It's that time of week again: time for Airy Monday! This week for our regular exploration of magic in pop culture we take a look at an American Indian tabletop game, the BBC adaptation of Susanna Clarke's alternate historical fantasy novel Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, and the relationship between the blues and Southern Hoodoo. All this and more for the Pagan News Beagle!
Culture Blogs
PaganSquare is a community blog space where Pagans can discuss topics relevant to the life and spiritual practice of all Pagans.
Plus or Minus Five Points from Gryffindor, You Choose
...I returned from the West Kentucky Hoodoo Rootworker Heritage Festival last evening. The festival site was set in farm country in western Kentucky and vast fields of soybeans formed a crescent around the encampment. A rooster crowed up the Sun each morning and coyotes yipped through the long, cool nights. We had one wet night and one cold night and days filled with one of the most diverse groups I've seen in my (admittedly limited) Pagan festival experience.
There were workshops, rituals, classes and plenty of networking with colleagues from as far away as Toronto. The food was good, the company cheerful and remarkably even-tempered. Lots of nice vendors tempted us all with their pretty wares and I can't even complain about the late-night karaoke simply because the folks doing it were having so much fun.
...-
Absolutely! Bryan, Jack and I would be delighted to assist you. I would also LOVE to introduce you to Dr. Erika Brady. Dr Montell
-
Too funny. Yes, it was nice meeting you, too, at long last and nice to meet Bryan. I am considering a limited tour of Kentucky and
-
I thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and reading your book(yes, I did finish it- I could not put it down) and had one heck of a time e
-
love the article. I live in NE Tennessee and did not know there was a festival of root work this close. I want to go next year. T
-
Thank you. It was a powerful festival--I hope to see you there next year.
As some of you know, I’m not afraid to talk about cursework to college students. Everyone likes talking about cursework. It’s exciting, it’s sexy and it shows that you’re not afraid to get all honey badger on someone’s ass.
I maintain that it’s not a great idea to talk about personal cursework/occult fight club publicly but it’s a good idea to know a bit about cursework in my opinion.
...Honey pots are used traditionally in Hoodoo to bring money to you and also to potentially sweeten someone towards you (such as an ex you’re trying to win back, your boss, a new love interest, the judge in a court case). I find honey pots to be an inexpensive “slow and steady” way to keep generating income.
I started to say you don’t need a strong background in Hoodoo to use a honey jar, but like all magical practices that depends on what you’re going to do with it. If you want to use it to draw money, that’s pretty basic and can be done by just about anyone. If you’re starting to get into sweetening specific people toward you (i.e. using it as an influencing tool) and potentially bending them to your will. . .Well, you better know what you’re doing, champ, because I’m sure as hell not going to help you out of a mess (and honey,that kind of work is called a messfor a reason). I am not at all opposed to using a honey jar for that purpose, but you need to really be able to assess your magical prowess accurately so that you know if you can really handle any kind of fallout that may come from your working (again, like with any other working) should it go wrong (and in some cases, should it go right!).
How to Make a Honey Jar to Attract Income
Ingredients:
A small hinged-lidded glass jar
Honey (you can use other sweetners, dare I say even sweetners like Equal or Splenda but I always use honey, preferably local)
A pinch of Irish Moss (steady flow of money)
A pinch of Chamomile (to hold onto your money)
A pinch of Cinnamon (to attract money quickly, it’s a “heating” herb)
Small green taper candles
Money drawing oil
A small piece of paper bag
A pen
A pin
Matches (or a gas stove)
1. Write out your petition on your piece of paper bag. Write what you’re trying to draw to you (a new job, a raise, job security, a second income stream, paid artistic gigs, etc.) but make sure your pen doesn’t leave the page. Neatness doesn’t count here, continuity does. Fold it up tightly towards you (to bring the money towards you).
2. Put the petition paper in the jar. Put the herbs in the jar. Pour honey over the herbs and paper until your jar is full. Seal the jar.
3. Pray over your jar. Psalms are typically recommended, if that’s your bag rock out. If not figure out what is. (I usually pray/enchant/put my will into it and end it with “Please do this in the name of God Herself.”)
4. Etch into your candle your intent. It can be words, symbols, runes, again, whatever’s your bag. Dress your candle by putting a little bit of oil on it and rub the oil into the candle *towards* you.
5. If fire scares you, make sure your sink is cleared for this part. Put the honey jar into your cauldron or sink and light the candle. Melt a few drops onto the lid of your jar. Stick the candle onto the melted wax on top of your jar. I find it best to let it burn out in one go which is why I recommend small candles.
7. If you’re on the ball, repeat steps 3-5 weekly. If you’re a slag like myself, monthly has sufficed so far.
So you’ve got a crush on an acquaintance, and you’d like to try and stir up some passionate-lusty feelings between the two of you. Or you’re facing a real crisis and need to shake some sense into your nice-but-oblivious boss so they’ll grant the favor you’ve asked of them in time to meet your deadline.
There are plenty of situations where you may want to sweeten a person to you in a certain context, and where the circumstances can also stand for some well-intentioned agitation to get things moving and break through some inertia that is hampering your progress.
...