The Hoodoo Review

Applying for the Lucky Mojo Rootwork Course

2012-01-09T12:44:00.000-08:00

Well, I'll tell you. It took me a few days consideration, for I wasn't sure if I should admit to my great shame or not. But it seemed it was only fair, for catherine yronwode sure did show me what's what.

You see, I went to apply for the Lucky Mojo Rootwork Course. And I did so simply out of spite, to upset catherine yronwode on a personal level. It's too bad she figured me out so fast, because after only 8 minutes on the phone she said she wouldn't take me for her class and wouldn't change her mind. She then so kindly sought to ensure I understood my defeat, that in a most gracious and chivalrous manner, she kept me on the phone for 20 more minutes despite my efforts, and related how she'd seen through all my glorious malice:

As she so rightly concluded, I'd been deviously scheming for years to ruin her business by doing awful things like buying her products on a fairly frequent basis, then writing unflattering reviews of them on such occasions as I found unflattering things about them -- and in front of fifteen whole blog followers! Surely, I so often thought with utmost glee, surely this will destroy her business. She also seized upon the way that I'm raking in millions through doing this, through having an Amazon Associates Link and Adsense up on my blog so that I can make, like, $5 a year in referral fees between the two of them. This is all done by simply spending around $50 at a time several times a year to buy her products -- just to write mean things about them. Gotta spend money to make money, afterall.

Furthermore, I wrote a whole book of magical formulas just to be mean! See, the scheme there, as she concluded so wisely, was to ruin her whole business by writing a book full of recipes for magical formulas, that you'd have to buy like $20 worth of herbs and essential oils from her in order to make yourself, instead of just buying one mixture from her ready-made for $6! Why I was cackling in my sleep over that one, I tell you, it was so cruel a plan! I'd also totally stolen formulas from her that she invented, passing them off as my own through such subtil means as crediting her as the source, and villainously recommending her website and her book to the readers on page 98! Also, as she rightly guessed, I stole the name of this said book, The Conjure Cookbook, from a book of hers that was NOT called Conjure Cookbook! (That's why the plan was so clever!) I just don't know how she got so smart.

But I was stunned that she saw through my other plan, which I'd figured as cunning as a fox that's been appointed professor of Cunning at Oxford University, for myself to rewrite a book I'd already written; especially when she told me, "I don't give out my recipes, I don't have any secrets for you to steal." See? She had also realized that I was only joining her course to steal the zero recipes! And I had so been looking forward to writing a whole new book of formulas, that would have entirely consisted of those zero recipes. She also pointed out how silly it was of me to want to take a class that's not about making formulas from someone whose formulas I say terrible things about. I had to point out to her that I merely was buying them in malice to begin with.

Now I'd bumped heads with her before on those charming forums she keeps, and had decided to escape from them while I still liked her at least a bit, but man, I forgot all of that after talking to her this time. Who could fail to love one so thoughtful? She even did me the favor of reading back to me EVERY POST I EVER MADE ABOUT HER PRODUCTS ON THIS BLOG, in a helpfully disdainful tone that made even the good reviews sound malicious (just like I'd always meant for them to sound.) This took up a great deal of her own time so I know what a great inconvenience it must have been for her, to do me this favor. Some examples, to replicate this beautiful and overt emphasis on the negative that I'd always intended, in the mode she read them back:

"Epsom salt bath with herbal matter THROWN IN!!!!"

"It loses a point on the oil for the UNFORTUNATE smokey smell!"

"Shipping comes within a "reasonable" time and in "reasonable" packaging."

Music to one's ears, that; like Florence Foster Jenkins singing Queen of the Night.

Anyway, she wisely concluded I was only out to get her and that to allow me in her class would be, as she put it, "like putting [her] hand in a viper's mouth." She recognized that my occult business, Lucky Temple, outright competes with her manufacturing and selling of oils, powders and incenses; it does this by way of selling magic spell casting services that cause me to need to buy oils, powders and incenses from other people such as her! It's exactly the way restaurants put farmers out of business! Ah, yes, she did ask me over and over and over, "So do you make your own products?" trying so nicely to give me an out and prove that we really were on the same team -- but by then I was so moved by her niceness that I just couldn't lie: I did in the past make limited edition products, typically consisting of items I couldn't find for sale elsewhere, though she's so cunning I just had to stop making them. Oh, true, I do have an aStore from which people visiting my site could buy whatever oils happen to be listed on Amazon in a given day, and mentioned that to her -- for I think two people ever might have bought formulas from it. But it's a good thing for their sake Lucky Mojo doesn't do filthy deeds like selling products on Amazon because filth like me might filthily promote their products to other filth.

Well, well, in any case, I can say when I've lost. She sure humiliated me. But the thing is, she underestimated my wickedness -- And I'm such an ill tempered, sore loser, that I'll create a new scheme of wickedness that's purer still, against her. It's even better than maliciously buying things from her! I will maliciously NOT buy things from her!

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Though sadly I had put in an order like 2 days before all this other stuff happened so it will have to wait.

Lucky Mojo Separation

2011-11-11T20:01:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo
TYPE: Separation
FORM: Bath
NOTES: Epsom salt bath with herbal matter thrown in and a very minty smell. I also discovered, after the bath, that a coffin nail was included in the package.
RATING: 9 out of 10; worked better than other separation mixtures I used for similar purpose (in this case, easing out of a doomed/undesirable relationship.) Also well mixed; I believe it had red pepper in it, but not so much as to irritate or add excess heat to the skin.

Incense Works's White Lotus

2011-11-01T01:30:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Incense Works
TYPE: White Lotus
FORM: Incense
NOTES: This is the most long-lasting incense I've ever used, in terms of the scent's staying power. I burned a stick of it at 2:30 PM, and by 2:30 AM my room still reeked of the stuff. The next day, more than 24 hours after burning, I still could smell it, though more faintly. Now, fortunately it's a pretty nice smell. The scent of "white lotus" kind of takes a backseat to the amount of sandalwood that seems to be used in the mix; the sandalwood really dominates. It's a little pricier than normal for stick incense -- I paid $3.95 for a 30 gram box -- but it's from a line called the "Rare Essence Collection" said to be made from unusually high end ingredients (probably including all that sandalwood.) Truthfully, I just bought it because it had a Ganesha on the package.
RATING: 9 out of 10. I think Ganesha was happy with it (I usually buy Lotus incense for him.)

Lucky Mojo Vanilla

2011-10-17T00:45:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo
TYPE: Vanilla
FORM: Incense
NOTES: Another of the single note fragrances, meant for mixing with other herbs to make your own incense. It is not natural vanilla smell, but rarely is an incense ever so (true vanilla oil is pricy.) This has that canned-frosting kind of vanilla smell about it in the package. This incense also possesses the unusual property that once you begin to burn it, it smells really bad and smokey like burning paper or something; then you walk out of the room, probably because it smells so unpleasant, and return to find the smell that lingers is like any vanilla incense. So, the scent seems to need to 'breathe' like a wine or something.
RATING: 8 out of 10; it does serve its purpose as needed.

Alchemy Works's Blood and Smoke

2011-10-01T00:54:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Alchemy Works
TYPE: Blood and Smoke (Mars)
FORM: Incense
NOTES: Soon as you open up the tin, the stuff just looks like a Mars incense; safflower makes it red, pointy and sharp seeds scattered through. Now, as the name suggests, this stuff isn't meant to smell "pretty" by any means. The scent is like burning leaves and charcoal. There does seem to be some myrrh resin in the mix, but it must be very little because this stuff burns up very fast and very smokey soon as it hits the coal. Now, for those accustomed to buying botanica incense for $2.50 a can, the $11 price on this stuff seems pretty steep, especially since it's particularly meant to smell awful. But, I can recommend this one: I found it very effective and active for its purposes. Strange things began to happen in the spell I was using it for; I find that strange things, even if they're 'bad' strange, are actually always good to some degree in spellwork because it means you've caught someone's attention. This also works well as a Mars sprinkling powder, especially nice to scatter around the candles for its violent look.
RATING: 10. This stuff packs a punch; I even used it in a spell I didn't have much hope for and only cast because the client was insistent, and it wound up working extremely well (and the client got her wish.)

