gossip

Psalm 14
Psalm 31
Psalm 36
Psalm 52

Against mental disturbance/depression/mental illness

Psalm 15
Psalm 56 – against desires to commit sin
Psalm 69 – overcome overwhelming physical desires
Psalm 80
Psalm 81
Psalm 117 – for having broken a vow or promise
Psalm 119 He – refrain from committing evil
Psalm 119 Zain – recovery from depression
Psalm 132 – to help in keeping vows and promises
Psalm 137 – root out even the deepest hate or malice

To find a thief

Psalm 16

Turn sorrow into joy

Psalm 16 – prayed daily
Psalm 96 – brings joy to family
Psalm 97 – brings joy to family
Psalm 98 – bring peace and unity between families

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Protection from evil

Psalm 17
Psalm 22
Psalm 30
Psalm 91

Healing sick

Psalm 2 – headache
Psalm 3 – headache, backache
Psalm 6 – disease of the eye
Psalm 18
Psalm 49
Psalm 50
Psalm 67
Psalm 84 – foul odor
Psalm 89
Psalm 91
Psalm 105 – healing fever
Psalm 106 – healing fever
Psalm 107 – healing fever
Psalm 119 Aleph – healing a person whose limbs shake
Psalm 119 Gimel – healing the right eye
Psalm 119 Daleth – healing the left eye
Psalm 119 Cheth – relief from pain in the upper body
Psalm 119 Teth – relief from pain in hips or liver or kidneys
Psalm 119 Caph – healing of open sore or boil
Psalm 119 Mem – healing of pain/paralysis of right arm or hand
Psalm 119 Ain – healing and pain/paralysis of left arm or hand
Psalm 119 Pe – healing of boil or swelling on left side of face
Psalm 119 Koph – healing of left leg
Psalm 119 Resh – healing of injury in right ear
Psalm 119 Schin – headache
Psalm 119 Tau – healing of injury in the left ear
Psalm 142 – cures pain in thighs
Psalm 143 cures pain in arms
Psalm 144 – to speed recovery of broken arm
Psalm 146 – to recover from wounds from weapons
Psalm 147 – to recover from wounds from poisonous animals

Help in learning

Psalm 19
Psalm 119 beth
Psalm 134

Petitions to Authority

Psalm 21
Psalm 34
Psalm 78
Psalm 119 Samech
Psalm 122

Receive True Dreams

Psalm 23
Psalm 42

Release from Prison

Psalm 26
Psalm 68
Psalm 71
Psalm 89

Receive Hospitality

Psalm 27

Receive Love, grace, mercy

Psalm 32
Psalm 47
Psalm 51
Psalm 85 – reconcile with a friend
Psalm 111 – acquire friends
Psalm 119 Vau – make servants/employees easy, agreeable, and willing
Psalm 123 – return of servant or journeyman
Psalm 133 – keep and gain friends
Psalm 138 – produce love and friendship

Alcoholism/Intoxication

Psalm 37

Peace between married couple

Psalm 45
Psalm 46
Psalm 139 – preserve and increase love among married people
Psalm 140 – remove enmity between married people

For Devotion/Pious

Psalm 99
Psalm 119 Jod
Psalm 129
Psalm135 – for sincere repentance and to become more closely united with God
Psalm 136 – for penitent confession
Psalm 150 – praise when petitions and prayers to God are answered

How to identify a curse

In my experience with a few clients who have come to me, indicating that they are cursed. When a client gives an indication, I take their claim with utmost seriousness, but I also have a battery of questions that I usually ask, seeking to identify what is going on. Often types, the client is not cursed (which is to say, another conjure has actively been casting spells to do harm to my client) but maybe experiencing some crossed conditions brought about by another source. Depending upon the answers, it helps to inform me on how to proceed with aiding the client.

The first question I like to ask is asking for evidence. As in most magic, successful curses will require that the target have some kind of direct interaction with the magical ingredients of the curse. This can take many forms, but commonly this will appear as:

Powders (often mixed with local dirt, but not always) that are sprinkled or dusted on the target, or in places where the target will walk over, touch, sleep, or interact with in someway. One client, while staying with his older sister, used to wake up with powder on him every morning, because his older sister was actively casting harmful magic on him, and using his vulnerability to curse him with magical illnesses.
Loss of personal effects – When the targets personal environment cannot be reached often, sometimes items that carry the essence of the target will be utilized instead. This will also take many forms, but often the target will find that any hair from a hairbrush is gone, used undergarments are missing, personal hygiene items are missing, used socks are also missing. If the person being targeted is not that very close, sometimes even less noticeable items might disappear, like used tissues or paper towels, any paper with a signature on it, or used and unwashed eating utensils (like plastic or spoons, knives or forks). This can be hard to notice, but it can be used.
Discovery of unusual items in your personal environment – besides powders, sometimes dolls or containers (usually bottles or jars, but also mojo hands can be used as well) will be found, that contain substances, that are usually unpleasant smelling, and are filled with items. These are usually planted in your environment, often near where you walk, or near where you sleep. Some very old time and special containers might be hollowed eggshells, which were then planted or broken against the home of the target. When it comes to dolls, they are often buried, in a box that resembles a coffin, and included with dolls will be pins, needles, nails, and unpleasant smelling herbs and minerals, and animal derived substances.
It is these items that I usually inquire about first, as this is a very clear sign that you are actively being cursed.

