No. I haven’t lost my mind….
and I didn’t hit my head this morning.
The Bible is an excellent resource for spellwork!
In fact, the Bible is one of the oldest and most widely used books of magick in existence.
ALL magickal traditions in Europe (and countless traditions worldwide) have been impacted by Christianity. Regardless of your personal beliefs or feelings about the Bible, Christianity, or its adherents; it is absolutely impossible to deny that the Bible has been one of the most influential books in human history. The tenets, beliefs, and symbols of the Bible are inextricably interwoven into the fabric of our society, whether we like it or not.
Over the last thousand years, the vast majority of European magick workers, sorcerers, conjurers, and cunning folk were Christians.
The same holds true in America.
Practitioners of folk magick, alchemy, rootwork, hoodoo, conjure, powwow, hexcraft, Appalachian granny magick, Ozark Mountain magick, spiritualism and mysticism have been overwhelmingly Christian since the days of the Puritans. Even the renowned and beloved Voodoo Queen of New Orleans, Marie Laveau, was a devout Catholic who attended Mass daily.
Yes, every one of these traditions also preserved remnants of pre-Christian beliefs and practices from their respective countries of origin.
However, over the last 1000 years, elements of Christianity have also been uniquely preserved and incorporated into the various practices as a whole.
As practitioners of magick, many of us are eager to connect with our pre-Christian roots, often completely overlooking a wealth of information that our most recent predecessors considered essential.
The Bible has been used as talisman, divination tool, and spell sourcebook for generations. The book of Psalms has served as an ancient magic formulary in countless magick traditions. The power of the words, psalms, and prayers in the Bible, as well as its sacred holiness as an object, made it the most widely used magickal resource across the social and cultural spectrum for the past 1000 years.
As an old fashioned Appalachian conjure worker, the Bible is indispensable in what I do. I’ve never seen a hoodoo or conjure altar without a Bible on it. If you haven’t read through the old testament in a while (or ever), you might just want to take a peek. Here are a few verses to get you started.
- Psalms 1: safe pregnancy
- Psalms 2: destroy enemy conspiracies
- Psalms 3: relieve headaches (especially migraines) and back pain
- Psalms 4: change luck from bad to good
- Psalms 5: find favor with authority figures
- Psalms 6: heal diseases or ailments of the eye
- Psalms 7: use to win a court case
- Psalms 8: ensure business success
- Psalms 9: win a court case, punish an enemy, or restore health to a male child
- Psalms 10: cleansing and protection from restles, intranquil or unclean spirits
from Blog – Folk Witch http://www.folkwitch.com/blog/2014/10/16/the-bible-as-grimoire
About Folk Witch
Lisa Cain - Folk Witch, Conjurer, Rootworker, and Reader.
Yes. Cain really is my last name. It's on my birth certificate. I carry the name of the first child of Eve, the first murderer, and one of the first human beings to fall under a curse....so I know a little somethin' somethin' about curses.
Most days you will find me in my garden, barefoot and ankle deep in soil. I grow nearly all of the herbs and roots used in my work (and incredible heirloom tomatoes!). Those I don't grow are wild crafted from the surrounding Blue Ridge Mountains or traded from the gardens of friends and family. When I'm not tending to matters in the spirit world, I'm tending to my chickens, rabbits, goats, honeybees, and grandchildren.
I'm a true prodigal daughter. I've traveled extensively, I've studied extensively, (sociology, and psychology at the undergraduate level and education at the graduate and post graduate level) and I finally came to my senses and realized that Dorothy was right....there's no place like home. It's a bit like growing up wishing your scarf was store bought instead of hand knit......then realizing that what you had was something special all along.
The first members of my family trickled into Appalachia in the 1700's. They came from Ireland and Scotland, bringing remnants of European folk magic. They learned folk medicine from their Native American and African American neighbors. The secluded mountains of Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, the Virginias and the Carolinas provided the perfect setting to blend these beliefs: part European folk magic, part Native American wisdom, and part African American herbal medicine into the unique body of knowledge we know today as Appalachian Folk Magick, Appalachian Granny Magick, or Ozark Folk Magick.
It is the only form of magick that can directly trace it's roots to pre-Christian Europe. Other traditions have "resurrected" or "re-created" spells, incantations, and works based on historical documents and scholarly approximation. However, Appalachian Folk Magick is the only tradition to maintain an unbroken heritage spanning centuries.
**(Cultural Anthropologists have noted that the customs, language, music, dances, traditions, and folklore of Scotland have been better preserved by generations of isolation in Appalachia than in Scotland itself. It stands to reason that this also holds true for magick.)
Call it what you will: Hoodoo, Conjure, Root Work, Witch Doctorin', Granny Magic, Hillbilly Voodoo......It's one of the best preserved forms of folk magic in existence and I am glad to see a renewed interest: no longer viewed as unsophisticated backwoods superstition, but as a respected branch of the magick family tree.
I learned my trade through hands-on apprenticeship from five living generations of workers. My family has been preserving these rituals, spells, recipes, and works for 7 generations in Appalachia (much longer in Europe). I've been growing, using, and working with herbs and roots for as long as I can remember. I've been practicing Conjure for over 30 years and reading cards for even longer. Conjure isn't something I took a correspondence course in.....it's the way I live in the world.
For the Appalachian folk magic practitioner, the "other" world is all around us. We exist in a world inhabited by ghosts, spirits, demons, faery folk, and angels. We are surrounded by sacred spaces--lakes, caves, rivers, graveyards, and garden beds where we can catch a glimpse into the spiritual world. Legends of root doctors, charms, hexes, and hauntings flourish down in the hollers and high up on the mountain tops. Hoodoo isn't a ritualized, organized system of mystical beliefs and practices. It is simply away of living as one with God by how you perceive nature and treat others during the everyday routines of life.
We all need a helping hand, a friend to reach out to, a caring ear to listen at the end of a long day. When things go wrong, we need someone in our corner, someone that has our back, regardless of the situation.....That's what folk magick is about and that's what a conjure woman does. I'm here to help.
Folk Witch 
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