Uncrossing Follow-Up: Fiery Wall of Protection

Before I had performed my uncrossing operation, I decided I wanted to do a protection working afterward as insurance against any further crossed conditions and their manifestation in my life.  But what kind of protection to get; that was the question.  I wanted something that would provide a strong, if not impenetrable, defense while also driving away crossed conditions and sources of harm.  At the same time I wasn’t looking for something overly complex.  After going through several of my sources, I settled on Fiery Wall of Protection (FWoP).

Fiery Wall of Protection refers to a line of Hoodoo products by that name.  These products include condition oil, powders, incense, and baths.  They’re designed for the exact thing I was aiming for: strong defense that will also drive away harm.  Cat Yronwode’s LuckyMojo site has some good information on FWoP and its uses.

Now, I’m still in “cheapskate mode” when it comes to my magical supplies.  I don’t have money to spare.  For that reason, I didn’t want to spend the (what I consider to be) exorbitant shipping prices from online stores like LuckyMojo (not a slight against the store itself, as I realize her rates are similar to web stores in general).  And I found out I had the ingredients needed.  So that left only one solution: Make my own products!

PART 1: THE SUPPLIES
(***EDIT as of 05/23/2012***)  Previously, I took my recipe for Fiery Wall of Protection oil from Judika Illes' book ‘The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells’.  Unfortunately, there are some recipes in there that are pulled from sources that are less than traditional to Hoodoo, which is where I like to pull my formulas.  One of these is Herman Slater's formulary, and due to its dubious nature, I've revised my recipe to be more traditional, seen below with a new picture of the product to the right:

Fiery Wall of Protection Oil

• Ginger
• Dragon’s Blood
• Rue
• Cinnamon
• Sandalwood
• Devil’s Shoestrings
• Black Pepper
• Red Pepper
• Angelica 

I made the product pictured to the right by combining the above ingredients in olive oil and using warm maceration to infuse their essences into the oil.  Once cool, I added essential oils of ginger, cinnamon, and black pepper to enhance the scent.  It's smell is incredibly spicy, and quite warm.  Once a day for several days, I shook the bottle for a minute while praying over it.  In order to touch on the three levels, I also envisioned a wall of fire radiating out from the oil.

I'm leaving the rest of this post as it was before, for historical illustration. (***End edit***)


Fiery Wall of Protection Incense

• 1 tbsp salt, powdered
• 1 tbsp dragon’s blood resin, powdered
• 1 tbsp frankincense resin, powdered
• 1 tbsp myrrh resin, powdered

Of course, this recipe is simplicity itself.  Combine the ingredients and mix well before burning on a self-igniting charcoal block.







Fiery Wall of Protection Powder

• 1-2 tbsp Powder Base (talcum, flour, cornstarch, or cornmeal)
• 1 tbsp salt, powdered
• 1 tbsp dragon’s blood resin, powdered
• 1 tbsp frankincense resin, powdered
• 1 tbsp myrrh resin, powdered

Another recipe that’s simplicity itself.  Combine the salt, dragon’s blood, frankincense, and myrrh.  Then, add these to the powder base and mix well.

And that, dear readers, is how I made the FWoP supplies.  Now, once I made these, I got to thinking about a few things.

First off, I wanted to include a little planetary OOMPH! to this, but had to decide on a planet(s).  I had always associated Saturn with protection.  However, with Saturn’s astrological nickname of “The Greater Malefic”, and with me having just come out of a crossed condition...it did not seem wise to call on Saturn for protection.  Saturn rules all bindings and limitations, ‘nuff said.  Okay, so that was a no-go.

Then I looked at Mars.  At first glance it doesn’t seem like a better choice (its astrological nickname being “The Lesser Malefic”), but on contemplation, in comparison to what I was going for, it had a really good feel to it.  After all, it is the planet of conflict, war, and thus defense with enemy-repellent.  On top of that, the day I planned the working (the day after the uncrossing was finished) showed Mars being in a very powerful and beneficial position.  Not only was it in the sign it rules (Aries); the Sun was also in Aries right next to Mars, so to speak.  This painted a picture of Mars being in its most vital, bright, and better-natured aspects.  Wonderful!