Lucky Mojo Sandalwood

2011-05-01T22:08:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo
TYPE: Sandalwood
FORM: Incense
NOTES: So I knew this was going to be kind of a generic wood-chip base with sandalwood oil poured over it, as opposed to pure sandalwood or anything like that; but I was looking for a self-lighting powder on that single note of fragrance. To my disappointment though, there's not much sandalwood scent in this at all. I had to pour several spoonfuls of my own sandalwood fragrance onto the stuff to cover the wood-shop sawdust stench -- to the point where just buying real sandalwood and adding a little saltpeter actually might have been more cost effective.
RATING: 2 out of 10. Probably fine if you don't actually care about the smell and just want something with a token amount of sandalwood in it, but if you hoped your incense might contain a recognizable perfume of sandalwood you'll need something else.

The Ditch Witch

2011-04-09T14:13:00.000-07:00

The Ditch Witch of Santa Fe, Erika Wanenmacher, is mostly an artist, and her website focuses on that aspect almost entirely -- though the occult themes in much of her work are evident. I had seen her cards around town but based on her website it didn't look like I was overly interested in her stuff. However, in a weird turn of events that happened last September, I wound up seeing one of her art shows in which one of my own spells had managed to become a key piece of the exhibit, and this in turn led me to visit her shop.
The Ditch Witch store is in a shared building, kind of a "rustic" (to put it nicely) L-shaped artists complex, with a parking lot that still leaves me unsure as to whether it's just dirt, or just really dirty. The Ditch Witch is in the cell on the right end as you come in. The frontmost room of the section seems to be work by another artist. But in the dark, slightly dirty-looking back room (everything inside is designed in unfinished wood to give it that "Old Santa Fe" kind of look that things in New Mexico have the misfortune to be modeled on) you can see the Ditch Witch's crafts -- mostly bottle spells using found bottles and objects from the local ditches. She does also have, however, some small baskets of handcrafted incense powders, magical sand and curios, and some glass encased candles made with her own labels. She seems to only work positive magic, with something of a Wiccan tone about it (lots of elemental stuff and pentagrams) and many of the intents focus on things like 'balancing.' Folk magic type candles I saw were Road Opener and Hummingbird. She has a small library -- I believe meant for her personal use -- of spellbooks including things like the Encyclopedia of 5,000 Spells and works of that nature, and on top of the cabinet she sells 'vintage' incense burners and candle holders rescued from second hand stores. She seems to take cash-only.
If Erika is not there, then you're out of luck as far as visiting her shop. It's not clear to me whether she's got regular hours, since the sales don't really seem to be her main purpose behind the business. But all of that comes together to give her shop probably the most olde-tyme feel I've found of any magical supply place visited to date. Probably worth checking out if you're in Santa Fe.

Gifts of the Magi/Regalo de Reyes

2011-03-31T19:54:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: unknown
TYPE: Gifts of the Magi/Regalo de Reyes
FORM: Incense
NOTES: I actually got this as a free gift from when I ordered some candles from Divina Fe. While supposedly a free gift is always lucky, got to say I never had much success with this stuff. It never felt very powerful burnt on its own, and spells I used it with never came to pass. It seems to be a base of colorized frankincense and myrrh with some kind of perfume added -- I recognized it as the base for a lot of the incense that Augustine's sells. Smell when burning is perfume and frankincense.
RATING: 4.5 or so... not worth buying unless maybe you just want to burn it for fragrance. Could maybe do well as a Christmastime perfume.

Murray and Lanman's Money Jackpot

2011-03-19T08:46:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Murray and Lanman
TYPE: Money Jackpot
FORM: Spray
NOTES: I had not ever used a room spray before this and was not sure what to expect. However, the mixture smells good (kind of a fresh floral scent I admittedly wouldn't usually associate with money formulas -- they tend to be spicy.) More than that, it seems to work as kind of a Fast Luck formula for cash. Results seem to come quick after spraying this around the doors and windows.
RATING: 10.

Murray and Lanman's Florida Water Soap

2011-03-09T23:16:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Murray and Lanman
TYPE: Florida Water
FORM: Soap
NOTES: As a soap, I don't like it -- too drying. As for smelling like the Florida Water cologne so well known and beloved, I don't like it -- something about the method makes it smell completely unlike it. BUT, for having the same actual effect as Florida Water -- thumbs up!

RATING: 8 of 10, losing two points for the two dings against it.

Incense Works's White Lotus

2011-01-11T01:15:00.000-08:00

Mystic Witch Devil Oil

2010-10-02T19:02:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Mystic Witch
TYPE: Devil
FORM: Oil
NOTES: Ugly, ugly packaging -- but the contents are what are important, and those are not bad. It comes in these cheap motel shampoo kind of bottles, with a taped on black and white paper label that looks like it was printed from a fax machine in 1989. The oil in uncolored, but it's got some herb in the bottle -- some kind of moss, I think. The oil is lightly perfumed as well, smells artificial but that's not necessarily a bad thing. It seems to work really well for the purposes for which I use it -- which actually was for mean/coercive love spells. Devil oil + Restless powder + Rose oil = a nice Intranquility formula.

RATING: 8 of 10 -- I would buy this again, for sure.

New Combo

2010-08-16T02:24:00.000-07:00

Another nicely fragrant combination: Augustine's John the Conqueror Bath Wash and Lucky Mojo Master Oil. The patchouli is mellowed and enhanced nicely and creates a scent that reminds me of a favorite perfume (the LUSH Sexbomb.)

El Boticario Gold

2010-08-15T18:10:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: El Boticario
TYPE: Gold
FORM: Soap
NOTES: Clear yellow soap with very little scent to it, but what there is reminds me of dragon's blood. Lathers well, fine as a soap. Seems to work okay as an emphatic to other money-drawing materials but doesn't do much on its own. (Instructions on the package recommend merely washing 7 days in a row with the soap to draw money.)

RATING: 4 out of 10.

Indio's I Can You Can't

2010-08-06T15:34:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Indio

TYPE: I Can You Can't

FORM: Oil

NOTES: This is another Indio disaster -- smells like some kind of Bayberry maybe, not a hold-back kind of fragrance. I don't think it has worked impressively, if at all, when used. Even the label is ugly.

RATING: 0 of 10.

Fred Soll's Taos Pine

2010-07-29T10:51:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Fred Soll's

TYPE: Taos Pine

FORM: Incense

NOTES: Very sticky coming from the package! -- you may need to wash your hands after touching it. This line of incense is advertised as "resin on a stick" and that seems apt. The fragrance of this, burning, is not strong, though the almost amazing slowness of the burn may account for that as less fragrance is in the air at a time. It is a much more natural scent than a lot of incense. It initially resembles, to me, the air when there's a forest fire nearby; in fact, as the package claims the resin is genuine pine-resin from the trees around Taos, it may in fact be the exact same trees that burn when there's a fire near me. After the room starts filling up a bit more with the odor, it has more of a mountain-top scent like one expects. This is pricey incense -- about 50¢ a stick. However, it's probably as natural as a stick incense is ever going to get. Also be warned: it's temperamental in burning (goes out easily) and reportedly doesn't burn at all if the stick is set up vertically.

RATING: 7.5 out of 10 -- good if you don't want a perfumey incense, though it seems like just burning pine resin on charcoal would be more sensible in terms of money and of scent. (High-altitude pine isn't known for being strongly scented, afterall...) Seems to work as well or even a little better than other pine incense I have used, magically speaking.

Hem Pine

2010-07-09T10:43:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: HEM

TYPE; Pine

FORM: Incense

NOTES: Unburnt, the sticks have a very strong, fresh scent that does not particularly resemble pine, but when burnt it gets closer to it, though the scent is more of pine oil than of actual forest or the like. Seems to work satisfactorily for money workings.

RATING: 8 out of 10 because the smell gets to you after a while, or it did to me -- and I'm a person who likes herbal scents. It may or may not be purchased a second time; it has many benefits including its very reasonable price, but 'burnt aftershave' is sometimes just not the odor I want dancing about my room all day.

