May 2022 Grey Matters
The Grey Matters
May 2022
Table of Contents 1) Creating a Mojo Bag
2) The Story of the Cave
3) Ethics in Leadership
4) Class Preview: Spellcraft
5) Apprentice Level-Ups
6) GSW Ring Sale
7) Two Wizards Talk Podcast
Creating a Mojo Bag
By Apprentice MedeaMoonstone
I’ve always wanted to create a mojo bag, which I did for a class. There was a layout on how to do it in Mari Silva’s Hoodoo and Voodoo; I followed the basic steps on how to create the bag, and how to activate it. But the spell and the items placed in the bag were completely my own, the color of the bag and cord was my own as well because they needed to fit the correspondences of my spell for helping with studying and education. The first thing I did was decide how many items were going into my bag. I needed to meet the traditional rules for it to work to its maxim potential. More than 3, 13,or less, and it be best if the number was odd. Looking into some numerology, and keeping in mind what the bag was for, I chose the number 7. This met all requirements and had meaning behind the number of signifying not just luck, but symbolizing knowledge-seeking, studying, education, and learning just to name a few. So, a good start in just picking out a number set for my items.
Next, was a little bit more difficult yet fun. Choosing my items. Coffee, ginger, citrus quarts, tigers eyes, thyme, sage, and a magnet or lodestone. I wasn’t aware of the properties of coffee until a YouTuber popped up and the headline read "Coffee Magick" and it piqued my interest. I looked up what coffee grounds could be used for. It seems that coffee will help give any spell work an extra boost and help manifest things a little faster and also by placing it in my mojo bag it’ll help clear the mind and remove mental blockages. Next, I thought ginger and citrine would be nice seeing how they correspond very well together. I chose ginger for its success property and how well it seems to correlate well with citrine. Citrine was chosen for its excellent qualities for, clearing the mind and opening it to new concepts filtering out the negative blockages and replacing them with positive ones. It's a great brain stimulant and helps bring in more clarity and creative energies as well as kick-starting motivation. I chose the tiger’s eye to promote will and clarity of intention to manifest at the highest level. This is also a great booster in confidence towards exams and sharpens one's senses to help pay attention to detail. It’s also a stone that helps the mind find new horizons and realizations of all capabilities. I choose thyme next; its main associations are with strength and courage. I chose it because it’s a plant that helps reinforce the needed confidence. It’s a plant that helps promote a positive attitude and keeps it in place so one can achieve the seemingly unachievable. Next, we have the sage, a wonderful plant for purification of an area or the self, but for this spell we’ll use it for its wisdom properties. Sage is a great attractor as well for one seeking knowledge. The last item I chose was a lodestone bead. not just because the bead is what I had, but also to match the intent. Not only that it also helps balance the left and right sides of the brain so you don’t have a feeling of being overwhelmed.
Now I had my items gathered with my intention set and began to choose the color of my mojo bag. I chose blue for my fabric as it symbolized wisdom and intelligence. My tie and cord would be orange for success and, in hoodoo, the color is said to give the items in my bag more vitality and speed. Usually the fabric of the bag is flannel, yet more often than not I use what I have on hand. I went through a bag of clothing that I was going to donate and found 2 old shirts - one orange and one blue. I made a ribbon-like cord from the old orange shirt and made it about a foot and a half long. This was my tie and to be fitted around my neck. Once everything was put together I cut off the excess.
To make the mojo bag I took my old blue cotton shirt and cut out a piece 4” by 12”. I folded it in half and began sewing the bottom and the sides together. I used black nylon thread; black to protect the mojo bag from falling apart and nylon because it is a sturdy thread. I left the top unsewn and turned my mojo bag inside out so it looked like a tiny pillowcase. I folded it in half twice and cut slits on the top so I had a total of 4 cuts. This is where my tie ribbon would be woven through. I cut off 6’’ from the orange ribbon threaded it through the slits in the top before cutting off any excess, but I made sure not to cut off so much that it would affect being able to retie it. With the ribbon that would go around my neck, I tied the bag to each end of the neck cord, securing it so it could be worn around my neck. I cut off any excess, not making it too short or too long.
Once my bag was made, it was ready to be filled with my items. I put each item in and as I did I stated each intention it was meant for and verbally affirmed the properties for each item:
“Coffee, I call upon your powers of speedy energies and of the clear and sound mind;
Ginger, I call you to bring me your success;