So, I had the planetary force I wanted to draw from, but there was one more thing:  Personal protection.  I wanted something, beyond daily anointing with FWoP oil, that would lend the same effect.  So, in essence, an amulet.  Given that this was going to be a martial working, I had just the thing to turn into a protective item: a pentacle necklace!

 I’ve had this one for about 14 years.  The pentacle is perfect!  A five-pointed figure for a planet whose magical number is 5!

So, with all this arranged, on the day after my uncrossing was finished, I went through with the working.






PART 2: THE WORKING

In early evening, I got all my supplies together on my altar and proceeded from there.  Here is what I did, step by step:

1. Universal Center
2. Pillar Exercise
3. Invocation of the Agathodaimon
4. Zone Offering
5. Gesture of Eviction
6. Casting a Circle of Protection
7. Rending of Space
8. Invocation of Mars - Anyone who has read Jason Miller’s ‘The Sorcerer’s Secrets’ will recognize the format of this invocation.  I really like how he uses the divine name IAO along with the seed syllable of Mars from Graeco-Egyptian magic to call on the intelligence and spirit of planets.  So, I decided to include that in mine, seen here (intone or vibrate the bolded words):

IAO, AIO, IOA, AOI, OIA, OAI.
By the permutations of the Highest Name
I call upon the Sphere of Mars
Planet of war, conflict and competition.
Martial forces, energetic and strong
Bring your powers of strong, impenetrable defense.
By the seed element ‘O’ (the ‘o’ sound as in ‘not’ or ‘for’)
I summon and bind the spirits of Mars:
Graphiel, come!
Lend strength and fortitude to my work.
Bartzabel, come!
Be my sword and my shield.
Drive away my attackers like a wall of impenetrable fire.
Let your martial power fill me,
That I shall be protected from all harm,
And my attackers sent packing
Like the little bitches they are!
In the name of the Highest:
IAO, AIO, IOA, AOI, OIA, OAI

Yeah...sometimes I don’t feel like being that flowery in my invocations and find that simple sayings such as “like the little bitches they are” work better for me.  When I gave this invocation, I also used the gesture of conjuring Jason shows in this video, facing the direction in the sky I knew Mars to still be in, sending the rays of hooked light streaming out that way.
9. Offering to the Martial Powers
10. Empowering the FWoP Products - For each one, I made the Triangle of Manifestation gesture over the product and gathered power from the Pillar, seeing the energy as a Martial kind of bright red.  Along with this, I invoked the Martial forces in the name of IAO to empower the product.  At the conclusion of the invocation, I pushed the power into the product.
11. Empowering the Amulet - I began by cleansing it using some Florida Water I had prepared sometime before.  With that done, I invoked the forces of Mars into it using freeform prayer.  Then I burned some FWoP incense and held the amulet over it, bathing it in the smoke, while chanting the Song of the Serpent, a chant given in Jason Miller’s ‘Protection & Reversal Magick’.  After some time of doing this, I anointed the pendant with the FWoP oil.
12. Thanks and Dismissal of Powers - I gave the forces of Mars thanks and license to depart.
13. Dispersal of the Circle
14. Putting the Products to Use - First, I went around to all the doors and windows, anointing them with the FWoP oil in a “Dice 5” pattern (the four corners plus the center).  In addition I dressed the handles of the doors leading out of my home.  Then, I sprinkled the powder in each corner of every room.  And finally, I wafted the incense through each room.

So far, the results have been good.  It’s usually hard to tell with protective work, but I do feel safer...although that could just be a psychological effect.  So...effective?  I hope so, but time will tell!

With this working done, that completes my efforts at getting uncrossed and fortified.  Upcoming projects include a cashbox from Jason Miller's 'The Sorcerer's Secrets', and a home blessing.

Uncrossing, part 3: The Working

After getting all my supplies together for the uncrossing, the time finally came for the operation itself.  So, the sunday before last, I began my 3-day long operation to lift the crossed condition that I had been suffering under.