Lucky Mojo Shipping Update

2010-05-06T14:08:00.000-07:00

Hey! I ordered a package from Lucky Mojo and it only took a week! I guess they finally solved those shipping problems. A week would have been record time even back when they only did phone orders.

A True Story

2010-03-14T19:32:00.000-07:00

Lucky Mojo Rue

2010-03-13T00:51:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo Curio Co.
TYPE: Rue
FORM: Oil
NOTES: I figured buying the oil, "This will be an easy one to rate -- all the Rue oil has to do to fulfill its promise is be Rue." Well, then, why the fuck does it smell like lemongrass?
RATING: 6. I don't think I'll buy it again but it kind of works, there is rue in it.

Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap

2010-02-18T03:04:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Dr. Bronner's Magic Soap
TYPE: Baby Mild
FORM: Liquid Soap
NOTES: The "magic" of this soap is its cleaning power. I bought this as it is a commonly available unscented liquid castile soap which I figured would be good for making any special blends I needed (Van Van wash, etc.) Baby Mild is what the unscented soaps are called at this company. I was initially a little put off by the price, but a bottle of this seems to last longer than you might think.
RATING: 10 of 10, my God! I will never use those bath crystal floor washes again -- this stuff actually cleans! Ever wondered how filthy your ceiling gets from all that incense burning you probably do? It was like night and day in my room, I had to actually wash it twice because the first time the water got so full of dirt it was just leaving big dirty streaks everyplace. I never got dirt off like that with those bath crystal washes, they always left everything all fine and scaramouche up there. Then I began using this as a base for a Special #20 bodywash -- my skin has never been softer! 4 drops of essential oil to 1 tbs of this is all you need. Someone even has a whole blog of things you can make with this soap.

Kate's Magik's Uncrossing

2010-01-19T22:41:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Kate's Magik
TYPE: Uncrossing
FORM: Oil
NOTES: There are only two occult brands any stores actually near me carry: Kate's Magik is one of them. It's about twice what many similar oils might cost for the same size (I think I paid $12 for a half ounce) but, some of that might be the Santa Fe Crazy Real Estate Cost Mark Up. (EDIT: Amazon sells them for about $6 but shows a list price of $11.99, so it looks that that is standard.) It does have a good label -- this one doesn't dissolve or discolor or fall off when it gets oil on it. The scent is admitted to be lime and rosemary, which is not a bad uncrossing combo. Very South American. It seems to work, especially on a mental level -- like I might not notice actually any changes or improvement in my life from using it, but if I start burning a candle dressed with this, I'll notice an immediate lessening of strain and tension. Perhaps it's created by one of those "You're only cursed if you think you are" types and that's why it's focused on the mind? Well, whatever. It's a decent little blend.
RATING: 6 out of 10. I'm on the fence if I would buy it again (especially since essential oils of lime and rosemary are so cheap, I could probably just buy them, instead, for $12.) I think I will look and see if there appears to be a stronger mix elsewhere.

Twilight Alchemy French Love (Guest Review!)

2010-01-17T21:12:00.000-08:00

This is Hoodoo Review's first ever guest review, originally posted in the BPAL group at Suicide Girls.

Noir Suicide writes her first posting at 10:24 PM :--

Oh sweet Jesus. This smells like dog diarrhea -- the rotten but not sour kind -- with several different types of carpet cleaner sprayed on it. And it's stewing and festering and...making me want to cut my arm off. I tried this once several months ago. At first it stunk, but then it mellowed into a very soft, pretty floral. I don't remember it being this bad. If it reaches the good stage again, I'll update.

Twenty minutes later she updates : --

This is too, too disgusting. I had to wash it off without waiting.

About seven weeks later she updates once more : --

Now it's playdough, butthole, and rotting flowers. I'll wait a bit before washing it off and edit this if it changes at all. As it stands, this would make my top 5 hated scents list.

Ah, bad reviews are always so much more entertaining than good.

Crystal Journey Herbal Magic's Money

2009-12-26T15:17:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Crystal Journey
TYPE: Money
FORM: Candle
NOTES: Scented with clove, cinnamon, nutmeg, myrrh, citronella and "Rain" and supposed to be charged with reiki energy. The concept seemed workable to me. I first bought one of the 1.5 x 7 " pillars and burned it for an hour each day, but it actually burned up so fast I couldn't tell if it was doing anything novel or not. So I bought a larger one the second time (and, as an aside, found the bookstore where I'd bought the smaller candle was charging real ripoff prices. I actually paid the same amount for the much larger candle which was being sold at the grocery store, as I had for the smaller candle from the bookstore.) I went about burning it for an hour a day... and could clearly see after a couple weeks that it was doing nothing. I changed tactics and burned through the rest of it all at one go to see if that might do anything (I figured: Perhaps it only works while it's burning and 1 hour isn't long enough for it to get started?) Took about 3 days to burn out, and I have to say it didn't seem to do anything either while it was burning or after it finished.
RATING: While the herbal mixture is sound for money drawing, it actually smells kind of bad and moreso when it's burning. And it doesn't seem to achieve much. 4 out of 10.

Augustine's Wealthy Way, II

2009-12-22T02:34:00.000-08:00

A few months ago I fell in love with the Augustine's Wealthy Way oil, as one can tell from my original review. I liked it so well I ordered a bigger bottle the second time around. The results of this however, were unexpected. The initial bottle had a sweet spruce-vanilla-fruit sort of smell. Examining the herbal contents indicated tonka bean, chamomile, calendula, some kind of green pod and something that looks like capers or green peppercorns to be ingredients. However, my new bottle lacks the tonka bean and gone is the sweet odor; it now invokes the stench of men's cologne. The herbal matter is a bit different too: still has the caper-things and the flowers, but also looks to have what I think are John the Conqueror pieces and bayberry. I don't know if they pour from a master bottle and I just managed to get a really different bunch of the herbal mix or what, but it's very unlike what I had the first time around.

I suppose on the plus, they fixed that problem with the caps falling apart.

Augustine's Wealthy Way

2009-12-20T00:11:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Augustine's Spiritual Goods
TYPE: Wealthy Way
FORM: Incense
NOTES: I think this may have been my first experience with resin-on-charcoal incense. It's a slightly expensive and certainly inconvenient way to deal with incense, though not much more trouble than powder. (Ah! I just am too fond of sticks!) Anyway, it has its advantages; none of that barbeque stench from the burning wood, and lots of smoke for smoking uses. The Wealthy Way incense smells mainly of pine and benzoin, and it's nicely formed with some kind of powdered filler that keeps it from all sticking together in the can.
RATING: I'll give it a 10 of 10, because like its oil counterpart it works consistently. I can deal with inconvenience if it gets results -- and it usually works fast.

Artico Cinnamon

2009-12-07T00:38:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Artico
TYPE: Cinnamon
FORM: Oil
NOTES: This is an artificial cinnamon oil. It is cheaper than real cinnamon oil. It also has a darker smell than genuine cinnamon oil (which smells sweet and rather edible -- which I bet is why they didn't want to replicate that too closely, or people would eat it and probably be poisoned.) It burns the hell out of your skin if you apply it straight just like real cinnamon, though.
RATING: 8 out of 10. I actually do like this oil -- the darker smell is more like the way cinnamon sticks smell, and it's my preferred cinnamon in certain blends.

LUSH Flosty Gritter

2009-12-04T16:35:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: LUSH
TYPE: Flosty Gritter
FORM: Bath
NOTES: Made from a mixture of lavender, clary sage and benzoin, I use this as a calming/tranquility mixture -- and find it works splendidly. (Too bad that LUSH is only a bath products company, I wish I could get this as oil and incense!) If I've been ill at ease, nothing puts me to rest swift as a bath in this with a couple candles set up on either side of the tub. The fragrance is very strong and very particular. I've tried to blend up something similar at home but no dice. Reportedly LUSH sells a seasonal bath bomb with the same fragrance which could be ground to use as a sprinkling power, but I've yet to lay my hands on one. So for now it's but a bath, but a fine one.
RATING: 10 out of 10.

