Several auctions to keep you guys busy while the store is closed :-)


New Orleans Voodoo Dr. John rosary necklace

St. Benedict rosary bracelet with rattlesnake vertebrae

St. Benedict rosary necklace and matching earrings

Virgin Mary rosary necklace with crystal beads and vintage medals

St. Peter's Keys necklace - road opening and success

Virgin Mary necklace with vintage medal

Virgin Mary necklace - glass and vintage medal

Erzulie Dantor charm bracelet

Guardian Angel necklace with leather, vintage cross, medal

Erzulie Dantor scapular

I hardly ever post auctions, but I want to see how these vintage medal pieces do, because if there is interest, I am considering a small line of vintage and antique reproduction jewelry pieces in sterling silver, with sterling and cast bronze findings, sterling split jump rings and clasps, sterling chain, etc. I hate to make the investment and have higher-end pieces not sell, but I have had some great ideas (at least I think they're great!) for a while and am really itching to try them. So with these auctions, I may be able to get some idea of how such pieces centered on vintage and antique saints' medals will do before I make a huge investment in the precious metals and saints' medals I would need for this line. Then again, since the auctions are largely not precious metal-based, they may not tell me a darned thing about how such a line would do. Well, we'll see!

All shopping cart codes for mojo bags, light settings, and chicken feet are now functional on the Altar Work page of my website.

All codes for Oils, Powders, and Bath Crystals are working on the Oils page at my website.

Karma Zain Spiritual Supplies will be closed from Nov 20-Nov 30. I will never get caught up with emails and consultations if I keep answering new ones, so while I will still be in town until 24 November, I will not spend much time in front of the computer. My priority right now is to take care of in-house orders, readings, and consultations - those that have already been placed.

Karma Zain Spiritual Supplies will be closed from Nov 24-Nov 30 Nov 20-Nov 30. If you need lights set or any other work done very soon, the order needs to be put in by 9 am Nov 19, Eastern time. Otherwise, I will begin it when I return. I will NOT start new light settings or altar work that spans more than a day if the order is put in after 9 am Nov 19.

If you already have an order in, it will go out before I leave town next week.

If you have been waiting on an email or candle report from me, I am scurrying to get caught up. I officially had my Busiest Week Yet over the last seven days, and my bad back picked this week to start bothering me again. I am still filling orders and doing work - the standing is not the problem. The sitting for a while is a problem. So the typing is a little slower than usual. But I promise i have not forgotten about your candle reports or consultations.

On ebay, limited edition, customized Condition Oils, containing real 24 K gold and real diamond dust:

Ultimate Attraction Oil
Ultimate Money Drawing Oil
Ultimate Fast Luck Oil

( Read more... )

Ultimate Gambler's Oil -- contains rare curios that I am not allowed to advertise on ebay, though it is legal to possess and sell these curios - ebay's just picky about certain things (yes, I'm talking about bones. This bottle of oil contains a whole bone of the appropriate type). I will make a total of two 2-dram bottles for the time being. If I make more down the road will depend on a few things. One two-dram bottle of oil plus shipping is $40. Currently: two one available. One reserved for K.Y.
( Read more... )


Extra Strength Black Arts Mojo Bag - contains rare curios that I am not allowed to advertise on ebay, though it is legal to possess and sell them. When we talk about Black Arts, we're not necessarily just talking about cursing and jinxing, though that's certainly part of the power that Black Arts products are designed to amplify for the owner of the mojo bag or user of the formula. But Black Arts also refers to necromancy, the ability to communicate with the dead and with ancestors, scrying, conjuration of spirits, and the power of reversing hexes (and sending them back "with interest" which veers over into Revenge rather than simple Reversing). Contains one whole bone of the appropriate type among other items. Comes with a one-dram bottle of Black Arts Oil (regular strength) to dress the bag. Bag plus shipping is $50. Currently: two one available. One reserved for T.V.