The road leading up to this point was a little long, and in some ways it was unnecessarily so.  However, I wanted to take my time getting my reasearch together, making sure I did things right.  I chose things carefully and made what I needed to make, bought what I needed to buy.  In essence, when it came time to do the working, I wanted to make damn sure my crossed condition was broken and blasted straight to hell (maybe not literally, but you get the point).

This working took on a degree of significance for me.  While under the worst of my crossed condition, I underwent one of the worst times of my life.  There was no enjoyment in life, horrible luck, nothing ever happened truly in my favor.  Even my magical abilities turned against me.  In many ways, my uncrossing represented a turning point.  I placed a lot of hope in my uncrossing working, as though afterward I would be like someone coming out of captivity and resuming their life.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, my uncrossing operation took 3 days.  The structure of it is somewhat traditional, although the overall flavor of it is not.  Basically, I took the tech of an uncrossing in more traditional Hoodoo, and put a more Pagan spin on it while including arcana from Strategic Sorcery.

Without further ado, I'd like to jump into the guts of this working!

PREPARATION

1.  Gathering the Supplies

Naturally, I had begun by creating the supplies I would need for the operation.  The rest of the supplies consisted of things I had neither the means nor the inclination to make:

• 3 4" offertory candles, white
• 6 tealight candles, white
• 3 self-igniting charcoal blocks

Other supplies included things I had around the house: A pitcher, equipment to boil water, a lighter, etc.

2.  Empowering the Supplies

Prior to making the supplies, I had been approaching Helios and Hekate by giving regular offerings for a few weeks.  So when it was time to empower my supplies, I felt confident in asking for their aid.  For each of the supplies I mentioned in my last post, I used an altered version of a particular invocation to Helios and Hekate from Jason Miller's 'Protection & Reversal Magick', along with the Triangle of Manifestation gesture from 'The Sorcerer's Secrets'.  Here is the rite I used to empower the supplies, along with the invocation:

1. Universal Center
2. Pillar Exercise
3. Brief prayer to Helios and Hekate, asking for aid.
4. Triangle of Manifestation gesture over item.  Gather energy from the Pillar, visualizing it as mostly gold, with some white and some blue, into the space between the hands.
5. Recite the invocation.
6. Push the gathered energy into the item.

Here is the original version of the invocation from 'Protection & Reversal Magick', page 74:


"Hail to you, Hekate of the threshold;
Hail to you, Helios most high.
Lay your hands upon me in consecration,
Drive sickness and evil from my limbs.
May these waters drive away my attackers
And cast them down into the four rivers of Hades;
May the air blow them away to the four winds.
May I forever stand in your luminous light
And have my path made clear.
Hail to you, Hekate of the threshold;
Hail to you, Helios most high."

Naturally, if using this for consecrating items, it needs to be re-worded a little.  For example, when using this to consecrate my uncrossing oil, I used the rite above and recited the invocation like this (changes are underlined):


"Hail to you, Hekate of the threshold;
Hail to you, Helios most high.
Lay your hands upon this oil in consecration,
May its touch drive sickness and evil from my limbs.
May its touch drive away my attackers
And cast them down into the four rivers of Hades;
May the air blow them away to the four winds.
May I forever stand in your luminous light
And have my path made clear.
Hail to you, Hekate of the threshold;
Hail to you, Helios most high."

I did this with each of the uncrossing supplies, re-wording appropriately.

3.  The Crossroads

When I finished empowering the supplies, it was then time for me to decide on a suitable crossroad to visit later in the working.

For some reason, it made more sense to me to visit a different crossroad each day of the operation.  So, I chose the locations strategically.  The first one was a few blocks from my apartment complex.  The second, a half-mile away in the same direction.  The third one was a full mile away, again in the same direction.  It's symbolic: on each successive day, I carry the crossed condition farther and farther away from me.  This will make sense later on in the working.

4.  The Bath and the Floorwash
For the bath and the floorwash, I recommend making the amount needed on the night before they will be used.  I did this with the bath, allowing it to cool overnight and simply adding some hot water to warm it up before use.

