Methods For Spells

St. Cyprian – Patron Saint of Necromancers

There are two saints known as Cyprian and there has been much confusion between these two martyrs as it is said that both bishops were born in Carthage sometime in the 3rd century, one was an orator and teacher, the other, a pagan necromancer that traveled around the Mediterranean in order to expand his occult knowledge who now bears the image of the other. He is known and prayed to as Saint Cyprian of Antioch.

Very little is known about this ‘saint’ who is sometimes petitioned for love, luck, money, etc., but one thing is for certain, those are not the characteristics of his mythic nature, as most do not know of his dark and sinister past.

It is said that Cyprian of Antioch was born in Carthage as a pagan child dedicated to the service of Apollo, Greek God of light, youth, healing, and prophecy.  He entered the mysteries of Mithras at the age of seven, carried the torch of Demeter, wore the white garments of Kore, and served the serpent of Pallas. He was then sent off to Mount Olympus to be initiated into communion of dæmons who are born from the echoes of the heavenly voices, feeding only on fruits and acorns after sunset for twenty-nine days.

At the age of ten he learned divination from the movement of animals, the sound of trees, and from the whispers of the dead. At the age of fifteen he lived in Argos and served the goddess Juno. He then lived in Icara where he served the goddess Diana, and then Sparta where he learned incantations on how to commune with the dead.

He moved to Memphis, Egypt at the age of twenty where he learned the ways of possession and demonology, meeting the dæmons the Great Solomon once had. It is also said that this is where Cyprian learned how to magically induce natural disasters.

At thirty years old, he set out to learn from the Chaldeans, astrology, herbology, as well as the motion of ether, fire, and light. This is where Cyprian met and honored the Devil, thus, he was entrusted with an infantry of dæmons.

“His form was like a golden flower adorned with precious stones, and he crowned his head with stones that were twined together—the energies of which illuminated that plain, and his garment was no different—and when he enwreathed himself, he shook the land.” —Confession of Cyprian of Antioch

He then moved to Antioch where he became a famous philosopher and a powerful sorcerer.  One day a young man named Aglaïdas came to seek his services to win the love of a virgin named Justina. He sent out several dæmons who were unsuccessful in turning her will. Justina’s god was more powerful and through prayer, no dæmon could harm her. And after several attempts, Cyprian’s magic was extinguished.  Seeing this, the Devil himself tried to carry on the mission, but after Justina made the sign of the cross, his attempts were also unsuccessful.

The powerless Cyprian renounced his pagan practices and went to Justina to plea for his live, turned away, he approached the Christian god, where he was shown mercy. After converting to Christianity, he eventually worked his way through the hierarchy and became the Bishop of Antioch. He was then turned over by the people to the Roman governor of the region, where he would be judged for shaming their gods and turning people away from them. Both Justina and Cyprian we tortured by being thrown in a boiling cauldron, but no harm came to them, fearing their sorcery, they were sent to Nicomedia were they were both beheaded.

During his confession prior to his death, he recounted the acts he committed, killing people physically and magically, decapitating dark-skinned youth to Hekate, burying young adults to Pluto, giving the blood of virgins to Pallas and the blood of full grown men to Kronos.

It was in Portugal during the 19th century, that a book bearing his name appeared, The Great Book of Saint Cyprian, in which the legend tells us that this book was written by the saint himself, and contains spells and incantations that terrifies anyone who possess it. Legend also says that if read in its entirety it will attract the devil himself. This book was later taken to Brazil where its practices were infused with the Afro-Caribbean religions of Umbanda and Candomble, where he is venerated alongside the Pombagiras of Kimbanda.

Today, his image is that of a bishop wearing a white alb, a purple cope, a mitre, a golden crozier, while holding a bible. But what most people do not know is that this particular image is a variation of the image of Saint Cyprian of Carthage as there have been no images found of a Cyprian of Antioch .

Unfortunately, Cyprian has now been deemed a fictional character as historians found no evidence of his existence and his confession was classified as a borrowed literally work, which eventually lead the Vatican to remove him from the list of saints in 1968. But, whatever spirit has taken on the name, it carries it proudly and effectively, and so, he shall remain as such, Cyprian of Antioch, Patron Saint of Necromancers.

How I honor, serve, and work with Cyprian:

He is called upon to aid in any workings when dealing directly with the dead. His statue was placed inside a cauldron filled with graveyard dirt and surrounded by the ashes of the dead. He was given seven gold coins, seven acorns, seven nails, a dagger, a skull of a black dog, and a purple candle which is lit on Fridays, the day I observe the dead. He was also given a second cauldron filled with liquids for divination. On his feast day, September 26, I light for him seven candles after sunset and feed him with fruits.

