Out of Jail -or- Why Improv Is Fun

I've had my first successful spell in months!

Wow, it's sad that I'm saying that...

Anyway, without going into too much detail, someone near and dear to me got arrested last week and put in jail.  It was a crazy circumstance, and all parties involved knew better but had a serious lapse in judgment.  Well, due to the near-and-dear status this person has in my life... I've been stressing out over it.

Unfortunately, to make matters worse, the penal/legal system tends to really drag its ass.  Thus, this person ended up not just staying in jail for 24-48 hours...they ended up staying there for almost a week...until tonight, in fact.  The frustrating thing is, it was all about speeding violations.  Nothing else, no serious crime.

With the information I had, things looked very bleak.  In fact, I doubted that I would see this person again for months!  My arrogance kicked in and labeled this situation "Unacceptable".  Completely unacceptable!  So, over the weekend, I finally put a few things I've learned from Sorcery into play.

Before I did anything, I made the Gesture of Offering from Jason Miller's book "The Sorcerer's Secrets" to the usual gamut of spirits I offer to daily, asking that if there was anyone willing to help me in this working, to please do so.  The rest of the working went like this:

1. Not having any personal effects from this person other than my relationship to them (trust me, there's enough there to use), I took inspiration from Hoodoo and made a "name paper" of them.  Or, at least, I did the best I could with the knowledge I have.  So, I took a piece of paper about 4"x5" and wrote their name 7 times.  Then I crossed their name with a brief statement of desire ("Out of jail, home safe and sound") 7 times.  I folded the paper 3 times and sat it in the middle of my altar.
2. Not having any appropriately-colored 4" candles, I grabbed a plain white tealight.
3. Next, I performed the Universal Center from "The Sorcerer's Secrets".
4. After I was centered, I performed The Pillar & The Spheres, another exercise from "The Sorcerer's Secrets" (hereafter referred to as TSS).
5. Now, centered with power running through me, I lit a special candle I have dedicated to my Daimon, and recited The Invocation of the Agathodaimon from, you guessed it, TSS.
6. Having worked with Ganesha before, I lit his candle on my altar and recited his main mantra for a minute.
7. Then I got down to business.  I took the tealight and, not having any court or legal oriented oils, I anointed it with my holy oil.  I did it counterclockwise on the candle because I wanted this person out of jail.  Then, I set the tealight on top of the name paper.
8. With all these in line, I used the Gesture of Conjuring that Jason posted on his blog over New Year's, invoking general forces involved with the legal system in the name of IAO.  The request during it was that this person be out of jail ASAP or within 2 weeks, whichever came first.  I ended the gesture by directing the force into the candle.  During the invocation I added that any bail amounts must be low.
9. I lit the candle.

That's it.  No muss, no fuss, no circle, no quarters.

At this point, though, I must say this spell was incredibly mix & match and full of substitution.  If I had the appropriate supplies at the time, I would have done it MUCH differently.  But overall, I think this spell was solid for the improv-job it was.  Here are a few points to consider:

1. The basic technique, as adapted as it was, has elements of traditional Hoodoo in it if I'm not mistaken.  I've seen it (or versions of it) used in workings posted by conjure workers and root doctors across the blog-o-sphere, and it seems like a solid technique.
2. I made sure to first have the backing of my Daimon/HGA, thus the Invocation of the Agathodaimon.  Often if a magician has that, he might as well have the very power of God behind him.
3. As the Opener of Ways, Ganesha seemed perfect to petition for aid.
4. My holy oil is a recipe I made myself, out of oils relating to each of the four elements, plus others known to be spiritual.  Thus, in a pinch it could do as an all-purpose oil.  Oddly enough I've also heard this about straight olive oil...
5. Speaking of all-purpose, the tealight seemed fitting.  It's funny, years ago when I worked with candles, I inwardly scoffed at tealights and those tiny 4" candles that you have to get the equally-small holders for.  I was always a 6" taper kinda guy...wow, that sounds dirty.  ANYWAY, white was the all-purpose part of the candle...and as they say "When all else fails, use white".  Well, I *think* they say that...something like it at any rate.
6. Last but not least, I was DAMN focused on my goal!  I was not fuckin' kidding around, man!

And I did it all without a bunch of opening and closing frame rituals.  I didn't cast a circle, I didn't call the quarters.  There were no geometric shapes traced in the air and there was only one name that was intoned.  Okay, two!  Overall the spell was solid, and while I'm not going to repeat it exactly, I will keep the general technique in mind in the future.

It just now occurs to me that this spell may very well have been a slightly-glorified setting of a light (a Hoodoo technique). HA!

As is traditional, I observed the candle's flame for a bit afterward in a kind of divination.  The flame seemed small, but it was solid and stayed that way until it burned out.  From what I know, that was a good sign.

Today, although it was delayed, the person in question had an equally no muss/no fuss hearing and was released on a low bail amount.

I decided to consult my pendulum to see if my spell contributed to this.  The pendulum seemed to confirm a "yes" answer.

Overall, I call this one EFFECTIVE! So, I gave a nice big offering to the spirits who helped me on this one.  They're currently supping on some delicious Southern Comfort, and some of my favorite Nag Champa incense.  They did a great job and I'm really thankful.

I got to talk to my Valentine tonight.  :)