For those who don’t know, I’ve been digging deep into amulet construction for a couple years now. The fact that most often the talismans we find in the present day Western magic market seem to be less guided by astrology than featuring it intrigued me. The fact that in Thailand and surrounding regions this is not the case, that there are as many amulet types as there are spirits and human needs, intrigued me even more.
This lead down an exciting and sort of expensive line of practical study and research, absorbing knowledge through working with amulets for a while and then finding them a new home to make room for a new type of amulet, to get to know how they all feel and how to work with them. To sneak peeks into their construction.
Alone this would have proved much more arduous a task, however working with a few first class Buddhist saint relics, as well as the same for a famous lay magician, has smoothed out the process significantly. There are times when the lessons come as a sort of osmosis, other times through oneiric instruction, or being pointed to a specific text while awake and alert. Sometimes there is what feels like a direct data transfer or download, indecipherable at the time, but the unfolding of inspiration in subsequent days or hours ends up speaking for itself. Other times I feel an invisible hand pushing a thought into mind.
This process has also involved consuming any written English source I could find (most useful for practical study by miles being Ajarn Spencer’s self published work). There are also several worthwhile academic works, mostly on the more monastic side of things such as The Buddha in the Jungle and Sons of the Buddha by Kamala Tiyavanich, The Buddhist Saints of the Forest and the Cult of Amulets by Stanley Jeyaraja Tambiah, and My Life as a Siamese Monk by Richard Randall to name a few.
It is a great fortune that my partner is also spiritually sensitive. Whenever I need a confirmation that the personality and boons I’m picking up on from holding the leaf of a plant, a bag of soil, an animal bone are correct, I can ask her to hold the thing and tell me what she feels. Having this option to confirm the various perceived levels of an enchanted state, or the spirits connected to materia through a blind outside source, has been invaluable.
Something we laugh about, how the conversation around enchanted items and materia ends up sounding similar to a conversation about wine or perfume. The highs, middles, and lows. The floral and the earthy. Is it acidic and biting, or is it smooth and glowing? Sassy or sweet? Where do you feel it in your body? What other sensations does it conjure? No, I don’t think I will ever be bored again as long as I shall live.
When it comes to progress, it is astounding how fast things can leap, largely a credit to the spirits of teachers who have deemed me worthy of their posthumous instruction. A lot of error can be avoided when listening to gifted whispers. Sitting here, holding the Oil of St Michael and All Angels which was completed last year around this time, (a creation I am still quite proud of) and in my other hand holding the new batch of angelic ointment, affectionately named Oil of the Heavenly Host. While, as stated, I am still proud of the first, I have to admit that it pales in comparison to the new.
For starters, the old oil was the base for the new, but additionally there were added many new ingredients which I have gotten to know over the past year, carefully sourced for their inherent power and virtues. Things such as lightning struck wood from two trees, blessed roots for various purposes, chalk powders from magical workings of prosperity, charm, and protection, a plethora of additional prayers and mantras, plants, herbs, as well as simply keeping the bottle present during every angelic working I’ve done for the past six months to absorb their fields, asking each one to be fully present in the oil and to offer their boons freely and powerfully to whosoever may care for it or use it in their practice.
The first angel oil was light, airy, fresh, and crisp. The new one is also all of those things, plus the filling-in of the middle and low ends to create a holistic full bodied presence and full spectrum support. The lightning struck woods add a potent stability, a grounding electrical hum. Roots draw out the conviction of authority and the ease of breath, while choking the seeds of doubt. The wax left from petitions at a church of Stella Maris carries requests. The witch’s butter mushrooms return ill intent to its sender. These are but a few examples of the myriad virtues made available to the angels therein to assist them in assisting you.
As with the first, this can be used in any and all angelic workings. It can be dabbed on door frames or boundaries, used to charge sigils, rubbed into the third eye and temple (or any chakra for that matter) to open the way. It can be used as a window through which any angel may be called, or its field expanded in meditation to surround you. There is no need to apply it, should carrying it as a talisman be more desirable. The only upkeep this requires is incense, the activation prayer whenever it is used, and offerings of Merit as often as you desire to keep it charged and potent.
The bottles for Heavenly Host Oil are now 5ml (2ml more than the old oil) and come with a stainless steel roll top and a brass seal of Solomon from the Heptameron within. The price has been adjusted accordingly to match the increased quantity, and the leap in quality of enchantment and bottle alike. Close friends and spirits have both insisted that I ask for my items “what they are worth”, demanding that a harrowing journey of introspection was involved, but that I am certain no one will feel they have spent more than they were given.
There are more new amulets on the way, one for dreams and one for removing bad luck (by absorbing bad luck and karma) and offering protection and good fortune and a sense of ease, so make sure to follow this blog for updates if you haven’t already. I’m leaving the link to the first angel oil here so you can read about it if you’re interested. They sold out months ago but I had a few in reserves that I’ve released to the etsy shop.
Oil of the Heavenly Host is available here.
Happy new year, dear wyrdos.
Reverend Janglebones 