Personal Prayer to Cyprian:

In the name of Cipriano and his seven candles, on behalf of his black dog and his seven gold coins. In the name of Cipriano and his silver dagger. In the name of Cipriano and his holy mountain. In the name of the tree of the zephyrs and the great oak. I ask and shall be answered, by the 7 churches of Rome, the seven lamps of Jerusalem, the seven golden candles of Egypt. Amen.

Personal Prayer to Cyprian against an enemy:

Mighty Cipriano, sorcerer of shadows and occult powers, to you whom nothing is impossible, through your conjure, by your Holy Dagger, cut the tongue of my enemies, the wicked and the malicious who want to bring their evil to my home. Return twice as much what was sent to me, sheltering and protecting me at all times. Amen.

_______________________________ Sources: The Chaldean Oracles Picatrix Greek Mysteries, 2003 Greek and Roman Necromancy, 2004 The Confession of Cyprian of Antioch, 2009 El Gran Libro de San Cipriano, 2005 Orthodox Christian Information Center

_______________________________ For more information and ways to serve him, you can purchase my booklet on St. Cyprian at: www.vodoustore.com

Black Thread: A Witch’s Best Friend

I’ve met a lot of Witch’s from numerous backgrounds who have only ever used black thread as a means of keeping things out (black being a color for banishing negativity and numerous other bad spirits and mojo)

After listening to one friend describe how she used black string as a banishing agent for her windows WITHOUT first cleansing her house, it occurred to me how many of us don’t think about it keep bad things IN.

In short, I’ve started using it on curse objects and anything I use to absorb bad luck or anything of the like. For instance, if you are burying a box at the crossroads, tie it up in black thread to keep the bad or good inside and keep anything else out. You can even tie off your box of Witchy things with black string or thread to keep the good in ad the bad out. Or if you curse a poppet for future use and need to keep it in your witch box wrap it up in thread to keep it from tainting everything else in your box :)

Just a thought is all. :)

Kind of gives you chills .

Breaking a Curse

Sooooo you’re not sure what’s going on in your life but you think you could be cursed? Luckily you have several options!

1. Burn a bay leaf at dawn and again at sunset. Allow the smoke to waft over you and when the leaves have finished smoldering scatter them in the wind.

2. Burn black salt. I personally like to write a small incantation on a slip of paper and use it to light the salt letting it all burn together.

3. Natural water. Enter a lake, stream, river, or other naturally occurring body of water. Water is extremely conductive and can easily carry away most curses or ill intent sent your way.

4. Take a bath with epsom salt and curse breaking herbs bay leaves, fennel, jasmine, sage, and nettles are all soild choices.

5. Clean your house with curse breaking herbs. Mop the floors, clean the windows, wash the doors paying attention to the threshold and when you’re finished throw the mop water out the back door.

These are a few of my personal favorites as far as beginner curse breaking in concerned! These aren’t for everyone and I caution you to take heed and practice with care!

A Hearth Witch's Security System - Boundaries and Entrances

A Disclaimer: I am one person and my opinions (which I have in abundance) may not reflect the opinions of other witches, in general, or other people who call themselves hearth witches. In fact, they probably won’t, because I’m an asshole. I have a bizarre sense of humor that doesn’t convey well in text and I rant about shit I don’t like. A lot. If you don’t think you can handle that, maybe don’t read anything I write. Ever.

Protecting the Home, Protecting the Family 

Let me preface this post by saying, I am exhausted, so probably nothing I write here is going to make sense to anyone but me. Also, that has just been my luck lately, but we’ll see how it goes anyway. 

If you read my blog, you’ll know that I do a lot of stuff to protect my railroad cottage. Not just because I live here, but because I literally use my house as a symbol of my household and family. So, in a witchcraft sense, protecting my home is protecting my family. And, because that’s the witchcraft I write about most on my blog, that’s what I get a lot of questions about (spirit work aside, because that’s what I get the most questions about). 

So, this post is going to be about various ways to protect your home and (hopefully) prevent nasties from creeping inside. 

Rule Number One: Keep a Clean House

I know that sounds really boring. I know you’re like, “Emma, that is not witchcraft. Those are chores and I hate you. Did my mom put you up to this?” But, actually, there are two good reasons that’s Rule No. 1: 

It’s not easy to cleanse a house that isn’t clean. Part of protecting your home is being prepared to go into battle for it. Now, witchcraft is known to make a house a little cluttered. If you’ve got ribbons falling out of your sewing box and stockpiles of tea on your counter. Don’t worry. You’re normal. But it’s possible for a house to be both cluttered and clean.

Cleaning a house regularly is a fantastic way to magically take ownership of the property—which I’ve discussed here. 

