A little claws-and-teeth work – on a shoestring

A year ago, I bought the three big, thick volumes of Hoodoo – Conjuration – Witchcraft – Rootwork by Harry Middleton Hyatt.

The arrangement of this book is actually fairly confusing. It seems to be mostly arranged according to the materials used in each spell [or “rite,” as Hyatt prefers to call them]. When you’re looking for a particular kind of spell – enemy work, love work, etc. – it helps to know what each kind of material is most commonly used for.

Lately, for reasons of my own, I’ve been looking for good old-timey spells to – how shall I put this? – shut certain enterprises down. Herewith, a few choice methods:

• Take a photograph or symbol of said enterprise and lay it face down on top of a glass of water. Surround it with a circle of nine black candles – they don’t have to be very large – and stick the candles with pins. Light all the candles; do this every day for nine days.
• If you have no black candles to spare (as I do not, at the moment), take some cotton twine or thread and tie a knot in it. Put some turpentine on it and read the 22nd Psalm over it (the first 8 verses should suffice!). Repeat every morning until nine days have elapsed; you will have a nine-knotted string, each knot dressed with turpentine. Go to your target’s house, office, or place of business, and place the string behind the door. His efforts will come to nothing.
• A simple trick that can be used for good or ill: take seven matches – wooden kitchen matches would be easier to work with – and cross them. You will probably end up with a vaguely teepee-shaped pile. Pour niter on them – also known as saltpeter, sodium nitrate or potassium nitrate – make a wish, and set the whole thing afire. Repeat every morning until seven days have elapsed.

I don’t usually do this kind of work, but these are desperate times.