The Encyclopedia of 5000 Spells - Judika Illes 2009

Banishing Spells
The Spells

There’s often confusion over the difference between banishing spells and binding spells, however it’s crucial that you understand this difference.

Binding spells attach something or, more frequently, someone to you with great intensity, often permanently

Banishing spells remove something or, more frequently, someone from your presence, often permanently

It’s an important distinction. Although magic spells are typically used to manifest something or someone, quite often the reverse is needed. Something or someone needs to be sent packing quickly.

Banishing spells are traditionally timed to coincide with the waning moon, in the hopes that, just as the moon diminishes, so will the unwanted presence.

Also falling under the category of banishing spells are Avoidance Spells—those spells required when you wish to avoid contact, for instance with creditors or debt collectors. Banishing spells are used to prevent any unwelcome returns, too. However, you may wish to consider Protection Spells to reinforce, or in some circumstances replace, banishing spells.

Banishing People and Other Pests

Ajenjible Banishing Spell

Ajenjible is an herb used in Latin America for culinary and medicinal purposes. Its magical purposes include banishing:

Make a strong infusion by pouring boiling water over ajenjible.

Strain out the botanical material and use the liquid as the final laundry rinse water when washing your target’s clothing. Allegedly this will stimulate the person to move out of your home.

Balloon Banishing

Write the target of your spell’s name onto a slip of paper.

Insert this paper into a balloon, either before or after blowing it up, whichever you find simpler.

Take the balloon to an appropriate place and release it.

Banish Evil Spell

Sometimes it’s not clear what or who needs to be banished. There’s just a prevailing sense of evil that needs to be expelled. This spell is most effective during the Dark Moon. An iron hammer is required, as is aflat rock, and either a coffin nail or an old rusty nail.

Hammer the nail against the rock. The goal is not to pierce the rock but merely to score it three times across the face. Visualize what you are dispelling while you hammer.

Bury the stone far away.

Carry the nail in a red mojo bag, together with some crossroads and/or graveyard dirt.

Banish Negative Energy

Occasionally what requires banishing is more ambiguous than unwanted guests, mean spirits or vermin: burn chicory to banish negative emotions from the premises as well as negative energy, regardless of the source.

Banishing Powders

The art of the enchanted powder reaches its finest point with banishing spells. Various banishing powders exist, of varying intensity. Some are created from common kitchen ingredients, while others are mixed from more exotic components. Experiment and see which formula works most powerfully for you.

Remember that powders are intended as a subtle form of magic. There’s no need to leave a large suspicious pile; a discreet sprinkling is typically sufficient.

Any of the Banishing Powders below may be used to create a Banishing Oil.

Banishing Oil

Grind the ingredients together to create a Banishing Powder (see below).

Cover this powder with castor oil, shaking vigorously to distribute.

If castor oil is too thick to flow adequately, dilute with jojoba oil.

Banishing Powder (1) Basic Banishing Powder

Black pepper

Cayenne powder

Cinnamon

Sea salt

Sulfur

Banishing Powder (2.) Begone! Banishing Powder

Chopped bay laurel leaves

Black pepper

Cayenne pepper

Powdered hydrangea blossoms

Sea salt

Both formulas above are similar in intensity and may be used in the same manner:

Sprinkle the Banishing Powder on clothes, especially shoes, belonging to anyone you’d like to see gone

Sprinkle the powder on the ground, so that the target of your spell is forced to step on or over it

Banishing Powder will enhance the power of any other banishing spell. Sprinkle as an accompaniment, particularly around and over candles

Banishing Powder (3) Exodus Powder

Asafetida

Cayenne pepper

Sulfur

This is a very concentrated banishing powder, and it’s known as Exodus Powder because it allegedly stimulates your spell’s target to recreate the exodus—a sudden departure.

Grind all ingredients together to form a powder. Sprinkle this on and around your target’s front doorstep to make them move. Actually sprinkling the powder onto your target’s shoes should also achieve the same effect.

Banishing Powder (4) Hot Foot Powder

Black pepper

Cayenne or habanero pepper

Salt

Sulfur

This is the classic Hoodoo version of Banishing Powder. Grind the ingredients together to form a powder.

Banishing Powder (5) Restless Tumbleweed

This is among the meaner banishing powders; your target is not only forced to leave but must wander restlessly like a tumbleweed.

If you can catch a tumbleweed, preserve and powder it.

Add cayenne or habanero powder and black pepper.

Banishing Powder (6) Sayonara Powder

Grind and powder black pepper, cubeb peppers, ground dried ginger, and wasabi powder.

The above Banishing Powders are made from what are more or less household ingredients, with maybe a little extra investment. Although not everyone keeps sulfur powder or powdered hydrangea as a kitchen staple, they are both easy, inexpensive items to purchase from an herbalist or spiritual supply store.

The following Banishing Powder has a more complex set of ingredients: obtaining them may take greater effort than the previous formulas. It is, however, considered a stronger, more defiant, and perhaps ultimately a more malevolent banishing agent.

Ultra Deluxe Banishing Powder

Cayenne pepper

Dragon’s blood powder

Filé powder (ground sassafras)

Gunpowder (saltpeter and sulfur may be substituted if you cannot get hold of gunpowder)

Habanero powder

Shotgun pellets

A crushed wasp’s nest

Mash all the ingredients together in a mortar and pestle.

Grind in a spice or coffee grinder to reduce to a fine powder.

Sprinkle the powder on your target’s doorstep.

If you enjoy working with figure candles, black devil candles are considered powerful banishing agents:

Black. Devil Banishing Spell

Hold a black devil candle in both your hands to charge it with your desire.

Dress the candle with Banishing Oil and burn.

Botanical Banishing Spells

The following botanicals possess a banishing effect. Incorporate one or (ideally) a combination of them into banishing spells: angelica, asafetida, basil, bay laurel, citronella, cloves, cumin, devil’s bit, dragon’s blood, elder, fleabane, fumitory, garlic, heliotrope, horehound, juniper, lovage, mistletoe, mullein, mugwort, oleander, pepper (both black and hot chili/cayenne), yew.

Use in any combination to formulate your own banishing spells

Living plants grown in quantity around the home discourage uninvited visitors

Several of the above plants, like oleander and yew, are poisonous. As a general rule of thumb, those plants with toxic properties are used in banishing spells, to varying degrees. However, this may not be appropriate for those with children or animals present

Poison Gardens are discussed in depth in the Protection Spells section; however, if it’s safe and appropriate for you, a Poison Garden may provide the privacy-minded with a protective banishing shield

Change or Else!

This banishing spell targets a trouble-maker. Unlike most banishing spells, which simply encourage the person to depart, this one offers another option. The target of the spell can either reform or else leave peacefully.

Add essential oils of patchouli and vetiver to a blend of olive and castor oils.

Rub this on the door-knobs of your target’s home.

Coffee Grounds Banishing Spell

The most effective way to perform the following spell is via subterfuge. Invite the target of your spell over to your home and serve fresh-brewed coffee. For maximum effectiveness, offer to read their coffee-grounds, turning over their cup. Then when they’ve left, immediately gather your spell materials.

Gather the dirt from your target’s foot prints or, alternatively, gather the dirt from under a chair in which they were the last person to sit.

Combine this dirt with cayenne pepper, ground sassafras and used coffee grounds. (The most potent coffee grounds are those from the target’s own cup.)

Sprinkle this on the target’s front doorstep.

Cowslip Banishing Spell

Sprinkle cowslip (wild primrose) blossoms over your threshold to turn away unwanted visitors.

A different and very powerful banishing powder is created by invoking Exu’s blessing. This Brazilian banishing spell utilizes pemba, an ingredient common to both African and Afro-Brazilian magic. Pemba is a type of chalk, traditionally blended with herbs. Each orisha has a specific formula and color of pemba. Once upon a time, pemba was imported to Brazil from Africa. Real pemba is sometimes still available from spiritual supply stores, however common colored chalk is now often substituted instead.

Exu’s Banishing Powder

Collect seven handfuls of graveyard dirt.

Add a package of Pemba de Exu along with the herb corredeira. Be careful: corredeira is potentially toxic. Should true pemba be unavailable, red and/or black chalk may be substituted.

Grind all the ingredients together until a fine powder is created.

Place this powder inside a brown paper bag and take it to a crossroads at midnight.

Appeal to Exu. Ask him to bless your enterprise and to bless your Banishing Powder. Tell him whatever you need him to know.

Leave him a gift (rum and cigars are traditional) but don’t leave the bag of powder. Having been blessed by Exu, you must now maneuver it into the home of your target to effect the banishing.

Foot Track Banishing

Traditional methods of spell disposal are not always possible any longer, for a variety of reasons, ranging from ecological to legal restrictions. In some cases, substitutions are easily made which will not adversely affect the desired outcome, but this is not always the case. The following is a very simple banishing spell, common to various parts of the world such as North Africa, the American South, and Romany-influenced Europe. The disposal of the ingredients effectively is the spell: sending your target’s footprints downstream causes the banishment. If it’s not possible to perform this spell exactly, then try another.