THE MAIN WORKING

What follows is the working I did each day, step-by-step:

1. Universal Center - A centering exercise where you place yourself at the center of the universe, magically-speaking.  Thus, you place yourself in a position of ultimate magical authority.

2. The Pillar Exercise - An exercise from TSS that gives access to magical power by establishing a column connecting to forces Above and forces Below.

3. Invocation of the Agathodaimon - An invocation from TSS that calls on one's higher Genius.

4. Opening the Adamantine Temple (Over my entire apartment) - A type of "circle" casting that sets up a type of energetic fortress around the area that is good for dealing with crossed conditions.  Unfortunately, I don't feel I can publish it because it is part of Jason Miller's Strategic Sorcery course, and even he had never published it before inclusion in the course.

5. Invocation of Hekate - This is an invocation that I particularly enjoy, from Jason Miller.  Versions of it are included in 'Protection & Reversal Magick', but the version I did can be found at his old discussion forum:

"Hail many named mother of the Gods, whose children are fair
Hail mighty HEKATE of the threshold, keyholder of the world
Hail to thee ENODIA, Keeper of the four and three way crossroads
Nether, Nocturnal and Infernal one
We becon to you as Lovers
Come unto us and grant us the pleasure of your presence
Night Mother! Savior! Mistress of Solitude!
Lady of light, and the darkness that contains it
You who walks disheveled and wild through tombs and cremation grounds
Cloaked in saffron, crowed with oak leaves and coils of serpents
You who is followed by hordes of ghosts, dogs, and restless spirits
Yet is also the luminous Empress of the Empyrian realms.
We beckon to you as Lovers
Come unto us and grant us the pleasure of your presence
PROPOLOS, steer us safely through the four rivers
PROPYLAIA, reveal to us the secret paths of serpent power
PHOSPHOROS, light our way with your twin torches of mercy and severity
BRIMO, shake the pillars of perception with your wrath
ANASSA ENEROI – Queen of the dead, open the mysteries of Thanatos
HEKATE CHTHONIA, Queen of Witches
Teacher of Sorceries and Bindings and all manner of Thaumaturgy
I call to thee by thy secret names:
AKTIOPHIS. ERESHKIGAL, NEBOTOSOUALETH
Hear me and attend to me
You who is Serpent haired and serpent girdled
And whose womb is covered in serpent scales
I come to you as a Lover 
Take me into your arms, kiss me upon the mouth and empower me 
The summoner and the summoned have been made ONE
IO HEKATE IO HO"

Note: Any bolded words should be intoned, or vibrated.
6. Invocation of Helios - For this, I actually took a spell for deliverance from the Greek Magical Papyri (aka Papyri Graecea Magicae, or PGM) and split it into two parts.  The particular spell is from PGM I. 195-222, from around the year 400CE, as given in Stephen Flowers' book 'Hermetic Magic', pp. 228-229.  Here is the first part, re-worded slightly for modern language:


"I call upon you, Lord.  Hear me, holy God who abides among the Holy Ones, beside whom the renowned spirits stand forever.  I call upon you, primal father and I pray to you, eternal one and ruler of the Sun's rays and of the cosmic Pole, standing within the seven-part realm:  CHAO CHAO CHA OUPH CHTHETHONIMEETHECHRINIA MEROUMI ALDA ZAO BLATHAMMACHOTH PHRIXA EKE EPIDREI PHYEIDRYMEO PHERPHRITHO IACHTHO PSYCHEO PHIRITHMEO ROSEROTH THAMASTRA PHATIRI TAOCH IALTHEMAECHE. You who hold the root fast to its appointed place, who possesses the powerful name which has been consecrated by all the angels.  Hear me, you who has established the mighty decans and archangels, and beside whom stands an infinity of angels.  You who have been exalted unto heaven, and the lord has bore witness to your wisdom and has praised your power highly and has said that you have strength like his, and as much power and he has himself."