For more information, inquire with a comment, or write me directly at karmazain@gmail.com

I have been resisting writing this post for a long time, and I'll tell you why. In part, it's because there is already so much information easily available out there, that my writing anything is redundant. Furthermore, there are tons of ways to use oils, and my giving "instructions" is akin to my giving instructions on how to wash your hair: seriously, rub the oil on something. Those are the instructions. The details are up to you, how complicated you get is up to you, what object you rub the oil on is up to you.

But lots of people ask me for instructions, and get upset with me when I tell them to Google it, so here you go.

Dressing candles

I personally use the method outlined in Henri Gamache's Master Book of Candle Burning. Not all rootworkers do this - there is more than one way to skin a cat. But this is what I do. In this book, which you can get very inexpensively and which is a good investment if you are interested in candle-burning magic, he outlines a theory of "polarity" for candles. Imagine your candle has a North pole (the top) and a South pole (the bottom). Gamache recommends that candles be dressed by rubbing the oil from the center of the candle to the North pole, and then the center of the candle to the South pole. He writes, "the candle is never rubbed in both directions toward both poles."

Now, here is where my methods (and the methods of many rootworkers) change a bit. When I'm dressing a candle with oils for the purposes of drawing some influence, I rub the oil from the North pole (wicked end) to the center, so that I'm rubbing towards my body as I'm holding the candle in my hand. Then, I turn the candle so the wick is facing me, and then I rub from the end with no wick to the center. Since I"ve turned the candle, I'm still rubbing *towards* me. And I've gone from top to center and then bottom to center with my dressing.

When I'm dressing a candle to get rid of an influence, I reverse this process, dressing from center to wicked end, then turning the candle, and then dressing from center to non-wicked end.

Do you have to do it this way? No. There are other theories and other practices. But it's what I do.

ETA:

Some sites that discuss ways to use condition oils:

Dr. E on how to use condition oils (note that his method of dressing candles is slightly different, but equally valid)
cat yronwode at Lucky Mojo on condition oils (I will return to the issue of skin safety later)
sources for candle-dressing philosophies at the Lucky Mojo forums (see? many ways to skin a cat)

To be continued...

coming up next: dressing mojo bags, amulets, human bodies, etc

Cat doesn't want me hijacking her post any more, I'm sure, since it's not actually about the history of powders, but this has been on my mind for some time now, and her post just gave me the excuse to finally write about it. You'll have to read this to understand the conversation.

my response:

Ok, I posted originally to make this linked argument: Talc is not necessarily cheap filler, pure herbs are not necessarily better, talc and other mineral bases in powder are deeply traditional hoodoo whereas pure herbal powders are not, and there are several reasons other than "cheap filler" for using non-herbal bases. You have swayed me somewhat on point 2 and not at all on the other points :-)

To point 2: you seem to be saying that if one can get ahold of pure herbal powder, there are both health-related and magical reasons for preferring it. I don't disagree, except in cases where mineral additions are not magically inert. I personally believe that talc was likely, in some strands of practice, originally a substitution for African-rooted practices involving white minerals that were not easily available in new cultural and geographical contexts, but I also concede that whatever active and conscious connection may have been there at one point has pretty much been lost over the generations. Your use of the word "anymore" won you big points in that round :-) ("talcum is a later inclusion, and one that I feel does not fit anymore").

All the stuff you say about health, etc is true, but has no bearing on my primary claim, which is that talc is not necessarily a cheap filler. I don't use talc myself for precisely those health reasons. Furthermore, I think it's worth noting that making real talc-based sachet powders is actually a very expensive and time consuming process, assuming the product contains real herbs and essential oils and not just fragrance. It's much, much easier to use plain old powdered herbs, even if you're powdering them yourself (and backing over your J the C root with a car before taking a hammer to it, 'cause you can't powder that shit with a coffee grinder). Manufacturers who make talc-based powders (with real herbs and oils) do so because of long tradition and customer expectations, not because it's easier and cheaper.