Lucky Mojo Kali

2009-12-02T00:22:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo
TYPE: Kali
FORM: Oil
NOTES: I'm usually not really inclined to review the religious oils as, for one thing, it's a bit harder to judge what kind of "effect" the formula is having, and furthermore, effect is often not really the point -- it's kind of just a nice way to acknowledge this entity or that to use a special oil for them. Anyway, for this reason I'm not going to do a rating; but, I was recently showing off some altar photos and someone, noticing the bottle of LM Kali oil I keep out near the image of Ma, particularly asked how it was. So, to describe it, usual almond oil base, red tint, not my favorite image of her on the bottle but it's pretty and, as always promised by Lucky Mojo, "vivid." The oil itself seems to be a made from rose, jasmine and sandalwood, and possibly some other ingredients (I tend to sense a citrus tone in it, but I know the expensive oils might be at least in part artificial fragrances, in which case that might just be confusing my senses a bit.) It's actually similar in scent to the Lucky Mojo Come To Me oil, the said citrus odor being the main difference. The bottle has a pinch of powder (sandalwood I assume) and what looks like a flower petal (I go back and forth on what kind.) The scent isn't very strong, which depending on your point of view might be good or bad. Myself, I tend to use this oil to dress Kali candles, and I usually add a few drops to the water I use to wash off the altar.

Motor City Hoodoo Money Draw

2009-11-20T05:51:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Motor City Hoodoo
TYPE: Money Draw
FORM: Candle
NOTES: Something about the scent of this candle reminded me of urine, though I ought to think I wouldn't contain any since that's probably illegal. Anyway, whatever -- I used this candle, a bit contrary to the directions, by making a hole in the bottom and filling it with the target's hair, then sealing it in with wax; then set the candle on a green paper with the wishes for money etc. I burned the candle 15 minutes a day every day, and it lasted the whole summer. A few days after starting the candle, the target got a temporary job; this job lasted all summer, and ended about 2 days after I finished the candle.
RATING: 8.5 out of 10 -- dude wasn't exactly rolling in cash, but he did make more money with this candle backing him than without!

PROFESSIONAL HOODOO TAROT READINGS

Hem Cinnamon

2009-11-03T21:51:00.001-08:00

COMPANY: Hem
TYPE: Cinnamon
FORM: Incense
NOTES: This is a funny case -- this incense seems to work perfectly well for cinnamon-demanding functions, but I don't quite approve of the fragrance. It lacks a spicy element I associate with cinnamon, like the odor has been made sweeter for the incense or something. It probably does contain at least some real cinnamon, I would imagine, since it's not expensive stuff.
RATING: 8 out of 10, but I think I won't buy the brand again if I've got other options. I am still going to seek the perfect cinnamon scent!

Run Devil Run Candle

2009-10-27T01:37:00.001-07:00

Got a Run Devil Run candle, similar to the one pictured here (though mine is red wax) and, frankly, have some concern about the artwork.

A shoulder cape, sequined shirt, exoshorts, leggings and a pair of cowboy boots. Is he running to avoid being caught after raiding Freddie Mercury's costume closet?

Hell, this isn't Run Devil Run, this is I Want To Break Free!

7 Sisters of New Orleans Lady Luck

2009-10-23T04:51:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: 7 Sisters of New Orleans
TYPE: Lady Luck
FORM: Incense
NOTES: Impressed with the Lady Luck Oil from 7 Sisters, I went ahead and purchased some incense to go with it. When the can arrived, I noticed with some disappointment that it didn't carry the distinctive fragrance from the oil that I'd enjoyed, but I attributed this to the different medium; maybe the incense base altered the perfume. It actually smells a bit like the Ar-Jax Road Opener (not identical, but more similar than it does to the Lady Luck Oil.) The story could end here, but it so happened that I ordered some I Can You Can't incense from Indio at the same time. Well, imagine my surprise when that bore the distinctive smell I'd expected of the Lady Luck! Given the other story where the Glow Of Attraction Oil turned out to be the same stuff as the Lady Luck Oil, and how the No One But Me appears to be Jockey Club, I think 7 Sisters (owned by Wisdom Products, aka Indio Products) is just slapping whatever label they want on any old item that happens to be the right color.
RATING: 4 out of 10. Might be that my mindset was polluted some by this experience, but I didn't see the same great results from the incense that I did from the oil.

7 Sisters of New Orleans No One But Me

2009-10-18T00:01:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: 7 Sisters of New Orleans
TYPE: No One But Me
FORM: Oil
NOTES: Pink color, has a fragrance that I believe is usually called "Jockey Club." Now, Jockey Club has its place in love spells, so this isn't altogether inappropriate.
RATING: 6 out of 10. Might just be the means I've had available to deploy it so far, but I've not been super impressed. Even on dressed papers this didn't seem to win the desired effect.

Twilight Alchemical Laboratory Blockbuster

2009-10-17T00:30:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Twilight Alchemy Labs
TYPE: Blockbuster
FORM: Oil
NOTES: Smells very very strong -- once dressed a candle and left it sitting out a while in advance, my whole room smelled of this by the time I returned. The odor is a lot like butterscotch chips, I think. However, functionally I'm not as wowed by this as I'd like to be -- especially given the $25 price per bottle ($30 with shipping.) Results have not been strong with this at all.
RATING: 5 out of 10. Just proves stronger scent doesn't equal stronger magic.

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Indio Money Drawing

2009-09-26T15:38:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Indio
TYPE: Money Drawing
FORM: Bath
NOTES: Liquid bath and floor wash. Very deep green in color; smells like cheap pineapple fragrance. Has very little effect as a cleaning product, mostly it's just really, really green. If I had used as much as the bottle instructed, my floor would be permanently stained, I think. I certainly noticed it to leave a nice green cast all over my porch, consider that fair or ill as you will. Never seemed to produce magical effect.
RATING: 2 out of 10. This stuff is disgusting. Seriously, do you know how disgusting a cleaning product has to be, to get itself called disgusting?

Bath and Body Works Cool Citrus Basil

2009-09-11T21:04:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Bath & Body Works
TYPE: Cool Citrus Basil
FORM: Soap
NOTES: I never noticed this soap to have a very strong smell to begin with, and I don't think I'd have identified it, even then, as citrus or basil. This is supposed to be a good combo for money drawing.
RATING: Four out of ten. Didn't really think too highly of it as a general soap or as a magical ingredient: never noticed much financial improvement from use.

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Multi Oro Rue

2009-09-01T00:16:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Multi Oro
TYPE: Rue
FORM: Soap
NOTES: Technically is Multi Oro brand, though the first thing you see when taking the bar from the box is the stamped image of a Native American in full war bonnet, and the brand name INDIO. Scentwise, it bears certain resemblances to rue, but is a lot more perfumey -- reminds me of those high-end bath products where they 'improve' the natural fragrance the product is supposed to bear, to the point it only slightly can bring it to mind. I suppose that is technically a plus for the soap. Rue is actually listed as an ingedient, though at the tail-end (meaning there's more dye than rue, and possibly my dad's 'wave a branch over the vat while it stirs' trick was at play.) Used it an felt a bit lighter right away, which suggests it works for uncrossing and such.
RATING: Eight out of ten.

Bee and Flower Rose

2009-08-31T23:49:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Bee and Flower
TYPE: Rose
FORM: Soap
NOTES: Common, inexpensive soap brand. Lathers well, a little harsh on sensitive skin. Doesn't actually smell anything like roses. Fragrance is kind of a generic perfume -- not unpleasant, but not like a rose. Never seen results when used for rose-appropriate purposes, such as love spells.
RATING: 4 out of 10. It's so cheap it's hard to resist when in need of a rose soap, but I'm going to dissuade myself from using it again.

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Fragrance Mismatch!

2009-08-29T02:13:00.001-07:00

Am I out of my mind tonight? Lately got some items from Indio/7 Sisters. The Money Drawing Wash smells like Dragons Blood Oil, the I Can You Can't Incense smells like Lady Luck Oil and the Lady Luck Incense smells like Road Opener Incense. The hell?

