Resilience Magic Pantry

Photo by Dan Farrell on Unsplash

These are my regular rootwork and herbal supplies, should you want to source - try a botanica such as Original Botanica or Amazon (sorry!), church stores or local/online herbal shops. Many of the oils come in incense too, sometimes also as soaps, room sprays, powders, floor washes and bath salts too. I stock up on:

Hoodoo:

·         Florida Water

·         Kanaga Water

·         Four Thieves Vinegar

·         Hoyt's Cologne

·         Saints oils (St. Michael, Jude, Martha, Barbara, Expedite etc)

·         Dragon's Blood resin

·         Attraction oil

·         High John (root, oil)

·         Holy Water

·         Special Oil #20

·         All-Purpose oil

·         Cleo May oil

·         Dream oil

·         Thirteen herb bath

·         Bitter & sweet herbs

·         Angel oil & Angelica Root

·         Commanding oil

·         Road Opener oil

·         Go Away Evil oil

·         Hyssop (7 Holy Bath or fresh plant herb)

·         Healing Oil

·         Protection Oil

·         Reconciliation oil

·         Love oil

·         Low John the Conqueror (root)

·         Chinese Wash

·         Fast Luck oil

·         Uncrossing oil

·         Unjinx oil

·         Money oil

·         Lodestone oil

·         Peace in the Home oil

·         House Blessing oil

·         Rue (cologne, soap)

·         Salt (sea, pink/rock, black)

·         Van Van oil

·         Rosewater or Lavender Water

·         Eucalyptus leaves

·         Lemongrass and Lemon

·         Rose Petals and Jasmine buds

·         Candles, candles, candles! (Votive, Pillar, 7-Day, 14-Day etc)

·         Prayer cards (Saints, Mary)

·         Various assorted gemstones (Black Tourmaline, Rose Quartz, White Quartz, Iron Pyrite, Cowrie Shells, Amethyst)

·         Lots of varieties of incenses and resin (Frank & Myrrh, Copal, Amber, Jasmine, Cherry, Bayberry, Strawberry, Patchouli, Pablo Santo, White Sage, Rose, Sandalwood, Cedar, Coconut)

General Herb Magic:

·         Essential oils (Jasmine, Orange, Frankincense, Lemon, Rose, Sandalwood, Myrrh, Lavender, Bergamot, Fennel, Rosemary, Peppermint, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Ginger, Cedar, Myrtle, Chamomile, Geranium, Cypress, Sage, Juniper, Basil, Vanilla, Pine, Ylang Ylang, and Patchouli, Wormwood, Garlic, Bayberry, Vanilla, Clary Sage, Acacia etc)

·         Teas (Nettle, Yerba Mate, Valerian, Rosehip, Hawthorn, Tulsi Rose, Chamomile, Lemonbalm, Dandelion, Mint, Lavender, Ginger & Lemon etc)

·         Many dried herbs (Mugwort, Parsley, Thyme, Rosemary, Motherwort, Master of the Woods, Agrimony, 5 Finger grass, Irish Moss, Black Cohosh, Pennyroyal, Blue Vervain, Orris root)

·         Bathroom staples: Epsom Salt, Milk Powder, Soaps, Carrier Oil (Almond, Olive, Coconut), Butters (Shea, Cocoa), Sugar, Coffee grounds, Facial Oils (Argan, Marula, Rosehip, Rose, Castor) & Clays.

·         Candle-making materials: Beeswax, Soy Wax, wicks, mason jars etc.

·         Divination tech: Tarot Cards, Angel Cards, Archetype Cards, Pendulum

·         Altar materials: Fabric, statues, photo frames, pictures, prayer beads, dried flowers, bowls etc.

·         Writing materials: pens, pencils, journals, notepads, 5 x 3 cards, post-its, highlighters

Some of the above can be applied to work with the 7 planetary powers for ‘nature magic’ work - aligning with correspondences for days of the weeks and candle colours for roman pagan pantheon (Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Sun etc). Don't culturally appropriate too much be respectful and try to find what pulls you.

I can mashup hoodoo with European folk quite well. For example, I can work the rootwork staples and more traditional powerful plants from European magical traditions as well as Chinese herbs & spices. I recently received a gorgeous stock of 12 herbs in little jars from Treadwells (to accompany the book Plant Magic), I’m enjoying using these – I stuff them into little tea bags ($2 from Dyso for a stash) and plop in a very hot bath! Here is more info about the dozen, uses sourced from Christina Oakley Harrington’s book:

1.       Periwinkle: Sorcerer’s Violet. Used for psychic work and protection

2.       Feverfew: For when you are feeling sad, pensive, and suffering from melancholia

3.       Herb Robert: Connects you to the fairy world!

4.       Mugwort: Gives energy for travel and great for women who exercise. Also washing crystals

5.       Elderflower: Protection, granting wishes and more fairies!

6.       Hawthorn Berries: Fairies (again!) and good fortune

7.       Vervain: Peace-making, blessing children, wealth, psychic skills, general wellness and opening locks. Wow! What doesn’t vervain do I wonder!?

8.       Motherwort: For fast runners – be like a hare, as swift as Artemis goddess of the Hunt, or Nike.

9.       St. John’s Wort: Hit your targets, get personal protection, gain happiness, win at the casino lol

10   Mistletoe: Open locks (physically and metaphorically) and gain access to jobs/meetings/work

11   Juniper: The plant of biblical shelter, deter away all demons, protect your house, bless the dead, give as a magical offering, and I use in Gin!

12  Borage: Use it for anxiety and worry, depression etc. Gives you courage, Mars-energy to battle and take on the world. Be a warrior. Revive your soul. For more uses do read her lovely book!

I'm eclectic really. My spirituality is a mix of magic, depth psychology, faith, and mysticism etc. It's a mix that works for me as I have travelled through each road by experience through my life, pulling the threads together at midlife. The threads wove them self in a patchwork quilt and pulled me!

 And it's this magic pantry I'll be working through to the end of the year.