Finally, to conclude this chapter of magical methods of aggression, here are some leads to the baneful
herbs traditionally in accord with such matters. However, I would strongly advise the avoidance of the
poisonous varieties in your sachets and incenses; keep to the more chemically harmless ones.
Remember, you are seeking to use magical, not physical, power. To pin a case of magical assault on
anyone and make it stick is very difficult, whereas the use of very real botanical poisons could easily
be construed as a highly antisocial activity, regardless of how the herbs happened to be administered.
The herbal compositions, like the other subject matter of this chapter, fall into two distinct categories;
those of a Saturnian or inertia-inducing nature, and those of a Martial one, the herbs of torment. I shall
deal with the latter first.
Martial Incenses
This traditional magical Martial Incense of Wrath and Chastisement was composed of the following
ingredients:
Gum ammoniac, euphorbium, bdellium, black and white Hellebore roots, powdered lodestone or
magnetized iron filings and sulphur, mingled with a few drops of blood of a man, a black cat, and the
brain of a hart.
Many of these ingredients are, not surprisingly, poisonous, and two at least of the last difficult, if not
objectionable, to get hold of.
In view of that, an alternative more modern Martial incense may be composed more readily of the
following:
4 parts powdered dragon's blood resin
4 parts dried powdered rue
1 part dried ground peppercorns
1 part dried ground ginger
1 pinch sulphur
1 pinch magnetized iron filings or powdered lodestone
Alternatively, you may burn pure dragon's blood, sulphur, or asafetida in your thurible. The last two
are of an extremely offensive and pungent odour and should not be used in large quantities. Sulphur
especially should be used very sparingly owing to its choking fumes.Martial Sachet Powders
"Fell," or "baneful," amuletic herbal sachets, better known in the United States as hex powders, can be
composed from the following herbs and woods used simply or in combination. If required in sachet
form, they should be bound with red ribbon or yarn in the waning moon, preferably in the day and
hour of Mars (8 A.M., 3 P.M., or 10 P.M.). Most of them should never be administered for
consumption in philter form, being extremely poisonous. They are traditional witch herbs, however,
and deserve to be mentioned for that reasons, though maybe best left well alone.
The first listed are not poisonous and, as such, are those you should find a place for in your witch's
cabinet.
"Strafe" - blackthorn leaves (Prunus spinosa)
Pepper - black, white, and cayenne
Ground ginger root
Dried chilis
Dragon's-blood resin (used as stain by violin makers)
Powdered sulphur (flowers of sulphur)
Pulverized holly chips - Ilex aquifolium (do not eat)
Pulverized ash chips - Fraxinus excelsior (do not eat)
Pulverized hickory chips - Carya alba
Dried stinging nettles - Urtica dioica (and any other herbs or spice of an astringent nature)
Euphorbium - Euphorbia corollata (in the United States, "Snow on the Mountain" - poisonous)
Gum bdellium - balsamodendrum
Wolfsbane - monkshood, Aconitum anglicum (of the same family as the field buttercup,
Ranunculaceae - poisonous)
Gum ammoniac (formerly used as a cement - poisonous)
Death cup mushrooms - Amanita phalloides (deadly)
The remaining complement of baneful herbs are those of a Saturnian nature.
The traditional Saturnian incense of wrath and chastisement is composed of black poppy seed,
henbane, mandrake root, powdered lodestone, and myrrh. This should be well mingled together and
incorporated with the brain of a cat and the blood of a bat.
However, for your purposes, the following recipe can be used quite satisfactorily:
4 parts gum myrrh
1 part dried, powdered yew or juniper
1 part dried elderberry leaves or twigs, powdered
1 part dried, powdered Cyprus twigs
1 part patchouli leaves (or a few drops of patchouli oil)
1 pinch of magnetized iron filings or lodestone dust
Failing this, pure gum myrrh may be burned alone in the thurible.
Graveyard Dust
To the experienced practitioner of witchcraft, this may mean one of three things:
1. Either purely dust or earth taken from a churchyard.
2. Dried, powdered mullein herb (Verbascum thapsus.)
3. Bone ash and asphaltum, also known as mummy dust, originally obtained by grinding up Egyptian
mummies. This is a great rarity nowadays for obvious reasons.
Any or all of these graveyard dusts may be used singly or in combination in Saturnian hex powders or
sachets, designed to bring inertia or restriction of some sort. Similarly the following "simples" may
also be used:
Pulverized myrrh wood
Black poppy seeds
"Holda" berries, leaves, and flowers (elderberry or Sambucus nigra)
Rue (Ruta graveolens] - edible but bitter
Bitter aloes
Sourgrass (sorrel) - Rumex acetosa (edible but sour)
Hawthorn blossoms (Crataegus oxyacanthus)
Periwinkle blossoms (Vinca major or minor)
Pulverized juniper wood and berries (Juniperus Communis)
Pulverized yew wood and berries (Taxus baccata)
Felonwort (bittersweet or woody nightshade - Solarium dulcamara - poisonous)
Dwale (deadly nightshade, devil's herb - Atropa belladonna - poisonous)
Enchanter's nightshade (circaea lutetiana - poisonous)
Twilight sleep (henbane - Hyoscyamus niger - poisonous)
Devil's apple (Jimson weed, Thornapple, devil's trumpet - Datura stramonium - poisonous)
Mark of Gain (Hemlock - Conium maculatum - poisonous)
The last seven may be traditionally magical herbs, but they also happen to partake of the nature of
powerful vegetable drugs. Again, as in the instance of the Mars variety, be careful.
herbs traditionally in accord with such matters. However, I would strongly advise the avoidance of the
poisonous varieties in your sachets and incenses; keep to the more chemically harmless ones.