I am also, personally, severely anti-talc. I do not use it and I will not make it, for many of the reasons you list. You don't have to defend the stance of being severely anti-talc to me. I'm not arguing against it nor trying to change your mind. I just felt obligated as a rootworker, born and raised in the South, whose clientele includes a significant number of older people born and raised in the South, to raise some objections to what I saw as some of the underlying premises floating around your post - not because I think you're wrong/evil/bad/etc, nor because I think you're trying to rewrite tradition based on purely personal whim, but because I get a lot of client and reader questions from folks who want to toss out tradition without examining it, and along the way manage to be very insensitive, ignorant, dismissive, and finally deeply disrespectful of the very culture and the very people that have kept these traditions alive. When I get people saying "but pure herbal powders are better," the implicit or not-so-implicit accompanying verbiage sometimes gets close to "and people who use talc-based powders (or whatever - it's not just powders I get this about) are being tricked/are benighted/are not intelligent enough to know better or ask for any better."

I am NOT saying you said that or that you implied it. But I feel very strongly that changes to tradition - and I hold again that pure herbal hoodoo powders with no mineral element whatsoever are extremely rare prior to the 60s (including prior to the drugstore era) and thus are a change to tradition - should be interrogated and the theories and wherefores understood. That's really all I'm saying. You say that there are sometimes good reasons to change tradition, citing copper sulphate (old-time bluing. copper nitrate is a completely different chemical, though it's also blue). I do not disagree. But that does not invalidate my major claim.

I think you're really onto something with the regional thing, too. The first few years I was making hoodoo products, nobody ever ordered my powders. People who were not from the South had little to no idea what they were for and had no need for them in their regular spellwork. People who were from the South didn't like them because they weren't talc-based, and thus they were grittier (you can make a fine powder with an orris root base, a very fine one, and it has the added bonus of being a magical ingredient in its own right, but it doesn't do the same job as talc as an item to be worn on the body. It will absorb some oil but will never help with "lubricating" the surface of the skin in the same way that talc does - because it's not a mineral). In Southern rootwork, sachet powders were very often *worn on the body.* Wearing pure herbal matter on the body is preposterous if you live in the South - in an hour you will look like somebody made dumplings under your chin and armpits.

Does that mean everybody should use talc-based stuff? Nope. But sachet powders are the way they are for more than one reason, is all I'm saying, and I think you're right that some of that is hard to really grok if the regional and cultural variations are big enough. "If we have the technology to omit it, then why not omit it?" Ok, no argument there, as I mentioned at the beginning. But that isn't evidence to support the claim that talc is cheap filler - it's just evidence to support the claim that it should be omitted if possible, the latter of which I am not going to argue against.

Re. colored talc-base being a mail-order/cosmetic industry addition, sure, no argument. But that does not invalidate my major point. Pure herbal matter stronger? Well, that depends on one's theory of powders. Within a certain cultural milieu, no, they are not stronger. They are *different,* and they are for different things. If you use powders mostly for altar work and sneaky deployment, they're probably *better* for your uses. But I have had to "educate" quite a few newcomers to hoodoo who tell me they want powders made to order because pure herbal powders are "stronger," and they don't want filler, and I have to find a way to politely tell them that they don't get to rewrite generations of hoodoo tradition because they are comparing apples and oranges. A mineral base in hoodoo powders is deeply traditional and has much more going on than "cheap filler." And even a non-mineral, other-than-leafy-matter-derived base has many reasons besides cheap filler. Are talc powders a "later invention" than non-talc powders? Yes. But there is no "pure origin" to which we can return to find the organic, unadulterated Ur-sachet powder (foot track powders are a different class - more below). Are the uses of talc-based powders all uses that are still relevant or even desired by many modern practitioners? Nope. But that doesn't change my main argument.