Unfortunately, I don't know how to put the actual vowels of the bolded words there.  Soon I hope to edit this post and present my pronunciation of the words of power.
7. Offering - Following the type of ritual procedure in 'Hermetic Magic', after summoning the forces for the working, I gave offering to them by lighting the self-igniting charcoal block and sprinkling a pinch of uncrossing incense on it.  On top of this, I used Jason Miller's offering technique to multiply the offering and make it take on the forms of the things most desired by its recipients.
8. Preparing the Candle - At this point I took one of the 4" offertory candles and inscribed my name on it from the base toward the tip.  Then, on the other side of it, inscribed the word "Uncross" in the same direction.

Then, I dressed the candle.  For those who aren't familiar with this, it is where you take some kind of condition or magical oil and rub it onto the candle in a direction corresponding to the aim of the working.  To repel something, apply the oil by rubbing from the base of the candle toward the tip.  To attract, rub from the tip to the base.  For this working, I dressed it to repel using my uncrossing oil and then set it in the candle holder.
9. Empowering the Candle - At this point I made the Triangle of Manifestation gesture over the candle and drew energy from the Pillar, imagining it gathering between my hands in colors of gold with some blue and white.  While doing this, I recited the rest of the Deliverance spell from the PGM:


"I call upon you, Lord of the All, in my hour of need; hear me, for my soul is distressed, and I am lacking in everything, and I am perplexed.  Moreover, Lord, a cross is upon me that is too heavy to bear.  Therefore, come to me, you who are Lord over all angels; hold your shield over me against all manner of assault by the magical power of aerial daimons and of Heimarmene.  Especially, Lord, because I call upon your secret name, which extends from the firmament of heaven into the earth:  ATHEZOPHOIM ZADEAGEOBEPHIATHEAA AMBRAMI ABRAAM THALCHILTHOE ELKOTHOOEE ACHTHONON SA ISAK CHOEIOURTHASIO IOSIA ICHEMEOOOO AOAEI!  Lift and break this cross, Lord.  Rescue me in this hour of need!"


As I did earlier, I underlined the parts of the invocation that I added or altered.  At the conclusion of the prayer, I pushed the gathered energy into the candle.  With that done, I lit the candle and got ready for the next part.
10. The Uncrossing Bath - At this point I absconded to the bathroom, taking with me the following:

• Pitcher full of uncrossing bath
• 2 white tealights dressed with uncrossing oil
• The censer with the uncrossing incense burning in it

I undressed, plugged up the bathtub and ran a small amount of warm water.  Then, I lit each tealight and put one on each end of the tub, imagining that they each formed a column on either side of a doorway leading into the Empyrian (Divine) realm.  Holding the pitcher, I stepped between the candles into the bathtub.  Commencing with the original version of the cleansing prayer to Helios and Hekate (given earlier), I poured the water over myself starting with my head, moving out and down along my arms, then my body, and then my legs.  Once the pitcher was empty, I continued gathering up the water from the tub and washing in the same pattern, repeating the prayer.

Once I felt that I had bathed enough, I stood for a few minutes letting the air dry me.  Then, I gathered some of the water in the pitcher, drained the tub of the rest of the water, stepped back through my "divine doorway" and got dressed.

11. Closing the Adamantine Temple - At this point I bottled the water I had gathered and closed the Adamantine Temple.  This was in preparation for the next step...

12. Disposal of the Water at the Crossroads - I took the water to the crossroads location.  I stood in the center of the crossroad, faced east and dumped the water out.  As I did so I said, "In the name of Hekate I give this crossed condition over to the Chthonic powers."  I then went back to my place without looking back.

13. Using the Floorwash - Back home, I took out the bottle of uncrossing floorwash and spritzed all the floors with it, moving from the farthest corner of the apartment to the front door.  I didn't recite a prayer while doing this, but I did concentrate on cleansing the apartment of any crossed conditions.

14. Wafting the Incense - By this point the incense was smoldering in the censer.  I added more and went from room to room in the same pattern in which I spritzed the floors, wafting the incense.

15. Anointing with Oil - To conclude the working for the day, I went back to my altar and anointed myself with the uncrossing oil.  I anointed myself on the crown of my head, my forehead, my throat, over my heart, above my navel, just above my genitals, on each foot and inside my wrists.

