Because I will be giving a lecture on the topic this weekend, I have been thinking quite a bit about dark magic and other magic that is grayish or dark grayish. I thought about commanding spells, which essentially allows one person to take over, influence, and/or control an individual or group mind. Dark magic? It could be. It might not be, though. I think it would depend on why the control was necessary. A profit motive doesn't seem a good enough reason to me. But what about taking control of a public budget meeting to get a sidewalk or road repaired in a neighborhood where many elderly people live? Or taking control of a budget meeting to get law enforcement resources allocated to breaking up a dog-fighting or cock-fighting ring? Those are probably closer issues.

I've done a couple of these types of commanding spells in the past for specific people. A very effective and very easy traditional one involves placing nine thin Devil Sticks in a vial and covering them with whiskey. Two things to be cautious about here . . . there are several plants that go by the name, and you have to be careful to use the right one. Otherwise, forget it. Second, after the vial has been put together, it must be (a) charmed in a specific way, and (b) solely in the name of the person who is to use it.

After the spell vial is done, though, the person for whom it is made can easily take control of any meeting. Before the meeting, he must take out one of the sticks and rub it between his hands for 20-30 seconds. He must then replace the stick in the vial. He must then go to the meeting as early as possible so that, when people enter, he can shake their hands, in a friendly or professional way, depending on the person or context. He must shake the hands of as many participants (or decision-makers) as he can, with half as a minimum. If he does this, his confidence and the bewitched elixir on his hands will allow him to get everything that he wants and needs from the meeting.

Whether you allow the person to keep the vial after that for repeated uses is up to you. Don't trust him? Confiscate it, then, after he is done using it.

In many old magical books, particular magical operations are assigned to different planets. For instance, the Sun may be attributed to healing magic. Jupiter to money or prosperity magic. Venus to love matters. Saturn to matters involving protection, and buildings and property. Occasionally, specific incense recipes are given for the planets, too. So, a person wishing to cast a spell for healing would make the Incense of the Sun and burn it during the spell. A person working on a love matter would make the Incense of Venus and burn it during the spell, and so on.

That is fine for specialists and experts. We have ourselves made many of those specialty planetary incenses to burn on charcoal, and they are lovely. Nonetheless, tracking down the right ingredients and preparing the recipe can be costly and time-consuming, and burning them on charcoal requires an extra step and some extra cautions.

But, if you are a beginner to magic, you might consider training your sense of smell early on with a simple and affordable substitution: incense sticks. These are now widely available in many different scents. Why not choose one of the following scents for each of the planets?

SUN: FRANKINCENSE or SANDALWOOD or ORANGE

Sun spells may involve: Health, healing, vitality. Confidence, popularity, charisma, fame. Prosperity, success, gold. Hope, compassion. Honor, leadership, favors, people in authority.

MOON: JASMINE or COCONUT

Moon spells may involve: Home, domestic life, family. Emotions. Purification. Fertility, pregnancy, babies, birth, motherhood. Visions, dreams, sleep. Illusions, glamours. Travel, water, and travel by water. New beginnings.

MERCURY: LAVENDER or CINNAMON

Mercury spells may involve: Communication, writing, speech, eloquence. Books, poetry, letters, computers. Knowledge, mental power, study. Divination, prophecy, finding things, insight. Trade, business. Transportation, speed. Unbinding, removing obstacles. Theft, gambling. Weather.

VENUS: ROSE or VANILLA or MUSK

Venus spells may involve: Love, romance, sex, affection, friendship. Partnerships. Harmony, peace, beauty. Art, dance, music.

MARS: PINE or DRAGON'S BLOOD or GINGER

Mars spells may involve: Courage, will, endurance, physical strength. War, conflict, rebellion, aggression, opposition, defense. Ambition, power. Victory. Lust. Breaking habits. Cursing. Surgery.

JUPITER: CEDAR or PATCHOULI

Jupiter spells may involve: Luck, wealth, treasure, riches, money abundance, success, growth. Employment. Law, judges, legal matters. Religion, spirituality. Foreign travel. Higher education.

SATURN: MYRRH or SAGE

Saturn spells may involve: Buildings, property, agriculture, gardens, stones, trees. Husbandry, animals, familiars. Countermagic, protection, banishing. Bindings, limitations. Time, age, long life. Death, the Dead, ancestors. Duties, responsibilities. Meditation, wisdom, occult knowledge. Patience, stability. Poisons.

Pick a scent for each planet, and stick with it as far as you can throughout your magical career. Later on, if you wish, you can experiment with making some of the traditional incense recipes. But you will always be able to return to an affordable and expedient incense stick if the occasion arises.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester

Drawings of Serpents from a Book of Natural History

As far as is possible, Witches prefer to use natural objects and substances in their magical arts. The use of essential oils in magic was almost unheard of 100 years ago, as were things like incense sticks, "crystals," and herbs grown in far away places. Up until the 21st century, my old Witch Mother was still finding almost everything she needed for magic in the forests around her house. Out she would go of an evening into the woods, using her Stang as a walking stick and wearing her black cloak for warmth and her witches' brooch for protection.

Witches of the past (and some of the present) often put their recipes in a kind of code or symbolic language, usually as a matter of protection, from the authorities, crazed churchfolk, and witchhunters. In modern days, we can add protection from legions of fakes and pretenders.

When we were taught the recipe for Witches' Dust, it was given in code. One was to kill four snakes or serpents: "One in the water, one by a fire, one in a tree, and one in the byre" [1]. When the snakes were killed, their heads were to be chopped off, dried well, then powdered. The four powders were combined to make Witches' Dust.

[1] byre = barn

It sounds rather disgusting and grisly. But the recipe does not mean what it says. The four **S**nakes or **S**erpents are symbolic of four natural substances that start with the letter S. The reference to the snake or serpent heads is to the SHAPE of the heads, themselves, which are shaped like the bowl of a spoon. The recipe is therefore made of a spoonful each of four natural substances, each of which begins with the letter S. From the little rhyme, one also knows that each substance must be related to one of the four elements. Once your Witch Mother or Witch Father tells them to you, you will never forget them.

Witches' Dust is a general purpose magical ingredient. It can be used to either to bless or to curse. A pinch of it was sometimes rolled into pellets with wax and, depending on the intention, with the hair of certain common animals such as cat, dog, pig, cow, goat, or horse. And then the pellet would be cast at a person or onto a property to cast a spell. If you read historical tales of witchery from the 17th century onward, you will occasionally find mention of these "Witch Balls," as they came to be known. You will find mention of them in stories from New England, the Mid-Atlantic, the South, and the Ozark regions. Sometimes one Witch would make a bunch of a certain kind and pass them out to other members of the Coven to use.

You cannot learn this from books or from people who learned from books. You must learn from Witches who were taught by other Witches, and who were taught by Witches before them.

*** Blessed be to those who serve the Great Mother and the Horned Father.

* Copyright to Coven Rochester