Finally, and this could have its own post, foot-track type powders and sachet-type powders are really not even coming from the same place, and the principles of combination are not the same. Foot-track type powders pre-date sachet powders as they're currently used by a long, long, long time. I would argue that before there was Pryor's (tm) hot foot powder, there was parched foot track and manure. But before there was drugstore Love Me powder, there was nothing (powder-wise). It didn't replace anything - *as a standalone powder item.* It's its own thing. So absolutely no argument against your statement about talc being "later" - but also not germane to my original claim. "ashes and dirts and things" were indeed the original powders. And the original powders were not deliberately worn by people wanting to draw a new lover. Is the distinction I'm trying to make even making sense? I'm up past my bedtime, sorry :-)

"If we want to be uber-super-traditional, why not go back to the days when we didn't use talc at all?" Then we would be going back to days when powders weren't often knowingly applied to the body for all the reasons they are now applied to the body. We'd be going back to a day when powders did a different job, in general. That's all I'm saying. Talc is relatively new, compared to pepper and manure and foot-tracks, but so is Black and White ointment, Florida Water, two-dollar bills, and my great-grandmother. I'm not saying things don't change over time and that talc's inclusion was not one of those things. I'm also not saying that maybe the sensible next change for people who use powders like you do is in fact to move away from any base at all, to pure herbs. All I'm saying, I guess, is that it's a hell of a lot more complicated than "cheap filler," and I feel a sort of - I guess moral! -- obligation to explain why I say this - not because I have an axe to grind with you in any way, shape, or form, but because people without your understanding of the social and cultural history of hoodoo can draw some pretty ignorant and disrespectful conclusions from the plain statement "talc is cheap filler."

Now I will shut up :-) Thank you for a provocative and engaging discussion! I'm sorry for hijacking your post with a discussion I think you wanted to end, but aside from the "moral" considerations :-), this has to do with ritual deployment as well, I think. The more people understand about *why* things are the way they are, the more sensible their proposed changes and alterations will be, know what I mean? Need to dust your lover with something that looks like a cosmetic and hate talc? Orris root powder will do the job as 1. a base, 2. a stabilizer for your essential oils so they will last when kept in a cosmetics container, and 3. still be in line with "hoodoo theory." Need to disguise the tell-tale color of goofer dust?  Mix it with local dirt.  It will do its job and still be in line with "hoodoo theory."  I am absolutely not arguing that we should cling desperately to things simply for the sake of clinging, even if technology, science, the internet, coffee grinders, whatever have given us better, more efficient, or healthier ways to do things.  I'm just arguing for understanding the wherefores before changing stuff, is all.  Overall, I think I agree that the days of talc are waning. Most of my customers that prefer it have grandchildren who do not, and the "incoming generation" is going to make its own changes, as it always does. Nighty-night :-)

The Original Ninja Cat blogs about Live Things In You, deviating from recorded spells, and other tidbits of interest to a bunch of y'all. Herein, she and I get into a (very cordial and imo, educational) disagreement about hoodoo powders.

A reader asks:

Q: I've heard that working a few spells at around the same times would "divide" my intent and energy.. So how long would you recommend to "rest" between spells?

A: In my opinion - and this varies by person, so this is only my opinion - I think this is largely rubbish. Of course there is such a thing as spreading yourself too thin, or of not seeing the forest for the trees and worrying small things to death when you could be working on the larger things. And of course it will depend on your own knowledge of where your limits are. But in general, as long as you're not losing sight of "the big picture" of your life and you're not getting obsessive/compulsive about working magic to where it's interfering with your ability to deal with issues in other ways, I don't think there's any particular need to "rest" between spells just for the sake of resting.    I mean, hoodoo is very, very practical. And it developed in a culture in which there isn't a big divide, as there is in Wicca and Ceremonial Magick, between "high" and "low" magic.  It's designed to solve problems. And in real life, people's attention *is* divided, every day.  You spend some time on one thing and some time on another and you keep all your plates in the air.  The idea that magic or spellwork energy is finite seems a terribly limiting one to me that doesn't make much sense in the context of root-and-herb-based folk magic.  YMMV.

[on the need to wait an interval between doing a honey jar on a lover and also doing a mojo bag - would you need to wait between doing these things?]

