Witch Tip--Shortcut: Saliva (a free preview of my manuscript!)

Author: Quill / Labels: ,

The following is an excerpt from my as-yet unpublished manuscript, The Master Witch's Cheatbook: Transform Your Spells into Natural, Affordable, Powerful Works of Art, a guide to the gritty, fantastic world of magic for the beyond-beginner spellcaster.  If you enjoy this little snippet, let me hear about it!  Share your thoughts here in the comments, on Facebook, Twitter, private message, email, or Etsy.





                Saliva is another fluid which is not much used these days. Still it has its own properties which make it a valuable addition to your magic. Spitting in general has the connotation, in many parts of the country, of an exclamation. When a farmer gripes about the price of corn going down and spits on the ground, it becomes a “ha!” at the back of his own statement. When a lady sees a detestable thing, she might declare “I could just spit” to register her disdain without having to do the physical act at all. In some places, it’s commonplace to see a highly religious person gesticulate a spit after seeing or hearing of a thing which is unholy to his or her beliefs. In each of these examples the message is the same: spitting projects power, be it in anger or simply force. To spit is to command, rise above, and be protected from contagion by something or someone.

                It is also traditionally considered to condense one’s magical power. Spitting in your right shoe in the morning protects you throughout the day against spells and fascinations being put upon you. Swallowing your saliva brings courage as you reabsorb your magical prowess. Pliny said that to wet one’s finger with saliva and place behind the ear will quiet the mind. He also notes that if you find yourself regretting an injury you gave to another with your hand, you may erase the victim’s anger by spitting upon the hand which dealt the blow. It is a common folk belief that an itching palm augers money but fortune will supply only if you spit upon your palm before scratching the palm upon your hip. 

Adding your saliva to spells combines the power of the essential fluids of your body, the force associated with spitting in general and the power of speech and the mouth.  Adding blood and saliva to magical ink not only ties the writing to you but also adds the power of life essence and command. To spit after a curse has been completed is an “Amen” with real force behind it. Spitting into one’s conjure bag is usually considered essential in Hoodoo to fuel and secure a purchased bag as your own. 

In Fanny Berger’s paper, Some Saliva Charms, she notes Early American superstition of spitting three times upon any dead thing found in passing to avoid becoming stricken with the same disease which killed it. In this is the same protecting power of saliva.

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Powered by Blogger.

Blog Archive