Not all curses need to be worked directly, and so there are other signs that are telling of magic being used to harm. This is usually involved with timing. Just as there are times when working certain forms of benevolent magic is useful, so there are times where working malefic magic, that will strengthen it. Some of those times are:
When the moon is waning. The period of the full moon, when it goes to be smaller and smaller, until it disappears from the night sky completely. The idea being that is the moon is lessened, so will the target of the curse experiencing wasting or weakening.
Tuesdays and Saturdays – In astrological lore, Tuesdays are ruled by the planet Mars (If you look at Spanish, Italian of French, it is clearly indicated in their names) and Saturday is ruled by the planet Saturn. Both of these planets are considered “malefic” or planets whose influence can easily be worked towards harmful and evil ends.
Sunset and Nighttime – These times are also used to work harmful magic, especially at night, after midnight, until an hour before dawn. The symbolism of the setting sign being also the weakening of beneficial powers, while the late hours of the night are times that people perform magic, often for harmful purposes.

If you do notices that crossed conditions often return or become worse during this time, which is often a strong indication that someone is actively cursing you, although usually from a distance, as they may be unable to come close to.

After questioning for these arrangements, it then becomes necessary to talk about whom. Often, the client will have an idea of who may be actively cursing them. Jealous neighbors, angry family members, vengeful ex-wives and husbands, bitter co-workers are often the sources of curses. Sometimes, they might undertake the work themselves, but it is equally likely that they will hire a worker to perform the work for them, and supply them with powders, bottles or other means of affecting the target. When it happens that a client is unable to recall any enemies that might target them, sometimes it becomes necessary to recall recent past experiences and look for any slightly odd or unusual behavior. Some people, who are enemies, might be working to maintain a façade of friendship, in order to be close to the target, collect personal effects, and deliver the curse using items and powders. Enemies who resort to these measure might also employ the giving of cursed gifts, items that the target might like and appreciate, but have been tricked to deliver the curse and inflict crossed conditions. The most common version I have heard of this is giving jewelry, necklaces or bracelets that the target likes. When they wear the jewelry, they dress themselves in the curse.

The actions of a curse may also make themselves known. As the actions themselves are often difficult to tell apart from physical illness, or just routine rash of bad luck, until they become very pronounced, it is often difficult to confirm a curse using this method. The best identifiers are:

Medical anomalies – if the curse is affecting your health, you should visit a medical doctor. Often times, the curse does not give a clear reason why the target is suffering health problems, and a clear cause cannot be located by medical professionals. Some medical afflictions do not have simple remedies, and come with chronic ailments, medical professionals are often able to identify these illnesses, and recommend a continuous treatment for chronic illness. Magical illness often only shows the symptoms, but the physical cause is not found, despite repeated tests and examinations. Also, medical treatments, while they might give very temporary relief, often become unable to cope with the curse, especially during times when harmful magic is being worked, as the magical illness becomes stronger during the waning moon, Saturdays, etc…

Mental anomalies – This often takes the form of intense nightmares at first, which only grow in strength is the curse grows in power. The nightmares may become so bad, that insomnia develops, further weakening the target. Anxiety and depression that is continuously not responding to psychological and medical treatment, as well as a general listlessness, or mental “confusion” where none existed before, that causes the target to disassociate from friends, co-workers, family and sources of aid and support. You might also find any bad habits or neuroses becoming stronger, from excessive unhealthy eating to alcohol and drug consumption that becomes overwhelmingly more apparent (especially to people who care about you) when it wasn’t there before. Often when the target visits mental health professionals, they are unable to identify exactly the cause, and treatment seems to produce very little effect or have very little success when a curse is the cause of mental illness of affliction.

As I indicated, these are often the hardest means of identifying an active curse, although the presence of medical and mental illness, along with other identifiers is usually a sure sign of magic being used to harm. If medical and mental illness are present, but with out other signs, the crossed conditions might be coming from another source,

The final method of detecting and identifying an active curse is by a spiritual or psychic reading, also called divination. The many forms of divination generally include the ability to indicate when a curse is active, or the reader maybe familiar with methods of identifying curses. While one should always be careful of fraudulent readers who engage in schemes (usually involving burning candles) to separate the people from their money. Not all readers also perform magic, and not all conjures and rootworkers doing readings outside of the context of performing magic. A reading will often confirm what is present from the other signs of being cursed, and in cases where person doing the cursing is not clear, might also give an indication of where the harmful magic is coming from, instead of a generic “black cloud” that hovers over the target. A curse comes from somewhere, and can often be traced or divined.

If you do find that all of these signs are present, you are very likely the subject of a curse or jinx. While in the early stages, a target might be able to break the curse themselves, when it has progressed, you should avail yourself of magical and spiritual assistance.