Follow the target of your spell discreetly, observing their footprints.

When you see a clear, distinct left print, dig it up in its entirety.

Take it home in a bag, then transfer the dirt to a glass jar or bottle, being careful not to lose or spill any of it.

Seal the bottle very tightly shut, adding a wax seal, if you like.

Take this to running water flowing away from you.

Turning your back on the water, throw the container over your left shoulder without looking, taking care not to hit anything you shouldn’t.

Walk away without looking back once.

Four Thieves Banishing Spells

An excellent example of how magic travels and evolves, Four Thieves Vinegar arrived in New Orleans, brought by either French or Italians immigrants, who valued it for its illness-banishing properties. In New Orleans, another use was discovered: Four Thieves Vinegar is an excellent banishing agent for unwanted people. From New Orleans Voodoo, this use of Four Thieves entered the modern Wiccan and Pagan magickal community, many of whom are unfamiliar with its original use as a healing agent.

Four Thieves Banishing Spell (1)

To avoid debt collectors or others in hot pursuit of you:

Place their business card inside a shot glass.

Fill the glass with Four Thieves Vinegar.

Leave the glass standing in a discreet place as long as necessary.

If a business card does not exist or you cannot obtain one, make one up: write the target’s name on a business card-sized piece of paper and place this in the shot glass.

Four Thieves Banishing Spell (2)

Rub front entrance door-knobs with Four Thieves Vinegar, while visualizing your spell target’s imminent departure.

Four Thieves Banishing Spell (3)

The following spell is used to keep someone away from you, as well as to establish healthy boundaries.

Write your target’s name on a piece of brown paper.

Soak this paper in Four Thieves Vinegar.

Fold the paper and bury in a flowerpot, ideally filled with crossroads dirt.

Plant a cactus on top and keep the pot near the front door.

The following banishing spell is traditionally attributed to Marie Laveau. Marie Laveau, born a free woman of color in New Orleans in 1792, may be the individual who has exerted the single most powerful influence over American magic. Until Marie Laveau, Voodoo, African-derived spiritual traditions, and the occult in general, all lingered in the shadows, fearful and disreputable. Laveau took the various strands of magic present in New Orleans and wove them together, creating a coherent, organized metaphysical system, which survived her death as well as subsequent local legal persecution.

Marie Laveau achieved great fame and notoriety in her lifetime. She became a local celebrity, attending church daily, actively performing good deeds and acts of charity while discreetly redeeming slaves and working for abolition. Laveau was the first individual to demand that her metaphysical traditions be openly incorporated into daily life, not hidden behind masks. She demonstrated public pride in her spiritual traditions when it was still dangerous and controversial to do so: Laveau paved the modern road for anyone who publicly practices magic.

Whether the following spell is actually hers or whether her name was attached to bestow power and glamour, may never be known. It is, however, considered one of the most effective banishing spells.

Four Thieves Banishing Spell (4)

Write your target’s name nine times on a square of paper.

Cover and cross each name with your own, saying I cross you, I cover you I command you, I compel you to [fill in your desire]

Place this paper inside a small glass jar or bottle.

Fill the bottle with Four Thieves Vinegar and seal it tightly shut.

You must now dispose of this bottle. The traditional mode of disposal is to toss the bottle over your left shoulder into running water without looking; however, adapt this to your needs and situation.

Four Thieves Banishing Spell (5)

The following spell may be used as a traditional banishing spell. It allegedly has the added bonus effect of causing the spell’s target to cease harassing or bothering you.

Sprinkle Four Thieves Vinegar over sea salt. (Traditional hoodoo and conjure workers might favor kosher salt instead.)

Blend the Four Thieves Vinegar into the salt, then, once the salt has dried, pour it into a conjure bag and carry until your opportunity arises.

When the target of your spell next visits you or is otherwise encountered, sprinkle the salt secretly in their wake as they depart from you.

Four Thieves Nine Night Banishing Spell

An extra-strength banishing spell:

Each night for nine consecutive nights (ideally timed with the waning moon but cast the spell as necessary) write the target of your spell’s name on brown paper, together with a brief, explicit message, something like “Go home!”

Sprinkle one of the banishing powders over the paper.

Add one of the target’s hairs, a nail clipping or a thread from their clothing.

Burn everything; place the ashes in a bottle of Four Thieves Vinegar.

Following the ninth night, wrap the bottle tightly in black fabric, securing it with cord.

Make nine knots in the cord reiterating your desire for banishment with each one.

Throw this bottle into running water or a cemetery and return home via a circuitous route.

Four Thieves Quick Banishing Spell

This is a quick-fix version of the Four Thieves Nine Night spell above.

Add some banishing powder (any one you like) to a bottle of Four Thieves Vinegar.

Write the target of your spell’s name on brown paper and put it inside the bottle, too.

Shake the bottle, then leave it upside down in the corner of your closet or behind your bed overnight.

Wrap it in black fabric, securing with cord in which you tie nine knots, reiterating your wish for banishing with each one.

Throw the bottle in a garbage can at a distance from your home and return via a circuitous route.

Garlic Banishing Spell

Hang a braid of twelve garlic heads over the door to banish jealous people and, by extension, the Evil Eye.

Get Lost and Far Away!

Lost and Away Powder has various uses, in addition to banishment. It’s also used to establish personal and psychic boundaries, as well as to prevent someone else from encroaching on those boundaries.

Write your target’s name thirteen times on a square of paper.

Sprinkle Lost and Away Powder on this paper.

Fold the paper up, always folding away from you.

Seal it with sealing wax, preferably red.

Bury this paper but mark the spot.

Leave it buried for thirteen days, watering daily with War Water.

On the fourteenth day, dig it up and burn it.

Hit the Road and Don’t Come Back Spell

Fill your pockets with salt in anticipation of the person’s departure.

Accompany the person as he or she departs, walking just a step behind to the edge of your property, discreetly sprinkling salt in their wake.

When the person has gone and can no longer see you, take a broom and sweep the salt away, always sweeping away from your home or the area you wish protected from their presence.

Simultaneously murmur your target’s name, alternately praying and petitioning that he does not return and commanding and compelling him never to return.

Variations on this spell suggest adding black and/or cayenne pepper to the salt.

Another mode of administering Banishing Powder is via a gift.

I Banish You With A Gift

Sprinkle any of the Banishing Powder formulas onto the dirt of a very nice potted plant.

Sprinkle some powder under the top layer of the plant’s dirt, too, so it isn’t so obvious.

Give this to your target as a present: the goal is to actually get the powder within the target’s home, in order to stimulate them to leave.

A Magical Dis-Invitation

The following spell extends the opposite of an invitation. It’s appropriate for getting rid of unwanted potential guests, as well as those who have already outstayed their welcome.

Write the name of your target on a small square of paper, one square per unwanted person.

Anoint each corner of each square with Banishing Oil.

Bury this charm on the path to your entrance door, so that everyone who enters is forced unknowingly to step over it.

Menstrual Blood Banishing

Your own menstrual blood rubbed onto doorknobs allegedly repels anyone who touches the knobs while harboring evil intentions towards you.

Nettle Banishing Spell

Burn nettles while focusing on your desires to accomplish the banishing.

Onion Banishing Spell

The following spell is ideal for unwanted houseguests, or lovers who have overstayed their welcome.

Choose an onion whose appearance somehow reminds you of the target of your spell. Traditionally round shapes represented women, while sharp, pointy shapes indicated men but choose whatever resonates for you.

Large, fat, tiny, thin, horribly misshapen—whenever you’ve found your onion, hollow out a hole within it, carefully reserving the piece of onion you’ve removed.

Write your target’s name five times on a small slip of paper.

Stuff this into the hole in the onion.

Close up the onion by replacing the cut-out piece; this may take a little maneuvering.

The next time the target of your spell leaves your home, discreetly roll the onion in their wake, before anyone else has the opportunity to cross the threshold, whether leaving or arriving.

Focus your mind exclusively on the person’s imminent, permanent departure.

Do not bring the onion back into your home but dispose of it outside, preferably as far away as possible.

Plant lovage in front of and around your borne to help ward off all sorts of unwanted intruders, ranging from door-to-door salespeople, to evil spirits, to epidemics, to vermin.

Out of My House Banishing Spell

The following spell is excellent for ridding your home of an unwanted guest, or perhaps even a family member who needs to depart. The spell presumes that you have access to the target’s clothing and personal items. Surely you’re doing their laundry? The more personal the items are, the more effective the spell.

Construct a small doll using personal items belonging to your spell’s target.

Write the target’s name on a small slip of paper. Cross over the name by writing an appropriate message, something like “Out of my house now!”

Pin this to the doll like a name-tag.

Soak the doll’s feet in one of the Banishing Oils. (Exodus Oil is particularly appropriate; however, use whichever resonates strongest for you.)

