New Feature: Trick of the Week

There is a lot of information on magic on the web these days, and probably millions or even billions of magical spells available by now. In most cases, though, the provenance is skimpy or lost altogether. Many of these spells are simply made up by the people who post them – and that is certainly not a bad way to work, if you are well educated in spiritual work and know what you’re doing.

Back in the 1940s, and again in the 1970s, Rev. Harry Middleton Hyatt made two long trips to the American South to collect spells from professional conjure workers. He spent a good many years collating all these spells, and at length had them typed up into five fat volumes, of which I own three.

Now, since this is a specialized publication which did not get much support until very recently, these books are hard to find. So, as a public service, I’m going to be dipping into these quaint and curious volumes of forgotten living lore, and posting tidbits here. I’ll also be sharing tidbits from other sources — those little old booklets and pamphlets you used to (and should still be able to!) find in candle shops, and from my own experience and educated inspiration.

So: this week’s trick is a bottle spell for getting your man to come back to you.

Write his name on a little piece of paper three times. Turn it clockwise, and write your name three times right on top of his.

Put that paper in a bottle with rose water, orange blossom water, Jockey Club Cologne, honey, three crushed sugar cubes, a pair of lodestones (male and female), magnetic sand. The original spell also calls for quicksilver – mercury – which is poisonous. Use a Mercury dime instead. Place the bottle under your doorstep with the neck pointing into the house. – Volume 5, #10166

This isn’t in the original spell, but I think it would be even more effective if you could include his personal concerns if you have them – hair, nail parings, bathwater, tiny scraps snipped from unwashed clothes.