With the Main Working described, it's time to flesh it out to give a complete picture of the entire operation.

THE OPERATION

Day 1

1. Got up at 5am, showered.
2. Performed the Main Working.  Crossroads location: A few blocks from my place.  Walked there and back.
3. Sprinkled uncrossing powder in the four corners of each room and across all doorways.
4. Took uncrossing powder to work and sprinkled it across the doorways into my department, and in the four corners of any cubicles I frequent, especially the one my desk is in.

Day 2

1. Got up at 5am, showered.
2. Performed the Main Working.  Crossroads location: 1/2 mile from my place, in the same direction as the location from Day 1.  Drove there and back.

Day 3

1. Got up at 5am, showered.
2. Performed the Main Working.  Crossroads location: 1 mile from my place, in the same direction as the locations from Days 1 and 2.  Drove there and back.
3. After the Main Working was finished, I stopped back by my altar.  I gave another offering and gave special thanks to Hekate and Helios.  I then declared the working complete.

EFFECTS AND RESULTS

Right from the start, Things Started Happening.  I swear, sometimes it's almost seemed like the crossed condition itself was some kind of entity that knew its time had come!  When I went to start the working on Day 1, the symptoms of the condition flared up badly.  I couldn't do anything right, time seemed to be against me, I almost dropped and broke my bottle of uncrossing oil, and the charcoal block acted like it didn't want to ignite.  However, once I started the working, things smoothed out quite a bit.

And things stayed smooth throughout the rest of the operation.  One interesting thing to note is that I didn't experience some of the same things as The Unlikely Mage did during his uncrossing.  Aside from that, I fully expected to be left feeling a little weak after each bath, as though I'd just been released from some chains.  That didn't happen either.  In fact, as I went along, things felt better and better.

And now?  It's been a week and a half since then, and the results have been interesting.  First and foremost, life itself has this feeling of smoothness and openness that I haven't felt in a long time.  Even when dealing with difficult things, it doesn't feel like I'm all bound up like it did before.  Life no longer feels like it never gets better...it just feels like it is what it is, and like the ball is in my court.

That's not to say that life is all sunshine and roses now.  Life is still life, for better AND for worse.  In fact, I've been incredibly busy since I finished the operation, barely getting time to myself, with it sometimes seeming like a lot of people want me and my time.  Plus, I still have to deal with my own shortcomings, like my horrific time management skills.  Frustration abounds.  But now it is possible for things to change for the better.  Blessings can come without curses, and I can move and effect things again.

And I've been watching people around me.  Brother Moloch mentioned that when going through an uncrossing, others around you may start to exhibit crossed conditions...and that can indicate links and possible causes.  And interestingly, my roommate's life in general has taken a turn for the worse in many ways.  I don't understand it yet, but maybe I will soon.  In the meantime, I've been working behind the scenes to cleanse him of any fallout from my uncrossing.

For the first week I had not consulted any oracle to check the results, and so I decided that would be the final test.  My pendulum gave an answer of "No" to the question, "Am I suffering under any crossed conditions?"  When asked the same question in a simple 3-card reading with the first and last cards fleshing out the second one, my Sybilla oracle came up with light, positive, good-natured cards.  Given the question, I took that to mean "No".

With all these things taken into account, I consider this uncrossing operation EFFECTIVE.  In fact, I am thinking about submitting this as my third homework assignment in Strategic Sorcery.

OTHER NOTES AND FINAL THOUGHTS

I've learned a lot from this whole ordeal with being crossed.  Above all, I've learned that magical practitioners are not invulnerable to these sorts of things.  Sometimes you might not even be aware of it until its at its worst.  I kind of feel like an idiot, because I spent so much time doing things that were not practical and effective.  I didn't know to check myself regularly and set up warning systems, so when my crossed condition expanded and overcame me, I wasn't ready at all.  And all those books from Llewellyn, and all those books on "High" magic don't prepare you for these things at all.