A: Absolutely not. They're all smaller components of one larger, long-term work, in my opinion - the relationship.  Practitioners often keep honey jar spells going for months or years, so you can imagine that the idea of "taking a break" between spells doesn't mesh with honey jar traditions. The honey jar is a central and long term part of a work that you might add specific things to over the course of time.

There's no need at all to "take a break" between doing a honey jar and a mojo bag on the same situation.  I think it's true that there is such a thing as "overdoing it" when it comes to work, esp. with relationships/love, in that it can be dangerous to keep throwing magic at something without giving what you already have going time to work.  It's a danger when people get impatient and decide that if one spell is good, five is better, or if three herbs are good, thirty herbs are better.  However, I do not think that a honey jar and a mojo together is too much.

Today, Nov 4, is the feast day of St. Charles Borromeo, a Protestant Reformation-era saint who became bishop of Milan at the age of 25.  In a time when the clergy were not especially known for asceticism, he himself gave all of his income to the poor and fed many who were dying of hunger during the plague year 1576.  During this plague and famine, he is said to have walked around the streets of Milan barefoot, with a rope around his neck, offering himself to God as a scapegoat on behalf of the sins of the people in order that they might be spared.  A patron of learning and the arts, he is invoked against stomach disorders and is the patron saint of seminarians and spiritual leaders.

Probably because of the rope iconography, he is associated in some Vodou houses and temples with Bossou, the bull loa.

Hello happy hoodoo-ers,

I am down with a stomach bug. Sorry for the TMI, but if I've been slow to respond since last night and you're waiting to hear from me, I wanted you to know why.  If I'm not caught up with correspondence by tomorrow night, this is why, and I promise I will finish all consultations in queue and return all emails just as soon as I can sit in any other room of the house besides the bathroom for more than fifteen minutes.  One of the joys of parenting is the little presents they bring you home from school - I think I will start Lysoling my daughter as she steps off the bus in the afternoons...

A client asked how I "got so good" at Tarot (which is awfully nice of her to say):

Twenty years of practice, is probably the best answer :-)  I'm a word-and-story person (I have an advanced literature degree) so Tarot works for me - not really even because of the symbols - different decks have different symbols, but I can pick up any deck and read with it (heck, I can read with a set of bar coasters, or a deck of Uno cards, actually) because I can "read" or "see"  the story that the cards are telling.  It's like seeing a whole different level "underneath" the cards, maybe is one way to put it, even though that's not quite accurate.  It's less the symbols and more the interaction of the cards with each other and the story that comes out.  After a while, all that "seeing" and "putting together" happens so fast that it translates as a "feeling," or a "flash," or a "knowing," but I'm not sure it's not the same process I used or had or went through twenty years ago. It's just now I'm much better at "reading" it fluently and then conveying it fluently (on good days anyway!) and so the picture assembles itself more quickly for me now.  Or something like that. 

I mean, some people say folks are either gifted for this kind of work or not, but I'm not sure about that.  I think there are people who are more gifted than others, just as there are people who are more gifted musicians or artists than others, but everybody can learn some basics of divination, and improve, just as anybody can learn scales (even if only by rote, because they're tone deaf) or improve their drawing abilities with practice.  Some days I'm not sure it's a gift at all, and I think it's just a skill, like learning another language - some people have a knack for it and can do it easier, but anybody can do it.  Not everybody will be a great writer or orator, but anybody can understand and make themselves understood. But I'm speaking of myself only - there are people out there who are clairaudient and the like, and I'm not sure if I could teach myself how to do that at all. That kind of thing might be a gift you either have or don't, I don't know.  But divining with a tool like a Tarot deck? I think anybody can learn the basics.

Some people aren't word-and-story people, though, and they might approach Tarot differently, perhaps relying more heavily on symbols or images (if they're visual people) or on numerology (if they're number people).  So I think a lot of learning to do effective divination is learning what divination style suits you best and picking the right tool for the job.  The Tarot is particularly rich because it does have all the associations with numerology, cabala,astrology, etc - if you learn all that stuff, you will find your "vocabulary" greatly enriched.  It's a hell of a lot of info to sort out at first - which of a bajillion various possible meanings could these two cards next to each other have when you take all the influencing traditions into account?! - but you eventually internalize that stuff, I guess, if you use it, and it's just "available" to you.  But maybe some people don't read this way at all.  I can only speak for myself.

