I've spent the last several years working with various forms of spirit, sympathetic, and symbolic magical work. I, simply, find great joy in finding new ways to utilize a blending of the three. In my time doing such work, I've found that one of the most effective ways for blending the three forms of magic, as I see them, together and then "grounding" them in the physical world is actually oft concerned a Voodou-centric tradition: in short, mojo hands.
Historically speaking, such talismans have gone by many names, including, but not limited to:
These are all English translations of some of the names, as these show up in every tradition I've studied, from European Folk Magic to Vodou conjure to Shinto healing practices. For whatever reason, they are most commonly known as mojo hands in modern occult circles and are most closely associated with Vodou.
Even still, with that said, the fact that these show up in every culture always interested me. As I worked with various forms more and more, I started to understand why.
You see, mojo hands can be used to pull together and utilize the magical and spiritual sympathies of various herbs, stones, sigils, pendants, charms, and so on and so forth to form a cohesive physical proof of the power one carries with them. They are literal symbols that you can grab ahold of whenever you feel the need to do so, and they can either be static charms or they can be activated at will through a simple-to-complex series of actions.
They are the embodiment of the "everything and the kitchen sink" form of cooking, only in a magical context, so they can be created and used regardless of your walk of life. You don't need to be able to afford specific ingredients to get things done with 'em; all you need is the ability to understand the natural properties of whatever you're using and the ability to encode them to do something specific.
As I work to get closer to my roots (forgive the pun), I find myself using them more and more. Just today, I created one after working with the Elemental King Ghob; its purpose is to protect me from harm, assist me in perfecting my skills, and doing a myriad of other small semi-passive things.
In just 3 hours of carrying the hand, I've met up with old friends whom I'd not seen for a year or more, got several great deals on stuff I had to buy anyway, found a bit of cash on the ground, and got lucky with a few difficult-to-find items. Its a damned potent piece of kit to be sure, so I plan on updating this blog at the end of the week with my successes from using and carrying the bag over the next week in hopes that it'll serve as inspiration to folks.
Happy conjuring,
SE
Historically speaking, such talismans have gone by many names, including, but not limited to:
- Power bag
- Spirit bag
- Mojo bag
- Mojo hand
- Medicine pouch
- Root kit
- Spirit Grip
- Root bag
- Herb charm
- Spirit wallet
- Hung hand
These are all English translations of some of the names, as these show up in every tradition I've studied, from European Folk Magic to Vodou conjure to Shinto healing practices. For whatever reason, they are most commonly known as mojo hands in modern occult circles and are most closely associated with Vodou.
Even still, with that said, the fact that these show up in every culture always interested me. As I worked with various forms more and more, I started to understand why.
You see, mojo hands can be used to pull together and utilize the magical and spiritual sympathies of various herbs, stones, sigils, pendants, charms, and so on and so forth to form a cohesive physical proof of the power one carries with them. They are literal symbols that you can grab ahold of whenever you feel the need to do so, and they can either be static charms or they can be activated at will through a simple-to-complex series of actions.
They are the embodiment of the "everything and the kitchen sink" form of cooking, only in a magical context, so they can be created and used regardless of your walk of life. You don't need to be able to afford specific ingredients to get things done with 'em; all you need is the ability to understand the natural properties of whatever you're using and the ability to encode them to do something specific.
As I work to get closer to my roots (forgive the pun), I find myself using them more and more. Just today, I created one after working with the Elemental King Ghob; its purpose is to protect me from harm, assist me in perfecting my skills, and doing a myriad of other small semi-passive things.
In just 3 hours of carrying the hand, I've met up with old friends whom I'd not seen for a year or more, got several great deals on stuff I had to buy anyway, found a bit of cash on the ground, and got lucky with a few difficult-to-find items. Its a damned potent piece of kit to be sure, so I plan on updating this blog at the end of the week with my successes from using and carrying the bag over the next week in hopes that it'll serve as inspiration to folks.
Happy conjuring,
SE