Remember, you are seeking to use magical, not physical, power. To pin a case of magical assault on
anyone and make it stick is very difficult, whereas the use of very real botanical poisons could easily
be construed as a highly antisocial activity, regardless of how the herbs happened to be administered.
The herbal compositions, like the other subject matter of this chapter, fall into two distinct categories;
those of a Saturnian or inertia-inducing nature, and those of a Martial one, the herbs of torment. I shall
deal with the latter first.
Martial Incenses
This traditional magical Martial Incense of Wrath and Chastisement was composed of the following
ingredients:
Gum ammoniac, euphorbium, bdellium, black and white Hellebore roots, powdered lodestone or
magnetized iron filings and sulphur, mingled with a few drops of blood of a man, a black cat, and the
brain of a hart.
Many of these ingredients are, not surprisingly, poisonous, and two at least of the last difficult, if not
objectionable, to get hold of.
In view of that, an alternative more modern Martial incense may be composed more readily of the
following:
4 parts powdered dragon's blood resin
4 parts dried powdered rue
1 part dried ground peppercorns
1 part dried ground ginger
1 pinch sulphur
1 pinch magnetized iron filings or powdered lodestone
Alternatively, you may burn pure dragon's blood, sulphur, or asafetida in your thurible. The last two
are of an extremely offensive and pungent odour and should not be used in large quantities. Sulphur
especially should be used very sparingly owing to its choking fumes.Martial Sachet Powders
"Fell," or "baneful," amuletic herbal sachets, better known in the United States as hex powders, can be
composed from the following herbs and woods used simply or in combination. If required in sachet
form, they should be bound with red ribbon or yarn in the waning moon, preferably in the day and
hour of Mars (8 A.M., 3 P.M., or 10 P.M.). Most of them should never be administered for
consumption in philter form, being extremely poisonous. They are traditional witch herbs, however,
and deserve to be mentioned for that reasons, though maybe best left well alone.
The first listed are not poisonous and, as such, are those you should find a place for in your witch's
cabinet.
"Strafe" - blackthorn leaves (Prunus spinosa)
Pepper - black, white, and cayenne
Ground ginger root
Dried chilis
Dragon's-blood resin (used as stain by violin makers)
Powdered sulphur (flowers of sulphur)
Pulverized holly chips - Ilex aquifolium (do not eat)
Pulverized ash chips - Fraxinus excelsior (do not eat)
Pulverized hickory chips - Carya alba
Dried stinging nettles - Urtica dioica (and any other herbs or spice of an astringent nature)
Euphorbium - Euphorbia corollata (in the United States, "Snow on the Mountain" - poisonous)
Gum bdellium - balsamodendrum
Wolfsbane - monkshood, Aconitum anglicum (of the same family as the field buttercup,
Ranunculaceae - poisonous)
Gum ammoniac (formerly used as a cement - poisonous)
Death cup mushrooms - Amanita phalloides (deadly)
The remaining complement of baneful herbs are those of a Saturnian nature.
The traditional Saturnian incense of wrath and chastisement is composed of black poppy seed,
henbane, mandrake root, powdered lodestone, and myrrh. This should be well mingled together and
incorporated with the brain of a cat and the blood of a bat.
However, for your purposes, the following recipe can be used quite satisfactorily:
4 parts gum myrrh
1 part dried, powdered yew or juniper
1 part dried elderberry leaves or twigs, powdered
1 part dried, powdered Cyprus twigs
1 part patchouli leaves (or a few drops of patchouli oil)
1 pinch of magnetized iron filings or lodestone dust
Failing this, pure gum myrrh may be burned alone in the thurible.
Graveyard Dust
To the experienced practitioner of witchcraft, this may mean one of three things:
1. Either purely dust or earth taken from a churchyard.
2. Dried, powdered mullein herb (Verbascum thapsus.)
3. Bone ash and asphaltum, also known as mummy dust, originally obtained by grinding up Egyptian
mummies. This is a great rarity nowadays for obvious reasons.
Any or all of these graveyard dusts may be used singly or in combination in Saturnian hex powders or
sachets, designed to bring inertia or restriction of some sort. Similarly the following "simples" may
also be used:
Pulverized myrrh wood
Black poppy seeds
"Holda" berries, leaves, and flowers (elderberry or Sambucus nigra)
Rue (Ruta graveolens] - edible but bitter
Bitter aloes
Sourgrass (sorrel) - Rumex acetosa (edible but sour)
Hawthorn blossoms (Crataegus oxyacanthus)
Periwinkle blossoms (Vinca major or minor)
Pulverized juniper wood and berries (Juniperus Communis)
Pulverized yew wood and berries (Taxus baccata)
Felonwort (bittersweet or woody nightshade - Solarium dulcamara - poisonous)
Dwale (deadly nightshade, devil's herb - Atropa belladonna - poisonous)
Enchanter's nightshade (circaea lutetiana - poisonous)
Twilight sleep (henbane - Hyoscyamus niger - poisonous)
Devil's apple (Jimson weed, Thornapple, devil's trumpet - Datura stramonium - poisonous)
Mark of Gain (Hemlock - Conium maculatum - poisonous)
The last seven may be traditionally magical herbs, but they also happen to partake of the nature of
powerful vegetable drugs. Again, as in the instance of the Mars variety, be careful.
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