In my opinion, practicing on oneself is also not a very effective way to learn how to read (though it's a good way to get to know a deck).  A deck of cards or a set of runes is a system unto itself, with a vocabulary, and maybe even a typical syntax.  You learn the rules of the system and then you will get more and more fluent and putting them together, and being able to "Translate" the messages into English for your querents.  'Cause memorizing a book of meanings so you can say what each card means is like memorizing the alphabet - you need to know it, but it's only the very beginning.  And getting feedback from other people that can help you see how the cards or runes bear on their issues will help you learn the "rules" of syntax for your chosen divination system.  I'm not sure if that makes sense, and I'm also pretty sure it's not the way some people would put it, but it's been a fairly decent analogy for me over the years.  Again, though, that's probably because I'm a "words and stories" person.  I can read with runes, but I find them more laconic than I like and it's harder for me to read at a distance with them, and I can do charts, but I find that the math and numbers and "two-dimensional" way of representing charts turns the reading part of my brain off - the other parts have to work too hard and the part of me that can see stories and make them into English for people gets drowned out, if that makes any sense at all!

Anyway, practice practice practice is my best advice - and get other people to let you practice on them, too.  After a while you find yoru comfort zone with a deck - and experience will teach you that even though the book says "blah blah whatever," those two cards next to each other usually mean "long distance relationship," or when a certain card comes up first when you read for someone you don't know, it can be a warning to *you,* the reader! rather than a message for the client.  Stuff like that.  You just get there with practice and study.  Maybe some people can read without practice and study, but I suspect those people could read without any tools at all (and probably because they are at least somewhat empathic, and probably also because they know human nature pretty well, and the cards being there is rather immaterial.  For me, it pays to learn the ins and outs of any new divination tool and system, and the best way for me has been to practice on people and get feedback.  And oddly, I have found that over the last few years I really can sometimes read with no tools at all - or with tools that have no really formal system (like a pack of kids' go-fish cards or a stack of bar coasters) but I"m not sure I could have gotten to the edge of that possibility had I not spent the previous twenty years just plain doing divination and understanding what that "place where it makes sense" feels like and comes from, if that came out in English at all.  

Good luck!

A client writes to ask how to use Black Destroyer Oil.

Black Destroyer formulas are designed to help people clear serious messes out of their lives, protect their homes, and stop curses, evil, and resentment dead in their tracks.

Basically, you can use it for long distance candle work, to dress candles; you can dilute it in mineral oil and use it as a sprinkle on messes that people have laid for you (like if you find powders in your yard); stuff like that. When I'm dealing with somebody who is aiming stuff at me, I like to dress a candle with Black Destroyer and/or Reversing oils (depending on what I want to happen), set their photo in a low, wide dish, set the candle on top of the photo, and then fill the dish with a dash of Black Destroyer and a lot of vinegar.  (This works best with wider candles like small pillars, votives, and 7 knob candles, rather than the kind you have to put in a candle holder. You want to stick it right on top of their photo, and you need the candle to be able to hold it down.)  You can add whatever herbs and stuff you want, appropriate to your case.  Then let the candle burn down 'til the flame reaches the liquid.  Don't do this unless you'll be right there to keep an eye on it though.

I find Black Destroyer to be an excellent "first aid" application when under attack, and often it kills the hell out of stuff without you having to do a whole lot more, though of course this depends on who is throwing for you and what they are using to do it. But I keep Black Destroyer Oil in the glove compartment of my car, along with Fiery Wall of Protection powder, my Safe Travel mojo, a Mag-Lite, a map, a Gerber multi-tool, a tampon, and a protein bar.  Never leave home without it!

