Carry these words on paper: “Jesus Nazarenus, Rex Judearum.” On the way to the courthouse, recite the following three times, ending the third time with the names of the Trinity:
I, [name], appear before the house of the judge.
Three dead men look out the window; one having no tongue,
the other having no lungs, and the third sick, blind, and dumb.
BRING THE COURT AND JURY AGAINST AN OPPONENT
I assume none of us are blind to the fixed system in some places where bad people get a slap on the wrist or justice isn't properly served. These cases can cause a lot of distress—especially if the person being tried is a murderer or something of that sort. Mind you, when we got caught up in the modern judicial system, we didn't hand over every course of justice. Behind closed doors and drawn blinds, folks would take the spirit of the court into their own hands to bring the law down on a deserving soul. Here are a few ways that's done:
Take a new bottle bought for this purpose and fill it halfway with apple cider vinegar over the person's name, photo, or foot track. Add a pinch of snuff, a tablespoon of alum, and a tablespoon of guinea pepper. Add thirteen nails one by one, inserting them headfirst and naming each one for the judge and jury: “I name thee the judge of the court”; “juror number one, juror number two, juror number three,” and so on. Once all of this is done, spit in the bottle while calling the law and court down on their head. Pray that lies fall short in the room and their true nature be shown. Cap the bottle. If the cap is a cork, seal it with wax. If it is plastic, melt the cap with a lighter so it won't be able to be taken off. Every day up until court and until it is completed, shake the bottle three times a day while praying the person will be caught up and justice served.
Make a mixture of snuff, salt, and alum. Take the person's photo and fold the mixture into the photo, folding away from you, then bind it with a blue string. Place this in a bottle of vinegar and bury it upside down where they'll walk over it or pass by it.
Gathering the person's foot track works best for this next trick, but you can also take their photo or a paper with their name on it. Burn the paper to ash or take their footprint and mix it with dirt from a police station, a courthouse, and a crossroads. Place this in a jar of vinegar and bury it upside down at a crossroads as close to the center of town as you can get. This will turn the court on them, but it can also be used to get the police to catch up to someone.
CONJURE BAG FOR COURT
In the event that you go to court and need protection, this hex bag may help. Cut a 4-inch by 4-inch square from the bottom of your right sock (unwashed, of course). In the center, place new salt, High John the Conqueror root, Chewing John, cinnamon, and jack-in-the-pulpit root. Bless these by praying Isaiah 42:5–7 three times over them:
5 Thus saith God the Lord, he that created the heavens, and stretched them out; he that spread forth the earth, and that which cometh out of it; he that giveth breath unto the people upon it, and spirit to them that walk therein:
6 I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;
7 To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house.
End by saying your name three times.
Tie up the fabric and smoke it with tobacco or incense smoke, calling the four winds to give it breath. Use a candle flame to heat up or cook the root. Then baptize it in your name with water, making the sign of the cross. Call it to wake up. Then give it a name. This is what you will call it by. Carry this with you close to your skin for the first week. Afterward, carry it in your left pocket when going to court. As always, never let anyone touch it and never let it hit the ground.
Worrying about the law and making a living one way or another just to survive takes a lot of energy, but it ain't all just for the comfort of a home and good food on the table. It makes other aspects of life worth it, worth fighting to protect: love. An empty house with nothing but food isn't something most care to come home to. But that special someone, or the want for them, is enough to move mountains.
9
MOCKINGBIRD, MOCKINGBIRD
Back in the day, young'uns dreamed of finding their future spouse, of building a house on a hill in the woods, and living a happy life. For some there were many choices and possibilities in the young bucks and does in town. But how should one know? How could one see what will be? Love is a fundamental thing to our culture. It takes two to make it and two to break it, so if you want it, you need to want it hard for it to last. No amount of magic can create a lifetime's worth of love between you and your lover; that's your job. But who hasn't been in love with the idea of forever love before? Below are some superstitions and tells about future marriages and spouses, including how you can see them in apparitions, visions, dreams, and through divination.
If you meet someone you know but don't recognize them at first, it's a sign they will be married soon.
Pick a fresh apple from a tree and hold the stem in your teeth. Turn the apple to the left and on each turn say a letter of the alphabet. The letter at which the stem releases is the first initial of your future love.
On a day when the sun shines while it is raining, pick up a brick or large stone. You may find a hair from the head of your future spouse to tell what color their hair will be.
At night on a full moon, step out and look at the first star you see while saying, “Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight, wish I may, wish I might, have this wish I wish tonight.” Then reach behind you to pick up a handful of dirt. In it, you'll find a hair from your future lover's head.
When you first catch a glimpse of the new moon (waxing crescent), step back three steps while saying: “New moon, new moon, come with me and tell me, Who is my true love to be?” Then reach down and grab a handful of dirt, never taking your eyes off the moon. Again, you'll find a hair.
Make a wish on the full moon, then look under your right foot. If you find a hair, wrap it in a napkin or in the knot of a hankie and sleep with it under your pillow to see your future lover in your dreams.
Take a lightwood knot (knot of pine) and burn it outside to ash. Then search the ashes for the hair of your sweetheart.
If you find a bobby pin pointed toward you, carry it with you and someone will ask you out on a date.
If you are trying to decide what the heart wants, take a bobby pin and have someone name each prong secretly to themselves for both of your potential lovers. Once done, turn down one prong and have your friend reveal what you've done. For example, “You turned down James for John.”
Carry a bobby pin in your shoe all day to dream of your future love that night.
If your eyebrows meet, you'll marry near home.
Place an eyelash on your forehead and begin saying the ABCs. The letter the eyelash falls on is the first initial of your intended.
The first man or woman you shake hands with after kissing a baby will be your future spouse.
Dreaming of a funeral predicts a wedding.
If, while doing something, you unknowingly look at the space between your fingers, it predicts a wedding.
Take a gold ring, preferably your mother's wedding ring. Hang it from a strand of your hair over a glass of water. Each time it strikes the glass, that number is correlated to the letter of the alphabet that predicts your love's name, or their initials.
Do the same as above, but this time just say the person's name. If the ring strikes two, you'll wear a hole in your shoe (from running after someone who doesn't feel the same). If the ring strikes three, the love is meant to be. If the ring strikes four, they're out the door (nothing will come of it). If the ring strikes five, love will thrive (not necessarily in romance or marriage, though).
In a room of only women or only men, the first one a cat looks at after cleaning itself will be the first to marry. A variation is to have all participants hold a side or corner of a stretched-out quilt. The cat is then tossed into the center; it will run toward the next to marry.
FINDING OR COMPELLING LOVE
While we can see and divine so far as it comes to future love, we can also draw the attention of lovers as well. In using these charms and methods, you are openly drawing sweethearts to you. You might have one or five knocking on your door!
