It’s a fetish thing…No…not THAT kind of fetish…

The word ‘fetish’ possibly originates from a Portuguese word ‘feitico’ meaning charm or sorcery so essentially it is an item filled with magic and you will find versions of them in most cultures.

A fetish can be an object that has a connection to the supernatural with the item representing the divine or spirit world or some have a spirit that resides within the fetish.  Other fetishes are natural objects or any items that have been imbued with magical intent.

A fetish is designed and carried or worn to bring protection, love, prosperity or luck and to protect against evil whilst some are created to bring curses upon your enemies.

A fetish can be anything such as a poppet, carved images, animal bones, an ornament or a pouch filled with herbs and other more unsavoury ingredients (think bodily fluids…).  I usually like to use feathers, leaves, twigs and stones all as types of fetish.

If you like the idea of trapping a spirit and binding it into an object then I would suggest you do some serious research first…it is not something to be done without great care and thought and I would suggest only a very experienced practitioner attempt it.  The spirit you bind into your fetish may have a completely different idea to you of what is right and wrong and it could be completely unreliable – hey it is has been bound against its will and trapped in an ornament…how would you feel?   Some spirit filled fetishes can be dangerous and very, very draining on your own energy.  A fetish may also need to be completely dominated before it will do any kind of bidding. 

However, not wishing to be completely ‘drama queen’ about it, some spirits will step into an object of their own free will, possibly enjoying the whole ‘being worshipped as a god’ idea…be warned, be careful, trust your intuition, do your homework…

Making your own fetish is advisable (rather than buying one) it will have more power and be personal to you but it doesn’t have to be complicated, it can just be a pebble!

Your fetish will need to be activated and by that I mean you will need to imbue it with the magical intent  or the energy of the deity or spirit that you want it to have or sometimes if it is a natural item it may need activating to release the energy of the spirit that is already within it.  (Every natural item has its own spirit energy).  Once your fetish is set up it is essentially a ‘living thing’ and will need attention and even feeding.

In hoodoo you can make a fetish mojo bag that you fill with items corresponding to your intent and once it is activated you regularly feed it with a magic powder to keep the magical powers working.

You can soak your item in oils or scented water, pass it through incense smoke or add corresponding herbs and if you are dedicating it to a particular deity use items that are associated with them.

Get creative…bones, paintings, images, spirit bottles, witches bottles, witches ladders, statues, dolls, poppets, beaded cloth, pebbles, twigs, feathers…the material choice is endless.

All the time you pay your fetish attention and keep feeding the energy it will keep working for you.

If you haven’t worked with the spirit world before I would suggest you try the basic magical intent fetish first and just activate the natural spirit of the item rather than trapping an unwilling spirit…it saves having to scrape ectoplasm off the walls…