Wrap the doll in dark fabric, folding away from you. Keep it in a safe place, anointing the feet daily and secretly telling the doll exactly what you’d like to tell the target of your spell.

As soon as the banishment has been effected, destroy or dispose of the doll. Do not keep it in your home.

Poke Root Banishing Spell

Carve and dress a banishing candle using any of the banishing oils and/or powders.

Wrap some of the melted wax around a poke root and a slip of paper bearing the name of the person to be banished.

Shape the wax into a ball and throw it into water flowing away from you.

Pumpkin Magic Lamp Banishing Spell

This time consuming and labor-intensive spell is more suitable for banishing a dangerous, troublesome person from one’s vicinity than for banishing houseguests who’ve outstayed their welcome.

Burn Lost and Away Powder, creating lampblack ink as it burns.

Use the ink to write a note detailing who must be banished.

Make a magic lamp from a hollowed-out pumpkin.

Place the note face up inside the pumpkin.

Cover the note with more banishing powder (any one you choose), Grains of Paradise, cayenne pepper, graveyard dust, and soot.

Half fill the pumpkin with blended castor and olive oil.

Create a wick from cotton and burn this pumpkin outside on seven consecutive Fridays.

When the spell is complete, bring the pumpkin to a river or sea and let the water carry it away.

Purple Candle Banishing Spell

Burning a purple candle in the following spell indicates your power over the target of your spell. However, a black devil candle may be substituted if you prefer.

Write the name(s) of those whom you wish to banish on a square of brown paper.

Cover the name(s) with your own, effectively crossing the first name out.

Chant:

I cover you, I cross you

I command you, I compel you

[Name], child of [Name] Get out of my house now!

Dress a purple candle with Banishing Oil.

Place the paper on a dish, beneath the purple candle.

Burn the candle.

Adapt the chant to your particular situation.

Saint Expedite Banishing Spell

Write the target of your spell’s name and identifying information on a slip of paper.

Stick this paper into a balloon, then blow it up and tie it, trapping the name within.

Attach this balloon to a statue of Saint Expedite.

Offer Saint Expedite a glass of rum and a slice of pound cake and tell him what you need.

After you deem sufficient time has elapsed, release the balloon. Allegedly the person will depart in the direction that the balloon travels.

San Alejo Banishing Spell

The absolute nicest banishing spell I know invokes Saint Alex or, as he is known in Spanish, San Alejo. San Alejo is traditionally invoked to keep your enemies at a distance and to protect you from any harm those enemies wish for you.

This banishing spell is excellent for houseguests who have overextended their welcome or anyone whose presence causes you misery. It doesn’t merely send them away; it sends the banished party to a better place, more suitable and happier for them. You’re actually doing them a favor!

Incidentally, don’t be afraid to plead hard with San Alejo to grant your wish: he’s also the patron saint of beggars.

Burn a silver candle and chant: “San Alejo, Alejelo.”

Repeat the chant seventeen times, focusing on the target of your spell.

Seven Knob Banishing Spell

Seven-knob candles are used to obtain wishes. Perhaps your wish is to be left alone…

Beginning with the bottom knob, carve the name of your spell’s target into each knob of a black seven-knob candle.

Blend Banishing Oil with Tabasco sauce and ground black pepper. (Tabasco is specifically desirable because it is a simple product with no sugar or other sweeteners, which metaphysically possess a summoning effect, the very opposite of banishing. Check the ingredients on other brands: anything with sugar may neutralize the banishing.)

Use this enhanced Banishing Oil to dress the seven-knob candle, being very careful not to get any of the oil into your eyes or other sensitive areas. (Wash your hands well immediately after handling the candle.)

Beginning at the Full Moon, burn one knob a night. Visualize the person already gone, while chanting something like “Get Out!”

Simple Cotton Ball Banishing Spell

Soak a cotton ball in Banishing Oil. Then slip it into your target’s pocket.

Spare Clothing Banishing Spell

To encourage someone’s imminent departure from your area, obtain an article of clothing belonging to that person. Although any article could be used, an unwashed sock, glove or piece of underwear is best.

Cut a strip of fabric from the clothing and stuff it into a glass bottle.

Write the person’s name, together with the name of an extremely distant, remote location on a piece of paper. Draw a circle around the names.

Stick this paper into the bottle, too, along with salt, sulfur and red chili pepper, or any of the Banishing Powder formulas.

Seal the bottle tightly shut and allow it to rest in a quiet, dark place for nine days.

On the tenth day, take this bottle to a stream or some running water flowing away from you and toss it in. Allegedly you will see results within nine days.

These Feet Were Meant For Moving Banishing Spell

Drizzle Banishing Oil over your target’s shoes. Alternately, massaging the oil into their feet, if you can somehow manage this, can also produce desired effects.

Unwanted Guests Banishing Spell

Sprinkle tormentil under the bed to encourage unwanted guests to move on.

Unwanted Guests Banishing Spell Extra Strength

Sprinkling tormentil under the bed is effective but subtle. If you’ve reached the point of desperation, sprinkle tormentil over unwanted guests’ sheets. This is a more powerful, more direct approach but be prepared for questions.

Banishing Bad Habits

Although these spells may be used to target any type of behavior, the term “bad habits” is often understood to refer euphemistically to dangerous and/or undesirable addictions. It may be necessary to combine several spells for maximum effect.

Amethyst Anti-Intoxication Spell

Legends surrounding the beautiful purple gemstone, amethyst, suggest that it may be used to prevent intoxication. This is not exactly true: if you’re really determined to get drunk, there isn’t a crystal in the world that will stop you, nor will drinking from a cup cut from amethyst, the original spell instructions, provide long-term obstruction. What amethysts can do for you are bolster attempts not to drink, whether this means drinking at all or merely to excess. Amethysts reinforce your personal determination and provide a measure of protection.

The amethyst is sacred to Dionysus, Spirit of Ecstasy and Intoxication. It is his power that one witnesses shining through the gemstone. Even gods of intoxication can sometimes be bad drunks, though, as the mythical history of the amethyst points out. Once upon a time, on a morning after, a long, long, time ago, Dionysus, suffering from a hangover and headache, wished to avoid all company. Bothered by every sound, he announced that he would terminate the very next person to cross his path. Who should be passing through the woods at that moment but the lovely young nymph Amethyst, on her way with offerings to present at Artemis’ shrine? But before Dionysus could carry out his threat, Artemis stepped in and saved Amethyst by transforming her into a luminous clear crystal. Abashed and ashamed by his bad temper, Dionysus approached with a glass of wine. Pouring it over the now crystallized nymph, Amethyst turned her characteristic purple color. Dionysus swore that whenever he saw this gemstone in the future, he would become an ally in preventing the ill-effects associated with alcohol.

Amethyst’s anti-intoxication powers are strongest if one drinks out of an amethyst cup. An amethyst-colored cup may be sufficient

Wear an amethyst as a ring or over the throat chakra. Remember to charge the gemstone and cleanse it periodically

Amethysts also have a cleansing effect: metaphysically they will help remove and assimilate toxins, including alcohol

Bad Habits Bath

Add the following to a tub filled with warm water:

Essential oil of clary sage

Essential oil of frankincense

Essential oil of lavender

Essential oil of lemongrass or May Chang

Essential oil of rosemary

Enter the bath and inhale the fragrance, and accompany with affirmations and positive visualizations.

Bury Bad Habits Spell

Among the most famous hexing spells are those involving miniature-sized personalized coffins left on the spell target’s doorsteps. This coffin spell is traditionally as much an act of sheer intimidation as it is a magical spell, however it can be put to less malevolent uses. Use the little coffin spell below to lay issues to rest and, in particular, to bury addictions.

Create a small coffin. You will need a little box. You can find one or make one, however the imagery should be very clear: there should be no ambiguity regarding the type of box. Inspiration, or a box itself, may be taken from Mexican Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) handicrafts.

Paint the outside of the box black. Decorate with purple glitter glue if desired.

Traditionally the box contains a small doll, which may or may not be personalized so that the identity of the target is clear. Consider how to personify your addiction.

Accompany and reinforce this spell with intensive candle burning.

The doll may be pierced with pins. Add candle stubs, leftover spell wax, graveyard dirt, asafetida and banishing powder, especially Lost and Away Powder.

Dress everything with Banishing Oil.

Traditionally the coffin is left on your target’s doorstep. Consider appropriate places to leave it, or bury the little coffin within a cemetery.

You may find just making the box therapeutic in itself. In which case, reserve the box for ritual use or destroy it.

Crystal Bad Habit Breaking Spell

Use double-terminated crystals to help break old habits and destructive patterns, and to heal addictions. Other beneficial stones include amethyst and kunzite, which interestingly contains lithium, used medicinally to treat depression and bi-polar syndromes.