Obviously, I’m not saying you’re house has to look like something from Good Housekeeping. My own cottage has four rooms and is home to more than four people. It’ll never be as neat as we want it to be. But’s it’s clean. And that’s what matters. 

Rule Number Two: Good Fences Make Good Neighbors 

I’m not talking about real fences—but those too. I’m talking more about magical boundaries. Like a witch fence. This can be set up in or outside of ritual, using a real fence, other objects, or using visualization. 

So, let’s talk about putting up this fence, huh? The method I use  is, of course, the “Gross Method”—and, by gross, I mean no one wants to do it or talk to me they’ve found out I’ve done it. It uses a pre-existing fence to create the boundary, which means that what you’re actually doing with this method is enchanting or reinforcing your standing fence. It’s supa supa easy. Like really, children could do if you let them. Only probably don’t let them because it’s probably a health hazard. 

For this method, you will need 1) a fence, 2) something to mark your stake-points with, 3) some bodily fluids—i.e. menstrual blood, piss, spit, sexual fluids, etc., 4) your bad ol’ self

Step One: Walk around your property and decide where you want your stake-points to be. I refer to them as stake-points because what you’re actually doing is kind of like putting up a magical tent rather than a fence. These are the strength points of your enchanted fence. You’ll want at least one in every corner of the existing fence. Mark these places. You can do this by scratching or painting on the fence, tying something to the fence, or sticking something in the ground there. In my case, I used the support posts for my pre-existing fence as my stake points, so I didn’t have to mark them because I knew where they were. 

Step Two: Collect fluids. (Unless you’re using spit, which you have.) You can water any of these fluids down if you need to—except probably spit. 

Step Three: Using a paintbrush, herbs, your hands, a spray bottle, or whatever, apply the fluid to the INSIDE of your fence where your neighbors won’t be touching. As you do, visualize the stake-points linking together as they’re placed. I tend to visualize something like a barbed-wire fence going up between my stake-points, but white light works too if you’re into that. **If you’re going to forget, mark where you started.

Step Four: When you’ve completed the fence and connected your last stake-point to your starting point, visualize the tent going up. In my visualization this is something like a deer-skin version of a Circus tent, but I am a legit freak of nature, so your probably wont be. 

Now, you can be done here, or you can write something to say to tweak the spell to your style. If you have Property Spirits that you work with, you may also want to ask them to guard the fence at this point. 

Rule Number Three: Gardening = Ammo 

While we’re still outdoors, let’s talk about ‘defensive gardening’. One of my favorite things to do with my garden is to reinforce my boundaries by planting protective herbs. Not only does it add punch to your enchanted fence, but it provides ammunition should you need to banish something later. 

This can be done directly in the ground, in hanging planters at/on your stake-points, in windowboxes, in planters by the door, etc. 

Some good protective herbs to start are:

Aloe

Rosemary 

Roses (thorny for offensive magic, rosehips for defensive magic)

Mint

Lavender

You may also want to include banishing plants

Garlic 

Sage 

Sweeatgrass

Thyme

As well as flowers, trees, and shrubs to the same effect (like holly, cedar, etc). 

Rule Number Four: Wards/Wardings Aren’t As Hard As They Sound

Come with me to the porch and let’s talk about wards! *runs to the porch, points at wards* Wards are awesome! There are so many different kinds and they can range anywhere from decorative to practical to invisible! 

When you’re warding your doorway, like a lot of witchcraft, intent is super important. Really, it doesn’t matter what kind of ward you use as long as you have the intent. And, with the bucket load of types of warding, you should be able to find one to fit your needs.

My favorite way to ward a door or window is with a decorative ward, which was something we did in my family for years and then I finally saw it outside of our house in an Ellen Dugan book (which I bought JUST for that reason). This one isn’t mine, but it’s a good example of one:

These hang above doors and windows to ward off evil, ill will, etc. and can be made out of dried flowers and herbs (like above), fabric (such as a warding banner), carved into the wood above a door, or any other way you prefer. 

I usually go with the pictured method. Typically I

Start with a base. For year-round wards I like to use wheat and dried grass (which you can find at a craft store—but not Hobby Lobby, because they areevil). 

I face half of my base one way and half the opposite way—so that the cut ends are together and you have the awesome wheat/grass/evergreen ends facing out. Over lap the two halves a few inches and tie them together. (I usually use twine for that, but you can use whatever you like.

Next, go you your second layer, which is the actual warding part. For this, my favorite things to use are lavender (which grows wild in the neighborhood I work in), and rosemary. But there are plenty of other possibilities, too—sunflowers, rose, baby’s breath, holly, pine, mint, etc. These can be tucked into the tie you’ve already made, glued on, or tied on separately. 

