One of my favorite ways to utilize palo santo is by simply burning after charging it in a jar filled with herbs, blood, ash and various other junk depending on my intention. I just finished making one for my friend Willow at her behest and I’m really excited about it! I haven’t made one of these in two years- and this one turned out well!
I use a simple three card tarot draw (using the Manara Erotic Tarot Deck) to figure out what should go into the jar for both other folks charged jars (I don’t know what else to call this I lack the English word) and my own. First card represents the most pressing issue in someone’s life, the second card is a practical facet of that problem to focus on (keeping solving the other problem in mind), and the third card is what peace they will find through burning their charmed palo santo. To start I pull some tarot cards/ throw some bones. For Willow I pulled tarot cards as I haven’t cleansed my bone bags for other folks and only had my personal bag available 😬
Willow’s card highlighted problem and the facet was a fear of poking into the recesses of ones mind and to be brutally honest with oneself through fear of losing love others have.
Keeping that in mind I filled the jar with things that resonate love, understanding, and courage, and brave change. I won’t detail everything as I wrote a few things in the pictures below!
I leave the jar to charge for 33 or 16 days and nights on my windowsill which gets direct moonlight, and change it to my other windowsill in the mornings which gets direct sunlight.
To finish it all up I write up some short directions as many people haven’t utilized palo santo in vaguely the same way you have incense, rather substituting it for sage. I like to meditate with it personally- nothing makes me feel safer than a thick waft of holy wood.
I also create a sigil made from the ash of a stick I burned while meditating on who willow is before I even drew the tarot cards. I scrape some ash into a small bowl with my ritual dagger and then add a couple drops of blood. I add a spritz of water (or alchohol depending on intention), mix it all together and paint it on. I leave it to charge in the window, and 4 days later add a clear coat nail polish over the ash to seal it.
To me, it’s less important the sigil and jar stay together and more important the sigil continues existing. And more important to me than the physical existence of this sigil is that I have sealed both my blood and intentions into it. I believe that blood binds all and that the palo santo in that jar are now bound to induce a state of consciousness that seeks truths we have hidden from ourselves out of fear. This sigil was based on the thought “I will embrace hard truths with love in my heart”.
One more week of charging than this jar (which has a lid I promise) can go to its forever home <3 I have listed the highlights here but not every step. If you have a q about any blank bits send me a message.