Carry the gemstones in a conjure bag

Lay the stones on or around the body

Use the stones as a focal point for visualization and meditation spells

Devil Card Banishing Spell

Remove the Devil card from a Rider-Waite tarot deck. (Other decks may work, too. Examine the images closely.)

Burn a purple candle. Place the card where you can see it easily.

Meditate on the image, observing how loose the depicted chains truly are.

Allow spontaneous thoughts and solutions to enter your mind.

Eating Disorder Banishing Spell

For maximum effect, this spell should coincide with a waning moon.

Add essential oil of fennel to olive oil or create infused oil of fennel. (See directions in Elements of Magic Spells.)

Dress a small black candle with this oil.

Hold the (unlit) candle in your hands and visualize your pain and bad habits flowing from your body into the candle. Try to purge yourself of all negative urges and emotions, at least momentarily.

When you feel this has been accomplished, put the candle down and pick up a moonstone in your left hand, and a clear quartz crystal in your right.

Bury the candle, not too close to your home. (If it is buried on your property, make it the furthest point from the house.) Place the crystals in a pretty charm bag and keep them with you constantly, cleansing them frequently, and re-charging as needed.

Eucalyptus Banish Bad Habits Spell

The eucalyptus tree is believed to possess potent banishing properties. If you have a eucalyptus tree, it’s simple to make a decoction: place leaves, twigs and loose bark into a pot and cover with water. Bring it to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer gently for an hour or more. Otherwise, you can create an infusion from dried eucalyptus, available from herbal supply stores. Pour boiling water over the botanicals and let them steep until the water cools.

Either way, strain out the botanicals and add the infusion to your bathwater, to destroy evil ties that bind, whether bad addictions, bad habits or bad company.

Everlasting End Banishing Spell

Essential oil of helichrysum, also known as immortelle or everlasting, is believed to magically speed the removal of toxins from the body, thus enhancing any attempt to end a physical addiction.

Inhale everlasting’s aroma as needed, either straight from the bottle or added to an aroma burner

Incorporate full body massage using the essential oil into your recovery program

Frankincense Banish Bad Habits Spell

Frankincense is famed for breaking the bonds of addictions and bad habits, as well as those of unhealthy relationships.

Explicitly name the tie that needs to be broken.

Write this down on parchment, using Dove’s Blood or myrrh-enhanced ink.

Write your full name on the other side of the sheet.

Anoint the corners with essential oil of frankincense.

Place this in a small saucer, with your name facing upward.

Dress a white candle with Fiery Wall of Protection Oil, which should contain both frankincense and myrrh.

Place it atop the paper on the dish and burn.

Sometimes the condition that requires banishing isn’t yours. Perhaps someone else’s drinking is causing your life to be miserable. Spells have evolved to encourage others to stop drinking.

Get Someone Else to Quit Spell (1)

This Pow-Wow technique is used for curing excessive alcohol intake by another, whether he or she wishes to be cured or not.

Scrape the dirt out from under the target’s fingernails. (Probably best accomplished while they are in a stupor, unless you are in the general habit of providing a manicure.)

Secretly add these scrapings to their favorite alcoholic beverage.

When appropriate, serve them some. The person will happily drink this beverage. Allegedly the addition should remove future inclination to imbibe.

Get Someone Else to Quit Spell (2)

Bake or roast a black hen’s gizzard. Do not boil it, as the correct texture will never be achieved.

Let the gizzard dry out, then grind it into a fine powder.

Add a pinch of this powder to each of your target’s drinks. Allegedly this will cause him or her to lose their taste for alcohol.

There is a price to pay in this Brazilian spell. The person who performs it (i.e., you, not the person being weaned from alcohol) must never eat a black hen again. In effect this means, for most of us who purchase our chickens already killed, plucked, cleaned, and wrapped in plastic, that you must forego chicken altogether, although if the spell works, perhaps this is a small price to pay.

Get Someone Else To Quit Spell (3)

An old English cure for excessive drinking may be the most effective of the lot: keep a live eel in your drink. That would keep most people far from the bottle.

The modern grapefruit is a relatively new species, having apparently evolved in colonial Barbados. Interestingly this fruit which evolved in a place and time plagued by slavery is among the most potent botanicals for breaking personal shackles.

Grapefruit Quit Smoking Spell

A magical plan to stop smoking:

Every time you crave a cigarette, have a grapefruit instead.

Here’s the catch: you must cut and eat the grapefruit completely by hand. You cannot use a knife to cut it or use a spoon to eat it.

Peel the grapefruit by hand, and then eat it segment by segment.

Licorice Stick Spell

Who’s the boss? You or your habit? Licorice is an herb of domination. Let it help you put that habit in its place. Chew on a licorice stick or twig (not the candy! The real plant is required.) This spell is allegedly extra beneficial for quitting smoking.

Magnolia Bark Spell

Drinking magnolia bark tea supposedly helps one quit smoking.

Maximon (pronounced Mah-shee-mon) is an unofficial saint from Guatemala who also answers to the name Brother Simon. His traditional votive image depicts a man with a large moustache sitting at a crossroads, dressed in a black suit. He may hold a bag of money on his lap or display gold coins in his hand.

This unofficial saint is actually the modern manifestation of an ancient Guatemalan spirit, Maam or Grandfather. When Roman Catholic missionaries first encountered Maam, they attempted to assimilate him by syncretizing with Saint Simon, often associated with magic in European traditions. They underestimated the power of this spirit. The saintly mask was insufficient for hiding Maximon’s true nature—his is the fierce, defiant, wild epitome of male virility and procreative power.

In an attempt to downplay Maximon’s influence, further attempts were made to syncretize him with Judas Iscariot, or even Satan. Too late, the damage was done. Attempts to denigrate Maximon and discourage devotion to him only served to enhance his bad-ass reputation as a powerful provider, afraid of nothing. Maximon offers wealth and success to his devotees but he also possesses the power to break even the most powerful addictions.

Maximon’s Rehab Spell (1)

Build Maximon an altar in order to engage his attention.

He accepts offerings of hard liquor, Coca Cola, cigarettes, coins, keys and kumquats.

Tell him what you need.

Maximon’s Rehab Spell (2)

This and the previous spell may be cast in conjunction or used separately.

Carve your name, identifying information and situation into the wax of a white candle.

Dress it with Maximon Oil.

Hold the oily candle in both hands, charging it with your deepest desires.

Burn the candle.

Mullein Spell

Burn mullein to help banish any kind of bad habit.

Onion Blossom Spell

Burn onion blossoms while making affirmations to help banish bad habits. This provides a magical cleansing effect too.

Banishing Gossip

Banish Gossip: Chill-Out Spell

This spell may be used to prevent gossip, slander, and general harassment.

Write the target of the spell’s name on a slip of brown paper and place within a small glass cup or dish. If one specific person isn’t the problem, but rather it’s a situation that’s gotten out of hand, then explicitly and concisely name the situation instead.

Place an ice cube on top of the paper.

Break an egg over all and put in freezer to chill out.

Banish Gossip: Gag Root Spell

Among lobelia’s nicknames are “gag root,” “puke weed,” and “emetic weed,” so it’s obvious what this plant can do! Carry gag root, don’t consume it! It allegedly gags those who talk behind other people’s backs and puts a halt to gossip and slander about you.

Banish Gossip Mojo Hand (1) Put A Lock On It!

Add bay laurel leaves, calendula blossoms, and a small metal padlock to a mojo bag to stop gossip about you.

Banish Gossip Mojo Hand, (2) Sew That Mouth Shut!

Place a ginger root and a High John the Conqueror root within a conjure bag.

Create a small face from felt and attach it to the bag. Embellish it as you will.

Using black thread, sew “x’s” across the mouth, sealing it shut. Focus on your desire as you sew.

Carry the bag with you.

Banish Lies

Violets are magically acknowledged as the plant of truth. Ironically, virtually all fragrances purporting to be violet are synthetic reproductions; create your own infused oil from violet leaves. Carve a white figure candle to represent the target of your spell and dress with infused oil of violets. Burn the candle; the truth will allegedly be revealed.

Beef Tongue Banish Gossip Spell

There are many variations of spells utilizing whole uncooked beef tongues. These were once a fairly popular food, but today are somewhat of a specialty item. Although the most notorious versions of these spells derive from New Orleans, these spells, like Four Thieves Vinegar, are European importations. This particular genre of spells apparently derives originally from British folk traditions, where pierced organ meats were once not an uncommon magical tool. Most variations of these spells revolve around legal issues. This version aims to stop gossip.

Write the name(s) of those whose gossip and slander must cease, as well as any of their allies, onto slips of paper. Each person gets their own slip of paper.

Make slits in a whole beef tongue, one slit per slip of paper.

Stick the slips of paper into the slits.

Close the slits up, using pins and needles.

Sprinkle the tongue with cayenne and/or habanero powder plus vinegar, chanting:

I cross you and I cover you

I command you to hold your tongue

Alternate these commands with a straight-forward “Shut up!”