That's why I'm thankful for the internet and the sorcerers, conjure doctors, rootworkers and other practitioners out there who do the work and publish at least part of it.  That's why I'm publishing this.  Now I know what I can do, and I know more of the dangers that I can face, as a magical practitioner.

My next post will deal with the follow-up to my uncrossing operation.  My line of thought was: Nature abhors a vacuum.  I was under a condition for quite some time, and removed it.  Thus, there's a vacuum.  I'll beat nature to it and create a positive condition to replace it, while also protecting myself from further crossing.

Thanks for reading, everyone!

Uncrossing, part 2.5: The Supplies, cont'd...

More than two weeks ago I finally finished all the supplies I needed for the uncrossing operation.  I ended up making all the supplies from scratch, which was fun but at the same time long and drawn-out.  I wore my arm out several times working my mortar and pestle, but rediscovered the joy in making one's own magical supplies.

As I outlined in this post, the more traditional version of an uncrossing is a 3-phase process that can take up to 13 days.  I settled on 3 days for my uncrossing, because by the time I managed to get everything together, I had already weakened my condition and reduced the symptoms through regular offerings and personal spiritual cleansings.  It might have been nice to expand the working to 7 days, but the process is also a little exhaustive.

Nonetheless, I wanted to talk about the supplies for my uncrossing and how I made them.  For making oils, powders, incenses and such, there are some basic tools that I used:

• A mortar & pestle.  The larger the mortar, the better, in my opinion.  I tended to get small hand cramps trying to work mine after a while.
• 2 or 3 small bowls.
• A liquid measuring cup.
• A set of measuring spoons.
• A few popsicle sticks to stir stuff with.
• A small strainer with a handle, with a somewhat fine mesh.  For liquids, you could substitute a jar, rubber band and cheesecloth.  For powders, you can substitute a sifter.

Now, I'm going to list my recipes for my uncrossing supplies.  I initially got the recipe for uncrossing oil from Judika Illes' excellent book, "The Element Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells".  Then I made adjustments to it based on the material in Devi Spring's post on uncrossing, as well as my own research on uncrossing herbs via Cat Yronwode's "Hoodoo Herb & Root Magic", and other bits of information picked up from various blogs and internet resources.  The recipe for the uncrossing oil is important here because I based the recipes for all my other uncrossing supplies on it.  Also note that the ingredients change depending on the particular item, as you'll see below.

All herbs, unless otherwise noted, are ground up.

After straining out the herbs

1. Uncrossing Oil

• 3/4 cup Castor oil
• 1/4 cup Jojoba oil
• 1/2 tbsp Hyssop
• 1/2 tbsp Rue
• 1/2 tbsp Salt
• 1 pinch Lemon Balm
• 1 pinch Black Pepper
• 1 pinch Sage
• 1 pinch Myrrh
• 1 pinch Frankincense
• 1 small length of broken chain

Combine the oils and pour them into an appropriately-sized bottle or mason jar.  Grind up the herbs, salt, and resins and then combine them.  Add all the dry ingredients, including the chain, to the oil.  Seal the container and shake it until the herbs are thoroughly mixed in.  Shake the container like this once a day for at least 3 days before using.  However, with mine I got a better infusion after more than a week.

The Uncrossing Oil when shaken

The recipe from the 5,000 Spells book calls for castor oil, but suggests adding some jojoba to make it flow better.  One interesting thing I discovered is that the castor oil would not combine with the jojoba, and so they kept separating and I have to shake the bottle before use.  Castor oil is very thick.  Jojoba, while having the feel and consistency of oil, I've heard it is actually a type of liquid wax.  While I didn't really like that they separated, it created an interesting visual effect!

The end product was not very strongly-scented, and mostly has an herbal kind of smell with hints of the castor oil.

2. Uncrossing Incense

• 1/2 tbsp Hyssop
• 1/2 tbsp Rue
• 1/2 tbsp Salt
• 1 pinch Lemon Balm
• 1 pinch Black Pepper
• 1 pinch Sage
• 1 pinch Frankincense

Grind up each ingredient and then combine them all.  Burn on self-igniting charcoal blocks.

