1. Cleanse- Many people go through life collecting a great deal of baggage and spiritual blocks. Take the time to really cleanse yourself of the things that have held you back. People have come to magical practice for a variety of reasons; whether it is because you are desperate to change something in your life, or you are seeking more control, or you have a spiritual calling. It doesn’t matter, take the time to clear your head and heart of all the mess that life throws at you.
Take nice cleansing baths, do egg cleansings, light healing and uncrossing candles, do some cut and clears. Do whatever it takes to help you start fresh. By laying out a strong foundation for you to build on you’ll be doing yourself a world of good.
2. Build Back Up- Once you’ve cleared the slate, its time to build yourself back up. Doing some work on yourself. We go through life getting beat down so badly that we forget our god-given power to create, prosper, and succeed. This is the time to reclaim that heritage. Dress yourself with some power oils like John the Conqueror, Master Key/Mastery etc.
Light a few candles here or there to help yourself out in things. The aim is to do things to help build your confidence and support your own power. Take courses to give yourself a great foundation of knowledge. Get out and speak to candle shop owners, don’t be afraid to travel. Speak to real practitioners and listen to what they have to say. Its important to learn the “how” before diving in. Learn how to approach a graveyard, learn how to dress a candle–get the technical knowledge along with the spiritual.
3. Develop the Connection- Ceremonial magick can be categorized as ceremonies and rituals aimed at tapping into the “other” or that transcendent numinous power. Conjure/Hoodoo as a form of natural magick works in a different fashion. The key to conjure is developing relationships and connections to the natural world. Spend time outdoors at parks, rivers, and forests. Learning to just be and learning to listen. Take some trips to the crossroads and sit and get a feeling for the power of the pace, do the same with a graveyard. Spend time with the fauna and flora of the land, and especially spend time with herbs, roots, etc that you plan on using in your conjure.
This is the time to develop a strong connection with both your higher power and your ancestors. For the former spend time in daily prayer. Learn to pray so that you can develop that connection where you speak and you are heard. For your ancestors set up an altar to them. Get to know about them when they were alive, dedicate a space for them and welcome them into your home. Set out a glass of water for them and light a small candle. Do this religiously and you’ll soon find your life filled with the benevolent guidance of your ancestors. I suggest burning offerings of Acacia and Althaea to help really draw your spirit guides to you and help your ancestors start taking a place in your life.
4. Sharpen The Focus- Pick up a divinatory practice. The power to read and divine is more than predicting the future accurately. A talented reader and diviner is intimiately aware of the connections that bind all of reality and are aware of their own place in that vast web of life. By picking up a divinatory practice you help take the connection to the next level.
It helps to get readings from professional readers and rootworkers. Learn tips from them. When you need guidance don’t be afraid to seek it, you’ll learn not just from the answers you get, but also from how you arrive to those answers.
Let yourself be guided by your guides to really fine-tune your work. Begin working conjures not just in times of need, but applying what you’re learning masterfully to your life. Sweeten bosses, compel debtors, drive off enemies, and bless those who need it. By allowing yourself to get engaged on a variety of levels you are expanding and fine-tuning your focus.
You need to begin thinking like a conjure worker or rootworker. Even if you don’t actually do a conjure for a situation examine all the ways that you could approach it with your magical talents. This will help sharpen your mind. Again this is the time to do things like take power baths, make mojo hands to help you in your work etc.
5. Making it Your Own- Hoodoo and conjure is not a set of instructions that you simply follow. It isn’t like a machine where you pull a lever and something happens. It is a spiritual practice based off of the powerful natural power that arises from the interconnection of the natural world, us, and the Divine. Learn to make your conjures personal and add something of yourself.
This doesn’t mean to go all willy nilly and do what you want and butcher the practices. Rather there conjure has a set of principles that allow you the freedom to explore. You’ll find that certain herb combinations work really well for you, you’ll find that you get great results when you pray in a certain fasion, you’ll find a certain set of practices resonates with you.
The point is to take your studies and transform them from a rote discipline into something alive.