Wrap up the tongue and place it safely in your freezer for a year or until all danger is gone.

Black Cat Banish Gossip Spell

Hold a black cat candle in your hands, charging it with your desires.

Burn it, coinciding with the waning moon, to minimize and eliminate gossip.

Black Cat Banish Gossip Spell (2)

Although a black cat candle by itself may be used to end gossip, its power is enhanced by using Fiery Wall of Protection Oil with it:

Carve your name and any identifying and pertinent information into a black cat candle.

Dress with Fiery Wall of Protection Oil and burn.

Black Cat Banish Gossip Spell (3)

Alternatively, if you know who is responsible for spreading the gossip:

Carve the black cat candle as described above.

Dress it with a combination of Fiery Wall of Protection Oil and Command and Compel Oil.

Hold the oily candle in both your hands, charging it with the force of your emotions.

Announce, addressing your target by name: [Name], child of [Name] I command you, I compel you

I command you, I compel you to cease this gossip now. [Use your own words to explicitly name your desire.]

The combination of Fiery Wall of Protection Oil with the black cat candle is considered most potent for stopping gossip. However, either component of the spell (the oil or the candle) works independently of the other. If that specific type of candle is unavailable, use Fiery Wall of Protection to dress any kind of candle.

Clove Banish Gossip Spell

Cloves are used to stifle and end gossip.

Grind cloves into powder.

Sprinkle the powder onto lit charcoals: fumigate your body, clothing and premises to halt malicious gossip about you.

Fiery Wall of Protection Anti-Gossip Fumigation

Burn Fiery Wall of Protection Powder as incense.

Fumigate your clothes with the aroma

Let the scent permeate your skin and hair

Let the scent permeate your home

Fiery Wall of Protection Anti-Gossip Powder

Sprinkle Fiery Wall of Protection Powder where the gossip is most active to help stifle it.

Fiery Wall of Protection End Gossip Bath

Add Fiery Wall of Protection Oil to your bathwater and soak in it.

Malicious gossip can affect more than an individual: entire families and communities can be harmed. This complex Turkish ritual involves a group intervention to cause gossip to end and restore balance to the community.

Group Gossip Banishing Spell

Ritually cleanse the room where the spell will be performed (see page 74).

Ritually cleanse the immediate victim(s) of the gossip, too (see pages 207—220).

Burn welcoming incense to invite powerful, benevolent, protective spirits to provide assistance.

Have the victim(s) sit in chairs in the center of the room, while ritual assistants prepare the spell materials.

Gently melt wax in a double boiler or bain-marie.

One or more people must hold a white cloth over the head(s) of the victim(s).

Someone else must hold a bowl of ice-cold water over this cloth.

Pour some hot wax into the water. As it hits the cold water, it will solidify, forming shapes.

Remove the shapes, once they’ve hardened and cooled. (If you remove them too quickly, the wax will still be soft and the initial shape may be altered.)

These shapes must be analyzed to shed light on the situation: let the victim(s) of the gossip express their opinions first.

The ritual itself removes effects of the Evil Eye caused by gossip. The shapes displayed by the wax hold the clues to who has started the gossip, who is keeping it going and how best to terminate it. However, wax is a modern substitute: this type of spell originally utilized melted tin, aluminum or lead. Use the original materials if more convenient.

Saint Raymond is invoked to protect against false witness. Outside the courtroom, Saint Raymond may be requested to silence your enemies, ending slander and gossip. The most effective day to petition him is his feast day, August 31st.

Saint Raymond’s Anti-Gossip Spell

Light a candle in his honor.

Offer him a key and padlock and tell him what you need.

Traditional hoodoo condition oils, like Fiery Wall of Protection, have entered the lexicons of many other magical traditions, from Wicca to Mexican Santeria, from whence this candle spell derives:

Seven Knob Banish Gossip Spell

Carve the gossip’s name once on each knob of a white seven-knob candle, beginning with the bottom knob and working upwards.

Dress it with Fiery Wall of Protection Oil.

Roll the candle in a mixture of black pepper, cayenne pepper and chia seeds.

Burn one knob every night for seven consecutive nights.

Shut Your Mouth! Anti-Gossip Spell

Dress a candle with Fiery Wall of Protection Oil and/or a Commanding and Compelling Oil.

As it burns, create a doll from cloth to represent the person spreading lies about you, ruining your reputation.

When the doll is complete, make a slit where the mouth should be. Insert a piece of dumb-cane. (Do not touch your own mouth before washing your own hands with soap very well. Better yet, wear gloves while handling the dumb-cane—it is potentially very dangerous!)

Dribble wax over the doll’s mouth to seal it shut.

Bury the doll in a secluded, lonely spot where it’s unlikely to be unearthed.

Shut Your Mouth Spell: Gris Gris

Most magical anti-gossip spells take an indirect approach. This doorstep spell brings the point home. Combine stinging nettles and graveyard dust or Goofer Dust, depending on how angry and violated you feel. Add a freely shed feather of a noisy bird (a crow or a rooster) and leave it on your target’s doorstep.

Slippery Elm Banish Gossip Spell

Slippery elm, which soothes sore throats, is a common ingredient in cough syrups and cough drops. This spell uses it homeopathically to stop malicious speech.

Create a fire in a cauldron or fireplace.

Burn slippery elm in the fire.

While it’s burning, knot a yellow cord, tying your desire and frustration into the knots.

Throw the cord into the fire.

Who Cares About Gossip? Spell

Absolute worst-case scenario? The gossip just can’t be stifled? Crown of Success Oil prevents gossip from adversely affecting you.

Add it to your bath

Massage it into your skin

Dip a cotton ball into the oil and carry in your pocket or tucked into your bra

Banishing Harassment

Sometimes it’s not the individual who needs banishment; it’s their behavior.

Anemone Spell

Carry anemone (windflower) in a conjure bag together with a small silver charm in the shape of a triangle to help stop harassment and bullying.

Black Snake Root Banishing Spell

At least two different roots go by the name of black snake root. Either one may be used in this spell. This spell allegedly causes the person who is harassing you to turn their attention elsewhere and leave you alone.

Obtain intimate items belonging to the guilty party. If these are unavailable, write the person’s name on a slip of paper together with his or her mother’s name. Place the items in a small iron cauldron with a black snake root and burn them.

Fear of the Devil Anti-Harassment Spell

Oh, they’re brave when they’re picking on you. Put the fear of the devil into your tormentor. Invoke Satan for protection. In no way does this spell represent Satanism nor does it represent a petition or promise to the devil. What it does is direct a bigger bully’s attention towards your personal bully. This spell derives from the American South and rests on the assumption that someone with an easy conscience has nothing to fear from the devil. Satan and his hosts are not depicted as evil but as punishing avengers of evil.

Sprinkle asafetida on a lit charcoal.

Asafetida is an effective banishing agent precisely because it smells so bad—you will be tempted to leave, too. Instead call your enemy’s name aloud. (Call every variation of name that is used by the person. Leave no name for them to hide behind.)

Command them to leave you alone in the name of the devil and a whole host of powerful, avenging, volatile spirits.

Hand of Power Anti-Harassment Spell

Stop harassment via the use of a powerful amulet. Although various kinds exist, in this instance an open-palmed hand is ideal—something like the Jewish hamsa or the Muslim Hand of Fatima. Strengthen the amulet by anointing it with essential oil of lavender regularly. (If you’re serious, invest in superior lavender, grown at higher altitudes. Reputable manufacturers of superior oils will be able to provide this information.) Wear the amulet.

Holly Spell

Although there is a hex-like quality to this spell, allegedly it will not harm your target. It merely makes them behave well toward you—or to go away!

Place a photograph of your target, a paper with his or her name written on it, and/or intimate articles (hair, nail clippings, and so forth) into a jar.

Add some holly leaves.

Cover everything with very strong, bitter coffee. Murmur your needs and desires over the liquid, then seal the jar shut and hide it in a safe place.

San Cipriano Candle Spell

Among its many versatile uses, San Cipriano Oil is used to stop harassment.

Carve a candle to represent your tormentor. Figure candles in appropriate genders or colors may be used. Brown candles in any shape may be used to represent your plea for justice. Purple candles are used to indicate your power over the situation and the target. White candle may always be used, as blank slates to express your desires.

Dress the candle with San Cipriano Oil and burn.

Banishing Problems and Situations

Although specific spells exist for many different situations, sometimes a problem doesn’t fall neatly into any one category. Perhaps no solution exists: the only possible positive outcome is for the entire situation to be eliminated or banished.

Rotten Apple Banishing Spell (1)

Cut an apple in half horizontally, so that the star in the center is exposed.

Rub one half of the apple with a mint leaf while visualizing what needs to be banished.

Put the two halves of the apple back together again.

Stick a skewer through the pieces, so that they will remain joined.

Tie the pieces securely together with black silk or satin ribbon.

Bury the apple. Your problem should dissipate as the apple rots.

