Love spells, hexes, curses: is there a guide for a writer?
March 12, 2010 11:02 PM Subscribe
screenwriter needs help: where can I find instructions and other info for love spells, curses and hexes?
Books, websites, even a person to talk to. I don't want to take a class or practice this for myself. Practical info preferred, although anything would be appreciated.
The kind of thing I'm looking for: one of my characters urinates in a circle around another character for protection. I don't know if it's real- I got it from a poem- but I like it.
Books, websites, even a person to talk to. I don't want to take a class or practice this for myself. Practical info preferred, although anything would be appreciated.
The kind of thing I'm looking for: one of my characters urinates in a circle around another character for protection. I don't know if it's real- I got it from a poem- but I like it.
Most of the big chain bookstores I've been in (Barnes and Noble, Borders) have pagan/witchcraft sections with spell books - or at least books which contain, among other things, spells - in them. I would try there first off. There are of course also Wiccan websites of all sorts with hundreds of spells, just search for pagan or wiccan spells.
posted by frobozz at 11:13 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by frobozz at 11:13 PM on March 12, 2010
cat yronwode at the Lucky Mojo Curio Company has all the resources you need.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:30 PM on March 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:30 PM on March 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
In a little more detail, it sounds like what you're looking for isn't so much Wiccan or Neopagan as it is "rootwork" or "conjure," based in the folk magic practices of African-Americans. Bodily fluid magic is pretty common to those traditions, and cat yronwode is a pretty astute researcher of such topics. She used to kick around on Usenet's pagan and magical groups and had a solid rep; I don't think you can go too wrong looking through her resources.
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:33 PM on March 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by fairytale of los angeles at 11:33 PM on March 12, 2010 [1 favorite]
There are lots of books out there, check new age book stores or even your local libraries. Here's what came up for incantations at my library. Try different terms, hexes, spells, incantations etc. You'll have to do some sifting.
posted by BoscosMom at 11:57 PM on March 12, 2010
posted by BoscosMom at 11:57 PM on March 12, 2010
You're a screenwriter. Make something up. Preferably something visual. Authenticity (what would that even mean in this instance? Genuine love spells?) will just get in your way.
posted by zanni at 12:28 AM on March 13, 2010
posted by zanni at 12:28 AM on March 13, 2010
What zanni said. Make them up... just like the authors, or their sources, or their sources' sources, who wrote the books people are recommending. When you go all the way back... someone just made it up. Spells aren't real.
No one is gonna watch your movie or read your script and think, "What?! The Gypsies didn't do that!" or whatever.
You're blocking yourself. Write through it.
posted by dobbs at 5:51 AM on March 13, 2010
No one is gonna watch your movie or read your script and think, "What?! The Gypsies didn't do that!" or whatever.
You're blocking yourself. Write through it.
posted by dobbs at 5:51 AM on March 13, 2010
You do have a lot of leeway indeed to make things up.
However, one general note: in most things I've read, pee is used more as a means of eliminating something rather than for protection. You know -- because urine is something your body is eliminating, you would use it for something you magically want to eliminate as well. Like, say, you wanted a stalker to leave you alone, you'd do something like write his name on a piece of paper and then pee on the paper.
There are indeed books out there with different kinds of folk magic practices, but if you want to punt, think about what symbolism coud be behind each item in the spell (honey is sweet, so it could be used in a love spell, pee is for an eliminatory thing, sexual fluids for a sexual spell) and run with that. Because that's not too far off, in my experience.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:24 AM on March 13, 2010
However, one general note: in most things I've read, pee is used more as a means of eliminating something rather than for protection. You know -- because urine is something your body is eliminating, you would use it for something you magically want to eliminate as well. Like, say, you wanted a stalker to leave you alone, you'd do something like write his name on a piece of paper and then pee on the paper.
There are indeed books out there with different kinds of folk magic practices, but if you want to punt, think about what symbolism coud be behind each item in the spell (honey is sweet, so it could be used in a love spell, pee is for an eliminatory thing, sexual fluids for a sexual spell) and run with that. Because that's not too far off, in my experience.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 6:24 AM on March 13, 2010
One of our collections here at UIUC focuses specifically on the occult. An email to the reference librarian could probably put you on the track of some useful resources.
posted by MsMolly at 10:11 AM on March 13, 2010
posted by MsMolly at 10:11 AM on March 13, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by fshgrl at 11:12 PM on March 12, 2010