~Welcome to the Shadows~

INTRODUCTION

my thought process for baneful magic revolves a lot around chaos magic. chaos magic, to put it simply, is that what you believe to be will be. if you can believe in it, then it exists (or will exist). this is a very simplified way of thinking about it, but that's how i sum it up.

this is different from benevolent magic, which revolves a lot around action which merely guided by spell work. it involves manifestation too, but only to a certain extent. with benevolent magic there is little to no way to get things done without putting work in yourself. with baneful magic, it's more like creating the spell and letting it do the work. this is, i believe, because baneful magic almost always has an inciting incident. think of it as if your ex cheats on you. them cheating, your emotions, your "belief" is the action needed to get the spell to work. this is why curses, hexes, jinxes, etc. will work on relatively good people. if the witch believes the person to be bad, or believes they wronged them, then the spell has power.

again, that's how i think about it, not necessarily how it concretely is or must be.

baneful spells can be created yourself just as much as benevolent spells can, and this post is intended to give you the foundational materials to do that.

WARDING

warding yourself, your space, and those vulnerable around you is, in my opinion, the most important first step to take before embarking on baneful magic.

to make a simple ward there are two things i would include: protective herbs or crystals and your taglocks. a taglock would include hair/fur, blood, nail clippings, anything that is biologically from you or your subject (even a photo would work). for example: if i wanted to create a protective spell jar for my cat i might include some whiskers (DO NOT REMOVE THEM YOURSELF, THEY DROP NATURALLY), some fur, some tiger's eye and/or cat's eye quartz, a picture or drawing of them, and some herbs from the list below.

WARDING/PROTECTIVE HERBS:

Angelica

Anise

Basil

Bay Leaves

Black Cohosh

Black Pepper

Boneset

Cedar

Cinnamon

Frankincense and Myrrh

Garlic

Ginseng

Mandrake Root

Mistletoe

Rosemary

Valerian

Vervain

Witch Hazel

Wormwood

CURSES, HEXES, JINXES

before we start, lets define some things:

1) CURSES: long term effects, sometimes lifelong or multigenerational. often invoked with rituals

2) HEXES: have long term effects, but often not lifelong. more generic effects like "bad luck" or "desolation"

3) JINXES: invokes a specific bad event to happen

now, i don't do much work with jinxes, and i've never had a reason to do a full on curse, so my work primarily takes the shape of hexes right now. if you'd like to do any of these types of spells, down below are some herbs you can use.

also practice extreme caution when handling these, and acquire nontoxic variants or parts as available! some herbs are DEADLY toxic just through touch and should be respected!!

BANEFUL HERBS:

Aconite: toxic, enhances spells, transformation, banishing

Asphodel: invoking spirits (which can assist in spells)

Belladonna: toxic, madness, invoking spirits

Black Mustard: confusion, failure, bad luck

Blackthorn: revenge, binding

Blue Cohosh: breaking up relationships

Boneset: exorcism, boundaries

Celandine: binding, madness

Dragon's Blood: power, banishment

Jasmine: love related issues

Larkspur: banishment

Mandrake Root: toxic, exorcism

Mugwort: dreams and nightmares, insomnia, madness

Mullein: invoking spirits

Nettle: irritation, retribution

Oleander: toxic, bad luck, revealing true self

Poke Root: cord cutting

Pomegranate: binding, love and fertility

Rue: retribution, reversing spells

Thistle: retribution, reversing spells

Wormwood: bad luck, sorrow, bitterness

Yarrow: invoking spirits

OTHER USEFUL MATERIALS:

the general framework for good hex ingredients include things that are visually disgusting or is smelly, sharp, painful, or toxic things, and objects that symbolically represent the harm you want to inflict. to be specific you can use:

salt: consecration, i use it as the base for my jars

rosemary: cleansing, protection

pine needles: spiky, also good for protection

thorns of plants trees or flowers

spicy things (peppers, seasoning, etc.)

sharp things (needles, broken glass, etc.)

food (especially rotten)

railroad ties/other iron objects: exorcisms and banishment

other metals like aluminum cans: can be used for sigils

hand mirrors: for "reflecting" energy

jars, bottles, boxes

cards: using face cards to represent people

small candles

trash: cause it's gross

money

ash/charcoal: protection, enhancing or sealing spells

bones: can be broken to invoke injury, or as a makeshift taglock

expired makeup: to make them feel ugly

vinegar/bleach

receipts/mail ads: monetary issues

dead bugs: cause they're gross

dirt (graveyard, four corners of your property, etc.): invoking spirits or setting a target area

thread: to ensnare or paralyse

note that you can also freeze or burn things for their symbolic effects

RECOMMENDED READING:

"Of Blood and Bone: Working with Shadow Magick & the Dark Moon" by Kate Freuler (just ignore her divine feminine shit)

for information on sigils i recommend "Sigil Craft" by Lia Taylor