You may also name your problem by writing it on a slip of paper. Dip this paper into essential oil of mint and place between the apple halves, before rejoining them. However, by naming the problem on paper, you take the risk of further manifestation. Cast whichever version of the spell resonates for you.

Rotten Apple Banishing Spell (2)

The following spell may be used to banish either a person or a problem:

Using a sharp point (a craft knife or a thorn, for instance) write the name of what or whom should be banished onto a red apple.

Place the apple onto an altar and leave it there until it rots.

Bury the rotten apple in Earth, far from your home.

Banish Spirits

Sometimes you need to make the spirits leave. Despite the emphasis on Summoning Spells placed in the classical medieval grimoires, the bigger problem is often how to force these spirits to leave once you’ve achieved your own purposes. A good reason for never dabbling in malevolent magic is that it is typically easier to summon than to banish. Exu Marabo, for instance, a powerful yet dangerous spirit, warns that once summoned, he can never be forced to leave.

In many cases, malevolent magic attracts the attention of equally malevolent spirits. Feeling at home, they move right in, regardless of your desires. Once present, bored and restless, they cause destruction and grief.

In general, banishing spirits is work for a shaman. The first choice in all situations would be to hire an effective, knowledgeable professional. That said, hiring a shaman isn’t an option for many people in most circumstances. When all action must be taken in your own hands, the following spells are reputed to be extremely potent.

Afrit Banishing Spell

The afrit or ifrit is a species of malevolent spirit, indigenous to Egypt and the Middle East, which rises to the ground wherever the blood of a murder victim is shed.

The afrit may be restrained by driving a virgin nail, one that has never before been used, into the ground at the spot where the murder was committed. To release the afrit, remove the nail.

Althaea Banishing Spell

Not only does althaea (mallow) summon benevolent spirits, it also allegedly repels evil destructive ones. Create infused oil of althea. (Follow the instructions in Elements of Magic Spells to create infused oils.) Anoint your body or add the oil to your bath prior to rituals.

Asafetida Banishing Spell

When summoning spirits, especially volatile or dangerous ones, keep asafetida at hand, just in case things go wrong. Should you discover you’ve conjured up more than you can handle, throw the asafetida into an open fire, simultaneously shouting something like “Begone!” or “Go to hell!”

Bamboo Banishing Spell

House spirits are supposed to be helpful; every once in a while a malevolent one turns up. This Korean spell helps banish unwanted house spirits.

Burn bamboo sticks. Allegedly the sound of bamboo’s popping knots scares house demons away.

Banishing Incense

The following incense formula allegedly drives away even the most powerful of evil spirits. The ingredients include:

Asafetida

Bay laurel leaves

Galbanum

Olive leaves

Rue

Saint John’s Wort

Salt

Sulfur

Crumble all the ingredients.

Blend them together, grind, powder and burn on lit charcoal.

Banishment Bouquet

A bouquet of garlic blossoms and angelica flowers, tied up with red and blue ribbons, repels malicious spirits.

Bean Banishing Spell

Beans are filled with mysterious magical powers: so tiny, yet capable of repelling ghosts and demons. Fill rattles with beans and shake them to repel low-level malevolent entities. (Incorporate into ritual as needed as protection.)

Bell, Book, and Candle

This phrase, the title of a popular play and film as well as the given name of numerous metaphysical stores, evolved from traditional Roman Catholic rites of exorcism and excommunication. This method of banishing malevolent spirits pre-dates Christianity, however and may be used as a framework for exorcists of any spiritual orientation. In order to effectively cast a banishing spell, you must be familiar and comfortable with your tools.

The bell is the simplest part of the spell. Bells invoke the combined primal powers of male and female generative energy; the ringing of a metal bell disturbs most malicious spirits. An iron bell will repel most negative entities.

The book refers to sacred texts, the introduction of something so sacred that there is no room left for evil to co-exist in the space; hence it’s squeezed out. The key is to employ whatever fills you with sacred grace. These might be sacred texts, Gregorian chants, or gospel music, or may even derive from what might be perceived as profane sources: soul music, for instance.

Not just any candle will do; the fragrance of beeswax allegedly repels evil. Alternatively rub candles with oils of benzoin and frankincense.

Botanical Spirit Banishing

The following plants allegedly make malevolent spirits feel unwelcome: juniper, maize corn, mugwort, Saint John’s Wort, vervain, wormwood, and yarrow. Keep living plants near your home or any area that needs protection, or hang these dried botanicals near doors and windows as amulets.

Dragon’s Blood Double Action Spirit Banishing Spell

Dress a Double Action candle with Dragon’s Blood Oil.

Burn the candle down completely to keep an area free from malevolent spirits.

Use one candle for every room where you perceive it’s needed.

Disperse Evil Incense (1)

Burn benzoin, frankincense, and juniper as a triple threat and triple protection: evil spirits cannot abide any of these fragrances, let alone the combination.

Disperse Evil Incense (2)

Burn benzoin, patchouli, and sandalwood to banish and disperse malicious spirits.

Djinn Banishing Spell (1)

Although there are benevolent, friendly djinn, many djinn have a reputation as troublemakers. Wormwood is the Tuareg recommendation for banishing malicious djinn. Allegedly they will not remain within the presence of its aroma.

Burn dried, powdered wormwood as incense

Place dried or fresh wormwood in a bowl and cover with boiling water. Use the herbal infused water to asperge an area, repelling resident malignant spirits. Bathe in the infusion for private protection, and add it to laundry rinse water for enhanced protection

Djinn Banishing Spell (2)

Benzoin is the Moroccan recommendation for repelling djinn: burn it as incense. Benzoin and wormwood combine well together for enhanced protection and banishing power.

Dybbuk Dispelling Spell

“Dybbuk” literally means “attachment.” Jewish folklore abounds with tales of these transmigrating souls in trouble who attach themselves to a living body, pushing out the original soul, while asserting their own troubled and often troubling personalities. Shamanic intervention is the required cure, however in case of emergency, fervent repetitions of Psalm 91 allegedly drive out a dybbuk.

Elegba’s Banishing Spell

Hang branches of Abutilon trisulcatum behind the front door of the home to banish and repel troublesome spirits. This plant, a member of the mallow family and known in Spanish as escoba cimarrona, is under the orisha Elegba’s dominion. Elegba controls all doors and roads, permitting entry or forbidding it, as the case may be. According to some spiritual traditions, Elegba even determines the capacity and quality of spirit/human interaction. He is, thus, a particularly powerful ally during any kind of banishing spell.

Elf Banishing Spell

Iron or steel tools and implements repel the elven folk.

Exorcism Spells

Sometimes spirits attach themselves to an individual rather than merely haunting an area. The spirit may speak through the individual, refusing to leave. Encouraging or forcing them to leave is a shamanic technique. However, should you find yourself dealing with a case of possession without an exorcist in the neighborhood, the following spells may be attempted. In general, you will still need a ritual assistant to help achieve your magical goals.

Exorcism Spell (1)

Use intensive cleansing methods to purify the area.

In addition to whichever methods are employed ring bells, cymbals and sistra loudly.

Invoke benevolent protective spirits, like Archangel Michael, Kwan Yin, and/or Isis.

Draw up talismans of protection.

Summon the demons, demanding that they come forward and depart.

Observe for signs of departure. Dramatic spirits will let you know they’ve gone. Otherwise use divination techniques to determine whether your methods have been effective or, if not, what further action should be taken.

If you’re sure they’ve departed, burn the talismans.

Mix a teaspoon of the ashes into cooled boiled spring water. Have the person drink it.

Close the ceremony.

Exorcism Spell (2)

Fill a new pot with freshly drawn water.

Pour some olive oil over the water.

Whisper Psalm 10 over this water nine times.

Dip a new towel into this liquid to bathe the afflicted person.

Exorcism Spell (3)

No exorcist available? No friends to help rid you of an unwanted spirit? Do it yourself. Demons reputedly hate the scent of frankincense.

Apply essential oil of frankincense to the crown of the head, the forehead, the back of the neck, the throat, chest, palms of hands and soles of feet. Use individual drops of undiluted essential oil for this purpose.

Now add some essential oil of frankincense to freshly drawn water.

Using a brand new white cloth bathe all of the above body parts, as well as the genital area.

Repeat Psalm 145 throughout the entire ritual.

Extreme Yang Spell

In traditional Chinese belief, what we call demons may actually be a manifestation of excessive yin energy. This can be neutralized by applying the opposing force: extremely potent yang energy. The following serve as demon/yin repellants:

Firecrackers

Mirrors

The crowing of a rooster

Swords

Reading sacred texts and philosophy books is also believed to send malevolent spirits on their merry way because these create order, in which demons (which crave chaos) cannot thrive.

Fenugreek Head Wash

Wash the head with an infusion of fenugreek seeds to protect against demonic possession.