Ending today



Lucky Black Cat Bone bracelet

New stuff:



Customized honey jar spell kit.  You provide jar and honey; I provide the oil appropriate for your situation, an appropriate candle, instructions, and a packet of herbs custom-blended for your situation.  



St. Brigid altar piece

I posted a version of this to a list on I'm on the other day and figured I'd share.

This is a recipe for truffles if you are using the sneaky-tricks-via-food to work on somebody for love/lust situations.  Everybody loves chocolate.  If they don't like chocolate, you need to find somebody else to work on, 'cause that's just a bad sign, man.  Seriously, though, this will often work when the old coffee or marinara sauce or mulled wine tricks won't work, 'cause really - everybody likes chocolate.

You start with your basic truffle recipe, ( http://www.joyofbaking.com/ChocolateTruffles.html ) or even( http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/chocolate_truffles/ ).  Don't worry.  It's *really easy* to make truffles.

Add a little more cream than the recipe calls for, and heat your cream in its own saucepan.  When it's just about to boil, remove from heat and add damiana, a split vanilla bean, a pinch of ginger, cubeb berries, sampson snake root, and cardamom. Let that sit for half an hour or so.  Then scoop the herbs out, reheat the cream to a boil, add your bodily stuff (skin scrapings or whatever), stir, and pour the cream over the broken up chocolate.  Proceed with truffle recipe.  Get creative with liquers and coatings along the same lines.

You cannot screw this up.

You can vary the herbs depending on your goals, and, if you like, gender considerations - just make sure you're using edible herbs!  The good news is that there are tons of edible herbs out there that are useful in love work.  You can do some real damage with this recipe.

And with a little imagination, you can modify it, or similar candy recipes, for other situations - anywhere where you can get people to eat your food, you can do a sneaky trick.  Got work problems and dreading that office potluck? Dread no longer.  (I used to work with a guy who had it in for office potlucks.  He would always make the hottest hotwings on the face of the earth - hotwings that would melt your face off, hotwings you had to handle with tongs.  He made a batch at my house once, and my eyes watered when I went into the kitchen. He then talked the wings up for a few days so all the billy-badasses would feel honor-bound to try them.  It was funny as all hell to watch people try to eat those things.  They were nuclear.  But this sort of things gives you the idea, I hope).

Karma Zain Spiritual Supplies will be closed from Oct 8 through Oct 12, to reopen on Oct 13.

I'm going out of town this weekend, so any orders placed or altar work retained after 5 pm today will not ship or commence until my return on Tues, Oct 13.  All in house orders and reports will be finished/ filled before I leave.

Thanks to you guys, eBay has just given me another little icon thingie, something they call Top Rated Seller status.  Near as I can tell, it has to do with DRSs and feedback, and possibly sales volume as well.  And near as I can tell, I can lose it pretty easily just like it's easy to lose Power Seller status and discounts if you get even one or two less-than-five-star ratings for DSRs. Since I custom make and/or custom finish nearly all my items, somebody is always dinging me on shipping time; that is not going to change.

But carpe diem, right?  For as long as I have this little icon thingie, it looks like they will give me a slight break on fees and boost my listings in searches. Well, I certainly didn't get this by myself - I can make good stuff and answer questions all day long, but if nobody's buying it, it's all in vain.  This is thanks to you guys. So if you have purchased from me on ebay before, EVER*, then please feel free to take advantage of this offer:

Free first class shipping on all oils and powders ordered through ebay. Yes, this includes overseas shipments.  This offer is good now through October 5.  Does not include candles, bulky things, or heavy things, but if you get one bulky or heavy thing and some powders or oils, I will charge shipping for the the bulky/heavy thing and no additional amount for the other things.

In order to take advantage of this offer, you have to make your purchases through ebay, and then when you're done, you have to request a combined invoice.  In the message box on that "request invoice" page, mention that you want the free shipping offer.  I will then manually adjust the shipping fee and send you the adjusted invoice.  I can't go back and adjust invoices that are already paid, so it's not retroactive and if you don't request an invoice before paying, then you're out of luck.