Marie Laveau's Fast Money

2009-08-28T19:57:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo
TYPE: Fast Money
FORM: Incense
NOTES: You are called Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo. You are located in the French Quarter of New Orleans. You sell pamphlets talking all about the Lwa. So why the devil are you selling a Scott Cunningham recipe?
Yes, my friends, I have identified the source of that incense that smells like a basement. It's the Fast Money recipe from Scott Cunningham's Wicca-oriented "Complete Book of Incense, Oils and Brews." While I confess, the reason I own a copy is I found it a little more acceptable to hoodoo sensibilities than most of the new agey books out there, and patchouli, cedarwood, vetivert and ginger isn't an *awful* money-drawing combo, it's still not exactly traditional.
RATING: To Be Announced Whenever I Actually Try This. Marie Laveau selling Wiccan recipes seemed like it should be acknowledged regardless whether or not the stuff really works.

Ar-Jax Road Opener

2009-08-16T21:34:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Ar-Jax
TYPE: Road Opener
FORM: Incense
NOTES: One nice thing with this brand; $8 buys a HUGE can. If you need incense for frequent or longterm work (like weekly burnings for the general care and maintenance of fortune) then I have to recommend this for the quantity alone. Now, this brand of Road Opener has a curious sort of lavender-ish smell (I wouldn't immediately identify it as lavender except that my mom has a lavender Batherapy salt that's almost identical in scent.) I have to confess the artwork moves me; it has a kind of quaint, cozy occulty feel. The picture is a single-tone line-drawing of a man in a turban looking in a crystal ball that says "LOVE" and "LUCK", while burning incense and a candle at an altar for what appears to be Buddha.
RATING: 6 out of 10. On effect, it's okay -- mid-grade results.

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Artico Tea Rose

2009-07-30T20:34:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Artico
TYPE: Tea Rose
FORM: Oil
NOTES: Before I got into magical practices, I was always fond of rose fragrance and ever on the lookout for good ones -- So often they just smell like some sweet chemical compound! The Artico Tea Rose is the best I have found so far. It is very affordable and smells similar enough, to my nose, to the real flower. (I actually do own a bottle of real undiluted rose oil; there is a bit of difference there, as essential oils often lose a few elements from their source plant's smell, and rose is no exception; thus I specify the Artico smells of the plant.) This is what I use when blending my own oils or resin incenses, or if I need the plain fragrance. It is also very inexpensive -- usually about $2 for a 1/2 oz bottle.
RATING: 9 out of 10; there's something that troubles me, maybe just that it's artificial, which withholds the full 10 rating, even though I can't seem to pinpoint a problem with it. 9 feels right to me.

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Anna Riva Crown of Success

2009-07-21T23:44:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Anna Riva
TYPE: Crown of Success
FORM: Incense
NOTES: Another failure for Anna Riva! Alas, her books are pretty good, and I hear rumors that before her company was bought out the products bearing her name were alright. This Crown of Success incense smells kind of like rubber and leaves blue stains all over everything it touches. And it doesn't work. I have tried it a few times in a few different contexts, I don't think any of them worked out.
RATING: One out of ten. It makes smoke. That's all that can be said in its favor.

One With Nature Dead Sea Salt Soap

2009-07-19T23:52:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: One With Nature
TYPE: Dead Sea Salt
FORM: Soap
NOTES: One of those nice products one can recognize as effective with the very first use! I bought this on sale at Whole Foods, moved by the inclusion of salt in a bar of soap, thinking it would be very convenient for uncrossing type work. A few days later found myself in need of its use, and indeed, I felt a difference immediately! Good stuff. Virtually no fragrance; bar is very large.
RATING: 10! Nothing to gripe on here.

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Valley of Roses incense

2009-07-17T15:18:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Shrinivas Sugandhalaya
TYPE: Valley of Roses
FORM: Incense
NOTES: Okay, first thing to make clear: this smells nothing like roses. Its fragrance, interestingly, reminds me of nothing so much as Pepsi, at least when fresh out of the box. Burnt, it's just kind of pleasant, smokey odor; like most stick incense it doesn't take on that charred smell when you burn it. Whereas the smell is entirely unlike roses, my own experience has shown that gods and orishas seem to love this stuff (many humans like Pepsi, so why not?) Thus, I might keep some of this around as an offering incense; but for spellcast quality rose, I still recommend the Sac Rose. It's also worth noting that these are shorter sticks than a lot of brands sell, but they seem to burn relatively slowly.
RATING: 7 out of 10.

Hem Patchouli

2009-07-08T01:27:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Hem
TYPE: Patchouli
FORM: Incense
NOTES: Patchouli's a commanding type ingredient, and I burn this as part of spells of such type. This brand, Hem, is the best smelling patchouli I've ever found -- which in fact, smells not too much at all like real patchouli. It's a lot sweeter, like it's been tempered up with floral notes. It actually smells a lot like the famous LUSH Sexbomb which claims synthetic Musk and Jasmine as its primary ingredients. I've used the Hem Patchouli for various spells, and found it works better to complement work for personal empowerment (Master, Success, etc.) as opposed to spells designed specifically to control others (Influence, targeted love spells, etc.)
RATING: 7.5 out of 10, but it smells so good I cannot say if I would try to find a more effective form.

IMPORTANT BOOKS FOR SPELLCASTERS

Veladoras Misticas Levanta Negocios

2009-06-29T22:35:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Veladoras Misticas
TYPE: Levanta Negocios (Improve Business)
FORM: Candle
NOTES: This is a glass encased candle that comes pre-dressed, in this particular case it's scented with cinnamon and dressed with rice and sesame seeds. The label is good quality, coated paper of some type. It's not bad, surprisingly not bad! I was a little wary buying this off the net (botanica goods can be dodgy) but my tarot cards had told me I'd have good luck with it. Candle burned about a week, effect lasted for about a month with its strongest manifestations occuring while the candle still burned. I think I would buy this again (though I'm a cheapskate -- I'll probably just get green refill slug and dress it with my own cinnamon, sesame and rice till I wear out the label.)
RATING: 8.5 out of 10.

Lucky Mojo Curio Company

2009-06-27T15:56:00.000-07:00

5 weeks to get my package! Was the 1-click online ordering perhaps a bit more than the shop was ready for? It's not like the shipping cost went down when the wait became so long, I'm still charged for priority.

Indio (?) Money Drawing

2009-05-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Indio
TYPE: Money Drawing
FORM: Incense
NOTES: It is a little confusing to say what brand this is, actually -- the website says Indio, the package says the brands Powerful Indian and Lama Temple. Ah, well, I'm sure we can guess which company it is in the end. This incense has a curious, indistinct scent about it. I can't match it up to any herb or spice. It's pleasant enough. I have noticed small improvements with finances shortly after burning this, so I'll call it effective.
RATING: 6 out of 10, I'd like it if it were stronger -- both in scent and in effect.

Augustine's John the Conqueror

2009-05-23T14:18:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Augustine's Spiritual Goods
TYPE: John the Conqueror
FORM: Bath
NOTES: This is a very thin wash -- not suited to double as a bodywash -- but very nice on floors! Doesn't make them all spotty like some of the brands out there. It smells suspiciously like the ripoff Anna Riva John the Conqueror, but I think maybe they use it as a base and add more ingredients from there. It's a definite brown color, this, and a powder of some kind tends to condense at the bottom, so it needs to be shaken up -- which leads me to believe there's some kind of herb or powder added.
RATING: 7.5 of 10, as the results are not magnificent but some small changes have shown with use. Seemed mainly to enhance my dad's luck with scratchers.

Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo

2009-05-21T23:19:00.000-07:00

On a recent trip to New Orleans, I made particular point of visiting the French Quarter voodoo shops. Marie Laveau's House of Voodoo is probably one of the best known. It is located on the appropriately named Bourbon Street, and if you can avoid being thrown up on long enough to look around, this is one of the better occult shops in the area.
The selection in the store is not wonderful, but at least it's not entirely "tourist voodoo." There are glass-encased candles, incense, some curios like lodestones and bat's hearts, and a very small selection of oils. The prices also verge on reasonable, in contrast to many of stores in the district.
The place is dimly lit, with a lot of displays. There's an altar set up in the front room, and a scene with a dummy fortune teller in the back. A very limited selection of oils is availible at either of the two counters (one in the front room, one in the back.) There are also some books and tarot cards in the back room, which you are not allowed to touch. This makes it hard to know if the books actually contain any information you want, but given the insobriety of a great deal of the patrons, I suppose I can understand the reason why.
The front room has most of the spellcasting goodies. The glass-encased candles line the left wall, the back of the door is where the curios are. I picked out a lodestone (which I have been assured is real) and there were also mated lodestones there -- which come to think of it couldn't have been very strong since I don't think they were actually sticking together. There are envelopes on the left wall also of incense powders.
As I recall, there were some information sheets (for sale?) for beginners, giving brief descriptions of the Lwa or certain herbs. At the front counter there were containers full of items like those rolled balls of bluing. I recall browsing the oils in front of the cash register -- they were mostly single-note fragrances, except for multiple bottles of the house brand Money oil. Didn't need any Money oil so I steered clear.
In the end, I bought from them the aforementioned lodestone, as well as an envelope of Fast Money incense that smells exactly like someone's basement (I'm sure it's something like an ingredient you find in mothballs that's giving it this odor... but it's so weird, to sniff at it in the envelope and just recall being in your friend's basement when you were 10. I expect it might take on a different quality when burnt.)
I don't know that I would quite recommend going there, certainly I can't say I recommend going out of your way to go there... but if you just happen to be on Bourbon Street it wouldn't take much time to peek in.

Tara Healing Incense

2009-05-12T04:07:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Tashi Choeling Monastery
TYPE: Tara Healing Incense
FORM: Incense
NOTES: It says right on the box, "TRY ONE AND SEE THE RESULT." Well, who can resist advertising like that? This incense is for relieving tension, depression and stress. I will say there is some slight improvement, maybe a 40% to 60% improvement, in my stress levels from using this. But, I might hope for better -- hell, it seems it might just be the whole "hang around in a bedroom trying to deeply inhale smoke" alone could be what causes the tension reduction. Scent is kind of deep, not at all perfumey, maybe a bit like second-hand cigarette smoke. Of note: This smells like my great uncle's house. He met his wife in Nepal, where this stuff appears to be made, so maybe he got hooked on the stuff and burns it in his home.
RATING: Five of ten -- I'm sure there's worse but I'm not inclined much to buy again.

7 Sisters Glow of Attraction

2009-05-08T15:26:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: 7 Sisters of New Orleans
TYPE: Glow of Attraction
FORM: Oil
NOTES: I was a bit concerned by this oil when I got it, as it smells and looks very, very similar to the Lady Luck oil made by this same company -- to the extent that it seems possible they just package the same blend for both. Even side by side they have only slight differences in color or scent. BUT -- this oil still seemed to work for its expected purpose; too well, even.
RATING: 7 of 10.

Artico Dragon's Blood

2009-05-07T17:32:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Artico
TYPE: Dragon's Blood
FORM: Oil
NOTES: This has a weird fruity scent about it, that kind of makes me wonder if the fragrance designers knew dragonsblood was a real resin or if they thought it was just a name a la "Tropic Breeze" or "Misty Mountain" that was just popular due to its associations, and not because it has a particular scent attatched to it. So far, effectwise, it's been "ehhh." I dropped a chunk of real dragonsblood into the bottle to aid for future uses.
RATING: 4 out of 10, better than nothing, certainly you can make do with it; and it's inexpensive.

Artico Jasmine

2009-05-07T17:23:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Artico
TYPE: Jasmine
FORM: Oil
NOTES: Real jasmine tending to be too expensive for the average practitioner, many of us resort to artificial fragrances. The Jasmine fragrance from Artico smells of the "standard artificial jasmine" -- a little stronger and more "dark" than true jasmine essential oil, but with the recognizable elements on would know of the real thing there. I've used this in recipes where I've needed jasmine, with perfect success.
RATING: 9.5 of 10 -- hard to ask for more, given what it is. It does have that 'extra' in the smell, which is what harms the score today, but better a bit too much than not enough and missing the mark completely.

Indio Dragon's Blood Uncrossing Bubble Bath

2009-05-07T17:08:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Indio
TYPE: Dragon's Blood Uncrossing
FORM: Bath
NOTES: Very bright color, thin formula; comes in unremarkable plastic packaging. It has a kind of sludge in the bottom that I think may be real dragonsblood powder, and it does have a smell like crushed dragonsblood resin. As a soap I would not otherwise be impressed as it's got poor lather and mostly just dyes the bathtub red, but for an uncrossing it's very good! It works especially well coupled with something like an egg-cleansing or some Road Opener. When I first bought this I thought the price -- around $8 for a 16oz bottle -- was rather high, especially for an Indio product (they are usually the bargain company.) It's actually gone up even more since then; perhaps the cost of the ingredients have inflated. It definitely seems like a lot, though to its credit, a little of this goes a long way. I bought this over a year ago and am only halfway through the bottle.
RATING: 8 out of 10, could work a little stronger on its own. Could also be a bit better on the price.

Interesting Combo

2009-04-15T06:04:00.001-07:00

Not a real review, but just thought I'd put it out there -- 7 Sisters of New Orleans Bend Over oil in a 50/50 mix with Lucky Mojo Come To Me oil smells really, really good.

LUSH Tisty Tosty

2009-04-12T23:48:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: LUSH
TYPE: Tisty Tosty
FORM: Bath
NOTES: Another LUSH item, not exactly marketed to occultists but certainly suitable enough based on the ingredient list (rose and orris root are the major players.) I used this as a love-drawing bath along with a lot of other work. It did meet with a little success.
RATING: 6 out of 10.

Lucky Mojo Fiery Wall of Protection

2009-03-25T02:21:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo
TYPE: Fiery Wall of Protection
FORM: Oil
NOTES: This works pretty nicely, especially when applied in such a way as to form a 'guard' or barrier. For example, I was once having some problems with some fellow members on an occult forum sending out something my way, dabbing a bit of this oil on the computer put a stop to that. It's been a little less successful when applied to candles or myself, though I still could recommend this one, and it's one of my favorites of the Lucky Mojo line of goods.
RATING: Eight and a half out of ten.

Padmini Frakincense

2009-03-22T23:21:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Padmini
TYPE: Frankincense
FORM: Incense
NOTES: I don't think that this exactly hurt any of the spells I used it with -- indeed, it probably helped. But this was the first time I burned a joss stick and could recognize the "bamboo smell" a lot of people complain of. Basically, it smells more of the wooden stick than it does of frankincense. I don't think I would buy this one again.
RATING: Three out of ten, since it does at least seem to work as a frankincense stick-incense for casting magic spells.

Augustine's Spiritual Goods Wealthy Way

2009-03-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Augustine's Spiritual Goods
TYPE: Wealthy Way
FORM: Oil
NOTES: This stuff ROCKS! I got a bottle about a month ago, and it's really seemed to put a kick into financial successes. I've used it a few different ways -- dressing candles, anointing self, adding to bath -- and all seem to get results. It doesn't make you rich overnight, but it seems to help you towards getting there, perhaps like a cash-specific road opener. The first scent I noticed was pine-needle, though as I've gotten used to it I've started noticing more vanilla-like and fruit-like sweet scents. Comes in a pretty 1 ounce bottle, has some unusual herbs floating in it -- something at the top looks remarkably like capers, which I can't imagine would have magical use, but that's what they look like. Anyway; good stuff, I totally recommend this one.
RATING: 9 and a half out of ten -- if only that label were made in waterproof ink and the little paper thing in the lid didn't keep falling off and flying across the room every time I open it...!

E. Davis All-Purpose

2009-03-10T16:04:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: E. Davis
TYPE: All-Purpose
FORM: Soap
NOTES: As a soap, this is a good soap -- hard-milled, good lather, pleasant scent. Kind of an artificial jasmine fragrance to it. I'm not very impressed with it magically, however: the wrapper claims it's for "dominating/conqueror/fast luck/protection/divine eye/money drawing/peace." I have noted no improvement in any of those things post-soaping.
RATING: Six out of ten, since it's a good soap in any case.

Pine-Sol

2009-03-09T13:11:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Clorox
TYPE: Pine-Sol
FORM: Soap
NOTES: According to the book Hoodoo Herb and Root Magic, Pine-Sol is a traditional formula used as a type of "lucky floorwash" -- pine is both a purifying and a money-drawing ingredient. Since the soap is readily availible, and does contain genuine pine oil, it became a favorite among hoodoos. I've never seen any results of this as a money-drawing wash, even when enhanced with other oils and herbs, though it seems to have some minor merit as a purification wash.
RATING: Seven out of ten -- it's actually not a wonderful product magically, but I did like it well enough that it became my preferred cleaner after I tried it.