One thing I should mention about this incense is that with the way I made it, it ended up not giving out much smoke when sprinkled on the charcoal.  The smoke from this incense isn't very strong and mostly has an herbal type of smell much like the oil did.

3. Uncrossing Powder

• 1 tbsp Flour, Cornstarch, or Talcum (hereafter referred to as the "powder base")
• 1/2 tbsp Hyssop
• 1/2 tbsp Rue
• 1/2 tbsp Salt
• 1 pinch Lemon Balm
• 1 pinch Black Pepper
• 1 pinch Sage
• 1 pinch Frankincense

Grind up each ingredient as fine as you can.  If needed, sift out the powdered herbs from the course, and continue grinding the course.  Once you have as much of them powdered as possible, combine them together and then mix them into the powder base.

For my first run at this, I used flour as the powder base.  So far it has worked decently.  I used cornstarch for another oil, which I'll mention in a future post.

4. Uncrossing Spiritual Bath

• 1 tbsp Hyssop
• 1 tbsp Rue
• 1 tbsp Salt

Combine the ingredients in a 2-quart pitcher and pour boiling water over them.  Stir and then leave to steep for at least 15 minutes.  Allow time to cool and then strain out the herbs before use.  Repeat this for each day of the uncrossing operation.

One thing that helped me was to make a pitcher of the spiritual bath the night before, and then when taking the bath the next day, add some hot water to the infusion to warm it up before use.

5. Uncrossing Floorwash

• 1 tbsp Hyssop
• 1 tbsp Rue
• 1 tbsp Salt

As you can see, this recipe is exactly the same as the spiritual bath; it's just put to a different purpose.  It's even made the same way.  Due to the size of my home and the fact that I was only going to spritz the floors with it, one batch of this stuff made with 2 quarts of water lasted me throughout the entire 3 days of my uncrossing operation.

If I made this stuff again, I would try to go with something like Chinese Floorwash instead of salt due to its reputation for breaking up bad conditions.

That's it for my uncrossing recipes!  What I'd like to cover next are the ingredients I used and why I used them:

• Hyssop:  This herb is a jinx-breaker and is also used to be free from one's own sin.  In essence, it cleanses away negativity and evil generated by oneself.
• Rue:  This one is a staple of defensive magic.  It is a spiritual cleanser known to avert the evil eye.  In counterpart to hyssop, it cleanses away negativity and evil from sources outside of oneself.
• Salt:  Salt is a spiritual cleanser par excellence.  It is used not only in spiritual cleansing, but also in protective work.
• Lemon Balm:  Breaks up old conditions and assists with healing.
• Black Pepper:  An aggressive protector, it provides defense while at the same time actively working against enemies.  It seems to me that last part can also translate into working against bad conditions, in a roundabout kind of way.
• Sage:  This is a protector, but it also reverses harm and is an herb of wisdom.  Thus, it seems to me that it can help give insight into the nature of the crossed condition, on top of reversing the harm done.
• Myrrh:  Protection, peace, healing.
• Frankincense:  This adds spiritual favor and power to any formula.  Thus, by adding it to the recipes, all the other ingredients are enhanced.
• Castor Oil:  This oil is mentioned in the 5,000 Spells book as having protective properties.  Going by the Doctrine of Signatures, it seems to me as though it would also have cleansing and purging properties...*ahem*.  I mean of a spiritual nature, of course!

It's been fun making these, and overall I'm pleased with the end products.  If you, dear readers, decide to try any of these yourself, let me know your results as well as any alterations made.  I'd love to hear them!

That's it for this post, folks.  My next post will cover the uncrossing operation itself, giving details on how I did it, what forces I called on for aid, and other such tidbits.

Eye of the Sorcerer

I've added another blog to my blogroll to the right.  I've known about this blog for a while, and even subscribed to it on Google Reader at one point, but he NEVER POSTS...

Until recently.  So, I decided to add him to my blogroll.  Ladies and Gents, get some Brother Moloch action over at Eye of the Sorcerer!

This is one of the individuals whose writings gave me the push I needed to jump back into practical magic, forsaking the boundaries of folk magic and ceremonial magic.