Fire Spirit Banishing Spell

To banish Fire Spirits and prevent their return:

Make bundles from any one or a combination of the following botanicals. Be careful, some are poisonous: water lilies, liverwort, spurge, mandrake, leeks, watercress, water mint, plantain, and henbane.

Post these bundles as amulets, particularly near doors and windows.

Ginger Banishing Spell

It’s traditionally believed that low-level malevolent spirits can enter the body through food. This is the source of many fairy tales where evil is swallowed. Certain foods guard against this as well as expelling any previously swallowed demons, such as ginger. Add it to food to expel and prevent demons.

Goblin Banishing Spell

Goblin is one of those over-used metaphysical classifications that evoke different images for different people. In the classical sense of the word, however, a goblin is an Earth spirit that may adopt a location or, more frequently, a family and perform services for them, something like a household spirit. Sounds good, doesn’t it? Well, it can be, except that goblins have a notoriously stubborn and sometimes malicious streak; what they perceive as performing a “service” may not correspond with the family’s perception. As with most guests, spirits or human, it’s easier to invite them in than to ask them to leave. However, if an invitation to leave is required, the following spell allegedly works.

Sprinkle flaxseed on the floor. Goblins have a compulsive streak and will feel obliged to pick every last seed up. It may accomplish this once or twice but will eventually grow bored and frustrated with the task and go elsewhere, hopefully permanently. Repeat as needed.

Incantation Bowl Spell

Incantation bowls were once popular demon-trapping and banishing devices among the Jews, Mandaeans and Pagans of pre-Islamic Mesopotamia.

An incantation bowl is a shallow terracotta dish, typically covered entirely by incantations, written in a spiral design from the outer rim of the dish, toward the center. An image may be drawn at the very center, usually a rough, childlike depiction of an inevitably female demon. The goal is to trap the spirit underneath the dish where the written incantations will disempower it. The dish is then buried under the doorstep of the home.

Incantation bowls are simple to create for oneself. The magic is in the written charm: you may either purchase a shallow terracotta dish or make one. Because it will be buried, advanced pottery-making skills are not required.

With permanent ink, working from the outside edge toward the center, write banishing incantations. The goal is to fill the bowl with words, so there’s no need to be very brief.

State in your own words your desire for a demon-free home and existence

Include phrases like, “Evil Spirit, Get Out!” (if you know its name, use it), or “Get out of the house belonging to [Name], child of [Name]. Do not disturb her”

Incorporate traditional incantation bowl formulas, for instance the phrase: “Bound and sealed are all demons and evil spirits”

Sometimes these orders of banishment were written up as traditional divorce decrees, severing the relationship between spirit and human forever and ordering the spirit to depart from the home

Once complete, the bowl is buried upside down under the doorstep or entry threshold.

Jet Banishing

Powder and burn jet to exorcise malevolent spirits. (Only true jet will burn.)

Low-level Demon Banishing Spell (1)

Low-level demons are easily fooled. A common practice in the Middle East is to paint ceilings sky blue. This completely confuses these low-level, low-intellect entities: they can’t tell whether they’re inside, outside or where they might be. They have to vacate the premises to think about it.

Low-level Demon Banishing Spell (2)

This general thick-headedness attributed to most demons may be used to your advantage should you wish them to depart. Any inherent contradiction causes the demons to have to think; thinking causes them to stop whatever trouble they’ve been brewing and depart. Thus a Russian formula for banishing illness spirits doesn’t just tell them to go: instead it demands that they come yesterday. Theoretically this confuses the spirit so much it must leave.

Czech and Slovak are unusual languages as it’s possible for words to lack vowels. Combined with an aggressive phrase, it’s enough to send a demon packing. Lisa Goldstein’s novel, The Alchemist’s Door, envisions a collaboration in Prague between the famous magicians Rabbi Judah Loewe, inventor of the golem, and a demon-plagued Dr. John Dee. The stubborn demon is finally exorcised by uttering the Czech phrase, “Strc prst skrz krk!”, which translates as “Stick your finger down your throat!”

Low-level Demon Banishing Spell (3)

The key to successful demon banishing and exorcism is creativity and flexibility.

Take advantage of substances that automatically repel them

Exploit their greediness and lack of intelligence

For example, author Theda Kenyon recounts the tale of an exorcism aboard a Chinese ship in Singapore, in her 1929 book, Witches Still Live.

It was determined that the underlying cause of the ship’s lengthy period of bad luck was an infestation of malicious spirits. A shaman in Singapore proposed the solution: purchase of a deluxe selection of fireworks plus a pair of chickens was recommended. The ship’s cook was instructed to prepare the chickens the most delicious, fragrant way possible. The aroma was so tempting that when the chickens were thrown overboard, all the demons followed. Fireworks were then exploded as added inducement for the demons never to return.

Magic Mirror Banishing Spell

Use a magic mirror to capture and banish unwanted spiritual entities. This method is particularly effective for those creatures of the darkness that fear and loathe light.

On a bright, sunny day, slowly traverse the infested area, holding the mirror in your hand, tilting it and directing it so that the mirror may capture literally every square inch of the area for at least a few moments each.

When you’ve finished, hold the mirror face down or wrap it in dark fabric.

Immediately take the mirror outside and suddenly expose the mirror’s face to the sun, for no more than nine seconds. Captured negativity and malevolence are burned out and destroyed. (Capturing the sun’s reflection in a mirror is potentially dangerous: refer to page 92 for some crucial safety tips.)

Post protective amulets in the now demon-free area.

The area, the mirror, and you yourself all now require thorough spiritual cleansing.

This spell derives from Chinese tradition. The Chinese magic mirror needed for this spell is round, golden and embellished with magical charms and images, but you can substitute any of the magic mirrors (see pages 90—94).

It’s generally believed that should a malevolent spirit’s reflection be caught within a mirror, the spirit’s power is immediately curtailed. It is unable to torment whoever possesses the mirror.

Maitre Carrefour’s Banishing Spell

The dangerous edge that characterizes most crossroads spirits (Elegba, Hermes, Maria Padilha, Hecate, etc.), that fine line that transforms a trickster into a scary malicious spirit, is especially pronounced with the lwa known as Baron or Maitre Carrefour, the Master of the Crossroads. Maitre Carrefour rules nocturnal crossroads. There is great ambivalence towards this volatile spirit as he can so easily turn dangerous. He isn’t summoned without good reason.

Maitre Carrefour permits or obstructs the passage of malevolent spirits as he chooses. If malicious spirits are truly tormenting you, request that Maitre Carrefour deny them access to you. Offer him a very good cigar and fine rum. Speak to him politely and humbly (this isn’t the moment to fantasize about commanding and compelling), with no ambiguity as to your request or any payment promised.

Mandrake Banishing

Allegedly no room is big enough for true mandrake root and evil spirits. Bring mandrake in to force malevolent spirits out!

Poltergeist Banishing: Fumitory/Earth Smoke

Burn Fumitory (Earth smoke) to banish poltergeists, demons, and any manner of malicious spirit. (This was the solution allegedly favored in the famed ninth-century geometric gardens of Saint Gall.)

Poltergeist Banishing: Slamming Doors

Allegedly slamming every door in your residence three times frightens away poltergeists, at least temporarily.

Sage Banishing Spirits Spell

Burn sage—especially white sage—to rid an area of evil spirits and negative entities.

San Cipriano Banishing

During his days as a sorcerer, San Cipriano conjured up spirits at will. According to some legends, he had a host of demons at his personal disposal. Who better to perform an exorcism? Indeed, San Cipriano is the patron saint of magicians and exorcists. Allegedly the condition oil named in his honor possesses a banishing effect.

Dress brown candles with San Cipriano Oil; this should send low-level spirits fleeing. Accompany candle burning with requests for San Cipriano’s personal assistance. Allegedly invoking his name scares the mid-level evil entities away.

San Cipriano Extra Strength Banishing

Faced with full-strength major evil entities, general wisdom suggests that a professional, like San Cipriano in his lifetime, be called in. If this is impossible, invoke the saint’s presence.

Further empower San Cipriano Oil by adding frankincense and benzoin.

Dress sufficient brown and white candles with this oil to cast a circle large enough for you to comfortably stand within.

Create a circle of alternating brown and white candles.

From within the circle, light the candles. Request San Cipriano’s presence. Call the spirits’ bluff and tell them San Cipriano is on the way. Accompany with the Bell, Book and Candle banishing spell (page 148).

When the candles have burned down, continue with extensive Cleansing Spells.

Sinistrari’s Demon Banishing Advice

According to Ludovico Sinistrari, a seventeenth-century Franciscan friar, scholar and demonologist, the following are guaranteed to repel and expel demons. Incorporate them into your spells as needed, individually or together.

Castor oil

Palma Christi, the castor oil plant

Coral

Jasper

Jet

Menstrual blood

Sweet Spirit Oil Spell

This Sweet Spirit Oil is safe for use by most people and smells beautiful. Wearing it endows you with a personal protective aura. Evil spirits will allegedly leave you alone, even if they are lurking nearby.