Aroma Land Celebrate

2009-03-04T09:40:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Aroma Land
TYPE: Celebrate
FORM: Oil
NOTES: This is an essential oil blend, designed for burning in a diffuser at Christmastime. I had to bring this up, because this stuff smells exactly like the Lucky Mojo Wealthy Way oil. It's made from orange, cinnamon, spruce, patchouli and clove essential oils. If you put some pyrite, bayberry and bay leaf into green oil and scented it with this, I think you'd have an almost identical formula.

Lucky Mojo's Wealthy Way

2009-03-04T09:34:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo
TYPE: Wealthy Way
FORM: Oil
NOTES: This came to me in an unusual round bottle, perhaps because the pyrite and root chunks were too large to fit in the mouth of the usual square-shaped Lucky Mojo bottles (it was bought direct from the company, so I'm sure it wasn't a fake or repackaged.) This oil has never worked for me -- not even for bringing in a small amount of money, much less great wealth. I've tried it in a few different ways (on candles, in baths and washes, as a perfume). Thus...
RATING: Four out of ten, as if the usual score for an ineffective LM product. Packaging and ingredients are all high quality, but effect can be less reliable.

LUSH Ring of Roses

2009-03-02T02:40:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: LUSH
TYPE: Ring of Roses
FORM: Soap
NOTES: Rose fragrances are used for love-drawing, so I applied this LUSH buttercream to the purpose. Unfortunately, no results romantically -- and the fragrance doesn't really last (and truly, smells more like citrus, another ingredient in the blend.) As a Sweet Bath (to take after astringent baths, to restore luck) it's a little better, though probably won't be my first choice again for that.
RATING: Seven out of ten -- works for some specific purposes. At least it's not marketed as an occult product, and does work pretty well as a moisturizing soap!

Anna Riva Banishing

2009-03-02T02:35:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Anna Riva
TYPE: Banishing
FORM: Incense
NOTES: Oh, I wish this really did work better, magically speaking. It's a good black powder, pleasant enough odor with notes of patchouli and mint, but it has never banished anyone or anything in all the time I've used it.
RATING: Five out of ten, because I really do like the smell.

Auroshikha Lemongrass

2009-02-28T17:00:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Auroshikha
TYPE: Lemongrass
FORM: Incense
NOTES: I use this for primarily purification -- basically anyplace I would use Van Van. I like the fragrance of these sticks, it's not too "dry" of a smell, it's got some depth to it. I've been pretty happy with the effect too. In Googling for this brand, I've noticed there are apparently two companies using the name or else two versions of the packaging -- this is the kind in a green, marbelized paper wrapper.
RATING: Eight and a half out of ten.

Lucky Mojo Attraction

2009-02-28T03:50:00.001-08:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo
TYPE: Attraction
FORM: Incense
NOTES: This smells nice enough until ignited: this is a standard misfortune of the Lucky Mojo powder incenses. However, like its oil-match, this works fantasically, magically speaking.
RATING: Eight out of ten -- it loses a point on the oil for the unfortunate smokey smell; it still works great though.

New Orleans Mistic Steady Work

2009-02-27T01:44:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: New Orleans Mistic
TYPE: Steady Work
FORM: Oil
NOTES: I bought this originally, charmed by the artwork shown on the website: it features a smiling little fellow, so happy with his new job. I was a bit disappointed when the bottle arrived: the label is very cheaply printed, low DPI and home-made label. The oil is pale green, herbs in bottle, with a fragrance I incline to describe as "buttery" (frankincense maybe?) The oil has never worked any time or in any form that I've used it.
RATING: Two out of ten. This is way too pricy to get such poor results.

Bee and Flower Sandalwood

2009-02-26T03:09:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Bee and Flower
TYPE: Sandalwood
FORM: Soap
NOTES: Sandalwood's known for peace-bringing and for uncrossing. I've successfully used this soap for such purpose -- I can even recall one incident where something bad felt like it had gotten on me, and this soap alone took it off. The soap lathers nicely, does have good sandalwood scent (which does not cling to the body for long.) Comes in famously pretty packaging which one actually feels a bit badly for tearing apart to get at the soap bar.
RATING: Nine out of ten.

Sanchez F. Millonario

2009-02-24T20:18:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Sanchez F.
TYPE: Millonario (Millionaire)
FORM: Oil
NOTES: This curious oil is not of a very common brand, but the label indicates the maker to be called Sanchez F. This is a deep green oil, probably artificial fragrance. Scent is actually a very nice spicy-floral. While I have noticed some good financial results from using this, nevertheless it hardly makes one a millionaire.
RATING: Five and a half out of ten, since it does do something, just not quite what it's meant to.

7 Sisters Lady Luck

2009-02-17T19:42:00.001-08:00

COMPANY: 7 Sisters of New Orleans
TYPE: Lady Luck
FORM: Oil
NOTES: Oddly floral scent, to the point that one would think it inappropriate for a luck blend. And yet, this seems to work quite adequately -- 2 out of three uses it's been a success, though it seems to benefit from being mixed with other herbs or oils. Packaging has a 1960s looking gypsy woman in black and white on the label.
RATING: Seven and a half out of ten.

Anna Riva Meditation

2009-02-17T19:34:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Anna Riva
TYPE: Meditation
FORM: Incense
NOTES: Very minty smelling blend, of pretty-hued blue and white powder. I have never noticed this to improve my mediation abilities, and the fragrance fades when ignited.
RATING: Three out of ten, it does burn and make a good mixer for other powders afterall.

Lucky Mojo Follow Me Boy

2009-02-17T17:31:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo
TYPE: Follow Me Boy
FORM: Incense
NOTES: Lucky Mojo incenses, being made from natural organic matter, I daresay have the misfortune that they all tend to produce a smell like you're toking it up in your room, or maybe like a barbeque. I can forgive a poor odor if the incense works; but this never seemed to work.
RATING: Four out of ten. It's remaining merit is the Lucky Mojo authenticity of ingredients.

Hem Dragon's Blood

2009-02-17T17:27:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Hem
TYPE: Dragon's Blood
FORM: Incense
NOTES: Very effective for purification-type workings. Pleasant odor. Not as sharp for power workings but it's not bad.
RATING: Eight out of ten. It's unlikely I'll find anything better in a stick.

Gran Guru Exito

2009-02-17T17:22:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Gran Guru
TYPE: Exito (Success)
FORM: Powder
NOTES: This powder is somewhat scented, and appears to have some herbal matter worked in with the talc. But, whatever it is, it doesn't seem to work -- I've never had Success at any of the contests or interviews I've used it for.
RATING: Three out of ten.

Sac Rose

2009-02-17T04:20:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Sac
TYPE: Rose
FORM: Incense
NOTES: The most lovely rose-scented incense I have yet encountered. No smokey stench either. I like this despite the comically broken English on the package ("ROSE - the fragrance of which world loves, is un doubtfully a sign of pleasant aroma and freshness.")
RATING: Ten of ten! This is my favorite.

Grandma's Bayberry

2009-02-17T04:16:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Grandma's Candle Shop
TYPE: Bayberry
FORM: Oil
NOTES: The actual oil comes with no bayberry in it, and I will forewarn I added some of the dried root before ever trying out the product. That said, I found it to work extremely well, and I expect It will be my primary brand for this type! The packaging is nothing special -- very rustic in fact.
RATING: Eight out of ten. If it had its own roots in it so much the better.

Lucky Mojo's Come to Me

2009-02-17T04:12:00.000-08:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo
TYPE: Come to Me
FORM: Oil
NOTES: This has yet to work noticably for me, and I find the fragrance a bit weak and plastic-like.
RATING: Four out of ten, for attractiveness.

Real Tarot Reading Fortune Telling

2009-01-05T14:39:00.000-08:00

Support the author of this site! Get your online email tarot readings from Talia's Tarot.