So thank you very much, darling eBay customers, and let's enjoy this little discount while it lasts, because it could be gone tomorrow, just like my Top Seller status :-)

*If you have purchased from me on ebay before, and you have left me neutral feedback or less than five stars on a DSR, and you take advantage of this offer, then I probably won't stop you and may not even notice if this suddenly makes me very busy. But just know that if you have left me neutral feedback or less than five stars and you take advantage of this offer, you are a hypocrite, because my point here is to say thanks to folks who got me a neat little icon.  If you don't know what the big deal is about less-than-five-star DSRs, leave a comment and I will point you to any one of the numerous educational posts I have made about eBay's new, confusing, misleading, and draconian DSR system.

Now through Wed, Sep 30, get an email consultation or mini-reading (3-5 card tarot reading, bibliomancy, or other oracle) for only $9.  Offer valid through this URL only.  You must register at this third-party site to take advantage of this offer, and send me a note saying you want the facebook special when you contact me through the site.

Consultations and mini-readings normally start at $15, so this is a nice discount for you if you've had something on your mind and want a little guidance. First come, first served.  Offer expires at midnight Central US time.

Hi guys!

Weather here in the Atlanta area has been monstrous lately.  It's been raining with intermittent thunderstorms for over a week solid and it's supposed to keep raining.  We're not talking drizzles, folks.  Many local schools are closed, neighborhoods and streets are flooded, boil-water advisories and water pressure problems are everywhere, storm drains are blocked, several people are dead, and several more are missing due to floods.  Transportation is a nightmare, internet service is sketchy, and power outages are frequent.

What this means for you:

For starters, if you could spare a prayer or good wish for the missing people and their families, that would be great.  This has been a truly awful couple of days.

If you're waiting on communication from me, please know that I'm slower than usual lately.  Not only do I have two readings and seven consultations in line right now, I also haven't been able to be online as much lately due to internet service and power issues.  Some roads are horrible to travel (like the one to the post office), and some ingredients are difficult to gather (one of you has been waiting two weeks for me to gather some graveyard dirt).  

SO both communication and shipping are a little slower than usual right now.  I appreciate your patience with me, and I hope to get caught up as soon as possible.

Happy hoodooing,

Karma

The Altar Work page on my website now has a functional shopping cart for everything that doesn't require a consultation beforehand.  So it's a one stop page for single-candle light settings, mojo bags, chicken foot charms, and pakets wanga.  We're still working on some of the photo issues (I sent crummy photos which are not working out, and then the "pakets" box has a photo of a mojo bag instead of a paket right now), but all the paypal buttons should be working.

Anything not listed on the page with a "buy it now" button needs a consultation.  ANY breakup, crossing, goofering or revenge work needs a consultation.

And a note on consultations: I've had more than one person lately purchase a consultation without reading any of the text associated with that consultation.  I then have to ask them to read the text again and make sure this is the service they want, since they're asking for stuff I don't do (like call them on the phone). Then I have to refund their money.  All of this back and forth could be avoided if people would *read.*  On every site at which I offer the means to purchase a consultation with me, the copy makes it clear that

• - these are EMAIL consultations, not phone consultations
• - they are consultations, not full-length, in-depth readings
• - clients need to allow 7 days turnaround time for completion, AFTER receipt of all the info I need (if it takes me two days to get all your info, your seven days starts then).  I will answer your email ordering the consultation within 24-48 hours, and ask for any info I need, but it might take me a few days to finish yours, as sometimes a bunch come in at once. 

Guys, if this were a full-length, in-depth reading, there is no way in hell you'd be getting it for $10 or $15, sorry.  I'm not just starting out.  I haven't charged prices that low in 20 years.  And I HATE the phone.  I do not talk on it without a prior appointment being set up.

I apologize to those of you that read, and to those of you that have read this before; I'm mostly posting it for the benefit of newer blog readers who may not already know this stuff.

NOW, how about a hoodoo post?  Let me find y'all something by way of thanks for listening to me beat this "why don't people read the item details" dead horse....