Blend essential oils of frankincense and vetiver, together with honeysuckle absolute and rose attar into a base of sweet almond oil. Add the oil to bathwater before retiring for the night, or massage it onto the body, to keep malicious spirits far away from you.

Sweet Spirit Powder Spell

To repel evil spirits, while simultaneously beckoning benevolent, kind, protective ones:

Grind the following botanicals together to produce a fine powder: frankincense, honeysuckle blossoms, roses, and vetiver roots.

Sprinkle the powder onto lit charcoal and burn incessantly, until you’re convinced the danger is over.

Trapped in a Bottle Banishing Spell

The most famous genie trapped in a bottle may be Jeannie, star of the hit American television show, I Dream of Jeannie. Evil spirits, including but not restricted to djinn, the original “genies,” can also be trapped inside a bottle or jar.

Drop thirteen rose-thorns into a jar or bottle, one by one.

As you drop each thorn, murmur something like “Evil Presence, I banish you!”

Cover the thorns with the petals from one rose, dropped in one by one as you continue murmuring.

Fill the jar two thirds full with salted water, Holy Water, Rose of Jericho Water or Notre Dame Water.

Leave the jar open and unattended overnight.

Before sunrise, close the jar tight. Evil should be trapped within.

Wrap the jar in dark fabric and bury it far away.

Tree of Life Banishing Spell

Arbor vitae: the name given to this tree means “tree of life.” The smoke from its burning leaves allegedly disperses unwanted spirits and sends them packing.

Turmeric Banishing

Sprinkle ground turmeric onto lit charcoals. Malicious spirits allegedly dislike the fragrance enough to leave its presence.

Witch Balls

Witch balls are globes of iridescent colored glass. Place them around your home and property to disperse malicious spirits.

Woodlands Banishing Spell

Burn acorns, mistletoe, and oak bark to repel undesirable spirit guests. Murmur your desire for them to leave.

Banishing Stalkers

Sometimes the form of harassment is very specific. You may wish to coordinate the following spells, specifically used to prevent personal stalkers, with reinforcing protection spells.

Boldo Begone Powder

Boldo is an evergreen native to South America. Its leaves allegedly help repel stalkers. It is combined with traditional components of banishing powder.

Grind up boldo leaves and blend them together with asafetida, chili powder and sulfur.

Blend this into a base of arrowroot powder.

Sprinkle this powder across the path of the person who must stop pursuing you. Or you can sprinkle the powder across your thresholds as well as any vulnerable areas or points of entry into your home.

Graveyard Dirt Anti-Stalker Spell (1)

Obtain a handful of graveyard dirt, ideally from the grave of someone who loves you and is concerned for your safety.

Drizzle Van Van Oil over the graveyard dirt.

Use this to paint boundary lines around your home, especially across any thresholds. Women may dip an angelica root into this dirt/oil mixture, wrap it in a white handkerchief and carry it between their breasts.

Graveyard Dirt Anti-Stalker Spell (2)

Grind and powder graveyard dirt extremely finely before adding a combination of Van Van and Fiery Wall of Protection Oils.

Dilute this in spring water or one of the magical water formulas (see Formulary, page 1037).

Sprinkle this over yourself to set up a protective boundary.

Maneki Neko, the Japanese beckoning cat, is currently perhaps the world’s most popular amulet. The charm, available in a vast variety of sizes, from several feet high to no bigger than your smallest fingernail, depicts a cat holding one paw up to its ear, a gesture that in Japan indicates “come here!” The images are coded: variations in color and detail create different magical impact.

Initially associated with prosperity spells, Maneki Neko is discussed in greater detail amongst the Money Spells, starting on page 804. However, over the years, other uses have evolved: black Maneki Neko cats ward off stalkers.

In magical parlance, drawing is the opposite of banishing While a summoning spell draws something or someone specific toward you. drawing spells set up a force of attraction, drawing people or qualities (wealth. fertility, love), in general.

Among the ingredients believed to create a drawing effect are:

Sugar

Honey

Molasses

Lodestones

If you are seriously concerned about a stalker, avoid drawing materials, as well as the various Attraction Oils, until the danger has passed.

Maneki Neko’s Anti-Stalker Spell

Carry a small one in a charm bag or wear one on a cord around your neck

Have Maneki Neko stand sentry over your home: place her in a front window, looking outside

Banishing Vermin

No, not bad boyfriends. Try the regular banishing spells at the beginning of this section for them. Or look through the Love Spells for some tips on effectively ending relationships. These vermin are the little creepy crawly kinds that seem to possess magical resistance towards efforts to remove them.

Banishing Powders

The Hoodoo summoning powder called Drawing Powder should contain nothing more than powdered confectioner’s sugar. To demonstrate its powers of summoning, sprinkle sugar on the floor and watch ants and other bugs miraculously appear. Yet Drawing Powder is intended to summon people. Try the spell’s converse and see if this works on bugs, too. The various Banishing Powders are meant to banish people, just as Drawing Powder summons them: sprinkle Banishing Powder around your home to see if this works as well.

Banishment By Royal Decree Spell

The single most effective method for banishing assorted vermin is to pay a visit to the Queen of the Species. This powerful spell utilizes no ingredients beyond your powers of visualization. This spell is particularly effective if you would prefer not to utilize conventional extermination methods.

This ritual may be used as a “last resort” before attempting chemical extermination. If you are a tenant rather than the owner of the home, you may have little say in what methods of pest control are used: this ritual gives you the opportunity to sound a warning and perhaps absolve your conscience.

Visit the queen of your specific species and issue her an ultimatum.

The queen resides in a palace that corresponds to whatever form of home that species naturally uses. Thus the Queen Bee lives in a hive, while the Queen Wasp lives in a wasp’s nest, although your visualization may feature luxurious variations.

When you enter her palace, you will be met by guards and courtiers. Explain that you have an urgent message for the Queen. Refuse to deliver it to anyone else. Eventually, if you are persistent, you will gain admittance to her presence.

Regardless of the size of any other creatures you witness in this visualization, the queen cannot be smaller than you. She must either be comparable in size to you or larger. Because in real life, these creatures tend to be small, you may choose to visualize the Queen as larger than life or, Alice in Wonderland-style, you may temporarily shrink yourself.

Approach the Queen. Speak to her as respectfully as if she were the queen of a great nation, yet be firm. Extend a deadline that is reasonable for you: explain that if her creatures have not vacated your premises (you may wish to offer specific boundaries) by the deadline, you are not responsible for the fate that befalls them.

If it is not your choice to call for a professional exterminator, you are entitled to request that the queen give you a gift before you leave. Otherwise, be polite, be firm and leave quickly.

Depart from the palace via the same route by which you arrived. Wait until the deadline before taking further action.

Eucalyptus Banishing Spell

Botanical methods of banishing may work, too. The scent and presence of eucalyptus allegedly repels cockroaches.

Add essential oil of eucalyptus to a bowl of cool water.

Soak a cloth in the water.

Leave the cloth wherever you’d like to banish the roaches.

If this proves successful, add essential oil of eucalyptus to a spray bottle filled with water and spray wherever needed.

Khonsu’s Banishing Spell

The Egyptian lunar divinity Khonsu may be invoked to banish cockroaches.

Hold a scarab in your left hand to charge it with your desire.

Place it in the light of the Full Moon.

Warm essential oil of frankincense in an aroma burner and tell Khonsu what you need.

Ochossi’s Banishing Spell

Ochossi, the Yoruba orisha of hunting, never misses his prey. Ochossi is an old-fashioned hunter: he is a master archer, a lover of the forest and has little patience with chemically toxic methods of pest control. Request that he remove your pests. Supplement the spell with traps as needed, so that Ochossi can implement his magic. This spell is meant quite literally: it was given to me by a friend, a resident of New York City, who was plagued by a brave and seemingly unbeatable mouse. Within hours of initiating the spell, that mouse was in the trap.

Add cornmeal and honey to a glass of milk and stir it gently to blend. This is your offering to Ochossi: place it on an altar, together with candles and/or other gifts.

Leave the offering out for several hours at least.

Promise Ochossi more gifts, if the vermin go quickly and stay gone.

Magic Chalk Anti-Ant Circles

Stores in New York’s Chinatown sometimes feature Magic Ant Repelling Chalk. The magic may be very effective, but the chalk is just plain chalk. Use white chalk to draw boundary lines and protective circles around your home. Allegedly the ants will not cross these boundary lines.

Valerian Rat Banishing

Allegedly valerian is what the Pied Piper of Hamelin used to lure the rats away from that besieged town. If reports are true, he carried the herb in his pocket. You may, however, wish to try burning it in a portable incense burner or censer. Create a magical path for the rats to follow. Rats, like cats, allegedly enjoy the fragrance and will follow it where it leads them.

Yule Log Banishing

Preserve the charred Yule log and/or its ashes under the bed to keep vermin far away.