Talia's Tarot provides online Email tarot, I Ching and cartomancy fortune telling using tarot cards, playing cards and I Ching coins. Her specialty is reading tarot. All tarot readings are delivered through Email, all I Ching readings are delivered by email, and all playing card readings are delivered with Email. All services from Talia's Tarot are available online. Card reading is her most popular form of fortune telling, especially her Email tarot readings. Besides tarot online you can also get many types of service. Look for occult books, occult ritual and magickal supplies, magic books and spell books, oils, herbs, candles, soaps and incense in the Spiritual Supplies Store.

Luckymojo.com

2008-10-19T07:38:00.000-07:00

Probably the gold standard of hoodoo occult shops, these people have extremely good selection, fair prices, and some of the better customer service the biz has to offer, including dozens (if not perhaps hundreds) of free spells offered on their website.
I've ordered many times from this company, and only had minor troubles, generally appearing to stem from the employees being too busy and trying to rush me through a phone order or, in one case, telling me to call back later. Shipping comes within a reasonable time and in resonable packaging.
Another plus to Lucky Mojo is that they are (somewhat shockingly and sadly) among the few sites from which legitimate hexing formulas can be bought -- Crossing, Jinxing, DUME, Restless are all availible, as well as genuine Goofer Dust and Grave Dirt. Since they pride themselves on the authenticity of their formulas, you can bet you won't just be receiving a packet of colored talc or dirt from the garden when you ask for these.
While their selection is extensive, it's not complete -- popular blends like For Me and Block Buster are notably absent. Fortunately, the staff are helpful and knowledgable, and can generally advise a suitable replacement if you are willing to trade out the recommended formula for your spell.
Given the number of occult suppliers out there who seem to believe that their own customers are idiots, Lucky Mojo is a real breath of fresh air.

Lucky Mojo Attraction

2008-10-19T00:00:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo
TYPE: Attraction
FORM: Oil
NOTES: Pleasant scent, pretty packaging. Brings excellent results when used on a lodestone -- lesser effect when used in other ways. Probably the best love-oil I've yet found.
RATING: Nine out of ten. I don't think I'll find a better version of this formula anywhere, though it would be nice if it were stronger on the money-luck.

7 Sisters Give Me Your Money

2008-10-18T23:58:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: 7 Sisters of New Orleans
TYPE: Give Me Your Money
FORM: Oil
NOTES: Purple hue, heavy scent, but no effect when used.
RATING: Two out of ten. They tried, but didn't deliver.

Anna Riva Money Drawing

2008-10-18T23:56:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Anna Riva
TYPE: Money Drawing
FORM: Powder
NOTES: This is absolutely nothing more than colored talc. No fragrance or herbs have been added, just pigment.
RATING: One out of ten. The only thing this is good for is as a base for making your own powder.

Morning Star Pine

2008-10-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Morning Star
TYPE: Pine
FORM: Incense
NOTES: A dry, weak, yet almost sickly-sweet scent when burnt, reminiscent of burnt pinon wood -- in box it bears a cooler fragrance. Incense comes in small sticks, about 1/2 to 1/3 the length of most agarbathi with a burn-time estimate of 25 minutes, without a base stick (that is, it burns tip to tip, right down to the holder.) Each package comes with a small ceramic holder included. The smaller size and weak fragrance do make this a very useful brand for shorter rituals.
RATING: Five out of ten, mostly for my dislike of the scent. Magical efficiency difficult to judge at this time.

Psychic Oil's Special Oil #20

2008-09-24T16:56:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Psychic Oil
TYPE: Special Oil #20
FORM: Oil
NOTES: Very odd, artificial smell. Reminds me of a specific gas station from the 1980s. Oil is mineral oil, colored green to mimic the olive oil that is supposed to be used for this sort of mixture. Gold foil label; the ink all smears off easily.
RATING: Two out of ten. I only rank it that high because I actually think it did get me better results on candles than if I'd used no oil at all.

Stormsong

2008-09-24T15:54:00.000-07:00

I like to keep a sort of inventory in my brain of various occult suppliers, their prices and products, such that I know exactly where I need to go whenever obliged to buy something. One such site in my mental inventory was stormsong.org, which I recalled to have higher prices on candles than most of my sources, but which offered a greater variety including some exclusive candles that are not to be had from anyone else.

When an opportunity arrived, I went to seek out one of these special candles for purchase. And I must say, I had some of the worst customer service experience I've ever had this side of a company just taking my money and running.

I filled out a customer survey, which I now suspect exists entirely for the purpose of providing a vehicle for the owners to fish for compliments. I didn't say anything weird or unreasonable, I just answered the questions (usually about satisfaction with prices, ease of navigating the site, and the like) by filling in the little bubbles as is usual. In response, I received an accusatory Email from the owner, furious that I wanted lower prices. They announced they have the lowest prices of anyone, and told me not to come back since I find them "so sub-par" (like they know what I consider par for the course. They didn't think to ask that in their bloody survey.)

I wrote back, demonstrating that in fact they do not have the lowest prices, and showed them several examples. They claimed the other places don't count because of various reasons, and then finished off saying their candles are worth more because they are "handpoured by pagans vs pressed wax and handled by who knows who." (Lest you always feared your religious supplies had been priorly handled by one of those filthy Zoroastrians.)

Anyway, as they asked me not to come back, I've a pretty good mind not to. Many people advise against using magic or spells that potentially one might not be "advanced" enough to employ properly, often because it involves dealing with a lot of negative forces that an ill-prepared soul could find overwhelming. The same goes of customer service; surveys and requests to rate a transaction are tricks for those who have a lot of experience dealing with people and are honestly looking for ways to improve their company. Done on an amateur level, it's the classic "does this dress make me look fat?" scenario, dreaded by many a man. (And as many a fellow has said: if you have to ask that question, you already know the answer.)

Anna Riva's John the Conqueror

2008-09-24T00:08:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Anna Riva

TYPE: John the Conqueror

FORM: Oil

NOTES: Bought over internet after seeing there were real roots in this oil. Alas, it arrived to show clearly not John the Conqueror, but a mix of ginseng and lovage roots. Amber hue, strong, sweet fragrance -- a bit like car air freshener though not unpleasantly so. Label a mix of quality paper and gold foil, off which the printed ink tends to rub.

RATING: Four out of ten. Lovage and ginseng are magically not a bad approximation for the properties of John the Conqueror root; however if it's called John the Conqueror oil it ought to contain John the Conqueror.

Lucky Mojo Look Me Over

2008-09-23T23:45:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo Curio Company
TYPE: Look Me Over
FORM: Sachet powder
NOTES: Candy scent, a bit like bubblegum. Powder contains poorly mixed sections of red pigment, probably would be pink if incorporated thoroughly. Contains small chunks of herbs and roots in a talc base, heavily perfumed. Comes in non-reclosable foil bag, high quality paper and printing on labels. Saw results with use.
RATING: Eight and a half out of ten; might score higher if herbs were better pulverized and mixture was contained in sturdier or reclosable package.

7 Sisters' King Solomon

2008-09-23T23:35:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: 7 Sisters of New Orleans

TYPE: King Solomon

FORM: Oil

NOTES: Oddly candy-like scent, but a great anointing oil for wit and wisdom! It works best when applied to the body; to candles it is not as sharp. It's very good for anointing the forehead before meeting with important people. Fruity, candy scent; no herbs. Colored a very strong dark purple. Label is on quality paper with a monotone print. Feel a superior results might be availible in another brand despite this.

RATING: Eight out of ten. I probably will buy this again even though I bet there is a stronger version availible someplace.

Lucky Mojo's Master

2008-09-23T23:18:00.000-07:00

COMPANY: Lucky Mojo Curio Company

TYPE: Master

FORM: Oil

NOTES: A spicy, swampy scent; contains real herbs and roots in the bottle. Colored a weak, dull pansy purple, apparently inclined to grow more brown with age. High quality label. However, did not see strong results from use in spellwork. EDIT: If you intend to do a lot of anointing work on the body with this, it seems to have enough cinnamon oil to irritate the skin. I rubbed a lot of this on in the old anointing method, and became kind of red and itchy.

RATING: Six out of ten, for attractiveness and quality of ingredients.