To finish mine off, I usually add a bell, to symbolize a signal, which sort of makes the ward into an alarm. Sometimes, when trouble is around, I’ll hear a bell even though it’s not ringing. Sometimes it actually rings. 

The ward can go above your door, window, fireplace, or anywhere else you feel you want to hang it. 

Of course, there are a lot of other ways to ward your doors and windows. 

With energy and visualization. 

With water or oil (drawing protective symbols on them with the water/oil) 

Warding Wreaths

Other hangings (like photographs of deities or saints, Brigid’s crosses, horseshoes, strings or bells)

Salt lines and brickdust (I tend to mix these together)

Hanging herbs by or above the door (I typically dry my herbs next to the door so I never have a shortage of door-based protection)

Whatever

The most important thing is that you make your intent clear. Whether you want to ward off evil spirits or unwelcome mortal visitors, make your intent clear. If you need to do this by putting your warding into a big ritual, do so. If you need to activate your wards out loud, go ahead. 

Rule Number Five: Everything You Need to Strengthen Your Protection is On/In You

Spit

Urine

Menstrual Blood

Sexual Fluids 

Sweat 

and so on

These are all totally useful supplies for witchcraft in general and for protection in specific. A touch of one of these on a window, door, doorknob, etc is fantastic for strengthening a boundary and clearly marking your territory to anyone who might wander inside. Surface cleaning with remove germs, but not the intent or the warning.

Rule Number Six: Never Let an Outsider Make Your Forget Whose House This Is

The conviction of ownership is pretty important to home protection. Don’t let an intruder scare you into believing that they own your home. They don’t. It’s yours. The people inside it are yours. 

pewnie masz pełno takich pytań! jakie książki o mitologii czy też w ogóle o naszej kulturze polecasz najbardziej?

a, no niby lista się robi ale faktycznie nie w mowie naszej ojczystej ale po angielsku - więc pozwolę sobie w odpowiedzi na to pytanie zawrzeć większość książek i tekstów, które polecam.

pierwsza książka i miłość moja największa, którą dręczyć będę wszystkich dopóki nas śmierć nie zabierze: Mitologia Słowian Aleksandra Gieysztora. źródło o tyle czasem niepopularne, że zdecydowanie akademickie, zdecydowanie stare, zdecydowanie kurzem dmuchające w oczy i rozprawiające godzinami oDumézilu i Brücknerze. ale warto, dobre bogi, warto.

później, jeśli o mitologię i wierzenia idzie, w kolejności w zasadzie dowolnej:

- Mity, podania i wierzenia dawnych Słowian - Jerzy Strzelczyk

- Polska demonologia ludowa - Leonard Pełka

- Bestiariusz słowiański - Paweł Zych i Witold Wargas (tutaj warto w ogóle sięgnąć także do ich świetnej a mniej znanej pozycji Duchy Polskich miast i zamków)

- Mitologia Słowiańska - Aleksander Brückner

- Religia Słowian - Andrzej Szyjewski

- jedno z najbardziej interesujących źródeł na temat folkloru i wierzeń ludowych, Komentarze do Polskiego Atlasu Etnograficznego: Wiedza i Wierzenia Ludowe

- Kultura ludowa Słowian - Kazimierz Moszyński

- Słowiańskie zaświaty. Wierzenia, wizje i mity - Paweł Szczepanik

z niesamowitych, istotnych ale i strasznych jak to pieszczotliwie można powiedzieć, staroci (tylko krytycznie!):

- Kronika Polski - Wincenty Kadłubek

- Kronika Thietmara (oj nie lubił naszych pradziadów ten pan, nie lubił)

- Katalog magii Rudolfa - Edward Karwot

- Roczniki Jana Długosza - ale tylko jako ciekawostka lub materiał do złoszczenia się, bo Jan to odlatywał strasznie w pewnych momentach i wiarygodność jego kronik jeśli chodzi o wierzenia słowiańskie to takie mocne “yyy… chyba może niekoniecznie.”

a jak o fikcję i mniej-fikcję chodzi - taką co budzi ciekawość i chęć puszczenia się galopem po stepie, ucieczki w lasy ciemne i góry wysokie - to polecam tak:

- Demony i Klechdy Ludowe - Sylwia Zawiślak

- Drzewo - Łukasz Wierzbicki

- Stara Słaboniowa i Spiekładuchy - Joanna Łańcucka

- Samotność Bogów - Dorota Terakowska

- Stara Baśń - Józef Ignacy Kraszewski - ale i inne z serii Dzieje Polski, jak Lubonie albo Bracia Zmartwychwstańcy

- Lelum-Polelum - Walery Przyborowski

dużo by się tego pewnie jeszcze znalazło, może i kiedyś przy jednym z tuzina self-reblogowań dodam więcej.

dziękuję za pytanie!

żmija