essentials of baneful magic
just to preface that i am a BEGINNER in baneful magic. i've become quite knowledgeable on benevolent magic after several years of practicing it, so while i do have foundational knowledge of the materials and techniques, the execution is often very different. this post is as much for me as it is for you (whoever you may be). it is not meant to be a comprehensive introduction, nor a complete guide, but if you have any questions i will absolutely do my best to answer them :)
special thanks to @trash-bin-witch for all their help assisting my introduction to baneful magic, as they're a lot more experienced with all this than me.
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
"The Spell Book of a Wicked Witch" by Thalia Thorne
